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MotoGP summer break gossip, rumour and intrigue

Both Sam Lowes and Andrea Iannone have MotoGP contracts that are tighter than a camel’s arse in a sandstorm – which is always the best way to keep hold of your ride for its allotted time but rumours the Italian is set to replace the Briton at Aprilia will not die down.

Iannone’s legendary manager Carlo Pernat is absolutely certain his man will remain at Suzuki for 2018 and that may be forcing a square peg in a round hole. Iannone is, by anyone’s standards, underperforming on the GSX-RR and can’t force his riding style to work but were does Davide Brivio look for a replacement as the only man who is available and scoring regular decent points should announce his switch to Pramac Ducati at Brno.

Jack Miller will apparently leave Marc VDS and move over to Francesco Guidotti’s mob in 2018, which leaves Scott Redding with a problem. A bigger problem is that his personal manager Michael Bartholemy apparently thinks Redding and Lowes will exit the championship at the end of the season.

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It’s a rum do when the man who looks after your interests doesn’t think you’re good enough for a place in his team but Redding has history, and not a good one, with the RC213V. It would make sense for Redding to find a slot with Ducati in WorldSBK, given his experience of the V4 Desmosedici and what that could bring to the table when that engine formation makes its series debut in 2019 and Marco Melandri is a distant memory. The Ravenna rider is on a 1+1 deal with the Bologna factory.

Iannone is wasting his talent, according to Cal Crutchlow, by not adapting fast enough from the Ducati to the Suzuki. The bike requires a totally different way to enter corners - Iannone likes to carry front brake into the turn which the GSX-RR doesn’t like.

“I know the way rides, I was at Ducati and he was the best Ducati rider at the time,” said Crutchlow. “He does some fantastic things, like the way he can overlay the throttle and the brake at the same time. But he is wasting his talent. He is just not bothered, absolutely not bothered.”

Suzuki ambassador Kevin Schwantz has given the MotoGP operation a thick ear, saying they lack direction, motivation and leadership.

According to a brace of MotoGP rider managers, Tito Rabat is likely to replace Loris Baz at Avintia Ducati, which also leaves the Frenchman without a destination unless he can swing a spot at Aspar next to Alvaro Bautista, but it is expected the Abraham money or a sizeable deposit from Yonny Hernandez will make that unlikely. All should become more clear at Brno and then more than likely final in Austria.

Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa tested a new chassis at Brno but there has been radio silence from teams and riders about its performance. Marquez has been vocal about changes needed to help with the long-standing traction problem and after changes to engine and electronics, a chassis upgrade had to be next. As no information was forthcoming, it was either very good or very bad.

MotoGP technical chief Corrado Cecchinelli - which has got to be some sort of porn name - has admitted that teams could be interfering with their bikes’ Inertial Measurement Unit in order to alter stuff like traction control as it is upstream of the spec-ECU but he says he won’t be able to insert a control IMU as some of the manufacturers would take their ball home.

Maverick Vinales’ crew chief Ramon Forcada has heaped praise upon former charge Casey Stoner, saying he could have won as many championships as he liked. The Spanish engineer believes the Australian was the fastest thing he ever saw and was able to ride around problems so long as he had feel from the front of whatever he was on at the time.

KTM and Aprilia will retain their concession point advantage next season as neither manufacturer is likely to earn enough podium finishes to see it removed. Concessions allow nine engines per season, engine development is allowed and there are no testing restrictions. Until either starts hitting the podium (as Vinales did with Suzuki last year), they will be able to carry on, almost regardless.

According to Herve Poncharal, Cal Crutchlow is everything a motorcycle racer should be. Not sure if he is taking the piss there or not.

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