My thoughts
"I see Rossi getting a works Honda in a satellite team as the quid pro quo for the deletion of the rookie rule."
Make sense, Bruce.
The timing of Carmelo's statement about Rossi on a competitive bike, the rule change that Repsol wanted, and Rossi's statement deflecting blame on Ducati (again) support that idea. We also know that Ducati's option on Hayden's contract expires this weekend, so that's probably the deadline they've given Rossi to sign or not.
Nobody's saying it, but I think there's a good chance that Rossi ends up at Repsol. Everyone thinks Dani's seat is a done-deal, but If they wanted him for next year, you'd think that they would have rushed to sign him up after Stoner's decision. So why haven't they?
And let's face it, if you had the choice to sign either Rossi and Dani, you'd take Rossi every time. HRC are in that position and they ultimately call the shots. I don't think Repsol are going to give a toss about Dani if they manage to snag Marquez who has a much higher marketing potential.
It might be just me, and it's always hard to tell, but Dani has definetly been a bit sadder than usual on the podium and in interviews ;-)
The good news for Honda would be that they should expect much more suitable tyres next year, if they can get Rossi on one ;-)
That's just my thoughts. Hopefully, we'll know more within the week.
