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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The American Nightmare

The balls of Ducati to have said they are not in a position to offer Nicky Hayden a new contract till the Audi deal is complete is astounding. They have already offered Cal Crutchlow a ride and are keen to keep the services of Rossi for 2013, in addition AMG have been removed as sponsor from all Ducati team clothing. So, Audi deal is probably not an issue anymore. I can't help but feel sorry for the kentucky kid he has stuck with the Ducati and nearly made it work ( for a few laps anyway ). He has performed better than the doctor at a large number of races in the past two seasons. But now seems likely to be left out in the cold just when they may (big may) turn a corner with the desmosedici.

Of course every teams wants Rossi , winning or losing he is the most popular rider of all time. The sponsorship meetings must be a little easier with VR in the stable. But will he stay? The next 3 weeks may be more interesting for what happens off the track than on it.

With Spies on tenterhooks at Yamaha, where is the love for the yanks?

My guess BMW or Suzuki.

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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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