Stoner started in pole position on the grid after being the fastest rider in all qualifying sessions, setting a new Silverstone lap record in the process.  Apart from an intentional slow pull away and first couple of laps while he accustomed himself to the treacherous spray and judged the track for potential hazards, he lead the race, finishing with an amazing 15 second lead over Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso.

Race contenders Marco Simocelli, Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies lost control of their bikes, while Valentino Rossi, who started in 13th position could only finish 6th as he continues his struggle to tame his Ducati.

Casey Stoner is the first Honda rider to win three consecutive MotoGP races since Valentino Rossi in 2003.  That victory was Stoner’s fourth of the season in his 150th GP start.  He now leads the 2011 MotoGP as the teams and their riders head to the Dutch TT on Saturday 25th June at the Amsterdam Assein Circuit for Round 7 of this season’s championship.

The only British rider, Cal Crutchlow missed the chance the impress in front of a packed crowd of over 78,000 when he crashed out in qualifying on Saturday and broke his collarbone.

British MotoGP Result:

1 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 47:53.459
2 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 48:08.618
3 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 48:14.939
4 Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 48:20.443
5 Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Suzuki 48:29.028
6 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 48:57.985

MotoGP 2011 Championship:

1 Casey Stoner (Australia) Honda 116.0 points
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 98.0
3 Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 83.0
4 Valentino Rossi (Italy) Ducati 68.0
5 Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 61.0
6 Nicky Hayden (USA) Ducati 60.0
7 Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 43.0
8 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 37.0
9 Ben Spies (USA) Yamaha 36.0
10 Karel Abraham (Czech) Ducati 33.0

In a race that only twelve riders would complete, motorcycle fans were treated to an afternoon of thrills along with plenty of spills through the course of the race at the wonderful Jerez circuit in Southern Spain.

Casey Stoner led the race from the start followed closely by Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli and it was the Italian who appeared to be the surprise package of the afternoon when he breezed past both Lorenzo and Stoner early in the race, opening a gap between himself and the championship rivals.

Valentino Rossi was another Italian finding the wet conditions working in his favour aboard the Ducati and he quickly moved up the field passing Lorenzo and closing in on Stoner.

On lap eight Rossi attempted to pass Stoner into turn one, but he lost the front end of the Ducati, taking out Stoner’s Repsol Honda which slid into the gravel trap on top of the Ducati.

While the accident ended Stoner’s race, Rossi was able to get back aboard his bike and complete the rest of the race, finishing in fifth position.

Meanwhile Simoncelli continued to impress from the front for a few laps before losing the front end of his bike going into turn one allowing Lorenzo to take the lead.

Following an uncharacteristic slow start from the line Dani Pedrosa had by now found some pace to move up to second place, but he too was being threatened by Ben Spies. The Yamaha rider eventually passing Pedrosa only to lose his bike several corners on.

By now Lorenzo had built up a significant advantage over the field and Pedrosa looked certain to complete a Spanish one-two on home soil.  Colin Edwards who had moved up to third following the loss of Spies became a victim of the track himself late on riding into the gravel and allowing Nicky Hayden to pass and take the final podium position.

Another fantastic MotoGP race in which reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first wet weather win while the weather also played it’s part in levelling the playing field amongst this years Championship hopefuls.

2011 MotoGP World Championship Round 2- Jerez Results:

1 25 1 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 141.0 50′49.046
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 140.1 +19.339
3 16 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 139.7 +29.085
4 13 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 139.6 +29.551
5 11 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 138.2 +1′02.227
6 10 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 137.9 +1′08.440
7 9 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 137.7 +1′14.120
8 8 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 137.4 +1′19.110
9 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 136.4 +1′42.906
10 6 21 John HOPKINS USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 136.2 +1′48.395
11 5 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 136.0 +1′51.876
12 4 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 133.6 1 Lap

After scoring maximum points from his dominant performance at Phillip Island in Australia in round one, Carlos Checa will be champing at the bit to get his Althea Ducati back on the track, but how will the Ducati fare on the Donington circuit?

It is fair to say that Checa was in similar form at the same circuit on the opening day of last season although he only managed to win one of the two races on that occasion, but he failed to show anything like that performance throughout the rest of the season.

The rest of the 2011 World Superbike pack led by current World Champion Max Biaggi will be keen to improve on their own points tally, so expect another exciting showdown at Donington Park.

As always there will be TV coverage from British Eurosport throughout the weekend and at this British GP weekend the commentary team will be joined by former champions and fan favourites Carl Fogarty and Neil Hodgson, who have managed five World Superbike titles between them.

