[tigerblade]

Article on Soup today had an interesting blurb. First I'd seen Barros' name mentioned to go back to Honda.

[ccwilli3]

I've been thinking that since the flyaways...

[Baketech]

LTL will be hard to live with....he's been saying that...

[CBRVFR]

From SPEED - Barros info in 3rd paragraph...

Honda Plays Hardball with Valentino
Written by: Dennis Noyes
Borrego Springs, CA – 11/14/2003
Valentino Rossi is getting the cold shoulder from Honda after leaving the team (Photo: Andrew Northcott)
All the polite talk that has surrounded the decision of Valentino Rossi to leave the Repsol Honda team to join Yamaha is proving to be just that, polite talk. Today, however, a polite request from Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio asking Honda to allow Rossi to test the Yamaha YZR M1 during a three day test at Sepang, Malayisa starting on November 28, has been answered by an equally polite refusal which speaks of “affection” and “respect” but is clearly no big “no.”

Brivio claims to be surprised that Honda would not agree to help Yamaha get their testing program underway with the five times World Champion and points out that Yamaha allowed Biaggi to test with Honda (Team Pons) immediately after the 2002 season ended, but he forgets that Yamaha fired Biaggi whereas Rossi quit Honda.

There was speculation that Honda might be willing to do some horse-trading in this matter, freeing Rossi to test for Honda if Yamaha released Alex Barros to join the Repsol team without enforcing the multi-million dollar release clause in the Brazilian’s contract. It might turn out that a couple of million bucks means a lot more to Yamaha, who have just signed Rossi and 80% of his technical crew for what has got to be more than 10 million dollars, than to Honda…even if Honda really does end up signing Barros.

A statement from Tech 3 Yamaha (the current Gauloises Yamaha team) owner Herve Poncheral on Tuesday in which he stated that he hoped to keep the Brazilian riding for him in 2004, might be an indication that the whole Barros-to-Repsol Honda deal is no longer a sure thing.

With a line-up of Nicky Hayden, Sete Gibernau, Max Biaggi and Makoto Tamada now reinforced by the signing of Colin Edwards, Honda really don’t need yet another top rider. But Repsol, the Spanish petroleum giant with interests in Brazil, Argentina and other South American countries, desperately needs a Spanish or South American rider to make commercial sense out of their investment.

Rossi’s global fame made the Repsol Honda sponsorship valuable since Rossi is probably as popular in Spain as any Spanish rider and as popular in Brazil as Barros. The same is not true, however, of the 2003 Rookie of the Year, Nicky Hayden.

Honda have made it abundantly clear that they are not going to let a sponsor decide their rider signings. Carlo Fiorani, HRC Race Team Director, said that the sponsor of a soccer team would never have the right to make out the starting line-up, and that HRC recognized the legitimate interests of Repsol and, in the event that a top Spanish or South American rider were available, HRC would take nationality into consideration, “all other factors being equal,” but with Carlos Checa riding for Yamaha and Sete Gibernau with the Telefónica Movistar Honda Gresini team, the number of suitable Spanish or South American riders available is very limited.

A couple of 250 riders were considered at one time by Repsol but neither is really ready for MotoGP and, besides, both have already signed: Sebas Porto (Argentina) has signed with Aprilia. Toni Elias (Spain) has signed with a Fortuna Honda team which will run within the Gresini structure.

That really leaves only three riders:

Alex Barros (Brazil), a winner of two of the last four races in 2002 on an RC211V, but coming off a dismal year with Yamaha. He did get Yamaha’s only podium, but he crashed 14 times and never battled for a win.

Fonsi Nieto (Spain), a mercurial rider in 250 for the Telefónica-Repsol Aprilia 250 team. He was considered one of the favorites for the title in 2003 but won only a single race and was out-paced by team mate Elias over the second half of the season. He is very popular in Spain both because of his famous father, Angel Nieto, a thirteen times World Champion, and because of his movie star girlfriend, Elsa Pataki. (Because of his popularity, Nieto has been featured in a national Telefónica Movistar mobile phone TV advertising campaign with Pataki, something that annoys Repsol who share sponsorship of the Aprilia 250 team that Elias and Nieto rode for this year.) But, with Elias moving to Honda, Nieto will almost certainly stay on as the lead rider in the Valencia-based Aprilia team.

And finally, World Superbike runner-up Rubén Xaus, who seems almost certain to sign with the number two Ducati Corse team, owned by Luis D’Antin, in MotoGP.

It is also unlikely that HRC would accept Nieto who has no big bike experience. There was some talk in Repsol of Xaus, but most Spanish journalists feel that Xaus will stay with Ducati, either in MotoGP or, a less likely possibility, in the AMA Superbike championship.

There might still be the possibility of HRC and Yamaha arriving at some kind of understanding that would waive Barros’ release fee in exchange for granting Rossi the freedom to test before his contract expires on December 31. Brivio was quoted on the MotoGP website as saying, “Now we will have to see if we can do anything to change the situation.”

Meanwhile the clock ticks on and Yamaha may have to start their pre-season testing program with Carlos Checa, whose riding style and set-up preferences are not the same as Rossi’s, doing the work at a test scheduled in Sepang at the end of this month.

[tigerblade]

Maybe Barros is staying at Yamaha after all.

Today's Soup

[luvtolean]

Either way...gotta love the silly season.

[ccwilli3]

Originally posted by tigerblade
Maybe Barros is staying at Yamaha after all.

Today's Soup

Wonder how barros REALLY feels about that?