Hector Barbera

Looking back at the two days of MotoGP testing at Sepang throws up only a few surprises. The Aliens continue to dominate, as ever, and Colin Edwards is still firmly in place as #5. Behind, the top 5, the picture is a little more interesting. Loris Capirossi's strong outing on Thursday shows that the Suzuki can be fast, but the GSV-R has a long history of being outstanding in testing, yet falling short during the season. Whether it's business-as-usual for Suzuki or a breakthrough will have to wait until the first few rounds have been run.

Ben Spies continues his methodical improvement, but with the Texan complaining of jet lag and telling reporters that he is still very much just learning, he should soon be edging Colin Edwards out of 5th spot and closing on the top 4. Spies is holding station with Andrea Dovizioso, the Italian improving but still looking for more pace.

The rain that held off yesterday finally came to Sepang on Friday, disrupting testing during the morning and at the end of the day. The rain in the morning combined with the limit on engines to persuade most of the riders to sit in the garage, or restrict their laps to a minimum. The track started to dry out at lunchtime, and from then, all 17 MotoGP riders, along with a couple of Yamaha test pilots, got to work on their testing program. By the time the rain came around 5pm, it was Valentino Rossi who had set the fastest lap, finishing ahead of Casey Stoner and Rossi's Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Dani Pedrosa completed the top four, the Aliens still clearly a breed apart in the MotoGP paddock.

While both Rossi and Stoner finished in the same positions as yesterday, both Jorge Lorenzo and especially Dani Pedrosa made a huge leap forward. Lorenzo jumped from 5th spot to 3rd, though he did not close the gap to his Fiat Yamaha teammate. Dani Pedrosa, on the other hand, closed the gap by over half a second, while working on the all-new Honda RC212V. Given that the bike has new Ohlins suspension, new electronics, a new chassis and a number of swingarms, there would appear to be plenty of room for improvement once the Repsol Honda team find the right setup for the bike.

The rain that threatened to ruin the first day of testing for 2010 luckily decided to stay away, but the session was still disrupted by the weather. Instead of water, it was the oppressive 40°C tropical heat that sapped the strength of the riders, limiting the amount of testing the riders could do. The rain finally came just before 5pm to cool the track from the scorching 50° Centigrade it was at most of the day, though only adding to the humidity.

Valentino Rossi ended the day with the fastest time, a comfortable half a second ahead of Casey Stoner on the Ducati. Stoner had suffered chatter for part of the day, and the hot asphalt made it difficult to judge the difference adjustments to the bike were making. The riders in 3rd and 4th place were a big surprise, Colin Edwards' 3rd spot slightly less so than Loris Capirossi's 4th fastest time. It's clear the Yamaha is good, but even the satellite bikes are so good that on their day, they can match the speed of the factory bikes, Edwards finishing ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and nearly a quarter of a second faster.

MotoGP makes a long-awaited return to action on Thursday, with the 17 official entries all taking to the track at Sepang. For the veterans, it marks the first time they will have ridden a MotoGP bike in nearly three months, their last outing being at the Valencia post-race tests in November last year. Even the rookies, who got extra tests at the end of 2009, have not been been on track since late December, with Marco Simoncelli and Hiroshi Aoyama the most recent to test here at Sepang before Christmas.

Wednesday saw the bikes already on track in the hands of the testers, who gave all of the teams' bikes a shakedown to ensure they are all working properly. This had been agreed as part of the cost-cutting measures limiting testing, allowing test riders an extra day on track to ensure that the teams would not lose any testing time to mechanical problems. Honda's Kosuke Akiyoshi was fastest, in a relatively meaningless 2'04.43, between three and four seconds off the pace the MotoGP riders will be aiming for at Sepang.

The FIM today released the provisional entry lists for the MotoGP class, and the list has no surprises in it. The list contains official confirmation of the numbers the MotoGP rookies will be using, most of which are the numbers they used previously. Hiroshi Aoyama is the only exception, taking number 7 as the number 4 which he used in the 250 class has already been claimed by Andrea Dovizioso - who in turn had been forced to take 4 because his preferred number 34 has been retired in honor of Kevin Schwantz.

Rather surprising is Marco Melandri's entry. He was listed under the number 24, and not the number 33 which he has used since entering MotoGP. This turned out to be a mistake, as pointed out to us by the San Carlo Honda Gresini press office. Melandri will be running number 33 in 2010 after all.

2010 MotoGP Rider Lineup

As the New Year begins, we approach the final instalments of our trip down memory lane, and what a memory it was! The first lot of photos from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a truly remarkable facility, steeped in history unlike almost any other racetrack I have visited. Only Monza comes close, both places being haunted by racing's rich past. More to come tomorrow.

