Hopkins out of Laguna, no Melandri yet.

Please give Chaz another chance, he deserves it after his ducati GP riding in the past!!

I might have some time available, can't garantie some decent results though..

Hacking has been on form lately, not a Motogp future prospect by anymeans but for a one off ride he deserves it for actually performing on the Kawasaki AMA best of the rest after the suzukis in that class!

LOL, Kees ... neither than any of their current riders!

Seems odd not to at least put Oli on the bike & give the sponsor what you promised?

Kees when we drew straws and you got the short one did you realise what you might be letting yourself in for

KEES, i'll still put money on you finishibng in front of west though

how abt jamie hacking? he is doing pretty well in amasbk on zx-10r n been on the podium from last 4 races n is within 100 point of ben spies lead sitting 4th in championship. i guess he will be a fair bet to be on ninja. By the way melandri was the top choice if available. would luv to see wht he is capable of doing on green mean machine.I suggest that kawa should try both Jamie n Chaz in both USA rounds.

First - get well Hopper and come back healthy for the 2nd part of the season.
Second - "It will be diffcult to find somebody for Germany".....Ever heard of Olivier Jacques, team Kawasaki ?.....He could have won Sachsenring in 2002, on a 2 stroke 500cc, in front of Rossi and the 990rcv if he hadn't been rammed into by Barros.

Does this story mean Marco is out of ducati mid season? Clearly I'm not up to date with motogp news....

Moto GP is already poor in term of number of riders on the grid, I think Moto GP teams are still beyong what it should be in term of investment for the future, Dorna give money to the lower class 125 and 250 to keep bringing young talent from around the world, Red Bull is doing the same in Europe and now in Amrica but Moto GP teams prefer to pour money on their hospitality not a cent on young talent so the result is this, where to look for their future rider and the future of their team? For the little I know, not even a single MotoGP teams has a young rider under contract? Except Ducati with Canepa.In SBK a person like Batta is always looking for youngster, ask Max.

Give Jamie Hacking the ride. He is probably the best Kawasaki superbike rider in the world right now and is getting plenty of podium finishes. 6-8 podiums behind the Suzukis if i'm not mistaken. He even beat Miladin twice @ Miller Motorsports..

Patrice ... when your sponsors give you millions, they want something in return.
Not all sponsors need to see their team winning or even their name on television ... for some the business-to-business opportunities provided by the team hospitality are enough to justify their involvement.

Developing young riders is like gambling for the teams / manufacturers. They could put all their money into a youngster who never reaches his potential, or is outdone by a star no one saw coming.
The current system works & the cream will rise to the top ... then they can pick their rides.

step up Mr Laconi

Laconi?? He can run in the tops 6 in wsb why put him on a motogp bike? Seriously the only choices are RLH or Chaz Davis.
Preferably Roger Lee as he has experience on the bike at Laguna Seca but is he fit now?

I think that Melandri is certain to join Kawasaki & I'm sure that Ducati have just
simply played it safe with Gibernau, 2 test's & seems to be on the pace, & it could be a real good attempt to put him in to try and take points away from Valentino.

We will certainly see some dust up's between Vale & Gibernau if he comes back.

For Saccsenring why not Oliver Jacques, as correctly stated previously he would have been the last 500 gp winner had Barros not taken him out and he's won there on a 250, which if memory serves me right if he had entered the 500 race with his 250 he would have won too!! correct me if i'm wrong. Or a long shot how about Tamada, remember how great he was with bridgstone rubber.

Let's face it! Hopper made something at beginning with ZX-RR but after crash before season the lack of his performance is huge. I don't say that John isn't good, he just need somebody at the same stage as he is to make progress faster. Hopkins alone doesn't have 'winner ability'. West is good but he is 'diffrent story' rider. Kawasaki needs stability for make progress.

Why not bring back Kork Ballington or Mick Grant - I'm sure both would still finish in front of both Westy and Malandri...

Andrew Pitt would smoke up the Kwak if it didn't run like a dog. Plus he knows all of the tracks, and has ridden in motogp before (under the old Kwak management).

Dice, I don't disagree with you but for 150000Euros or 225000$ a Moto GP team can put a young rider in a 125 Team, what is 150000Euros when you got millions to run your MotoGP team Hospitality, most of the time people who are going there are just friends or relatives.