2011 Silly Season

[ngk12]

...less than an hour

according to the motogp broadcasters, its a done deal.

[desmoquattro]

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/Fiat+Yamaha+announcement

[gm2]

anyone know what happened to LeBron?

[ducpainter]

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/Fiat+Yamaha+announcement

wonder where he's going?

[desmoquattro]

wonder where he's going?

Rizla

[derby]

some more meat in this article:

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/162441/1/official_valentino_rossi_to_leave_yamaha.html

i'm still waiting to see what happens to burgess.

[Drunken Monkey]

I'll be seriously shocked if Burgess doesn't come with him.

My concern is whether Rossi (and Burgess) will stick around the few years needed to really develop the bike properly or will Rossi retire in 2 years.

[El Matador]

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/162442/1/ducati_confirms_valentino_rossi.html

It's official

[ducpainter]

I'll be seriously shocked if Burgess doesn't come with him.

<snip>

I don't think he will.

We'll see.

[Jester]

I've been more interested in Burgess' decision than Vale's ( since we've known that part for months ).  I hope he goes, but I'd say its 50/50.

[OT]

I think Burgess might sit it out for a year (or even retirement), it's closer to home for the guy with the greying hair....

As for Rossi.....

"Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004, but especially ‘she', my M1, has changed. At that time she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers. Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the ‘top of the class'.”

"The list of the people that made this transformation possible is very long, but I would like to thank anyway Masao Furusawa, Masahiko Nakajima and ‘my' Hiroya Atsumi, as representatives of all the engineers that worked hard to change the face of our M1. Then Jeremy Burgess and all my guys in the garage, who took care of her with love on all the tracks of the world and also all the men and women that have worked in the Yamaha team during these years.”

"Now the moment has come to look for new challenges; my work here at Yamaha is finished. Unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave a lot of wonderful memories, like when my M1 and I kissed for the first time on the grass at Welkom, when she looked straight in my eyes and told me ‘I love you!'"

[superjohn]

YAYY!!!! 

I never thought it would happen. Apparently there's been a lot of changes and growth from both Vale and Ducati since they first courted back in 2003.

[derby]

YAYY!!!!  

I never thought it would happen. Apparently there's been a lot of changes and growth from both Vale and Ducati since they first courted back in 2003.

for one, the bike wasn't a championship-winner in 2003...

[superjohn]

for one, the bike wasn't a championship-winner in 2003...

That, and Vale talks about the decision in his autobiography. Ducati at the time apparently had a very technical, almost clinical approach that was reminiscent of Honda's approach, whereas Yamaha gave equal value to rider input and some of the intangibles that Rossi valued more. You get the impression that the attitude was that if the engineers thought the bike was great but wasn't winning, the blame would be placed on the rider and the rider would be pushed before the bike was changed.

[derby]

You get the impression that the attitude was that if the engineers thought the bike was great but wasn't winning, the blame would be placed on the rider and the rider would be pushed before the bike was changed.

i would say that line of thinking continued through much of last season. bayliss' gp9 test was probably where it really changed.