Silly Season...already?

[Grampa]

marquez asked for a waterboy as part of his contract....

[duccarlos]

Not sure if HRC signing the Turd is worse for Lorenzo or Yamaha. With Pedrosa out there, Yamaha could have made an offer for him and sent Jorghey packing. In the other side of the coin, Lorenzo could have told Yamaha that he was in talks with HRC for the spot. I think that now Yamaha offers him slightly less than what he's getting now, loses his #1 rider spot and he takes it with his tail within his legs.

[derby]

With Pedrosa out there, Yamaha could have made an offer for him and sent Jorghey packing.

...but in reality-land, who's really going to believe that yamaha would take the perennial also-ran over their multi-time world champion?

[Triple J]

...but in reality-land, who's really going to believe that yamaha would take the perennial also-ran over their multi-time world champion?

Only if JLo would have jumped ship to HRC.

[duccarlos]

Only if JLo would have jumped ship to HRC.

Correct. Right now you have the super alien (MM), the regular aliens and the rest. Since we have no clue what each rider is paid, it's not beyond the realm of reality that Yamaha would go after the Turd. Also note that JLO is not exactly burning up the competition this year, while the Turd is consistently on the podium. At this point Yamaha and Lorenzo seem to be stuck with each other unless their willing to bring up Pol, knowing that he's been more consistent than JLO this year.

[Triple J]

It's way too early to write off JLo. He's struggling now, but one win over MM and I think he'd have his confidence back.

I think calling Pedrobot an also ran is a bit harsh too. He's been a consistent top 3 finisher, and has had terrible luck with injuries. Take a couple away and I think he has a championship or two.

I think both are about the same as far as skill goes, JLo has just been a little more fortunate on the injury front.

[duccarlos]

+1

Many of those years that Pedrosa ended up second in the championship, he missed multiple races due to injury.

[TitanMonsterS4R]

Could this be true.....
2015 Ducati factory riders being Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone. Crutchy moving on to somewhere else and Dovi moving to the Suk?? Not sure how much stock to take in GPxtra as a reputable site but interesting nonetheless.

http://gpxtra.com/2014/07/14/aleix-espargaro-to-sign-for-ducati-on-2-year-deal/


Aleix Espargaro will sign for the Factory Ducati team in the coming days according to reports in Spain.

The Spaniard who signed for the NGM Forward Racing team at the start of the 2014 season is expected to move onto a full prototype machine for next season, but in a surprise move, reports emulating from Spain are saying that he will turn down an offers from Suzuki and HRC to ride in the LCR team on a RC213V, and will instead sign for Ducati, to ride in their flagship Factory team in a two year deal.

The news has come from motocuatro.com, and they say that Ducati have acted swiftly in securing the services of a rider for the next two years, after getting a resounding ‘no’ from Jorge Lorenzo.

They say Cal Crutchlow will look to move on from Ducati after just his first season, and with the ‘big four’ all staying where they are, for at least one more year, that Davide Brivio has convinced Andrea Dovizioso to also jump ship and join the Suzuki Factory team, possibly alongside reigning Moto3 World Champion Maverick Viñales. There is also interest in yesterday’s race winner Dominique Aegerter from Suzuki, with the Swiss rider competing in the Suzuka eight-hour for the Japanese brad.

This would leave the Factory Ducati team with Aleix Espargaro and Andrea Iannone with a new fresh look and team for 2015.

Espargaro is of course no stranger to the beast that is the Desmosedici. Aleix Espargaro came in on the Pramac Ducati in 2009, and then had a full season on the same bike in 2010 before going back to Moto2 for a season. But since the move to Aspar and the ART, and the subsequent spell on the Forward M1, Espargaro has seen his stock rise higher and higher and Ducati believe they have the best alternative to Lorenzo for the next two seasons.

Espargaro’s form this season has really attracted the attention of the bosses in Italy, and after his pole position, and fourth place in Assen the Ducati bosses decided to act swiftly and move to get him onboard for the future after the unsuccessful signing of Cal Crutchlow. Ducati view the 24 year old (25 on 30th July) as the young, hungry rider they want on their bike for 2015 with Gigi Dall’Igna understood to be impressed with Espargaro from his time on the ART when Dall’Igna was still with Aprilia.

The summer break is usually the time the final contracts get thrashed out, and with uncertainty over the futures of Bautista, Bradl and Smith, there will most probably be some movers by the time we come back in Indiana.

[derby]

interesting. that would require aleix espargaro to be bought out of yet another contract.

[Triple J]

I'll believe it when I see it, but an Iannone/A.Espargaro team could be interesting.

[duccarlos]

AE and Crazy Joe? I'm all for giving the young guys a chance, but I would definitely try to keep Dovi.

[lazylightnin717]

Crash.net confirmed Dovi for another 2 years and Crusty is staying on the Duc.

Maybe Ducati will run a 3rd factory machine for Crazy Joe?

[duccarlos]

From what I understood, Pramac is running factory versions already

[Speeddog]

My understanding was that Iannone had a ~factory bike, while Hernandez had a ~GP13.

This says Iannone will have 'factory support' but not the factory paycheck.
http://www.motomatters.com/news/2014/07/19/ducati_line_up_to_remain_unchanged_for_2.html

[thought]

Iannone, Dovi, Cal to stay at Ducati:

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/motogp/ducati-corse-cal-crutchlow-andrea-dovizioso-andrea-iannone-contract-motogp/

Pretty tame silly season so far... no changes at all yet.  But I bet there will be some changes when it comes to Gresini/Tech3... and the Suzuki spots are still open.  I'd like to see AE get a shot at that bike.