UPDATE: Ducati Press ReleaseRegarding the recent allegations attributed to Gabriele Del Torchio – Ducati CEO and President, Ducati states that no agreement has been reached with the riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden for the future Moto GP season, although our interest in these riders remains.
We would like to say that the recent news which has appeared on the US website Cycle World and other websites has been misreported and must be attributed to the many rumors circulating lately.
Whether and when an agreement is reached, official press releases will be issued.
While Jeremy Burgess was spinning MCN with “I’m not as convinced as I was” admitting for the first time that Valentino Rossi may not remain in Yamaha in 2011, Ducati’s CEO Gabriele Del Torchio who declared his admiration for Rossi during the Wrooom event last January has let the second worst kept MotoGP secret (least we forget the Stoner/Honda stories) out of the bag, confirming that the 9 times World Champion will be dressing and riding red next season.
Having stolen Rossi’s thunder that he would have revealed at the upcoming Brno GP, Del Torchio speaking to Cycle World said This season will not bring to Ducati any crown in the sport” said Del Torchio “but I look forward to Valentino Rossi teaming up with Nicky Hayden.
”Del Torchio went on with: “Nicky is a wonderful person and a great rider.
This year, he greatly contributed to improving our Desmosedici racer.
Next year, he and Valentino will hone the bike to its ultimate winning potential.
”We’re sure that Nicky Hayden will be mighty pleased with this confirmation and with the Italian CEO having spilled the beans, we now can expect that Yamaha’s Lin Jarvis may not want to wait for the Czech GP to announce the Lorenzo-Spies line-up.
UPDATE:According to Motoblog.
it Ducati has denied the Rossi story and are waiting for an official press release from Borgo Panigale to clarify the story.
