SupraStar 3000 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Shame as I was looking forward to seeing him drive a F1 car Hill did a good job from the bike to car transition and I'm sure Rossi would have too. "In a statement to the Italian press Wednesday, MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi announced, "No Formula One, at least for the moment. I'm staying with bikes." The announcement came a day after Rossi was honored with the "Spirit of Sport" award at the annual Laureus World Sports Awards in Barcelona (photo at right), for his contributions to MotoGP during his five years as World Champion. Rossi's announcement will disappoint the Ferrari tifosi, who were hopeful that Rossi's tests for the team would again see an Italian behind the wheel of the red cars. With the ultra-competitive Ferrar F1 team, Rossi also had a shot at becoming only the second man (after England's John Surtees) to win world championships on both two and four wheels. Wednesday's announcement leaves Ferrari's driver lineup for the 2007 season in a state of complete confusion, at least for outsiders. Michael Schumacher has yet to decide whether or not he will continue to drive for the team next year, and Felipe Massa is on a one-year contract for this season. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen, currently driving for McLaren, is widely rumored to have signed a deal with Ferrari, but that agreement could well fall apart if Schumacher returns. For his part, Michael Schumacher expressed his regret at Rossi's decision, saying, "I think he has a lot of talent in terms of driving... It is sad but that's the way it is." Rossi, meanwhile, is not enjoying a good start to the 2006 MotoGP season, as his Yamaha factory team is struggling with performance and reliability issues." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey76364 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Would have been very interesting to to if he had what it takes in the car. He sure knows what he is doing on a bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psymon Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Moto Gp would not be the same without Rossi. Im glad he is staying for the short term at least. He has alot to prove this year with his poor start to the season and all the rookie's have proved they can hack it at the sharp end. This season is going be great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Prawn Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Not a big surprise. He still has a huge job to do this season and next year the MotoGP rules change which will be a massive pull for him to try and win it. His contract with Yamaha does end this year so who knows what bike we'll be on in 2008. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rik Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Moto gp goes to 800cc limit next season, and i think Rossi wants to leave the series with the legacy of a well developed bike. And lets face it, after the way he turned the current Yamaha around, there's no doubt about his development skills. Current problem excluded obviously, but even that looks sorted now after last sundays performance. If you read any interviews from his crew chief Jeramy Burgess, he tells how Vale can do a single lap and come into the garage and diagnose multiple issues with the bike and explain them in great detail. This is quite unheard of apparantly, any other rider can only solve one set up issue at a time. Rossi is young, and maybe he will go to F1 when he feels his work is done on bikes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew7 Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 I can't see why any good bike rider would want to go to boring F1 in comparison with Moto GP.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psymon Posted May 26, 2006 Share Posted May 26, 2006 Would like to see Rossi , go to Ducati next year and win a title on a third bike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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