Valentino Rossi's win at Brno this weekend moved him one step closer to the 2009 MotoGP title. Jorge Lorenzo's crash and Casey Stoner's absence leaves Rossi with a fifty point lead in the championship. With six races left on the schedule and 150 winner's points up for grabs this year’s champion is yet to be determined, but the rider assignment picture for 2010 got a little clearer over the weekend.HRC announced that Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso will be riding the Honda factory bikes in 2010, although Alberto Puig announced that Pedrosa has yet to sign a contract for next season. Assuming that Pedrosa will be riding for HRC it would seem to confirm that the factory Yamaha team will once again feature Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, but David Emmett at motogpmatters.com is reporting that Ducati is pursuing Lorenzo.
Nicky Hayden's seat on the factory Ducati would seem to be more secure after qualifying and finishing sixth at Brno ahead of Mika Kallio, but the Finnish rider still has two more chances to prove that he should be riding along side Stoner in 2010. If Ducati is able to sign Lorenzo both riders could end up on a Pramac Ducati.
Suzuki confirmed that Alvaro Bautista will be moving up from the 250's to ride one of the factory bikes next season. There's been no official confirmation, but it looks like their other rider will be Loris Capirossi. That could mean that Chris Vermulen could be heading back to World Superbike along with James Toseland who’s had a sub-par year on the Tech 3 Yamaha.
Marco Simoncelli has signed for Gresini Honda, and he'll probably have the revitalized Marco Melandri as a teammate. Melandri has had a surprisingly good year on the Hayate, but it's fairly certain that the team will not return next season. That would leave both Toni Elias and Alex de Angelis searching for a ride.
The riders had their final test of the season at Brno on Monday. The test was shortened by rain in the afternoon, but the times reflected more of the same with Lorenzo, Rossi and Pedrosa putting in the quickest times. Next stop Indianapolis.
