VOL. 50 ISSUE 29 JULY 23, 2013
Tony Alessi has been suspended for the rest of the outdoor season, and Mike Alessi has been
fined a total of $15,000 ($10,000
for the laser incident and $5000
for the transferring of credentials
between his father and brother
(which could be waived after a
one-year probation period) for
being "responsible for the ac-
P25
tions of his crew members."
The MCR Team also had its
credentials revoked pending receipt of payment of the $10,000
fine issued to Mike Alessi.
HAYDEN OUT AT DUCATI
icky Hayden gave a bravura performance when he
chose his home U.S. Grand Prix
to make public his dismissal from
the Ducati MotoGP team. Cementing his long-standing popularity with press and fans, he
smilingly avoided the usual weasel words of contract negotiation
as he announced the parting of
the ways, confirming that, "nobody likes to get sacked… but
that's what happened."
He added: "Don't feel sorry for
me. It's all right. I'll live."
The occasion was the prerace conference at Laguna less
than a week after the soon-to-be32-year-old 2006 MotoGP World
Champion had been given the
bad news by Ducati, his home for
the past five years, after six years
and one title with Honda.
His aim was to stay in MotoGP, the pinnacle of the sport,
he said, but he was aware there
were few chances at the top level. "I don't think Repsol Honda
will be knocking at my door," he
quipped. "I don't want to stay
here and go round and round,
and get the occasional point."
If this was a dig at Colin Edwards, sitting at the other end of
the table, the older rider chose
to ignore it, later suggesting his
NGM Mobile team boss should
call Hayden to form "Team America" for next year, riding leased
Yamahas.
The countrymen have an uneasy history: Edwards lost his
only chance of a GP win at Assen in 2006, when he fell in the
last corner, handing the win to
Hayden's Honda.
Hayden said he would be
considering options during the
summer break. Although he
soft-pedaled it, one of these is
a place on the Ducati World Superbike squad on a Panigale.
Ducati would doubtless be
anxious to keep him: he has
been a stalwart through the
PHOTOGPAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
N
Nicky Hayden announced at
Laguna Seca that he won't be back
with Ducati next year in MotoGP.
years, all the while playing second fiddle to the likes of Casey
Stoner and Valentino Rossi. His
results have seldom been much
worse, especially with the latter.
Known as an indefatigable
tester and relentless hard worker, his depth of knowledge and
experience will be hard for the
Italian squad to replace. The
vacancy however adds further
intrigue to the who-goes-where
rumor mill as the summer holiday
begins.
Michael Scott
