Rossi's team would get Yamaha satellite priority over Tech 3

Gaz said:

But the previous year he had won for them and done ok which is where I come from.

A few bad races or results does not end a career and nor does it mean a loss of form (likewise, a sudden improvement does not mean a return to form) as consistency is the key to the whole issue.

IMO, but at that point Spies had not done enough that deserved his being dropped but, and this is the crux of the story for me, once Caramello made his comment, the rest was a given to occur.

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#22 said:

I think regardless of Spies' performance that season, he was getting dropped. The fact he had some bad luck and never seemed to get into his groove just made the decision easier.

Ironically though, Rossi's results for the same 5 races were 10th, 9th, 7th, 2nd (wet Le mans) and 7th while his team mate's (Hayden) were 6th, 8th, 11th, 6th and 9th. If you take the Le Mans race out where Rossi finished unusually higher due to the wet conditions, he scored 31 points in the first 5 races and Hayden scored 30. The Me Mans result changes that to 51 and 40. Hardly wiping the floor with his team mate yet while Spies gets dumped as fast as possible, Rossi got promoted to the championship bike.

While history has arguably showed signing him back was the right decision, at the time lets not convince ourselves that he was signed for anything other than marketing reasons.

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#22 said:

My comparison to Hayden was purely on a like-for-like basis on the same bike. Stoner blew each and every one of his team mates away on the Ducati and for someone who is supposed to be the GOAT who would fix the Ducati, his performances were unimpressive. Stoner never once finished the standings behind satellite bikes, and the 'pig' that Rossi inherited won 3 races late in the 2010 season.

As for other options, as have been discussed. Dovi did well that season and although he could be dismissed with the notion that he had been dropped by Honda, he had a great season in 2012 and as history will show, he turned out to be a championship challenger in years to come.

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#22 said:

I think regardless of Spies' performance that season, he was getting dropped. The fact he had some bad luck and never seemed to get into his groove just made the decision easier.

Ironically though, Rossi's results for the same 5 races were 10th, 9th, 7th, 2nd (wet Le mans) and 7th while his team mate's (Hayden) were 6th, 8th, 11th, 6th and 9th. If you take the Le Mans race out where Rossi finished unusually higher due to the wet conditions, he scored 31 points in the first 5 races and Hayden scored 30. The Me Mans result changes that to 51 and 40. Hardly wiping the floor with his team mate yet while Spies gets dumped as fast as possible, Rossi got promoted to the championship bike.

While history has arguably showed signing him back was the right decision, at the time lets not convince ourselves that he was signed for anything other than marketing reasons.

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RCV600RR said:

But you're arbitrarily excluding his wet result, which is as valid as a dry result. Anyway, my point was that Spies on the factory Yamaha was getting outdone by Rossi on the factory Ducati in 2012 before any switch was agreed.

Nicky also outscored Casey quite handily for the first five races of 2010.

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#22 said:

I think regardless of Spies' performance that season, he was getting dropped. The fact he had some bad luck and never seemed to get into his groove just made the decision easier.

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