One of the paddock's worst-kept secrets was the cancellation of the Portimao round at the end of the 2012 World Superbike championship. Luckily for fans of the Portugese circuit, the track was confirmed as definitely being on the calendar, as the financial penalties for its not being held were greater than the costs. This, however, wasn't the biggest rumour to hit the paddock as, fresh on the heels of Ben Spies being almost certain to join the BWM Motorrad Italia team next year alongside Marco Melandri, we were treated with hints that Valentino Rossi would possibly be joining the Superbike paddock on a Yamaha in 2015.
