Shoya Tomizawa R.I.P.

The MotoGP riders and teams were in mourning today following the Moto2 race at Misano yesterday resulted in the death of the young Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa.

The 19-year-old fell on lap 12 of the race while in fourth place and was hit by Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding who were unable to avoid the crashed rider.

The official statement from Dorna read;

“On Sunday 5th September during the Moto2 race at the Misano World Circuit, rider Shoya Tomizawa aged 19 suffered a serious crash and subsequent cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma.

“Given the seriousness of his condition – especially for the thoracic and abdominal trauma – Tomizawa was immediately treated at the Misano World Circuit medical centre and put under artificial respiration.

“The rider was taken by ambulance to the Riccione hospital accompanied by two doctors – helicopter was not used in order to allow for the proper respiratory support to be administered. Despite various attempts to resuscitate him Shoya sadly succumbed to his injuries at 14.20.

“Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Shoya’s family and friends at this tragic loss.”

The Honda rider made history this year for being the first Moto2 Grand Prix winner at the Qatar followed by a pole position and podium for the following round.

Alex de Angelis managed to walk away from the carnage while Scott Redding received ten stitches to a laceration on is back.

R.I.P. Shoya Tomizawa

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha 2009

Valentino Rossi was back on top this weekend after winning in front of his home crowd at the Misano circuit for the Fiat Yamaha team.

125cc

It was a dramatic finish to the 125cc MotoGP race with the leading two runners crashing out on the final corner leaving Julian Simon to take the chequered flag.

Sergio Gadea, the team-mate of Bancaja Aspar rider and race winner Simon, crashed early on in the race with many riders having to take avoiding action to miss him as he lay out on the circuit, fortunately he was unhurt.

As the race resumed it was Simon and Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. rider Andrea Iannone who were running at the front with Pol Espargaro for the Derbi Racing team catching them in the final stages of the race.

With Espargaro leading the race ahead of Iannone and Simon, Iannone tried to make a pass on the front man heading into the final turn of the final lap.  He dived up the inside of Espargaro but lost the front of the Ongetta machine, taking them both into the gravel.  Espargaro’s bike ended-up wedged between the fence and the tyre wall after cart-wheeling through the gravel, but both riders were unhurt if not angry.  There appeared to be a bit of pushing and shoving before Iannone head-butted Espargaro, while they were both still wearing their helmets.

Simon crossed the line to take his fourth win of the season, moving him further ahead in the points for the championship winning spot.

Nicolas Terol on the Jack & Jones Aprilia finished in second place followed by Britain’s Bradley Smith, who had started the race on pole, finished in third place on the second Bancaja Aspar.

Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM took fourth slot ahead of Sandro Cortese on the Ajo Interwetten and Stefan Bradl on the Viessmann Kiefer Racing team bike in sixth.

In seventh was Simone Corsi on the Fontana Racing machine followed by Joan Olivé on the Derbi Racing Team bike, Jonas Folgar on the second Ongetta bike in ninth and Danny Webb on the Degraaf Grand Prix bike completing the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

250cc

Hector Barberá claimed the victory for the Pepe World Team yesterday, finishing the race only 0.04seconds ahead of Team Toth Aprilia rider Mattia Pasini.

Marco Simoncelli crashed out on lap 12 of the race after developing a traction control problem on the Metis Gilera, while fighting for the lead.

Alvaro Bautista took the final step of the podium for the Mapfre Aspar Team after battling with the Scot Racing Team rider Hiroshi Aoyama, he crossed the line with only a 0.006seconds margin, leaving the Spanish rider only 13 points behind Aoyama in the championship.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

Valentino Rossi celebrated his home win on the podium yesterday complete with Donkey ears, while also sporting the Donkey from Shrek on his crash helmet and the reason;

“In Italy, if you make a stupid mistake we say you are a donkey. As soon as I hit the ground at Indianapolis I thought what a donkey I was. Later I thought that would make a good helmet design for my home race.   So I may have lost 25 points but I solved the problem of the helmet design for Misano!”

