Last year people wondered if he'd taken too much of a gamble riding an unproven bike. He said then that he wouldn't have signed if he didn't think it was a package capable of winning. It was, and as a rider his stock increased even further.

This year is no different - unproven bike and MD saying he was signing for what he thought was a winning package. It clearly isn't (yet) up to the job. Who knows if there were some performance related clauses in the contract as the split seems to be as amicable as its possible to be considering.

Any team that wants to win at the TT would love to have Michael on their machine (from a purely racing perspective anyway). Any team that promises a competitive ride and can't deliver that has to expect it will trigger some kind of response. Also if the bike is losing oil and if there is a possibility it might seize would you want to be on it at racing speeds? There's family history there!

I didn't think MD had a chance in the big bike races this year based on the NW200 showing. Now I wouldn't bet against him, even with limited practice time. He will be on a familiar machine (and possibly with the data from last year?).