ASAKA, Japan – Alvaro Bautista will depart Ducati to join the new Honda MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship factory effort next year.

The 34-year-old World Superbike rookie has scored 15 wins this year, but sits second behind Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea in the championship standings because of his inconsistency in the second half of the season.

“I am really happy, because I believe a lot in the new project with HRC,” said Bautista. “They want to come back to the World Superbike championship as a full factory team, so this has motivated me a lot. To join the HRC factory is very important, as they are an important factory and want to win in WorldSBK again. The challenge for next year will be very difficult, but for sure, I will try and use my experience in the World Superbike championship from this season to develop the bike and hopefully, fight for victories.”

Bautista spent nine seasons in MotoGP riding for Suzuki, Honda, Aprilia and Ducati, but failed to win. His switch to World Superbike this season revitalized his career, opening the door for him to join the new Honda World Superbike factory program.

“We are very happy to welcome Alvaro Bautista to our WSBK racing project for next year,” said Honda Racing Corp. President Yoshishige Nomura. “His arrival in the Honda racing family underlines our strong commitment to compete at full force in every motorsport category, fighting to achieve top sporting results and looking for the best technological innovations, in order to offer our fans and customers fun, joy and excellent products.

“Alvaro is a very fast, experienced rider who has already shown his strong racing attitude and competitiveness in his GP years and in his first season in the WSBK Championship. We are confident that he will make a significant contribution to the growth and development of our project in the exciting and challenging Superbike World Championship.”

WEST BURLINGTON, Iowa – Rain was the winner on Saturday and as a result 34 Raceway will now host the 500th Deery Brothers Summer Series event this Friday, Sept. 27.

The IMCA Late Model tour feature at West Burlington pays $2,000 to win and a minimum of $300 to start.

Pit gates open at 4 p.m. and the grandstand opens at 5 p.m. Hot laps are at 6:30 p.m. with racing to follow. Grandstand admission is $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, and free for kids 10 and under. Pit passes are $35.

The Arnold Motor Supply Dirt Knights Tour for IMCA Modifieds and Gangbusters 41 portions of the program were not rescheduled.

The NHL has become a playground for prospects to step in and take on substantial roles with their teams. The 2019-20 rookie class looks unlikely to change that.

Here's a look at the 10 rookies most likely to make big splashes with their respective teams, along with five more who are a little more under-the-radar but could be sleepers in a seemingly deep first-year class.

Impact rookies | Sleepers
Others to watch

IMPACT ROOKIES

1. Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche

My early Calder Trophy prediction is Makar. It's not just because he was one of the most dominant collegiate defensemen I've seen since I started covering the sport. It's not just because he looked great in his 10-game playoff stint with the Avs, in which he registered six points in his first NHL action. It's largely because I can't think of a better fit between a team and a prospect than Makar and Colorado.

He plays the game at a high pace, thanks to explosive skating and elite hockey sense. He passes well and expertly surveys the ice. And as he showed in his 10 playoff games, he is more than prepared for NHL physicality and speed.

2. Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils

Few NHL players have ridden the highs and lows of their careers quite like Taylor Hall has. Edmonton's No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 draft was traded -- infamously, one-for-one for Adam Larsson -- to the New Jersey Devils in 2016. The move made Hall bitter, especially the following season, when the Oilers became a 100-point team and the Devils sat dead last in the Eastern Conference.

Things took a turn two years later: New Jersey emerged as a frisky playoff team as Hall won the Hart Trophy as league MVP. But he couldn't ride any of the momentum. A knee injury cost him most of last season, and the Devils once again floundered.

Now 27, Hall is ready for vengeance yet again while staring at a career crossroads. Next summer, he'll become the NHL's premier free agent, and the Devils would like to keep him around. After landing the top pick of the draft, Devils GM Ray Shero made a flurry of moves -- including trading for Norris Trophy-winning defenseman P.K. Subban and signing power forward Wayne Simmonds -- to accelerate the rebuild and convince Hall to stay. The winger, however, wants to be thorough in his decision-making; he'll take his time to determine where he wants to play.

In a conversation with ESPN, Hall went into detail about his frustrating 2018-19 season, why mainstream marketing opportunities are difficult for NHL players, how he views the Devils and why he looks up to Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Mahomes.

On last season ...

