[kropotkin thinks...] - The Comprehensive Midsummer MotoGP Silly Season Update - Duca

[Ninjette Newsbot]

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This year's silly season – the endless speculation about who will end up riding where next year – has not so far lived up to the expectations from the start of the year. With all four factory Honda and Yamaha riders out of contract at the end of 2014, real fireworks were expected in the battle to secure signatures. That bidding war never unfolded, and with Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa back with Repsol Honda, Valentino Rossi already signed up to Movistar Yamaha, and Jorge Lorenzo looks likely to finalize his deal – a two-year contract with some kind of option to depart after a year – before the season resumes again in Indianapolis.

But silly season has been far from a disappointment. Over the past couple of weeks, the jostling for the remaining seats in MotoGP has really taken off, with the promise of wholesale changes taking place up and down the grid. With the exception of Pol Espargaro, who is expected to remain at Tech 3 for the second year of his two-year contract with Yamaha, just about every other seat on the grid could see a new occupant. The arrival of Suzuki and, it now appears, Aprilia offers four new factory seats to vie for, opening up new opportunities for the current crop of riders. The upgrading of Honda's RCV1000R makes the production Honda a more attractive proposition. And there looks set to be an influx of young talent into the class. The 2015 MotoGP grid could look very different, once you look past the top four.

While the factory line ups at Honda and Yamaha will be unchanged for next year, the factory Ducati team is likely to sport two new faces for 2015. Although Cal Crutchlow has a year to go on his contract with the Italian factory, neither party is particularly happy with the arrangement. Crutchlow has never really got over the shock of just how poorly the Ducati turns compared to the Yamaha he left behind, and has found it hard to keep his criticism to himself. Ducati, in turn, are not enamored of Crutchlow's forthright manner of speaking, nor of his criticism of the bike. Crutchlow's results have also been a disappointment to Ducati, although the Italian factory must bear some of the blame, given the many mechanical and electronics issue the bike has suffered. Ducati point to the performance of both Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, though conceding that the two Italians have already had a year on the bike. For anyone who rode the Desmosedici GP13, the GP14 is a huge improvement. For anyone who rode a 2013 Yamaha M1, it is a complete disaster.

Source:
http://www.motocuatro.com/index.php/motogp/7562-ducati-podria-cerrar-en-...


http://motor.as.com/motor/2014/07/15...96_019489.html


http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60162/Aprilia-Werksteam-2015-mit-Al...


http://www.gpone.com/en/2014071514251/Dovizioso-tiene-in-scacco-la-Ducat...


http://motor.as.com/motor/2014/07/15...96_019489.html


http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60162/Aprilia-Werksteam-2015-mit-Al...


https://twitter.com/damCR/status/489166226510581760


http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60102/Forward-Yamaha-hat-Interesse-...


http://motosprint.contieditore.it/web/aviator.php?newspaper=MSE&issue=20...


http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/motogp/news-196663-interview-hofmann-a...


http://www.speedweek.com/motogp/news/60145/Jonas-Folger-2015-MotoGP-mit-...


http://www.speedweek.com/moto3/news/60219/Jack-Miller-unschluessig-Moto2...




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