For the season ending race at Valencia, Yamaha still has to find riders to fill all of their seats. Jorge Lorenzo hasn't recuperated fully from his finger injury, Colin Edwards has a shoulder and wrist injuries from the Sepang incident, and there is still some question whether Ben Spies will be fit to race after sitting out the Malaysian GP.
The problem, therefore, is finding substitute riders that are up to the challenge. "We are looking for riders of a certain level - said Yamaha team director Lin Jarvis, at Simoncelli's funeral - We want something other than a regular test rider."
With former factory Yamaha WSBK riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty already under contract to BMW and Aprilia, respectively, the top choices could now be BSB champion Tommy Hill, and WSS champion Chaz Davies.
The problem of finding suitable replacement riders for MotoGP, Jarvis pointed out, is also a result of the small grid size: "Honda invested heavily this season, and that's reflected in the price of their bikes - he continued - Yamaha has tried to keep their leasing costs affordable for satellite teams. The problem is that MotoGP physically lacks the bikes for young riders to grow on."
source: GP One
