Buzzin Motor Sport

Stuart Easton - Hydrex Honda 2009

This weekend the British Superbike riders and teams head to Scotland for round six of the Championship at the Knockhill circuit in Fife.

Michael Rutter will once again be riding the Worx Crescent Suzuki, where he is aiming for nothing less than a podium finish for the team.  In 2008, Rutter rode the NW 200 Ducati, claiming fourth in the first race and second in race two and has said that he loves this track and knows that he can be at the front.

The two Airwaves Yamaha riders, Leon Camier and James Ellison, will be back in the British Superbike series after competing as wild-cards in last weekends World Superbikes at Donington.  Both riders will then return as wild-card riders for the following weekend race in the World Superbike Championship.

Another rider who wants no less than a win this weekend is the Scottish rider Stuart Easton on the Hydrex Honda machine.  With five podium finishes so far this season, Easton believes he can get in front of the leading Airwaves Yamaha riders at his home circuit.

The two HM Plant Honda riders Josh Brookes and Glen Richards, are also expected to be in the front runners, with Brookes claiming three thirds in the last three races.  Richards has always been strong at the Scottish circuit and has a lot of experience of the tight, short track.

Rumours have been circulating that Gary Mason would not be at Knockhill this weekend as the Quay Garage Honda team had run out of money, however, it has been confirmed that although the team are struggling and desperately need to find backers, they will be on the grid for round six.  Mason is currently leading the Superbike Cup and is only 4 points behind Josh Brookes in the Championship.

Yesterday afternoon the annual ‘Superbikes In The Square’ took place, where the championship riders ride through the city centre of Glasgow, demonstrating their skills to thousands of spectators.

Leon Camier and team-mate James Ellison entertained the crowd with burn-outs and wheelies, along with Simon Andrews.  Josh Brookes was on the back of Steve Plater’s machine before he and his team-mate Glen Richards put on some demonstration laps for their fans.

John McGuiness was cheered by onlookers as he rode the Padgetts Honda along with Steve Brogan.  Rutter raised one of the loudest cheers as he destroyed the rear tyre of the Worx Crescent Honda.  Atsushi Watanabe, Ian Lowry, Billy McConnell, Tom Grant and Dan Cooper were also in attendance along with riders from the 125GP British riders.

Mika Kallio - Assen 2009

The Pramac Racing rider Mika Kallio, is to miss the next round of the MotoGP Championship at Laguna Seca this weekend.

Kallio injured his ring finger at last weeks round at Assen when he crashed out on his final lap while in sixth place and is not able to ride the Ducati at present.

The Finn, was seen shaking his hand after getting to his feet and it was later discovered that his finger had been burnt down to the bone and he had completely lost the nail, fortunately, there has been no nerve damage.

The team have decided not to replace Kallio for this round and have said;

“Mika will not go under surgery in these weeks before the German GP, but will continue to follow medications and cleaning of the injured finger to avoid infection and further complications. For this motive the Pramac Racing Team will race in Laguna Seca only with one rider, Italian Niccolò Canepa who will make his debut on the Californian circuit.”

Kallio said;

“I was so excited to race in Laguna Seca, but I guess destiny wanted to be this way and I will have to renounce. It’s a pity. We have taken this decision together with Pramac Racing Managers and I think this is probably the best solution. Laguna would have been a new circuit to learn for me and with precarious physical conditions we thought it would have been too risky.

“I will look after my self in the best way possible to be in good form at the Sachsenring, which is by the way one of my favorites circuits of the world championship. I wish all the best to Niccolò who will have to do well for the Pramac Team this weekend.”

Ben Spies - Donington Park

The Yamaha World Superbike rider Ben Spies, won both races in round nine of the World Superbike Championship at Donington Park on Sunday.

Race 1

Spies dominated the qualifying session on Saturday and continued by winning the race on Sunday shadowed by the Aprilia Racing rider Max Biaggi.

On the final lap of the race it looked like all the hard work from Biaggi had been wasted as his machine came almost to a halt, just a couple of hundred yards from the chequered flag.  However, after a bit of weaving by the Italian he picked up speed and shot across the line to take his place on the podium, it was later confirmed that he had some sort of fuel problem.

Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox bike took the final step of the podium followed in fourth place by Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Motorsport Honda.

Shane Byrne was right on the tail of Haslam for the Sterilgarda Ducati team ahead of the second Aprilia Racing bike ridden by Shinya Nakano in sixth.

