Italian website Gpone has a interesting audio interview in English with Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing.
Jarvis is now negotiating with Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, both riders contracts are up at the end of the year and Jarvis is also trying to understand what Valentino Rossi’s intentions are when his 2010 contract expires, if the Italian is going to retire or if he plans to continue racing.
Jorge Lorenzo is asking for € 5.
000.
000 to remain in Yamaha, twice the amount he is now getting, while Yamaha is offering € 3.
500.
000 but have said they will not open their coffers any wider in order to keep the Spanish rider.
Lorenzo is also in talks with Honda who wants another big name Spanish rider.
New paddock rumors have it that HRC is willing to set up an official but private team along the lines of Rossi’s first team Nastro Azzurro to lure Lorenzo away.
The team would be fully backed by Spanish telecom giant Telefonica who wants back into MotoGP after abandoning, when Dani Pedrosa who they cultivated during his career jumped on the Repsol bandwagon.
Click here and listen to Jarvis talk about which rider leads development, what they would do if both their riders were leading the championship and if there are any team orders, Ben Spies and Yamaha’s Tech 3’s Edwards and Toseland.