Yamaha cool on fifth MotoGP bike talk

Yamaha has played down speculation it will run five bikes in the 2008 MotoGP world championship.

With reigning world 250 champion Jorge Lorenzo seemingly a certainty to join Yamaha in MotoGP next season, but there has been widespread speculation Valentino Rossi is reluctant for the Spaniard to join the factory team.

Rossi distanced himself from the rumours in the recent Catalunya MotoGP, declaring he had no influence over Yamaha’s rider selection.

Rossi is believed to have instructed Yamaha management his preference is to retain American Colin Edwards as his team-mate for next season. And has instigated the rumour of a fifth YZR-M1, with a one-rider team being created just to accommodate Lorenzo.

But Fiat Yamaha boss Davide Brivio, who held more meetings with Yamaha management in Catalunya at the MotoGP told MCN: “We don’t have a final plan for next year. We are still considering the options.

“A fifth bike is difficult because Yamaha’s target at the moment is for four bikes. At the moment this is still the situation. To consider a fifth bike means a big effort money wise, but manpower and resources too.

“But to be completely honest the discussion is open. It’s work in progress at this moment. Yamaha is a big factory and there are different people involved in the discussions so it is important to consider all our ideas.

“Of course we are in a good situation because we have Valentino and we have a rider that can win and fight for the world championship. Yamaha is the same as anybody else in looking at the future.

“We have to prepare for when Valentino has left. It’s quite a simple game, if you want to look at the future you have to look at the young generation riders. The next generation is Dani (Pedrosa) and Casey (Stoner) but it looks like they already have a plan.

“They already have options so then you have to look at something else and that’s 250 riders. Everybody is looking at (Jorge) Lorenzo, (Andrea) Dovizioso and (Alvaro) Bautista. You don’t need to be a genius to make this list.

“We are still considering the options and still working on how this could be. We have a factory and a satellite team, so we are working on a total package.”

Brivio admitted though he was cautious of making a move that could impact on Valentino Rossi, but denied the seven-times world champion had a major influence on rider selection.

“Yamaha decides the rider, the team and everything. We have a lot of respect for Valentino. 2008 could be his last year, we don’t know.

“So I think it’s correct to put him in a condition to remain relaxed and perform well. Valentino changed the history of Yamaha racing of the last 10 years.”