Silly Season

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>as far as i understand, gibernau, even though on a gresini movistar bike, gets full factory treatment with everything biaggi gets.

General:

My understanding is Sete gets all the same stuff as Biaggi but the differenece is Max has all the Honda factory guys working in his pits also he says where he wants the bike developed and which way he wants the bike to be developed. Sete only gets the bike the Biaggi wants it.

So this being the case with there contract with the Repsol team for 2006 is it Hayden or Pedrosa that is gonna take that roll, personally I don't think either of them are up to it. For me Sete is the obvious guy to lead development of the bike.

Thats why I say Honda are setting themselves up to fail again in 2006 and I agree this year is over as far as the championship is concerned. ehehe if Rossi went to the beach for 4 weeks he'd still be in the lead. but hey it only takes a fall and injury and its all on again, ain't ove till the fat lady sings

Cheers

Gibernau has just as much of a developmental responsibility as Biaggi, or so I remember from this years test. I do believe Biaggi has more HRC personnel in his garage but Sete gets the important guys over to his side just as often. They are virtually equal in standing.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Sachsenring, August 1 - Italy's MotoGP ace Valentino Rossi has turned down the offer of a lucrative contract to ride for Italian team Ducati, sources close to Rossi said on Monday .

http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/englis...-01_917566.html

Looks like he's not tempted to go at the moment

I'd love to see Rossi on the Ducati. Looks like it aint guna happent tho.

Not yet anyways, Ducati is contracted to Bridgestone through 2006. If Rossi were to go to Ducati they would need Michelin tires and an improved package from what they have now. If Rossi is still in MotoGP in 2007 or 2008 I think he could be riding a red bike then.

This is the latest I have heard from various sources.

Bayliss will leave MotoGP to take James Toseland's seat in the factory Xerox Ducati WSB effort for 2006.

Toseland will leave Xerox Ducati to ride for, friend Paul Denning's, Suzuki MotoGP team.

Hodgson will stay in the AMA with Austin Ducati, it is reported his contract is all but officially announced.

Xaus will join Hodgson in the AMA either with Austin Ducati or another team, possibly Jordan Suzuki.

Bostrom will leave Austin Ducati for a place alongside brother Ben in the World Superbike Championship.

Cheers Ooost. Sounds like good stuff really.

Will be interesting to see how Mr Toseland fairs in motoGP, might not be the right move for him.

I've just received more news about Rossi's possible move to Ferrari. It was reported at www.itv-f1.com that information has been leaked from sources inside Ferrari saying that the Italian F1 team is interested in signing Rossi to an official testing role most likely after his 2006 contract with Yamaha is up. The other information that was leaked was Rossi's times from the closed door test, they were not "3 seconds off the pace" as first thought. His best time was less than 1.5 seconds off the lap record. Rossi has downplayed tests with Ferrari in the past, especially after Davide Brivio announced that Rossi would go to F1 in 2007, saying that these tests are "...just to fuel curiosity" although his latest test with Ferrari was much more serious than anticipated with Rossi accumulating over 375km. More than enough to meet the required 300km to earn an F1 Superlisence. It is looking more and more likely that Rossi will switch to four wheels... perhaps sooner than we thought.

1.5 secs? Thats incredible!! I dont care what anyone says, if he went to F1 he would be competitive.

375km? "just a private test"? your prob right Ooost.

1.5 second is incredible, the only question I have is this. Rossi picks up things so fast you have to wonder how much he has left to go in his times, because it is possible that is as fast as he can go.

I agree with you Ron, I think he will go to F1, all the pieces seem to fit. From this far away anyways.

It's reported at both crash.net and www.mcn.com that Ferrari is planning on signing Rossi to an official testing role for 2007. However as some had speculated Rossi would do part time testing when available in the remainder of 2005 and all of 2006, it is looking less and less likely due to sponsorship clashes between Yamaha's Altadis funding and Ferrari's Marlboro money.

Good for F1...........bad news for motoGP ...............although it would certainly make both champs very interesting!!

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=95054

Now whats Rossi doing, may not be going to F1

I hope not

I bet he's sitting home with Uccio's hand in his lap right now, laughing it up at the publics confusion about his intentions for the coming years. He's loving it. He can go ride and drive anything he wants, and Yamaha doesn't care. Maybe they will regret giving him all the freedom when he goes to cars and honda regains domination...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (GeNeRaL @ Aug 15 2005, 12:27 PM)<div class='quotemain'>I bet he's sitting home with Uccio's hand in his lap right now, laughing it up at the publics confusion about his intentions for the coming years.  He's loving it.  He can go ride and drive anything he wants, and Yamaha doesn't care.  Maybe they will regret giving him all the freedom when he goes to cars and honda regains domination...
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Will his one man army go to?

Sounds like he has some sort of an agreement with the controlling body of Ferrari and Fiat. It's looking very likely he will not be around in MotoGP much longer. I'm still holding out hope when he leaves he goes to F1, it would be interesting.

rossi is gonna stay in gps. on ducati in 07! champ on three different makes! nobody will top that! a dream maybe, but it sure would be interesting!!!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (kev58 @ Aug 15 2005, 08:00 PM)<div class='quotemain'>rossi is gonna stay in gps. on ducati in 07! champ on three different makes! nobody will top that! a dream maybe, but it sure would be interesting!!!!
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Hmmmmm......nobody got him going back to karts then?

I've read a couple of interesting bits rummaging around the John Hopkins forum so I don't have any hard evidence but the same names keep reoccurring so I thought I would share.

On top of the interest Ducati has shown in Hopkins, Suzuki is right there again offerring a long term deal with additional promises of a competitive machine. Past the obvious Ducati and Suzuki bids apparently there is some interest from a Honda satelite team, there are reports that Luca Monitron is in talks with HRC for an additional bike which would put 8 Honda machines on the grid for next season. Hopkins' name has been linked to one of those rides.

Another rumor I have heard is that Suzuki will be getting rid of one of it's current riders for next year, apparently confirmed by Paul Denning. Should Hopkins sign elsewhere Kenny Roberts Jr. will remain with Suzuki and a new rider will be added to the squad. Should Hopkins re-sign with Suzuki KR Jr. will get the boot for a new rider. JT had linked himself with that ride but after Paul Denning's statements of "not interested" it seems far fetched he would get the ride as Denning wants a rider with MotoGP experience. The two names that repeatedly are linked with the Suzuki seat are James Ellison and Shakey Byrne, perhaps that is what Byrne meant by "exploring his options" at Brno.

There were plenty of other conspiracies and rumors floating around but these seemed to reoccur the most and were the most logical and believable. Stay tuned.

Solid,Oost Shakey`s situation is well......`shaky`,and the Blatta scene has gone very qiuet in MCN and seems likely to vanish,which as you said leaves Ellison in the dark.Great shame really as he is still young enough to have the `fire` in him and develop his MGP skills if he was signed by the right team.