It is a welcome return to Donington Park, the scene of the first WSB race 23 years ago, having missed out on last years calendar while improvements were being made to the track.

The last time the championship visited Donington, in 2009, Ben Spies dominated proceedings, winning both races. This time around British fans will be hoping it is one of the five British and Irish riders who triumphs on the newly refurbished circuit. With James Toseland (BMW Motorrad Italia) out with a wrist injury, Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport), Jonathan Rea (Castrol Honda), Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia), Eugene Laverty (Yamaha World Superbike) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing) will all contest the round.

Live TV coverage starts on British Eurosport 2 at 1445 on Saturday, with commentators Jack Burnicle and James Whitham on-site at Donington to catch up with riders and teams before Superpole qualifying gets underway.

On Sunday from 1115 both Superbike races and the Supersport race will be LIVE on British Eurosport 2, while coverage will also be available in high definition on Eurosport HD. All the action will be LIVE online via Eurosport Player.

TV times for Donington:

Saturday 26 March

1445-1610 LIVE Superpole on British Eurosport 2

Sunday 27 March

1115-1630 LIVE on British Eurosport 2

1130-1200 Superbike Corner (interviews & latest news) on Eurosport HD

1200-1300 LIVE Superbike race one on Eurosport HD

1300-1415 LIVE Supersport race on Eurosport HD

1700-1745 Superbike race two on Eurosport HD

Predictably it was Dani Pedrosa who shot into the lead from the start of the race, making the early running before being passed by fellow countryman Lorenzo. A tasty battle between the pair ensued which drew in Stoner and the three riders jostled for supremacy in the first half of this Grand Prix.

Around the midway point Stoner gradually pulled out a lead on his rivals as he sensed a possible victory with Pedrosa struggling to maintain the pace  despite battling bravely with Lorenzo for second position.

In a race where the first six riders were always in with a shout for the podium places, the third Honda factory rider, Dovizioso was in another brilliant battle with Marco Simoncelli throughout the race for fourth position.

Meanwhile Lorenzo’s new team mate at Yamaha, Ben Spies was caught up in the pack following an early exit from Randy de Puniet who high sided his bike, and found himself battling against Rossi on the Ducati for sixth place.

Having lined himself up for a couple of moves on the multiple world champion to no avail, Spies eventually launched past Rossi to claim the place for himself, with a spectacular overtake.

It was fantastic to get the season up and running and the signs are that we should be in for yet another season of exciting motorctycle racing. The Honda’s will take some beating but Lorenzo has already proved that the task is not impossible.

Other tracks will favour different manufacturers, but right now Stoner has thrown down the gauntlet to his rivals and it is down to them to respond.

Qatar MotoGP result:

1 C Stoner (Aus) Honda 42:38.569
2 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha @ 3.440
3 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda @ 5.051
4 A Dovizioso (It) Honda @ 5.942
5 M Simoncelli (It) Ducati @ 7.358
6 B Spies (US) Yamaha @ 10.468
7 V Rossi (It) Ducati @ 16.431
8 C Edwards (US) Yamaha @ 26.293
9 N Hayden (US) Ducati @ 27.416
10 H Aoyama (Jpn) Honda @ 28.920
11 C Crutchlow (GB) Yamaha @ 34.539
12 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati @ 34.829
13 K Abraham (Cz) Ducati @ 37.957

Germany’s Bradl was the runaway winner in the 600cc Moto2 class, leaving Iannone and Luthi fighting each other for the runners up spot throughout the race. Iannone eventually grabbed second place, crossing the line less than a second ahead of Luthi and over 4 seconds behind Bradl.

Bradley Smith was best of the Brit’s, earning himself a ninth place finish on his first outing in the class, while Scott Redding finished the day in 31st place.

Moto2 race result:

1 S Bradl (Ger) Kalex 40:38.549
2 A Iannone (Ita) Suter @ 4.330
3 T Luthi (Swi) Suter@ 5.137
Other riders:
9 B Smith (GB) Tech3 @ 18.910
31 S Redding (GB) Marc VDS @ 1:23.743

125cc race result:

1 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia 38:28.687
2 S Cortese (Ger) Aprilia @ 7.710
3 S Gadea (Sp) Aprilia @ 9.147

Talking about the challenges that lie ahead in the coming season Rossi gives an update on his physical condition following the shoulder surgery at the end of 2010 and when we can expect to see him back to full fitness.

He gives his views on the task that faces him in the season ahead with the pressure of moving to a new team and what can be expected in the year ahead.

Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden also speaks about how he hopes 2011 will be an improved season and what it will be like having Rossi as a teammate.

See the British Eurosport Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden interviews here.

