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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Silly season hasn’t started only in MotoGP, but it’s also begining in WSBK. This time the rumor is from Motosprint, one of Italy’s best selling motorcycle weeklies and who has recently added a website with the latest motorcycling news.

It seems that Alstare Suzuki manager, Francis Batta, who is in Japan at the moment deciding next year’s programme, seems to be very interested in lining up James Toseland for their 2010 season.

Toseland is having a very difficult 2009 season in Yamaha Tech 3. Several massive highsides during winter testing, an ongoing war with team mate Colin Edwards over a crew chief switch and the erection of the wall in the garage and difficulty adjusting to Bridgestone tires, has left the rider struggling and unhappy.

Persisting rumors also have him leaving Poncharal’s team in 2010 to make room for 250cc rider Marco Simoncelli or even Ben Spies, however Toseland has Dorna backing as their token Brit rider and would not like to loose him now that BBC has esclusive rights for televising MotoGP.

With Max Neukirchner already sewn up for 2010 (even if BMW desperately wants him) the return of Toseland to the WSBK series, would allow Batta to create a high profile team that could seriously contend for the title, which they won back in 2005 with Troy Corser.

Toseland is a two times Superbike Champion, winning the title in 2004 with Ducati and in 2007 with Honda Ten Kate.

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Not very long ago most MotoGP riders used to have two year contracts. The first year was usually an apprenticeship, getting used to the bike, the team structure and once in awhile on some special Sunday, and the stars were aligned properly, and in a state of grace, or some big name was having problems, one could even get a well deserved podium. Now everything has changed.

Riders are expensive, there’s no more time for learning curves, they’ve got to jump on that MotoGP bike and go all out, teams want results immediately, top ten or better yet, top five is and has to be the goal.

Only top riders are now getting two year contracts because they are courted directly by the teams who want to win them away from the competition. One year contracts are the norm and some may have an option for a second depending on season results or his ability to develop the bikes and/or tires, before the introduction of the single tire rule.

One of these riders is the Colin Edwards. The Texas Tornado’s one year contract is up for renewal and there has been big speculation that Ben Spies or Marco Simoncelli, who many in Italy are already saying that Valentino Rossi has designated as his successor in Fiat Yamaha when he retires, could be taking Edwards or James Toseland’s place in Yamaha Tech 3 in 2010.

Continue reading: Colin Edwards in WSBK? Talks with Ducati and Aprilia

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In these last months James Toseland has kept a very low profile and refused to talk about the crew chief swap that led teammate Colin Edwards to make certain public statements and request that a wall be put up between the two garages and that was erected during the IRTA test in Jerez.

Toseland has finally broke the silence in this interview with the BBC Sport:

“It didn’t have to happen like this and I can imagine why he feels the way he does. We just need to sit in a room and talk about the situation, but he’s got a wall in the garage like he wanted.”

Continue reading: Toseland talks about the rift with Colin Edwards

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According to MCN, the Yamaha Tech 3 team have erected a wall dividing the garages of Colin Edwards from that of James Toseland.

The pair fell out following the conclusion of the 2008 MotoGP season after Toseland was granted Edwards’ crew chief Gary Reynders, an incident that Edwards reveals has stopped them from working together.

Edwards began his compaign against Toseland starting after the last race in Valencia calling the British rider wonderboy, accusing his ex crew chief and Toseland of conspiring behind his back to organize the switch. Edwards continued during the off season and even laughing about Toseland’s riding problems during the Sepang test, while Toseland has continually refused to comment about the situation.

Source | mcn

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James Toseland and Colin Edwards will not take part in a two-day test session immediately after the final race in Valencia this month. The Tech3 team should be back at the Jerez circuit for the end of November tests. However there is still some doubt whether the team will end up testing in Jerez, due to the fact that they may not receive the 2009 YZR-M1 until the 1° test in Sepang next year.

“I don’t think it is going to be possible for us to test at Valencia” said Toseland “Obviously Valentino is the best person to test at the moment, he is not only world champion but he is also got experience on the tyres it looks like we will be running next year.
“If he can get the 2009 package working as well as possible on those tyres then obviously that is encouraging for me as well.”

Source | MCN

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