heck....i am as confused as the doctor....and its really a very difficult and tough choice.

i think logically he should go to yamaha, but if he decides to stay with ducati, he should bind ducati in contractual terms, that ducati will give him this, this & that. he should make a list of things he wants from ducati, and with time limit, and ask ducati - out of these what you can give. then decide.

1.5 years is enough time for rossi to understand what ducati can and can not give him. similarly it is sufficient time for ducati to understand, what kind of bike rossi needs and on current bike, what kind of results he can bring.

then what is even more confusing is, knowing all this -- what is stopping ducati from saying good-bye to rossi -- money???
and what is stopping rossi from saying good bye to ducati-- a false hope of creating history.

is it possible that they can make a one year contract just like for hayden. is there any other rider on the grid with one year contract or whose contract will expire at the end of 2013.?

Lets face it, most teams today would consider Rossi the brand> Rossi the championship winning material. Don't get me wrong, but arent the younger bunch as good as him. What advantage does Rossi have over the likes of Dovi, Crutchlow, Spies, Nicky, Alvaro etc? Experience all right but more importantly a HUGE fan following. Ducati have been definitely sucking up to this financial advantage he brought in. Now that Rossi finds himself as not the king he once was decisions are to be made.

Logically only two options remain-
1. Remain with Ducati and turn the ship round. This option will be chosen so his image of designing championship winning bike is not tainted. But is this possible without bringing in the 'ducati will loose its identity factor'? (L twin)
2. Not be egoistic and go to either factory yamaha as a second rider or start afresh with a satellite team. Yamaha will be mostly wanting him for financial reason rather than anything else. This definitely will be win-win for both parties. Sponsors for the team and better bike for him.

His ego messaging days are far behind him. want eg?
1. Left Honda to prove that the bike is not as important as the rider.(which i don't think he'll be saying now)
2. Move paid off. With the help of his feedback Yamaha develops a bike that dominates. His image as the god is created. gets credit of developing a bike while i guess it would be safe to assume that yamaha hires engineers just like all other teams and he gave feedback just like all other riders.
3. Feeling good, leaves another dominant force and goes over to Ducati to 'develop' another bike and also prove a rival how superior he is (also money?) . Duh!

but there is no point in staying with ducati, if it doesn't wanna change. if ducati feels that changing the bike too much will change the character of the bike or the bike will become significantly different than ducati, then what is the use of staying with ducati.

Exactly sir. It seems for ducati, their lineage is more important than wining. Im very sure ducati never fiddled with any other engine configuration since L is their characteristic feature. As i said, the only reasons he stays is either ducati have a definite future plan or its the money and fear of the dent in reputation he would suffer if he switches (you cant blame him for any of it).

Rossi can still win a championship given a competitive motorcycle...none of the above can. The End. Goodnight.

I dont see a point in going back to Yamaha.

Reasons being, 1st, he'd be Rider number 2.
and second, he would have to go to yamaha alone, not with his crew.

He is doesn't develop the bike, true. But which rider does? They give feedback, request for changes.

Now Yamaha listened to him. They took his suggestions and got the bike that we see always fighting for the front.

Ducati, I have just lost respect. Rossi complained about the bike since Qatar. Promised a new engine. They were suppose to use it in Laguna. But its not yet ready. This can be either stubbornness or they arent bothered.

I still feel he doesn't go to Yamaha,looking at Ben's situation . Hope Ducati are able to deliver what they promise and we get to see Rossi at the front again

Why can't the others win. goodnight
whats wrong with being second rider when in return your getting a better ride. w.r.t crew i agree. But than there is a huge sponsors money involved.

That's what. What do people mean when they say that the m1 is his brainchild. I always thought engineers develope and rider polish it. Why aren't the likes of Biaggi, checa melandri not credited with the fact.

true. another reason to switch.

Being second rider. Yamaha wouldnt want Rossi to come and interfere with Lorenzo's performance.(Eg:-Motegi 2010).

Ben spies was a great rider on tech 3. But his performance on the factory machine is far off his potential. Isnt this something to think about(cracked subframe in qatar, now broken swingarm in laguna).

Same things could happen to Rossi,then everyone would say lorenzo is winning on same machine.(same story like the fair and square win by lorenzo in 2010)


Yamaha produced the bike according to Rossi 's request/ suggestions. The bike is competitive till date.

Ducati using their own imagination to make the bike competitive,look at the Situation.
Hence he's termed as the developer, which I agree.

Stoner and year 2007, a whole new story.

I didn't know I have to write it like I have to explain it to a child. Ofcourse they will, they are probably the future champions. But not now. See the thing is simple, when Rossi's feeling good on a motorcycle he can still kick ass pretty good. If he goes back to a motorcycle like M1, you and I wouldn't be surprised if he wins a championship again, right? Now the ones you mentioned, Dovi, Cal, Spies, Nicky, Alvaro, they are all good but they'll never win a championship as long as Lorenzo maintains his current form and hunger for wins. These guys are not as good as Lorenzo. Also, if Rossi also joins Yamaha again (doesn't matter if he's the 2nd rider), he will again start challenging for the championship. Things become even more difficult for the other guys.