It was the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa that led into the first corner followed by San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Toni Elias and Valentino Rossi.

During the first lap of the race, the second San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Alex de Angelis, clipped the back of the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike of  Colin Edwards, taking them both out and collecting the Ducati Marlboro of Nicky Hayden on the way.  De Angelis accepted the blame for the crash and later apologised to both riders.

Jorge Lorenzo on the second Fiat Yamaha, passed Rossi on the second lap but was demoted back to fourth place after getting stuck behind Elias, allowing Rossi to move past him on lap 5.  Both of the Fiat Yamaha riders soon passed Elias before Rossi chased down Pedrosa, passing him on the inside of lap 8 to take the lead.

Lorenzo finally fought his way past Pedrosa on lap 14 but Rossi had now built-up a lead of 1.4 seconds, growing to 2.5 seconds with ten laps still to run.

Rossi took the chequered flag, followed by his team-mate Lorenzo in second and Pedrosa in third, 12.4 seconds behind the race leader, he then had to thumb a lift back to parc ferme after the Honda had run out of fuel.

The second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, finished in fourth place after beating Loris Capirossi, on the Rizla Suzuki as they crossed the line.  Toni Elias finished the race in sixth place ahead of Ducati Marlboro rider Mika Kallio in seventh.

In eighth place was the Hayate Racing team rider Marco Melandri followed by Chris Vermeulen on the second Rizla Suzuki and James Toseland in tenth on the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3.

Here are the results;

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44min 32.882 sec
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 44min 35.298 sec
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 44min 45.282 sec
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 44min 59.212 sec
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44min 59.421 sec
6. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 45min 1.168 sec
7. Mika Kallio FIN Ducati Marlboro Team 45min 3.066 sec
8. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 45min 4.639 sec
9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 45min 4.791 sec
10. James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 45min 11.229 sec
11. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 45min 19.555 sec
12. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 45min 24.923 sec
13. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 45min 36.080 sec
14. Gabor Talmacsi HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 45min 55.229 sec

DNF:
Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini lap 1
Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 lap 1
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team lap 1

Nicky Hayden - Ducati Marlboro 2009

The Ducati Corse team announced yesterday that Nicky Hayden has signed a one-year contract to, once again, ride alongside Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro for the 2010 season.

Hayden made it onto the podium last weekend at the Indianapolis round of the MotoGP Championship, finishing in third place on the Desmosedici GP9, in front of his home crowd.

This weekend the team are that their home circuit of Misano for the Italian MotoGP and will no doubt be fully supported by the passionate Italian supporters.

Mika Kallio, will once again be on the second Ducati Marlboro, replacing the recuperating Casey Stoner who is due to return next month at Estoril.

Nicky Hayden said of this weekends race;

“At Mugello I realised how special it is to race for Ducati in Italy so hopefully I can give all the Ducatisti even more reason to party.  I know it won’t be easy and I can’t get overconfident even though everything went so well at Indy.

The little time we’ve had since Sunday’s race has flown by and even though I would have liked to have a bit more time to reflect on last weekend, Misano is right on us and that is what we have to focus on. Last year I rode in practice but wasn’t able to take part in the race because of a foot injury. Still, I like the circuit and there are a couple of fast right-handers at the end of the lap, in particular, that are a lot of fun.”

Talking of his 2010 contract, Hayden said;

“This has been a very good week and this news just adds to that. After the good result in Indy, now to renew the deal with Ducati is exactly what I wanted. I’m very happy. I always had faith and believed that we could achieve good results.

I’m excited for these last five races of the 2009 season, and if you look at the progression we have made from the start of the season to the middle, hopefully we will continue this through to the end. I just wish to say a big thanks to all the guys who made this happen, especially everybody in Ducati, as well as all our sponsors.”

The MotoGP cost cutting goes a bit further than expected!

