Valentino Rossi has said he is committed to Ducati and will remain with the team into the second year of his contract despite rumours at Laguna he was in the process of bailing out and going back to Yamaha or sorting out his own team with the backing of Honda.

He was also still circumspect on the issue of the manufacturer building a bike with an aluminium Deltabox-type chassis before the end of the year but Pramac satellite rider Loris Capirossi has reportedly already asked Filippo Preziosi for one as he believes the GP11 requires some flex that the swingarm pivot on a conventional chassis gives.

Marco Simoncelli's manager Carlo Pernat has apparently given his rider a verbal kick up the arse for being too cautious one weekend and then crashing the next. in Germany, the mighty-haired Italian looked lost while sitting behind the Repsol bike and then Sunday saw him crash again.

Simoncelli blamed a dodgy front end for the accident, saying: "I realised early in the race that the front was giving me more trouble than it had in practice. It closed in turn seven on the first lap, which is a strange place for it to go, and then again two laps later in turn eight."

John Hopkins has got a busy month. He is currently on his way to Silverstone to race as a wildcard in World Superbikes, then he will fire down the M1, round the World's Largest Car Park, up the A20 to race in BSB at Brands Hatch before having a kip, driving to Gatport and flying to Brno to rejoin the Rizla MotoGP squad in the Czech Republic. "I haven't got time to fart," he probably said.

Ben Bostrom, who is the same age as the editor and that makes him very happy, decided to sack his Laguna Seca race on the LCR Honda as early as possible after making a couple of errors which resulted in a trip to the kitty litter. Sensibly, he decided discretion was the better part of valour and came out fighting for his AMA Superbike appointment later in day. Where he finished fifth, 20 seconds behind Tommy Hayden after 23 laps...

Nicky Hayden has said there is no way team-mate Valentino Rossi has given up on riding hard after observing the Italian on the verge of crashing for quite a lot of the Laguna race. Had he gone past him, then he wouldn't have seen it.

Monster Yamaha boss Herve Poncharal is, apparently, not happy with Cal Crutchlow's early exit from Laguna, saying the crash was 'not necessary' before putting his onions straight and nipping off for a cheeky pernod with Colin Edwards' mum.