Speaking in the aftermath of Lorenzo’s decision to leave Yamaha for Ducati at the end of the season, Jarvis admitted it came as a personal blow to him and his team.

“It’s like going to a discotheque and asking a girl to dance and she chooses the guy next to you,” he quipped. “Of course we would have preferred Jorge to stay, there’s no doubt about that.

“Hopefully we can finish this season in the style we’ve run our previous eight seasons together. We’ve had a really good run, so of course when you get to the end of an era it’s a sad moment for sure.”

Three factors in the decision

When asked if it was impossible to keep the Spaniard, due to the contractual terms offered by Ducati, Jarvis replied: “Nothing was impossible – we made our best proposal as a company, and Jorge obviously was looking for new stimulus.

“There were probably three factors that helped him make his decision.

“He got an extremely good proposal, probably bigger than ours. I think the Ducati is currently a very competitive bike, so it’s less daunting to make a change. In addition to that, to probably be the number one [rider] in a future team is something that’s attractive.

“In Yamaha we’ve run Valentino and Jorge for years – and it’s not easy, trust me, to run with two top dogs in the same team. We’ve always treated them equally and fairly, and will continue to do so until the end of the year.”

Return to team a possibility

When quizzed if there was the potential for Lorenzo to return to the team with which he has won all his MotoGP races, Jarvis said: “I don’t see any reason why the door shouldn’t be open to Jorge in the future.

“We’ve had eight years together, hopefully nine at the end of this year, with many championships. We keep relationships with our ex-riders a lot. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Jorge would be welcomed in the future if he wished to come back to Yamaha.”