News in this morning that Nicky Hayden has suffered an accident in private testing that may compromise his participation in the first MotoGp test of the year at the end of January. Hayden was riding in an indoor flat track venue in his home town when he fell and broke his scapula and several ribs. This is after him crashing and breaking his scaphoid in the last MotoGp event of the year at Valencia. With Ducati trying to come from so far back in the pack for 2012, they will need every bit of testing time they can get, so it’s a good thing that they have some other test riders (including Carlos Checa) and that the testing rules have been relaxed for 2012.
In other news, Jerez has been confirmed for 2012 but looks unlikely to keep its spot on the calendar for 2013. Let’s see, there must be another Spanish circuit that we can use in its place. 
It is being rumoured that the Gresini team has enlisted the help of Ten Kate to tune the engines on its CRT grand prix bike. Sounds like a good move to me.
Former WSBK World Champion, Troy Bayliss was at QIR yesterday doing two-up rides on the two-seat Ducati. Apparently he took F1 driver, Mark Webber, for a spin. That would have been interesting.
Oh, and don’t forget that the Dakar Rally starts this weekend. SBS usually has a highlights package every night so check your local guides.