Lorenzo had somehow managed to regain control of his bike early in the race following a coming together with Marco Simoncelli, that looked as though the Yamaha rider was certain to crash out, but he hung on to his machine against all odds to eventually mount his challenge for the lead.

At that point Casey Stoner looked comfortable for another win on the Ducati, but Lorenzo eventually caught and passed the Australian on lap 22 and pulled out a lead of almost five seconds at the chequered flag. Team mate Rossi finished his last race for the Fiat Yamaha team with third place on the podium.

Dani Pedrosa showed short bursts of the form he had been in before his injury, during a constant battle with team mate Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Ben Spies for fourth place.

It was rookie of the year Spies who passed them all to claim fourth place in the race, Pedrosa settling for seventh in the race, but second in the championship some 138 points adrift of fellow Spaniard Lorenzo.

And so with the season drawing to a thrilling finale attention will immediately be switched to the testing programme at Valencia where Rossi and Stoner will be in the lime light with their respective testing of the Ducati and Honda bikes .

Ben Spies and Cal Crutchlow will also be testing for their new teams in what will undoubtedly be a much talked about session this week.

Valencia MotoGP result:

1 J Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 46:44.622
2 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 46:49.198
3 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 46:53.620
4 B Spies (USA) Yamaha 47:02.265
5 A Dovizioso (Ita) Honda 47:03.782
6 M Simoncelli (Ita) Honda 47:05.296
7 D Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 47:11.419
8 H Barbera (Sp) Ducati 47:13.910
9 A Bautista (Sp) Rizla Suzuki 47:14.073
10 R de Puniet (Fra) Honda 47:14.482
11 A Espargaro (Sp) Ducati 47:16.383
12 C Edwards (US) Tech 3 Yamaha 47:18.226
13 M Melandri (It) San Carlo Honda Gresini 47:21.244
14 H Aoyama (Jpn) Interwetten Honda 47:23.590
15 C Checa (Sp) Pramac Racing 47:40.791

Britain’s Bradley Smith ended his 125 career with a fantastic win in Valencia and now heads off to pastures new in Moto2 next season.

Spain’s Marc Marquez finished fourth in the race, enough to secure him the world title, and a clean-sweep of titles in all three categories for Spain.

125cc race result:

1 B Smith (GB) Aprilia 40min 25.648sec
2 P Espargaro (Sp) Aprilia @ 2.786
3 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia @ 3.149
4 M Marquez (Sp) Derbi@ 8.326

Moto2 race result:

1 K Abraham (Cze) FTR 43:49.499
2 A Iannone (It) Speed Up 43:50.021
3 J Simon (Sp) Suter 43:50.082

Because of the dreadful weather over the weekend qualifying for the race had to be cancelled and Lorenzo lined up in pole position courtesy of having set the fastest time in practise, where he was surprisingly joined by Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi on the front row.

It was Hayden who took the advantage as the race got underway sneaking ahead of Lorenzo into the first corner and holding his own briefly before the Spaniard took over the lead, relinquishing his place to Rossi on lap four following a mighty charge from the Italian.

Casey Stoner’s race ended early again as he crashed out on lap five while in third place and despite a strong challenge from team mate Nicky Hayden early on, the Ducati rider drifted back as the race progressed, playing his part in a thrilling battle for the final podium place as the Fiat Yamaha’s pulled clear of the rest of the field.

Rossi looked in great shape having muscled past Lorenzo through the chicane and started putting some space between himself and Lorenzo who appeared to have already conceded the win.

Meanwhile fans were treated to some excellent thrills and spills between the chasing pack of Hayden, Dovizioso, Simoncelli, De Puniet, Edwards and Pedrosa all swapping places time and again in a thrilling side show to the main event out front.

Surprisingly Lorenzo clawed his way back up to Rossi and took the opportunity to pass the Italian on lap 17 with a top out braking manoeuvre that Rossi could do nothing about.

Even more surprising was the fact that Lorenzo made the move stick, consistently putting in faster times than his team mate and opening up a comfortable gap to which even Rossi could not reply.

By the end of the race Lorenzo had pulled out a lead of 8.629 seconds on Rossi, the biggest MotoGP victory margin of the year. Third place went to the ever improving Dovizioso who appears to have come into his own since the recent injury to Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa who completed his comeback with an eighth place.

Dovizioso just shaded third from his fellow countryman Simoncelli, another rider who seems to be getting to grips with the premier class after an indifferent start to the season.

Ducati’s Nicky Hayden claimed fifth from De Puniet and Edwards, all who finished within a whisker of one another.

