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melandri, vermeulen, stoner sign for '08

23/07/07

Just as BSN.com's servers fell over last night, Ducati and Suzuki made some announcements so here they are, albeit a bit late:

Fresh from his third place at Laguna, Marco Melandri has signed a two-year deal to partner Casey Stoner in the Marlboro Ducati squad. Stoner has also signed until the end of 2009 with the option for an extension into 2010.

Loris Capriossi may not have signed for Suzuki after all as a statement from Ducati read: "Next week Loris Capirossi and his manager will meet with Ducati representatives to evaluate the possibility of preparing a third official Desmosedici MotoGP bike for the Italian rider to use in the 2008 World Championship."

Meanwhile, Suzuki has confirmed it will retain the services of Chris Vermeulen "into 2008 and beyond".

He gushed: "I am very excited to be staying with Suzuki. I really enjoy working with the whole team, especially my Chief Mechanic Tom O’Kane. The involvement of the Factory staff has also been a big factor in my decision, in particular Sahara-san and our Racing Group Leader Oonishi-san. The way the development has gone since I first rode the GSV-R in 2005 is incredible! I am sure if we can continue in that direction we will be pushing up to the front every weekend. That has got to be the goal, I want to be World Champion and if I can do it with Suzuki I will be so happy!”