Ben Spies gets a taste of the Premier Class

First off, congratulations to Valentino Rossi (and his fully-geared chicken) for securing his NINTH World Championship title in Sepang.





Priceless...

Now on to the final race of the season in Valencia. The championship may have been decided in Sepang, but the last race still holds a lot of excitement - in the form of one Ben Spies. Sterilgarda Yamaha have prepared a fine-looking one-off livery for Ben and are about to shove him out amongst the sea of seasoned MotoGP riders for his first trial-by-fire in the Premier Class. He was originally scheduled to sign on in 2011, however his contract was bumped up, and he will be competing in the 2010 season. Once again, MotoGP has snagged some incredible talent.



2010 will no doubt be another exciting year

Until Next Time.....

Rubb'er Down!

MotoGP News - Estoril qualifying and 2010 Teams

The boys of MotoGP are back in action this weekend in Estoril - even Casey Stoner who appears to be in top form after his "medical leave".

The qualifying session this morning went swimmingly, leaving us with the comfort of the usual front row qualifiers, Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner - Pedrosa took first chair in the second row. Just as it should be.

Fiat is taking brilliant advantage of it's sponsorship of the top two riders in the world by running a one-off livery design to announce the unveiling of it's new 2010 Evo Punto car.


The bikes (as well as Rossi and Lorenzo) are clad in a classy silver and white design, inspiring Lorenzo to top it off with a special helmet painted in the theme of Neil Armstrong's astronaut helmet.






Now on to the line-up for 2010....

Every season's end brings surprises, disappointments and smatterings of hope for MotoGP fans, teams and riders, and this year is no exception. Although not quite as cliff-hanger-esque as the last couple of seasons, there are a few surprises and indeed, a few disappointments.

One surprise that played out a little earlier than planned is Ben Spies step-up to MotoGP. Originally sited for the 2011 season, Ben and Tech 3 Yamaha have bumped up the timeline and signed a contract for the 2010 season. But, Ben will not wait until 2010 to make his first appearance in the premier class. He will ride as a Wild Card in the Valencia race, the last race of the year, and he will be racing on track with James Toseland.... the man he is poised to replace. Juicy... I know :)

James Toseland will cross back over to SBK for 2010 along with Chris Vermeulen, who's Rizla Suzuki ride is being taken over by Alvaro Bautista.

San Carlo Honda Gresini has given both of their 2009 riders the boot. Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias are floating at the moment without a confirmed ride for next year. Toni seems to be calling his own shots thus far and is waiting to decide his own future in MotoGP. He will reportedly wait until after Sepang and Philips Island to pin-down plans for next year. According to him, top six finishes in both sessions will mean MotoGP for 2010, and sub-top-six will result in a switch to Moto2. His options for a ride in MotoGP are down to Scot Racing and Pramac Ducati.

San Carlo will have a fresh pair of riders in their camp next year - Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli.

FB Corse is reportedly working on a bike for a new MotoGP team next year. This looks to be Alex de Angelis' best bet for a ride. The team is building a bike around the engine designed by BMW for their MotoGP efforts... which turned into a SBK campaign, and the engine was thus abandoned. Being an all-Italian effort, FB Corse will likely seek an Italian rider. Alex fits the bill.

Pramac Ducati has confirmed Mika Kallio for 2010, and I believe Aleix Espargaro has signed with them as well. Niccolo Canepa has made this his first and last year in MotoGP. He will not race the premier class next year. He is allegedly entertaining several offers from SBK as well as the Moto2 series.

Here it is in a less-confusing layout:

Repsol Honda

• Dani Pedrosa
• Andrea Dovizioso

Tech 3 Yamaha

• Ben Spies
• Colin Edwards

Rizla Suzuki

• Loris Capirossi
• Alvaro Bautista

LCR Honda

• Randy De Puniet

San Carlo Honda Gresini

• Marco Melandri
• Marco Simoncelli

Ducati Marlboro

• Casey Stoner
• Nicky Hayden

Pramac Ducati

• Mika Kallio
• Aleix Espargaro (not confirmed)
  

Fiat Yamah

• Valentino Rossi
• Jorge Lorenzo

Scot Racing

• Not confirmed

Until next time.....

