Rumour Mill 09/10

Cal Crutchlow signs two year deal with Tech3.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...a-MotoGP-deal/

Marco Melandri off to WSB with Yamaha

Loris Capirossi sign a deal with Parmac Ducati for next season

Possibilities that LCR could be have a two bike team, riders possibly Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis if Randy de Puniet does joins Suzuki

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...-honad-chance/

Hector Barberá will be staying at Aspar for 2011 season

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/b...+at+2011+seson

Toseland out, Laverty in at Yamaha along side Melandri for 2011!

http://www.crash.net/world+superbike...th_yamaha.html

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Originally Posted by Allyc85

Toseland out, Laverty in at Yamaha along side Melandri for 2011!

http://www.crash.net/world+superbike...th_yamaha.html

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Wow, don't think anyone saw that coming (except Yamaha and Laverty)! The WSB silly season is in a very interesting state with a lot of riders in limbo and not many competitive rides remaining.

Chad Reed has split from the Monster Kawasaki team after only one season, rumoured to ride either a Honda or possibly for a KTM team run by long time Suzuki head honcho Roder Decoster.

Ten Kate is interested with reuniting with James Toseland next season

colin edwards is staying at tech3 for next season

Francis Batta met with Suzuki in Japan recently about their future and it seems they may (confusingly) only run one bike in WSB next year. This now allows Haslam to pursue other rides and it's expected he will be announced shortly as Corser's teammate at BMW.
Haga is said to have options either replacing Smrz at his current team or joining Ayrton Badovini at the new BMW Italia team.
It's unknown what options the likes of Fabrizio and Toseland have available. Hopefully one of them have sponsors they could take to Suzuki so they at least have two bikes on the grid.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinjaMaster

Francis Batta met with Suzuki in Japan recently about their future and it seems they may (confusingly) only run one bike in WSB next year. This now allows Haslam to pursue other rides and it's expected he will be announced shortly as Corser's teammate at BMW.
Haga is said to have options either replacing Smrz at his current team or joining Ayrton Badovini at the new BMW Italia team.
It's unknown what options the likes of Fabrizio and Toseland have available. Hopefully one of them have sponsors they could take to Suzuki so they at least have two bikes on the grid.

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looks like suzuki is a one bike team,shame : (

http://www.crash.net/world+superbike...i_in_2011.html

look like haslam is off to BMW with tory corser then

http://www.crash.net/world+superbike...w_in_2011.html

I heard that Toseland could be at Ten Kate next season, what I've heard

in other news:

Rossi could have his own Moto2 team next season

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...un-moto2-team/

Camier well stay put on Works Aprillia team.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...-aprilia-2011/

Nori Haga could get a 3rd Aprillia bike via DFX Ducati squad.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...ag-to-aprilia/

and British rider Kev Coghlan could be in Moto2 next season

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...oto2-for-2011/

Scott Reading looks like his staying in Moto2 nwxt season

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...marc-vds-deal/

looks like there is love next season for Ben and Jorge, data sharing is back (so they don't hate each over compared to Vale and Jorge then)

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...amaha-in-2011/

Ant West at either MZ or Marc VDS Racing (after declining an offer from another Moto2 team).... Source - someone very close to Ant

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Originally Posted by Pantah Jack

Ant West at either MZ or Marc VDS Racing (after declining an offer from another Moto2 team).... Source - someone very close to Ant

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Marc VDS because of the Bartholemy connection? I assume..

Would be a wise move, judging by young Scott Reddings success thus far..

They would make a solid lineup IMO..

Any idea which team he turned down?

Not really rumours when they are confirmed signings but British Supersport Champion Sam Lowes will replace Eugene Laverty at the Parkalgar Honda team in supersport next year. Broc Parkes has been signed by the Kawasaki Supersport squad for the next two years and Kats Fujiwara will move into a role as Kawasaki test rider. Hopefully the second Kwak ride goes to a young bloke like Davide Giugliano, Maxime Berger or Jeremy Guarnoni. Chaz Davies has re-signed with Triumph to be joined by Luca Scassa. Ayrton Badovini to move back to WSB with a new BMW Italia team possibly with James Toseland as teammate.

Nori Haga to DFX Aprillia on semi factory gear = The end of his chances of becoming World Superbike Champion.

Whilst he may get a few wins here nor there, surely the Biaggi deal won't allow for equal equipment for Nori-san.

However, I think it is a good thing Aprillia is providing the good gear.

Also gr8 news about the second BMW team as well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mach24

Nori Haga to DFX Aprillia on semi factory gear = The end of his chances of becoming World Superbike Champion.

Whilst he may get a few wins here nor there, surely the Biaggi deal won't allow for equal equipment for Nori-san.

However, I think it is a good thing Aprillia is providing the good gear.

Also gr8 news about the second BMW team as well.

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Nori can officially be added to Slight and Chili in arguments for greatest ever WSB non-champs. Pleased to see he got a competitive bike though I wish Smrz stayed on the Aprilia, he started to look better as the season drew along.

