Jorge Lorenzo

This weekend saw the MotoGP teams and riders head to Jerez for the Spanish Grand Prix with Jorge Lorenzo crossing the line to win at his home circuit.

Dani Pedrosa qualified in pole position for the Repsol Honda team and led the race as the lights went out followed by the Fiat Yamaha of Valentino Rossi who slipped into second from fourth on the grid, ahead of the Marlboro Ducati of Nicky Hayden.

The Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi crashed out on lap three and was out of the race followed shortly afterwards by the Pramac Racing machine of Aleix Espargaro, who managed to rejoin the runners.  Ben Spies on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine was seen returning to his pit garage and retire after developing a problem with his front tyre.

Pedrosa was leading the race and creating a gap between himself and second place man Rossi with a fast approaching Lorenzo while the battle further back was between San Carlo Honda Gresini team-mates Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli who were challenging for seventh place.

Lorenzo slipped past his team mate Rossi on lap 21 of the race before attempting a pass on his fellow countryman Pedrosa two laps later.  However, the Honda rider wasn’t giving up his slot easily and the two almost made contact as Pedrosa fought to hold his line.

On the final lap, Pedrosa ran wide allowing Lorenzo the chance to get past and finish 0.543 seconds ahead with Rossi in third place.

Nicky Hayden finished in fourth spot followed by Casey Stoner in fifth, Andrea Dovizioso in sixth, MikaKallio in seventh, Marco Melandri in eighth, Randy de Puniet in ninth and Alvaro Bautista in tenth.

Here are the results;

1   Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 45m 17.538s
2.  Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 45m 18.081s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 45m 18.428s
4.  Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 45m 26.553s
5. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 45m 27.572s
6.  Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 45m 40.682s
7.   Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 45m 52.027s
8. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 45m 52.225s
9. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 45m 53.698s
10. Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 45m 54.329s
11. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 45m 54.693s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45m 55.798s
13. Hector Barbera SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 45m 55.909s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 46m 19.59s
15. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing +3laps

DNF:
Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Loris CapirossiITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

Valentino Rossi

One rider thankful for the postponement of the Japanese MotoGP was the Italian Valentino Rossi after suffering an injury in a motocross training accident.

The 31-year-old was sent for X-Rays after the incident, complaining of discomfort in his back following the tumble days after the Losail round of the championship.

Rossi was fortunate to have been left with just bruising to his shoulder and back but was unsure how it would affect him during the race, so the break between rounds gave him the time he needed to repair the damage caused.

This weekend the teams and riders will head to the Jerez circuit where the Fiat Yamaha rider is currently leading the MotoGP leaderboard following his win after the fall of  Casey Stoner’s at the last round in Qatar.

Garry McCoy - FB Corse - MotoGP 2010

The new FB Corse team have been given permission to join the MotoGP championship for 2010, starting from round three at Jerez.

The team have been testing with their rider for the season Garry McCoy, who although disappointed not to be on the grid from round one agrees that it will give himself and the team further testing time on the FB01.

Approval of the new team was given by Dorna representatives following Wednesday’s test timing test at the Valencia circuit where they have continued to test today.

The 37-year-old rider, who was better known as ‘The Slide King’ due to his style of riding has signed a two-year deal to race for the team after last competing in the MotoGP series back in 2006.

The Silverstone Circuit

There is to be 18 races in the MotoGP championship series for 2010 which has released by the FIM, with the return of Silverstone for the British Grand Prix for the first time since the 1980’s.

It has also been stated that if any of the races fail to go ahead the new circuit in Aragon in Spain will host the event.

April 11 *        Qatar              Doha/Losail
April 25          Japan              Motegi
May 2             Spain              Jerez de la Frontera
May 23            France             Le Mans
June 6            Italy              Mugello
June 20           Great Britain      Silverstone
June 26 **        Netherlands        Assen
July 4            Catalunya          Catalunya
July 18           Germany            Sachsenring
July 25 ***       United States      Laguna Seca
August 15         Czech Rep.         Brno
August 29         Indianapolis       Indianapolis
September 5       San Marino         Misano
September 19      Hungary            Balatonring
October 10        Malaysia           Sepang
October 17        Australia          Phillip Island
October 31        Portugal           Estoril
November 7        Valencia           Ricardo Tormo - Valencia

*   Evening Race
**  Saturday
*** Only MotoGP class

Valentino Rossi

This weekend the MotoGP series is in France at the Le Mans circuit for the fourth round of the championship and Valentino Rossi has been wowing the crowds with a visit to the country’s capital.

