With Vinales now off the table, that leaves Marquez, Quartararo and to some extent Rossi as the big fish yet to sign. Rossi has said that he wants to evaluate things over the first part of the season before he decides on his future. In the meantime Yamaha is going to find themselves in a bit of a pickle. Ducati is already dangling a truck load of cash at Fabio, (and as I have said repeatedly) if Jarvis is dumb enough (he is!) to let the kid go to a rival then Yamaha are in a world of hurt. If they wait around for Rossi to make a decision it may be too late! Rossi has already stated that he would be fine riding for Petronas, but I seriously doubt he would cherish a move to an albeit very good satellite squad. I also have my doubts about Vinales bike setup abilities, but they have effectively made him the team leader by signing him for the next 3 years, so they have already made that commitment.
All this has to be ultimately aimed at upsetting Marquez proverbial Apple cart. His stranglehold on the class has got everyone chasing their tales to come up with a solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem. Even Honda themselves by installing Marquez little bother on Lorenzo's vacated seat (that and a loaded Brinks truck!) are doing their best to keep him happy! The Ducati team has been the most publicly active squad of them all in this regard for some time now and their 2020 bike shows Gigi's team has a few tricks up their sleeve still. Suzuki is getting closer all the time, but I just don't think Mir is ready to be in MotoGP yet, and Rins cannot do it all on his own.
www.motorsportmagazine.com
us.motorsport.com
www.sportsbusinessdaily.com
www.asphaltandrubber.com
www.motorsport.com
sport.sky.it