It probably went as badly as it could have gone, personally, with the injury and all that. For our team, we had a lot of injuries. Guys didn't play the way they had wanted to. But sometimes in hockey it's better to be at the bottom of the standings than right close to the playoffs and not make it. So it afforded us the chance to get Jack [Hughes] and really sped up -- not the "rebuild" -- but sped up our timeline a little bit.

On his knee injury ...

Around the start of December, I started feeling it a little bit. Played through it and then sat out a couple games to rest because at that point we thought it was a muscular thing. Then I came back, and it felt OK. Had a couple pretty good games, actually. I thought I played pretty well. But the knee just didn't feel proper.

Then it was our Christmas break, and I vowed to myself to get this thing right and come back and play. It ended up being one of those things where you get an MRI and they don't see anything, you get another MRI and you send it to people around North America -- nobody sees anything. So eventually two months have passed. I've gotten a diagnosis that I have a tear in a little tendon around the area. I get that filled with PRP [injections]. And I'm like, "OK, that's the injury." Four weeks later, it hasn't resolved. I'm still feeling discomfort. So obviously that wasn't the injury. That was just a side effect of everything that was going on. You can have tears, and you can have stuff wrong in your body that isn't showing any symptoms and not giving you any pain.

So eventually, two months after the fact, we finally decided to go into the knee and find out what's going on. There's some loose pieces in there that they took out. Kind of put in some stuff to promote healing and put my knee in a better place for the future, and that's where we're at now.

On his mindset while sidelined ...

It was really, really hard. Even after the surgery, it was hard. There wasn't really a timeline after the surgery because it wasn't something that happens a lot. So it was, "You might feel good in a month. You might feel good in three months."

There was a period of probably five months there where everything was in limbo. But you keep working hard, you have people around you that you trust, people around you that you like working with. I wasn't traveling, but I was around the team. When they were at home, I was always here, went to all the games. At that point, I still thought I was going to be playing at the end of the season. Working hard in the weight room and all that type of thing. When the guys went on the road, those are some lonelier times. When you get to the rink, and there's nobody here, and it's quiet. You kind of have to make your own mojo and hope there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

On the P.K. Subban trade ...

I was out one night in Toronto, and I got a call -- I think it was from Ray [Shero]. Might have been John [Hynes, Devils coach]. I forget. They just straight-up asked what my thoughts were and what I had heard about him. I had nothing but good things to say. I knew that he obviously had a personality and all that -- that's all people want to talk about. But at the end of the day, he's a good hockey player. I'm at the NHL Awards in Vegas when I win my Award, and he's up for a Norris. And that didn't seem too long ago in my head. Everyone wants to talk about everything that comes with P.K., but from what I see, it's a guy that wants to come in and play well. I'll take that guy on my team any day.

On the Devils' roster needing more talent surrounding him ...

To be honest, there was never a time when I sat with Ray and I said, "This needs to get better." Nor did he ever ask me anything like that. When I came out in the media and said we need more talent, that was fairly obvious. I think I was saying something that wasn't news to anyone. I think everyone in the organization saw that this was a summer of opportunity with a lot of teams that were in cap trouble. Last year I was hoping they would make a splash in free agency, but looking back, there probably wasn't anybody worth chasing after.

They did a great job this summer. I don't ever look at it like they're making moves to satisfy me or they're doing things to make me happy. They're just trying to create the best team possible, and I want to be the best player possible on this team.

On Jack Hughes ...

He makes the game look easy. It doesn't look like his heart rate is too high when he's out there because he's so calm and poised with the puck. He's never panicking. His stride is pretty effortless. I'm really impressed with his shot. He has a better shot than I saw two years ago when I first skated with him. I honestly thought he could barely shoot the puck when he was 15 years old. That's only going to keep getting better.

On NHL players putting themselves out there ...

It's crazy when people say putting yourself out there makes you a distraction to the team. P.K. does a lot, and he hasn't distracted me once all week from doing my job. At the end of the day, we're in the entertainment business. I think Ray said that when he traded for P.K.

There's nothing wrong with some personality. Come to the rink every day, and you see the same people, and they're saying the same things and all that, but there's nothing wrong with a little bit of pizzazz and some changeup.

On whether winning MVP opened the door for more marketing opportunities ...

There were some things, but they were more like one-offs. Like, "Hey, do an ad for Subway," and that's it. I think there was one for Great Clips, a hair-cutting place. But not really. It doesn't seem like companies get what they want from the hockey market. I think they like working with the players themselves because we're easy to work with, but it doesn't seem like the consumer is going to buy stuff because a hockey player is doing it. But if LeBron James just tweets about it, everyone goes crazy.

