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As the Moto2 class approaches its inaugural race, the field is going through a shake out and approaching its final lineup. For some teams this is good news, for others less so. The Stop & Go team can number themselves among the former: Today, the team confirmed it would be taking part in the 2010 Moto2 season under the name Thai Honda PTT SAG, and fielding the Bimota chassis for their two riders Ratthapark Wilairot and Hector Faubel.

There had been question marks over the team, after both Wilairot and Faubel had failed to turn up at any of the Moto2 tests since the post-race tests at Valencia. The trouble was one of contracts, team manager Edu Perales told MotoGP.com. The team had originally been negotiating with Suter for chassis, but had backed out in the end over disagreements over support. Bimota offered a more direct contact with the manufacturer, a chance that Perales and the SAG team had jumped at.

The delay has caused a problem for the team. Both riders are chronically short of test time, and will get their first proper test on the bike at Jerez in two weeks' time. Both Wilairot and Faubel will have a lot of catching up to do in those three days.

Worse news came for the Kino Racing team, who had been putting together a team to field Argentinian rider Fabrizio Perren. The problem was both age-old and simple: the team could not get together the minimum budget required to race for a full season, at which point team manager Kino Contreras decided to pull the plug. "This is a terrible blow for everyone involved in the project," Contreras told GPOne.com," but seeing the situation we are in and without a minimum guaranteed budget, we decided to cancel the whole project." Kino Racing is unlikely to be the last team to pull out, but given that the season starts in less than a month, the numbers likely to withdraw will happily be fairly small.

After Ducati launched their bike at their annual Wrooom event, and Fiat Yamaha and Rizla Suzuki unveiled their MotoGP machines online, it was finally the turn of the Repsol Honda team. Repsol, who have sponsored Honda for the past 15 years, launched the team in Madrid, at the penultimate round of the FIM Indoor trial at Madrid's Palacio de Deportes stadium, which Repsol Montesa Honda rider helped celebrate by winning the Indoor trial event, coming close to wrapping up the title.

After missing last year's presentation through injury, Dani Pedrosa was able to attend the event this year, though it was Andrea Dovizioso's turn to be absent as a result of the flu. In a press conference, Pedrosa spoke optimistically about the 2010 season, expressing his happiness at staring the year fully fit, though he also underlined that the team still faced challenges, primarily from adapting to the Ohlins suspension which Honda will be using for this season.

To see a video of the presentation of 2010 RC212V, as well as interviews (in Spanish) with Dani Pedrosa, jump to the bottom of the page.

Images copyright Repsol Honda Team

Main specifications

Video of the 2010 Repsol Honda team launch, via Motoblog.it

As predicted, Jorge Lorenzo will take part in the Qatar tests due to take place at the end of this week. Yamaha today issued a press release confirming his intention to ride in the tests, the final opportunity for testing before the 2010 season gets underway at Qatar on April 11th.

The news had been expected, for Lorenzo had been increasingly optimistic about his chances of making a return in his posts on Facebook and Twitter. The Spaniard is not yet fully recovered, though, so his times will be difficult to judge. Lorenzo will be forced to ride with a specially-made brace and special gloves, to provide support for the fractured metacarpal he suffered. Lorenzo described his predicament in a press statement issued by the Fiat Yamaha team as follows:

"Today we are leaving for Qatar for the last Winter test. I think that it is important that we are there. The fracture happened less than five weeks ago, but we could not have missed this last test because it would have been negative for our preparation; we are not far from the first race of the season! The doctor has made a special carbon fibre protection and Dainese have modified my glove, in order to further protect the fracture, so we will see how we get on."

Jorge Lorenzo is almost certain to take part in next week's final MotoGP test at Qatar. The Spaniard's participation in the test had been in doubt since Lorenzo broke his wrist during a motocross accident in early February. The injury had already caused Lorenzo to skip the second test at Sepang, and with testing limited to just six days before the season starts in April, Qatar would be the final chance for the Fiat Yamaha rider to test before the championship commences.

Lorenzo has spent a lot of time in physical therapy since his injury, squeezing it in between a full program of personal appearances for several sponsors, as well as appearing on a Spanish TV show. But his recovery has gone better than expected: On Thursday, Lorenzo announced on his Facebook page that he would make a decision on whether to ride at Qatar on Monday, but after physiotherapy on Friday, he announced that he thinks he will be able to take part at Qatar.

Lorenzo's injury once again highlights the risks of such a limited testing schedule. If Lorenzo had been forced to miss Qatar, he would have had just two days of preparation for the 2010 MotoGP season this year. With MotoGP featuring the most sophisticated and advanced racing motorcycles in the world, that surely would have been too little.

