Dani Pedrosa could be headed to Yamaha

Team Yamaha's next depends on Maverick Vinales’ decision, as he is tipped to be the one rider Yamaha sees as the most suitable replacement for Jorge Lorenzo. If Yamaha does not manage to put Vinales on their bike, it will likely be Dani Pedrosa to his place.

There have been constant rumours of the supposedly ‘done’ deal to put Maverick Vinales on a Yamaha alongside Valentino Rossi. However, the increasing unsuccessful attempts have led to talks with Dani Pedrosa.

A report last week in Italian sports paper La Gazzetta dello Sport by MotoGP reporter Paolo Ianieri has a behind-closed-doors conversation with Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis. There is news of them working on plan C option towards Pedrosa on the 2017 and 2018 Yamaha alongside Rossi who has already signed.

According to the report, this has come about because of two main factors -  the first is the very public many days of stalling on making a decision by Vinales about leaving Suzuki for Yamaha. The second is the cost of Vinales coming into the team as a rider. Ianieri’s article says that Vinales wants five million Euros (Rs 7.6 crore) to stay with Suzuki. He has told Suzuki boss Davide Brivio the figure so it’s plausible that if it’s five million to stay then it could be the same to join Yamaha.