The provisional MotoGP Calendar has now been released by the FIM for the MotoGP World Championship of 2010, and hopefully all teams and riders will be on the grid as the economic crisis continues.

Date - Grand Prix - Circuit:
11 April - Qatar* - Losail
25 April - Japan - Motegi
2 May - Spain - Jerez
16 May - France - Le Mans
30 May - Italy - Mugello
6 June - Great Britain - Silverstone
26 June - Netherlands** - Assen
4 July - Catalunya - Catalunya
18 July - Germany - Sachsenring
25 July - United States*** - Laguna Seca
15 August - Czech Republic - Brno
29 August - Indianapolis - Indianapolis
12 September - San Marino & Riviera di Rimini - Misano
19 September - Hungary - Balatonring
10 October - Malaysia - Sepang
17 October - Australia - Phillip Island
31 October - Portugal - Estoril
7 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia

* Evening Race
** Saturday Race
*** Only MotoGP class

In the event that one of the circuits is not able to comply with the requirements to hold the scheduled Grand Prix, the Motorland Aragon Circuit would host a reserve “event” on the same day.

Dani Pedrosa

It has been confirmed that the Spanish, Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, will be racing at the Catalunya MotoGP this coming weekend.

Pedrosa, crashed out in the practice session of the last round of the championship in Italy, injuring his hip.  He then crashed during the race on the Sunday and after further checks it was discovered that he had cracked a bone at top of his thigh in the original accident and was told to immobilise his leg for the next ten days.

On Tuesday, the 23-year-old, underwent a final check-up in Barcelona and has been given the all-clear to race in front of his home fans.

Pedrosa said;

“I didn’t want to miss this important date for anything in the world.  On the one hand I wanted to ride because missing this race would mean losing too much ground in the standings, and also because I wanted to race in front of my fans, friends and family.”

Casey Stoner

Last weekend the Italian MotoGP took place at the Mugello circuit on a day of mixed weather conditions, a dry race for the 125cc riders and a wet race for the 250cc and the main race.

125cc

British rider Bradley Smith on the Bancaja Aspar Team bike took his second victory at the Italian MotoGP on Sunday after qualifying in pole position.

The 18-year-old, rode a superb race as he came under attack from the likes of Jack & Jones rider Nicolas Terol and his team-mate Julián Simon.

The track was relatively dry for the start of the 125cc race and Smith got off the line to take the lead as they went into the first corner ahead of Terol and Simon.

Behind, the battle for fourth place was going on with Derbi Racing Team rider Pol Espargaró finally claiming the place on the final lap as the Ajo Interwetten rider Sandro Cortese crashed out.

On lap 5, Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. machine suffered some sort of mechanical problem as his bike slowed down and he then retired.

Smith initially built up a gap between himself and the two other riders but they slowly reeled him in and he rode an impressive race to hold them back and is now leading the championship by 3.5 points from Simon.

