Latest News

Dani Pedrosa's annus horribilis continues unabated. Just as the Spaniard was returning to full strength after surgery on his knee, Pedrosa suffered a bizarre hip injury during an incident during practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Pedrosa was nearly flicked off his Repsol Honda early in the Saturday morning FP2 session, landing badly and tearing a tendon at the top of his thigh. Pedrosa later crashed out of the race at Mugello, though fortunately without further aggravating his injury.

Back in Barcelona on Monday, scans revealed that Pedrosa's injury is worse than had been feared. The Spaniard also fractured the greater trocanther, a structure near the top of the femur which the hip is connected to with a supporting ligament. Pedrosa must now spend the next 10 days immobilized, after which point he will evaluate whether he will be able to race at his home Grand Prix at Barcelona.

The injury comes as another huge setback to the Spanish rider's championship hopes, and will leave his fitness suffering even further. Pedrosa was just starting to get back to training from his knee injury, suffered during preseason testing, and will be unable to train for some time to come. The only small comfort for the Spaniard is that he will have a further 13 days' rest after the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona before the Dutch TT at Assen. But then, Pedrosa faces four MotoGP races in five weeks, as the season hots up before the summer break. If Pedrosa isn't back to reasonable fitness by then, he's in for a tough summer.

~~~ UPDATED ~~~

The Repsol Honda team have just issued a press release on Pedrosa's condition. The release is shown below:

Dani Pedrosa today returned home to Barcelona where Doctor Xavier Mir, at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus, confirmed that the Repsol Honda rider had not suffered any further injuries during his crash in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Pedrosa had started the race injured after a big rear wheel slide and subsequent shake from his bike in Saturday morning’s practice session caused the unlucky Spaniard to incur severe stretching in his right hip. The scans today also showed that the initial diagnosis at the circuit on Saturday had been correct and Pedrosa had pulled the gluteus medius muscle, which caused a small crack in the greater trochanter (thigh) bone where the muscle attaches.

The factory Honda rider will now rest up ahead of the Grand Prix of Catalunya in just under two week’s time. His physical condition will be assessed next week and Pedrosa is hoping to be fit for his home race.

Dani Pedrosa:

"It's a relief that the tests today didn't show up anything new because I think I have enough to contend with already. The injury from Saturday is still quite painful obviously but with luck it will improve over the next week. The timing of this a real shame because I was feeling as though I was returning to something close to race fitness and could ride the bike as I wanted. Still, this is where we are so we'll just get on with it and try to make a quick recovery. I really hope I can be fit for the next race because it's a very important one for me and the team."

It's an open secret that MotoGP could see another wave of rookies enter the class in 2010. The two main protagonists in the 250 championship, Alvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli, are both widely expected to go to MotoGP, while American World Superbike sensation Ben Spies has been linked with MotoGP, but has publicly been keeping all his options open.

A decision on Bautista's future could come as early as the Catalunya Grand Prix, according to the Spanish online magazine Motoworld. The Spanish publication is reporting that Suzuki have offered Bautista Chris Vermeulen's seat for 2010, who looks certain to be dropped at the end of the season. Suzuki are said to have asked Bautista to give them a reply at the Catalunya Grand Prix at Barcelona in just under two weeks' time. Bautista is believed to be very keen on the Suzuki ride, as Suzuki is the only factory team that will be allowed to field series rookies from 2010, under the new so-called "rookie rule". As Suzuki doesn't have a satellite team, the factory would not be able to sign class rookies at all without this exemption.

Suzuki isn't Bautista's only option, however. The Spanish magazine is also reporting that Jorge Martinez of the Aspar team is at an advanced stage of negotiations with Yamaha to field a single bike team in MotoGP next year. Martinez has been trying to get into MotoGP for the last couple of years, his efforts failing on a dispute with Kawasaki over rider choice at the end of 2008. But with the 2010 regulations allowing only 6 engines for an entire season, Yamaha have indicated that his could free up enough extra capacity in their race department to allow them to field a single extra bike. Martinez is determined to enter the MotoGP class, and while he has made clear that his preference is to take Bautista with him as the rider for his team, the project will not stand or fall on Bautista's participation.

Meanwhile, Marco Simoncelli is a man much in demand. Aprilia have already expressed their intention to persuade the Italian to make the switch to the World Superbike series, and race a factory RSV4 for them, but Simoncelli has been pressing to stay in MotoGP. Simoncelli's prime option has been to join the Tech 3 Yamaha team, though the question remains as to who he would replace. Colin Edwards has also been linked to a return to World Superbikes, but the Texan's strong results have made clear his intention to stay in MotoGP for at least another year. Team mate James Toseland looks like the most obvious candidate for replacement, the Briton having struggled so far this year. However, Dorna is widely known to be keen to keep a British rider in the MotoGP series, as a way to ensure that the BBC continues their lucrative TV deal with Dorna. Of course, a British rider in MotoGP does not necessarily mean that this must be James Toseland, or that Toseland has to stay with the Tech 3 team.

The other candidate for a seat with Tech 3 is Ben Spies. The Texan has shook up the World Superbike series this season, taking a record 7 poles in a row and pushing Noriyuki Haga very hard for the title this year. Spies has told the American press that his first option is to stay with Yamaha, and that he is perfectly happy in World Superbikes at the moment. But Spies has been approached by Suzuki to join their MotoGP team, and Herve Poncharal has made no secret of his intention to sign Spies for next season. Spies himself has glossed over the subject, telling the press in Utah "there's a couple of little conversations here and there, but nothing down yet."

Sunday was all about Ben Spies' domination of his home WSBK round as the Texan was simply unstoppable. Once again we had weather that started clear and grew increasingly cloudy as the hours passed.

Spies lead each of the three starts into the first corner.

Within a few laps he'd gapped those chasing him and seemed to be running away into the distance.

Last year's double-winner Carlos Checa was able to repeat on the podium for the first race while Michel Fabrizio cemented his position as contender for top three in the championship.

In a terrific Supersport race, Eugene Laverty led every lap, followed closely until lap 14 of 18 by Cal Crutchlow, championship points leader, and Joan Lascorz.

But it was Kenan Sofuoglu who would go from third to first on the last lap to take the Supersport win.

In the second Superbike race, Spies delivered his knockout blow for the weekend, leading from start to finish and making up valuable points on Haga.

Spies treated the crowd to a little show after his second win of the day.

Johnny Rea represented Ten Kate on the podium this time, though in third place.

A result he was very pleased with.

Ben Spies' performance pleased the local crowd, young and old.

While many people feel that Marco Simoncelli's fine, imposed for forcing Alvaro Bautista off the track in a reckless pass, was less than surprising, the protagonist himself is less than impressed. According to the Spanish sports daily AS.com, the Italian feels that the punishment was totally unjustified, and a product of the double standards applied in the 250 class.

"The punishment is completely unfair," Simoncelli said, "When the Spanish riders do this kind of thing, nothing ever happens." Speaking in the press room at Mugello, the Italian then went on to sum up a string of maneuvers pulled by Bautista, Alex Debon and Hector Barbera which disadvantaged others yet went unpunished. "The rules should be applied equally to everyone, and today's punishment was unfair," Simoncelli added.

Simoncelli acknowledged that the move he made was a mistake. "I have apologized already, but it isn't fair what's been done." Simoncelli said that he couldn't have done anything else. "If I'd have braked, I would have crashed. I tried to keep as straight as possible, but there was nothing I could do," he said.