The future of the Balatonring circuit near Hungary's Lake Balaton is once again uncertain, after the Hungarian Development Bank MFB refused to underwrite a loan needed for completion of the project, according to the Hungarian business news service MTI-ECO. The loan of 15.3 billion Hungarian Forints HUF (around 57.6 million Euros or 79.3 million dollars) was part of a total package of of over 35 billion HUF in government subsidy needed to complete the 40 billion HUF project.

The MFB refused to underwrite the loan after undertaking a due diligence process. Under the terms of the loan, the state would be providing 70% of the financing of the project, while receiving a 30% stake in the Balatonring circuit. Due diligence revealed that no calculations had been done on the return on investment of the project, making it impossible to judge the value of investing in construction of the circuit. A statement issued by the MFB said that the bank had negotiated with investor about the business risks, but that the investor could not accept the conditions which the MFB had put on the loan.

According to MTI-ECO, the Hungarian government is still committed to the construction of the Balatonring circuit. However, the government were now only prepared to fund the MotoGP round itself, leaving the construction firm - Savoly Motorcentrum Fejleszto - to find other sources of finance for the construction work involved.

That may in itself prove a problem. The project has been surrounded by controversy from the start, starting as a collaboration between the Spanish construction company Sedesa and a Hungarian regional development agency, right before the global economic crisis plunged the Spanish construction industry into meltdown and caused the Hungarian Forint to plummet in value. Initial financing delays meant that the race initially scheduled for last year had to be canceled, and the inaugural race there moved up to September 2010.

The project then seemed to be making headway until earlier this month, when the anti-corruption organization Transparency International and the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union called for the project to be halted over concerns over the lack of oversight of public funds. The head of Grupo Milton Management Zrt, the company responsible for managing the project, was convicted of corruption charges in 1995, and the feasibility study of the project had not only not been published, but journalists were refused access to the study, despite making applications under Hungary's freedom of information act.

The accusations appear to be what precipitated the MFB withdrawing support for the project, after a leaked memo showed that the heads of Hungary's finance department opposed funding of the Balatonring circuit. The atmosphere surrounding the project even caused Tamas Suchman, the head of the Balatonring Development Agency, to resign on Thursday. "I do not want to participate in such a project where every kind of accusation has been started, from blackmail to the uncertainty of recouping the investment," Hungarian business website RealDeal.hu reports Suchman as saying.

Whether or not the Balatonring circuit is completed by September, at least the MotoGP calendar will not lose a race. The Motorland Aragon circuit has been nominated as a reserve for the season, ready to take the place of the Hungarian GP should it be canceled. That would give Spain a total of four races held on its territory, but given the spectacular nature of the track close to Alcañiz in the Aragon region, this would most likely be welcomed by both fans and riders.

Just over a month ago today, Valentino Rossi vowed to stop talking about his future in the press. But like everyone who has vowed to give up smoking or lose weight at the start of a new year, Rossi has found that such resolutions can be incredibly difficult to maintain. For at the ceremony on Thursday night where Rossi was presented with the "Winning Italy Award" in recognition of his work in improving Italy's public image abroad, Rossi was once again tempted into making statements on where he will be riding next season.

In response to questions about how much longer he will stay in MotoGP, the Italian living legend put the fears of MotoGP fans and organizers to rest: "I am again enjoying the sport and the desire to compete, so I think I will continue for some more years," Rossi told the press. Rossi could not avoid the question on all of Italy's mind, either. When asked about a potential switch to Ducati, Rossi was very clear: "An Italian on an Italian bike would be nice, yes. But I think I want to stay with Yamaha, which is also a little bit Italian. I would feel like a traitor if I acted any other way, because I feel very good with them."

Rossi also briefly discussed the challenges he faces in 2010, comparing his chief rivals Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner to the rivals he faced in the past. "The young riders in Stoner and Lorenzo seem to me to be more prepared than the old adversaries of [Max] Biaggi and [Sete] Gibernau." When asked who he thought would prove the toughest challenger this year, Rossi replied: "Perhaps Stoner, but only because Jorge is injured and will need a few Grands Prix to fully recover."

The Italian naturally faced comparisons with that other Italian legend, Giacomo Agostini, who was also present to receive a prize, but Rossi waved such comparisons away as impossible to make. "To race where Giacomo raced requires the kind of courage that we simply do not face today."

