Rossi to confirm Yamaha deal?

Will Rossi be hugging the Yamaha YZR-M1 once again?

We reported last week on seven-time GP world champion Valentino Rossi's rumoured move from Ducati to Yamaha at the end of the year, with talk of a three year deal that would see the Italian rider contesting two more MotoGP seasons, followed by a World Superbike Championship in 2015.

The rumours reported by the Italian press are not abating which means either the Italian press are going to be left red faced or that Valentino Rossi will indeed return to a competitive bike, the Yamaha YZR-M1, in 2013 and 2014.

Italian broadcaster Sportmediaset has even pinned a date on when Rossi will announce his defection back to Yamaha - August 15 - which would be just before the Indianapolis MotoGP.

The date also coincides with his 2010 announcement, confirming his historic move to the factory Ducati team.

As previously mentioned the deal is rumoured to be a three year contract, which would see Rossi race alongside Jorge Lorenzo for the factory Yamaha team in 2013 and 2014, where he would no doubt bring with him sponsorship for the Yamaha team - something Yammy has been lacking since Rossi left two years ago.

In 2015, after the first two years of the contract, Rossi would then have the option of racing in the World Superbike Championship, which would be a fitting swansong as he is would be expected to have development input fir the next generation Yamaha YZF-R1 -- the bike which will facilitate the Japanese company's WSBK tilt.

The deal sounds like a no-brainer on paper and if Yamaha has indeed offered Rossi such a contract, logic and reason would suggest he would take it.

As it stands Rossi's dream team (headed by Jeremy Burgess) has worked hard on the Ducati GP bike for roughly two years now, yet it still struggles to compete with the other factory teams of Honda and Yamaha - and is regularly playing second fiddle to the satellite teams.