Archive - 2007

It has been talked about for a long time, but finally it looks like being a reality. Today, MTV announced that they will be airing the long-awaited reality show based around Nicky Hayden's life in MotoGP. The show, unsurprisingly called "The Kentucky Kid," is a two-hour long special charting Hayden's claiming of the 2006 world title over the last two races of the season, and the ill-fated defense of his title during the 2007 season.

The Valencia MotoGP round is steeped in tradition, despite only having been the final round since 2002. The most interesting part of that tradition is the rolling out of the 2008 MotoGP bikes for the first official test on the Tuesday and Wednesday following the race. But before that can happen, there's the end-of-year test for journalists, former racers and miscellaneous celebrities (this year including Michael Schumacher and Gerhard Berger), who all get to try out some, or for the really lucky ones, all, of the 2007 MotoGP bikes.

Injuries and illness are taking their toll at Valencia this morning, with the results of various crashes over the past two days starting to tell on the riders. Chaz Davies has been forced to pull out of Sunday's race, with his crash towards the end of qualifying causing a suspected cracked scaphoid to add to his cracked fingertips from an earlier crash. Davies' withdrawal means the end to his current MotoGP career, as the Welshman will be returning to the AMA for next season.

The FIM officially announced changes to the tire regulations today. As expected, the single tire rule has been called off entirely, its purpose having been served by forcing the tire manufacturers to agree upon new rules. Instead, the tire allocation has been expanded, and the testing restrictions have been eased.