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Hayden Looking Forward to ‘Taking Rossi Under His Wing’

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There is a reason why Nicky Hayden is rapidly becoming one of our favorite riders in the MotoGP paddock (behind Randy de Puniet of course). The Kentucky Kid always tells it how he sees it, is constantly up-beat, and is perhaps one of the most personable riders in the sport, often cracking jokes and egging-on the journalists during press conferences and rider debriefs.

It therefore comes with no surprise that Hayden brought his A-material to Thursday’s press conference in Valencia for MotoGP’s last stop on the 2010 calendar. When asked about his thoughts on joining Valentino Rossi as a teammate again on Tuesday for the 2011 season (Hayden and Rossi were teammates during 2003 with the Repsol Honda team), Hayden was quick with his wit in his response to their reunion at Ducati Corse.

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Randy de Puniet Signs on with Pramac Ducati for 2011

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A&R Patron Saint, Randy de Puniet confirmed this weekend at Valencia that he has signed with the Pramac Ducati team for the 2011 season. Making his announcement at the conclusion of Saturday’s qualifying session, de Puniet is the second-to-last unconfirmed rider for next season, as now everyone waits to hear Gresini Honda’s confirmation of Hiroshi Aoyama to its quasi-satellite team.

The Gresini squad is likely waiting for the Repsol Honda team to confirm how it will handle having three marquis riders under one tent, as HRC has signed Dani Pedorsa, Casey Stoner, and Andrea Dovizioso. At one point there was talk of having Dovi take a seat in Gresini, with the promise of factory support from HRC.

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Racing

Carlos Checa Comes Back to MotoGP, Riding for Pramac Ducati at Estoril And Valencia – Replaces Mika Kallio

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Now before we get ahead of ourselves, we should preface that Carlos Checa is not making a MotoGP comeback, but the former GP rider will ride the last two rounds of the 2010 MotoGP season. Checa has just signed a two-year contract renewal with Althea Ducati, after having a very strong season on the satellite Ducati squad, and has impressed many top-level players in the Ducati squad. The same however cannot be said of Mika Kallio, who looked to be a promising upcoming rider in his rookie year last season, has been an utter disappointment this season, and currently sits last in the standings of full-time riders.

Pramac Ducati, which despite its satellite status is basically the factory training ground for Ducati Corse, has obviously struggled this year as well, and would like to at least finish the season on a high note. Inviting Carlos Checa out to Mugello on Tuesday, the Spanish rider got rewarded for his hard work in WSBK, and took the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 out for a romp. According to the Spanish media, Checa has been given the green light to race for Pramac in Estoril and Valencia instead of Kallio. There has however been no official word from Ducati on the rider switch.

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Opinion/Editorial

Rossi Considers Skipping Last Two MotoGP Races – Fires A Shot Across Yamaha’s Bow

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Much of the talk about Valentino Rossi and his injuries have centered on the Italian’s leg, which was broken with a compound fracture at Mugello earlier this year. Despite causing Rossi to miss several races, the Italian’s biggest physical concern hasn’t been his leg, but instead his shoulder, which he injured in April while motocross training. The shoulder has been a lingering issue for Rossi ever since his return at Brno, which culminated this weekend with the Fiat-Yamaha team actually having to setup the M1 at Aragon to work around the injury.

With a lackluster performance this weekend, not to mention a disappointing return to GP racing in general, Rossi announced after Sunday’s race that he was considering having his shoulder operated on after the three fly-away races (Motegi, Sepang, and Phillip Island), which would effectively mean that the nine-time World Champion would miss MotoGP’s last two stops at Estoril and Valencia. )

This announcement is a big bombshell for the Yamaha camp, which could see its star rider, if we can still say that, again vacating from the team to heal his injuries. However again reading between the lines of the Italian, Rossi’s revelation this weekend has about as much to do with an injured shoulder as it does with putting pressure on Yamaha to release him from his contract in time to test the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 at Valencia.

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Racing

Colin Edwards Signs One-Year Contract with Tech3

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Officially announced after today’s Aragon GP, Colin Edwards has signed-on with Monster Yamaha Tech3 for another year of racing with the satellite team. In what was Edwards’ 100th appearance on a Yamaha, the Texan had a disappointing finish, but has seen his best results while on the French team. Edwards will join his new teammate for next year, Cal Crutchlow, and help the British rider come up to speed on the 800cc Yamaha MotoGP bike, and the pair is highly favored to be the top satellite riders next season.

“I am delighted to have signed a new one-year contract with the Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team,” said the Texan Tornado. “I want to say a big thanks to Yamaha and to Tech3 for their unwavering support. I am honoured to continue my long and successful relationship with Yamaha, Herve Poncharal and all at Tech3. I love the team and feel like part of a big family and I’m thrilled that our adventure together is continuing next year.”

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Racing

Elena Myers to Test with Rizla Suzuki after Valencia

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We first reported on Elena Myers when she won the AMA Pro Racing Supersport race back at Infineon earlier in the season, becoming the first woman (or second) to win a professional US motorcycle race. Now the 16-year-old wonder is making waves again, after visiting the Rizla Suzuki pit box during the Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca. Meeting the Rizla Suzuki team, Myers has been offered a chance to ride the Suzuki GSV-R during the testing session held after the MotoGP round at Valencia, Spain.

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Racing

Silly Season: Italian Press Says Stoner Signed with Honda – Rossi Offered Deal by Ducati

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UPDATE: GPOne.com (probably the most reliable source in the Italian Media) has gotten word from Livio Suppo that “no one has signed anything yet”, which probably confirms that Stoner is talking to HRC, but obviously hasn’t made his mind up about anything.

Silly season is officially underway starting today as the Italian press is full of accounts (all penning their source as being from Sportmediaset) that Casey Stoner has signed with the Repsol Honda MotoGP team, with a sub-headline that Valentino Rossi has been offered a two-year contract with Ducati. Sportmediaset cites the deciding reason for Stoner jumping ship as being the Australian rider’s disappointment in how Ducati backed him during his mysterious illness last year.

Despite headlining Stoner’s move, the bulk of their article concerns Rossi’s switch to Ducati, which may be a tip-off on the validity of the news, as the Italian press loves to pair the two marquee names together. We wade through the silly season possibilities further after the jump.

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Racing

A Graphical Representation of a Win at Jerez

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Did you ever wonder what a MotoGP win looks like on paper? Take away the close-passes, the high-speed wobbles, and on-air commentary, and all that’s left behind is the truth in the lap times. No excuses, no almosts, the above is a graphical represenation of what coming back from a 3.75 second deficite looks like at the storied Spanish track of Jerez, which saw Jorge Lorenzo win by over half a second when it was all said and done. Click here for a higher-res version.

Source: E_Bland

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