'08-'09 MotoGP Silly Season...........

All about MotoGP Racing

Moderators: Ed, <T-K>

Post Reply
mlittle
Forum Hall of Fame
Forum Hall of Fame
Posts: 11205
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:51 pm
Location: At the F1 Idiots Bar.............where else?
Contact:

'08-'09 MotoGP Silly Season...........

Post by mlittle » Fri Jul 18, 2008 12:27 pm

Yes, its' that time in the motorsports calendar, the time when the silly season motors crank up to full song and everyone wonders, Who's going where?, Who's going to be kicked to the curbs?, etc., etc...


Hence, silly season........and, now, its' time to release the hounds!

~~Yamaha...............there are currently two Yamaha teams in the MotoGP paddock, the factory Fiat Yamaha squad(Rossi, Lorenzo) and the satellite Tech 3 squad(Edwards, Toseland); according to Speedtv.com's Dennis Noyes, Edwards has signed a 1-yr. extension w/Tech 3, while Rossi is set to remain w/Fiat Yamaha through 2010. In addition, both Toseland and Lorenzo appear set to remain w/their respective teams

~~Suzuki................there is at present one factory Suzuki team in MotoGP, Rizla Suzuki(Vermeulen, Capirossi). According to Noyes, Capirossi is in the process of signing a new contract with the team, while Vermeulen is along the same essential path. The big question hanging over the Suzuki camp is whether current AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies(set to compete at 'Seca this weekend and later on at Indy) could knock either of the two current riders off of their respective rides should he do well at either or both of his scheduled races[he already has one start this year, from his ride at Donington Park earlier in the year]

~~Honda.................currently there are three HRC[Honda Racing Corporation, Honda's MotoGP company]-equipped teams, the factory Repsol Honda squad(Pedrosa, Hayden) along with two satellite teams, San Carlo/Gresini Honda(Nakano, de Angelis) and LCR Honda(de Puniet). No word on the satellite entries at present, but sources close to HRC all but confirm that the Kentucky Kid at Ducati-bound, as Ducati looks set to dump Marco Melandri, possibly before the season ends in 2008.....

~~Ducati................there are two Ducati teams in MotoGP, the factory Ducati Marlboro squad(Stoner, Melandri) and the satellite Team Alice Ducati team(Elias, Guintoli). According to available sources(speedtv.com, rumblestripradio.com, etc.), Nicky Hayden is all but confirmed at Ducati Marlboro to take the no.2 slot beside Stoner[reports are that Ducati have essentially had it w/Melandri's near-embarrassing performances this year and could possibly drop the Italian prior to season's end]. If that happens, who replaces him? One source has current 250cc rider Marco Simoncelli stepping up to replace Melandri(through the same source has Simoncelli headed to Alice Ducati in 2009.....); Speedtv's Noyes, however, believes that former MotoGP competitor Sete Gibernau, who ended his retirement to resume testing duties w/Ducati, could replace Melandri.

~~Kawasaki............Finally, there is the factory Monster Kawasaki team(West, Hopkins).....according to rumblestripradio.com, Kawasaki is sorta up the creek w/out any means of propulsion, if you know what I mean.....reports are that Ant West is out at season's end, but the same source there also believes that the Hopper[Hopkins] will remain w/the green squad through 2009. There were rumors about that Ducati's Melandri tried to negotiate a mid-season move to Kawasaki but wasn't successful..... :shock: :shock: :shock:



Anyway, that's silly season at the moment......if anyone has any info to add, feel free to post 'em here........ :lol: :lol: :lol: :shock: :shock:
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

mlittle
Forum Hall of Fame
Forum Hall of Fame
Posts: 11205
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:51 pm
Location: At the F1 Idiots Bar.............where else?
Contact:

Hayden to Ducati.........

Post by mlittle » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:11 am

According to the SpeedTV.com articlehere,
Repsol Honda rider Nicky Hayden is expected to sign with Ducati for 2009 to partner current rider Casey Stoner; no official word has been given, but according to Speed's Colin Young, the official word is to be given the weekend of the San Marino MotoGP race next weekend.
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

mlittle
Forum Hall of Fame
Forum Hall of Fame
Posts: 11205
Joined: Mon Jun 13, 2005 12:51 pm
Location: At the F1 Idiots Bar.............where else?
Contact:

Post by mlittle » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:09 am

Current MotoGP Silly Season Projections.........................

~~Fiat Yamaha: Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo
~~Repsol Honda: Dani Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso
~~Ducati Marlboro: Casey Stoner, Nicky Hayden
~~Tech 3 Yamaha: Colin Edwards, James Toseland
~~Rizla Suzuki: Chris Vermeulen, Loris Capirossi
~~Red Bull/Ducati*: Mika Kallio, Niccolo Canepa
~~San Carlo Honda: Toni Elias, Alex de Angelis
~~JiR Honda: Yuki Takahashi
~~Scot Racing: tba
~~Monster Kawasaki: John Hopkins, Marco Melandri
~~Aspar Kawasaki: tba
~~LCR Honda: Randy de Puniet
~~Onde Ducati: Sete Gibernau

*--currently Team Alice Ducati
The Sci-Fi Station Come by and visit when you get the chance. :)
The Wayward Tarheel I'm even in the blogosphere.... :shock:

Post Reply