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MotoGP
MOTOGP: Noyes’ Notebook - He Said, Red Said
Is there any truth to the rampant rumors that Valentino Rossi may not even finish the season at Ducati? Dennis Noyes considers this developing situation…
Ducati Team's Valentino Rossi and crew chief Jeremy Burgess (Photo: Ducati Corse)
How much longer is the focus at every MotoGP going to be on the train wreck that is the Ducati- Valentino Rossi relationship?
Maybe that depends on how much longer we GP journalists are obsessed with the Rossi story. I’ve spent my first day back from Qatar chasing rumors and trying to get someone to go on the record. No soap. But there is a consistent story being circulated. I don't know if it is true or not, but, if you have been trying to figure it out via Google translate, this may help. But first the background.
The highest paid, most popular motorcycle racer in Grand Prix history left Honda at the end of 2004 to join the hapless Yamaha team that had failed to win a single race in 2003. In fact, the best Yamaha could do in ’03 was a third place at Le Mans by Alex Barros. Rossi started his Yamaha career with a hard pass on Max Biaggi (Honda) for the win in Welkom, South Africa, and went on to take the title, Yamaha’s first in the four-stroke era. He followed that up by winning the crown three more times over the next five seasons before he, once again, changed colors.
When he went from Honda to Yamaha, the M1 was, in the words of then race boss Masao Furusawa, “a bad bike.” The move to Ducati, at least on the basis of results, seemed less risky. Ducati with Casey Stoner had won the championship in 2007 and had been competitive, although winning fewer races each year over the next three seasons.
When Rossi rode the Ducati for the first time (documented at 12:20, midday, at Valencia on November 9, 2010) there were several thousand fans lined up early that morning to get a glimpse of this historic moment. Apparently, we now learn from loose lips in his entourage, he knew from the first laps that he was in trouble -- big trouble.
A colleague said to me that we journalists have mislead fans by placing Filippo Preziosi on a pedestal as the genius behind the Goliath-slaying Desmosedici when we should have recognized that the true genius was Australian Casey Stoner. He's probably right. Stoner won 20 of his 67 starts on the Ducati 800cc. The only other Ducati rider to win with the Duc 800cc was the now retired Loris Capirossi and his only win was in the rain at the chaotic 2007 Japanese G.P.
Capirossi's replacement was Marco Melandri and, while Stoner was on his way to finishing second (to Rossi) with 6 wins, 11 podium appearance, and 9 poles, Marco -- who won five races on satellite Hondas during the 990cc era -- was discredited and fired after placing 17th in points. I remember Marco saying, toward the end of 2008, “When I asked for changes in the bike, Ducati gave me the name of a sports psychologist.”
Ex-World Champion Nicky Hayden also struggled mightily and finished a dismal 13th. in 2009 while Stoner finished 4th with 4 wins, 8 podiums, and 2 poles. Casey missed five races that year but, after a correct diagnosis of lacteous intolerance, he came back to win two of the last four and might have won a third race if he had not crashed out on the warm-up lap in the season final at Valencia. While Stoner was out of action, Ducati made big money offers to Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Both Spaniards wanted nothing to do with the Ducati. They had the advantage of seeing it from up close.
Stoner’s last season at Ducati was overshadowed by the inter-Yamaha Lorenzo-Rossi battle. Although the Australian was still winning races, his production was down now to only three wins and his points production was now only 12.5 per race, down from 16.9 in 2009 (his peak was 20.4 in 2007).
Maybe that depends on how much longer we GP journalists are obsessed with the Rossi story. I’ve spent my first day back from Qatar chasing rumors and trying to get someone to go on the record. No soap. But there is a consistent story being circulated. I don't know if it is true or not, but, if you have been trying to figure it out via Google translate, this may help. But first the background.
The highest paid, most popular motorcycle racer in Grand Prix history left Honda at the end of 2004 to join the hapless Yamaha team that had failed to win a single race in 2003. In fact, the best Yamaha could do in ’03 was a third place at Le Mans by Alex Barros. Rossi started his Yamaha career with a hard pass on Max Biaggi (Honda) for the win in Welkom, South Africa, and went on to take the title, Yamaha’s first in the four-stroke era. He followed that up by winning the crown three more times over the next five seasons before he, once again, changed colors.
When he went from Honda to Yamaha, the M1 was, in the words of then race boss Masao Furusawa, “a bad bike.” The move to Ducati, at least on the basis of results, seemed less risky. Ducati with Casey Stoner had won the championship in 2007 and had been competitive, although winning fewer races each year over the next three seasons.
When Rossi rode the Ducati for the first time (documented at 12:20, midday, at Valencia on November 9, 2010) there were several thousand fans lined up early that morning to get a glimpse of this historic moment. Apparently, we now learn from loose lips in his entourage, he knew from the first laps that he was in trouble -- big trouble.
A colleague said to me that we journalists have mislead fans by placing Filippo Preziosi on a pedestal as the genius behind the Goliath-slaying Desmosedici when we should have recognized that the true genius was Australian Casey Stoner. He's probably right. Stoner won 20 of his 67 starts on the Ducati 800cc. The only other Ducati rider to win with the Duc 800cc was the now retired Loris Capirossi and his only win was in the rain at the chaotic 2007 Japanese G.P.
Capirossi's replacement was Marco Melandri and, while Stoner was on his way to finishing second (to Rossi) with 6 wins, 11 podium appearance, and 9 poles, Marco -- who won five races on satellite Hondas during the 990cc era -- was discredited and fired after placing 17th in points. I remember Marco saying, toward the end of 2008, “When I asked for changes in the bike, Ducati gave me the name of a sports psychologist.”
Ex-World Champion Nicky Hayden also struggled mightily and finished a dismal 13th. in 2009 while Stoner finished 4th with 4 wins, 8 podiums, and 2 poles. Casey missed five races that year but, after a correct diagnosis of lacteous intolerance, he came back to win two of the last four and might have won a third race if he had not crashed out on the warm-up lap in the season final at Valencia. While Stoner was out of action, Ducati made big money offers to Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo and Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. Both Spaniards wanted nothing to do with the Ducati. They had the advantage of seeing it from up close.
Stoner’s last season at Ducati was overshadowed by the inter-Yamaha Lorenzo-Rossi battle. Although the Australian was still winning races, his production was down now to only three wins and his points production was now only 12.5 per race, down from 16.9 in 2009 (his peak was 20.4 in 2007).
Grand Prix of The France
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