VOLUME 56 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 8, 2019 P53
Rossi Changes Crew Chief, Again
V
alentino Rossi confirmed in
Thailand that changing his
crew chief again, in another bid
to reverse his declining fortunes.
But unlike the crew chief change
at the end of 2013, when his
unexpected move took long-time
ally Jeremy Burgess by surprise,
this time he said it was by mutual
agreement, after discussion with
Burgess's replacement Sylvano
Galbusera.
Galbusera is to switch to a
less stressful role with Yamaha's
test team, Rossi said, while he
is to take on the much younger
Davide Munoz stepping up from
Rossi's SKY VR46 Moto2 team.
Burgess had been with Rossi
throughout his MotoGP career,
with Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and
back to Yamaha. But with only one
win in his return year, he sought
refreshment by switching to fellow-
Italian Galbusera, previously with
Yamaha's superbike team.
Nine wins on the six years
since then peaked in 2015 with
four; but his last one was more
than a year ago, at Assen; and
his last podium finish this year
was at round three in the USA,
where he finally lost the lead to
Suzuki's Alex Rins.
"It looks like we are a little bit
stuck," said Rossi.
"After Misano, we spoke
together with Sylvano. I want to
do something stronger; also he
wants to stay with Yamaha, and
try something with less stress
and less travel." At the same
time, Yamaha wanted to add
strength to their test team.
Munoz, Rossi continued,
was currently filling the role with
Nicolo Bulega, but last year was
chief mechanic to Pecco Bag-
naia, who won the Moto2 title.
"He did a good job, and at the
end of the year when Pecco was
a bit nervous about maybe losing
the title to Oliveira, I liked the
way he managed the situation."
However, he added, the move
would potentially weaken his
Moto2 squad, where his half-
brother Luca Marini will continue
next year.
Michael Scott
David Munoz will be
the third crew chief
Valentino Rossi has
worked with in MotoGP.
