Bryan's Blog

MCN’s latest cover story states that Valentino Rossi has signed on with Ducati to race next year. The cover of Britain’s leading motorcycle magazine claims that an unnamed insider confirms it’s a done deal. Speculation is that full disclosure of the agreement will be revealed as early as the Catalunya MotoGP round this weekend.

Having the Italian rider competing on Italian machinery would be a dream match-up for the Ducatisti. Marlboro Ducati has supposedly offered a sweet deal, dangling both big money and future F1 and rally car options. One piece of the puzzle that doesn’t seem to be in place yet is whether Rossi’s trusted crew chief, Jeremy Burgess, would be moving over to Ducati as well to help in developing the 1000cc Ducati when GP makes the switch in 2012.

There’s plenty of impetus for Rossi to make the move. It has been reported that Yamaha wants Rossi to accept a pay cut while his teammate Jorge Lorenzo stands to get a big pay raise if he holds on to win the 2010 World Championship. It’s no big secret that Fiat Yamaha team is touting the 23-year-old Lorenzo as its future over the 31-year-old Rossi, who suffered the worst injury of his career recently and is out of commission until his broken leg heals. Rossi hasn’t hidden his disdain in the past about sharing the Fiat Yamaha garage with the young Mallorcan. Remember the sheet between the two in the garage during Lorenzo’s rookie year?

Rossi on a Ducati. It’s a match made in Italian racing heaven. I’d love to see it. Think about how determined Rossi will be to get his title back if Lorenzo can stay healthy and win the MotoGP title this year. Hopefully we’ll find out if MCN’s insider info is true this weekend.