After Yamaha and Ducati revealed their 2010 bikes, today it was the turn of the smallest of the manufacturers, Suzuki. The Rizla sponsorship remains, with the brand strengthened by having the livery designed by the famous American firm of Troy Lee Designs. The traditional Rizla powder blue remains, but the darker elements make the bike look squatter and rather more brooding. Much more like a MotoGP should look.

Suzuki also released the specifications of the bike, but like the specs provided by every manufacturer in MotoGP, they do not reveal any real information of note, such as bore, stroke, V angle, etc. The engine has received significant upgrades over the winter, to produce more horsepower and better engine characteristics, an improvement which saw both Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista leap up the timesheets during the last test at Sepang. Suzuki has a strong record of testing at the Malaysian track, but they tend to start slipping backwards as the season goes on. With the veteran/rookie pairing of Capirossi and Bautista, perhaps this is the year that Suzuki turns the corner.

Here's Alvaro Bautista's bike:

Specifications

The one place that everyone wants to be at a MotoGP race is in the paddock. Simultaneously, it is one of the most difficult places to get into, as, quite simply, Dorna does not sell passes into the paddock. The usual way - other than in a professional capacity, or working as a marshal - is to purchase a VIP package through one of the very few specialist travel companies authorized to issue paddock passes, such as our friends over at Pole Position Travel.

But now, MotoGP's (and MotoMatters.com's) official charity organization Riders For Health are providing an extra route into the paddock. Today, the charity announced that they will be auctioning off pairs of paddock passes for each of MotoGP's 18 races this season, with the money raised going towards Riders' outstanding work providing primary health care in Africa. If you want to get into the paddock and have a chance of meeting your own personal hero (be it Valentino Rossi, Bradley Smith or even Jerry Burgess), then read the press release below carefully, and dig deep for Riders.

Exclusive MotoGP paddock pass auction for Riders

Fans of MotoGP are being given the chance to get exclusive access to every MotoGP paddock thanks to Riders for Health and the organisers of MotoGP. The money raised from the sale of the passes will raise funds for Riders, the official charity of MotoGP, in a series of incredible online auctions.

This new MotoGP season is almost here again and in preparation, what will certainly be a fantastic year, MotoGP have donated two pairs of weekend ‘premium paddock passes’ for each race on the 2010 calendar to Riders for Health to auction on their website. To make your bid, visit http://www.riders.org/auction.aspx. 

Forget watching the race at home on the sofa, the two winning bidders and their guests will spend the whole GP weekend behind the scenes in the MotoGP paddock. For a chance to get hold of a pair of passes, just visit the online auction section by clicking here.

The first GP is in Qatar from the 10th-12th April, and the first auction closes at 22:00GMT+2 on 28th March 2010.

These passes aren’t on sale anywhere else. So the winning bidders can be sure they will have a truly exclusive chance to see behind the scenes of MotoGP. Only an extremely limited number of Premium Passes – which grant access to the MotoGP section of the paddock are available – so these passes really are very exclusive.

Each race has its own auction, so fans can bid for the GP closest to them – or the passes could be part of an amazing MotoGP holiday at one of the 18 circuits visited by MotoGP.

In 2009 the auction of paddock passes on our website helped to raise tens-of-thousands of pounds for Riders’ lifesaving work in Africa. The support of MotoGP and its fans is helping Riders to reach millions of people across Africa with regular health care. To find out more about Riders and MotoGP are saving lives with motorcycles, click here.

Please note that the auctions are only for paddock passes and do not include flights or accommodation. These Paddock Passes allow access to the race circuit and paddock for the whole race weekend, they do not give access to any hospitality suites, or grandstands. For more information on the auctions please email auctions@riders.org.

Full list of GPs and the premium paddock pass auction end dates. All auctions close at 22:00 GMT+2:

Whenever fans talk of their dreams of being a world famous motorcycle racer, they have in their minds the image of travelling from circuit to circuit, and focusing on nothing but racing. Of course, life isn't like that, and one of the duties of a factory World Superbike rider is to turn up at motorcycle shows, corporate PR events and a host of other occasions to help market the brand helping to pay their wages. James Toseland understands this, and performs this task admirably, taking advantage of the situation to practice his second passion, playing the piano, at such affairs.

Toseland is currently in Rome for the MotoDays exhibition, helping Yamaha to launch their brand new FZ8 naked bike. While he was there, our friends over at GPOne.com took the opportunity to catch up with him, and did a short video interview with the Sterilgarda Yamaha rider. In the interview, Toseland talks about the transition from MotoGP to World Superbike, his expectations of Portimao, and why so many British riders are in the World Superbike series. Here's the video from GPOne.com: