Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128399
Bayliss And Lanzi For Ducati? // ~ ~ ~ Will Troy BaylIIS head back to DucatI for _ ucatl'S 2006 plan seem to have hardened all the more since lorenzo lanzl's spectacular race-two win in the German round of the World Supertllke Series, but it appean that the lmola race weekend was still a form of final test for the 23-year-old Italian. With a slgnlfocant percentage of the fans at lmola only there to D Wortd Superblke racing? see an italian rider win on an Italian bike (not a regular sight in World Superblke), Ducati was very much IooIdng at lmola as a test of nerve for lanzl. The likely lineup of the Ducatl World Superblke team In 2006 will be Troy Bayliss as the returning hero In red, while Lanzi seems the preferred option as the younger half of the team. Some may look at Bayliss as a gamble In the current drcumstallCes, having smashed his left forearm recently, receiving some 18 screws and a plate for his troubles. There is also the small question of the option he had with the Camel Honda team still being alive. But with Camel seemingly off to MotoGP Suzuki In 2006, along with Max Biagi, maybe there will be no Honda Pons team - or at least a very much reduced one. That may be good news for Bayliss If he wants to stay in MotoGP, as he may be a cheaper option for Pons, rather than a more on-form top-level MotoGP rider from s0mewhere else. lanzl, on whom Dueati has an option for next year but which runs out In midOctober, was in possession of a full 2005spec machine at ImoIa, albeit in the colors of his SC Caracchl team. He also has a technidan and engineer from the factory squad to help with setup. Hence, the Dueati factory count at lmola was three, though just two were in Xerox colon (Recis Laconi and james ToseIand). If Bayliss does come back and lanzl proves up to scratch, it leaves both existing World Superbike riders out in the cold - but one might be In a colder dient than the other. lOseIand seems to be the favored rider for Ducati In AMA Superbike right now - for a multiple number of reasons. One is his personal friendship and proven good working Fabrizio To Honda World Superbike? Rumors from the Imola round of the World Superbike Championship suggest that Honda Europe golden boy Michel Fabrizio has signed a deal to race Honda's World Superbike in 2006 for the top-rung Ten Kate team and not the Klaffi team, as was first expected. The deal seems to hinge greatly on Chris Vermeulen staying put in World Superbike, as Honda has now adopted a strategy of having a true, proven, winning rider in place and then a younger, or at least less experienced. teammate. In the personal opinion of Carlo Fiorani. boss of Honda Europe's racing activities, the possibility of Pier-Francesco Chili and Fabrizio forming Klaffi Honda's team in Italy, and another single-rider team with Max Neukirchner in Austria, is not a sensible way to proceed. If Fabrizio goes Ten Kate. then the status quo is the more likely option for Klaffi. Fiorani would like to support the KJaffi team more in 2006, but it is expected that there will be no Klaffi Supersport effort, as all the focus in the Supersport class will go on the Ten Kate and Megabike squads. Increased support for Neukirchner by Honda Germany is not expected. since they have two riders Michel Fabrizio to Honda Warld in the domestic Superbike series and three in domesSuperbike? tic Supersport to look after. The Winston Ten Kate lineup is expected to consist of Sebastien Charpentier and a young Brit, Aussie or American. Step forward, Josh Brookes or Craig Jones? That seems to be bad news for Karl Muggeridge, if this is indeed the way the cookie crumbles. Muggeridge has a second-year option for Ten Kate. but only if he reaches an (as yet) unspecified standard in year one. Not only does Fabrizio have Honda Europe on his side, he also has youth - something Muggeridge no longer has in great measure. Gordon Ritchie 12 oaOBER 12,2005 • CYCLE NEWS relationship with Neil Hodgson. and the second is the convnonality of Jan&ua&e betwMn the UK and America. One more possible reason is a link between Xerox In World Championship racing and the AMA series. Xerox is an Angto-American company, and its relationship with lOseland is wann and cordial. In other words, it would be a good fit to have one English-speaking rider In World Superbike and two in America. A few weeks ago, it looked as though Ruben Xaus had been penciled In to join Hodgson in the AMA Series, but In the words of Paolo Ciabattl: "With all due respect to Ruben, [he is] not my numberone choice for the American series. I know that he wanted to stay with Ducatl even this year, but that opportunity did not arise, so he had to join with another manufacturer." Gregorio Lavtlla is no longer In the running for a World rlde, as it seems that GSE Radng will most likely be staying In the British Championship In 2006 rather than coming to World Supertllke, or at least according to the Dueati Corse director., "It seems that their team will stay the same," Ciabatti stated, "with Gregorio and leon [Haslam], and they maybe want to have one more year of experience In the UK before they come back to World Superbike - maybe for 2007." Gordon RItchie Sponsor Musical Chairs? The sponsorship melting pot got another stir at the Grand Prix of Qatar, with news that Camel is at loggerheads with its current Pons Honda team and may go elsewhere for next year. With Gauloises considering pulling out of racing and Telef6nica MoviStar already certain to go, Camel is a big player among a dWindling pool of sponsors actually keen to stay in MotoGP. Plan A was for Camel to return Max Biaggi to the Pons Honda berth he occupied last year. However, negotiations have run into difficulties, reportedly concerning money, and now the backing, if not the rider, may be heading elsewhere. The second choice was far from obvious. Rather than (for example) the successful Yamaha team, which might lose its current Gauloises backing, or the Gresini Honda team, currently backed by the departing MoviStar, a spokesman confirmed at Qatar that they are contemplating a switch to the struggling Suzuki. "We are still in discussions, and nothing is fixed whether we will stay with Pons or not," he said. "But that is the first option. If not, then we are in talks with Suzuki." This would be a major coup for the Suzuki team, running this year in dealerteam livery and battling to consolidate technical improvements that have not yet been sufficient to make the team a serious threat to Honda, Yamaha or Ducati. The threat is more likely to be a negotiating ploy. On the other hand, Suzuki has again promised major improvements to the GSV-R for next year, with an allnew motor with pneumatic valve springs and Magneti Marelli electronics to be tested before the end of this season. Telef6nica is leaving motorcycle racing for F I (with new World Champion Fernando Alonso) as a result of the imminent loss of its hottest property, 125 and 250cc Champion Dani Pedrosa, to the Repsol-sponsored HRC factory team. Gauloises is seriously miffed at Valentino Rossi's plan to run in an independent one-rider team next year, with sponsors of his own choosing. Gauloises would stay with the factory Yamaha team as per contract but would lose its association with the winningest Yamaha. Yamaha racing boss Lin Jarvis was absent from Qatar, trying to sort out the situation back in Europe. Michael Scott