Photo: masmoto.net
Even if we are still in the summer break, things are moving behind the closed doors of the paddock. The first piece of news arrives from Cardion AB and introduces Toni Elias as the substitute rider for Karel Abraham for the first round of the second half of the season, at Indianapolis.
It will be interesting to see how the Cardon AB machine performs in the hands of Toni Elias. We are not expecting anything spectacular, but we cannot rule Elias out of the battle for points. So far, the Honda RCV1000R proved to be a rather dull ride with Abraham at the helm, as the young seems more prone to crashing and becoming injured.
On the other hand, Elias hasn't been riding at the top lever for quite some time now. A Moto2 champion in 2010, Elias retired from the premier class in 2013 and 2014 to ride an Aprilia in the World Superbike series.
Elias is the last non-factory rider to win a Grand Prix. He won the race at Estoril back in 2006 aboard a Fortuna Honda, from Rossi and Kenny Roberts Jr. If you don't remember the crazy finish of that race, we'll tell you that Elias won by a margin of only 0.002 seconds/
Cardion AB has been in talks with Pata Honda to have Michael Van Der Mark ride at Assen, but no financial agreement was reached. At Sachsenring, Cardion AB fielded HRC's test rider Hiroshi Aoyama but he failed to finish the race.
It would be awesome if Elias could earn some points for Cardion AB, just for the kicks. No news on when will Karel Abraham be fit to race reached us.
Marc VDS' rider currently sits second in the Moto2 standings, 65 points adrift the leader John Zarco and with only a 7-point lead over Sam Lowes. While there is still plenty of racing to be done this year, Rabat will have to up his game quite a bit if credible chances to a second title are envisaged.
According to gp-inside, Rabat fancies a MotoGP ride, but it looks like it;s all down to Marc VDS' decision to field a second bike. Meanwhile, the VDS team is credited to be in excellent relations with their rider Scott Redding, who earned 30 points already and sits 14th in the world standings.
The same source adds that while Marc VDS is most likely not going for a two-bike line-up in 2016, Tito Rabat might make it into the premier class with Aspar. The French website refrains to make any suppositions as to who will be laid off at Aspar, Eugene Laverty or Nicky Hayden.
Hayden is 21st with 8 points, while Laverty is right behind him with 7. At the same time, rumors that the Kentucky Kid might switch over to WSBK surfaced once more in July.
However, one of the latest news on motogp.com indicates that "Forward Racing and Stefan Bradl have reached an agreement by mutual consent to terminate the contractual obligations between the German rider and the Swiss team."
Since it seems like there isn't any source to be credited as "more official" that the official website of the World Championship, we can expect to hear from Bradl and Aprilia quite soon. Stay tuned!
On the other hand, Elias hasn't been riding at the top lever for quite some time now. A Moto2 champion in 2010, Elias retired from the premier class in 2013 and 2014 to ride an Aprilia in the World Superbike series.
Elias is the last non-factory rider to win a Grand Prix. He won the race at Estoril back in 2006 aboard a Fortuna Honda, from Rossi and Kenny Roberts Jr. If you don't remember the crazy finish of that race, we'll tell you that Elias won by a margin of only 0.002 seconds/
Cardion AB has been in talks with Pata Honda to have Michael Van Der Mark ride at Assen, but no financial agreement was reached. At Sachsenring, Cardion AB fielded HRC's test rider Hiroshi Aoyama but he failed to finish the race.
It would be awesome if Elias could earn some points for Cardion AB, just for the kicks. No news on when will Karel Abraham be fit to race reached us.
Tito Rabat eyes stepping up to MotoGP, possibly with Aspar
The 2014 Moto2 World Champion Tito Rabat has a difficult time defending his title this year, but it looks like he is thinking about taking the next step and getting a MotoGP ride next year.Marc VDS' rider currently sits second in the Moto2 standings, 65 points adrift the leader John Zarco and with only a 7-point lead over Sam Lowes. While there is still plenty of racing to be done this year, Rabat will have to up his game quite a bit if credible chances to a second title are envisaged.
According to gp-inside, Rabat fancies a MotoGP ride, but it looks like it;s all down to Marc VDS' decision to field a second bike. Meanwhile, the VDS team is credited to be in excellent relations with their rider Scott Redding, who earned 30 points already and sits 14th in the world standings.
The same source adds that while Marc VDS is most likely not going for a two-bike line-up in 2016, Tito Rabat might make it into the premier class with Aspar. The French website refrains to make any suppositions as to who will be laid off at Aspar, Eugene Laverty or Nicky Hayden.
Hayden is 21st with 8 points, while Laverty is right behind him with 7. At the same time, rumors that the Kentucky Kid might switch over to WSBK surfaced once more in July.
More Bradl craziness
Things ARE getting crazy in the Stefan Bradl-Forward Racing matter. We reported yesterday that the Swiss team was not going to let the German rider go and choose another team without financial compensation.However, one of the latest news on motogp.com indicates that "Forward Racing and Stefan Bradl have reached an agreement by mutual consent to terminate the contractual obligations between the German rider and the Swiss team."
Since it seems like there isn't any source to be credited as "more official" that the official website of the World Championship, we can expect to hear from Bradl and Aprilia quite soon. Stay tuned!
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