Of his quest to help Pedrosa to the
MotoGP title, Puig explains: "It's something personal, it's not just business, it's something inside."
Puig is a very intense man, and a controversial one in the MotoGP paddock, because, like many greats before him, he doesn't tolerate fools. But you can't argue with a guy who has had a major influence on the careers of Pedrosa,
Casey Stoner, Bradley Smith, Alvaro Bautista, and is now mentoring the
Red Bull Rookies.
Saturday am - Now Toseland Becomes TV Host
The multi-skilled
James Toseland will add a third career - that of TV presenter - to his existing roles as motorcycle racer and rock icon, it emerged here last night at the launch of the Babelgum internet TV motorcycling channel.
The Tech 3 Yamaha rider will front programmes produced by the channel, and will undertake roles such as coaching Babelgum's two riders in an Italian women's racing class on riding techniques on their 1098 Ducatis.
Loaded with antibiotics to ward off the 39C temperature and bronchial infection he had been carrying all day, James gamely entertained the crowd at the evening launch with a soulful version of
Walking in Memphis on the piano, and followed it with a Jools Holland-type piece of boogie-woogie, with backing fills provided by the Swedish violinist/supermodel Charlotte Krona.
Today Toseland, hopefully with a reduced fever level, returns to the serious task of dialing in his new chassis to the
Jerez circuit in a bid to record his second consecutive front row starting position.
Friday pm - Yamaha and Valentino: the Dance Begins
The wooing has begun again. For two years the marriage of
Valentino Rossi and Yamaha was bountiful, producing world championships in 2004-05. But the barren years of 2006-07 strained the relationship. Now Rossi's contract with the Japanese manufacturer will terminate at the end of this season, and the 29-year-old Italian will decide: divorce or reconciliation?
