MotoGP – MotoGP already in full Mercato! –

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MotoGP already in full Mercato !

MotoGP - MotoGP already in full Mercato! -

While the United States Grand Prix marked the start of the summer break – as well as Stoner’s flight to the championship – it was also an opportunity for some teams to unveil their squad builds for next year.. Trailer.

The 2007 MotoGP season has barely passed its first half – 10 races out of 18 – than announcements of transfers for 2008 are already popping up! Apart from Rossi, Hayden and Pedrosa already under contract with their respective official teams, the teams are competing for the drivers and the game of musical chairs is well underway….

While it is now official that American John Hopkins has signed a two-year contract with Kawasaki, Paul Dening (Suzuki Rizla team manager) was relieved to announce the renewal of his second rider Chris Vermeulen !

Chris Vermeulen continues at Suzuki

"Suzuki has offered Chris the opportunity to be an official MotoGP rider and we are happy to keep him with us. I don’t think we’ve seen its full potential. He’s a winner and we look forward to a lot of success next year"Says Briton who is claimed to be" cold "with Japanese plant following news of Hopper’s departure…

The Australian Vermeulen was also in negotiations with other manufacturers, but he finally chose to remain faithful to the Hamamatsu brand: it must be said that since his arrival in 2005, the GSV-R has continuously progressed and now as one of the fastest and most reliable motorcycles.

Strong arguments for the young Chris who, pragmatic, prefers to continue on this good dynamic: his second place at Laguna Seca, this weekend, erases his disappointment of last year, where betrayed by his mechanics, he had to leave escape the opportunity to win.

"I am delighted to stay with Suzuki. I really enjoy working with the team and especially my chief mechanic Tom O’Kane. The team’s work at the factory also weighed heavily on my decision. I’m sure we can fight at the forefront every weekend, if we continue down this path. I want to be world champion and I will be very happy to do it with Suzuki !", comments n ° 71.

It remains to be determined, with whom the winner of the Grand Prix de France will share his box: if there was ever a question of seeing Ben Spies – the current leader of the American Superbike championship – among the blues, the will of the factory would be to field a driver who has already won in the Queen category at the controls of the second Suzuki 800.

The unknown Capirossi

However, after half a season spent in the shadow of his teammate Casey Stoner, Loris Capirossi did not hide his desire not to stop there: the Italian did not hesitate to reveal contacts that he would have had with Kawasaki and Suzuki, implying to Ducati that he expected a little more consideration for everything he had brought to the factory since 2003 … A delicate situation for the Bologna manufacturer which, despite with all due respect to Capi-T-Rex, would like to have "his" Italian world champion on his beautiful Desmo GP….

Thus, on the evening of the American round, we learned of the renewal of Stoner for at least two years and the signing of a two-year contract with Marco Melandri. !

However, aware of the value of No. 65, the factory’s press release suggests the possibility of entering three official motorcycles in 2008: "Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri will be the drivers for the official squad for the next two seasons. Casey Stoner has renewed his contract with the factory until 2009, with an option for 2010. 24-year-old Italian driver Marco Melandri will support the young Australian on a two-year contract. Next week, Loris Capirossi and his manager will meet in Bologna to assess the possibility of preparing for him a third official Desmosedici for 2008.".

A very noble gesture on the part of the "small" manufacturer, when we know the price of a MotoGP and its development: it must be said that the second place of Loris in Germany proves the merits of the approach and without a selector broken in the United States – forcing him to retire – the Italian was sure to be able to get back on the podium.

Marco Melandri moves to Ducati

A set of musical chairs that must not be to the taste of Fausto Gresini, team manager of the Honda Gresini team: if he had managed to keep his rider in 2006, thanks to an option in his contract, Ducati – already! – had appealed to the talented 2002 250 world champion.

An offer that Melandri did not pass up this time! So there you have it, the private team of its pilot n ° 1 and therefore of the support that Marco had managed to obtain from the HRC… A help that the "Hedgehog" of Ravenna, has openly questioned since the start of the season, arguing that the HRC did not offer him the same evolutions as in Pedrosa and Hayden: a lack of consideration that eventually bored Melandri, more and more interested in the incredible performance of Ducatis, but also – and above all? – by the coveted status of factory pilot.

From then on, a pre-contract would have been signed between the two protagonists, the condition of which was the classification of n ° 33 on the evening of the round on the other side of the Atlantic: positive result for Marco who, braving the pain of his fall during the session qualifier, obtained a magnificent third place and thus ranks fourth overall, tied on points with Vermeulen.

Finally, a particularly awaited "news" fell this very morning: Jorge Lorenzo will drive an M1 for the next two years. !

Jorge Lorenzo joins Yamaha

"The 20-year-old Spaniard will make his MotoGP debut in 2008 on an M1 with direct factory backing", states the press release, being careful not to specify the exact constitution of the brand’s teams in tuning forks…

"Yamaha has been following Jorge’s career with interest for quite some time and we are delighted that he is joining us for next season.", comments Lin Jarvis, Director of Yamaha Motor Racing,"we are sure he will be a great asset for the future and we can’t wait for him to start his MotoGP career with Yamaha".

Rumors are already running about a single-driver team – like Honda Konica Minolta, Honda LCR or Kenny Roberts – sponsored by the famous tobacco company "N ° 1 in Spain". Let’s just hope that if this hypothesis were to be validated, it will not call into question Yamaha’s offer to the French team Tech3, which should still have two M1s in 2008. !

Colin Edwards – whom Valentino Rossi has always wanted to keep by his side – could finally land in the French team, which would then move on to Michelin tires after two years of hard work alongside Dunlop? For the moment the futures of the American and Tech3 are not discussed, nor the opinion of Vale on the arrival of the terror of the 250 category….

Manhandled by the young Stoner, beaten several times by Pedrosa and pushed to the fault by Randy de Puniet in Germany, what does the Doctor think – who will celebrate his 29 years and 13 years at Continental Circus next year! – the arrival of this new serious customer? To be continued in the next episode !

Alex BARDIN and Matthieu BRETILLE – Photos DR

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