Jonathan Rea on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda took seventh followed by John Hopkins on the second Stiggy Honda, Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing bike was in ninth and Ryuichi Kiyonari on the Ten Kate Honda Racing bike to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1  19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 34′57.230 (158,831 kph)
2   3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 7.156
3  41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R 10.968
4  91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 18.843
5  67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 19.125
6  56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 21.286
7  65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 23.644
8 121 Hopkins J. (USA) Honda CBR1000RR 32.849
9  96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 32.904
10   9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 33.192
11   7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 34.535
12  84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 35.093
13  22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 35.441
14  57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 39.034
15 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 41.067
16  14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 46.452
17  71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 47.924
18  23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 48.246
19  99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 50.932
20 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.032
21   2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 55.216
22  53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′02.758
23  25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1′02.977
24  94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1 1′12.255
25  79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 1′12.531
RET  11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR
RET  27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET  88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET  66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1
RET  36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R
RET  77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR

Race 2

The second race was again dominated by the American rider Ben Spies, who started the race as he meant to go on, creating a gap from the off, and claiming his tenth win of the 2009 season.

Noriyuki Haga crashed out from second place on lap 5 of the race while trying to bridge the gap between himself and Spies.  The Ducati rider was taken to a Derby hospital and was treated for a fracture to the ulna in his right arm.  Haga today underwent surgery to insert a plate and screws to the ulna which has been deemed a success, the multiple fractures discovered to his left shoulder will heal on their own and did not need intervention.  The team believe it would still be possible for Haga to ride at the next round at Brno but he will not take part in the test due at Imola.

British rider Leon Haslam, took the Stiggy bike across the line to claim the second step of the podium, after battling for the position with Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox and Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda machine.  Haslam finally made his move stick with three laps of the race remaining and said that he had been spurred on by the British fans at his home track.

Fabrizio finished in third ahead of Byrne in fourth after suffering technical problems in race one.  The Italian had broken the lap record during qualifying but a gear problem saw him sliding backwards to finally finish in twelfth position, but he was back on the podium in the second race after jumping on his spare bike.

Neither of the Aprilia Racing riders finished the second race with Biaggi crashing out on lap 4 at the Melbourne hairpin.  The Italian got back on his machine only to make contact again with another rider and later x-rays showed he had received a hairline fracture to his right foot.  Fortunately, with the three week break now before Brno, Biaggi is expected to be fit to ride in the next round.

Shinya Nakano, on the second Aprilia, amazingly walked away without injury when he crashed at high speed just after the opening lap of race two.

John Hopkins was not on the grid for the second race despite finishing the first race in eighth place from thirteenth in qualifying.  Hopkins apologised to his fans and supporters for not taking part but was said to be suffering so much pain from the first race that he could not carry on.

Simon Andrews, riding as a wild-card, achieved his aim of a top ten finish in race two for the Kawasaki team after qualifying in twenty-sixth position.

Leon Camier was another wild-card rider this weekend, claiming sixth in race two after starting in twenty-second place.  The Airwaves Yamaha rider demolished his number one bike during provisional qualifying and on the spare could only manage seventeenth position.  In both races he made a terrible start but fought his way back to the top in race two.  His team-mate James Ellison, crashed out in the first race but finished an impressive eighth in race two.

Here are the results;

1 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 35′14.788 (157,512 kph)
2 91 Haslam L. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 6.622
3 84 Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 6.816
4 67 Byrne S. (GBR) Ducati 1098R 7.349
5 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 8.145
6 22 Camier L. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 13.463
7 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 15.751
8 27 Ellison J. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 16.837
9 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 22.891
10 117 Andrews S. (GBR) Kawasaki ZX 10R 30.347
11 57 Lanzi L. (ITA) Ducati 1098R 30.622
12 14 Lagrive M. (FRA) Honda CBR1000RR 31.562
13 71 Kagayama Y. (JPN) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 32.148
14 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 32.607
15 65 Rea J. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 32.806
16 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 34.269
17 79 Young B. (USA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 40.644
18 36 Lavilla G. (ESP) Ducati 1098R 40.956
19 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 41.302
20 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 42.856
21 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 47.769
RET 77 Iannuzzo V. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 88 Resch R. (AUT) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 53 Polita A. (ITA) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9
RET 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR
RET 94 Checa D. (ESP) Yamaha YZF R1
RET 41 Haga N. (JPN) Ducati 1098R
RET 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R
RET 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 Factory
RET 2 Hacking J. (USA) Kawasaki ZX 10R

Valentino Rossi - 100th Win

Valentino Rossi rode his Fiat Yamaha over the line to claim his 100th Grand Prix win at Assen on Saturday after starting on pole position.

