personally, I'd take the money and develop the bike. Ducati and Audi seem to be giving him an open chequebook to make a real racer. It would be difficult to go back to Yam only to finish second to JL while the GPXX moved forward under another rider. Let's be honest, it would be difficult to turn down two, three, more years money, keeping your team and knowing that you had billions of VAG money behind you that you could call on to develop the bike.
I'm with you on that one and the more I think about it the more tempting Ducati is. As for Rossi I would really love to see him win a championship on the Ducati or at the very least start winning races and come close. I hope Cal joins him too. Chris.
I do think that Simoncelli's death has had a huge effect upon him. The sharp edge has gone, the natural survival instinct is kicking in and making him think twice about his riding. A sorry position for him to be in, a huge mental block that has altered his life in the way he reacts and thinks. The mojo has gone, replaced with dark images.
To be fair, I think he was like that before the Simoncelli crash. I suspect the leg break on the Yamaha may well have had even more of an effect on him. It's fairly obvious that the bike is very different to ride and his style and what it takes to make the Ducati work are poles apart.
Stoner is the only one who mastered the red enigma. So here is a thought. Stoner retires and Rossi picks up the phone or does that fuzzbook/twatter thing and finds out why. Oh and whilst he is doing that he has a word with himself about himself and gets his fortunate ass in gear. God knows if I could ride a bike like Rossi it would be my mission to finish my career in glorious style with winning the championship on the red enigma.
If it were me, as long as Audi can confirm that big changes would be made, and i think that includes a change in the Desmosedici designer, than i would stay where i was. I suspect however that Rossi may have decided that he will never master the bike and wants to go back to Yamaha.
Well that appears to be happening.. Looks like the man behind the M1 is talking to Ducati so if they can pull that off a huge dollop of Audi euros and it could be a winner, the only fly in the ointment would be the amount of testing days available (or should I say the amount of tyres left in the testing allocation)
Me I would ring my boss in Audi and tell him to ring Bridgestone and tell them to make the next set of bridgestone tyres work perfect on the Ducati and sod the Japanese or we will make sure that Bridgestones are not a recomended fit on any of our Audis VW's Seats or Skodas
So the latest Rossi swing o meter has swung towards Ducati. Furusawa has been seen at ducati and the rumour is He will design the GP13. If this is true which i expect it is $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ :wink: (money talks) I remember Furusawa taking control of the M1 project in November 2003.. The rest is history and the basis of design is still winning. Unless Yamaha or Honda hold him hostage i hope this happens as imho when he enters ducati corse HQ they best listen to him!
That's quite strange. if you read the Furosawa interview on some other thread here, it seems he has a lot to occupy him. Would you really come out of retirement to bat for the opposition after devoting your life to Yam? I find that odd, even if the sponds were big. Yam would have him back in heartbeat in any case, if he really wanted to go back to racing. I will wait and see.
Yes the interview in march 2011, things change and he had no choice but retire as it's law in japan but he's free in italy! It's prob just a rumour but you never know! This sort of thing happens all the time in F1 so why not motogp ?
That made oi larf.........should have done that to my R1 cos it would have saved me a few grand :tongue:
[TABLE="width: 420"] [TR] [TD][SIZE=+1]Valentino Rossi Post-Race Press Debrief Laguna Seca Transcript[/SIZE] [SIZE=-1]by susan haas[/SIZE] [SIZE=-2]Monday, July 30, 2012[/SIZE][SIZE=-1]Q It is reported that you brought an offer of (Euro) 17,000,000 from Audi. A No. This is important to say. Important. This is completely not true. My offer for next year is less money than the offer of these two years, and I think is also right, because the situation of all the world is difficult, and also I arrive from two bad season with less result. So is normal that they take less money, less money than last year. Q What is your priority for your choice? A better bike? A We have - so, I think, because in one way I can be very competitive in a short period; in the other way, at least we need more time. But for sure, the ... the level to win with the Ducati, the challenge to win with the Ducati, is higher, because nobody win with three different brand, so is something special. So I have to decide between these two Q At this stage of your career though, Valentino, is it too much of a risk to stay with Ducati and be in this position again for another two years A Is a big risk, yeah. Is a big risk also because I have to do the decision - is not, I cannot wait too much. If not, Dovizioso become very angry. [Laughter] So I have to, you know. But at the same time, the problem is that for wait the Audi and Ducati, is very early now for understand who will come to work, to work for the guys in Ducati. So I have to make a bet without very clear situation Q Is it now just between Ducati and Yamaha? Are those the only choices you have A I have also the third option, but is not in the factory team Q But you are considering this option as well, or not A I consider this option, but for sure I want to stay with a factory bike, so is the third option. Q How would you feel about stepping back to Yamaha, stepping back to being the teammate of Lorenzo again, after there was some tension before? He said that he would not have a problem with this. From your side, what is your feeling? A The situation change a lot, because, so - my feeling change a lot, because change the situation. I mean, I had some problem in the past with Jorge, especially because I was angry with Yamaha. Because after what all I did for Yamaha, they put me in a team, a very strong teammate. So I was pissed off with Yamaha, more than him. Now, now is a different situation. I understand that anyway Yamaha make the right choice for Yamaha. And I think this is not a big problem. Q This week, Ducati will try Scott Redding at Mugello. What do you think about his potential with this bike, and what can he expect when he jumps on that bike? A I know, because I am very close with the Ducati guys for the future, so they speak to me about the bikes, about young riders, they spoke about Iannone. But also Redding is - first is the English hope, you know? After Cal. But I think he have a good potential. He's a young gun and he can be fast. Q Can Ducati exploit their luck with Cal? Do you think that he is a rider that they should be looking at, if you were to go? A For me, Cal is another - I already say. The style and the mind of Cal can be suitable for the Ducati. Q If you went back to Yamaha, then probably for the first time in your career you would be the number two rider. What is your feeling about this, and how do you think that you would be able to cope with the situation? A This is another important thing for make the choice, because in Ducati I can be the number one, and the Yamaha have Lorenzo. Is another thing - another, to wait, to understand. So the new guys going to ducati bit! So if Furusawa builds a new bike Rossi stays if not he's off to yamaha or retires and go's fishing and hunting with colin and Casey :smile: [/SIZE][/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE]