Rubb'er Down!!!!

Kristen

San Marino dominated by "The Donkey"

Valentino Rossi, in a characteristic show of humility, wore a special lid for the Misano race today, with a big donkey painted on the top - his opinion on crashing out at Indianapolis. In a fantastic show of support, his crew greeted him in the winners circle, wearing gigantic donkey ears..... which Rossi confiscated at proceeded to wear during the podium presentation.

Jorge Lorenzo landed the one-two punch for fiat Yamaha today, following Rossi over the line to take second place. Dani Pedrosa took third, and in a surprising show of humor after his Repsol machine ran out of gas and left him stranded on the track, thumbed a ride from Toni Elias back to the garage.

Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards were savagely taken out in the first turn of the first lap by an over-zealous Alex de Angelis - extremely disappointing for them. Nicky was clearly upset as he picked himself up and took a couple of shots at Alex. A short while later, he was interviewed back at the garage, and had simmered down and returned to his diplomatic, southern gentleman demeanor.

Other than that, it was an uneventful race with Rossi taking the lead by midway and maintaining a comfortable 2 second lead until the end.

Until Next time

Rubb'er Down!

MotoGP Indianapolis extravaganza

An astounding race in Indianapolis this afternoon. Pedrosa snagged pole for the start of the race, and came into it on fire after breaking the track record in qualifying. He led the race for the first couple of laps, and looked as though he was poised to give Rossi and Lorenzo a run for their collective money..... right up until he crashed. He did recover, and ended up with a well-earned post-crash 10th place spot. Several laps later, it was Lorenzo leading Rossi after a smooth overtaking by the Spaniard. Rossi was left to do what Rossi does best.... pressure from behind. This time however, it backfired on him. He tried to make up the gap with a hard drive into the corner and tapped the brake - I was a little - nay, a LOT - surprised to see him make such a rookie mistake. He went down hard, but managed to get back on his faithful Yam and return to the track..... only to retire a few laps later after being passed by Pedrosa, due to the effects of the crash on the bike. The irony was palpable as we viewed Rossi and Pedrosa swapping licks for 16th position not 2 minutes after they were swapping for the lead - and off rode Jorge Lorenzo with a 10 second lead over the rest of the pack... to victory.

Nicky Hayden did very well as he carried not only himself, but the weight and nerves of his entire family and gaggle of friends that attended this race with him. He made us all proud as he held up under the pressure of Dovizioso's barrage of attacks and ended up with a 3rd place spot on the podium. By the way, props to Nick who wore a specially designed "Make a Wish" helmet that will be auctioned off after the race for the benefit of the Make a Wish Foundation - solid charity and a solid show of character from Nicky.

Alex de Angelis claimed second place and ran a fine race indeed. Marco Melandri - who by the way snagged a contract with Gresini Honda for next year - suffered a spectacular crash near the end of the race. He made a fine mess of his Hayate machine and was not able to rejoin the race. His moment of enlightenment was clearly visible as he walked up to his bike and discovered that he did such a thorough job of crashing it, the back tire came off. Niccolo Canepa did not finish the race either. It appeared that he had a mechanical problem with his Ducati.

All in all, a very good race with very unexpected results.... just the way I like 'em :) A couple of last-minute mentions before I conclude my ramblings, Chris Vermeulen is now seeking a ride after Rizla Suzuki confirmed the signing of 250cc super star Alvaro Bautista for the 2010 season, and Jorge Lorenzo put rumors to bed about his contract, by signing another year with Fiat Yamaha.

That'll do it for me.

Until Next time

Rubb'er Down!

Incredible Donington finale lands Dovizioso his first premier class victory

In an incredible farewell to the Donington circuit, the men of MotoGP put on a show that will not soon be forgotten. The final podium order is void of the top three riders, and yields the first ever MotoGP victory for Andrea Dovizioso as well as the first podium finishes for 2009 for Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet.

