When Jorge “Aspar” Martinez finally got his chance to field a team in MotoGP, his first pick was 250cc rider Alvaro Bautista who turned his back on a satellite Ducati Desmosedici ride preferring to sign up with Suzuki for the next two years.

With a need of a Spanish rider to pacify his sponsor, Martinez turned to his second choice Héctor Barberá, who has his own personal sponsorship backing.

Speculation had it that Barberà had already signed at Brno, immediately after Bautista confirmed his deal with Suzuki, but it was only today that Martinez confirmed that Barberà has signed a one year contract with his team, with a further option for 2011.

The feisty Spanish rider is currently fourth in the 250cc standings and his name was one of the many linked to a Yamaha Tech 3 ride during silly season.

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After Livio Suppo confirmed that his rider Casey Stoner will not be contesting the next three MotoGP races due to continuing health problems, Casey Stoner has released the following statement to the official MotoGP website:

“After five extremely difficult races due to my health, I returned to Australia to visit the sports doctors who have looked after me for many years. We have taken the difficult decision not to contest the next three rounds of the championship, to allow my body time to recover from the recent stress. The doctors believe that during the Barcelona race I was suffering from a virus, and, that I subsequently pushed my body too hard, leading to problems that have caused my fatigue since then. The doctors are continuing with many tests to try to understand these problems and make sure it does not happen again. I have spoken with Ducati and thank them for their understanding at this time. I feel very sorry for the factory, my team, my sponsors and the fans and I am also disappointed because the bike in the last races has been very competitive. I will be doing everything possible to come back at full strength for Portugal. “

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An old video with Michael Jordan doing some laps on a Ducati Motogp bike escorted by several Motogp stars and check out Jordan’s face when he gets out of the BMW driven by Valentino Rossi.

When asked later which was scarier, riding the MotoGP bike or being in that BMW with Rossi, Jordan replied “Rossi. Because I’m a guy, I like to be in control. When you’re sitting in and somebody’s driving, you’re not in control. But if they would’ve told me how good he was, I wouldn’t have been as nervous. He was really good. He scared the crap out of me, but he was good. It was a lot of fun.”

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