Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

contract

Browsing
MotoGP

Yamaha Signs Jorge Lorenzo with a Two-Year Contract

By 17 Comments

As expected, Jorge Lorenzo’s announcement for the upcoming seasons was made today at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ahead of the Indianapolis GP. The agreement sees the two-time MotoGP World Champion remaining with the Movistar Yamaha Factory team for the 2015 and 2016 season.

In the past months, the Spaniard had been jockeying back and forth with Yamaha Racing regarding his contract, with Lorenzo said to be keen on only a one-year deal.

However with a string of poor results so far this season, Lorenzo is fifth in the Championship, and certainly not in the bargaining position he had hoped for going into the summer break. Thus, the Mallorcan finds himself with a two-year deal.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP: Stefan Bradl Confirmed at Forward Racing for 2015

By 10 Comments

As had been widely anticipated, Stefan Bradl has signed with the NGM Forward Racing team for the 2015 season. The German had been forced to look for a ride after losing his support from HRC, Honda providing a major part of the backing for Bradl at the LCR Honda team.

Although LCR were keen to retain the German, without financial support from HRC, that would have been a costly business. With HRC backing Cal Crutchlow, Bradl was left to look elsewhere.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP Silly Season, Post-Crutchlow – Who Is Going Where

By 16 Comments

With the announcement that Cal Crutchlow is to move to the LCR Honda team for 2015, making space for Andrea Iannone to move up to the Factory Ducati team, the beginnings of a MotoGP grid are starting to emerge for 2015.

Both Repsol Honda seats are confirmed, as are both Factory Ducati riders and Valentino Rossi at Movistar Yamaha, with Jorge Lorenzo expected to announce a deal with Yamaha very soon. In the satellite teams, only Pol Espargaro is confirmed at Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, as is Crutchlow at CWM-LCR Honda.

With those names in place, we can start to draw up a list of who will be where, and who could be where for 2015. We have broken that list into three separate tables, based on the certainty of their deals: riders with confirmed contracts; riders and teams with deals that are expected to be confirmed very soon; and deals which are likely to happen, but are still not certain.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

Officially Official: Crutchlow Leaves Ducati for LCR Honda

By 43 Comments

It looks like Ducati will get their all-Italian line-up after all. Announced today, Cal Crutchlow will be leaving Ducati to join LCR Honda for the 2015 season.

Officially, Crutchlow had until 31st July to exercise his option to leave Ducati, but it appears that Ducati management agreed to an extension, while negotiations continued with Honda. An agreement was reached late last night, with one of the main points of contention being the payoff Crutchlow would receive from Ducati for leaving.

A week ago, Crutchlow announced that he would be staying with the Italian factory at the World Ducati Week event. Since then, however, the situation changed, with Crutchlow’s manager Bob Moore reaching agreement with Ducati management to explore further options. That led directly to the release of Crutchlow to join LCR.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow Leaving Ducati for LCR Honda?

By 23 Comments

This year’s silly season may have been a bit disappointing, at least when you consider that many of the top riders had contracts up for renewal this year.

Instead, we saw Valentino Rossi, Marc Marquez, and Dani Pedrosa all stay-put with their current manufacturers, and likely we will add Jorge Lorenzo to that list during the Indianapolis GP, as the Spaniard is said to be close to a one-year contract with Yamaha Racing.

One of the bigger question marks though has been Cal Crutchlow, as the Briton has made no secret about his displeasure with the Desmosedici GP14. Finding the paddock gossip about the Ducati to be true, Crutchlow currently faces a steep learning curve to bring his performance on the GP14 in-line with Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, both of whom already have a season on the Desmosedici under their belts.

With an option to leave Ducati Corse midway through his two-year contract, rumors about Crutchlow’s departure have been escalating, despite Ducati’s announcement at World Ducati Week 2014 that Crutchlow would remain with the team. Now, the Italian press tipping him to leave for a seat at LCR Honda.

Keep Reading
By
WSBK

WSBK Announces Tender Offer for Spec-Tire Supplier

By 6 Comments

World Superbike’s spec-tire contract with Pirelli comes to a conclusion after the 2015 season, and as such the Dorna WSBK Organization, in agreement with the FIM, has announced that it is taking bids from companies who are willing to be the sole-tire supplier of the World Superbike Championship from 2016 onwards. Interested parties will have to contact Gregorio Lavilla, the WSBK Sporting Director, and have their offers in by August 25th.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP: Crutchlow, Dovizioso, & Iannone To Stay at Ducati Corse — Will Ride Radically New Desmosedici GP15

By 13 Comments

After all the speculation of massive changes in Ducati’s MotoGP team, all is to remain the same. During the World Ducati Week event held for fans of the Italian marque at Misano, both Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow announced that they would be remaining with Ducati for 2015.

