Shoulder injuries are almost always worse than anyone expects as both Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow have recently found out.

Yamaha Tech3’s new rookie who underwent surgery last week in Manchester, revealed through his Twitter page, that the tendon and ligament damage to his shoulder was much worse than expected and that they also found arthritis (Crutchlow is just 25).

“Back home now after my shoulder operation with Professor Len Funk ! Alot worse than expected, fixed tendon back on but found i have arthritis in it but that shouldnt effect until some years we hope! Same recovery and hope to test Sepang Feb1 . . . !”

Crutchlow first damaged the shoulder during his World Superbike R1 debut at Portimao, but expects to help shorten his expected 90 day recovery phase by undergoing hyperbaric therapy, which has become the latest medical rage lately for all injured racers, from Rossi to Randy De Puniet, to Jonathan Rea and James Toseland.

Source | twitter@calcrutchlow

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Cal Crutchlow will be riding in MotoGP for the next two years as announced today by the Yamaha Tech 3 team. The British rider already has plenty of experience riding Yamaha bikes, but it will be interesting to see how his fortunes turn out in MotoGP racing. Crutchlow had already made his desire to move to MotoGP clear and after rumours that he would have been testing the Yamaha Tech3 bike in Brno, we’re hardly surprised.

Crutchlow is considered a talented and exciting rider and he’s moving into the Tech3 MotoGP team to replace Ben Spies, who’s getting a ride with the Yamaha factory team. He will be hoping to produce some similar results from his Superbike to MotoGP transition to those of Spies. Of his two-year contract, Crutchlow says:

“It is hard for me to explain how excited I am about the prospect of riding in MotoGP next season with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. Joining MotoGP is like a dream come true for me, and I want to thank Yamaha and Herve Poncharal for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. Yamaha have been fantastic to me and without their incredible support I wouldn’t be where I am today. And I’m really looking forward to working with the Tech 3 Team.

Continue reading: Cal Crutchlow confirms MotoGP move to Yamaha Tech 3

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Sterilgarda Yamaha’s Cal Crutchlow was in Brno this weekend to take in the Grand Prix racing, but more likely he was deep in negotiations with Yamaha’s Tech3 manager Herve Ponchral who recently revealed that the British rider is on top of his shopping list to replace Ben Spies, who is now heading to the Yamaha factory team.

Crutchlow admitted after his WSBK double win at Silverstone that he wants to ride as soon as possibile in MotoGP may get his wish sooner than later, because according to Randy Mamola, who is part of Cal Crutchlow’s management, let it slip to the BBC that Crutchlow could actually be testing the Tech 3 Yamaha during tomorrow’s MotoGP test at Brno.

Valentino Rossi is now officially banned from testing anything new on the Yamaha M1 and will not be getting any upgrades for the rest of the season, the testing of the 2011 YZR- M1 will fall into the hands of Jorge Lorenzo and Tech 3 rider Ben Spies will probably get an opportunity to ride the new machine and give his feedback on the bike he’ll be riding next year.

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HRC Vice President Shuei Nakamoto may have said, after confirming that Casey Stoner will be riding for Honda next year, “Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso who are performing very well and currently hold second and third positions in the 2010 World Championship” and “HRC hopes also to retain these two riders for next year - giving us what would be a truly formidable line-up,” but apparently Andrea Dovizioso has very little hope that he’s going to be retained as a factory rider next season unless some other rich sponsor shows up.

Repsol wants a Spanish rider and that means Dani Pedrosa and Livio Suppo wanted Casey Stoner and got him and that leaves the Italian rider, who isn’t considered as one of the aliens, but has been constant and has the approval of Honda engineers who believe that the Dovizioso is giving the right feedback on the development of the RC 212V, infact privateer LCR Honda is using Dovizioso’s development line instead of Pedrosa’s and Randy de Puniet was getting good results until his crash at Sachsenring.