Scott Redding on the Blusens Aprilia, crashed out half-way through the race while in fourth place, finally finishing in seventh.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider               Bike     Time
 1.  Bradley Smith       Aprilia  40m09.523s
 2.  Nicolas Terol       Aprilia  +   0.216s
 3.  Julian Simon        Aprilia  +   7.114s
 4.  Pol Espargaro       Derbi    +  11.829s
 5.  Marc Marquez        KTM      +  12.315s
 6.  Johann Zarco        Aprilia  +  14.605s
 7.  Scott Redding       Aprilia  +  15.305s
 8.  Stefan Bradl        Aprilia  +  22.255s
 9.  Lorenzo Savadori    Aprilia  +  22.392s
10.  Sandro Cortese      Derbi    +  29.239s
11.  Sergio Gadea        Aprilia  +  36.359s
12.  Lorenzo Zanetti     Aprilia  +  36.444s
13.  Randy Krummenacher  Aprilia  +  36.507s
14.  Jonas Folger        Aprilia  +  36.581s
15.  Takaaki Nakagami    Aprilia  +  36.636s
16.  Esteve Rabat        Aprilia  +  36.834s
17.  Luigi Morciano      Aprilia  +  49.870s
18.  Simone Corsi        Aprilia  +  50.419s
19.  Dominique Aegerter  Derbi    +1m05.900s
20.  Riccardo Moretti    Aprilia  +1m06.019s
21.  Davide Stirpe       Honda    +1m20.225s
22.  Lukas Sembera       Aprilia  +1m21.946s
23.  Jasper Iwema        Honda    +1m43.074s
24.  Gennaro Sabatino    Aprilia  +    1 lap
25.  Luca Vitali         Aprilia  +    1 lap
26.  Alessandro Tonucci  Aprilia  +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Luca Marconi        Aprilia  12 laps
     Daniel Webb         Aprilia  8 laps
     Andrea Iannone      Aprilia  5 laps
     Joan Olive          Derbi    5 laps
     Efren Vazquez       Derbi    5 laps
     Tomoyoshi Koyama    Loncin   2 laps
     Alexis Masbou       Loncin   1 lap

250cc

Mattia Passini on the Team Toth Aprilia took the victory in front of his home crowd on Sunday as an all to familiar scene went on behind between Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista.

As the riders prepared to line up on the grid, the rain began, forcing teams to swap settings and tyres on their machines after it was declared a ‘Wet Race’.

Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera shot away at the start, even creating a gap until Bautista began to catch him on the Mapfre Aspar team bike, followed closely by Pasini.

Bautista passed Simoncelli on the pit straight before making it stick almost instantly as Simoncelli ran wide. In an incident reminiscent of the previous year, Simoncelli attempted a move in a gap far too small, and slid into the side of Bautista, running both of the riders into the gravel.  Both, fortunately stayed on their machines but Simoncelli had gained the advantage and was soon off down the track followed a few moments later by Bautista.

The pair soon gained on the leading Italian and the race was back on but Bautista couldn’t make a pass on Simoncelli.

Simoncelli got passed the Aprilia rider to take the lead but Pasini refused to lose the place he’d fought for and after five corners of the pair riding alongside each other, Pasini made his move stick and finished just a tenth of a second ahead of Simoncelli.

Simoncelli has since been hit with a $5,ooo fine and a ‘yellow card’, a warning by the Race Direction for “riding in an irresponsible manner”.

Last season, Simoncelli had a similar penalty imposed on him after an incident at Mugello when he was deemed to have forced Héctor Barbera out of the race illegally.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider                Bike     Time
 1.  Mattia Pasini        Aprilia  45m38.391s
 2.  Marco Simoncelli     Gilera   +   0.117s
 3.  Alvaro Bautista      Aprilia  +   1.293s
 4.  Thomas Luthi         Aprilia  +  24.557s
 5.  Hector Barbera       Aprilia  +  27.014s
 6.  Hiroshi Aoyama       Honda    +  30.037s
 7.  Alex Debon           Aprilia  +  31.325s
 8.  Hector Faubel        Honda    +  35.178s
 9.  Raffaele De Rosa     Honda    +  44.856s
10.  Roberto Locatelli    Gilera   +  46.483s
11.  Alex Baldolini       Aprilia  +  49.521s
12.  Mike di Meglio       Aprilia  +1m00.539s
13.  Karel Abraham        Aprilia  +1m23.730s
14.  Ratthapark Wilairot  Honda    +1m25.519s
15.  Imre Toth            Aprilia  +1m30.397s
16.  Balazs Nemeth        Aprilia  +    1 lap
17.  Axel Pons            Aprilia  +    1 lap
18.  Bastien Chesaux      Honda    +    1 lap
19.  Valentin Debise      Honda    +    1 lap
20.  Daniel Arcas         Aprilia  +   3 laps

Retirements:

     Shoya Tomizawa       Honda    6 laps
     Lukas Pesek          Aprilia  5 laps
     Vladimir Leonov      Aprilia  4 laps
     Jules Cluzel         Aprilia  0 laps

MotoGP

Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro took the victory in another wet race ahead of Jorge Lorenzo and his team-mate Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha’s.

