Rumour Mill 09/10

[CaptainRaiden]

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/w...n+indian+rider

Well, about damn time. Finally the possibility of an Indian on a MotoGP grid. There was this one kid, like 13 or 14 year old, who was exceptionally good in the Indian championships, and then was doing some great things in the Malaysian championship as well. The name eludes me, but I wonder if it's him.

[CaptainRaiden]

Well, I guess this is the guy. Haven't heard of him ever: http://www.zigwheels.com/News/Ten10-...P_20101113-1-1

[NinjaMaster]

It would be great to see an Indian on the grid. I always had a soft spot for the less-common nationalities on the grid - Luthi (Swiss), Sofuoglu (Turk), Kallio (Finn) and Wilairot (Thai) to name a few. It makes the grid a lot more interesting to have a bit of diversity.

[NinjaMaster]

Superbike or Superstock is the question!

Superstock it sounds like with Andrew Pitt on their superbike. I would have liked to see Roger-Lee stay on with them for another year and benefit from the new Ninja after struggling on the old one.

[Rod Richardson]

Roger Lee Hayden signed by Michael Jordan Motorsports to partner Ben Bostrom and will also ride as wildcard entry in Moto 2 at Indy event.

[tha_jackal]

Latest 2011 Moto2 Line-Up: West, Talmacsi, Fores All Confirmed

The Moto2 rider line-up for 2011 is slowly starting to take something resembling its final shape, with more and more riders signing contracts to ride next year. Kenan Sofuoglu's signing for the Technomag CIP squad provided one catalyst, provoking a spate of moves to secure the known quantities for next season at the Valencia test. The prime mover in that chase was the team that Sofuoglu turned down, with Gresini securing former Tech 3 rider Yuki Takahashi to take the place of the departing Moto2 champion Toni Elias, with Sofuoglu's former Ten Kate Honda World Supersport teammate Michele Pirro taking the second seat in the biggest team in Moto2.

The Tech 3 team had earlier announced the signing of Bradley Smith and Frenchman Mike di Meglio to take the place of the departing Yuki Takahashi and the disappointing Raffaele de Rosa - the Italian being tipped for a return to the 125cc class, along with Hector Faubel (signed for Bancaja Aspar), Joan Olive and Sergio Gadea. Meanwhile, the other hottest seat in Moto2 - the one left vacant by Di Meglio - has been filled by one of the two riders making the jump from the Spanish CEV Moto2 championship, Xavi Fores signing with the Mapfre Aspar team for 2011, joining his CEV Moto2 rival Kev Coghlan on the world stage.

Over at the Jack&Jones team, the gap left by Joan Olive has been filled by former Speed Up rider Gabor Talmacsi, according to the Hungarian press, with the team also ditching the Harris chassis in favor of the more competitive Suter. And speaking of uncompetitive chassis, Ant West has finally given in and signed a contract extension with MZ, where he will be joined by former WSBK rider Max Neukirchner. The team is to be run by Peter Rubatto and Marco Nicotari, the latter formerly responsible for the Pro-Ride Honda WSBK squad, that never made it to the grid last season. MZ is also to enter a squad in the Spanish CEV Moto2 championship, which they will use to help develop the MZ's tubular steel trellis chassis. There have been persistent rumors that the managers of both West and Neukirchner have been trying to persuade the man behind the MZ chassis, Martin Wimmer, to run an FTR chassis alongside the MZ - or even to replace the MZ chassis altogether - to give the team a baseline to use to develop the steel chassis against. Wimmer, however, is not keen on such a solution, preferring to continue work on his brainchild using the data from the two riders and the new CEV team.