Rossi took to the streets of Paris on the Monster Energy Yamaha R1 on Thursday, meeting fans, pulling wheelies and doing a burn-out by the Eiffel Tower, much to the spectators enjoyment.

Rossi is hoping to win his 99th Grand Prix this weekend after his first victory of the 2009 season last time out in Jerez.  He is currently leading the championship by 11 points ahead of Casey Stoner, with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Spain’s Dani Pedrosa running in joint third place.

The Pramac Racing’s Niccoló Canepa, celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday and was surprised by a cake from his team in the pit garage.

Meanwhile, the 250cc rider, Gabor Talmacasi will not be racing this weekend after it was announced that a disagreement had taken place with his team and his contract with the Aspar group has now been cancelled.

Talmacsi had moved to the Balaton Racing Team 250cc for this season under the supervision of Aspar, but his management company have stated a ” lack of a second bike” and the “changing of one-sided media representation rights” for the reasons behind the termination of the contract.

Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi took his Fiat Yamaha across the line on Sunday to claim his first victory for the 2009 season at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

125cc

British rider Bradley Smith took his first win of his career on Sunday in the 125cc class ahead of team-mate Sergio Gadea for the Bancaja Aspar Team.

Championship leader Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta team bike, crashed out on the first lap while third Bancaja Aspar rider Julian Simon suffered a dramatic high-side on lap five whilst in second place.

Smith had a great start from the grid and ended the race with a 13-second lead on his team-mate to claim his maiden victory on his 50th GP race.

Gadea fought a tremendous battle with Marc Márquez on the Red Bull KTM Motorsport machine, finally taking the second step of the podium with only a 0.o29s gap.

Scott Redding on the Blusens Aprilia finished in fourth place ahead of Derbi Racing Team rider EfrénVázquez.  Sandro Cortese was in sixth place on the Ajo Interwetten bike followed by Pol Espargaró on the second Derbi Racing bike and Danny Webb on the Degraaf Aprilia.

The second Ajo Interwetten ridden by Dominique Aegerter finished in ninth position ahead of Nicolas Terol on the Jack & Jones machine to complete the top ten riders of the day.

An impressive ride from Jonas Folgar on the Ongetta machine after missing out on a qualifying time for the team on Saturday.  He was in last place as the bikes lined-up on the grid and had picked his way through the field of riders to fourth place before crashing out on the penultimate lap of the race.

Here are the results:

1 25 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 41′49.556 145.931
2 20 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 42′03.080 145.149 13.524
3 16 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 42′03.109 145.148 13.553
4 13 45 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 42′03.807 145.107 14.251
5 11 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′04.314 145.078 14.758
6 10 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′05.101 145.033 15.545
7 9 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′05.112 145.032 15.556
8 8 99 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 42′07.328 144.905 17.772
9 7 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′08.516 144.837 18.960
10 6 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 42′08.609 144.832 19.053
11 5 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′22.036 144.067 32.480
12 4 12 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 42′22.110 144.063 32.554
13 3 14 Johann ZARCO FRA WTR San Marino Team APRILIA 42′22.934 144.016 33.378
14 2 24 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 42′31.089 143.556 41.533
15 1 16 Cameron BEAUBIER USA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 42′33.999 143.392 44.443
16 73 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′34.294 143.375 44.738
17 35 Randy KRUMMENACHE SWI Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 42′34.490 143.364 44.934
18 8 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′34.533 143.362 44.977
19 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′45.020 142.776 55.464
20 69 Lukas SEMBERA CZE Matteoni Racing APRILIA 42′54.870 142.230 1′05.314
21 32 Lorenzo SAVADORI ITA Fontana Racing APRILIA 42′56.976 142.114 1′07.420
22 42 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Andalucia Aprilia APRILIA 43′06.381 141.597 1′16.825
23 39 Luis SALOM SPA SAG-Castrol HONDA 43′14.744 141.140 1′25.188
24 53 Jasper IWEMA NED Racing Team Germany HONDA 43′18.459 140.939 1′28.903
25 87 Luca MARCONI ITA CBC Corse APRILIA 43′18.568 140.933 1′29.012
26 41 Borja MAESTRO SPA Hune Racing Team-TMM APRILIA 42′28.798 137.437 1 lap
27 31 Jordi DALMAU SPA SAG-Castrol HONDA 42′31.602 137.286 1 lap
28 40 Eduard LOPEZ SPA TCR Competicion APRILIA 42′31.771 137.277 1 lap

250cc

Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama took the top step of the podium on Sunday beating Spanish favourite Alvaro Bautista in the 250cc series.