Before the race had even started, Jorge Lorenzo had crashed out as he was heading to the grid in the freakiest of accidents.  The team had only seconds to get the bike back to the pits and put Lorenzo on his second bike to make it too the grid on time, while they made fast repairs in time for the swap-over.

It was a difficult race and the ultimate test came down to team tactics as the track began to dry out forcing the riders to come in and change to their bikes with slicks.

Stoner took the lead as the race got underway but was soon being challenged and passed by the superb riding of Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki.

The pair soon had a third challenger as Andrea Dovizioso on the Repsol Honda took both for the lead as Rossi began to gain.

Marco Melandri on the Hayate Racing Team bike was soon up with Rossi as was his team-mate Lorenzo who seemed to have regained his confidence.

On lap 3, both Vermeulen and Stoner were passed by Dovizioso with Rossi and Melandri right behind him.  Rossi took the lead on lap 9 followed by Melandri as Dovizoso then went into the pits for his slick-shod Honda.

Melandri was certainly on a mission and slid passed Rossi on lap 10 before both riders pitted for their second machines as Divizoso once again led the field.

Stoner was now back up to speed and hot on the tracks of the Honda rider followed by Loris Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki, they both passed the Italian demoting him to third place.

Capirossi then snatched the lead off Stoner, leading the race for a whole lap before the Ducati once again took the front slot and got on with the win.

Melandri had slipped back in the last few laps and now Capirossi and Dovizioso were suffering the pace and drifting backwards as the Yamaha’s of Lorenzo and Rossi took full advantage for the second and third places on offer.

Dani Pedrosa suffered further injury after his accident at the Italian Grand Prix than was first thought.  He has fractured a bone at the top of his femur and has been immobilized for ten days before it will be decided if he will be able to take part in the next round of the championship at his home track of Barcelona.

The Repsol Honda team have since issued a statement;

Dani Pedrosa today returned home to Barcelona where Doctor Xavier Mir, at the USP Institut Universitari Dexeus, confirmed that the Repsol Honda rider had not suffered any further injuries during his crash in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix.

“Pedrosa had started the race injured after a big rear wheel slide and subsequent shake from his bike in Saturday morning’s practice session caused the unlucky Spaniard to incur severe stretching in his right hip. The scans today also showed that the initial diagnosis at the circuit on Saturday had been correct and Pedrosa had pulled the gluteus medius muscle, which caused a small crack in the greater trochanter (thigh) bone where the muscle attaches.

The factory Honda rider will now rest up ahead of the Grand Prix of Catalunya in just under two week’s time. His physical condition will be assessed next week and Pedrosa is hoping to be fit for his home race.”

Dani Pedrosa:

“It’s a relief that the tests today didn’t show up anything new because I think I have enough to contend with already. The injury from Saturday is still quite painful obviously but with luck it will improve over the next week. The timing of this a real shame because I was feeling as though I was returning to something close to race fitness and could ride the bike as I wanted. Still, this is where we are so we’ll just get on with it and try to make a quick recovery. I really hope I can be fit for the next race because it’s a very important one for me and the team.”

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time
 1.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           45m41.894s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha            +  1.001s
 3.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha            +  2.076s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda             +  2.129s
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki            +  3.274s
 6.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha     + 24.451s
 7.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha     + 25.621s
 8.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda         + 26.046s
 9.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati     + 31.815s
10.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki            + 34.814s
11.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki   + 35.090s
12.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati            + 39.122s
13.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati     + 52.462s
14.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda     + 52.478s
15.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda     +   1 lap

Retirements:

     Dani Pedrosa      Honda            12 laps
     Yuki Takahashi    Scot Honda       9 laps