The day after the last 2009 MotoGP race, Valentino Rossi declared that the Yamaha MotoGP team had two top riders - one too many as far as he was concerned. He went on to say that he would ride in 2010, the last year of his contract, and that Yamaha would then have to decide on who they wanted to keep for 2011 – him or brash and quick newcomer Jorge Lorenzo.
And now comes another big blow to Yamaha, with Lorenzo’s experienced crew Chief Daniele Romagnoli leaving the team without explanation, effective right now, and after an excellent season with race winner and serial crasher Lorenzo. I expected that Lorenzo would cure his tendency to override, learn more about race set-up and strategy, and win more races in 2010.
The loss of Romagnoli will undoubtedly affect Lorenzo’s season-long results for 2010, as great riders need great Crew chiefs, and these guys are hard to find. Rebuilding the chemistry, trust and communication within the team takes time, like maybe one season before the unit is back up to full efficiency.
As you would expect, this departure plays in the hand of seven-time GP champion Valentino Rossi, pushing Lorenzo down to front pack runner rather than regular winner, and leaving Rossi to put even more pressure on Casey Stoner and his hyper-quick Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa on the reborn for 2010 Honda machines.
The replacement Crew Chief has been found, in the person of Wilco Zeelenberg, a former 250GP race winner and boss of the now defunct 2010 Yamaha Supersport 600 team, also World Champions for 2010.
The 2010 MotoGP grid has shrunk, but the show up front promises to be fantastic!
photo:MotoGP
And now comes another big blow to Yamaha, with Lorenzo’s experienced crew Chief Daniele Romagnoli leaving the team without explanation, effective right now, and after an excellent season with race winner and serial crasher Lorenzo. I expected that Lorenzo would cure his tendency to override, learn more about race set-up and strategy, and win more races in 2010.
The loss of Romagnoli will undoubtedly affect Lorenzo’s season-long results for 2010, as great riders need great Crew chiefs, and these guys are hard to find. Rebuilding the chemistry, trust and communication within the team takes time, like maybe one season before the unit is back up to full efficiency.
As you would expect, this departure plays in the hand of seven-time GP champion Valentino Rossi, pushing Lorenzo down to front pack runner rather than regular winner, and leaving Rossi to put even more pressure on Casey Stoner and his hyper-quick Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa on the reborn for 2010 Honda machines.
The replacement Crew Chief has been found, in the person of Wilco Zeelenberg, a former 250GP race winner and boss of the now defunct 2010 Yamaha Supersport 600 team, also World Champions for 2010.
The 2010 MotoGP grid has shrunk, but the show up front promises to be fantastic!
photo:MotoGP