Silly Season

Possible 2006 grid:

Repsol-Honda (Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa)

Movistar Honda (Sete Gibernau, Marco Melandri)

Camel Honda (Alex Barros, ??????? ) ¿Biaggi?, ¿Vermeulen? ¿Kiyonari?

Konica Minolta Honda (Makoto Tamada)

Gauloises Yamaha (Vale Rossi, Colin Edwards)

Fortuna Yamaha (Toni Elías, ???????? ) ¿Xaus?

Kawasaki (Shinya Nakano, Alex Hoffman)

¿Dantin Kawasaki? (Olivier Jaque?

Suzuki (Kenny Roberts, John Hopkins)

Marlboro Ducati (Loris Capirossi, ??????? ) ¿Checa? ¿Xaus? ¿Laconi?

From what I have read Kawasaki is fielding a third bike for 2006 and it will be piloted by Olivier Jacque. Also I have heard that John Hopkins is free from Suzuki after 2005 so he could be on the move. I would really like to see Kiyo back in MotoGP however I don't think he's quite ready yet. Honda should move him into World Superbike for a season or two as Suzuki have done with Yukio Kagayama.

The latest news is that Ducati wants Gibernau. They have made an offer to Hopkins but apparently they would like Gibbers as well, does that mean Capirossi and Checa are both free for 2006? Anyways back to the point, if Gibernau does leave Gresini Honda for Ducati, Telefonica Movistar will have very little interest in the series after losing Pedrosa to Repsol. Rumor has it they are more interested into pouring their money into the Renault F1 effort after the success and popularity of Spanish driver Fernando Alonso. This would leave Gresini Honda in need of a rider and a sponsor.

After their one off sponsorship of the Suzuki team at Laguna Seca, Red Bull dropped in at the German GP immediately after the Hungarian F1 round. Perhaps they are interested in being a title sponsor of a MotoGP team again. And with the tobacco ban in the EU, motorsports need all the non-tobacco money they can get which makes Red Bull a very appealing sponsor. The kind of sponsor Gresini Honda would love to have. If Gibernau leaves, Gresini will need a rider and if Red Bull happens to become the title sponsor for 2006 expect John Hopkins to be that rider. Red Bull and Hopkins have had a very strong relationship since John was brought up with Red Bull Yamaha in 2002 and it is speculated that he is the main reason Red Bull sponsored Suzuki for the US round.

wow...Sete to Ducati...that would be interesting but I don't think he will be successful with Ducati. As fast as those bikes are they just aren't good enough.

Personally I think Biaggi is done. He and Barros are both very strong and very talented but something is lacking. With age comes more of a sense of mortality and that could keep that throttle from opening that little bit more.( I think I heard that in the Faster DVD)

Wow...Pedrosa next to Hayden ...The Honda line-up (if the rumors are true) could be amazing.

I don't thing Vermulen is ready for the step up. He should stay in SBK at least a season or two longer.

The sooner the better i say....

Hope so too,be nice to have a champ from a series not noted for showing well in MGP.Saying that though,didn`t Doohan have some SBK history+maybe Colin will shine in the near future.

I honestly think Edwards will have great success in GP. Maybe not soon and maybe not while Rossi is around but i think he will be around long after Vale has gone. Edwards may not have done anything dazzling yet but he has been consistent and is set to make a better position in the championship this year, than he did last year on the Honda.

I think Yamaha appreciate him a lot more than Honda(which is a shame cos he gave them good success in WSB) but i feel that he is in a more 'people friendly team at Yamaha and that gives him more confidence. I dont think Yamaha are going to let him go anytime soon nor do i think that he wants to part company with them either.

Ps. What WSB history does Doohan have then?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RallyeRon @ Aug 3 2005, 03:59 PM)<div class='quotemain'>Ps. What WSB history does Doohan have then?
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Checked meself there Ron,it was Aussie SB before he came to 500cc.

The latest rumour I've read is that Capirossi will certainly leave Ducati for Honda (Camel probably)

Ducati wants Sete, Biaggi or Hopkins, Sete is unlikely to go to Ducati because he's got a better bike now with Honda, Hopkins is a Bridgestone believer and Suzuki offers him more money so I think he'll stay in Suzuki.

Biaggi is a logical option since he will be booted out of HRC to let Pedrosa in. But I think Biaggi will rather take a Honda.

It's also rumoured that Hoffman may land in Suzuki substituting Kenny, it's all about money.

So I think it'll end up like this.

