John Hopkins

The FB Corse team have announced that they have signed John Hopkins to ride for them in the 2010 debut season in MotoGP.

The team had admitted that they were interested in signing Hopkins back in the summer before it was rumoured that he would be going to the AMA series for 2010, but they have now confirmed that the deal has been done.

The team have also announced that they have signed Simone Gorztkyj for their Moto2 project, where he will ride as a wild-card at five of the championship rounds.

The official team announcement and presentation for the 2010 series is expected to take place in Milan on the 21st January.

Roberto Rolfo

Another new Moto2 team are to line-up on the grid for the 2010 season ‘Italtrans STR‘, with riders Roberto Rolfo and Robertino Pietri on board.

The new Italian team are in partnership with STR (Sprint Technology Racing), and is to be led by Luigi Pansera and Massimo Biagini.

Roberto Rolfo is no stranger to the superbike league having finished runner-up in the 2003 250cc World Championship and also in the MotoGP series.  The 29-year-old moved to the Superbike series in 2006 for the Caracchi Ducati team finishing the year in sixteenth overall.

In 2007, Rolfo moved to the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda team alongside James Toseland, finishing the season in eighth overall while his team-mate won the championship.  In 2008 he moved to the Althea Honda squad where he was axed for the 2009 season.

For the start of 2009, he joined the new team on the World Superbike grid with Stiggy Honda team, riding alongside Leon Haslam but was replaced after the Qatar round by John Hopkins.

Rolfo said;

“I am very happy to be back into the Motorcycle World Championship, and it’s even more satisfying to do it in Moto2. This was my objective and now I’m very motivated because I’m back in the game and I aim to secure results. I cannot wait to begin the tests. There will be a lot to do because motorbikes in this category will continually evolve. I’m not afraid of the challenge, I look forward to it.”

Robertino Pietri said;

“This is a great opportunity for me. I’d like to thank Massimo Biagini and the whole STR team, and my fellow countrymen Vito Ippolito and Carlos Lavado. I’m happy and excited by this opportunity and I’m confident that the team will succeed. I’ll be 100% ready to have a great season in the Motorcycle World Championship.”

Leon Haslam - Stiggy Honda - Assen 2009

Leon Haslam will be the only rider on the grid for the Stiggy Honda World Superbike team for the ultimate three rounds of the Championship.

After John Hopkins was forced to retire for the remainder of the season after suffering an horrendous accident at the Nurburgring at the beginning of the month.  Hopkins had returned to the grid after recuperating from his big crash at Assen where he broke his hip and was side-lined for the next four rounds.  However, at the German circuit, the Honda rider was completely run over during a multi-crash, leaving him with further hip problems and a bleed to the brain.  He has since had surgery on the shoulder and wrist  and has had fluid drained from his hip and will return for a brain scan next month.

The team decided not to replace Hopkins on the grid after suffering with their own financial worries and will go it alone with Haslam for the last three rounds.

The team have also let their Supersport rider Gianluca Vizziello go, after failing to deliver the results they had expected plus the situation with the economic crisis, leaving Anthony West as the only Stiggy Supersport rider for the remainder of the Championship.

John Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing Team MotoGP

John Hopkins has not had the best of seasons this year and now he has been told that he will be out for the remainder of the season while he recuperates from his injuries suffered at the Nurburgring.

Hopkins began the year with the Kawasaki Racing Team in MotoGP but ended up losing his seat when the team pulled out of the championship amid the economic crisis.  The World Superbike Stiggy Honda team offered him a ride alongside Leon Haslam, but after only a couple of rounds, Hopkins suffered a huge crash at Assen, leaving him with a badly broken hip and out of the next four rounds.

After struggling to get fit, Hopkins again suffered an horrendous accident at the Nurburgring.  Hopkins appeared to be hit from behind, causing him to crash into Kawasaki of Broc Parkes. Hopkins was thrown off his bike and whilst laying across the track was completely ran over by another rider who was unable to avoid him.

In addition to suffering some minor injuries to his shoulder and wrist, the American also aggravated the previous injury suffered to his hip.  However, Hopkins suffered some bruising and a bleed to the brain and has been seen by a neurologist.  The small bruise to the back of his brain has now stopped bleeding and he has already undergone surgery to his wrist and shoulder as well as having fluid drained from his hip.

In six-weeks time, Hopkins will return to have a scan on his brain to make sure everything is progressing how it should be but he says he’s in high spirits and can’t wait to get back to work.

Here is a clip of the accident;

Andrea Dovizioso - Repsol Honda - Donington Park 2009

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso took the victory on Sunday, in the final meeting at the Donington Park circuit in the wet.

125CC

Julián Simón on the Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc bike, took his third win of the season at Donington Park in a restarted race due to adverse weather conditions.

The race had begun in relatively dry conditions after a wet warm-up session, but as the skies darkened and the rain began to fall the red flag was shown and the race stopped after 15 laps.

Pol Espargaro for the Derbi Racing team, had been leading the race with a gap of almost 4 seconds from second place man Nicolas Terol on the Jack & Jones Team machine and Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM Motorsport bike in third.

