“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.” Shakespeare wrote that. And he knew a thing or two when he wasn’t waffling on.Rossi knows it too. But five races into the 2009 season, it’s not his head that’s worrying him most. It’s the other end

meeting? It’s obviously a risk they’re happy to take. Ink, after all, is ink.The proper way to learn how to ride a MotoGP bike is via 125s, not so? Rossi, Stoner and Pedrosa have already proved it; Lorenzo and Dovizioso likewise. Sadly, nobody’s told James

have worried Stoner that they went straight to Jorge Lorenzo to offer him the ride, for a reputed £12-million odd for two years. Not only a lot more than Stoner gets, but also suggesting that the Marlborites knew he wouldn’t be back.Jorge famously

Lorenzo is to join the Yamaha MotoGP team next year. It's not confirmed he'll be with Rossi in the factory squad, but it's highly likely.What's the problem? It started long before the deal was made, with Rossi obliged to deny (nonetheless plausible

Who is copying whom? That is the question circulating the Fiat Yamaha pit, after the title had been resolved in favour of Rossi over hard-pressing team-mate Jorge Lorenzo. And it follows a remark made by Lorenzo in an Italian magazine, that Rossi

’t be too difficult. With Team Roberts currently doubtful starters for 2008, there are only 16 names on the official MotoGP entry list.Points are awarded down to 15th.All James has to do to score is finish the race, and for someone else (probably Randy de

on the track. Rossi’s sky-high fee (say £4-million a year) is already signed and sorted for 2010. Lorenzo, on the other hand, is still negotiating.And hard.He’s keenly aware of his value, and no longer willing to run for support-star wages. He wants to be paid

. Oh dear.It was, let it be observed, for 13th. Tady wasn’t really up to speed, while Nice Nicky had a duff tyre and went backwards from fourth all race long.Still didn’t look good on paper for a man who is desperate for results to save his career as a

of being cast as the Butcher of Madrid, Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta is steering the big class to a sort of grown-up version of Moto2.His 1000cc vision doesn’t quite come down to a single supplied engine, but it does open the door to the mass of chassis

class to spearhead the effort. Honda did exactly the same in 1959, and we all know what happened after that.The Maxtra may be only a 125, and it may have no real technical connection with the massive factory in China. But it is hugely significant, way