The comic opera that has been Team Pedercini in the off season, has finally come to an end. The fat lady has sung, and, like so many dramatic productions of its type, it has had a “twist” at the end.
Let me run you through the plot so far. TP announced at the end of the year that they would be competing in 2 WSBK categories in 2011, Superstock 1000 and Superbikes. And, early on they announced their riding roster. A single superbike for Robbie Rolfo and 3 1000cc superstockers for Aussie Bryan Staring and Italian up-and-comers Superstock riders, Marco Bussolotti and Leandro Mercado.
Then some extra money was found and it was decided to run a second superbike. At the recent Sepang test, the team auditioned former 125cc riders, Gabor Talmacsi and Lukas Pesek as well as giving Staring the chance on the WSBK-spec machine.
Given monetary constraints, etc, it was expected that the Hungarian, Talmacsi, would get the gig as he was able to bring some valuable sponsorship to the team. But, while no official times were announced, it’s understood that Talmacsi’s times were pretty underwhelming and he dilly-dallied around for some time before (apparently) telling the team that he was withdrawing his candidature.
Not that this affected the team too much, announcing that Staring would “wild card” on the superbike at his home race at PI and, with this announcement, seemingly anointing Staring as the second superbike rider for the season. Inexplicably (or perhaps just “Italian-y”), the team also announced that they still hadn’t ruled out Pesek.
However, the final twist to the plot was revealed this morning as the opera reached its conclusion. Pesek is out, Talmacsi is out AND SO IS STARING!! Bryan will not be wild carding at PI but will drop back to the SS1000 class, full time, as the second superbike seat has been given to…are you ready for this…..THE POPE…sorry, that was just silly. Has been given to MARK AITCHISON!!
Yes, former supersport and superstock campaigner Aitchison has agreed to terms and will ride the full season alongside Rolfo. Hey, this is opera, did you expect a happy ending?
Apropos Sepang and the recent 3 day MotoGP test that took place there, Marco Simoncelli was right up near the pointy end and this classic shot certainly proves how hard he was trying and also that 800cc bikes CAN slide if you push them hard enough.
Here are the final Thursday times.
Pos. | Rider | Team | Bike | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marco Simoncelli | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 2:00.757 |
2 | Casey Stoner | Repsol Honda | Honda | 2:00.811 |
3 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2:00.845 |
4 | Andrea Dovizioso | Repsol Honda | Honda | 2:00.945 |
5 | Ben Spies | Yamaha | Yamaha | 2:01.002 |
6 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda | Honda | 2:01.241 |
7 | Hiroshi Aoyama | San Carlo Honda Gresini | Honda | 2:01.353 |
8 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Marlboro | Ducati | 2:01.534 |
9 | Colin Edwards II | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 2:01.651 |
10 | Valentino Rossi | Ducati Marlboro | Ducati | 2:01.842 |
11 | Hector Barbera | Paginas Amarillas Aspar | Ducati | 2:02.030 |
12 | Loris Capirossi | Pramac | Ducati | 2:02.057 |
13 | Randy De Puniet | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2:02.159 |
14 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | Ducati | 2:02.645 |
15 | Cal Crutchlow | Tech 3 Yamaha | Yamaha | 2:02.717 |
16 | Toni Elias | LCR Honda | Honda | 2:02.916 |
Various Yamaha, Honda and Suzuki test riders were in the high 2:02s to a 2:04.700.