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Rookie Rules Agreed Despite Works' Teams Opposition

The new rule stating that no MotoGP manufacturer will be allowed to sign rookies in the series is to be implemented from as soon as the 2010 season. MotoGP promoter Dorna – through the voice of boss Carmelo Ezpeleta – announced that the decision to implement the rule next year was taken despite the disagreement of some works' teams inside the championship.

The measure was aimed at providing private teams in the MotoGP with stronger and more competitive lineups to tackle the new season (therefore balancing the use of second-hand bikes from the manufacturers). Ezpeleta revealed that not all works' teams agreed to the rule change, but he decided to implement it anyway as the majority of outfits found it a necessity to secure a closer competition within the series.

“There is not unanimous agreement, some of them prefer to maintain their freedom. But because there is not a unanimous opposition, we think we can make these measures. I think we have ways to resolve this problem,” said Ezpeleta.

“The most important thing is to give to the independent teams the possibility to be competitive. The independent teams are suffering a lot and we need to provide to them some measures. This is something they have requested strongly and we think it's a possibility,” added the Spanish official.

During the past decade, almost all 250cc champions have made the step to MotoGP – or 500cc class – straight to the works' teams. Valentino Rossi (Honda), Dani Pedrosa (Honda) and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) were all picked by MotoGP manufacturers at their MotoGP debut, the only exception from that rule being former world champion Casey Stoner (LCR Honda in 2006).

This year, none of rookies have signed deals with MotoGP manufacturers. Mika Kallio and Niccolo Canepa will race for Pramac Racing, while Yuki Takahashi will replace Andrea Dovizioso at Scot Racing Team MotoGP. Last year's 250cc winner Marco Simoncelli will stay in MotoGP's feeder series for one more season.
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