Bautista had beaten Aoyama at the last round in Japan and now the roles were reversed as the Japanese man took his revenge.

Throughout the race, the Scot Racing Team rider Aoyama, Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine and Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera, swapped the lead several times.

Pole sitter Alex Debón on the Aeropuerto-Castello Blusens bike, crashed out with 16 laps of the race remaining while in sixth place, disappointing his fans at his home circuit.

Aoyama took the lead on the final corner giving him a four-point advantage over Bautista for the lead in the championship at the end of round three.

Simoncelli finished in third place followed by Héctor Barberá on the Pepe World Team bike and Thomas Luthi on the Emmi-Caffe Latte bike.

In sixth place was Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia ahead of Gabor Talmacsi on the Balaton Racing machine, Jules Cluzel for Matteoni Racing, Roberto Locatelli on the second Metis Gilera and Raffaele de Rosa on the second Scot Racing bike.

Here are the results:

1 25 4 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 45′08.805 152.832
2 20 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 45′08.937 152.824 0.132
3 16 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 45′11.511 152.679 2.706
4 13 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Pepe World Team APRILIA 45′11.574 152.676 2.769
5 11 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 45′26.751 151.826 17.946
6 10 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 45′26.755 151.826 17.950
7 9 28 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Balatonring Team APRILIA 45′35.093 151.363 26.288
8 8 16 Jules CLUZEL FRA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 45′35.277 151.353 26.472
9 7 15 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 45′36.451 151.288 27.646
10 6 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 45′41.174 151.027 32.369
11 5 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc APRILIA 45′41.422 151.013 32.617
12 4 48 Shoya TOMIZAWA JPN CIP Moto – GP250 HONDA 45′43.046 150.924 34.241
13 3 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 45′45.694 150.778 36.889
14 2 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Valencia CF – Honda SAG HONDA 45′46.042 150.759 37.237
15 1 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 46′25.591 148.619 1′16.786
16 10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 46′34.314 148.155 1′25.509
17 8 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Racing Team Germany HONDA 45′17.952 146.459 1 lap
18 77 Aitor RODRIGUEZ SPA Milar – Juegos Lucky APRILIA 45′24.420 146.111 1 lap
19 56 Vladimir LEONOV RUS Viessmann Kiefer Racing APRILIA 45′45.476 144.991 1 lap
20 53 Valentin DEBISE FRA CIP Moto – GP250 HONDA 46′27.875 142.786 1 lap

MotoGP

At the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, Valentino Rossi took his maiden victory for the 2009 season ahead of Spainish rider Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda.

Pedrosa led for the first half of the race after qualifying in second position on the grid but with only ten laps of the race remaining Rossi made his pass and took the Yamaha across the line for the win.

Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati finished in third place after finishing the race 10seconds behind Rossi with Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda in an impressive fourth place.

Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had qualified in pole position and had been running with the front riders until he lost the front of his machine with three laps to run.

Marco Melandri was another rider with an impressive finish after bringing his Hayate Racing machine home in fifth place ahead of Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki in sixth.

Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech-3 Yamaha finished in seventh place with Andrea Dovizioso on the second Repsol Honda in eighth despite going off track earlier in the race.

Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini finished in ninth place ahead of the second Rizla Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45′18.557 158.141
2 20 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45′21.257 157.984 2.700
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 45′29.064 157.532 10.507
4 13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 45′50.450 156.307 31.893
5 11 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team KAWASAKI 45′51.685 156.237 33.128
6 10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 45′52.685 156.180 34.128
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 45′52.978 156.163 34.421
8 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45′53.182 156.152 34.625
9 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46′01.246 155.696 42.689
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46′03.740 155.555 45.183
11 5 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando DUCATI 46′06.749 155.386 48.192
12 4 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP HONDA 46′10.432 155.179 51.875
13 3 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 46′12.240 155.078 53.683
14 2 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46′12.498 155.064 53.941
15 1 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46′19.794 154.657 1′01.237
16 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 46′29.453 154.121 1′10.896

Dani Pedrosa 2008

This weekend the MotoGP Championship gets underway at the Losail International circuit in Qatar with it’s second night race.