The race was declared wet as the riders were set up on grid. The only team to strap their bullets with a wet set-up was Ducati, all other riders were strapped with slicks. As the lights ticked off, Toni Elias rocketed to the head of the pack and held an impressive lead for the first two laps.

By lap 3, Andrea Dovizioso had taken over the top spot trailed closely by Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi. By the end of lap 3, Rossi had fallen into 5th position, behind Dani Pedrosa and Toni Elias who he immediately overtook to claim 4th position. Confusing?? Well, brace yourself because this will conitnue for the remianing 27 laps of the race!

Lap 4 - Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Rossi, Elias.....

Lap 7 - Lorenzo, Rossi, Dovizioso, Elias, Pedrosa.... Tonis Elais crashes out when he nicks the white paint of the rumble strip.

Lap 8 - Lorenzo crashes out after nicking the white paint of the rumble strip

Lap 11 - Rossi, Dovizioso, De Puniet, Pedrosa - Pedrosa and De Puniet swap positions several times during this lap..... where's Casey Stoner? He has just been passed by Nicky Hayden who overtook him for FOURTEENTH position.

Lap 12 - Seizure-inducing game of leap frog between Pedrosa and De Puniet... leaving De Puniet ahead as they move into lap 13

Lap 13 - Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden have become lap traffic as Rossi and Dovizioso pass them while continuing the battle for first place.

Lap 14 - Rossi and Dovi find themselves 13 seconds ahead of the volley for 3rd - which is still being masterfully played out between De P and Pedrosa.

Lap 19 - ROSSI CRASHES OUT and Dovizioso takes the lead leaving De P and Pedrosa to now battle it out for 2nd. Rossi manages to pick up his bike and get back out on track.

Lap 22 - Loris Capirossi and Marco Melandri and Chris Vermeulen give in to the wet conditions and switch to their "water bikes" which have been warming up in the pits since lap 12.

Lap 24 - Mika Kallio trades his slicks for the wet-set. The running order is now Dovizioso, De Puniet, Edwards, de Angelis. Rossi has clawed his way back up into 6th place and settled in behind James Toseland.

Three laps to go and Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet begin the battle for 2nd which ends up being an absolutely brilliant display of wet weather riding talent - on slicks. Randy doesn't want to give it up, but Edwards manages to overtake him in the last turn before the flag to finish the podium order - Dovizioso, Edwards, De Puniet.

Rossi manages to overtake Toseland for an overall 5th place finish... which still increases his points lead in the championship standings.

This was certainly an edge-of-your-seat race - for all 30 laps. MotoGP bids farewell to the Donington circuit for at least 5 years, as Silverstone will take over hosting the British round in the mean time. The riders will enjoy an extended 3 week break before resuming the season in Brno on August 18th. I will personally use this time to un-scramble my brain after what I have seen today!

1	A. Dovizioso	Honda
2	C. Edwards	Yamaha
3	R. De Puniet	Honda
4	A. de Angelis	Honda
5	V. Rossi	Yamaha
6	J. Toseland	Yamaha
7	M. Melandri	Kawasaki
8	N. Canepa	Ducati
9	D. Pedrosa	Honda
10	M. Kallio	Ducati
11	L. Capirossi	Suzuki
12	G. Talmacsi	Honda
13	C. Vermeulen	Suzuki
14	C. Stoner	Ducati
15	N. Hayden	Ducati

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen

Rossi eeks out 0.099 second win over Lorenzo in Germany

The boys of MotoGP did not disappoint today in Germany. The race was a battle among the top four riders in the championship series - and there is no doubt why they are the 4 fastest men on two wheels. With only 28 points seperating first from third in the standings and half a season of racing to go, the claws are coming out.

Casey, Jorge and Rossi each shared the pressure of leading the race today at some point. Rossi led off the start and was eventually overtaken by Stoner, who volleyed the lead back to Vale, only to have Jorge Lorenzo swipe it again. Dani Pedrosa held his ground like a champ and ended up with the third place position over the line. Casey was remanded to fourth.

The last three laps of the race were a balls-out battle between Rossi and Lorenzo which ended in Rossi claiming victory with Jorge only 0.099 seconds behind him - or next to him as it were. It was indeed 30 laps of full-on entertainment.

