Niccolo Canepa

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

On the third day of looking back at 2009, we return to the July 5th weekend, and the Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca. The light is always beautiful on the Monterey Peninsula, and Scott Jones knows how to get the best out of. Enjoy some of his highlights from a weekend of racing in California. 

Nicky Hayden sold a shedload of 848s with this livery

Speed

Eddie discusses kart tactics with Vale

Niccolo Canepa had a very tough rookie year in MotoGP. The Italian joined the Pramac Ducati team after a year as Ducati's test rider, having won the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup a year before. But once he made the switch from test rider to MotoGP rider, he has struggled badly, circulating close to the back of the field for much of the season. So it was no surprise that the likable Italian lost his MotoGP ride at the end of the 2009 season.

He may be out of a MotoGP ride, but he is not out of the paddock, however. The Scot Racing Team announced today that Niccolo Canepa has been signed a one-year contract to race in Moto2 next season. Like Canepa, Scot Honda found itself out of the MotoGP paddock, after both Yuki Takahashi and his later replacement Gabor Talmacsi found themselves circulating behind even Canepa. Financial problems within the team meant that the team could not afford to provide the support necessary for the bike to be competitive, and having two rookies on the bike reduced their chances even further. In contrast to the Scot Racing team's problems in MotoGP, their 250cc program was triumphant, winning both the last ever 250 championship with Hiroshi Aoyama, as well as the rookie of the year award with Raffaele de Rosa.

It has not been Niccolo Canepa's season. After a long and difficult year struggling with the Pramac Ducati, the Italian is to miss the final round of MotoGP at Valencia, leaving the series without a final chance to prove his mettle. The Valencia round will be the third race in a row that Canepa has been forced to miss, as he is still recovering from the skin transplant necessitated by his crash in practice at the Australian Grand Prix a month ago. 

Canepa's place will once again be taken by Aleix Espargaro, something the Spaniard was due to do anyway as of Monday after the Grand Prix. Espargaro will now get another couple of days extra time on the bike to familiarize himself before testing for the 2010 season starts in earnest after the Grand Prix is over. The Spaniard has shown good progress in his time on the bike replacing both Canepa and team mate Mika Kallio, and is hoping to put on a good show for the Spanish fans.

Canepa, meanwhile, will be concentrating on finding a ride in Moto2 for the 2010 season. The full list of riders is due to be announced at Valencia, though financial problems continue to dog some of the teams, meaning that at least some of the teams with a reserve entry are likely to be given a full time slot on the grid.

Niccolo Canepa's weekend at Phillip Island got off to a bad start. The Pramac Ducati rider crashed during the first session of free practice on Friday, going down at the - literally - scorching Doohan corner at around 200 km/h. The Italian slid a long way on the tarmac, burning a hole through his leathers and removing a big chunk of skin from his right arm and elbow. His injuries were sufficiently serious to require a skin transplant at a Melbourne hospital, and his participation at this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang was put in doubt.

A variety of sources are reporting that Carlos Checa will ride a privateer Ducati for the Althea team in the World Superbike series in 2010. Checa, who was recently voted off the Ten Kate Island, is still capable of running intermittently at the front, especially around contract time. It had been rumored that Checa was in line for a testing gig for Ducati MotoGP, replacing long-time tester Vittoriano Guaresci, who will be allegedly be taking a rider liason position for the company, but apparently racing pays better, especially when your income comes mostly from personal sponsorships and contingency bonuses, as Checa's reportedly has for the last few years.  It has been previously reported that Althea would switch from Honda  to Ducati in 2010 and were pursuing Jakub Smrz and/or Niccolo Canepa.

UPDATE

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.

The saga of Pramac Ducati is become a very off-again-on-again affair. After Aleix Espargaro made such a positive impression at Indianapolis and Misano, subbing for Mika Kallio who had been temporarily promoted to the factory Marlboro Ducati team, the Spaniard looked set to replace the current holder of the second seat at Pramac, Niccolo Canepa.

But the decision has fallen in favor of the Italian instead. According to GPOne.com, Canepa will keep hold of the Pramac ride for the rest of the season, after discussions between Ducati and Pramac team boss Paolo Campinoti. Campinoti's preference was to give Espargaro the seat, as he made clear to GPOne.com: "I would have preferred to run Espargaro, because this would have given us better information to decide who to give the second bike to in 2010, seeing as [Mika] Kallio has re-signed, but that wasn't possible."

The problem was most likely one of image, according to GPOne.com. Ducati were afraid that it would look bad if they were to drop Canepa this late in the season, despite the Italian's poor results all year and the certainty that Canepa will not be back in MotoGP next season. Ducati are already reeling from the criticism they received after chasing after Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa once they learned of Casey Stoner's three-race absence, and probably did not want to throw more oil on the fire of accusations that their MotoGP program is in disarray.

The decision to retain Canepa does not mean that Espargaro's chances of taking the Pramac seat for next year have disappeared however. But the choice did just become more of a gamble.

Since being called up to take the place of Mika Kallio at Pramac Ducati, Aleix Espargaro has made a big impression. So good an impression has the Spanish former 250 rider made that Pramac are looking to keep the Spaniard, even though Kallio will be returning to the satellite Ducati squad now that Casey Stoner will - presumably - be returning to action at Estoril.

