Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo denies he is ‘friends’ w⛦ith 🧸Valentino Rossi after an apparent thawing in their often strained relationship.

A less frosty atmosphere exists betไween the fierce rivals and Lorenzo said there was no reason why Rossi would not be able to win on th🐼e current Ducati after the Spaniard won at Catalunya to make it two victories on the spin.

Rossi never managed to make it onto the top step duꦯring his tenure with the Italian manufacturer but Lorenzo said the 39-year👍-old could win on the 2018 Desmosedici.

“I think Vale’s Ducati was more complicated; from the outside I believe that. As I said before, now for me, is the most complete Ducati e🔜ver. Vale is a g꧑reat rider, so why not,” he said.

Lorenzo, though, dismissed the notion that the pair have become friends now that they are no longer team-mates, a🌄lthough he admits he could imagine having fun with Rossi ‘o🌳utside the track’.

“I don’t think we are friends, even if I think outside the🉐 track we would have fun, because I think we like toꦍ have fun outside the Grands Prix,” Lorenzo said.

“It is d𒁏ifficult to be friends with a rival, two strong characters and two riders that want t꧒o win.

"The most important thing is to have respect and I have huge respect to Vale and I think he has the🍰 same to me.

“We are great cha꧋mpions and among of the best in history. Here we are three guys (including Marc Marquez) who have many championships and𓄧 made history a lot of years in MotoGP and it is a great thing for the sport.”

Rossi said the question of whether or not he could be a&n🍃bsp;winner on the current Ducati ‘would remain open’ and also reflected on 𝔉his relationship with Lorenzo, which he said had experienced ‘ups and downs’.

“I don’t know, it is a difficult question. I think that nobody knows and we don’t know, never. The questꦓion will remain open෴,” said the Doctor.

On Lorenzo, he added: “We have difficult times but also good times, a little bit of up and down. One 🥀or two quite big, but it is like this – difficult – when you fight for the same result and also Jorge is one of my strongest and toughest rivals in my career.

“We stay a long time together in the same team, which was also mo꧃re difficult, but I think it is normal like this and t🔥he important thing is the respect, for sure.”