It's been clear for a long while now that Toni Elias would be returning to MotoGP for the 2011 season, for more than one reason. Many felt Elias should never have lost his ride at Gresini Honda at the end of 2009, after the feisty Spaniard finished the season in 7th position, ahead of a large group of riders who weren't forced out. And when the Spaniard wrapped up the inaugural 2010 Moto2 World Championship, it became unthinkable that he would not find a ride in the premier class.
The question was, who with? Of the factory rides, only Suzuki had an open spot, and that disappeared rapidly once Suzuki decided to scale back its involvement to just a single rider for 2011. That left only a satellite Honda or the Pramac Ducati squad, but after a difficult year with the Pramac team in 2008, Elias was not keen on that switch. With Interwetten Honda folding, and Honda and Dorna pushing for Hiroshi Aoyama to take the empty seat at Gresini, only LCR Honda was left. Current occupant Randy de Puniet had been slowly falling out of favor with team boss Lucio Cecchinello since breaking a leg at the Sachsenring, and so with some nudging from Dorna, the LCR team became the obvious seat for Elias to fill.
Here's the official press release announcing the move:
TONI ELIAS RIDING THE LCR TEAM HONDA RC212V IN 2011
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