Xerox Ducati

Had an interesting chat with my contact at Xerox the other day at an office supplies conference (they are one of our partners through work).

Apparently the reason the Xerox Ducati team was dropped from Superbikes was so they could afford to pay Rossi's wages! She didn't know who he was really, but they'd all been advised about what was happening and why the sponsorship deal was cancelled.

That means any chances I had of getting hospitality tickets are well and truly gone! lol ;D

Wonder what else had to change behind the scenes to make way for Rossi's salary... I just hope now he can make the investment worthwhile and that he's not too long in the tooth to compete with all the whippersnappers biting at his heels. With Stoner & Lorenzo already proven talents, Simoncelli looking like he might have the goods if he can refine his style, and Mark Marquez being tipped as the next Rossi, does he still have the drive and ambition needed to compete at the highest level, consistently, race after race while still trying to refine and develop the desmo?

My heart says I certainly hope so, my gut tells me he could be at the wrong end of his career and should have made the switch to Ducati 4 years ago if he wanted to be consistently competitive on Italian machinery. I really hope I'm wrong and that 2012 will bring with it another championship win for the 46 bike...

Thoughts anyone else?

It was pretty much the belief that the WSB effort was canned to pay for Rossi, though the bikes and many of the staff from the WSB team transferred over to the Althea outfit for whom Carlos Checa is riding this season in WSB.

Marquez has been tipped as the next Lorenzo, not the next Rossi...

I don't think he's in with much of a shout of this year's title, though from mid-summer in 2006 he overcame a 51-point deficit to Nicky Hayden to take the fight to the final round at Valencia, only to fall off ::) If VR and Jerry Burgess can get the Ducati to steer the way he wants it to (maybe they have a better chance with next year's bike, a bit more of a clean sheet of paper) then he'll be in the running for the title as it's the challenge that he relishes most really, he has little else to prove to anyone.

I'll be interested to see how much bigger the crowd will be at Silverstone for this year's MotoGP compared with last year's. Rossi's absence definitely robbed the event of its biggest star and biggest draw in terms of crowd numbers, there was talk of the race day attendance being down as much as 25% from its full potential... :-?

I think it was a stroke of genius waiting untill now to move.

He was able to command big money from the Japanese teams while at the top of his game. Now he's on the way down and with younger tallent on the way up he's moved to the team that can really benefit from his reputation.

Sales of merchandise will be going through the roof and with a few Ducati/Rossi specials soon to be gracing our roads, Ducati's profits will be soaring. It's win win all round even if he doesn't actually win!

Obviously he's still hungry for another championship title but he's also under no illusion that it might not happen. Luckily he's got a management team who are looking to safeguard his future finacially.

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Originally Posted by dan_geoghegan

I think it was a stroke of genius waiting untill now to move.

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Financially I couldn't agree more. With so many worl titles, it doesn't matter for him, or Ducati if he actually wins now. Either way his salary is safe, and being a 9 times world champ, they will move more stock regardless of whether the elusive 10th title is in him.

But from an Italian Pride (taking the title on his own countries machine) perspective, he has his work cut out for him. As a huge Rossi fan, I really hope he can do it! But after so many years, and now a monumental crash recently, it must be hard to keep the level needed up 150% of the time, which is needed.

Either way, next year they all start fresh on new engines, probably new chassis, and with development data already in place (to speak of) so it will be interesting. Especially with the engine claiming rules being brought into force....