This weekend is the first race of the season in MotoGP at Jerez and the first race of what many are speculating could be the last season for Valentino Rossi. If Rossi makes the jump to F1 and Ferrari, this will be the last opportunity to watch “The Doctor” go to work on two wheels. Will he cap off the year with a championship? There are more than a few who would like to prevent that and the young guns are ready. This should be good.
aaron says
speaking of “young guns”, hayden is entering , what, his fourth year as a works honda rider? that’s a lot, and if his newbie teammate spanks him (20 yr old dani pedrosa) honda may have to look for a faster rider, surely the *USA MARKETING* factor can’t go too far if you’re taking up company resourses (at least while the factory is on a championship drought)
just fact checked pedrosa’s age and noticed something scary – motogp.com puts his weight at 47KG!!!! (that’s 103ish lbs for those using the old math)
Earl says
Lots of talk about Rossi retiring from MGP after this year, no evidence. So he test drove a Ferrari? He’s competed in rallies, but no-one writes that he’ll jump to WRC – they all write that he’ll move to F1. He has stated he will stick around to help develop the 800cc, tho he also says they won’t be as much fun being less powerful. He’s not going to get the adrenaline rush from F1 he does from MGP, which makes a move to WRC more likely. Or maybe he’ll take on another MGP challenge and move to Ducati. Wouldn’t Sete love that!
kneeslider says
Aaron, MotoGP does seem to be favoring the very light weight talented riders much like the NBA has lots of 7 footers running around, not much chance of a 6 foot 200 pound rider doing well and, yes, Nicky will have to stay sharp.
Earl, I think he’s done a lot of serious testing especially the regular test session he drove with other teams present, not the kind of thing you do if there isn’t a real possibility of jumping over, but you’re right, no announcement so it’s still all speculation. I think the jump might be more driven by the “been there, done that” in MotoGP so an F1 move would be a chance for him to prove talents in other venues while giving him the chance to pursue a different title. How many MotoGP titles does he need? He likes the publicity and his fans will go crazy if he starts to do well in F1, too.
hoyt says
true…
His fans would also go nuts if he wins on a Ducati in 2007 and then wins in a Ferrari in 2008.
How many riders have won championships on 3 different brands (and/or with 3 different engine configurations or 3 different engine sizes?). Anyway he plays it, good for him and racing.
I would prefer he sticks it out in Moto GP long enough for these possibilities:
race for Ducati &
race 2 places in North America….will the 800s be able to race at Barber?
Dodgy says
Apparently some guy called Alonso is coming in to kick his butt, but Rossi reckons he hasn’t got much hope unless he gets at least five laps of practice. Because apparently Vale put a bit of pressure on him when he went for a drive in a car like Alonso’s; and this Alonso guy says that if Rossi can drive a car as fast as him, he can ride a bike just as fast as Rossi…
Should be hilarious.
aaron says
I’d kill to see alonso try something like that. or just to see a star teammate give him a reality check. he’s very good, top 5, but the capability of his car boosts his ego a little. raikonnen might give him some greif if they team up together at mclaren next year.
not suprised at motogp riders being light, but most are listed between 60 and 70kgs. rossi (59 kg) gives up 12 kg to him, more than a half tank, more than the weight penalty honda would get for running a V-8 (assuming they can build a V8 bike under 155 )Kg
sete gibernau, who fancies himself a front runner for the championship, is rated at 70kgs! that’s 50+ lbs! assuming both the honda and ducati make minimum weight of 145Kg, that’s a 10% weight penalty for the bike+rider package! saving the 50 lbs on a streetbike costs, what….2-3 times the price of the bike you started with? wow. my skeleton weighs more than this guy……
good thing I’m younger, richer, better looking, and more talented than pedrosa will ever be. 😉 yeah, right!