The most striking difference between the list from 2010 and that of 2011 is the drastic reduction in the number of chassis. Where last year there were 13 different chassis on the grid - though the Speed Up bike successfully campaigned by Andrea Iannone and Gabor Talmacsi was really an FTR with bodywork refinements by the team themselves - in 2011, there will be just 6 chassis makers, and possibly as few as 5. Suter is the big winner from the 2010 season, the Swiss chassis builder having provided extensive support and a clever range of price options for teams, matched to suit just about any budget. FTR, Moriwaki and Kalex have all been forced to improve in these areas, with FTR due to greatly expand their service levels for 2011, with a truck expected to be at all of the European rounds for next season. Despite the problems, FTR and Kalex will both be expanding their presence in the World Championship for next season, with FTR fielding at least 7 bikes, and Kalex doubling its involvement from 2 to 4 machines, with the addition of the Viessmann Kiefer squad to the Tenerife Pons team.

While most of the seats are already taken, two desirable seats remain open. Alex de Angelis still has no partner at the JiR Moto2 squad, though there is every likelihood this could stay that way, while at Forward Racing, the seat alongside Jules Cluzel also remains vacant. 2010 Forward rider Claudio Corti had a pretty strong rookie year, and could still be in the frame for either of these seats.

Here's the Moto2 line-up as we know it so far:

Team Bike Rider 1 Rider 2
Aeroport de Castello FTR Kev Coghlan
Forward Racing Suter Jules Cluzel ???
G22 Racing Team Suter Fonsi Nieto Yannick Guerra
Gresini Racing Moriwaki Yuki Takahashi Michele Pirro
Holiday Gym Racing * Moriwaki Xavier Simeon
Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 * Suter Thomas Luthi
Iodaracing Project FTR Simone Corsi Mattia Pasini?
Italtrans Racing Team Suter Roby Rolfo? ???
Jack & Jones by A. Banderas Suter Kenny Noyes Gabor Talmacsi
JIR Moto2 Motobi Alex de Angelis ???
Mapfre Aspar Team Suter Julian Simon Xavi Fores
Marc VDS Racing Suter Scott Redding Mika Kallio
Monlau Competicion * FTR Marc Marquez
MZ Motor MZ/FTR Max Neukirchner Ant West
QMMF Racing Team Suter Mashel al Naimi ???
Racing Team By Quereseno FTR Esteve Rabat Yonny Hernandez?
Stop and Go Racing Team Bimota/FTR? Ratthapark Wilairot Lukas Pesek?
Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 Bradley Smith Mike di Meglio
Technomag CIP Suter Kenan Sofuoglu Dominique Aegerter
Tenerife 40 Pons Kalex Axel Pons Aleix Espargaro
Tuenti Speed Up FTR Pol Espargaro
Viessman Kiefer Racing Kalex Stefan Bradl Randy Krummenacher
WTR/Speed Master Team * Suter Andrea Iannone


* Single rider team
name? - Rider not yet certain
??? - Rider unknown / to be announced

http://www.motomatters.com

[NinjaMaster]

I'm pretty happy with West remaining at MZ. I'd love to see MZ get it right andlaunch this historic marque back to the pointy end, especially with Neukirchner there.

I also believe that Lukas Pesek will join Al Naimi at QMMF Racing next year.

Roby Rolfo has left Moto2 and headed back to WSB and joined with the Pedercini Kawasaki team who may also run Andrew Pitt on a ZX10R as well. They will also have a 3-pronged Superstock 1000 lineup consisting of Marco Bussolotti (was very fast in WSTK1000 this year) and Leandro Mercado (did some good things in the US a year or so ago) and newly crowned Australian Superbike Champion, Bryan Staring. I would think they will have there best season to date next year.

[tha_jackal]

"Ant West will be riding for MZ again. But there's a chance the MZ team will field FTRs instead, much better chances for West."

from someone's twitter feed.

[NinjaMaster]

There's a report stating that Tahi Moto2 rider, Rathapark Wilairot, has been seriously injured after dinking a ride on the back of a mates bike. The report said that the rider was killed in a crash whilst Wilairot is in intensive care, though apparently now conscious, but no details on his injuries. Fingers crossed for a full and speedy recovery.

[Roby44]

Roby back in Superbikes!! Woo Hoo....