I hope that all my readers have a very merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year. Watch out for them “Double D’s” if you’re out on the road, won’t you?

This guy took an accident-damaged VFR and hot-rodded it. 146bhp on the dyno!!

It’s a long read, but it’s well worth it.

Honda’s chief, Takeo Fakui, in his end-of-year speech, delivered some pretty bad news; confirming the F1 decision, announcing the delay or cancellation of several projected models, factory closures and salary cuts for seniour management, but, significantly, no announcement concerning MotoGp at all.

While this is not quite confirmation that Honda will be staying, a lot of the announcements once again reaffirmed the importance of motorcycles in Honda’s business strategy. Motorcycle sales were overall much stronger than Honda’s car sales, growing 12% where car sales were flat, and are expected to grow by another 10.5% next year, where Honda expects car sales to fall by 7% in the same period. Fukui was emphatic: “History shows that motorcycles remain strong in a difficult market environment and have always supported Honda in difficult times.”

So, breathe a sigh of relief.

This just in from motogpmatters..

“Honda’s future in MotoGP has been an almost constant subject of debate since the announcement that the Japanese motoring giant was withdrawing from Formula One on December 5th this year. The situation was only made worse by American Honda’s decision to withdraw from the AMA Superbike championship next year, announced exactly a week later. And now, it looks like there could be three “Black Fridays” in a row for Honda’s involvement in racing.

For this Friday, December 19th, Honda CEO Takeo Fukui is due to deliver his end-of-year speech, and if reports from the Spanish press are to be believed, there is a real possibility that Fukui will announce the withdrawal of Honda from MotoGP. Both AS.com and Motociclismo.es have picked up a story by the weekly magazine Solo Moto, which quotes a spokesman from HRC as saying that “all of our projects are currently under consideration.”

The problem, as you most likely guessed, is due to the global economic crisis. Honda’s margins are under severe pressure, with sales slowing worldwide, a fact confirmed by a drop of nearly 27% in new car registrations in Western Europe. And as profits fall, Honda is coming under extreme pressure from investors to cut costs. Investors reacted positively to both Honda’s F1 pullout, as well as their withdrawal from the AMA, despite the vast difference in budgets for the two activities, and Solo Moto believes that MotoGP is their next target.”

DORNA last night released the official list of MotoGp and 250cc teams and did the same for the 125cc.

19 MotoGp bike grid with the incusion of Gibernau. 6 Hondas, 5 Ducatis and 4 Yamahas.

3 Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Honda
4 Andrea Dovizioso Repsol Honda Honda
5 Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha
7 Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki Suzuki
14 Randy De Puniet LCR Honda Honda
15 Alex De Angelis San Carlo Gresini Honda
21 John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki
24 Toni Elias San Carlo Gresini Honda
27 Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Ducati
33 Marco Melandri Kawasaki Racing Kawasaki
36 Mika Kallio Pramac Racing Ducati
46 Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Yamaha
52 James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha
59 Sete Gibernau Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati
65 Loris Capirossi Rizla Suzuki Suzuki
69 Nicky Hayden Ducati Marlboro Ducati
72 Yuki Takahashi Scot Racing Honda
88 Niccolo Canepa Pramac Racing Ducati
99 Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Yamaha

250cc Listing

4 HIROSHI AOYAMA JPN SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc
7 AXEL PONS SPA PEPE WORLD PONS WRB
8 BASTIEN CHESAUX SWI RACING TEAM GERMANY
9 TONI WIRSING GER RACING TEAM GERMANY
10 IMRE TOTH HUN TEAM TOTH APRILIA
12 THOMAS LUTHI SWI EMMI – CAFFE LATTE
14 RATTHAPARK WILAIROT THA THAI HONDA PTT SAG
15 ROBERTO LOCATELLI ITA METIS GILERA
16 JULES CLUZEL FRA MATTEONI RACING
17 KAREL ABRAHAM CZE CARDION AB MOTORACING
19 ALVARO BAUTISTA SPA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM
21 HECTOR BARBERA SPA PEPE WORLD PONS WRB
25 ALEX BALDOLINI ITA WTR SAN MARINO TEAM
28 GABOR TALMACSI HUN BALATON RACING TEAM 250cc
35 RAFFAELE DE ROSA ITA SCOT RACING TEAM 250cc
41 ALEIX ESPARGARO SPA CAMPETELLA RACING
48 SHOYA TOMIZAWA JPN TEAM CIP
51 STEVIE BONSEY USA APRILIA MADRID
52 LUKAS PESEK CZE AUTO KELLY – CP
58 MARCO SIMONCELLI ITA METIS GILERA
63 MIKE DI MEGLIO FRA MAPFRE ASPAR TEAM 250cc
75 MATTIA PASINI ITA TEAM TOTH APRILIA

The 250cc grid looks very thin and pretty thin on talent too, except for the top half dozen or so. No doubt the impending axing of the class has scared off many but it will be VERY interesting to see what happens in 2010 when the 250′s will be joined by the new 600cc bikes for a “hybrid” season. Notable amongst the absentees in this listing is Bradley Smith whose Team Polaris World outfit pulled the pin at the end of this season.

125cc Class
5 ALEXIS MASBOU FRA LONCIN RACING
7 DOMINIQUE AEGERTER SWI AJO INTERWETTEN
8 LORENZO ZANETTI ITA WWC
11 SANDRO CORTESE GER AJO INTERWETTEN
12 ESTEVE RABAT SPA BLUSENS APRILIA
16 CAMERON BEAUBIER USA RED BULL KTM 125
17 STEFAN BRADL GER KIEFER RACING
18 NICOLAS TEROL SPA JACK & JONES PONS WRB
24 SIMONE CORSI ITA JACK & JONES PONS WRB
27 STEFANO BIANCO ITA CBC CORSE
29 ANDREA IANNONE ITA WWC
30 PERE TUTUSAUS SPA MATTEONI RACING
32 LORENZO SAVADORI ITA FONTANA RACING
33 SERGIO GADEA SPA BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
34 RANDY KRUMMENACHER SWI DEGRAAF GRAND PRIX
38 BRADLEY SMITH GBR BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
44 POL ESPARGARO SPA BELSON DERBI
45 SCOTT REDDING GBR BLUSENS APRILIA
60 JULIAN SIMON SPA BANCAJA ASPAR TEAM 125cc
66 MATTHEW HOYLE GBR MAXTRA TEAM
71 TOMOYOSHI KOYAMA JPN LONCIN RACING
72 MARCO RAVAIOLI ITA CBC CORSE
73 TAKAAKI NAKAGAMI JPN WWC
81 JASPER IWEMA NED KIEFER RACING
88 MICHAEL RANSEDER AUT MAXTRA TEAM
93 MARC MARQUEZ SPA RED BULL KTM 125
94 JONAS FOLGER GER WWC
99 DANNY WEBB GBR DEGRAAF GRAND PRIX