2010 Silly Season

[Spidey]

Interesting question.  I was gonna say that with Dovi and Pedrosa signed up for two more years with Repsol, it would go to Melandri, but I'm not sure that makes sense.  I dunno. 

[gm2]

really hard to say... marco rode the crap out of that back office kawi this year.  and all his GP wins (5, i think) came on a gresini honda.  ok, not an 800.  but he does have ~seniority.  however marco s is the new hotness and maybe you want to give him the best chance outta the gate.  add into that the even-more-limited new engine rule for next year... yadda yadda

i just wanna know where ben is going to land. 

[derby]

i'd argue that melandri is a known quantity and simoncelli isn't. you give melandri the "good" bike and see what the other marco does with the "regular" rc.

[gm2]

agreed.  or you let them ride both one day and see what happens.  or this has long ago been decided in contracts.

[Jester]

Melandri himself said that Simoncelli was getting the HRC bike.  He's on the second bike.  He commented on it in the post race interview after Brno.

[Grampa]

Pedrosa has signed to Team Lollipop Guild for next year.

[fastwin]

That's a good one!!! Thanks for making my morning! Pedro-bot my ass. What I wouldn't give to see Dovi put him on the trailer every race. It kills me to do it but I guess I have to give the little drone some credit for doing better than I thought he would with that bad leg injury early in the season... and yes, that does kill me.

[gm2]

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/151167/1/lorenzo_stoner_yamaha_and_ducati.html

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2009/08/18/ducati_s_offer_to_lorenzo_is_it_35_5_mil.html

more of the same.. but with more numbers

[derby]

With one extremely successful rider already at Ducati, why would Marlboro want to secure the services of another, and risk upsetting the only man who has so far brought them a world title? The answer is simple: Casey Stoner may appear on the podium regularly, but as far as appearances off the bike, he is extremely unwilling to play ball. Rider appearances, corporate entertaining, all the boring stuff that persuades sponsors to keep paying the bills, Stoner loathes it and keeps his commitments to a minimum. Even something as simple as a publicity shot is impossible to organize, with body doubles in leathers posing for glamour shots while Stoner's face is photoshopped in afterwards.

[Triple J]

So...$4M Euros to stay at Yamaha as a #2 rider, with the best bike in the paddock

...or $7M to go to Ducati as the #1 rider (presumably, given the salary), with the most evil bike in the paddock.

What would you guys do??

I don't know...I'd probably jump to Ducati if their offer really is that high. $3M is a lot of $$$. You could always leave after 2 years if you don't get along with the bike...you're still young. Tough choice though.

[zooom]

I like the way Kropotkin ends his piece....

"....one this is for sure, money will not buy you a title" and you know Jorge (Yourghey or Whorehey) will certainly be weighing that whole piece in his bubble....

[duccarlos]

Show me the $$$

[derby]

So...$4M Euros to stay at Yamaha as a #2 rider, with the best bike in the paddock

...or $7M to go to Ducati as the #1 rider (presumably, given the salary), with the most evil bike in the paddock.

What would you guys do??

I don't know...I'd probably jump to Ducati if their offer really is that high. $3M is a lot of $$$. You could always leave after 2 years if you don't get along with the bike...you're still young. Tough choice though.

lemme throw some more sugar on this for ya... that article is in euros.

1.00 EUR = 1.41246 USD

so the numbers are $4.2M to $9.9M a year...

[Spidey]

And let's not forget the additional $ in added sponsorship deals for him personally if he's the #1 rider in the Ducati garage as opposed to the #2 rider in the Yami garage behind Rossi.

[gm2]

lemme throw some more sugar on this for ya... that article is in euros.

1.00 EUR = 1.41246 USD

so the numbers are $4.2M to $9.9M a year...

and rossi's 14M euro = $19.8M.  then another ~$15M in bonuses and endorsements.

if stoner is 'only' getting 3.8M euro/$5.4M in salary, wonder what his total bag is.

regardless, we know that jorgey likes to WIN.  wonder if he could pay to rent a GP9 for an afternoon...