The news means Crutchlow chose not to exercise his option to leave, and Dovizioso was persuaded to sign-on for two more years. In addition, it means that Ducati has exercised its option to extend the contract with Andrea Iannone, with Iannone to be given factory support.

The decisions by all three riders are a both a show of confidence in the ability of Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall’Igna to build a more competitive MotoGP machine, as well as a lack of alternatives elsewhere.

The only other factory rides available are the two seats at Suzuki, but given the slow pace of the bike during testing and the amount of development work needed, that was a bigger risk than staying at Ducati.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP: Repsol Will Sponsor Honda Through 2017

By No Comments

At the start of the summer break, Repsol and HRC announced they will be extending their sponsorship agreement for the next three seasons.

The Spanish oil giant will continue to back the factory Honda team until the end of the 2017 season, continuing a partnership which first started in 1995, the year after Mick Doohan won his first title for Honda. The press release of the deal is after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

No TV or Live Stream for AMA Pro Racing at Laguna Seca

By 16 Comments

Near the start of the 2013 AMA Pro Road Racing season, DMG had yet to announce a TV package for America’s premier motorcycle road racing series.

The issue was of great concern to riders and teams, who had made sponsorship commitments, with TV exposure being an integral piece of consideration involved in those contracts. Luckily at the last-minute, a TV package was announced, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Fast-forward to the 2013 Laguna Seca round, and it became apparent that not all of the AMA Pro Road Racing events would be on TV, namely the AMA’s stop at Laguna Seca, which was being held with the now Dorna-control Superbike World Championship. Again the news was a shock, and sent the AMA Pro Racing paddock into a fervor.

Thanfully again a remedy was found at the last minute — albeit, an imperfect one — with a free online live stream being offered to two-wheel racing fans.

Moving into the 2014 season, once again it was revealed that AMA Pro Road Racing would see a downgrade in its exposure levels, as no TV contract would be produced for the season. Instead, the 2014 races would be broadcast solely on the FansChoice.tv website for free.

Laguna Seca has once again proved to be the stickler though, as DMG announced this week that the only AMA round west of The Rockies would not even be shown on the company’s streaming website. The reactions are predictable.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa Signs with HRC Thru 2016

By 15 Comments

The 2014 MotoGP Silly Season is rapidly closing, as HRC has announced the re-signing of Dani Pedrosa through the 2016 season in the MotoGP Championship. This means that Pedrosa will have at least 16 consecutive seasons with the factory Honda team to his name, where thus far he has been three-times the bridesmaid (once behind Casey Stoner, and twice behind Jorge Lorenzo).

HRC’s move solidifies the Repsol Honda team’s all-Spanish rider lineup, and quells any rumors of Pedrosa making a move to the Suzuki Racing project, which will reemerge into GP racing for the 2015 season. Pedrosa was never a likely candidate for Suzuki, though the Spanish rider’s presence surely would have signalled the level of seriousness that the Japanese OEM was giving the MotoGP World Championship.

Keep Reading
By
MotoGP

The Curious Case of Jack Miller: Marc VDS Racing Issues a Press Release Clarifying Contract Situation

By 26 Comments

Jack Miller is a rider in demand. The current leader in the Moto3 World Championship has been linked to several top teams, and has been openly flirting with a step up to MotoGP, skipping Moto2 altogether.

The fly in the ointment for Miller is the pre-contract he signed with the Marc VDS Racing team in 2013, securing his services for 2014, 2015 and 2016. Under the terms of the contract, Miller was released to ride for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team in Moto3, as Miller was keen to have a shot at the Moto3 title before moving up a class.

That situation appears to have caused some confusion. Jack Miller told the media as recently as Assen that he has no contract to ride for 2015, and is free to race wherever he wants. That is a position which was earlier laid out in a press release from the Red Bull KTM Ajo team, in which Miller made the same statement.

Marc VDS Racing and their team manager Michael Bartholémy insist that this is not the case, and the situation has gotten so far out of hand that the Marc VDS team has issued a press release of their own, clarifying the deal which they have with the Australian.

The press release sets out Marc VDS Racing’s perspective on the deal. A binding, three-year deal was agreed between Miller and Marc VDS, laid down in the form of a pre-agreement.

Keep Reading
By