125cc

Sergio Gadea took the chequered flag for the Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc on Saturday in Assen, just nudging ahead of the three-way battle with Nico Terol and Julian Simón.

Mid-way through the race Gadea had caught-up with Terol and Simon who had been running at the front.  All three riders waited until the final lap to make their move with Terol running off the track to try and pass Gadea.  Terol was penalised after the race for the move and relegated to fifth, despite stepping-up onto the podium.

Bradley Smith was promoted to third place on the second Bancaja Aspar Team bike after his own battle with Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. rider Andrea Iannone, Smith’s rival for the championship.

Stefan Bradl on the Viesmann Kiefer Racing bike took seventh position followed by his fellow German Jonas Folgar in eighth for the Ongetta team.

Ajo Interwetten rider Sandro Cortese crashed out on lap 5 while in seventh place after claiming his first pole position with the team.  Danny Webb, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Cameron Beaubier also crashed out during the race.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider                 Bike     Time/Gap
 1.  Sergio Gadea          Aprilia  39m07.577s
 2.  Nicolas Terol         Aprilia  +   0.078s
 3.  Julian Simon          Aprilia  +   0.901s
 4.  Bradley Smith         Aprilia  +  12.356s
 5.  Andrea Iannone        Aprilia  +  12.400s
 6.  Stefan Bradl          Aprilia  +  20.468s
 7.  Jonas Folger          Aprilia  +  20.755s
 8.  Simone Corsi          Aprilia  +  21.263s
 9.  Pol Espargaro         Derbi    +  21.558s
10.  Marc Marquez          KTM      +  21.941s
11.  Joan Olive            Derbi    +  23.605s
12.  Efren Vazquez         Derbi    +  28.406s
13.  Dominique Aegerter    Derbi    +1m00.312s
14.  Marvin Fritz          Honda    +1m00.355s
15.  Lorenzo Zanetti       Aprilia  +1m00.615s
16.  Luis Salom            Aprilia  +1m00.629s
17.  Takaaki Nakagami      Aprilia  +1m00.997s
18.  Michael van der Mark  Honda    +1m01.030s
19.  Jasper Iwema          Honda    +1m08.795s
20.  Lukas Sembera         Aprilia  +1m09.076s
21.  Johann Zarco          Aprilia  +1m14.817s
22.  Karel Pesek           Derbi    +1m30.729s
23.  Luca Marconi          Aprilia  +1m46.244s
24.  Pepijn Bijsterbosch   Honda    +    1 lap
25.  Luca Vitali           Aprilia  +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Esteve Rabat          Aprilia  11 laps
     Tomoyoshi Koyama      Loncin    9 laps
     Cameron Beaubier      KTM       5 laps
     Sandro Cortese        Derbi     4 laps
     Randy Krummenacher    Aprilia    1 lap
     Lorenzo Savadori      Aprilia    1 lap
     Scott Redding         Aprilia    1 lap
     Alexis Masbou         Loncin     1 lap
     Danny Webb            Aprilia   0 laps

250cc

Scot Racing team rider Hiroshi Aoyama, claimed his second win of the season on Saturday and is now leading the championship.

The battle between Aoyama and Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine ended when the Japanese rider ran wide after getting it all wrong at the right-hander of the chicane.  Aoyama braked for the left-hander but Bautista ran into his back wheel, throwing the Spaniard off his bike while the Honda rider somehow managed to stay on and take the win despite a cut tyre and other damage.

Hector Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike finished in second place followed by the reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera.

Aleix Espargaro crossed the line to take fourth place riding for the injured Gabor Talmacsi in the Balaton Racing team ahead of Roberto Locatelli on the second Metis Gilera.

For the third time this year Mattia Pasini for the Team Toth Aprilia left the race without any points after colliding mid-way through the race with Thomas Luthi on the Emmi - Caffe Latte machine.