While Honda doesn’t want to lose Dovizioso and has offered him a ride with Team Gresini (Fausto Gresini has however denied the negotiations) with full factory backing or if there’s the possibility that Lucio Cecchinello will be helped to form a two rider team that includes Dovizioso, however the Italian has another offer on the plate that comes from Herve Poncharal who has offered Dovizioso’s Ben Spies Yamaha Tech 3 ride next season.

Dovizioso will have to do some serious thinking about where he wants to go, since he’s always been a loyal Honda rider for almost all his racing career.

Source | motocaradisiac

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When Yamaha announced yesterday that 41 year old factory test rider Wataru Yoshikawa would be replacing Valentino Rossi, who is out with a fractured tibia and fibula, reactions across websites and forums were mostly in the area of “WTF?!?”

Who would replace Rossi and Ben Spies and the rookie rule and it’s difficut interpretation were highly debated and many ended up wondering why veteran rider Colin Edwards wasn’t called in, even if he’s having a “shit season” as he describes it.

Edwards never sugar coats his words, is a fan favourite and probably the bane of any press agent, answered the same question that RoadRacer X’s.com CJ put to him two days before Yamaha’s announcement in their Tuesday Conversation feature.

After the jump you’ll find an extract of this interview and to find out more about the Texas Tornado’s season, cold tires, and his future when he retires, we recommend that you hit the RoadRacers X.com link above for an entertaining read.

If your wondering what Edwards is doing in the pic, we’ve heard that CEII usually rolls around on the ground to break in a set of new leathers.

Continue reading: Why Colin Edwards Turned Down Rossi's Ride

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Ben Spies will be taking back his original number 11 that he used while racing in the AMA series, when he moves to the MotoGP World Championship next year to ride in Yamaha Tech 3.

The American will have to give up his #19 that has brought him luck in WSBK, as Spanish rider Alvaro Baustista, Suzuki’s new rookie, will be keeping the same number that he now uses in the 250cc series.

Spies chose to run #19 in his rookie year in the World Superbike series when he couldn’t take his own because BMW rider Troy Corser was using number 11. Picking number 19 was also Spies special way to pay homage to his late friend Ryan Smith.

Source | mcn

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The Spies story if finally over. After a couple of weeks of speculation regarding in which Championship series Ben Spies would be really racing for in 2010. Yamaha has officially announced today that Ben Spies will be moving to MotoGP in 2010 and will be joining the Tech 3 Yamaha Team alongside Colin Edwards who has renewed with Tech 3 for another year.

Ben Spies:

“I want to thank Yamaha globally for their faith in me. They have treated me like royalty! Yamaha just recently allowed me to rethink my contract for 2010-2011; I did sign for WSB for 2010 but after Indy I began thinking of the competition and my age versus waiting until 2011. This was not an easy decision, the Yamaha World Superbike Team crew and especially Massimo (Maio) Meregalli have been fantastic and it’s been great fun to put in a season together. I am hoping that I can give Maio, Laurens Klein Koerkamp and everyone else a championship to remember this year with me. My thanks also extend to ‘Infront’, the promoter of the WSB series, especially Paolo Ciabatti. I have enjoyed his series and this first year racing in Europe. Now I have two challenges, to complete this year giving my best and to move towards new goals in MotoGP. Herve Poncharal at Tech 3 is showing his support by allowing me to come on board with my Crew Chief Tom Houseworth and Gregory Wood, my mechanic, who have both been with me since AMA days. We will have learning curves to overcome next year but I am up for the new goal. I hope to have a good year and my goal is to try and stay in the top 6-8 which, given the talented line up, will be a tall order. With the world upside down, there is one constant for me and that’s Yamaha.”

Continue reading: As if We didn't Know It: Ben Spies to MotoGP in 2010

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Just two weeks ago, Yamaha announced that they had signed Ben Spies to a two year contract, and that the American would be riding in the WSBK series in 2010 and then make a switch to MotoGP in 2011, however British websites MCN and Visordown are both reporting inside news that Spies has decided to switch to MotoGP already in 2010.