As predicted last week, Pramac have now made Espargaro an offer to ride for the squad at Estoril, in place of the disappointing Italian Niccolo Canepa. However, Canepa will not go quietly. According to GPOne.com, Canepa's manager Carlo Pernat met with team principal Paolo Campinoti to discuss the situation today, where Campinoti announced their intention of going with Espargaro at Estoril, an announcement that Pernat met with displeasure. Canepa and Pernat will be holding Pramac to the contract they have for the rest of the year, though that only means that Canepa can be sure of being paid, as the Pramac squad can decide to pay him and let him sit out. If Espargaro continues the strong form he showed at Indianapolis and Misano, the Spaniard could finish out the rest of the season in Canepa's place.

The two men could continue their dispute over seats at Pramac into next year. According to the Spanish news site Motocuatro.com, Canepa is trying to negotiate a Moto2 ride with the Pramac team for next year, but Espargaro could be in the frame for this seat as well. Until the official list of teams and riders is announced at Estoril, and we find out whether Pramac will be fielding one or two bikes in Moto2, speculation over who will get the ride will continue. So far, though, it is Espargaro who is holding the strongest cards. 

No motorcycle has acquired quite such a fearsome reputation as the Ducati Desmosedici GP9. Though there are no doubts about the speed of the Ducati - Casey Stoner has proved the bike is fast over and over again - there are huge question marks about its ridability. Loris Capirossi went from being a title candidate to an occasional podium visitor on the 800, Marco Melandri turned from podium regular to backmarker, and Nicky Hayden is only just starting to turn around his miserable start to the season and make a return to the front half of the pack. Marco Simoncelli, Alvaro Bautista and Jorge Lorenzo all turned down the chance to ride the Bologna Beast.

Yet the bike is not impossible to go fast on. Where others have failed, substitute rider Aleix Espargaro has succeeded fairly spectacularly, posting the 5th fastest race lap at last week's Misano MotoGP round, and finishing ahead of MotoGP regulars Randy de Puniet, Niccolo Canepa and Gabor Talmacsi in just his second race. He also managed to qualify at Misano just over a tenth of a second slower than double World Superbike champion James Toseland on the Tech 3 Yamaha.

So impressive has his progress been that two things happened after the Misano MotoGP round. The first was that the Spaniard - brother of the Indianapolis 125cc race winner Pol Espargaro - was whisked off to hospital on Monday to have surgery for arm pump. The second is that rumors immediately emerged that Espargaro is to be drafted in to replace his team mate Niccolo Canepa for the rest of the season.

The rain brought proceedings to an early end at the final day of testing for the MotoGP class for this season. It started to rain shortly after lunchtime, and though it rained only briefly, by the time the track had started to dry out a fresh shower arrived to drench the track again. Only in the final hour did the riders venture back out onto the track again, and then, it was only Valentino Rossi who managed to improve his time.

So the riders did not get the testing done that they had hoped for. Jorge Lorenzo was once again the fastest rider on the track, ahead of the ever tardy Valentino Rossi, who did not roll out of the garage until after 11am, and Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda riders were due to test Ohlins suspension, but as Dovizioso was scheduled to run the Swedish suspension in the morning, and Dani Pedrosa only in the afternoon, Dovi did the bulk of the testing. Pedrosa did get out on the new forks, according to GPOne.com, but certainly wouldn't have given the new suspension the kind of workout he would have hoped for.

Julian Ryder, over at Superbikeplanet.com, reports that there was cloak-and-dagger atmosphere inside the Suzuki pits, where screens were being erected around bikes every time the fairings came off. Obviously, the factory brought more than just the minor tweaks that they gave to Loris Capirossi for the race on Sunday.

The first outing for a Moto2 bike at an official MotoGP event was not a roaring success. Spanish rider David de Gea crashed during the morning while testing tires for Dunlop, and was transported to a local hospital with a broken foot. De Gea was not the only faller. Both Gabor Talmacsi and Nicky Hayden hit the gravel, though neither man was seriously hurt.

Times at the end of the day, courtesy of GPOne.com

The bikes are out on track at the final test of the year at Brno, and the first times are starting to appear. The field is still a little empty, as Valentino Rossi is yet to emerge from his motorhome, while the Tech 3 Yamahas of Colin Edwards and James Toseland have been crated up ready for their journey to the next Grand Prix at Indianapolis. Randy de Puniet is giving his fractured ankle a rest.

The Hondas are out testing Ohlins suspension, in a move which could mirror their switch in World Superbikes, where the factory-backed Ten Kate team has made a similar switch to Ohlins. Now that Yamaha has sold the Swedish suspension firm back to its founder, Honda feels comfortable testing the shocks as possible replacements for the Showa units which are produced by a Honda subsidiary.

As it's still early, the times are not much to write home about, though Dani Pedrosa has already dropped into the 1'56 bracket. What is interesting is that David de Gea is circulating on the Blusens Moto2 bike, putting in some important tire testing for Dunlop. At 11am, his times would have made him the 15th fastest rider during the 250 race.

More updates as the day goes on.

Times at 11am (courtesy of GPOne.com):

Yesterday, Dorna released  a list of engines presented to MotoGP's Technical Director Mike Webb to be officially sealed. The seals are placed to comply with the engine limit which comes into effect at Brno, which stipulates that each rider is only allowed to use 5 engines until the end of the season. The teams only needed to submit 1, or at most 2 engines to be sealed before practice started, but instead most submitted 3 or even more. That demands some kind of explanation, and so we decided to take a closer look at the numbers.

Here's the full list:

* There are also 2 spare Suzuki engines not yet assigned to a rider

The first thing to note is that Casey Stoner's absence generates a small complication. Casey Stoner has had 4 engines sealed, and Mika Kallio has had 3 engines sealed. But Kallio is riding the factory Marlboro Ducati bike this weekend, so whose engines is he using?