MotoGP 2008 - Here come the Brits
GP Future hopes 2008 will bring a few more British names to the public's eye via the world motorcycle racing stage. In addition to James Toseland moving to Yamaha's satellite MotoGP Tech 3 team, there are a number of younger riders joining the fray, at least in the lower capacity classes.
Firstly, Bradley Smith has secured a ride in the Polaris Aprillia team to compete in the 125cc class. He signed a contract this week to replace Mattia Pasini, who is moving to the 250GP class for 2008. For a while, there was a concern that Bradley would not have a ride at all. In 2007, he rode for the works Honda team but the bike was rarely competitive, with a single podium finish being Bradely's best result. Conversely, Aprillia and KTM took the bulk of the silverware this year. Unlike Honda, these teams seemed to have been more prepared to develop two strokes, whereas Honda's strength lay in the bigger four stroke machines.
As well as Bradley, the Molenaar Aprilia team has re-signed Danny Webb for 2008. He signed for the team at the final MotoGP meeting in Valencia, after being offered the place following the Japanese round at Motegi. At 17, Danny is already a seasoned rider and we are really pleased to have read this news.
A third British name will be joining the 125cc ranks for 2008. Scott Redding has signed for the Spanish BQR Blusens Aprilia team as the team's number one rider in the 2008 and 2009 MotoGP 125 World Championship. Scott also has an option on the third year to move on to the 250 MotoGP class. Scott was originally going to stay in the Spanish national series for 2008 whilst gaining experience in selected wildcard MotoGP rides. However, his progress has so impressed the team that they decided to run him full-time in MotoGPs. Can't be bad.