Tuesday Morning Moto News - WSBK DVD, Toseland and Tamada

The 2009 World Superbike Season Review DVD is now available for purchase. If you would like to relive the historic season, want to see some of the events you missed, or if you simply collect them all, this is the DVD for you. It details the season long competition between veteran Noriyuki Haga and rookie Ben Spies, of which most of us know the ending. Check it out...

http://tinyurl.com/y9ndurn

Ever since he left Ducati to take on the challenge of BMW in WSBK, Davide Tardozzi just cannot seem to keep his opinions to himself - or, the press just will not leave the man alone. Either way, we now hear that he thinks James Toseland lost something during his two years in MotoGP. Tardozzi just does not see Toseland as a threat in the WSBK paddock. So, read the article and let me know what you think...

http://tinyurl.com/y9mbrcc

MotoGP and WSBK veteran Makoto Tamada has secured a seat in the WSBK paddock for 2010. He will be riding for Pro Ride Honda in the series. No further details given, but the official announcement is expected soon.

http://tinyurl.com/ybdlxuz

Friday Morning Moto News - Racing News - Part 2

We have now heard that Davide Tardozzi - former Ducati WSBK team manager and now BMW WSBK team manager - believes that Casey Stoner is the best rider in MotoGP. I would have to say that he is a bit biased coming, as he did, from many years working for the Bologna-based company. Of course, history will show the truth as Rossi has 7 premier class championships compared to only one for Stoner.

http://tinyurl.com/yc76r89

Wildcard rider Muhammad Zulfahmi Khairuddin in 2009 is now a full-time 125GP racer for 2010. It is unbelievable, but the sponsors got behind him and now he has a ride on the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. team and his biggest sponsor is Air Asia. Since he only started racing in 2008, this is an amazing turn of events for the young rider. What's next, a championship? It would be the first for a Malaysian!

http://tinyurl.com/yem9ab3

http://tinyurl.com/yc95nmu

http://tinyurl.com/yka8p4z - Some more background on the series which got him this far

Another MotoGP story is that Nicky Hayden is looking for even more improvements in 2010 on the Ducati. If that proves to work well for him, we should see him on many more podiums this year. He has shown that he can ride that bike and ride it well, but we do need to see some consistency (and tell the other riders to stop crashing into him!). We will all be watching closely, I bet.

http://tinyurl.com/ybwmj89

A neat little story about Nicky Hayden's background and dirt track past. He only has to win on a mile track to be added to the Grand Slam list...

http://tinyurl.com/yjdm7sc

More Wednesday Moto News from Just About Everywhere, Part 2

And, even more...

Other designers are rallying behind the new 2010 Honda VFR1200F as many web posts have derided the machine as being 'ugly'. Even Pierre Terblanche has stepped up in its defense. The designer behind the new model, Teofilo Plaza, also designed the 2008 Honda Fireblade (CBR1000RR to US readers) and that was the first model of the 'snub-nosed' design. Many professional designers say that the VFR is ahead of its time.

http://tinyurl.com/yd5rzqw

We finally get news of the whereabouts of Davide Tardozzi after he left the Ducati World Superbike team. He will now be working for the BMW World Superbike team - at least for the next three years. The reasoning behind his departure from Ducati were never officially given, but it probably had to do with the Haga/Fabrizio 2009 WSBK effort...

http://tinyurl.com/yj5pg7h

Now even the Los Angeles police know what most of us have known for some time - BMW motorcycles are much less expensive to maintain than Harley-Davidsons. Most of us have already owned enough motorcycles to learn that lesson, but it took LA a while. Anyway, they have decided to purchase BMW R1200 RT-Ps for their motorcycle officers instead of the usual H-D. It will cost them less and save them some much needed money.

http://tinyurl.com/ylft33z

Michel Fabrizio Talks About Tardozzi Departure from Ducati

Fabrizio was criticised for his performance at the end of the season - some say he stole 10 points from Noriyuki Haga causing him to lose the title to Spies. However, most people who know him know that he is a good guy with a sense of humor. He spoke today about Tardozzi leaving the Ducati World Superbike team at the end of 2009. Though, if you watch the video, you may be forgiven for thinking that Fabrizio and Tardozzi are not exactly friends...

http://tinyurl.com/ylsyxcd

More Management Changes at Ducati - Tardozzi And Suppo Both Leaving

We already read about Livio Suppo moving over to Honda (so the rumors say), but this is the first news of Davide Tardozzi leaving Ducati that I have seen. Tardozzi runs Ducati's World Superbike team, so that makes it both of the motorcycle racing world championships loosing Ducati managers. Tardozzi has said that he no longer has motivation to run the WSBK team and he has no plans for where he will go after he departs. Very interesting given the fact that Ducati has been hit hard by the sour economy and even the employees at the factory have taken large pay cuts. I hope Ducati is not in trouble again...they have been so profitable over the last several years...

http://tinyurl.com/yc5aa95