Valentino Rossi, left, will rejoin Jorge Lorenzo at Yamaha next season, renewing one of MotoGP's biggest rivalries in recent years.
(CNN) -- They are two of the biggest names in motorcycle racing, and tensions were high the last time they were on the same team, but Jorge Lorenzo says rival Valentino Rossi's return to Yamaha is "good news."
Rossi left the Japanese team in 2010 after Lorenzo won his first world MotoGP championship, ending the Italian's two seasons of dominance.
Rossi, who won the world title four times with Yamaha and three with Honda, has struggled to be competitive since joining Ducati, managing just two podium placings in 28 races.
The 33-year-old has agreed a deal for the 2013 and 2014 seasons, resuming a partnership which Yamaha described as a "super team" when the news was announced last Friday.
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"I think our relationship has got better, though maybe it's got better because we were in different teams," Lorenzo said on the MotoGP website ahead of this weekend's Indianapolis Grand Prix.
Honda's world champion Casey Stoner won 10 of the 17 completed races in MotoGP last season, including the finale in Valencia. He is hoping to retain his Qatar race title in Sunday's season opener.
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"It's good news for Yamaha because we achieved a lot of good results together. It's a big motivation to have him back because I always like to have the best riders in my garage.
"Valentino is one of them. I assume trying to beat me will be a big motivation for him. For Yamaha, it will be a good thing, that's the most important thing."
Rossi won 46 races in his seven years at Yamaha, but his final season was blighted by injuries and Lorenzo took full advantage.
The Spaniard lost his crown to Casey Stoner last year but tops this season's standings by 23 points from Honda's Dani Pedrosa with five wins and four second-placings from 10 of the 18 races so far.
Rossi is eighth overall, but still ahead of Lorenzo's 10th-placed American teammate Ben Spies, who will leave Yamaha at the end of this season.
"Someone who has talent normally keeps it and doesn't lose it like this in two years," Lorenzo said of Rossi.
"He is still young enough. He is 33, he has won a lot of races. With the Yamaha a better bike this year, it will be easier for him.
"It's true that us younger riders are getting stronger, more experienced and more consistent, but we have to remember that Valentino has won a lot of races. We have to respect that and keep it in mind."
The 25-year-old missed out on a podium place at Indianapolis last year when Spies passed him to take third, but won the U.S. race in 2009 and has twice been third himself.
"I really enjoy riding the Indy track, and have good memories here from my podiums in 2008 and 2010 and my great win in 2009," Lorenzo said.
"Last year I really struggled with grip in the race so I hope we can improve that this year. I've had a nice break but also been training to make sure I'm fit for this weekend!"
Honda's Stoner and Pedrosa have won the last two Indianapolis races, and both are seeking to cut Lorenzo's lead following MotoGP's midseason break.
"In these two weeks I was able to relax a little, enjoy time with friends and get back into my training," Pedrosa said.
"At this time of year, Indianapolis is normally very hot so fitness is always key. I enjoy riding at this track and I've had good results in the past. I am really looking forward to this race and will fight to win and maintain the consistency we have showed in the first part of the championship."
Stoner is 32 points adrift of Lorenzo in third place despite winning four races this season, which will be his last as he plans to retire after the final race in Valencia at the relatively young age of 27.
"I'm not the biggest fan of Indy, mainly because we don't go on the historical track but the infield and in the wrong direction," said Australia's two-time world champion.
"The track is very flat and plain, also very tight. There are a couple of corners that can be fun but the majority are difficult, tight and there isn't any natural flow to the track."
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Seven-time world champion Rossi has struggled since joining Ducati in 2011, having taken with him his No. 46 -- the number with which his bike has always been adorned to commemorate the first win by his father, who was also a motorbike racer.
Rossi left Yamaha in 2010, having won 46 races for the Japanese team. However, that year the man known as "The Doctor" lost his world title to younger teammate Lorenzo.
Rossi won the world championship in Lorenzo's first two years with the team, but the Spaniard usurped him after finishing fourth in 2008 and second in 2009.
Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo finished second at Japanese Grand Prix in October -- and second overall as the Spaniard relinquished his world title to Stoner. A finger injury ruled him out of the last three races.
Honda's Andrea Dovizioso will be seeking his first race victory since his maiden win in 2009. The Italian placed third overall last year after registering seven podium placings.
Another Honda rider, Dani Pedrosa, was fourth in 2011 after missing three races due to a fractured collarbone at the French Grand Prix in May. The Spaniard was runner-up to Lorenzo in 2010.
Seven-time world champion Valentino Rossi will seek to improve on a disappointing first season at Ducati, having ended 2011 in seventh place.
American rider Ben Spies was Rossi's replacement at Yamaha's main team last year, and the 27-year-old won a race for the first time in the Netherlands and finished fifth overall.
Rossi's teammate Nicky Hayden was a world champion with Honda in 2006, but finished eighth last year and crashed in the final race. The 30-year-old American is starting his fourth season at the Italian team.
Britain's Cal Crutchlow was a big success in the World Superbike series, but struggled after taking the step up to MotoGP last year with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team.
Hiroshi Aoyama was the top Japanese rider in MotoGP last year. The 30-year-old finished the season 10th for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.
Spanish rider Hector Barbera has switched to the Pramac Racing team for 2012 after two years at Ducati, where he finished 12th and then 11th overall.
Young Czech rider Karel Abraham will be embarking on his second season in MotoGP. The 22-year-old was 14th overall for Ducati last year.
The starting grid will be less colorful this year due to the absence of charismatic Italian rider Marco Simoncelli, who died after crashing at the Malaysian Grand Prix in October.
Motorsport fans gather outside the theater in the Italian town. The 24-year-old MotoGP rider died following a crash in Malaysia on Sunday.
People queue to see Simoncelli's coffin and pay their final respects to their late hero.
"I decided to take my license for bikes, because I was tired of going around only with 125cc bikes. I was so happy with my new driving license. After two days it was already revoked..."
"There is this legend about all drivers, I mean, having affairs with umbrella girls. But I never got one ... Because they arrive in the morning when, oh Mary, when you are so tense for the race, and you don't think so much about chicks, you are focused on the race. Then when the race is over and maybe it went good and, oh Mary, and you are high and maybe you want to party ... well they have already left, and you stay there by yourself."
"I feel like a pig at Christmas."
"Okay, sometimes I cut my hair, but only when they break my balls."
"I see some friends of mine finishing school, and not even they know what to do of their life, whether to go university or to work. But I think that one thing that helps us live in a more daring way is to have a target. It can be whatever, sport or job. But Good Lord if you have in mind a target, something to reach, I believe that helps you carry on fearlessly."
"I was 14 years old and I was riding my dad's big scooter up and down the path to home. And my mom was so worried: 'Good Lord, slow down, your aunt will arrive on the other side, take care.' Me, what do I care about my aunt ... So I was going full speed down. The aunt arrived ... I only had the time to see the white outline of her Opel appearing. I had the quickness of reflex to hit her car head on."
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