20th August 2007

MotoGP - There has been some serious rider movement already this year in MotoGP for 2008, much of the rider movement was kicked off by the surprise move of John Hopkins from Suzuki to Kawasaki, I imagine the offer from Kawasaki was extremely large as they look to get a rider on the bikes who can take them to the next level, can John Hopkins take them to the next level, well who knows as Hopkins reputation seems to be better than his actual results. If you think about it Hopkins has only ever has 2 Podiums in MotoGP, one 3rd place and a Second place at Bruno in the last MotoGP race so is he really the rider they were looking for ?? Kawasaki have been claiming for a while that there is nothing wrong with the bikes and its only the riders who haven't been able to get the best out of them, I personally think De Puniet has been good for Kawasaki this year and I hope they keep him to ride alongside Hopkins next year as his results in his first premium class season means he surely deserves his place on the grid in 08, we will see.

Other movement around the paddock has also been very interesting, Marco Melandri has finally decided to jump ship from Honda and move to Ducati forming part of what surely will be a bit of a dream team, it's well known the Team Manager of Ducati has a very high opinion of Melandri.  No doubt Melandri could be world champion but his time is running out and his accidents have cost him dear over recent year, he must be regarded as one of the hardest men in sport today due to the injuries he has rode with over the years and yet he still manages to be competitive, his podium place at Laguna this year with a broken ankle proves the point.  Capirossi has opted for the Suzuki although I am not sure this is the right move for Suzuki, it seems Capirossi will spend another year or two on very competitive machinery and maybe he can help them move forward development wise, the plan could be to give Capirossi a season to help the team move forward and then bring Ben Spies in to hopefully emulate his fellow countryman Nicky Hayden by winning the MotoGP championship in the not to distant future.

The series has another major boost next year with new added British Interest, James Toseland, hopefully WSKB 2008 World Champion will be riding for the Tec 3 Yamaha team, I so hope all the promises of equal machinery to Rossi is the truth and that the Tec 3 Yamaha team will announce a change in Tyre sponsorship for the coming season very soon.  So how will Toseland do, I think he will do well, I think he has a chance of getting at least one Podium next year and hopefully impressing enough to be given even more support in MotoGP for 2009.  Look at Guintoli this year, he is having praise heaped on him this season due to beating his MotoGP wining Team mate Tamada pretty much every week although he is only 18th in the championship, will he have a ride next season, who knows but it doesn't look that good for him unless Edwards moves back to WSBK or he moves teams.  Another who seems to be coming towards the end of his MotoGP Career is Carlos Checa, I don't really remember seeing him much this year expect for the odd crash, he seems to be hanging around in the lower end of the top ten, he is currently in 14th position in the championship, would be great to see Carlos jump to WSBK next season as I think he could be a big asset to the series.

We know that Vermeulen, Rossi and Pedrosa will all be staying where they are, I expect Hayden to stay with Honda and I also expect Edwards to not be Rossi's team mate next year, he could partner Toseland at Tech 3 Yamaha but he could also return to WSBK.  Jorge Lorenzo the 2007 and looking like the  2008 World 250cc Champion has signed for Yamaha in MotoGP and it is expected he will be Rossi's new team mate next year, apparently Rossi vito'd the hiring of Stoner last year and Yamaha will not make the same mistake again with Lorenzo. Rossi mentioned in the press last week that he believes he can ride at the top level for another 2 years and he has a contract with Yamaha until the end of next year and he will then take stock and see how he feels. I am sure Rossi is hungry for another title win but the combination of Ducati and Stoner look to be unbeatable and as Stoner's lead has extended to 60 points after the MotoGP race in Brno with only 6 rounds remaining the chance of a title in 07 looks increasingly slim at best. Hayden shows glimpses of his 06 form but last year the title was not won by Hayden, it was lost by Rossi, Hayden's season long consistency brought him through and Rossi had a season full of bad luck but credit where credit is due, you have to be in it to win it and Hayden consistently racked up the points while Rossi was winning then crashing or breaking down.

Yamaha are also currently rumoured to be talking to Bridgestone about switching tyres from the current Michelins.