Five Riders On Grid For Entire Season, Including Red Bull Indianapolis GP

INDIANAPOLIS, Friday, December 19, 2008: In 2009, American riders will race in all three classes of MotoGP competition for the first time since 1990, including in the second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Sunday, Aug. 30 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and John Hopkins will represent the United States in the premier MotoGP class, while Stevie Bonsey climbs to the 250cc class. Cameron Beaubier will ride as a rookie in 125cc.

Last season, Hayden, Edwards and Hopkins raced in MotoGP, while Bonsey was in his second season of 125cc.

In 1990, four Americans rode in the premier 500cc category, including World Champion Wayne Rainey. John Kocinski won the 250cc World Championship in his first attempt, and Alan Scott raced in 125cc.

Inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP runner-up Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., joins Ducati and new teammate 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner after six seasons with Repsol Honda. Edwards, from Houston, returns to the Tech 3 Yamaha team for the second consecutive season. Hopkins, from Ramona, Calif., will ride for the Kawasaki Racing Team for a second season.

Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., will race for the Aprilia Madrid team in his first season of 250cc competition. He is the first full-time American rider in 250cc since Kurtis Roberts in 1997.

Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., joins the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team with considerable international experience. Beaubier finished fourth in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2007 at MotoGP tracks across Europe, winning at Sachsenring, Germany. He participated in the Red Bull MotoGP Academy program in 2008, only the second American selected for the prestigious program, which grooms riders for future MotoGP competition.

Before competing in Europe, Beaubier raced in WERA and USGPRU road-racing events in the United States. Beaubier competed in motocross and Supermoto before switching to road racing, winning the Supermoto USA lightweight championship in 2004.

Defending Red Bull Indianapolis GP champion Valentino Rossi again will race for the Fiat Yamaha Team in 2009 in the MotoGP class. One of his fiercest rivals from earlier this decade, Sete Gibernau, returns to MotoGP with the new Grupo Francisco Hernando team.

Three MotoGP rookies will debut in 2009: Mika Kallio of Finland with Pramac Racing, Yuki Takahashi of Japan with Scot Racing Team MotoGP and Niccolo Canepa of Italy with Pramac Racing. Canepa was the quickest rider at the test in July 2007 at IMS before the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP.

There will be 19 full-time MotoGP riders in 2009, one more than last season.