Rossi aux couleurs de Camel !

[theophil]

article sur motocarsh.net :

Crash.net understands that, in a surprise move, former Honda Pons sponsor Camel is currently in contention to become the new title sponsor of the Factory Yamaha Team, for the 2006 MotoGP season.

The 2005 world championship winning team, due to again field reigning five-times MotoGP title winner Valentino Rossi and his Texan team-mate Colin Edwards, is presently without a sponsor following an acrimonious split with Gauloises.

Meanwhile, Camel quit both Pons and Honda following HRC's refusal to supply Max Biaggi with machinery for 2006 and has been "considering a series of alternatives" after failing to find the Roman any form of MotoGP seat.

One of those alternatives is naturally at Yamaha's number one team - a move which makes great sense for Camel, in terms of generating maximum publicity, but which has until now seemed almost impossible.

After all, although the reasons behind the Yamaha/Gauloises split are still to be revealed, they are reported to centre around Rossi either a) refusing to ride in tobacco branding or b) wanting to avoid a potential clash with the Marlboro livery he will sport during Ferrari F1 tests.

Add to that the warning from Gauloises that "Yamaha is still bound by a legal obligation that prevents Yamaha from collaborating with sponsors whose products compete directly with the Gauloises brand or with Altadis products for the 2006 season (unless a settlement is reached)" and few would suggest a Camel/Yamaha collaboration.

By contrast, an agreement with the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team would be hassle free - but, whilst Camel is understood to have initially spoken with Tech 3, sources within the MotoGP paddock insist that discussions with Herve Poncharal's team have ended and that Camel is chasing - and may have already secured - the factory Yamaha deal.

Whether a deal has or will be concluded, and whether it will include Rossi (although 'The Doctor' always did like yellow... and is unlikely to shed a tear at taking Biaggi's sponsor), will be revealed when Yamaha officially announces full details of its 2006 MotoGP programme later this month.