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has confirmed he will be on the grid for the first race of the season after suffering injuries in a crash while testing in Qatar at the beginning of March.  Pedrosa missed some important test sessions and this will be his first time back on his machine since the accident.  Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso has proved to be outstanding in the wet as well as making progress with the factory RC212V.

Casey Stoner was a second faster than any other machine on the track at the floodlit test session and has won the last two races on this track.  However, he has not spent long spells on his Ducati Marlboro since the operation on his wrist during the winter and has admitted to not having the movement there that he had before.  Team-mate Nicky Hayden has so far been disappointed with his pace and has struggled to get to grip with his bike.  It was hoped that the Desmosedici would prove to be more suited to the aggressive riding style of Hayden but he still has a way to go yet to prove it to himself and his team.

Valentino Rossi is still aiming for his victory at the Qatar circuit after finishing down in fifth position last year’s season opener.  The Italian is happy with the improvements on his M1 machine and said that the Fiat Yamaha team have done a great job giving him the confidence to challenge any other rider out there.  Meanwhile, his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will be on Bridgestone tyres for the first time on the circuit where he made his debut in MotoGP.

The Rizla Suzuki team with riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi are confident that they can make it onto the podium at the opening round.  The team have struggled on this circuit in the past but have consistently been in the top five in testing.

James Toseland is expected to be fit to ride the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha this weekend after suffering a second massive accident during the winter practice in Jerez on March 29th.  He had a huge high-side while competing in the BMW M Award qualifying simulation, leaving him with concussion and a broken bone in his foot.  His team-mate Colin Edwards has shown impressive pace during the winter test sessions and his more than happy with improvements made to his machine.

The Pramac Ducati team are hoping to be one of the front runners this season after an impressive test session in Jerez with the former 250cc rider Mika Kallio. The Finnish rider finished in sixth place overall and at times had got up to fourth while team-mate Niccolo Canepe, continued to struggle with pace on the Ducati.

Yuki Takahashi will be riding for the Scot Racing Team making his MotoGP debut and knows that he has a lot of work ahead of him.  The rookie rider finished at the BMW M Awards event in fourteenth place in his first competitive MotoGP race.

Sete Gibernau will be on the grid for the Grupo Francisco Hernando Satellite bike Team after qualifying in an impressive eighth place at the BMW M Awards event on the Ducati.  Despite concerns for Gibernau’s fitness the team know that they must work hard but are more focused after the Jerez test session.

The San Carlo Honda team have again Alex de Angelis on their team alongside their new signing Toni Elias.  Elias rode for the Satellite Ducati team last season and so also has a lot of experience under his belt, despite only finishing in twelfth position overall.

Marco Melandri for the Hayate Racing team was almost 1.5 seconds faster in his Jerez test session than he was in any of his races in the 2008 season.  The team have put the success down to improving set-up and new parts after a disappointing Qatar test on the Ninja ZX-RR.

LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet, was much lower down the time-sheets than he wanted to be in the last test session and is still not comfortable with the work left to do.  The Frenchman is aiming to be in the top ten at the opening round after the team admitted to still having a lot of work to do.

This is the only night race of the 2009 and the first of seventeen races on the calendar beginning on the 12th April.  The first practice takes place on Friday night with a 45-minute session for the MotoGP riders beginning at 10.30pm local time.  On Saturday the qualifying practice takes place at 23.05 local time with the Commercialbank Grand Prix Of Qatar taking place on Sunday at 23.00 local time.

Casey Stoner

The annual BMW M Award event took place at Jerez on Sunday at this weekends official test with Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro claiming the brand new BMW 135i for the fastest lap of the session.

Stoner set a time of 1:38.646 seconds aboard his Desmosedici GP9 machine with only 10 minutes of the session remaining and shortly before the rain began.