Paul Bird has confirmed that Tom Sykes will remain in his team, though the factory rides are taken by Vermeulen and Lascorz so he will likely be a satellite rider out of the same garage.

Seems Fabrizio will likely be on a Suzuki or Althea Ducati, hopefully Guintoli gets another ride.

Sylvain Guintoli has signed to ride alongside Jakub Smrz at the Liberty Ducati team (yay!). It is expected that Michel Fabrizio will replace him at Suzuki (I think he will go well back on a four cylinder bike).
There is also some talk of Biaggi retiring on a Bayliss-esque high after winning the title this year - or it's a ploy to squeeze more money out of Aprilia to see their bike carrying the number 1 plate next year.
Ten Kate to have Castrol or San Carlo backing with Alex DeAngelis (or Josh Brookes?) partnering Johnny Rea.

Also, Sepang may well be Rossi's last ever race for Yamaha. It is expected they won't release him from his contract early, especially after his race with Lorenzo on the weekend and this seems to have sped up his required surgery on his shoulder. Shame to finish their relationship in this fashion.

Do you have a source for the Rossi story as theres nothing on the MCN website and I cant believe Yamaha would over react after Rossi turned them from average into champions!

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Originally Posted by Allyc85

Do you have a source for the Rossi story as theres nothing on the MCN website and I cant believe Yamaha would over react after Rossi turned them from average into champions!

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http://motomatters.com/news/2010/10/...with_yama.html

http://www.bikesportnews.com/news-de...ip&newsid=6738

Also, Kenan Sofuoglu will ride Tomizawa's bike for the last 2 Moto2 races, probably where he is headed next year. And Australia have 2 wildcard riders in Moto2 at Phillip Island with both Alex Cudlin and Wayne Maxwell getting one-off rides. Good luck to 'em all!

Allyc85

I would expect that the comments would have come from the team manager Wilco Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelenberg as suggested by his quote included in the following article:------

http://www.yamaha-motor.com.au/hotne...-out-at-motegi

Wilco Zeeelenberg - Team Manager
"We just need a few more points! This wasn't a perfect race for us and we struggled a bit when the track changed after Moto2, especially at the hard braking in turn one, but our target was to play it safe and take points so we are happy. Of course the end of the race was exciting, but Jorge is a winner and even with the situation with the championship he was never going to give up on the final podium spot easily. It was a great battle between the two strongest riders in the world but they are team-mates and Valentino took too many risks and touched Jorge a couple of times, which should not have happened when Jorge is fighting for the championship. Anyway, considering the front-end issues and the fact that we chose not to run the new engine, we have to be very happy with these points and now we are all just focused on Sepang and the possible championship victory there."

Kenan confirmed at Technomag CIP for the last two rounds - good luck to them and I think he'll be a front-runner straight away.

Cheers for the links Rod and Ninja :)

There does seem like alot of mights and maybes in those stories though and Moto GP cant afford to have two of its main stars missing.

Great news for Kenan, cant wait to see how he gets on against the GP pack :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Allyc85

There does seem like alot of mights and maybes in those stories though and Moto GP cant afford to have two of its main stars missing.

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That's why this is the rumour mill and not the fact file! :D Anyways, it is being reported today that Rossi has announced he intends to ride til the end of the season if his shoulder is fairly pain free.

It seems the optimism of the MotoGP grid being bigger by 1 next year with Karel Abraham's team is being sucked out by the likelihood of Interwetten Honda disappearing and Suzuki only running one bike. It is said that Interwetten are no longer interested in backing the MotoGP project and will now stick to Moto2 and 125. Suzuki are supposedly brokering a deal to run just the single bike (Bautista) next year with a promise of full support agin in 2012 with the 1000cc rule change. Thank goodness for the inclusion of the contentious Abraham Ducati team!

pramac ducati are only running one bike next year too..

the current total of bikes running for 2011 is a dismal 15.. :(

So, if I get it right, the MotoGP grid for 2011 will be:
Respol Hona: Pedrosa / Stoner
San Carlo Honda: Dovizioso / Simoncelli
LCR Honda: ?
Petronas Yamaha: Lorenzo / Spies
Monster Yamaha: Edwards / Crutchlow
Marlboro Ducati: Rossi / Hayden
Pramac Ducati: Caparossi
Bancaja Ducati: Barbera
Cardion Ducati: Abraham
Rizzla Suzuki: Bautista

5x Honda, 4x Yamaha, 5x Ducati, 1x Suzuki
15 bikes, first 15 core points, so everyone scores points, even if there bike is broke, and they walk with the bike over the finishline in the last lap. Maybe it is a good idea to invite the top 5 from MotoGP 2 to race with the big bikes after they finished their own races. They might score regular points in MotoGP

MotoMatters now reports that Repsol Honda may now revert to the original plan of Dovi and Pedrosa at Repsol and Stoner in a satellite Factory team, which would have the side benefit of avoiding the internal friction from Alberto Puig towards Livio Suppo. Taking the sapre seat at Gresini would be Hiroshi Aoyama and they also say that Dorna will bankroll a second seat at Pramac for Toni Elias with Espargaro said to be in hot demand in Moto2. I really hope it works out this way.

who will have the LCR Honda in 2011?