Maybe not the quickest bike, but still the best looking

One fast Texan will be joined by another next year

The rule is to look through the corner. Here is the exception to the rule

Scott Jones took too many fantastic photographs at the Sachsenring, so many that we've had to split our review of them over two days. Double the quantity, double the pleasure, and what better way to get 2010 started?

Wheelies whatever the weather

Colin Edwards takes the art of looking through the corner to the extreme

Best helmet of the year for Niccolo Canepa

The weather at the Sachsenring was best described as changeable

Another day, another set of beautiful photographs taken by MotoMatters.com snapper Scott Jones. That weekend saw the weather play a major role, with race day finally drying up and producing three great races, including a scintillating MotoGP contest. Relive it all again in glorious color:

Valentino Rossi had things well under control in Germany

Still probably the best looking bike on the grid

58, the number of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brother

In the second of the separate rookie testing sessions, Hector Barbera and the Aspar team wrapped up a rain-hit program of testing yesterday at Jerez. The test was run in conjunction with Ducati's test team, consisting of Vito Guareschi and newcomer Franco Battaini, contracted to take some of the strain from Guareschi as he takes on his new role as Marlboro Ducati team manager.

After being rained off on day one, the second day of testing took place under sunny skies and mild temperatures, and Barbera spent the day running back-to-back tests between the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 and GP10, putting in stints of ten laps to adapt to the bike and test some engine and traction control settings. The team emphasized that the purpose of the test was not to chase lap times, but to learn more about the Ducati and make the switch from a 250 to a MotoGP bike.

"At the end of the day, I put in twenty really good laps, and I'm happy," Barbera said in a press release afterwards. "The times were not outstanding, but I can feel that we are definitely on the right road." Barbera ended the test with a fastest time of 1'41.7, some 1.9 seconds off Valentino Rossi's lap record set during the race in May this year. That time would have put him near the bottom of the fastest race laps, but the conditions at the race were considerably more favorable.

The first round of extra testing for MotoGP's bumper crop of rookies has concluded, with Alvaro Bautista wrapping up a three-day test at Estoril in Portugal. The young Spaniard put in over 200 laps at the circuit, eventually lapping consistently in the 1'38.5s, according to the Suzuki press release. That pace would have put him around 12th place in the race, despite the conditions being cooler and less favorable. Bautista did, however, have a large number of laps to achieve that time, far more than the riders did during the race weekend.

Perhaps of more significance for Suzuki's overall effort was Japanese test rider Nobuatsu Aoki, who tested alongside Bautista at Estoril. The Japanese veteran spent time working on developing the bike ready for the 2010 season, testing a long list of parts which Loris Capirossi had started to test in the post-race event at Valencia. The test was doubly important to Suzuki, as it gave them a chance to test at a circuit outside of their usual testing facilities in Japan.

The testing limits imposed at the beginning of the season have caused much debate throughout the year. The number of winter tests were cut to just 6 days in total (plus 2 days after the final Grand Prix at Valencia) in order to restrict engine mileage and severely cut costs. But since the announcement that there will be six new riders entering the MotoGP class next season, lobbying has started for extra testing time to allow the rookies to get up to speed. 

Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Herve Poncharal had previously expressed his opposition to the extra tests for the rookies, despite having Ben Spies joining Monster Tech 3 as a rookie for 2010. MotoMatters.com caught up with Poncharal to ask him to explain his opposition.

Herve Poncharal: At the moment this is an MSMA proposal [to allow two extra days of testing for the rookies, MM] that will be on the agenda of this weekend's Grand Prix Commission. Me personally, as Monster Tech 3 Yamaha owner, I am against it. We will talk about it in the IRTA committee meeting to give an official position in the Grand Prix Commission. I have a feeling the committee will reject it, but it is only a feeling.

There was a fairly hefty injury toll at the cool and dusty Phillip Island track on Friday. There were fallers in all of the categories, but the heaviest of the lot were Hector Barbera in the 250cc class and Niccolo Canepa in MotoGP. Barbera highsided, landing heavily on his back and knocking the wind out of him. As he struggled for breath, Barbera told the press afterwards, he feared the worst, the incident bringing back bad memories of his huge crash at Motegi last year. This time he got away with just some very nasty and very painful bruising, but he is currently behind held under observation, just to make sure that the cracked vertebrae he suffered last year have not been injured again.

Niccolo Canepa was not so lucky. The Italian slid a long way after crashing at Turn 1 and burning a hole in his leathers and through his arm. After examination at the Clinica Mobile, he was taken off to hospital in Melbourne for examination, where it was decided he would need a skin graft, though Canepa had suffered no nerve damage as had been feared at first. The injury means that the Italian will not be able to race on Sunday, and will miss the Australian Grand Prix.

