Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

By CHICANERY HENNY RAY ABRAMS A Tantalizing Thought lentino Rossi on a Ducati? A tempting thought for the legions of fans of all things Italian. The greatest racer of his generation, if not all time, racing in the colors of the most passionate motorcycle company on the planet. Ducati MotoGP team director Livio Suppo has given it some thought. The subject came up during a discussion of Ducati's move to Bridgestone tires. The idea of switching from the all-conquering French tires to the neophyte Japanese brand was his own, Suppo said. As a marketing boss, and someone who has to sell the race team to potential sponsors for many millions of dollars, switching tires was a way of seeking an edge "in a championship in which there is one guy that wins all the f-ing races," he said with a laugh in fluent, lightly accented English before the Catalan Grand Prix. '~nd that's the reality. It's really amazing. Valentino has won four of five, and I think he's winning seven out of the last eight races. Because the last winner was Sete [Gibernau] in Qatar [in 2004]." That was the race where Honda made the mistake of pissing off Rossi. The World Champion was forced to start from the back of the grid after six seconds were added to his qualifying time. The punishment was for his team having cleaned his spot on the dusty, desert starting grid. Race officials had been notified of the infraction by a number of teams, including Repsol and Telefonica MoviStar Honda, as well as Marlboro Ducati. The Yamaha team appealed with something of a weak argument - that it was a merely a reference point Rossi could aim for in lining up for the first corner - and was denied. Up to eighth place within a lap, he was fourth on lap six when he crashed. Since that day in early October, he's won every race but one. He won in Malaysia, he won in Australia, he won in Valencia, plus five of six this year. So he's eight out of nine with one second, to Alex Barros in the dodgy wet of Estoril this year. Suppo was careful in choosing his words. Whatever chance he might have would vanish if he alienated Rossi's management team. "I think as well as nobody can say no, I think because Valentino is Valentino, you have to wait until he wants to do it," Suppo said. '~t the end of the day his position, you don't change your mind. He's not in a position where money or nice words or whatever can change his mind. If he feels good where he's in, there's really nothing you can do, I think, if I know him a little. Because he's smart enough and intelligent enough to take his own decision," V Suppo made the point that in 2003 Rossi wanted to leave Honda. They'd grown weary of each other. Honda had tired of what they felt were unreasonable demands, and Rossi wasn't feeling the love. "He was looking for something else," Suppo said. "You remember, he was sending a lot of messages out. He had the motivation to leave. And that's why probably he chose Yamaha for some reason, but at the end of the day, he wanted to leave." "Now my feeling is that he wants to stay at Yamaha, and if he wants to come with us, just ring. I think no one manufacturer, if Valentino is interested in joining, is in a position to say, 'I'm not interested,''' Rossi has been even more successful at Yamaha than he was at Honda. A comparison of statistics shows that on the M-I he's winning more frequently and scoring more points per round. Since joining Maybe after the U.S. GP at Indianapolis, Michael Schumacher could talk Valentino Rossi into believing the fad that Bridgestone makes a pretty good tire. Rossi said the move was motivational, that he wanted a new challenge after serially winning on the Honda. There is, of course, more. Honda is based in Aalst, Belgium, not far outside of Brussels. Yamaha's MotoGP team, run by Rossi's fellow Italian Davide Brivio, is based at the headquarters of Yamaha Motor Italia in Germo de Lesmo, just a few kilometers from Monza. Yamaha at the start of the 2004 season, Rossi has won 14 of 22 races, a stunning 63.6-percent success rate. His 33 wins in 64 Honda starts added up to 51.6 percent. "Honestly, I think that Valentino is the kind of rider that when he wants something, he's able to show," Suppo said. "So far, to me, it looks like he's really focused to stay where he is. It's understandable. He's winning so much. Reading his decla- ration, he's really happy with the team and the atmosphere," And, most importantly, he's not likely to want to change tire brands. Since joining the premier class, Rossi has known nothing but Michelin. The switch to Yamaha was difficult enough; doing it on different tires would have made the challenge far more difficult. But it would also have given Bridgestone invaluable input. Ben Bostrom provided an insight into Suppo's thinking. In 200 I there were three factory Ducatis in World Superbike. Bostrom rode on Dunlops with the L&M team while the other two riders, Troy Bayliss and Ruben Xaus, were on Michelins. "At the end there would be two manufacturers more or less with the same level," Suppo said. "There would be always a track in which Dunlop is better or Michelin is better. So this increases, in theory, the capability to win races." Dunlop won more races that year, but Michelin won the championship. Could Bridgestone rise up to the level of the dominant Michelins with Rossi on board? "I honestly believe that a lot of the rumors about Michelin last year doing more for Yamaha than for Honda are, I think, wrong," Suppo said. "It's not true. I think at the end of the day what they have done is, they have followed the best rider in the world that is racing with Michelin." Suppo believes Bridgestone is on the right path. They built race-winning tires for Makoto Tamada at both Rio and Motegi last year. Their race tires were clearly the best in the streaming wet of China this year. Suzuki's Kenny Roberts Jr. rekindled his glory days by leading Rossi for several lap until his engine expired. Frenchman Olivier Jacque was a surprising second in his first ride on the Kawasaki. The amount of data Bridgestone has acquired is far less than Michelin's. If they can catch up, Suppo says, "then this could be in theory a very good advantage for the company. Because once you secure this advantage, it's not like a rider, that they'll leave. And if Valentino will leave Yamaha tomorrow, they have won, but they probably have learned something about the bike. If you look with Mick Doohan or Valentino or Carl Fogarty, you have to find another one to replace him," Rossi moving to Ducati would validate what Suppo believes most. "Riders make a big difference," The success Rossi and his team have enjoyed is proof that the challenge of taking a brand other than Honda to the World title has been overcome. What about a third brand on different tires? Now that's a challenge. CN CYCLE NEWS • JUNE 29, 2005 83

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