If the rumors are true, Yamaha Tech3 will be fielding an All-American team, with Colin Edwards, the Texas Tornado and Ben Spies, the Texas Terror and now that the cat is supposedly out of the bag, Yamaha may have to make an official announcement during the WSBK round at Imola next week.

This leaves James Toseland with his walking papers, but MCN also reported that Toseland’s manager was at Yamaha headquarters this week trying to get the Brit a contract to replace Spies in Yamaha’s Superbike team, however Massimo Meregalli in this week’s MotoSprint, has said that his sights are still set on Cal Crutchlow as Yamaha has an option on the SuperSport points leader.

Chris Vermeulen and Alex DeAngelis have both been strongly linked to the Yamaha SBK ride, while Toseland has had offers from his old Ten Kate Honda team, from Aprilia and Alstare Suzuki.

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Never to shy away from his ideals and his support for the troops, Colin Edwards visited mobilizing soldiers preparing for overseas deployment at Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh, Indiana on Wednesday.

The Texas Tornado got the chance to try out weapons at the Engagement Skills Trainer (an indoor simulated firing range), which he must of loved considering his own vast collection of firearms. Participated in an armored car roll-over procedure, which must have felt safer than crashing with his Yamaha M1 and spent time eating and talking with some of the troops.

Edwards has been seen wearing a Marines cap during interviews at MotoGP races. When asked about it he replied:

“My heart goes out to these guys…here we’ve got guys who are giving their lives to fight for our freedom, and yet you still have people who are so against…I can understand being against the war, but at the end of the day, you still have to support the guys who are out there doing it. It doesn’t matter what your belief might be. At the end of the day, they just don’t get enough respect. That’s the only thing I can do.”

Edwards will be back next week for the Brno GP.

Photo by IMS

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The MotoGP paddock and pre-race conferences would be much duller affairs without the colourful presence of someone like Colin Edwards, his legendary quips are always good for a laugh or two and always grab an applause from the journalists, taking the edge off all the seriousness that surrounds MotoGP.

The Indianapolis Speedway has put together a selection of Edward’s most colourful quotes from his exclusive interviews that were taken from the “Tornado Warning” column which can be found at thewww.redbullindianpoilisgp.com

If you by chance missed the Texas Tornado’s interview with Italian Riders Magazine, you can read it here.

“The guy has stopped impressing me a long time ago because he just seems to do it all the time. But what is it? I don’t know what it is. You could say he’s getting in the zone, but I think he’s maybe permanently stuck there.” – June 2008, about the brilliance of six-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi

Continue reading: Edwards, Edwards and More Edwards

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Yamaha Tech 3 rider James Toseland must really be a decent sort of fellow and must have a very forgiving nature considering what teammate Colin Edwards has said about him in these last eight months.

Edwards, played the crewchief exchange and Toseland’s so called treachery to the hilt with the media and never lost a chance in taking pot shots at the English rider, even demanding and getting Yamaha to put up a wall between the two garages.

During a Q&A interview with Autosport.com, the Englishman talking about his upcoming home race at Donington Park was also asked about how he is now getting on with the Texas Tornado.

Q. How is the relationship between you and Colin now?

I’m pleased everybody is asking about this because it was taken out of context so much in the winter time. We’re fine again, the dust has settled and Colin has realised what the situation really was. The problem was that the situation was at the last race of last year, where we changed engineers. The press said I’d pinched him and it looked like an old friend had gone behind your back, it really upset Colin and he flew off the handle. There’s no quarter with Colin, whatever he thinks he says.

Continue reading: Have Colin Edwards and James Toseland Kissed and Made Up?

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The MotoGP silly season game has become so popular that now we have a new player, Héctor Barberà.

Barberà currently rides for Pepe World Team in the 250cc series and he too wants to make the jump to the premier class in 2010, together with Alvaro Bautista and the much hated Marco Simoncelli.

According to website motociclismo.es the Spanish rider has offers from Honda Gresini and Yamaha Tech 3.

Continue reading: More Silly Season - Barberà gets offers from Gresini and Poncharal

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