Ducati switch easier for Valentino Rossi than 2004

Winning at Ducati next year will be easier for Valentino Rossi than when he joined Yamaha back in 2004.

Rossi’s current factory Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio reckons Rossi’s task will be less complex because the Bologna factory already has a competitive bike.

It was a stark contrast when Rossi joined Yamaha in 2004 after the Japanese factory had just come off a humiliating ’03 campaign in which its YZR-M1 scored just one podium finish.

Brivio said: “Technically it is a little bit easier for Valentino because the Ducati is competitive now. Yamaha wasn’t when he arrived.

“Even inside Yamaha we had many doubts about being successful or not. It was much more complicated to create a good level bike.

“But Ducati is much closer to the top and it is a bike that can win races. From a sporting point of view it is more difficult because the level of the competition is higher.”