Hehe, Nicky "stickin it to the man"?

[OreoGaborio]

Nice undershirt



And check out Owen Wilson sporting the Monster Kawi digs

[Pittenger5]

Has he been officially cleared to test and stuff with Ducati this winter? Is it in writing? If so, way to go Nicky. If not, ballsy move, probably not a great idea.

[OreoGaborio]

Yeah it was confirmed a while ago that he'll be on a Duc next year.

... but his contract w/ HRC hasn't ended YET.

[Pittenger5]

Yeah it was confirmed a while ago that he'll be on a Duc next year.

... but his contract w/ HRC hasn't ended YET.

Well I know, but last I checked he's technically under contract till Dec 31st, but HRC was going to let him out of the contract after Valencia so he could test with Ducati. If thats not official and in writing, Id say this is a good way to piss off HRC.

[GixerJockey]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!


That's priceless!

[The Snowman]

It'll be interesting to see how he does on the Duc.

[Puppet]

Has he been officially cleared to test and stuff with Ducati this winter? Is it in writing? If so, way to go Nicky. If not, ballsy move, probably not a great idea.

I thought I read that he was cleared to test after the season ended, but I'm to lazy to go digging for it

[Pittenger5]

I thought I read that he was cleared to test after the season ended, but I'm to lazy to go digging for it

He has been, but if its just a handshake agreement, I dont think Id personally wanna go rocking the boat.

[OreoGaborio]

He has been, but if its just a handshake agreement, I dont think Id personally wanna go rocking the boat.

What's HRC gonna do... Fire him?

[Pittenger5]

What's HRC gonna do... Fire him?

Or hold him to his contract so he loses out on months of testing for Ducati, which puts him behind the curve for next year.

[OreoGaborio]

They made Pedrosa their feature rider.... HRC's not that smart

[Pittenger5]

Maybe so, but would you run the risk for something as minor (that can become fairly major) as wearing a ducati shirt under your honda one?
I dunno, seems like a lot to lose over something so small. So maybe they're smart and already have the release in writing.

[OreoGaborio]

dammit, dollah... did you overdose on your serious medicine today?

[Pittenger5]

I try to balance out my serious posts vs my sarcastic posts. Check my other posts theres lots of sarcasm.

[akira700]

Nice undershirt



And check out Owen Wilson sporting the Monster Kawi digs

now that is classic!

[SVRACER01]

guess i dont get it. it looks like a MOTOGP news conference. hes wearing a HRC shirt and while the undershirt is red that doesnt mean its a Ducati shirt. i have lots of red shirts....and ironically the only Duc shirts i have are black or white

[The Snowman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNq8RYhkgyA

[eboos]

Or hold him to his contract so he loses out on months of testing for Ducati, which puts him behind the curve for next year.

That's what Honda did to Rossi in 03 when he switched to Yamaha. He was not allowed to test until after the first of the year. What is ballsy is Hayden showing up at the Ducati dealer's meeting this year.

[a13x]

Nicky's cleared to be testing the Ducati the very next day after the last GP.

[markbvt]

So maybe they're smart and already have the release in writing.

This stuff's big business. I would be shocked if they made the announcement without having it in writing. Also, HRC has publicly stated that they're releasing Nicky to test for Ducati immediately after Valencia, so they'd look really bad if they reneged on that now.

Besides, there's no Ducati branding visible on that shirt. It's just a red shirt with a white stripe. Ducati hasn't cornered the market on those. Still an awesomely gutsy move on Hayden's part though!

--mark

[RyanNicholson]

i doubt it had anything to do with the shirt he was wearing (intentional or not) but the grin on his face in that photo makes it that much funnier haha.

I think his results as of late are enough of an F U to honda as it is

[eboos]

I think his results as of late are enough of an F U to honda as it is

Honda probably couldn't care less. Winning the world championship didn't buy him any respect from Honda. In the second to last round when Pedrosa was in 5th place in the championship but still "had a numerical possibility" of winning was a perfect example. Hayden never was Honda's top rider even when he was Honda's top rider.

[RyanNicholson]

Honda probably couldn't care less. Winning the world championship didn't buy him any respect from Honda. In the second to last round when Pedrosa was in 5th place in the championship but still "had a numerical possibility" of winning was a perfect example. Hayden never was Honda's top rider even when he was Honda's top rider.

very good call. though if you think about it I always wondered how much that had to do w/ Respol as a sponsor, isn't Repsol a Spanish company? I think they are...would be a convenient coincidence but who knows.

[eboos]

very good call. though if you think about it I always wondered how much that had to do w/ Respol as a sponsor, isn't Repsol a Spanish company? I think they are...would be a convenient coincidence but who knows.

Repsol is certainly calling a lot of the shots. This is a situation that has played itself out several times over the history of their sponsorship to many different riders.

[RyanNicholson]

Repsol is certainly calling a lot of the shots. This is a situation that has played itself out several times over the history of their sponsorship to many different riders.

funny how it always comes down to the bottom line isn't it?