Ben Spies did not take part in the race at Estoril after crashing his bike on the warm up lap and dislocating his right ankle. The American rider is determined to be back in contention for the final race of the season at Valencia next week.

Portugal MotoGP Results;

1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain) Yamaha 46mins 17.962secs
2. Valentino Rossi (Italy) Yamaha 46:26.591
3. Andrea Dovizioso (Italy) Honda 46:44.437
4. Marco Simoncelli (Italy) Honda 46:44.496
5. Nicky Hayden (U.S.) Ducati 46:45.116
6. Randy de Puniet (France) Honda 46:46.259
7. Colin Edwards (U.S.) Yamaha 46:48.071
8. Dani Pedrosa (Spain) Honda 47:02.909
9. Marco Melandri (Italy) Honda 47:31.611
10. Hector Barbera (Spain) Ducati 47:35.683
11. Alvaro Bautista (Spain) Suzuki 47:35.870
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan) Honda 47:50.987
13. Loris Capirossi (Italy) Suzuki 47:57.714

DNF Carlos Checa (Spain) Ducati 13 Laps
Casey Stoner (Australia) Ducati 4 Laps

Moto2

1. Stefan Bradl (GER) Suter 46min 59.723sec
2. Alex Baldolini (ITA) ICP at 0.068sec
3. Alex De Angelis (RSM) Motobi 2.830
4. Scott Redding (GBR) Suter 2.842
5. Kenan Sufuoglu (TUR) Suter 2.947

125cc
1. Marc Marquez (Spain) Derbi 16mins 27.878secs
2. Nicolas Terol (Spain) Aprilia 16:28.028
3. Bradley Smith (Britain) Aprilia 16:28.090

It truly was a terrific sight watching the Australian sliding the Ducati around this incredible track on Saturday in qualifying,  setting himself up perfectly for race day.

And once the race got under way on Sunday, the Australian left the other riders in his wake, with only new world champion Jorge Lorenzo able to keep anywhere near his pace, but even the Yamaha rider was 1.5 seconds back after only one lap.

With the race clearly in Stoner’s pocket barring the unthinkable and Lorenzo himself riding a lonely second throughout the race, it was left to former champion Valentino Rossi to spice things up for the third race running, albeit in a fight for third place.

Rossi, again bogged down off the start line, began one of his infamous charges fighting through the field and putting himself into the dogfight for the final podium place.

Andrea Dovizioso compounded Honda’s awful weekend when he had to withdraw early on with a brake lever problem, team mate Dani Pedrosa who had previously announced himself fit conceded that he was not ready for the race after qualifying in 15th on Saturday.

Spies, Simoncelli, Hayden and Rossi swapped places frequently as the race progressed with Rossi and Hayden eventually breaking from the group in the race for third position.

When Nicky Hayden put a pass on Rossi with only a couple of laps remaining, you sensed that he had made the move to early with the Italian rider in his current mood, and it turned out just that way as Rossi came back at the American and nicked third place on a thrilling last lap.

Casey Stoner finished the race 8.598 seconds ahead of Lorenzo to claim his fourth win out of four attempts at the Phillip Island circuit, back on top form with a fluent and faultless ride on his home track.

Australian MotoGP result:

1 Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 41:09.128
2 Jorge Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 41:17.726
3 Valentino Rossi (It) Yamaha 41:27.125
4 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 41:27.163
5 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 41:31.339
6 Marco Simoncelli (It) Honda 41:34.145
7 Colin Edwards (US) Yamaha 41:44.296
8 Aleix Espargaro (Sp) Ducati 41:55.322
9 Marco Melandri (It) Honda 41:55.422
10 Randy de Puniet (Fr) Honda 42:08.763
11 Mika Kallio (Fin) Ducati 42:08.792
12 Alvaro Bautista (Sp) Suzuki 42:08.860

With Pedrosa confident of a return in Portugal and Spain the race for second place in the championship has started to heat up into a three way battle between Pedrosa, Stoner and Rossi. Here are the current standings;

1 Jorge Lorenzo (Sp) Yamaha 333* world champion
2 Dani Pedrosa (Sp) Honda 228
3 Casey Stoner (Aus) Ducati 205
4 Valentino Rossi (It) Yamaha 197
5 Andrea Dovizioso (It) Honda 179
6 Ben Spies (US) Yamaha 163
7 Nicky Hayden (US) Ducati 152
8 Marco Simoncelli (It) Honda 102
9 Randy de Puniet (Fr) Honda 100
10 Marco Melandri (It) Honda 93

Moto2 race result:

1 Alex De Angelis (SM) 39:51.102
2 Scott Redding (GB) 39:53.274
3 Andrea Iannone (It) 39:54.076

125cc race result:

1 Marc Marquez (Sp) 38:13.008
2 Pol Espargaro (Sp) 38:19.070
3 Nicolas Terol (Sp) 38:24.584

It was team mate Valentino Rossi who provided a lot of the thrills in the race, starting in sixth on the grid he was going backwards at the start of the race, slipping down to eleventh before mounting a comeback to win the race.