HRC (Hayden, Pedrosa)

Movistar Honda (Gibernau, Melandri)

Camel Honda (Barros, Capirossi)

Konica Honda (Tamada)

Gauloises Yamaha (Rossi, Edwards)

Fortuna Yamaha (Elías, ?????)

Marlboro Ducati (Biaggi, Checa)

Suzuki (Hopkins, Hoffman)

Kawasaki (Nakano, Jaque)

that would be quite a line up....Biaggi on a Duc...hmmmm.

I hope Sete dosn't go to Ducati, I still see him as Rossi strongest challenger for the forseeable future, I think he has the pace at moviestar this year. I though at the beginning of this year he was a fraction quicker than Rossi, and the Jerez incident really put him off his game. Sete is weak in the head at the moment but he can over come it. You can see it all the time he is shaking his head and getting down on himself soon as he fixes that we are in for sum fun.

Pedrosa I don't rate him he's a weed

Melandri has impressed this year I think he will only improve

Bayliss hope he goes back to Ducati

I rate Nakano hope the Kaw improve the bike

Dunno about Hayden the jury is still out for me

Hope Baggi stays his day is done but he is amusing but he won't be on the works bike.

Unfortunatly Honda are setting themselves up for another failure in 2006, they did this year making Baggi there top guy for the development of the bike. Repsol have another 2 year contract for the top bike again, so who is it gonna develop the bike Hayden or Pedrosa IMO neither are ready for it. From this far out looks like another Rossi year. Will Sete end up at Repsol with Pedrosa on the 800

Cheers

I think Bayliss will be back to WSBK...

Sete will probably remain with Honda he is doing pretty well.

Hayden seems to be doing just fine on the Repsol squad and I think he is learning what it takes to set up his bike properly. I think he will do fine if he is the Top Honda rider next season. He's been right in the thick of things lately. He just has to stay on the damn bike and become more consistant.
Malandri will be right up there next season. He is doing great for a rookie.

OH NO its happened again Rossi testing for Ferrari

http://www.f1racing.net/en/news.php?newsID=94652

I'd hate to see him go to F1. F1 is not worthy of him

NO NO NO NO a sad day

Hope he had a ball

Cheers

I hope he goes, F1 needs a shot of life and Rossi is that shot. If he could win a title he would be perhaps the greatest athlete in motorsport history. It will also free up the MotoGP series as well. I see it as all positives.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Marbles @ Aug 3 2005, 04:46 PM)<div class='quotemain'>Unfortunatly Honda are setting themselves up for another failure in 2006, they did this year making Baggi there top guy for the development of the bike.
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as far as i understand, gibernau, even though on a gresini movistar bike, gets full factory treatment with everything biaggi gets. If by failure you mean failing to win the world championship, I think its obvious by now that it doesn't really matter this yea who is on the #1 honda bike. Rossi is in a laugue of his own.

Also, even though i dislike biaggi, i have to kind of defend him against your statement. If you look at the honda point standings, as they sit today half way through the season, you really can't say who deserved that spot aside hayden. Melandri (116), Gibernau (115), Biaggi (113), not to mention a charging Hayden (101) tied with veteran Barros (101)....

What this means to me is basically that any of the 4 listed, besides Hayden of course, could have easily been his teammate this year. Don't write any single one of them off just yet. 1 point or 20 points at this time in the year isn't hard to overcome. all it takes is one race!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ooost @ Aug 3 2005, 11:50 PM)<div class='quotemain'>I hope he goes, F1 needs a shot of life and Rossi is that shot.  If he could win a title he would be perhaps the greatest athlete in motorsport history.  It will also free up the MotoGP series as well.  I see it as all positives.
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Amen brutha.

True it is all positives. It would be for F1 anyway. Can you imagine the interest in F1 if Rossi went with Ferrari? Everybody and their grandma would be watching. Im not so sure if Rossi would be able bring Ferrari back up to the top tho. In F1 if youve got a HP disadvantage, youve got a major disadvantage, and all the 'moving around in the car' wouldnt make a difference. Im not saying he wouldnt be competitive tho, i think he would make a great F1 driver.

It would certainly be interesting. In his 2004 test with Ferrari his fastest time was just under 3 seconds slower than Schumacher and that was after only 20 laps. If he were to go to F1 after a year or two he could be very competitive, just my opinion but Rossi learns very fast and understands how ti get the most out of vehicles.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Ooost @ Aug 4 2005, 02:13 PM)<div class='quotemain'>Rossi learns very fast and understands how ti get the most out of vehicles.
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Nuff said ooost