Rossi has a fantastic sense of history. His family has been involved for years and he understands the effect that each one of his record breaking rides has. When the time is right for HIM he will switch to Ducati I'm sure of it. It will make sure that he will be the ultimate GP racer in the eyes ofthe Italian public. :devil:

I, for one, just hope I'm still around to see it. :sing:

At 26, Rossi's got plenty of time left racing bikes if he can stay motivated (which another change of bike would bring). At the end of the day, he loves bikes (quite a few GP racers don't seem to) so I'm sure in his head he'd love to win a MotoGP title on an Itallian bike. I'm sure he's got his eye on winning the MotoGP title with a 3rd manufacturer.

I'm in no doubt he could turn the 'sedici into a winner. I'm going to go out on a bit of limb here though, 'cause I reckon he could do it with Ducati Corse, ie. without JB. Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% convinced JB has been instrumental in helping Rossi win with both Honda & Yamaha, but I reckon the passion/ engineering expertise at DC, along with Rossi's genius setup/ riding ability could just pull it off (+ the best tyres available). It just might not happen as quickly as if JB was in the team.

I don't think the desmosedici's that far away right now. If it was on the best Michelin's (developed specifically for the 'sedici) with top class riders I think it'd be a lot closer to the front. At the end of the day, Ducati sold out this year when it picked their rider line-up. It might be the best way to go racing financially, but not to go racing to win.

I don't think you will see Rossi in MotoGP when his contract expires with Yamaha. He has nothing left to prove.
My guess is he will take the second seat in Ferrari F1.

aren't next years bikes the small 800 cc things?? or is that the year after?? anyway put that in the mix and who will have the best package-i bet honda are already testing an 800 V4 or V5 or V6 ....what are ducati doing??

current honda 990 v5

take out 1 cylinder 990/5 =198

x4 =792 v4

already there !

They'll be testing, don't you worry

Yeah, I've heard they've got a tricked up S2R in "development". They're using DD as the inspiration for their next MotoGP attack...