James T to Tech 3

[seppefan]

Is this a good move for him?

I am very pleased that he is making the move but can Tech 3 / Dunlop provide ?

[seppefan]

also I am surprised Honda did not do more to keep him in their camp....

[tha_jackal]

umm, check the rumour mill?

[tha_jackal]

oh and its highly likely he wont be on Dunlops, theres no way he would accept that.. They will either be on Michelins or Bridgestones, for sure..

[ChrisS]

also I am surprised Honda did not do more to keep him in their camp....

maybe they weren't happy his crashed their fireblade at Suzuka

It seems Honda doesn't really care about promoting their World SBK talent to GP. Edwards patiently waited for years for Honda to bring him to MotoGP before making the jump to Aprilia. It looks like Toseland, like Chris Vermeulen before him learned from Edwards mistake and didn't wait for Honda to call them up.

If he is given a good bike with good support and Michelins I expect he will do well.

[ATF]

I'm not too convinced but we'll just have to wait and see - hope Edwards makes the swap back to WSBK now!!

[seppefan]

I'm not too convinced but we'll just have to wait and see - hope Edwards makes the swap back to WSBK now!!

Edwards vs Bayliss agian, now that would be great although I really would like to see Edwards get one GP win under his belt. Mind you he could do a Bayliss and come back in 08 for a one off and win.....dreams.

[fatman]

My bet is that they will be on Bridgestones and James will be teamed with Lorenzo or someone other than Edwards. Colin will either stay teamed with Rossi or move to AMA. From the gossip I've read a switch to AMA is more likely than a switch back to WSB (i think i read that on MCN).

[patnicholls]

Interesting one really.

Looks like Tech 3 will be getting a leg-up from Yamaha in the same way D'Antin Ducati have done from the factory squad this year (if you remember, in 2006 D'Antin had the Hoff and Cardoso languishing at the back - look how much the Hoff has moved up this year). MotoGP.com also mentions the possibility - probability more like - of a change of tyres to either Michelin or Bridgestone, presumably whichever the factory team(s) are with.

Personally, I'd expect Edwards to partner JT on Michelins in Tech 3. Valentino and Jorge will be pseudo-teammates in that they'll be the Yam factory guys, but with different sponsors and a fairly sized wall down the middle of the garage .

As for JT, well, it could work. The grids these days are so close that one slip in terms of rider performance or machine blunders (see: Honda) and you're down in 17th, so it would be foolish to make any predictions just yet. One thing I will say though is that with Valentino and Jorge in the garage, he's taking on some rapid team-mates so if he can get near them that'll be seriously impressive. Mind you, he's currently 40-odd points ahead of Max in WSB, who I seem to recall several people thought would stroll to the title...

[ChrisS]

Personally, I'd expect Edwards to partner JT on Michelins in Tech 3. Valentino and Jorge will be pseudo-teammates in that they'll be the Yam factory guys, but with different sponsors and a fairly sized wall down the middle of the garage .

Sponsorship will be tricky once again for Yamaha I think. FIAT has one more year in their deal, I think its a given that Rossi must be one of the sponsored riders but what about the 2nd bike? do they sponsor 2 Yamaha bikes or the Yamaha factory team? also will Altadis want to sponsor Yamaha?

BTW a Rossi, Lorenzo, Toseland and Edwards would give Yamaha a lineup with a total of 13 world titles in their names (if Lorenzo and JT win the titles this year, 14 if Rossi also wins it)