Are you a die-hard Rossi fan? Planning on getting married soon? If yes, then newly weds Mr and Mrs Bowen have some news for you. On recently getting married, they got palladium wedding rings which, as it just so happens, are made of the metal with an atomic number of 46. It could just be a new trend in wedding bands or it could be a deliberate attempt to get some sort of a Rossi tribute into their wedding celebrations without going too kitsch. I’m not a chemistry expert, but for those of you interested an ‘atomic number’ is: the number of protons found in the nucleus of an atom and therefore identical to the charge number of the nucleus. According to Wikipedia. So now you can all go silly with comments about Rossi’s atoms, protons and charges. In the meantime we think there could be a merchandising opportunity in here somewhere for Ducati….

Source | MCN
Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Number 46 wedding rings

Check out the pic of how Nicky Hayden’s Alpinestars leathers ended up after his left knee slider popped off during the Indy race on one of the open drain covers.

There was more than one complaint this weekend by the riders regarding the abrasive and bumpy Indianapolis track surface with Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi being the most outspoken.

Casey Stoner who also lost a knee slider during Saturday’s second free practice session said: “A lot of the circuit they need to have a big think about. It just seems that it’s not a world class circuit,Maybe the shape of it and everything can be, but the surface definitely isn’t. If you go for a walk to the top of that last corner, it looks like we’re going through someone’s garage. There’s concrete there, it’s not tarmac. Then all of a sudden there’s tarmac and there’s a big seam there. It doesn’t feel like it’s a grand prix circuit at all.”

“If it were not for that freaking bump in turn six… the Safety Commission has been asking that it be fixed for two years now. It is something you expect on a public road, not on a racetrack…” said Valentino Rossi.

Continue reading: Pic: Nicky Hayden's leathers after loosing his knee slider

When you’re a champion expectations are high, and sometimes unreasonably so as demonstrated over the weekend at the Indianapolis MotoGP. With Valentino Rossi’s performance after the free practice sessions described as a ‘debacle’ and then variously criticised during the race before a respectable fourth place, you’d think the world had suddenly forgotten what Rossi’s season has been so far.

After a serious injury that nearly saw him out for most of his last season with Yamaha, Rossi’s early return (perhaps because it is his last season) has been considered nothing short of a heroic miracle. A predictable announcement of his move to Ducati was only spiced up by his own hand written goodbye Yamaha letter, and otherwise mired in the usual PR treatment. The announcement followed a dramatic crash and re-entry to racing but it seems we’re intent on underestimating the stress a champion might feel and overestimating his ability to live up to our idolising.

When Rossi got his fourth place, some of the negative commentary died down, perhaps finally indicating that some of the hype surrounding the rider and his announcement to move to Ducati is subsiding. As David Emmett writes, MotoGP races are proving to be about chasing perfection, and Rossi is a good example of where you can arrive on being consistently high class. His performance over the weekend shows that firstly, he does make mistakes, and then secondly, he still knows how to fight. And has every intention of riding the rest of his season with Yamaha to the best of his ability. Rossi himself was far more realistic about his performance, as the rider quotes reveal. He says:

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi: lacklustre or misunderstanding a champion?

What to Italian GP riders do in their spare time on a hot summer night on the Riviera Romagnola? They race against each on karts.

Valentino Rossi, Marco Simoncelli, Andrea Iannone and Mattia Pasini and a batch friends, including Gianfranco Guareschi, Vittoriano Guareschi, who’ll soon be Rossi’s team manager in Ducati, Aldo Drudi, renowned designer, headed to the new Jeepers Kart track at Cattolica for a little fun and games and naturally when the word got out fans and photographers showed up.

They also celebrated Rossi’s win with a mini podium and some beer and soft drink spraying and naturally a mini trophy.

You can see some pics here.

Source | ilrestodelcarlino via gpone.com

Continue reading: Italian GP Riders Racing on Karts (w/video)

Hilda Wright may just be Valentino Rossi’s oldest living fan ever. This 102-year-old English lady (that’s right 102!) celebrated her birthday by sitting and revving the engine of Rossi’s Yamaha YZF-R1 which he used for a parade lap at the Isle of Man TT circuit in 2009.

This was made possible by her grand-daughter’s husband Steve Shaw, who owns Highbarn Motorcycles and tracked down the R1 for his high spirited grandmother.

Apparently Hilda was turned on to watching motorcyle racing by Shaw and has become a MotoGP fan and cheers for Rossi. “She really enjoyed getting on the motorbike and said ‘aren’t I lucky to be sitting on Rossi’s bike?’ reported her daughter to Oldham Chronicle News.

We hope that Valentino will get wind of this and maybe go out of his way to meet Hilda, which would be another great birthday present.