Nicky Hayden got shut out and swallowed up at the start, backing him up to 13th position at the end of the first lap. He battled his way up to 8th by race end.... with some very impressive riding and aggressive overtakes.... looks like the Nikcy of yore may be on his way back. Yesterday during a wet qualifying session, Nicky suffered a tremendous high side and took Nicola Canepa out from behind.... with body to body contact. If you can find the clip, it's worth watcing. Canepa said later that he had no idea what hit him - I guess not!

Randy De Puniet made a brilliant start, finding himself in 4th position for nearly a whole lap before he duffed it. If you blinked, you missed it... one second he was right there behind Pedrosa, and the next second there was nothing but sparks and parts.... no Randy. Amazingly enough he didn't take anyone out with him.... and everyone else remained on two for the rest of the race. Andrea Dovizioso retired from the race early due to a tire problem.

The drama will continut next weekend in Donington followed by a short summer break. After the first half of the season, these guys will certainly be looking forward to that.... if for no other reason than to heal their wounds.

It's RUMOR season!!!

Mid season for MotoGP is here which means we are ushering in the Festival of the Signing of Contracts. This is the time of year when rumors start to circulate through the paddocks about who's riding for who next year and who will not be riding at all.

This morning's discussion during the first free practice session at Sachsenring proved to be interesting indeed. Practice, by the way, went swimmingly - except for Chris Vermeulen who suffered a devastating high side after hitting a wet patch on the track. He clearly injured his left foot/ankle, but left on the back of a moped as opposed to in the back of an ambulance, so hopefully he'll be alright and back on track tomorrow.

Anyway, on to the meat of the post.... First off, Grupo Francisco Hernando has terminated it's season with MotoGP, leaving Sete Gibernau rideless and MotoGP with only 17 bikes and riders. The "economic crisis" is to blame for the abandonment of their MotoGP program, according to them. It was good to see the Gibbers come out of retirement - therefore, it goes without saying, it sucks to see him go.... again.

Gresini Honda has it in the works to make some big changes for 2010, starting with signing on 250cc superstar Marco Simocelli. It appears they are eyeing up Marco Melandri as well to complete the team.

Jorge Lorenzo is rumored to be suffering from a case of the wandering eye... and contract. It seems he has expressed some discontent over the amount of money he feels he is worth as opposed to what Fiat Yamaha is actually paying him. There have been talks between he and Repsol Honda over a possible contract for 2010. Recent press releases may have come off as a little humiliating to him as well, as team Fiat stated in more than one publication that they need Rossi to race and help develop the bike, and Lorenzo.... they just need him to race. Telefonica Movistar is contemplating a comeback to MotoGP, and there has been spotty chatter leading some to believe that they too may entertain Lorenzo for a contract.

So, if he leaves, who will take his place? Possibly Colin Edwards (again). Ben Spies is eyeing up MotoGP for 2010, or adversely, MotoGP is eyeing up Ben Spies.... in either case, a new rule that prevents rookies from riding for factory teams their first year out would seat Ben with Tech 3 Yamaha. The possibility of Colin moving into Fiat in the case of Lorenzo moving to Repsol would leave a spot in Tech 3 for Ben. Even if Colin doesn't make a move, the possibility of a Spies Tech 3 ride exists through the further rumor that if James Toseland doesn't produce better results at Sachsenring and the upcoming Donnington race that he's going to get the boot. On the other hand, Dorna is enjoying the representation of a British rider in the championship series - their holding interest could indeed be a feather in Toseland's cap.

De Angelis will most likely not be riding MotoGP next year, and lastly, Toni Elias looks to be planning to leave the Honda camp.

My head is spinning with all the swaps, cuts and rumors of new rookies. It will be very interesting to see how this all pans out. In my personal opinion, the biggest mistake to be made at this point will be with Fiat and Lorenzo. I don't think they should let him go to Repsol just yet. I say get off your wallet, Yamaha, and show him some support.... at least for another year.

Until next time....

Rubb'er Down

Kristen