In an amazing and bizarre twist of events that even the mind of Philip K Dick couldn't have made up, it would appear that Marco Melandri and possibly John Hopkins are to run Kawasakis in 2009, but without any Kawasaki logos.
MotoGP paddock insiders are saying that Dorna ring-master Carmelo Ezpeleta has brokered a deal with Kawasaki to get their bikes onto the grid but the Spanish rights-holders will pay for the team themselves.
It is believed that incumbent team boss Michael Bartholomey has been frozen out of the deal and that Ezpeleta will install a new crew chief but the team's staff will remain.
This makes a bit of sense as we know that John Hopkins was due to sign for Stiggy Honda in World Superbikes a week yesterday but some contractural issues got in the way.
Ezpeleta must be desperate if this is the case. Maybe he is now feeling the pressure from his bosses at MotoGP's owners Bridgepoint, a venture capital company, who can see their $400m investment slowly turning into a $100m debt. Well, as the old saying goes, to make a small fortune in motorcycle racing, you have to start with a big one.
