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?
