Ducati Team's Valentino Rossi (Photo: Ducati Corse)

“I Can’t Ride This Bike"

Did Valentino think that the problem at Ducati was Stoner -- that he could wring better performance out of that squirming, sliding Ducati? Probably not, but he must have believed that he and the Burgess-led crew that he brought over from Yamaha could sort things out. Besides, staying in Yamaha alongside Lorenzo, who had taken his title in 2010 and had, at least arguably, been faster in 2009, was not an option.

Before signing for Yamaha back in 2004, Rossi had visited Ducati and had declined their offer, saying that their structure seemed even more rigid that Honda's. Maybe the real reason was that he would be riding under Marlboro discipline with all the extracurricular promotional work that he would not be subjected to in a Fiat-Yamaha team. Rossi told his intimates that he would never go to Ducati.

But in 2011 he did.

After a troubled season that started badly and ended worse on the 800cc version (seventh with a single podium), there were high hopes that a new frame (and then another new frame) would see Valentino back at the top.

The tenth place in the season opener in Qatar could have been better. If Rossi had not been bullied off the track by Pramac Ducati rider Hector Barberá on lap 5 he would have been in there fighting for sixth at the end, but at that stage of the race the Spaniard was faster than the Italian and felt Rossi was holding him up.

Sixth was Hayden and the American had been faster than Rossi all weekend. Rossi’s statements after the race, especially when he said that Ducati had not built the bike he had asked for and that he was not going to “risk his life” to finish sixth, were explosive enough. But the clincher was when he told the Italian website GPone.com: "It is unrideable and it doesn’t matter what track you are on. I cannot enter the corners hard and we can't hope the situation will change with the new Bridgestone tires. These aren't problems that can be solved with set-up alone."

He went on to say, "Ducati did not follow my indications. I am not an engineer and I cannot solve every problem."

What The Italians Are Saying

Italian journalists have the reputation of being sensationalists, but I believe it's the translations that change normal Italian journalism into unusual English that cause that impression. I have been working the GPs since the early '70s and the Italians are rarely wrong about what is going on in Italy. This is a hard time for them because they are infinitely respectful of Valentino and no one wants to be the first to break ranks. As one Italian colleague told me, "Most of us are here because of Valentino. No Valentino, no airplane tickets."

And they love him even without the tickets.

But this cannot go on much longer. The stories that were circulating and the ones that have been published and posted by Italian and Spanish magazines, papers, and websites all come from a common pool of anonymous sources.

Some journalists will go on record, but only with opinions. Carlo Pernat, who wears two hats, writing columns for several publications and also managing Andrea Dovizioso, says “Rossi will not finish the season with Ducati,” but that is an opinion.