Only the likes of Lorenzo and Stoner are true competitors to Rossi. This year if Dovi finishes ahead of Rossi doesn't mean Dovi has become better. Rossi is riding a dog of a motorcycle. Let Dovi, Cal, Spies, Nicky and Alvaro first put some wins under their belt at least, winning a championship will come later for them. Please don't try to put these guys at the same level as Rossi is on....just not fair! And I reckon that the champion of the past, Nicky Hayden, is the best of the bunch. I wish him luck on the Ducati for future.

Ben spies had a better performance in his factory debut compared to his tech3 days,fact. This year has been marred with a fair bit of bad luck and may be the subsequent pressure to perform. W.r.t mechanical failure, its not like they do it on purpose to their second rider. can happen to anyone. My point is he would have a better bike at yamaha than at ducati.

So what people say is more important than you having a better chance at the title? For me today, lorenzo is the man to beat. So you prefer Rossi having the ducati reason for failure rather than him being beaten fairly by lorenzo riding a yamaha?


You mean no other rider had any inputs in developing that bike? also if tomorrow ducati does well, amongst rossi, nicky, stoner, marco etc who would you say developed the bike?



On what bases do you say that the others are inferior to rossi as of today. Lets take Nicky. What makes you say rossi would be better than nicky on a m1. And what would change in the future that would make them champions keeping in mind lorenzo is of their same age and you say he is better?

Dovi eh? Well lets take 2010 season when both were on competitive bikes. How much better was rossi compared to him? marginal. Dovi was just 2 season old and put up a terrific fight. Today he has fair bit of experience ,age and that awesome riding style.

I didnt get your second point. i am slow, sorry.

And yea, many riders have inputs. Didnt say it was Rossi alone. (I feel colin edwards is better in those terms).


About Dovi, He's a great rider, infact he was the best, great fight with Lorenzo at 250s. But he still has to win, in Motogp..

Realistically and I believe, Rossi still has one more championship left to take given a competitive motorcycle. Then he'll probably retire obviously age does play its part.

And as I said in my previous post, the other guys you mentioned, they are the future champions.

(And now regarding the bold part)

*Fan alert*

There are few people in the world you just can't talk about like you would talk about others (in the same field). People like Rossi carry a legacy with themselves and most of the times you just can't say somethings like "how is he as of today" when you weigh their performance unless ofcourse it's you who want to "hire" them! Rossi has 9 world titles. It's not just 1 or 2 world titles that some other "talented" rider can equal in numbers and then you put those two riders in the same level of skill!! These are 9 world titles. And don't tell me that it was in the past or whatever!

You don't put a man like Rossi at the same level as others just because he has two worst seasons of his life, especially when it is the motorcycle that's the biggest reason of his lack of performance. If you were arguing for Lorenzo then it would have still been a better argument.

what i'm saying is that as a motogp fan i would rather prefer rossi as the second rider at yamaha facing the limitations of a second rider(if any) if it means having a better bike. Can't see the way he is struggling at the moment. Your point can to me in a sense that you would rather have him at ducati than seeing him loosing out to lorenzo(if at all) riding similar bikes.

[QUOTE]no.46, your a fan and i just respect the guy. As a fan you have hopes. Fair enough.

Trust me it is not about the bad phase he is going through. Happens to everybody. It is just that i don't understand why he has been considered FAR superior than others when i feel he is just a talented guy with good fortunes. There are/were other equally talented guys on the grid who were not as fortunate. There are always two sides to a coin. Three years ago Lorenzo was not supposedto be compared to rossi. Look where he is today. Stoner had a lucky 07 season they said. He couldn't develope a bike like rossi they said. Look what happened now. Similarly guys like dovi, hayden, alvaro etc do deserve a chance. Just don't want them to suffer the same fate as the likes of melandri, hopper etc when the next batch of riders come in to motogp.

Motogp is the highest format of Motorcycle racing so no riders are less skilled. When we speak about Yamaha and M1 Rossi is the best choice now he needs a very competitive bike to fight for the front.

With just one season we cannot say Cal is a able rider to win championships he is a skill rider but Dovi out passes him on every race and at Mugello he trailed Rossi till the flag with only the factory ride he cannot win championship against Lorenzo, Dani and even Dovi.

One point I dont understand why tech 3 riders need a factory machine when they have the best satellite bikes available in the squad. Tech 3 Yamaha's always beat the Factory Ducati's and match the phase of Works Honda and Yamaha bikes.

Well Rossi is the most successful motorcycle racer of his generation (at least). That's one thing. And as I said before, a man's legacy and success speaks for him when otherwise things are not really going for him. That's another thing and nothing wrong with that. This happens everywhere. Rossi is probably nearing the final phases of his motogp career. Obviously, someone is going to take over from him. Someone will always win a championship. And that is why I say that we just cant put others in the same league as Rossi just because he is not up there right now. Irrespective of Rossi's fan or not, him being one of the greatest motorcycle racers of all times is a reason enough to regard him above almost everyone else.

Lastly, no one wins 9 world titles with just a good fortune.