Rossi to Yamaha?

It is no secret Valentino Rossi has 2 options available: 1. stay in Ducati and hope Audi's cash injection can help tame the beast, or 2. go back to Yamaha and what he knows is a great bike but perhaps not the most attractive team mate.

Option 1 sounds good but Rossi has been with Ducati for nearly 2 years now and they have thrown the kitchen sink, in terms of human resources and cash at trying to win an all Italian World title. They have failed miserably to  give VR46 the bike he needs to be competitive. Throngs of cash will help but unlikely in the short term, and Vale's career only exists in the short term. He will have to move Filippo Preziosi sideways because this is the man who's technical vision has failed Ducati. The time required is not there to spend another year developing with Ducati. And Valentino's body wont enjoy another season of crashes. Bottom line losing hurts, crashing allot hurts, going from 1st to 10th hurts.

Option 2 back to Yamaha means admitting failure on Ducati and having to square up directly to a red hot Lorenzo, no excuses. 


In option 1 Rossi will escape any culpability for failure with the old Ducati are rubbish line, but in option 2 he will have to answer the critics or admit he is not what he used to be.


Money is not a factor for Valentino Rossi he has more cash than he can ever spend and both factories will pay him ridiculous amounts to ride for them.

The decision is simple and the decision is made, Rossi is a winner and he will answer the critics. Game on Jorge. Expect announcement at Indy.

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Are Bridgestone Tyred?

Rossi In conversation with Kevin Schwantz post Simoncelli funeral, and detailed in this post : http://superbikeplanet.com/2011/Nov/111123x34x34.htm Quoting Scwantz :Valentino stared me straight in the face and said, "Those tires, they scare me."

Rossi clearly also questions bridgestone saying that the same tyre was supplied for Malaysia 2011 as in 2010. All of the riders ran soft tires in 2011 except Simoncelli, in 2010 most riders ran hard tyres despite the same weather, track conditions etc.

Dennis Noyes (all round motogp legend) recently tweeted "Bridgestone needs to change their philosophy. It is more important to have tires that warm up quickly even if they fade in the final laps."

The point surely is if Bridgestone can't supply tyres that get enough heat to give riders confidence in the sighting lap and perform race distance then things seriously need a shakeup.

You have ask are they getting complacent with no competition from another tyre manufacturer in the paddock. Can dorna get another manufacturer to compete? Could Michelin compete (there last year in Motogp 2008 wasn't great)?
Should they have be given sole provider status for 3 years as they were in 2008?

In my opinion competition will eliminate complacency, tyres connect bikes to tarmac, there is no room for complacency.

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MotoGP numbers

The issue of Dorna retiring racers numbers has been a hot topic recently with Capirossi number 65 to be forever his, as a lifetime achievement award. He also gets a job as safety advisor to MotoGP. There is no doubt Loris has contributed allot to the sport but does his long service deserve retirement of his racing number? In my opinion no, he was never a motogp champion, 2 125 titles and a 250 title are impressive but never a world champion in the premier class, 9 wins and 42 podiums all very good but we have to look at other legend riders Barry Sheene twice world champion, Kenny Roberts 3 times world champion, Mick Doohan 5 times world champion, all racing numbers still available.

No doubt Sic's 58 will be retired and 46 once Vale hangs up his leathers. Kato's 74 and Kevin Schwantz 34 are other retired numbers.

Retiring a number is a great honour and should be reserved for legends, so we never forget there outstanding contributions or ultimate sacrifice for the sport. Loris is great guy but legend he is not.

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