On improving the Q rating for hockey players ...

There's gotta be an algorithm or something to figure that out because I can't tell you. But just the more exposure ... we have such a great game. Playoff hockey, when I talk to American people specifically, they love it. They love the intensity. They love everything about it. It's like, how can we get them fixated on it all year long? Week 1 of the NFL, it felt like the Super Bowl was going on. Everyone wanted to watch it. Hopefully the NHL can get there.

On the 2019-20 season ...

My goal is to play 82 games this season and hopefully set myself on the right path for the rest of my career.

On being a free agent this summer and if being on a Stanley Cup contender is a priority ...

I think that's probably the highest priority. Lifestyle-wise, I'm not married or anything. I don't have kids. I'm not really at a point in my career where location matters to me, if I want to be on the West Coast or East Coast or anything like that. You can make any city great if you're playing well and you're winning there. So that's basically my priority.

On how he has grown ...

I think the coaching staff and management here have pushed me to be not a better leader but a different leader. There's a maturation process that happens when you get traded and also as you're getting older. You look at yourself in the mirror and say, "I want to be a better practice player."

My offseason habits haven't changed one bit. I work out with a different trainer, but I still work just as hard. Just around the rink, I feel like I have more focus. I'm a little more dialed in on how I need to be every day, whether it's practice or a game. And whether that's management, coaches here, maturation or just getting traded, I do feel like a different person, and that's a good thing.

On athletes he looks up to ...

I love Kawhi [Leonard]. Being from Toronto, I loved watching him this year. That was really cool. I know some people who are around him, and hearing some inside stories about what he's like and all that is very cool. His personality is so polarizing, and he has a presence about him.

Patrick Mahomes is pretty cool. He's impressive to watch. Off his back foot, 50 yards, and he fits it in a 5-yard window where his guy is going to catch it. It's pretty cool. He's just so talented and just goes out and plays. He has a lot of talent around him, but he's probably one of the best athletes in the world right now. If he didn't play in Kansas City -- like, if he played in L.A. or New York -- he'd probably be even bigger.

On being a football fan ...

I like watching on Sundays, but I'm not a fan of a team. My dad played football [in the CFL]. I love watching, but I don't love the NFL philosophy. They're very hard on the players, and there's a lot of injuries. It seems like everyone is mad all the time. I don't know if it's true, but that's what it seems like. I watch "QB1" on Netflix. I think that's a great series. I watched "Last Chance U" too.

On one fix to make the NHL better ...

A 78-game regular season. It'd be one fewer game a month, basically. Maybe 76 or 78. Just dial it back a little bit. Instead of playing 15 games in March, like we do, make it 14. You'd get one more day off. I think that would be nice.

Sebastian Munoz earned $946,666 in 26 events last season on the PGA Tour. Thanks to his win at the Sanderson Farms Championship, he surpassed that total in one tournament. Here's a breakdown of prize money and FedExCup points for winner Munoz and the rest of the players who made the cut in Mississippi.

Sebastian Munoz won his first career PGA Tour title in a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Here’s a look inside his bag.

DRIVER: Ping G400 LST (8.5 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Yellow 63X shaft

FAIRWAY WOOD: Callaway Epic Flash (15 degrees), with Project X HZRDUS Yellow 73X shaft

IRONS: Ping i200 (3), with Graphite Design Tour AD DI-Hybrid 85X shaft; i210 (4-PW), with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts

WEDGES: Ping Glide 2.0 Stealth (50 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (56, 60 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold X100 shafts

PUTTER: Ping Sigma 2 Valor

BALL: Titleist Pro V1

Danny Willett's roller-coaster ride through the Official World Golf Rankings remained on an upswing following his win Sunday at the BMW PGA Championship.

Willett reached as high as No. 9 in the world in the wake of his win at the 2016 Masters, but last year the Englishman fell as far as No. 462 as he battled issues with both injury and form. Once again stamping his name among the best in the world following a three-shot win at the European Tour's flagship event, Willett jumped 27 spots to No. 31 in the latest world rankings, marking his highest position since June 2017.

