MOTOGP » Rossi raises pressure with Ducati talk

It is a sad fact, but all great stars have a limited lifespan. Rossi is yesterdays hero. He burnt his bridges with Honda, he is loosing friends at Yamaha; probably lost all his support at Michelin and why on earth would Ducati want him alongside Casey Stoner. None of the big teams will employ and ageing star with high salary demands when the likes of Pedrosa and Lorenzo are hungry for titles.

Listen to you all ! It's not as if Rossi is reneging on his contract. It has a year to run and he will honour it. He has every right to comment on how poor Yamaha have been this season. Its down to him and Burgess that have made the team what it is. Do you think Rossi gives a **** if Yamaha sack him. Personally Moto Gp needs a villan to spice things up and if it's going to be Rossi then so be it. More rivalries make for a much better spectator sport. Lets see how Melandri does on the Ducati next year. It may be that he performs poorly on the all new conquering duke !

Jacko, don't get carried away. If Rossi decides to switch teams they all will be cuing up. Honda too.

Rossi is only doing what every other rider of his calibre (and lesser) has done before. Putting a rocket under Yamaha so they'll produce better goods for next year.
This only shows that he is still hungry and doesn't like finishing 2nd (let alone 3rd!) and if Yamaha aren't up to doing the job, then maybe I'll look somewhere else.
He has always honoured his contractual obligations (even with Michelin as the contract was up at the end of this year anyway) so there is no suggestion that he wants to walk NOW. Nothing wrong with making Ducati aware that if they should want him in 2009 then he'd be up for a move...

yup Mr Rock! as I said as well. Thank you!

Its a no brainer boys and girls...who in their right mind would want Rossi in there team???? He will come with demands that will directly effect his team mate, Stoner should do to Rossi as Rossi did to him. SAY NO.
Rossi has disrespected Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Michelin he is running out of places to go. Its sad he has brought the sport into dissrepute, I think it best for the sport if he leaves now but Carmelo Ezpeleta's preciuos TV money will dictate the outcome of rossi's next contract....sad but true

MrRock, Honda will never re-employ a rider that has publically slagged them off. And if you were in charge of Ducati would you pay Rossi substantially more than Stoner? Because I'm sure Rossi's current salary is massively greater than rookie Stoner's. The only teams lining up to employ Rossi will be Kawasaki and Suzuki. The Rossi ledgend is slowly being dismantled. It is very sad. I'm quite a fan of Rossi I don't like to see this happening. I wish he had gone to F1 or WRC and remotivated himself.

Yep! The big two will definately be queing up for his services next year and both with tempting offers. On the one hand you have BBC1 who would love to have him on 'Strictly Come Dancing' but then again ITV could tempt him with 'Im a Celebrity' and throw in 'Hells Kitchen' as a sweetener or maybe even Ch4 could trump both of them with a full factory ride on 'Big Brother'....

you mean "thEIr " team, not "there " team? there's no such thing thing as here-there-team

Rossi has honoured Honda by giving them three World Championships, he honoured Yamaha by giving them two,
one of those in the year of their 50th anniversary (when they also clinched the manufacturers title).
Suzuki or Kawasaki will surely recognize his potential, Ducati will too but they'll probably stick to their current riders.
I'm really curious how 208 pans out, if Yamaha can make the bike competitive again