Aside from refereeing a bus crash on Sunday morning at Silverstone (apparently caused by a weaselly looking little man on an Aprilia scooter), Big Jack Valentine admitted he would love to go world championship racing again but only if the budget and bikes were right.
Valentine, who may have been a bus driver in a previous incarnation, got out to sort this disaster, much to the hilarity of the photographers contained within - none of whom had the wherewithall to get off and take any shots. Yes you, Bonnie Lane sitting there gurning out of the window with Andrew Hartley behind you while Una the Yamaha doris laughs her ears off… (see pic below)
Anyway, Valentine said that anyone who said they didn't want to race in world championship was not being entirely truthful and added he thought his Samsung Suzuki team would be competitive with a 'big more horsepower…'
Silly season was in full swing at Silverstone but it was tempered a bit with the announcement on Monday that Yamaha had taken their vastly expensive ball home and probably wouldn't let anyone borrow it next year, or even lease it. We await some information from a mole whom we flew to Italy yesterday to go and have a poke about.
What was unearthed, true or not, was that Jonathan Rea was meant to be having a chat with LCR Honda boss Lucio Cecchinello about a job in MotoGP next year to replace the not very happy Toni Elias. Rumour has it talks stalled when the Irishman banged his wrist up but it may all be rolling again now.
Leon Haslam is the most in-demand rider in the paddock. Francis 'Fanny' Batta, the Ten Kates and Paul Bird, plus his current BMW team, have all shown massive interest in the 28 year old as he has a break clause in his three-year contract. It is believed Haslam would like BMW to sort their electronics issues out and tame the massive power the S1000RR has - but they probably won't.
It isn't thought Troy Corser will remain with the team and could well be lining up a return to Alstare for whom he won the world title in 1900andfrozentodeath. Current rider Michel Fabrizio is apparently in discussion to switch to the BMW Italia team in place of James Toseland to partner Ayrton Badovini who is bound to stay.
Bird, meanwhile, is fighting to keep control of the Kawasaki team but scuttlebutt of the precinct says that will go to the Motocard team who currently run green motorbikes in Supersport simply because they won't spend eleventyrillon pounds in a season.
Max Biaggi already has a contract with Aprilia and, subject to him not actually disappearing up his own arse or retiring, he will be back. Not so, we think, Leon Camier (who is 24, again, tomorrow) who would be better off somewhere he is appreciated and not used as a test mule every weekend for some shit that clearly doesn't work.
Colin Edwards has been linked to a return to production racing with his old Castrol Honda team, always presuming they haven't used next year's budget for replacment bodywork already this year. It may be that Edwards and Crutchlow, who hasn't impressed his Tech3 team boss recently, find themselves in WSB while Melandri and Laverty (who both sport Monster logos but only one gets paid for it) go the other way.
In terms of new rules for next year, two members of the Italian press got all pointy when it was suggested Stuart Higgs' BSB Evo rules should be adopted in WSB because it wasn't their idea so it couldn't possibly work.
Main topic of conversation among some Brit media: if all these riders who have retired then go on to do jobs in the media, what do we in the media all do at 45, start racing? I'd like to see that… On a similar note, we also managed to make World Feed commentator and former rider Steve Martin cry outside a pub after his 'ginger beer' went straight to his head.
