Carlo Pernat has been a presence in the GP paddock for ages, with his long wispy gray hair, permanent sunglasses, and a cigarette always between his fingers, he’s wily, shrewd, gossipy at times and knows the inner workings of teams to the perfection.

He’s primarily been a racing manager, talent scout (does the name Valentino Rossi ring a bell?) and a personal manager/consultant for his adored, but now retired Loris Capirossi and to the late Marco Simoncelli. Now the Italian manager will be returning to the 2012 paddock with another job, and it is a return to the past after running teams like Gilera in motocross, Cagiva in 500cc and Aprilia as he’ll become Pramac Ducati’s new sporting director who will field sole rider Hector Barbera.

The official announcement should be made in the following days.

Source | sportmediaset.it

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Marco Simoncelli’s manager Carlo Pernat had said earlier this month that the deal with Honda and Gresini Racing was just getting the final touches before signing and ahead of this weekend’s Motegi GP, it has officially been announced that Simoncelli will be back with his Gresini team for another year, and that the bushy haired rider who has been a controversial figure this year, has been signed again by HRC (which takes the weight off of Gresini’s budget) and he’ll have factory RC213V next season.

Gresini Honda press release:

Fausto Gresini is delighted to announce that Marco Simoncelli will once again wear the colours of Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in 2012. The new deal sees the continuation of an all-Italian rider-team project that began last year, when Simoncelli made his debut in the MotoGP class, and has continued with excellent results this season. Next year promises to be a crucial one in terms of Marco’s development, as he looks to consolidate his already blossoming relationship with Team San Carlo Honda Gresini and HRC and establish himself as a frontrunner in MotoGP. As always the cornerstone of the arrangement is the trust shown in the talent of Simoncelli by HRC, who have offered a factory contract to the rider as well as a factory Honda RC213V machine and all the technical back-up he requires to compete at the very highest level.

Fausto Gresini:

“I am really happy to announce that Marco will be back with Team San Carlo Honda Gresini in 2012. Over the past two years together we have been able to appreciate Marco’s qualities as a rider, as a man and as an extroverted communicator, which made us keen to continue our collaboration. Obviously in order to make this possible we needed a lot of effort from our sponsors, who have shown such belief in this project and I am grateful to them. HRC are going to offer a general level of support that will be very important as well as making a factory RC213V factory available to Marco. All this gives us great pride and is a testament to the close relationship we have built with the Japanese factory over fifteen fruitful years of partnership. Marco’s huge determination will give us all a lot of motivation ahead of what promises to be an exciting new season.”

Continue reading: Marco Simoncelli extends contract with Gresini Honda for another year

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Till the ink isn’t drying on the contract nothing is ever sure, but Marco Simoncelli’s manager, the wily Carlo Pernat speaking to Italy’s Radio Sportiva, has confirmed that Simoncelli will be staying with Gresini Honda for another year.

Marco’s situation has now been cleared-up. We talked with Nakamoto [vice-president of Honda Racing Corporation] on Sunday evening and we’ve agreed on most of the issues, especially the economic ones. We still have to fix a few details, but 85 to 90% Marco will be riding for Gresini Honda for another season with official HRC support and the contract will be for a year, with no options,” reported Pernat.

With Simoncelli staying in Gresini and HRC supporting him, this still leaves the odd man out, Andrea Dovizioso who is no doubt the one Honda rider who is getting a raw deal.

Source | eurosport.yahoo.com

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Believe it or not, Loris Capirossi is so fed up with his underperforming Suzuki, that he want to leave the team before the end of the season, and has offered himself to Tech3 team manager Herve Poncharal, to fill in for the rider who will be replacing Valentino Rossi in the factory team and also looking for deal in 2011.

Colin Edwards has been tipped to ride Rossi’s M1, but the Texan has repeatedly said that it won’t be him, but Yamaha has to find someone to fill the Italian’s shoes for the Barcelona round and Edwards seems the logical choice, as Spies is still considered a rookie under the absurd rookie rule and Cal Crutchlow and Alex De Angelis, have both turned down the opportunity.

This leaves a vacancy in Tech3 and Capirossi’s manager Carlo Pernat, who knows the paddock score is trying to get his client out of Suzuki, but the veteran Italian rider doesn’t have that many options. Pernat on behalf of his client has already talked with Paolo Campinoti of Pramac Ducati and Fausto Gresini and has even turned to Lucio Cecchinello to see if he’s interested in forming a two rider team, but Cecchinello didn’t have the funds to run a second bike for Marco Melandri in 2009 and it’s doubtful that he’ll have it enough money for Capirossi.

Continue reading: Loris Capirossi Linked to Ride in Tech3 as Replacement Rider

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As everyone knows Alex De Angelis’s contract with San Carlo Honda Gresini is up at the end of this season and that the rider from the Republic of San Marino is looking for new options, but the news is that DeAngelis has terminated his management contract with Carlo Pernat and what’s more De Angelis had denied that Pernat would be at Misano looking for a ride for him in the WSBK series.

De Angelis also said that he has a few contacts in MotoGP, but none in Superbike and that it’s more likely that he will remain in the MotoGP series next year.

At the moment DeAngelis’s position in MotoGP can be defined as difficult, as his team manager Fausto Gresini is in the final stages of negotiations with Marco Simoncelli, and is in talks with Marco Melandri as well. Obviously DeAngelis’s position in the team is tied to his results and at the present is 13th in the championship standings. His name has also come up with several teams who are interested in Moto2.

This has come as a big surprise because the other night on Italian Tv show Griglia di Partenza both DeAngelis and Pernat were present and there wasn’t any signs that there was trouble brewing between the rider and his now ex-manager.

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Nicky Hayden in talks with Yamaha Tech 3? No, we don’t have a mole inside the paddock, nor is it just more silly season, but we do have a very wily and crafty Italian manager on TV.

In last night’s Griglia di Partenza where guests were Alex De Angelis, Roberto “Loca” Locatelli, Marco Luchinelli, Paolo Casoli, Gianfranco Guareschi, Arturo Merzario (a former F1 driver), Honda’s Carlo Florenzano, and Carlo Pernat and others.

After naturally talking about Valentino Rossi’s pass on Jorge Lorenzo and asking DeAngelis’s and Locatelli’s point of view, the conversation turned briefly to what we fans call silly season.

Carlo Pernat touched a few bases regarding where some riders will be probably going and he also confirmed that his hottest property, Marco Simoncelli is leaning more towards Honda than Yamaha, even going so far as to state that it’s 70% Honda and 30% Yamaha. The manager also went on to say that James Toseland is out of Yamaha’s Tech 3 team and Nicky Hayden will not stay in Ducati and he’s in talks with Hervè Poncharal.

If Pernat’s words are true, and we’re taking them with a grain of salt, because he could be just shooting the breeze, this could open up a whole new scenario in this year’s silly season.

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