Quote Originally Posted by blaircsf View Post
My guess is either he thought they would have paperwork signed so he could announce but it isn't finalized, or he actually was planning on retirement but is being wooed by someone.
That's the rumor I've been reading. He was all set to announce his retirement, hence the large press conference. But from what I gather, DORNA stepped in and asked him to wait until things are worked out with the Yamaha Petronas team. So it could be a joint effort between DORNA and Yamaha to try and retain his services for the next two years at least. Help to develop another team.

I can't imagine him wanting to stay for the money. He's not going to get anywhere near what he was getting at Repsol. But then again, Dani was never a super high paid racer. So, he may be thinking of staying two more years and the pay could be similar. Especially if it all does fall into place and Petronas is a sponsor. They are huge in Formula 1, so I'm sure they could throw some money in sponsorship with a MotoGP team.

Saw an interview with Nick Harris on BeIN sports on YouTube. And he even mentioned briefly that a Pedrosa and Yamaha Petronas team may be the only place for Pedrosa to go. He said, Pramac might be a place but that would be a rather large step backwards. Whereas with Petronas, it's a new team and he would be leading the effort there. And he may get a very competitive bike from Yamaha being that it will be Pedrosa.

I can't imagine Yamaha offering up a turd for a new satellite team and for Pedrosa. But what a minute!! They have been offering up turds to their Factory Team for the last two seasons, what was I be thinking. A turd of a bike going to Pedrosa from Yamaha is definitely feasible. All joking aside, he may get a very good bike for 2019 from Yamaha. Considering, the IMU ruling set to take place for 2019 and the fact that Yamaha are starting to make some headway with their current bike. Rossi and Vinales looked to have some decent pace today in both FP's.