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Announced this week, Sepang International Circuit will host MotoGP for three more years, bringing GP racing to Malaysia through 2013. Sepang has hosted MotoGP since 1999, and has become a favorite track for many of the GP riders. The Malaysian GP is an important stop for MotoGP, as it not only services GP fans from Southeast Asia, but also Australian and New Zealand as well. MotoGP has made developing nations and regions an important aspect of its racing calendar, hoping to turn these countries into motorcycle racing havens full of MotoGP fans.

From the Aragon GP today comes news that Dani Pedrosa has signed a two-year contract renewal with Honda, which will see the Spaniard on a factory-backed bike for the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The news has been expected for some time, so it’s hardly surprising to see HRC tap Pedrosa for another stint of racing, and Spanish sponsor Repsol is expected to be along for the ride with another one-year extension added to their sponsorship.

In an announcement made before today’s Indianapolis GP, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway published that it will host MotoGP again next year, as Dorna has renewed The Brickyard with a one-year contract. This announcement puts an end to the immediate chatter that surrounded the MotoGP venue before this weekend, as it was speculated that IMS would not be returning to the MotoGP calendar for the 2011 season.

However the announcement also raises some more eyebrows, specifically because of the short renewal duration (Laguna Seca also renewed its contract with Dorna this year, but will host MotoGP through 2014), and also because of the growing pressure from riders regarding the track’s surface and format.

Perhaps most vocal of his opinion about the track’s condition is Casey Stoner. The Ducati rider missed last year’s Indianapolis GP, and says that there has been a significant degradation between Indy’s inaugural conditions and those from this weekend. One of the victim’s of the bumps in Turn 6, Stoner succintly believes that there’s, “a lot of the circuit they need to have a big think about.”

Under the lights of the Indy Mile, where motorcycle racing began for the Kentucky-born MotoGP racer, Nicky Hayden has signed a two-year contract with Ducati Corse for the 2011 & 2012 seasons. Not the biggest surprise in the paddock, Hayden’s contract renewal has never really been questioned this season as the American started the season off with series of strong finishes and continues to be a strong brand ambassador for Ducati in the United States.

Hayden will be joined the next two years by former teammate Valentino Rossi, the pair rode for Repsol Honda in 2003, with Hayden finishing the season 5th in his rookie GP season.

A few days later than expected, Nicky Hayden has decided to stay with Ducati for the 2010 season, as the Marlboro Ducati team exercised their option on the American rider today. We had originally expected this announcement at Indianapolis last weekend, after earlier news suggested we’d here about the contract, one way or another, before the month of September. But, better late than never, and the news helps sure up the paddock for the 2010 season.