It’s the second year running for Stoner who was followed by Valentino Rossi, the 2007 winner on the Fiat Yamaha, and Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen in third and fourth respectively.

The second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took fifth place with an impressive Mika Kallio for the Pramac Racing team on his tail to take sixth, despite a trip off track earlier in the session.

Andrea Dovizioso was seventh for the Repsol Honda team ahead of Sete Gibernau on the Grupo Francisco Hernando Satellite bike, Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini and Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3.

James Toseland, the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, suffered a massive highside with only 15 minutes of the session remaining, bringing out the red flag while he was attended to by the medical team.  He was stretched off track and taken to the circuits Clinica Mobile, where it was announced that he was not seriously injured but was heavily bruised.  It has since been confirmed that the 28-year-old rider has broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot as well as badly spraining his right ankle,  multiple bruising and concussion.

None of the injuries, however, should stop Toseland from being on the grid at the opening round of the MotoGP Championship in Qatar on April 12, and he will want to make it up to his team after admitting that he felt the accident was his fault as he was lacking temperature in his rear tyre.

Casey Stoner - Jerez 2008

This week the MotoGP riders will take to the Jerez circuit in Spain for their final preseason test session and the teams are eager to get on with the hectic eight months ahead of them.

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, will not be attending as he is still  recovering from his accident at the winter Qatar test.   The Spanish rider is happy with the way the injuries to his left wrist and knee are mending and remains optimistic that he will be on the grid for the opening round of the season at Qatar on the 12 April.

It is reported that  Kousuke Akiyoshi, who has previously tested for the Suzuki team, will be replacing the young Spaniard for Honda after joining the team during the winter of 2008.  As well as racing in many of the Japanese National Championship races for 2009, he will also be taking part in the Suzuka 8 Hours alongside Shinichi Itoh.

Ducati rider Casey Stoner, is still concerned about the wrist  he had operated on at the end of the 2008 season.  Although the pain he had suffered during the Sepang test was much improved when he next tested in Qatar, he is still not 100% confident that the problem is over.

The 2009 livery of the Rizla Suzuki team is to be unveiled at the Jerez test session with the riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, who are itching to get on the GSV-R.  The pair have been promised more acceleration for their final test session after further improvements to their machines.

Another team unveiling at the event is the Monster Yamaha Tech3 crew with Colin Edwards and James Toseland as it’s riders.  The Tech3 Yamaha team finished fourth in the 2008 championship and have this year secured the sponsorship of the Monster Energy group who have also signed a personal sponsorship deal with Valentino Rossi.

The final preseason test session will begin on Wednesday 25th March until Friday 27th March for the 125cc and 250cc classes followed by the MotoGP big boys on the Saturday and Sunday.

The 45-minute qualifying shootout will take place on Sunday when all of the riders will be in with a chance of winning a brand new BMW Sports car in the BMW M Award event.  The annual event will take place in the afternoon with the rider clocking the fastest time of the session taking home the prize.

Kawasaki ZX-RR 2008

Marco Melandri has decided to ride for the Hayate Kawasaki MotoGP team in 2009 after finally having confidence in the factory ZX-RR.

Melandri originally refused to commit to the Hayate team until the bike was on pace with his rival riders, however, he now feels that the problem is mainly due to a rear traction problem which can be fixed and is pleased with improvements on other issues.

Melandri said;

“… we have just one problem.  The front end is good, the engine is a lot better than I had expected power-wise, but especially with the power curve during the initial phase of opening the throttle.

We have absolutely no traction (at the rear end).  It’s a problem that emerged in Jaque’s first test in Australia.  They’ve made a modification, but it doesn’t solve the problem.

We’ll get some new material at Jerez and I hope that will solve the situation.  Also because I think that beyond that, the racing department in Japan will only do revisions more or less and that’s already a good thing because only they can put their hands on that engine.

Let’s start off the season and we’ll see.  I want to solve our problem, then the midfield runners aren’t far off.”

Melandri was to ride alongside John Hopkins for the Kawasaki Team for the 2009 season until it was announced that they were suspending their factory supported MotoGP activities due to the economic crisis in January of this year.

Melandri is aware that it is better to be on the grid at the start of the 2009 season that sitting out for a year and added,

“I’m a rider with a suitcase, and to stand still for one year would be really bad.”