Ben Spies to Replace Rossi at Yamaha

With Casey Stoner making the first move on the riders' market for next season's MotoGP series, all the championship's big guns are now trying to secure their deals for the year to come. The Australian rider announced his move from Ducati to Honda a couple of weeks back, meaning his place at the Italian bike maker is due to be taken by another high-profile competitor.

The missing piece for Ducati next season seems to be 7-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, whose contract with Yamaha ends after this season. The Japanese team's boss Lin Jarvis confirmed that he has made an offer to The Doctor that is yet to be answered, and expects a definitive decision to be taken by mid-August, at the Czech Republic Grand Prix (Brno).

“We'd like to have everything in place by Brno, in order to announce the 2011 team,” announced Jarvis in an interview with Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport, who made a second important announcement today, confirming that World Superbike champion Ben Spies will be the one to replace Rossi in case the Italian decides to leave the company.

“Should one of our two riders leave, he (Spies) would certainly be in the works team. We are convinced we'll have a winning team in 2011 too,” added the Yamaha racing boss.

Also, Jarvis commented on the possibility of losing his team's main sponsor alongside Rossi, given the fact that FIAT, an Italian carmaker, will probably follow the MotoGP ace to Ducati.

“It depends on Valentino's reply. We already have a contract with Petronas for 2011, their effort and their space on the bodywork could increase. And we are also in talks with other companies outside motorcycling. We are not worried, but this will be the third step. The team comes first,” added Jarvis.