Here are the results;

Pos Driver                Bike                Time
 1. Hiroshi Aoyama        Honda         40m44.008s
 2. Hector Barbera        Aprilia           +4.424
 3. Marco Simoncelli      Gilera           +10.339
 4. Aleix Espargaro       Aprilia          +11.383
 5. Roberto Locatelli     Gilera           +11.596
 6. Alex Debon            Aprilia          +14.265
 7. Karel Abraham         Aprilia          +17.982
 8. Hector Faubel         Honda            +19.012
 9. Rattapark Wilairot    Honda            +20.926
10. Raffaele de Rosa      Honda            +21.033
11. Mike di Meglio        Aprilia          +32.128
12. Lukas Pesek           Aprilia          +41.329
13. Alex Baldolini        Aprilia        +1:05.321
14. Valentin Debise       Honda          +1:12.451
15. Imre Toth             Aprilia           +1 lap
16. Vladimir Leonov       Aprilia           +1 lap

Retirements

    Alvaro Bautista       Aprilia          22 laps
    Bastien Chesaux       Honda            19 laps
    Axel Pons             Aprilia          16 laps
    Toby Markham          Honda            14 laps
    Steve Bonsey          Aprilia          13 laps
    Mattia Pasini         Aprilia          13 laps
    Thomas Luthi          Aprilia          10 laps
    Jules Cluzel          Aprilia           5 laps
    Shoya Tomizawa        Honda             0 laps

MotoGP

Valentino Rossi took his 100th Grand Prix win on Saturday after starting the race on pole position followed by team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in second place.

As the race got underway it was Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda that took the lead from second on the grid but it wasn’t long before he was passed by the master, however, Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati managed to slip past both riders before the end of the opening lap.

On the second lap, Stoner ran wide which was all that was needed for Rossi to take full advantage and retake his place at the front and disappear into the distance.

Lorenzo got a bad start from his third position grid spot and lost several places as the race began but was soon up with the front runners and right behind the Italian although he had no chance of passing, finally finishing 20 seconds behind his team-mate.

Stoner took the third step of the podium in a race where he could not match the pace of the Fiat Yamaha’s but ahead of the Monster Tech3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards. The Ducati rider is still suffering from some sort of mystery illness and was reported as being physically exhausted after the race.

Pedrosa crashed his machine on lap 5 while in fourth place at the first corner and seven laps later his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had an identical crash at the same spot.  Fortunately, Pedrosa received no further injuries and both riders managed to walk away from their accidents.

Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki took fifth place followed by the Tech3 Yamaha of James Toseland, taking his best result so far this season after the Pramac Racing rider Mika Kallio crashed out on the final lap.

Randy de Puniet was in seventh for the LCR Honda team after having an eventful race followed by Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini.

Elias was later penalised for the illegal using the run-off area on the final lap and was relegated to twelveth place from eighth.  Elias publicily apologised to Loris Capirossi for the incident at the chicane when he ran both of them off track.

Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro took eighth place ahead of Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki and Alex de Angelis on the Gresini Honda.

The MotoGP now heads to California for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix this weekend.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider            Bike               Time/Gap
 1.  Valentino Rossi  Yamaha           42m14.611s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo    Yamaha           +   5.368s
 3.  Casey Stoner     Ducati           +  23.113s
 4.  Colin Edwards    Tech 3 Yamaha    +  29.114s
 5.  Chris Vermeulen  Suzuki           +  33.605s
 6.  James Toseland   Tech 3 Yamaha    +  39.347s
 7.  Randy de Puniet  LCR Honda        +  39.543s
 8.  Toni Elias       Gresini Honda    +  39.774s
 9.  Nicky Hayden     Ducati           +  39.823s
10.  Loris Capirossi  Suzuki           +  40.673s
11.  Alex de Angelis  Gresini Honda    +  46.100s
12.  Marco Melandri   Hayate Kawasaki  +  57.777s
13.  Sete Gibernau    Hernando Ducati  +1m05.366s
14.  Niccolo Canepa   Pramac Ducati    +1m09.897s
15.  Yuki Takahashi   Scot Honda       +1m09.930s
16.  Gabor Talmacsi   Scot Honda       +1m25.099s

Retirements:

     Mika Kallio      Pramac Ducati       25 laps
     Andrea Dovizioso Honda               10 laps
     Dani Pedrosa     Honda                4 laps

Gary Mason - Quay Garage Honda

Gary Mason crossed the line in the second race at Snetterton last weekend, minus his screen after putting his head through it in his battle to get past Jon Kirkham.

Mason said in an interview;

“I just protected my line when I passed Kirkham, so I went in a bit deep at the last chicane. I ran wide and there a big drop off and i was in the air and my head went through the screen, I nearly got him on the line but I hurt the old private parts!

“We had a DNF in the first race, but that’s racing and we’ve had a good run. We were due for a bad weekend, so hopefully this is the one and we can move on to Knockhill.””

Mason is leading the riders in the Mirror Cup class despite having to retire from race one due to mechanical problems.  The Quay Garage Honda rider went on to win the second race giving him a 56 point lead over second place man Peter Hickman on the Ultimate Yamaha.