The MotoGP silly season is just about played out. With four races left in the season, the rider line up for 2010 is almost complete. As expected, once Jorge Lorenzo finally made up his mind, the remaining pieces in the puzzle fell into place, leaving just a few gaps to fill.

All of the factory seats are now full, and largely unchanged, with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo back at Yamaha, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden at Ducati, Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa (albeit reluctantly) re-signed with Repsol Honda, and Loris Capirossi joined at Suzuki by the only newcomer to the factory line up, Spanish rookie Alvaro Bautista. Though next year's seats are settled, plenty of excitement still remains over what will happen next year: Everyone but Andrea Dovizioso and Alvaro Bautista is on a one year contract, which means that the Fantastic Four will all be on the market at the same time next year and looking to move, almost certainly precipitating a bidding war and making a mockery of all the cost-cutting measures already put in place.

Of the satellite teams, only the Gresini and LCR squads are completely set. Fausto Gresini got his Italian Dream Team with the two Marcos, Melandri and Simoncelli, and helping him extend the team's sponsorship contract with snack manufacturer San Carlo, while Lucio Cecchinello has re-upped with Randy de Puniet. But even among the remaining teams, the seats are largely taken. Mika Kallio is back with Pramac, and Colin Edwards returns to the Monster Tech 3 team, though reportedly taking a half million dollar pay cut for the privilege. No official word as yet from Team Scot, but as Gabor Talmacsi is the only person likely to be bringing significant funds into the team, the Hungarian must be a safe bet for that seat.

Pity poor Jorge Martinez and his Aspar team. While the rest of the world is concentrating on the incredible soap surrounding Jorge Lorenzo and his switch to Ducati, what should have been the biggest news of the week - the confirmation of Hector Barbera to ride the Aspar Ducati in 2010 - is being shoved aside, consigned to the sidebars and small print, now a virtual irrelevance. Which is a shame, as the entry of a new team - and one of the most successful ever in the series - into MotoGP is a very big deal indeed.

The fact that Hector Barbera will be riding for Aspar will hardly come as a surprise. Once Alvaro Bautista confirmed he would be riding for Suzuki, Barbera became the Aspar team's first alternative. Barbera fits Aspar's needs perfectly, as the young 250cc star is from the Valencia region in Spain, as is Jorge Martinez, boss of the Aspar team and the team's primary sponsor, the Valencian tourist board. Barbera has been offered a one year deal to ride with Aspar for 2010.

The decision to sign Barbera did surprise some observers, however. Barbera rode for Aspar in the 125 class in 2002 and 2003, and the split at the end of the 2003 season was said to be far from amicable. But both parties have now declared that that is all in the past, and are looking forward to working with each other again next year.

Barbera is one of a bumper crop of rookies entering the MotoGP series next season. Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista are definitely confirmed alongside Barbera, Hiroshi Aoyama looks to have a good chance of riding a MotoGP bike next year, and rumors are strong that Thomas Luthi could also make the leap into the MotoGP class. With the possibility of Ben Spies entering to join the Tech 3 team, the fight for the title of Rookie of the Year looks to be one of the toughest in many years.

Now that the paddock at Brno is starting to fill up with teams and riders, as they prepare for the Czech Grand Prix this weekend, silly season is starting to get back into full swing. Already, news is starting to break of Alvaro Bautista's impending announcement of a deal with Suzuki for the next two years, as team mate to Loris Capirossi for 2010, and that move has precipitated a bit more reshuffling.

For with Bautista now taken, the Aspar team, who will be making their debut with the fifth Ducati fielded this year by Sete Gibernau, have had to turn to their backup plan for a rider. According to Spanish website Motocuatro.com, that backup plan is Hector Barbera. Barbera and his management met Jorge Martinez, boss of the Aspar squad, in the paddock at Brno, and according to Motocuatro, at that meeting Barbera concluded a one-year deal to ride the Aspar team's Ducati in 2010. The deal is due to be announced officially on either Thursday or Friday, as Jorge Martinez had promised he would do to the Spanish press.

Barbera was Aspar's preferred fallback option, for the Aspar MotoGP project is to be funded by the Generalitat Valenciana, the Valencian tourist board. With both Jorge Martinez and Hector Barbera being natives of the region, the project is now a 100% Valencian undertaking, serving the interests of the sponsors down to the ground. Alvaro Bautista, Aspar's initial option, is from Talavera de la Reina, a small town southwest of Madrid, in the Castile-La Mancha region of Spain.