Alex de Angelis pulled quite the move...
Within10 seconds of the start of the Misano GP, both Americans had been eliminated in a Turn 2 kamikaze move by out-of-work-Italian-local Alex de Angelis. With the red mist firmly down and desperate for a good home race result, De Angels stuffed it up the inside, lost the front and mimicked a bowling ball, hitting Colin Edwards, who’s Tech 3 Yamaha then torpedoed into Nicky Hayden. All three were out on the spot, thanks to the desperate kid with a rainbow on his helmet. In no way did this help his chances for getting a job next year, that’s for sure!
Nicky, who fell in front of the Ducati Bologna workers' Grandstand and all Ducati’s top brass, was enraged; initially thinking it was fellow countryman
...taking Americans Colin Edwards and...
Edwards who took him down. Colin quickly pointed the inconsolable Kentuckian in the direction of the embarrassed De Angelis, who had to take a barrage of abuse and ghost punches from Nicky, literally on the chin, before the dust had settled. But it could have been worse. Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha had taken a clout from Edwards spinning M1 and Jorge admitted afterwards he was lucky to stay upright.
The printable quotes from Hayden were: “I don’t want to sound like a cry baby but one of his team guys came over after the race to say Alex was sorry, but I don’t want to hear that stuff, it wasn’t a good racing move.”
...Nicky Hayden with him.
Edwards, typically more straight shooting, added: “Another dumb-ass Italian at the Italian GP trying to be the hero. Maybe it should have been him wearing the donkey helmet.”
Lorenzo went a step further, demanding that race control should take action and penalize the wild Italian. Ironically, the unemployed De Angelis had been on a shortlist of both Tech 3 Yamaha and Pramac Ducati for 2010...not anymore.
Leaving the chaos behind them, a group containing holeshot star Pedrosa, Elias, Rossi, and the recovering Lorenzo in hot pursuit, were out front. Valentino, sporting a Shrek-inspired donkey helmet, said, “After Indy I call Aldo Drudi (VR’s legendary helmet designer) to say we lose the 25 points but I now have the idea for Misano...”
The self-proclaimed donkey waited until Lap 6 to deliberately pass Pedrosa in Turn 4, in front of the official Tavullia Rossi Fan Club that roared and lit up the stands with a sea of yellow "46" flags. VR then checked out, Lorenzo having lost too much time in the second turn melee to give us another Fiat Yamaha inter-team scrap. So, advantage now swings back to Valentino in his own backyard, stretching his championship lead on to 30 points.
It's the donkey from the movie Shrek. One can't help but love Rossi.
Away from the track, Rossi again grabbed the headlines by declaring he may now leave Yamaha when his current contract expires at the end of 2010 after Lorenzo resigned his Fiat Yamaha contract to continue as Vale’s teammate next year.
A disgruntled Rossi said, “Usually the big manufacturers have just one top rider each. In Yamaha, there are two of us, so this is a different strategy that can bring good results, but also big disaster! I always try to make a great job of developing the bike and usually just do the work for me, but now I am also doing it for my worst enemy! Sincerely, I don’t think I deserve this after what I have done for Yamaha, but this is the Yamaha choice. I have to now decide about my future with motorcycles at the beginning of June next year – whether I continue with Yamaha, or maybe I change. Before I never thought of going out of Yamaha, but now with this situation with Lorenzo I have to make a decision.”
Rossi has always stated his dream is to win the MotoGP championship as an Italian rider on an Italian bike, leaving Ducati to possibly provide the fairytale ending to the Italian legend’s career. The ink is almost dry on the rest of the who-goes-where for 2010 rides. Colin Edwards is said to have agreed on a one-year deal this evening with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team. Though he is no longer a Yamaha-paid rider, so his wages have seen a significant drop.
Toseland has been officially quoted by Yamaha as having only a 10% chance of retaining his ride alongside the Texan for 2010. Edwards actually went further, saying about this teammate for next year: “I’m pretty much certain it’s not the guy who is here now, well 99.9% certain, but we’ll see.”
Edwards will stay at Tech 3 Yamaha for 2010.
This comes on the weekend that Yamaha released a statement regarding WSB championship leader Ben Spies’ future. Yamaha stated: “The program foresees a season in 2010 with Yamaha in WSB and a switch to MotoGP in 2011 with Tech 3.” In all honesty, the word ‘foresees’ doesn’t seem very concrete to me.
The rumor is that Yamaha doesn’t want to devalue their WSB program by announcing now that Ben Spies and Colin Edwards will make up the 'Texan Dream Team' for Monster Yamaha Tech 3 in MotoGP next year. An official announcement is expected to be made after the conclusion of the WSB championship. Spies is also aware that the longer he spends in WSB the more difficult the transition to prototype racing and MotoGP will be. Toseland is expected to be made a lucrative offer to rejoin WSB in a straight swap with Spies. Roger Burnett, Toseland’s manager, did say that options in MotoGP may be open with Pramac Ducati and a new to MotoGP team.
As announced here earlier, Nicky Hayden confirmed at Misano he has had his option with Ducati Marlboro taken up for 2010 and will continue with the Bologna factory. This means it’s likely that Mika Kallio will retain his ride at Pramac Ducati should Casey Stoner return. As for Pramac Ducati's Niccolo Canepa, due to his lackluster season it appears his seat will be up for grabs shortly.
Pedrosa (3) has officially signed a one-year deal to remain with Honda for 2010. Elias (24), on the other hand, is still looking for work for next season.
Repsol Honda has confirmed the re-signing of existing riders Pedrosa and Dovizioso. Pedrosa is locked in for one year and Dovi the same, but with an option for 2011.
250cc GP Misano winner Spaniard Hector Barbera is confirmed on a satellite Ducati ride owned by Jorge Martinez that effectively replaces the defunct Francisco Hernando Ducati team that Sete Gibernau rode for. LCR Honda is expected to retain Randy de Puniet. On a side note, it looks like the new rumored Caffe Latte Honda MotoGP team idea has died. Caffe Latte and Honda have no interest in stepping up and current 250cc pilot Thomas Luthi has also fallen out of favor with the team after a string of poor results. That said, Dorna are still pressing Honda and Yamaha to produce more bikes to enable extra satellite teams who find the budget to run next year in an effort to bolster the grid. There's no question they need more.
We now enjoy an ‘Autumn Break’ following the cancellation of the new Hungarian round scheduled for September, due to the track not having been built yet, so we’ll group again at the end of the month in Estoril, Portugal, the scene of Jorge Lorenzo’s maiden MotoGP win last year.
