<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Valentino Rossi, one of three MotoGP riders currently racing while injured - with a further two recovering away from the racetrack - believes that plans to increase the existing 17 round calendar are "too much".
Rossi and fellow Italians Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri have been forced to ride injured at both Assen and Donington Park in order to keep their title hopes alive. Rossi fractured his wrist and ankle in practice at Assen, while Capirossi and Melandri were hospitalised with upper body injuries after a turn one accident a week earlier at Catalunya.
However, while accidents and injuries are part of racing, the main complaint from the riders is that as the MotoGP calendar expands there are ever more back-to-back events - as was the case with Catalunya, Assen and Donington Park - with no weekends off in-between to allow riders, and more specifically any injuries, to recover.
"This is racing and sometimes it happens," said Capirossi of his Barcelona accident. "The big sht for me is my injury - crashes like that happen, it's no problem - but the problem is that I'll carry the injuries for two more races because it's Barcelona then Assen then Donington in three weeks. This is the worst part."
But with Misano having signed an 'initial agreement' with MotoGP commercial rights holders Dorna for a new San Marino Grand Prix from 2007, the calendar could now expand to 18 races - unless one of the existing rounds is dropped and at present there is no obvious candidate for removal.
"18 races is too much," said Rossi, the reigning five times MotoGP World Champion. "At the beginning when we speak with Carmelo (Ezpeleta - Dorna) about the arrival of Misano, he said that one race is cancelled - so it will remain 17 - but at this moment the situation is not so definite. I hope it will remain 17, because already 17 is too much, especially as now we have a lot of testing on Mondays and sometimes Tuesdays after the races.
"For sure five races in six weeks is not good," added Valentino of the hectic race schedule currently underway. "It's better to have a short rest between the races and not to have races in a row - and this year we have lots of races in a row. But we speak for the future and for sure I hope it will remain 17 races."
http://www.crash.net/news_view~t~Rossi--18...6~id~133222.htm
Rossi and fellow Italians Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri have been forced to ride injured at both Assen and Donington Park in order to keep their title hopes alive. Rossi fractured his wrist and ankle in practice at Assen, while Capirossi and Melandri were hospitalised with upper body injuries after a turn one accident a week earlier at Catalunya.
However, while accidents and injuries are part of racing, the main complaint from the riders is that as the MotoGP calendar expands there are ever more back-to-back events - as was the case with Catalunya, Assen and Donington Park - with no weekends off in-between to allow riders, and more specifically any injuries, to recover.
"This is racing and sometimes it happens," said Capirossi of his Barcelona accident. "The big sht for me is my injury - crashes like that happen, it's no problem - but the problem is that I'll carry the injuries for two more races because it's Barcelona then Assen then Donington in three weeks. This is the worst part."
But with Misano having signed an 'initial agreement' with MotoGP commercial rights holders Dorna for a new San Marino Grand Prix from 2007, the calendar could now expand to 18 races - unless one of the existing rounds is dropped and at present there is no obvious candidate for removal.
"18 races is too much," said Rossi, the reigning five times MotoGP World Champion. "At the beginning when we speak with Carmelo (Ezpeleta - Dorna) about the arrival of Misano, he said that one race is cancelled - so it will remain 17 - but at this moment the situation is not so definite. I hope it will remain 17, because already 17 is too much, especially as now we have a lot of testing on Mondays and sometimes Tuesdays after the races.
"For sure five races in six weeks is not good," added Valentino of the hectic race schedule currently underway. "It's better to have a short rest between the races and not to have races in a row - and this year we have lots of races in a row. But we speak for the future and for sure I hope it will remain 17 races."
http://www.crash.net/news_view~t~Rossi--18...6~id~133222.htm