Casey Stoner had fallen off the track on the first lap, putting paid to his hopes of a third successive victory of the season, as Lorenzo and Dovizioso broke away from the pack to contest the lead.

Dovizioso appeared to have the measure of Lorenzo and squeezed past the Yamaha on lap nine, with Rossi by that time on a massive charge from way back closing in on the front two riders.

Rossi found a way past both Lorenzo and Dovizioso on the eleventh lap and while Dovizioso regained the lead from Rossi briefly on lap 16, it was Rossi who hung on for his first win since the opening day of the season.

Given Dovizioso’s race pace on the Honda, race fans were left wondering what might have been if Dani Pedrosa had not been injured in Japan and he and Lorenzo had been left to fight it out for the title.

That said, Jorge Lorenzo has hardly put a foot out of place this season and even before the injury to Rossi had built a commanding lead in the championship, his consistency finishing in the first two for the majority of the season makes him a worthy champion and there will surely be more titles to come from the young Spaniard.

Malaysian MotoGP result:

1 V Rossi (Ita) Fiat Yamaha 41:03.448
2 A Dovizioso (Ita) Repsol Honda 41:03.672
3 J Lorenzo (Sp) Fiat Yamaha 41:09.483
4 B Spies (USA) Tech 3 Yamaha 41:17.124
5 A Bautista (Spa) Rizla Suzuki 41:18.850
6 N Hayden (USA) Ducati 41:22.274
7 H Aoyama (Jpn) Interwetten Honda 41:23.666
8 M Simoncelli (Ita) Gresini Honda 41:27.022
9 M Melandri (Ita) Gresini Honda 41:27.412
10 R de Puniet (Fr) LCR Honda 41:35.298
11 H Barbera (Sp) Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati 41:42.027
12 M Kallio (Fin) Pramac Ducati 41:42.297

Moto2 race result:

1 R Rolfo (Ita) Suter 41:09.412
2 A de Angelis (SM) Motobi 41:09.452
3 A Iannone (Ita) Speed Up 41:15.327

125cc race result:

1 M Marquez (Sp) Derbi 40:29.035
2 P Espargaro (Sp) Derbi 40:31.376
3 N Terol (Sp) Aprilia 40:32.691

winner in race one, Michael Rutter is still in the frame for title

Ridersmotorcycles.com Ducati team owner Phil Jessopp refused to concede that his rider, Michael Rutter’s chances of winning the 2010 British Superbike Championship title were over , even though Rutter is now 43 points behind championship leader Tommy Hill.

“It’s not over yet. As today showed, anything can happen. Obviously it’s disappointing that Michael crashed out of the second race but let’s not overlook that fantastic first race victory. I think the team did a superb job all weekend. We worked hard in practice and qualifying to get the bike working well around this difficult circuit that’s so different to anything else we race on in the UK.  And when the weather turned nasty, Michael rode brilliantly to win the first race.
We’re now at a critical point in the championship. It’s all getting very serious and the pressure is on but, with three races left at Oulton, anything can happen and we know the circuit really suits our bike.”

It had been a day of contrasting emotions for Rutter on Sunday, like most teams coming to the Silverstone track the Ducati team had to work hard to find a suitable bike set-up on the wide, fast flowing course but Rutter put the 1198 Ducati on the front row of the grid, in second place,  narrowly missing out on pole by a tenth of a second.

But on race day the weather turned nasty and that played into Rutter’s acknowledged smooth riding style as he revelled in a race that started in miserable wet conditions but started to dry out in the closing stages.

Rutter won the race by a whisker, holding on to keep Josh Brookes at bay and finishing just 1.26 seconds ahead of the Australian rider.

For a while it looked as though Rutter maybe able to repeat the performance in race two running a comfortable third, inches behind James Ellison and Ryuichi Kiyonari but on the fourth lap, he suddenly slid off at Aintree corner.

After the race Rutter said;
“I’m gutted. I’d been having problems in the fast double left all weekend. It’s not the kind of corner you should lose the front but that’s exactly what happened.  It simply washed out on me for no apparent reason. I wouldn’t mind if I’d done something stupid but I can’t see why I went down. Maybe I was inches off line and caught a puddle … but I certainly didn’t think I’d done anything wrong.”