AJD: Many found it intriguing that attempting to put one across Yamaha as you and Rossi did when you moved to Yamaha after Honda may prove difficult with Ducati. Why not stay and continue the good work with Ben Spies or maybe move on for another all-Aussie sweep with Casey Stoner at Honda?

JB: It is not just about perspective but also about the timing. Right now Valentino’s time frame suits me better. It would have been unfair to stay at Yamaha and work with Ben and then jump ship after just a couple of years given I think that Ben has a solid six to seven years ahead of him in MotoGP.

Ducati and Valentino wanted me from day one but what influenced my decision was the fact we both have three years left in the sport. By then I would be hitting sixty and also have been working in Europe for close on 35-36 years.

AJD: Rossi seems to have been afflicted with physical worries the whole of 2010. Is he up to the task especially as his early running with the Desmosedici was pretty ordinary?

JB: The tests you refer to were immediately after a grueling final race of the season and there was a stamina issue with Valentino’s injured shoulder. There is nothing physical that says he should retire but the switch in the mind (his motivation) could go off very quickly. The leg is brand new. My concern is that the recovery from the shoulder injury could take longer than everyone bargained for. Like all good riders he knows why the racetrack accident (his leg) happened so it’s not a mental issue. He landed on his leg rather than doing a full body rotation (it was a 200km/h plus highside, so he was very lucky not to have been more seriously hurt). The broken leg was put into alignment within 10 minutes so you could say the injury was healing straight away but the shoulder made no improvement over the season.

AJD: In all this, apart from the euphoria of an Italian ace on an Italian machine, do you think there will be more pressure on Rossi and Ducati to deliver and would the risks outweigh the rewards?

JB: There’s no doubt this will be a huge success from the sales point of view. Yamaha sales in Italy rose 46 percent in 2004 after signing Valentino. The difference between the Japanese and European companies is that the Japanese tend to hunker down when sales decline and don’t bring out new models. Yamaha and Honda are in the business of selling motorcycles. Racing is something they do when they can afford it.