Rossi's REAL F1 Ferrari outing

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Read me...

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34967
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=34970

He's (so far) faster than Coultard, Trulli, and a few others. Not bad for a rookie. ALthough, testing times are misleading. There are those that are sandbagging, and those that are running really light. Interesting though. Even Shuey has praise for his first real day. An Italian F1 world champion in a Ferrari? The first since Ascari? Now THAT would be kick-ass!

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

The best rider in the world, maybe ever, and nobody has any comments on this? Y'all are clueless.....

[Spiderman]

Frank,

Why do you care so much about Rossi's performance in F1? :P

I mean it's cool & all that he's less than a second off Schumi's time, but if he makes the jump, it won't be before 2007.
This rumor mill has been around for a while - it's old news now.

[The Black Knight]

I'd like to see him stay in MotoGP for the new displacement changes in 2007. 800cc would be nice to see how he would handle it.

[Spiderman]

[CYCLE_MONKEY]

Frank,

Why do you care so much about Rossi's performance in F1? :P

I mean it's cool & all that he's less than a second off Schumi's time, but if he makes the jump, it won't be before 2007.
This rumor mill has been around for a while - it's old news now.

Because it will be another in a line of GP racers to try their hand at it, and it will be very special if he succeeds. Only Surtees has done it out of all of them.

As far as a dead horse goes, the IDEA is old, but these are recent and timely new developements. The fact that he actually tested alongside the current F1 stars is a HUGE deal. NOBODY since Surtees has done that. Like it or not, MotoGP is a minor deal compared to F1, and if we can get this kind of exposure from the F1 audience (maybe crossover watchers), that will be an even bigger deal. Sponsorship packages, prime airtime. An alliance of the FIM and the FIA would be awesome. So, yes, I think it's VERY relevant to our sport. I've been following GP racing and F1 for over 20 years, and watched it wax and wane. Now it's time for the next big step. Then, people could stop worrying that the MotoGP races wouldn't be broadcast. The F1 races are ALWAYS broadcast on NASCRAP-vision, er, SPEED. Too bad more of us aren't excited about this, as it IS a very big deal.

[Spiderman]

If there's a positive outcome as a result of this cross-over, that's great, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Sorry. I'm usually pretty optimistic, but in this case, I don't think it's going to make a big enough impact to make a difference (at least not in the time-frame we're looking at). With the increased frequency of Rossi's tests with Ferrari, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he makes the jump for 2007. With the exception of the month off of the summer break in the MotoGP season, I don't foresee Rossi doing anymore testing of F1 cars (to maintain his focus on winning another MotoGP championship) until after the season is over. At that point, the vast flock of new fans will be gone and/or uninterested, and the next year, he'll just be another new rider.

Now, if he were to make the jump mid-season, that might generate some interest, but contractual obligations prevent that from ever happening.

[voncon]

I can certainly empathize with your enthusiasm. I remember back when Eddie Lawson did the car gig -- then Jeff Ward. For some reason, people tend to get snobbish and sportbike folks are no different. I am not a huge Rossi fan even though I respect his abilities immensely... so its not a huge deal to me.

I do however appreciate your enthusiasm.

Kurt