So what are his options. Stay at Ducati with a huge drop in salary and performance related pay ( if they still want him ). Satellite Yamaha team run by VR46 although I doubt his ego could handle that.
Maybe a team would run a 3rd bike? Remeber Stoner, Pedrosa and Dovi in the Repsol Honda team in 2011? Lorenzo would be near the top of any team managers shopping list (maybe apart from Ducati right now) A long shot, but why not if it's still allowed? Personally, I'd like to see him replace Pedrosa and make a new mega team with Marquez. Pedrosa is a nice guy, but he's never going to be up there and had had his chance with Repsol Honda imo.
Lorenzo could t work with Rossi, or Dovi, imagine being alongside the best rider of the last 3 years?! It’s amazing to think that he has more chance of winning the title than Rossi, yet any team would have VR over Jlo any time. The power of marketing and adaptability
I think Lorenzo could work fine with Rossi, the problem came from the other side of the garage. It was Rossi that chucked his toys out of the pram with the wall and leaving for Ducati when Yamaha wouldn't bow to his demands. Remember, he almost had his tail between his legs when he came back and said Lorenzo was the teams No.1. It became obvious during the latter part of Lorenzo's time at Yamaha that Rossi was being favoured, the Ducati looked to be getting stronger, so Lorenzo had had enough. I think all things being equal, he'd still be there.
I agree and support - just wish he stopped spouting shit when he does do well ( look at Dovi and Miller recently ) Got so much more time for them due to the way they handle themselves when there has been issues
So why have they went backwards since Lorenzo left? Why couldn't Rossi develop the Desmo, despite being vaunted as the great saviour at the time of his arrival? I think some things get repeated by people who don't really understand these things, and get regurgitated as fact. It's ridiculous to think that Lorenzo had no input into Yamaha develpment and just rode on Rossi's coat tails, but of course Rossi can do no wrong. For someone that couldn't develop a bike, Lorenzo has done OK then. BTW, Lorenzo's set up is extremely radical, with his forks kicked out, almost chopper style, he had a very different set up to Rossi throughout his Yamaha career. He was accused of copying Rossi in the early days, and he did. He arrived in MotoGP alongside one of the greatest ever and said "set me up the same as him". That was an extremely sensible thing to do, what anybody would have done. He's have been a fool to arrive in Yamaha and ignore Rossi's experience on the bike. Except he was fast and Rossi didn't like it, hence the wall. But it didn't work as Lorenzo's stronger than that.
To be fair it was the Rossi and Burgess combination that made the Yamaha a great bike, they failed miserably at Ducati.
Exactly. And they simply couldn’t replicate at Ducati, for whatever reason. Factory support? Factory desire/demand for the chassis design? Lost mojo? Check out VR riding style over the years, and how it has changed to suit current demand. Then check out Jlo; one style rider. Different league of commitment.
Yamaha have gone backwards partly because they lost key data guys to Honda. Surprise surprise Honda have made a step since getting them. Also I think not having a clear number one rider doesn't help as whose direction do you follow ? I doubt Honda have any More and more the differences in performance are down to the electronics as much as anything else. Can't ever see JLO being a number 2 on a lesser team. His ego won't allow it, he will just walk. As to why Rossi didn't do better on the Duke, whose to say for sure. You can give all the feedback in the world but if the engineers can't turn that into a product you go nowhere. Riders are not engine builders or engineers. Also depends how intransigent the manufacturer is to change, budgets, homologation and testing rules etc etc. Certainly Rossi had to eat some humble pie over it.
I thought that the new carbon monocoque chassis was the issue. They’d only just started using it when Rossi joined. Took multiple riders years of changes before it started becoming good again. Riders all complained about the same thing. Carbon chassis too stiff so no feel.
What ego? and he'll walk based on what exactly? Lorenzo never tried to have Rossi removed from Yamaha, Rossi tried this with Lorenzo. Lorenzo was asked about Rossi's return to Yamaha from Ducati and had no problem with it, making no waves, he was very gracious actually. He didn't really walk from Yamaha due to ego. The Ducati was looking like it could be a winner, he's not the 1st to find it difficult. Why would he be a "number 2" anywhere he went? Which factory teams run a number 1 and number 2with superior equipment going to one rider? I really don't get the Lorenzo hate, but it's blinding you to the facts.
Most of us can only go by what we read in the racing press and no real team insider insight. In the main, it backs up Jlo’s reluctant to share, to change, and need to have his way only. I’m sure when anyone gets to the top they are the same, to more or lesser an extent.
Did I say anything about JLO pushing anyone out, your putting 2 and 2 together and making 5. Jlo is a factory rider with top billing. I'm saying he might rather walk than not have a factory ride and being the focus of that factory. That is ego, they all have it. Differing rider treatment. Ask Scott Redding and Sam Lowes that question. To the point that Espagaro even complained on Sam's behalf at his poor treatment and parts that were known not to work. Factories develop a bike around their best performers, how much input do you think Nicky Hayden had on the Rossi era Ducati. Not much me thinks.
My understanding was that a lot of the problems when Rossi was at Ducati were down to the environment within the racing department. They didn't want to listen to Burgess and Rossi because Stoner had already won on the bike so it must be ok. Only later it became very clear that there was a major problem with the general attitude hence Gigi being brought in. Anyone who talks publicly has to create a media persona. Some (Rossi) are very good at this naturally whereas others (Lorenzo) are not very good at it. A rare few like Crutchlow just dont give a f*ck but people dont like it when he speaks his mind?! He's one of the top five or so riders in the whole world; I'd say that it's pretty reasonable he thinks like he is the best. The psychology of a sports person is a very important thing; something I think Lorenzo struggles with. I can't see Lorenzo still riding at the top level like Rossi when he is 40yrs old?
