Livio Suppo has compared Pedro Acosta’s expected move alongside Marc Marquez at Ducati next season to Yamaha’s legendary Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo line-up.

With uncertainty over how long Rossi would continue in MotoGP, Yamaha signed rising star Lorenzo to replace Colin Edwards as his team-mate for 2008.

The move created tension within the garage, famously split by a wall due to different tyre suppliers.

Rossi had dominated Yamaha’s success between 2004 and 2007, taking 29 victories and two MotoGP titles.

Lorenzo quickly emerged as a challenger, winning in just his third MotoGP race.

But Rossi rose to the challenge, securing back-to-back MotoGP titles in 2008 and 2009.

2010 was shaping up to be another Rossi-Lorenzo championship showdown, until the Italian broke his leg at Mugello.

After two tough seasons at Ducati, Rossi was then reunited with Lorenzo at Yamaha in 2013.

The pair continued to push each other – Lorenzo was top Yamaha in 2013, Rossi in 2014, Lorenzo in 2015 (when he won a third MotoGP title) and Rossi in 2016 – until Lorenzo’s own Ducati move.

Suppo, who oversaw MotoGP titles for Casey Stoner and Marquez, thinks Marquez could be ‘rejuvenated’ by the challenge of Acosta in a similar way to Rossi in 2008.

“It’s… like when Yamaha put Lorenzo alongside Valentino,” Suppo told GPOne.com.

“Jorge prolonged [Rossi’s] career, he won two more world championships.

“It would be a stimulus for a strong rider like Marquez, who is clearly a super rider, just as Valentino was a super rider.

“Having a young and super-fast rider alongside you rejuvenates you because it brings out that grit that, perhaps, you’ve lost a bit over the years.

“I don’t see Marc getting angry about something like that, on the contrary.”

Acosta, currently third in the world championship for KTM, duelled with Marquez for victory at the season-opening Buriram Sprint, a battle that went in Acosta’s favour after a late penalty for the reigning champion.

Livio Suppo has compared Pedro Acosta’s expected move alongside Marc Marquez at Ducati next season to Yamaha’s legendary Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo line-up.

With uncertainty over how long Rossi would continue in MotoGP, Yamaha signed rising star Lorenzo to replace Colin Edwards as his team-mate for 2008.

The move created tension within the garage, famously split by a wall due to different tyre suppliers.

Rossi had dominated Yamaha’s success between 2004 and 2007, taking 29 victories and two MotoGP titles.

Lorenzo quickly emerged as a challenger, winning in just his third MotoGP race.

But Rossi rose to the challenge, securing back-to-back MotoGP titles in 2008 and 2009.

2010 was shaping up to be another Rossi-Lorenzo championship showdown, until the Italian broke his leg at Mugello.

After two tough seasons at Ducati, Rossi was then reunited with Lorenzo at Yamaha in 2013.

The pair continued to push each other – Lorenzo was top Yamaha in 2013, Rossi in 2014, Lorenzo in 2015 (when he won a third MotoGP title) and Rossi in 2016 – until Lorenzo’s own Ducati move.

Suppo, who oversaw MotoGP titles for Casey Stoner and Marquez, thinks Marquez could be ‘rejuvenated’ by the challenge of Acosta in a similar way to Rossi in 2008.

“It’s… like when Yamaha put Lorenzo alongside Valentino,” Suppo told GPOne.com.

“Jorge prolonged [Rossi’s] career, he won two more world championships.

“It would be a stimulus for a strong rider like Marquez, who is clearly a super rider, just as Valentino was a super rider.

“Having a young and super-fast rider alongside you rejuvenates you because it brings out that grit that, perhaps, you’ve lost a bit over the years.

“I don’t see Marc getting angry about something like that, on the contrary.”

Acosta, currently third in the world championship for KTM, duelled with Marquez for victory at the season-opening Buriram Sprint, a battle that went in Acosta’s favour after a late penalty for the reigning champion.