Kevin Schwantz looks at 2011 MotoGP market

With speculation currently rife about the future plans of some of the big name stars in the MotoGP world championship, American legend Kevin Schwantz has assessed the 2011 rider market.

Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa are all chasing new deals for next year and speculation is already spreading like wildfire about the future of the top four.

Factory Ducati rider Stoner has already been strongly linked with a move to the Repsol Honda squad, while reigning world champion Rossi’s perennial link with Ducati continues to show no signs of relenting.

Spanish GP Lorenzo might also find himself the odd one out at Yamaha with the cash-strapped Japanese factory unable to continue paying out a high wage bill to the 23-year-old, Rossi and Texan Ben Spies.

Schwantz told MCN: “I guess between Rossi and Lorenzo and the management they’ve got to decide whether Yamaha is a big enough place for the both of them.

“Casey needs to understand whether he thinks Ducati has something he wants to continue with or is he looking for something else? Honda I think is looking for absolutely any kind of answer they can find to the questions they get.

“Maybe a change in lead rider is what they are looking for and whether that’s a Casey or whether that’s a Lorenzo or a Nicky (Hayden) I don’t know. Nicky has done really well on a Honda in the past and maybe that’s a spot for him to go.

“I feel Rossi is still the guy and Yamaha will lean more towards him than Lorenzo. I don’t know why but that’s just a gut feeling I’ve got.

“Dani has been at Honda a long time and built a bike around him but they are still struggling to find a result.

“Somebody asked me what is going on at Honda because we’ve never seen them struggle like this for so long. I’m sure that side of the ocean where HRC is are still scratching the heads.

“Dani is a very capable rider but there might be a little but of uncertainty in that team over which direction to follow.

“I think they have a hard time in going in two different directions.”