Ducati hopeful that Rossi can test
Added on Friday, August 20th, 2010 by Carole Nash Editor
Ducati hopeful that Rossi can test
Ducati remain hopeful that Valentino Rossi will be able to test the 2011 Desmosedici before the year is out, but the team is expecting some strong resistance from Yamaha.
Rossi, who will ride for Ducati in 2011, has a contract with Yamaha that takes him beyond the traditional post-season test in Valencia, the day that most riders ‘unofficially’ start with their new teams.
And it is believed that Yamaha are planning to stick rigidly to Rossi’s agreement, holding on to the Italian’s services beyond the end of the season, with Yamaha’s Masao Furusawa claiming that Rossi will be “wearing blue until the end of the year”, thus blocking any possibility of Rossi testing for Ducati.
But Ducati team boss Filipo Preziosi expects Rossi to take part in the test with Ducati.
“We will grant any of Furusawa’s wishes, we’ll even paint the bike blue,” he told Gazzetta dello Sport. “I don’t want to believe that [Yamaha won't allow Rossi to test] and it would be bad – last time that happened [Honda in 2003] it didn’t bring much luck.”
Even though Rossi will be at Ducati next year, Preziosi reckons Jorge Lorenzo at Yamaha will still be the title favourite.
“Lorenzo will not change bikes so he will be super favourite next year, it will be on equal footing in 2012,” he added. “It’s tough, but we’ve done the right thing.”
