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Right. Yamaha will, apparently, wheel in a seamless-shift gearbox for the 2013 MotoGP season in order to cut the advantage Honda has coming in and going out of corners. Jorge Lorenzo talked about this at Phillip Island and was joined by teamster Cal Crutchlow, who said they were losing vital tenths because of it.

Honda got their double-clutch-stye setup bang on this year and it showed in the stability of the RC213V. Ducati have had a go at it before and, according a the font of all something in America, employed a modified tranny on the bike in 2005/2006. We do not know about which rider they are referring…

Sticking with Lorenzo, he has said he never feared Valentino Rossi when they were team-mates even though he has nine world titles behind him. The Spaniard says he treated, and will treat, The Doctor with respect.

Yamaha are apparently courting Monster Energy as a title sponsor in 2013. According to some Spaniards, the firm has already bought Lorenzo out of his contract with Rockstar to make way for the green-clawed sugar solution.

Max Biaggi clearly still isn't giving Rossi any respect. On Italy's SkyLive programme, he said that calling his former deadly rival the greatest rider ever would be a slight to the likes of Rainey and Lawson… Biaggi added that if he were any other sportsmen, he would like to be Usain Bolt. How expensive are personality implants..?

Texas Tornado Colin Edwards has never considered retirement even after the nightmare he experienced on the Suter-BMW this season. He was the first rider to sign up to CRT but then experienced problem after problem with the bike's electronics. And made a point of telling everyone. Which is a nice change from the rest of the spin-doctored world of bikesport…