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi's Oldest Fan Celebrates Birthday on Yamaha R1

Even if the announcement of Valentino Rossi going to Ducati was more than expected, the news surrounding his switch hasn’t exactly died down, especially here in Italy, with newspapers and TV calling it the “marriage of the decade”, an “Italian on an Italian” motorcyle (naturally forgetting Max Biaggi and the Aprilia) and so on.

The latest idea is to call in marketing experts and research groups try to calculate just how much the deal between Ducati and Rossi will be economically fruitful.

According to the Il Sole 24 Ore, Italy’s highly respected financial daily, Rossi’s presence in Ducati could be worth an extra 25% (merchandising and sponsorship) working on the Made in Italy aspect, while his impact on motorcycle sales is much more difficult to pin down and is tied to what he’ll be able to accomplish on the red machine next season.

Continue reading: Ducati & Rossi: How much are they worth together

Most rider contracts end December 31, but riders are usually released immediately after the final race so they can begin testing their new bikes. One exception was Valentino Rossi. Honda HRC at the end of 2003 refused to release him early to test and it looks like Yamaha is heading in the same direction.

Valentino Rossi in an interview after Monday’s Brno test said: “I expect that Yamaha will let me try the Ducati in Valencia, because our story is a different story, and I give more to Yamaha from 2004 to now, I improve a lot the bike and all the team, so if they are fair, they have to say yes for my test in Valencia.”

The so called gentlemen’s agreement where Rossi instead of announcing his switch to Ducati at Laguna Seca, because the US is one of Yamaha’s key markets and making it a Brno should have guaranteed that the Italian would be allowed to test the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 at Valencia, however Masao Furusawa, Executive Officer of Engineering Operations at Yamaha speaking to motogp.com from Brno has indicated however that this is now unlikely due to contractual agreements.

Continue reading: Yamaha to deny Rossi Valencia test?

Rossi in Rossso. Ducati (their website was beseiged) has finally confirmed that Valentino Rossi will join its line-up next season. The nine times world champion has signed a two-year deal with the Italian team, however there is no mention if Rossi’s team will be joining him in Ducati next season, but it is widely expected that they will follow him with Davide Brivio to be retained by Rossi’s management company.

Nicky Hayden is expected to be in Ducati again next year. The American’s signing should be announced at the upcoming Indianapolis GP.

Continue reading: Ducati confirms Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi has released this touching letter in Italian which has been translated in English to remember his love affair and the end of his story with Yamaha.

“It is very difficult to explain in just a few words what my relationship with Yamaha has been in these past seven years.

“Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004, but especially ‘she’, my M1, has changed. At that time she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers. Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the ‘top of the class’.

“The list of the people that made this transformation possible is very long, but I would like to thank anyway Masao Furusawa, Masahiko Nakajima and ‘my’ Hiroya Atsumi, as representatives of all the engineers that worked hard to change the face of our M1. Then Jeremy Burgess and all my guys in the garage, who took care of her with love on all the tracks of the world and also all the men and women that have worked in the Yamaha team during these years.

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi's Good-Bye Letter to Yamaha

Yamaha has released their official press release confirming that that another part of this year’s silly season is finally over and that Yamaha and Valentino Rossi are parting, as if this comes as a surprise after months of gossip and rumors.

Expect Yamaha to now announce Jorge Lorenzo (even if today he once again denied signing with Yamaha) and Ben Spies in the factory team in 2011.

Press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Official - Yamaha parts company with Valentino Rossi

The worst kept secret of MotoGP has been finally revealed, Valentino Rossi will be in Ducati for the next two years.

During Italy’s post race show Fuori Giri the host Franco Bobbiese showed TV viewers a page from the Ducati website with the title “Rossi in Red” with a pic from the Ducati grandstand at the Mugello with spectators holding up white placards to form the word“Vale.”

Ducati’s Twitter page shows an official press release issued at 4:14 pm, but the Ducati website has gone down, probably with too much traffic, so we can’t yet show you the press release, so check back with us a little later.

Thanks to Mark Morrison of Ducati News Today who correctly pointed out my error regarding the Ducati Twitter report and if you head over to his website you can see what Fuori Giri was talking about.

Continue reading: Rossi in Red

During Thursday’s pre-event press conference at Brno Valentino Rossi said: “Sunday after the race you know what I will do in 2011″ and reveal the second worst kept secret of the paddock (Stoner to Honda was the first) with his official switch to Ducati.

In an interview with Paolo Beltramo of Sportmediaset that was aired before today’s qualifying session, the pitlane commentator tried to draw out the Italian in admitting officially his switch, but Rossi didn’t fall for the ploy but he did admit that: “making this year’s decision was much easier than leaving Honda at the end of 2003.”

Rossi also revealed that he will not personally be making the announcement, but everything will be done with press releases, so stay tuned between 5 and 6 o’clock Sunday evening.

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi: "This decision was easier than leaving Honda in 2003"