What it means is that there's going to be a complete information lockdown on Lorenzo's side of the garage, where he is not going to be told very much...only the bare minimum so as to prevent him from bringing additional knowledge to Ducati.
Second, he will be relegated to #2 status, which means VR gets all new equipment/parts over JL, if he gets any for that matter. The possibility exists where you see almost a Rossi/Gibernau 2003 scenario of preferential treatment to Rossi again. While once I wouldn't have thought Yamaha would cut their throat with regards to the constructor's title, I'm no longer sure about this. I suspect in spite of whatever professionalism is claimed in the press, the animosity will be quite high in the garage. Lorenzo has to know this is coming however, so he may have just resigned himself to doing the best he can in spite of the disadvantages he will find himself at. Who knows, he may still trounce Rossi in the rest of the season.
From here on out, the championship will be Marc Marquez's to lose. Rossi right now hasn't looked as strong in race trim as he did in 2015, and as the grind continues, it's going to get harder. Whatever delusions he has of being #1 for the rest of this season in the team, thus winning the title may be misplaced, if as JKD points out, he experiences a Peyton Manning-esque decline.
You have to sort of admire Yamaha's willingness to torpedo themselves, just to gain the approval of one of their riders.
