VALENTINO ROSSI is recovering so well as that he may be back in a fortnight, to race at the German GP at the Sachsenring. That was the rumour circulating at the Catalunya. Much more plausible, however, was the one that broke the previous week – that he had signed to join the Marlboro Ducati next year, giving way at Yamaha for young rival Jorge Lorenzo.Although no official confirmation was forthcoming at the circuit, Italian Press reports put the sign-on fee at the 15-million Euros, and insisted that the deal was already been done.
It’s a story that has been coming back week by week since the rumours began at the third race of the season. But it gathers strength with each other return, and is now considered a fait accompli by racing cognoscenti.
Only hints were forthcoming at Catalunya. Rossi’s crew chief Jeremy Burgess was back for the first time since Rossi was crashed four races ago, tending to the factory’s substitute rider. He shrugged off questions about whether he would be moved with Rossi, but said: “I would say that a decision is imminent, so to speak.”
Ducati’s official line was that nothing had been decided, but a source close to the team said that only details are remained to be worked out ... one detail being how the official announcement would be handled.
As reported previously, the move makes sense for many of reasons: mainly Rossi’s aversion to sharing a pit, the bike he developed and a reduced (for him) overall fee with Lorenzo.
For Ducati, it fills a hole left by the imminent departure of Stoner to Honda; for sponsors Marlboro it makes sense of their recent contract and renewal with the team until the end of 2012.
As for Rossi’s return to close his account with Yamaha, suggestions of a return to Germany, six weeks after the injury, seem premature: his own cheerful messages have been stuck with Brno as the return date, in the middle of August.
Footnote: Rossi was reported in Spain for the Catalan GP, but not for the race. Instead he had gone to his Ibiza holiday home to continue his recuperation.
