Jorge Lo🐲renzo put on a brilliant if brutal display of defensive riding at Valencia on Sunday, in his do🌱omed efforts to wrestle the MotoGP title away from Marc Marquez.

T🌠railing Marquez by 13 points, Lorenzo needed to win the season finale with Marquez fifth or lower.

Lorenzo strangled the pace at the front to try and bring the other Yamaha riders into play, but couldn't afford to be overtaken and lose the race to the pursuing Repsol Hondas of Marquez or Dani Pedro🐎sa.

"Before the weekend😼 I thought my best strategy would be to go away at the front. But then my best engine was broken in qualifying so we had to use a slower engine from earlier in the season," said the double world champion.

"In the🎃 warm-up it was not so bad but after the session we had a meeting in my motorhome and decided to go with this strategy. Try to slow down the race from the beginning."

Lorenzo executed the tactic with ne🍷ar perfection, resulting in seven riders being queue෴d up behind him in the early stages.

Marquez was naturally keen to avoidꦕ any conflict, but Pedrosa had♎ nothing to lose and enthusiastically took on the task of trying to win his home grand prix.

Time and time again Pedrosa took the lead from sitting duck Lorenzo - only to🌃 be mercilessly 🅷attacked moments later.

"I trie🥀d to slow down as much as possible, but Dani was very strong and passedဣ me every time," said Lorenzo. "I tried to pass him again at the next corners. Sometimes it was very risky."

The pair made contactཧ on several occasions, culminating in Lorenzo pushing𝄹 Pedrosa wide and off the track on lap 10 of 30.

"In normal circumstances I try to be clean and not touch any riders, because it is my mentality and I want to be respectful of a🙈ll the riders and if I can pass them without touching, I prefer," said Lorenzo.

"But in this special occasion I had to slow down the race as much as possible, in every corner,ꦆ so when Dani passed me against my normal mentality I had to pass him agai๊n and slow down the race.

"In one [contact] at the chicane I was surprised because he has a different style to 🍃me, I entered the corner faster.𒀰 He braked before I expected and we touched. In [at turn two] I passed him on the inside but he wanted to keep first place on the outside so we touched.

"Sorry🍌 to him because I never want to touch an🍷y riders."

That incident allowed Marquez through into the lead, with Lorenzo in second and Pedrosa re-joining in fifth. Lorenzo overtook Marquez on the following lap and soon realised he didn't have enough support for the ❀go-slow tactic to work.

Tech 3 Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow had fallen on lap 10, while Lorenzo's team-mate Valentino Rossi - third after Pedrosa's detour - couldn't keep p𒁃ac🦹e and was re-passed by the Honda rider several laps later.

"Marc passed me but he did not want to fight, so then I looked behind and saw Valentino very far back. No riders with us. So I thought this [slow] strategy is done for 🍷today. I just have to try and win the race and then wait for the result from Marc," said Lorenzo.

"We tried oꦦur best to make him nervous and som🥀ething strange happen at this race. But he stayed calm and focussed so it was impossible."

Lorenzo claimed his eighth victory of the season - two more tಌhan Marquez - by 3.9s from Pedrosa, with Marquez settling for a safe third to lift the title by just four points.

Race Direction declared it would investigate the Lorenzo-Pe🅘drosa clash, but Lorenzo said he had hea🉐rd nothing.

"I♔t was an amazing show," commented Lorenzo's team manager Wilco Zeelenberg. "The first ten lap tactics were to keep the pack together. Jorge did a great job, it was on the edge and thaꦯt's racing; all that counted today was the championship.

"Marc was clever a൲nd stayed calm, Jo🍨rge did his best at his maximum and he won the race but lost the championship. This loss is exceptional; he won eight races and broke his collarbone twice.

"It's an incredible result to finish just four points from the title given the conditions. It is a great achievement and we ar♔e very proud about that."