Despite Espargaro losing the lead just before the red flag was shown, the rules allowed him to retake his pole position as the rules dictate that the order of riders is from the previous full lap before the race is stopped.

As the riders once again lined-up on the grid they were  in for a 5 lap sprint on full wet tyres as the rain increased making conditions difficult.

Britain’s Bradley Smith on the second Bancaja Aspar Team bike, took the lead on the first lap, making his move around the outside at the exit of turn one but crashed out later in the lap while battling Marc Márquez.  Smith rejoined the race but finished way down the order in twentieth place.

Márquez then took the lead but on the penultimate lap, the Spaniard suffered the same fate and high-sided off his machine at the Foggy Esses.

Simon Corsi for the Fontana Racing team then took the lead until he was passed on the final lap by Simón as they headed into McLeans.

It was last years winner Scott Redding on the Blusens Aprilia that took the final step of the podium despite starting from twelfth on the grid.

Here are the results;

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Julian Simon      Aprilia   9m12.301s
 2.  Simone Corsi      Aprilia  +   0.390s
 3.  Scott Redding     Aprilia  +   3.072s
 4.  Nicolas Terol     Aprilia  +   6.209s
 5.  Takaaki Nakagami  Aprilia  +   9.509s
 6.  Luis Salom        Aprilia  +  11.211s
 7.  Lorenzo Zanetti   Aprilia  +  11.572s
 8.  D.Agerter         Derbi    +  13.703s
 9.  Efren Vazquez     Derbi    +  14.101s
10.  Pol Espargaro     Derbi    +  15.422s
11.  Tomoyoshi Koyama  Loncin   +  17.905s
12.  Joan Olive        Derbi    +  25.625s
13.  Johann Zarco      Aprilia  +  26.793s
14.  Martin Glossop    Honda    +  27.916s
15.  Marc Marquez      KTM      +  28.631s
16.  Paul Jordan       Honda    +  28.999s
17.  Lukas Sembera     Aprilia  +  30.564s
18.  R.Krummenacher    Aprilia  +  34.468s
19.  Luca Marconi      Aprilia  +  38.709s
20.  Bradley Smith     Aprilia  +  38.938s
21.  Luca Vitali       Aprilia  +1m14.040s

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider             Bike       Laps
     Jasper Iwema      Honda         4
     Lorenzo Savadori  Aprilia       1
     Alexis Masbou     Loncin        1
     Michael Ranseder  Aprilia       1
     Sergio Gadea      Aprilia     DNS
     Sandro Cortese    Derbi       DNS
     Esteve Rabat      Aprilia     DNS
     Andrea Iannone    Aprilia     DNS
     Stefan Bradl      Aprilia     DNS
     Daniel Webb       Aprilia     DNS
     Jonas Folger      Aprilia     DNS
     Cameron Beaubier  KTM         DNS
     Karel Pesek       Derbi       DNS
     James Lodge       Honda       DNS
     Tim Hastings      Honda       DNS

FASTEST LAP: Simon, 1m48.632s on lap 5

250CC

It was the World Championship leader of the 2500cc series Hiroshi Aoyama on the Scot Racing team Honda that took the victory, in what had started as a wet race.

The majority of riders, including Aoyama, were on full wet tyres but by lap three a dry line had started to appear on the circuit.

Aoyama sped off into the distance, creating a gap of 6 seconds at the midway point as Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar bike had moved up to second place by lap 7.

Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia finished in third after holding back the late charge by the reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera.  Pasini had crashed out with only 11 laps remaining while battling with Alex Debon on the Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens, who also crashed later in the lap, however, both riders rejoined the track in their same position, having not been passed.

Here are the results;

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Hiroshi Aoyama    Honda    45m17.516s
 2.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia  +   5.723s
 3.  Mattia Pasini     Aprilia  +  36.161s
 4.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera   +  36.776s
 5.  Mike Di Meglio    Aprilia  +  41.418s
 6.  Alex Debon        Aprilia  +  41.938s
 7.  Raffaele De Rosa  Honda    +  57.483s
 8.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia  +  59.975s
 9.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia  +1m14.852s
10.  Hector Faubel     Honda    +1m16.927s
11.  Jules Cluzel      Aprilia  +1m21.356s
12.  Lukas Pesek       Aprilia  +1m21.665s
13.  R.Locatelli       Gilera   +1m29.576s
14.  Karel Abraham     Aprilia  + 1 Lap
15.  Shoya Tomizawa    Honda    + 1 Lap
16.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia  + 1 Lap
17.  Imre Toth         Aprilia  + 1 Lap
18.  Luke Mossey       Aprilia  + 1 Lap
19.  Valentin Debise   Honda    + 2 Laps
20.  Axel Pons         Aprilia  + 2 Laps
21.  Aitor Rodriguez   Aprilia  + 2 Laps
22.  Bastien Chesaux   Honda    + 2 Laps
23.  Toby Markham      Aprilia  + 4 Laps 

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider             Bike     On lap
     R.Wilairot        Honda      18
     Ralf Waldmann     Aprilia     5
     Balazs Nemeth     Aprilia     0

FASTEST LAP: Baldolini, 1m34.963s on lap 22

MotoGP

It was the final British MotoGP meeting to take place at the Donington Park circuit and a first win for Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso in a dramatic race.