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Originally Posted by alleskids

who will have the LCR Honda in 2011?

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Likely either Elias or DePuniet.

possibility that Carlos Checa could be replacing Mika Kaillo for the last two rounds this season

http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/164...gp_return.html

So, has this been confirmed yet officially or is that website spreading a rumor?

http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/52...ciani-for-2011

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Noriyuki Haga signs with Aprilia DFX-Borciani for 2011

On writing our coverage of the WSBK Imola round we had said that Noriyuki Haga’s future for 2011 and beyond was uncertain but it had escaped our notice that in the last couple of days he has actually signed with team DFX-Borciani and will be riding an Aprilia next year. The team will be the new outfit of the current Team B&G of Marco Guendalini and Marco Borciani.

The new team will be officially supported by Aprilia and it will probably mark some rivalry between Max Biaggi and Haga who are not exactly friends as we understand. B&G won’t be signing Jakub Smrz next year as he will have his own full Czech team and will ride with a Ducati 1198RS again in 2011.

With Ducati pulling its SBK team continuing with a Ducati bike means either riding for a private team or going elsewhere and Nitronori will still find himself on an Italian bike, now the winner of the 2010 WSBK title. The official news of Haga in Aprilia will come after today’s SBK round as Aprilia was concentrating on Max Biaggi’s possible win. With that confirmed and the championship over apart from the remaining rounds, silly season should die down and we’ll be getting all the official news of riders and teams for next year.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by X-ecutioner

So, has this been confirmed yet officially or is that website spreading a rumor?

http://www.twowheelsblog.com/post/52...ciani-for-2011

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confirmed a couple of weeks back

other news:

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sp...iet-to-ducati/

Randy de Puniet to Pramac Ducati and Toni Elias to LCR next season

three rider works honda team next season and Hiroshi Aoyama will move to the Gresini Honda team next season to partner Marco Simoncelli.

James Toseland has apparently confirmed himself at BMW Italia next year alongside Ayrton Badovini.

Also, Inmotec to test their MotoGP bike at Valencia with the aim of racing next year, possibly in partnership with Norton.

Rumour no more, Loris Capirossi is officially a Pramac DUcati rider next year.
Also, Tom Sykes is confirmed to remain a factory Kawasaki rider next year in a 3-rider team with Vermeulen and Lascorz.
David Salom is join Broc Parkes on the factory Kwak Supersport team.

Glad to see Sykes confirmed, it shouldnt even have been in doubt the way he dragged that pile of *bleep* to some great top ten finishes!

Absolutely, not to mention the amount of donkey-work he's done testing the new bike.

max neukirchner confirmed as MZ rider for 2011.
second seat will be taken by either west, ranseder or arne tode.

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Originally Posted by tha_jackal

max neukirchner confirmed as MZ rider for 2011.
second seat will be taken by either west, ranseder or arne tode.

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That's cool, German rider on a Germanish bike. Kinda like Rossi and Ducati - but not. Hopefully Max can bring some sponsorship with him to boost the teams budget. In one way I'd like to see West move to the proven Marc VDS team next year but in another way, I like the romance of seeing him stick with MZ and help the minnows become competitive. I reckon Ant's decision hinges on the results of the new MZ frame for the last two rounds.

Toni Elias turned down a deal made bij Dorna to get him on the Pramac Ducati. Instead he will ride the LCR Honda, while Randy de Puniet wuill ride the second Parmac Ducati. Elias had trouble with the Pramac (Alice) team in the past

Moto GP grid 2011

Respol Hona: Pedrosa / Dovizioso
San Carlo Honda: Stoner / Aoyama ??
LCR Honda: Elias
Air Asia(?) Yamaha: Lorenzo / Spies
Monster Yamaha: Edwards / Crutchlow
Marlboro Ducati: Rossi / Hayden
Pramac Ducati: Caparossi / De Puniet
Bancaja Ducati: Barbera
Cardion Ducati: Abraham
Rizzla Suzuki: Bautista

5x Honda, 4x Yamaha, 6x Ducati, 1x Suzuki

Will the new Inmotec bike debuting in 2011, or is it a 2012 regulation bike?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by alleskids

Moto GP grid 2011

Respol Hona: Pedrosa / Dovizioso
San Carlo Honda: Stoner / Aoyama ??
LCR Honda: Elias
Air Asia(?) Yamaha: Lorenzo / Spies
Monster Yamaha: Edwards / Crutchlow
Marlboro Ducati: Rossi / Hayden
Pramac Ducati: Caparossi / De Puniet
Bancaja Ducati: Barbera
Cardion Ducati: Abraham
Rizzla Suzuki: Bautista

5x Honda, 4x Yamaha, 6x Ducati, 1x Suzuki

Will the new Inmotec bike debuting in 2011, or is it a 2012 regulation bike?

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Slip Stoner in next to Dovi and Dani at Repsol and Simoncelli remains at Gresini but next to Aoyama and that's about it.