Lorenzo: I beat Rossi in everything, I deserve this championship

Lorenzo sealed a third MotoGP world title by claiming victory at the final race of the season in Valencia on Sunday to overhaul a seven-point deficit to Rossi.

Team-mate Rossi started from the back of the grid after being handed three penalty points for "deliberately causing contact" with Repsol Honda's Marquez at the Malaysian Grand Prix - a decision he unsuccessfully appealed.

Rossi could only finish fourth behind Marquez and Dani Pedrosa. And he was quick to hit out at Marquez for not pushing hard enough to overtake Lorenzo, saying: "Today [Sunday] was embarrassing for everybody".

However, Lorenzo said: "People who really know about motorbikes understand my value as a rider and a champion. They will be happy with my achievement.

"Obviously people who support another rider, in this case Valentino, will never be happy about this championship.

"But a champion is a champion, and a champion who has my statistics this year deserves the championship, in my opinion.

"We beat him in everything: in victories, in pole positions, in fastest laps, in laps leading the races, in leading practice sessions. Everything.

"Only in podiums and consistency did he beat us, and a little bit because of circumstances. In some races I could have finished first or second but it rained and I couldn't get the best result.

"These races and the fact the beginning of my season was bad meant I could have arrived at Valencia 20, 30 or even 40 points ahead. This is clear."

On Rossi's performance in the race, Lorenzo added: "He didn't have anything to lose, he could just push at the limit and take risks, but he finished 20 seconds behind us.