In spite of missing the last three rounds of the 2007 season due to injury, Miguel Duhamel, the all-time winningest rider in AMA road racing history, says he will ride for American Honda again in 2008 and maybe longer. “We haven’t signed anything, but if I were a betting man I would say that would be a correct assessment for 2008,” Duhamel told Roadracingworld.com while on his way to Los Angeles International Airport Friday. “I’m trying to be Mr. Pin Point Accuracy. Yeah, we are going to make a deal. Yeah, we are making a deal. It’s a done deal. We’re just finalizing some stuff. I guess I’m just being nit-picky. We’re definitely going to be back with Honda in 2008.” Duhamel said he and his manager, ex-racer Alan Labrosse, are just going over “finite details,” nothing that is “going to be a deal breaker” with American Honda, which announced he would be teamed with former World Superbike Champion Neil Hodgson in 2008, during its recent dealer meetings in Anaheim, California. Roadracingworldcom has been unable to contact Hodgson in spite of repeated attempts. Honda’s all-new, 2008 CBR1000RR was conspicuously absent from the public eye at the dealer show, but Duhamel said he was allowed to see and sit on the machine briefly. “I did see it. I sat on it. It was there,” laughed Duhamel. “My hat’s off to Honda this year. They definitely seem to have put together an incredible motorcycle, seriously. The bike is definitely different. You won’t mistake it for the 2007 model. It’s nice to see a new model associated with a new look. It’s definitely a different motorcycle. It seems to be very light, very tight, very short. That’s about it. I didn’t look at the engine. I didn’t even ask.” Due to on-going recovery from the serious injuries he sustained in a high-speed crash when a rear tire failed during testing August 8 at Road Atlanta, Duhamel will most likely not able to race in the 2007 AMA season finale September 15-16 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. “It would be really unwise to jeopardize 2008 to come back in 2007 to just ride around at Laguna,” said Duhamel. “That’s all I would basically be doing. Even if I would go out there and by some sort of, basically, miracle win the race, the Championship is pretty much done for me. I’m not going to be finishing in the top three in the Championship. If there was a way of salvaging that, maybe we would figure out a way to come back.” Duhamel recently had surgery at the hands of noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. Arthur Ting to remove three bone chips from the right ankle fractured in the crash at Road Atlanta. Two of the chips were new, and one was left over from a previous injury that wasn’t bothering Duhamel. But the ankle is not the only thing that prevents Duhamel from closing out the 2007 season on a racetrack. “It’s not just the ankle,” said Duhamel. “It’s the internal injuries [lacerated liver, bruised and punctured lungs] and the ribs. I broke three of those. Everything is just healing right now. It’s one thing to put a season in jeopardy for 2008, but it also puts your life in jeopardy for really no reason. I suspect that I will not be there at Laguna Seca.” Actually, Duhamel said depending on how quickly he regains his strength from his recent travels to Dr. Ting’s in Fremont, California, to his primary residence in Las Vegas, Nevada, and to the Honda dealer show in Anaheim, California, he may come to Laguna Seca to sign autographs and maybe even work as a commentator for SPEED Channel, if asked. But the next few weeks are critical, as Duhamel hopes intense physiotherapy will have him ready for off-season testing as early as the end of September. “Right after Laguna I think I’ll be ready to get on a bike and go testing,” said Duhamel. “In testing you have the track to yourself and I can ride around and rebuild my mind, my pace and my confidence and that stuff. I don’t think I’ll be missing any testing that’s coming up during the off-season.” Update: Asked about the announcements made at the recent Honda dealer convention and the official status of American Honda’s 2008 road racing team, American Honda Road Race Team Manager Ron Heben told Roadracingworld.com: “Neil Hodgson is going to be riding Superbike for Team Honda [American Honda] next season. Miguel [Duhamel] is in negotiations with Honda management on his program for the upcoming season.”