Wentworth runner-up Jon Rahm bumped Justin Thomas out of the No. 5 slot, while Billy Horschel moved up four spots to No. 32 and now sits just behind Willett after a T-4 finish in his BMW PGA debut. Viktor Hovland cracked the top 100 for the first time in his career, jumping 12 spots to No. 89 after a T-11 finish in England.

Sebastian Munoz earned his first PGA Tour victory in a playoff at the Sanderson Farms Championship, and as a result the Colombian earned an exemption through 2022 as well as a Masters invite in April. But the win also brought with it a shift in the rankings, with Munoz up 71 spots to No. 108 in the world. Sungjae Im, who lost to Munoz on the first extra hole, moved up seven spots to No. 47 after his best career Tour finish.

Brooks Koepka maintained his grip on the No. 1 overall spot, followed by Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Justin Rose and Rahm. Thomas fell one spot to No. 6, with Patrick Cantlay, Tiger Woods, Francesco Molinari and Xander Schauffele rounding out the latest top 10.

Barcelona have opened the door to the possibility of signing the United States World Cup star Megan Rapinoe.

Rapinoe, 34, said last week she would be keen to end her career in Europe, suggesting a move to Barcelona would be her preferred option.

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Barca have invested heavily in their women's team since turning professional in 2015, with Jenni Hermoso and Caroline Graham Hansen among the big signings made this summer.

"I think we're in a position to be able to sign that level of player," director Maria Teixidor told Gol, when asked if signing Rapinoe was an option.

Seattle Reign FC winger Rapinoe, who spent the 2013-14 season with French side Lyon, is among the nominees for the Best Women's Player at FIFA The Best awards on Monday. International teammate Alex Morgan and England's Lucy Bronze are also nominated.

Off the pitch, Rapinoe has been one of the leading voices in the USWNT's fight for equal pay with their male counterparts. She has also spoken out on a number of political issues in the country.

"She is a fantastic speaker," Teixidor added. "I almost see her having a political career or being an activist in the future.

"I think it is good that women who have the chance are able to speak of the reality that still exists today [for women at] the highest level. People with such integrity and awareness in that fight are so important for so many people and those who take on that leadership role deserve all the respect."

Barca, who lost last season's Champions League final to Lyon, have made a good start to the new campaign. They beat reigning Spanish champions Atletico Madrid 6-1 on Saturday and are top after three games.

Ernesto Valverde said Barcelona must respond on the pitch this week to emerge from the crisis which has enveloped them since Saturday's shock defeat to newly promoted Granada.

Barca have made their worst start to a league campaign in 25 years. They have lost two of their five games and are without an away win in four matches in all competitions since the campaign began. They're eighth in La Liga with seven points.

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- When does the transfer window reopen?

They host Villarreal on Tuesday and travel to Getafe on Saturday with Valverde under increasing pressure. Sources have told ESPN FC that some of the players have lost confidence in him, although president Josep Maria Bartomeu has no plans to sack him unless results continue to nosedive.

"This is how things are in the football world," the Barca coach said in a news conference on Monday. "You are in crisis every three days and you can come out of it just as quick.

"That's what we have to try and do now. The only way to calm things down is to pick up six points this week."

Valverde has won back-to-back La Liga titles at Barcelona but his team's performances in Europe have previously led to doubts about his future at the club.

He survived last season's humiliating Champions League defeat at Liverpool and the Copa del Rey final reverse against Valencia. It has taken just six games of the new campaign, though, for the debate about his job to be reopened and he said he accepts the discussion is always going to be there.

"Results rule in the world of football and the coach is always in the spotlight," he added. "That's the position I am in -- and have been from the start.

"Coaches have things on the line in every game, there is nothing new there. In previous seasons, we've always been much more consistent and had an advantage over the rest of the teams, but we've not started this season well.

"We have to look at this season to see what is going wrong, not last season [when] a lot of the [dropped points] came when we had already won the league. But even last season we had runs like this, when we only picked up two points from nine and we still went on to win the league because we overcame those bad spells."

Ousmane Dembele is fit again for Tuesday's visit of Villarreal and returns to the squad, with Carles Perez making way. Teenager Ansu Fati has also been called up for the sixth game running.

Ivan Rakitic, meanwhile, has been dropped, with Carles Alena brought back in.

"If Rakitic is not [in the squad], it is because someone else is," Valverde responded when asked if there was a problem with the Croatia midfielder, who has started just once this season. "He hasn't got an issue, it's a question of players, we have a lot of options in midfield."