tekwar
11-02-2003, 10:39 PM
Current MotoGP champion and winner of 3 championships at the top level has announced his separation from Honda, who will likely join Yamaha in the near future. He stated that he needed a challenge, and being with a top ride at honda didnt provide him with it. What a heart of racer if that is true, i totally respect him even more now and cant wait to see him race next year. With so many people now in racing just wanting to stay with the "top" team, here is champion willing to go to an underdeveloped team and help them win a championship, my hat is off to this bloke.
here are some articles if youre interested to read more....
Rossi and Honda confirm separation
http://moto.racing-live.com/en/index.html?http://moto.racing-live.com/en/headlines/news/detail/031102193652.shtml
Rossi quits Honda
Valentino Rossi and Honda today made a joint announcement to confirm that they will not renew their contract for the 2004 MotoGP World Championship.
After a relationship spanning four seasons which has yielded three world titles and 33 premier-class victories, the Japanese factory and the reigning World Champion confirmed their separation to a packed press conference just hours after the Italian's final victory on the RC211V at Valencia.
Rossi revealed that he felt he had achieved everything he possibly could on the V5 machine and added that he was looking forward to racing against it next season.
“I am here to say thank you very much to Honda and that next year we will not race together. I have had four fantastic years which are truly unforgettable. We won three World Championships and more or less 50% of the races. I have won in normal conditions, in the wet, in the dry, at my favourite track and, today, at my least favourite track. My work on this bike is finished.
I am a HRC rider until the 31st December so I cannot comment yet on which bike I will be riding, but I can say that it will be a big challenge – it maybe even seems a little crazy right now! I think all the journalists, fans and everybody involved in this sport is very happy because next year will be a great fight.”
Carlo Fiorani, Sporting Manager for HRC, declared: “Everybody knows that Honda have been in negotiations with Valentino Rossi for much of the season. Honda have done everything in their power to convince him to stay, but in the end the decision was nothing to do with money, sponsorship or any other standard contractual situation. The only area of difficulty is that we cannot offer Valentino the challenge he is looking for and we understand that he should look for that challenge elsewhere.”
Fortuna Yamaha confirm Rossi interest
http://moto.racing-live.com/en/index.html?http://moto.racing-live.com/en/headlines/news/detail/031102201757.shtml
Rossi's future bike ?
The following is a statement issued on behalf of Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio.
"We welcome this evening's news that the Honda - Valentino Rossi relationship has drawn to a close. As many people know, when it became clear that there was a possibility that Valentino would not renew his agreement with Honda we made contact with his management team. I can confirm that our discussions with Valentino's management are proceeding well. With the confirmation that he shall not renew with Honda we shall proceed with our negotiations and hope to conclude an agreement within the immediate future.”
"This is obviously a very exciting prospect for us. However, until we have one hundred percent finalised an agreement with Valentino we shall not be able to comment further on the situation and on our Team's final line- up for 2004.”
"We fully appreciate that there is enormous media interest in Valentino's future and so we shall endeavour to be as open as possible. However, at the present time I can say no more than this. Our joint aim is to make a full announcement as soon as all the details have been finalised." [/b][/quote]
here are some articles if youre interested to read more....
Rossi and Honda confirm separation
http://moto.racing-live.com/en/index.html?http://moto.racing-live.com/en/headlines/news/detail/031102193652.shtml
Rossi quits Honda
Valentino Rossi and Honda today made a joint announcement to confirm that they will not renew their contract for the 2004 MotoGP World Championship.
After a relationship spanning four seasons which has yielded three world titles and 33 premier-class victories, the Japanese factory and the reigning World Champion confirmed their separation to a packed press conference just hours after the Italian's final victory on the RC211V at Valencia.
Rossi revealed that he felt he had achieved everything he possibly could on the V5 machine and added that he was looking forward to racing against it next season.
“I am here to say thank you very much to Honda and that next year we will not race together. I have had four fantastic years which are truly unforgettable. We won three World Championships and more or less 50% of the races. I have won in normal conditions, in the wet, in the dry, at my favourite track and, today, at my least favourite track. My work on this bike is finished.
I am a HRC rider until the 31st December so I cannot comment yet on which bike I will be riding, but I can say that it will be a big challenge – it maybe even seems a little crazy right now! I think all the journalists, fans and everybody involved in this sport is very happy because next year will be a great fight.”
Carlo Fiorani, Sporting Manager for HRC, declared: “Everybody knows that Honda have been in negotiations with Valentino Rossi for much of the season. Honda have done everything in their power to convince him to stay, but in the end the decision was nothing to do with money, sponsorship or any other standard contractual situation. The only area of difficulty is that we cannot offer Valentino the challenge he is looking for and we understand that he should look for that challenge elsewhere.”
Fortuna Yamaha confirm Rossi interest
http://moto.racing-live.com/en/index.html?http://moto.racing-live.com/en/headlines/news/detail/031102201757.shtml
Rossi's future bike ?
The following is a statement issued on behalf of Fortuna Yamaha Team director Davide Brivio.
"We welcome this evening's news that the Honda - Valentino Rossi relationship has drawn to a close. As many people know, when it became clear that there was a possibility that Valentino would not renew his agreement with Honda we made contact with his management team. I can confirm that our discussions with Valentino's management are proceeding well. With the confirmation that he shall not renew with Honda we shall proceed with our negotiations and hope to conclude an agreement within the immediate future.”
"This is obviously a very exciting prospect for us. However, until we have one hundred percent finalised an agreement with Valentino we shall not be able to comment further on the situation and on our Team's final line- up for 2004.”
"We fully appreciate that there is enormous media interest in Valentino's future and so we shall endeavour to be as open as possible. However, at the present time I can say no more than this. Our joint aim is to make a full announcement as soon as all the details have been finalised." [/b][/quote]