As the MotoGP riders lined-up on the grid ahead of their race, light rain began to fall causing a dilemma in tyre choices.  The majority of the bikes were on slicks with the exception of  Marlboro Ducati riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, who had decided on full wets.

Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha led the pack into the first corner but was passed by team-mate Jorge Lorenzo as they headed to the Craner Curves.  San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Toni Elias, had moved up to third place from eighth on the grid and was on the tail of Rossi, passing him before chasing down Lorenzo.

Elias led until lap 3 when Dovizioso, who had come from fourth place at the end of lap one, took to the front of the field but was soon passed by a charging Lorenzo before he had completed the lap.

The Yamaha rider led second place man Dovizioso, followed by Rossi, Dani Pedrosa on the second Repsol Honda and Elias. A gap had appeared between the front runners and the second group headed by James Toseland, Randy de Puniet, Marco Melandri, Alex de Angelis, Loris Capirossi and Mika Kallio.

On lap 8, Elias, who had just passed Pedrosa for fourth place, touched the white line at the Schwantz curve and was thrown off the Honda.  Lorenzo was the next casualty who touched the treacherous white line going into the final turn leaving him unable to rejoin the race.

Rossi was then leading the race from Dovizioso, while third place man Pedrosa was 6 seconds behind the battling duo and going backwards.

After 11 laps in the lead, Rossi lost the rear of his Yamaha at the chicane as the rain persisted, handing the lead to Dovizioso, Rossi rejoined in eleventh place.

Many of the riders choose to return to the pits to change bikes with only 8 laps remaining with Dovizioso now having  a 10 second lead over second place man Randy de Puniet with only 7 laps left to run, but the LCR Honda man was on a mission and the gap began to close.  Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha, came from nowhere and was soon battling de Puniet.  Edwards made a pass on de Puniet with only 3 laps remaining, however, de Puniet wasn’t happy settling for third and retook his position but only briefly as he was once again passed by Edwards at the very final turn.

Alex de Angelis took fourth place for the San Carlo Honda team followed by Rossi who had worked his way back into fifth place, and after snatching the place from James Toseland on the second Monster Tech3 Yamaha at the final corner.

Marco Melandri took seventh place for the Hayate Racing Team ahead of Niccolo Canepe on the Pramac Racing machine in eighth, Pedrosa in ninth and Mika Kallio on the second Pramac Racing Ducati in tenth.

The two Ducati Marlboro runners, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, remained at the back of the pack after taking the wrong tyre option at the start of the race.  They finished the race a lap down in fourteenth and fifteenth place respectively.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike               Time/Gap
 1.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            48m26.267s
 2.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    +   1.360s
 3.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        +   1.600s
 4.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    +   8.958s
 5.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           +  21.622s
 6.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    +  22.465s
 7.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  +  35.284s
 8.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    +  38.769s
 9.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            +  42.112s
10.  Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    +  45.845s
11.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           +  53.190s
12.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       +1m12.315s
13.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           +    1 lap
14.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           +    1 lap
15.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           8 laps
     Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    7 laps

Max Biaggi - Aprilia Racing 2009

This weekend the World Superbike Championship took place at the Brno circuit with race wins going to Max Biaggi and Ben Spies.

Race 1

Max Biaggi took the Aprilia across the line in the first race of the day to take his first victory since 2007 and the teams first win since 2001 when Régis Laconi won at Imola.

In second place was Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, followed in third by his team-mate Jonathan Rea.  Britain’s Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati, finished in fourth ahead of Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing bike in fifth and Jakub Smrz on the Guandalini Racing machine in sixth.

Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike was leading the race on lap 4 ahead of Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox Team bike and Biaggi.  Fabrizio made a move on Spies but collided with the American ending the race for both of them and passing the reins to Biaggi.

Ruben Xaus, the second BMW rider, had been running in seventh place on the first lap when he went down on the exit of the right-hand hairpin.  The bike and rider were thrown into the gravel trap with the Spaniard receiving a leg injury seeing him being taken to the on-site medical centre.  The injury proved worse than was first though and Xaus had actually suffered a break to the femur in his right leg. Xaus is hoping that the scheduled five-week summer break will give his injury enough time to heal and that he will be back on his BMW by the next round in September.

Leon Haslam on the Stiggy Honda, finished in an impressive seventh after qualifying in seventeenth on the grid while his team-mate John Hopkins, crashed out after losing the front-end of his bike.

Here are the results;

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 20 laps
2. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +3.631s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +9.948s
4. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +12.952s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +14.599s
6. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +19.359s
7. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +19.680s
8. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +20.731s
9. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +21.923s
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R +27.807s
11. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +35.263s
12. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +36.535s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +38.586s
14. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +40.061s
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +40.280s

16. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +40.641s
17. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1min 10.529s
18. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 14.874s
19. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 42.979s
20. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 +1min 43.111s

Not Classified

21. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 18 laps completed
22. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 laps completed
23. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 10 laps completed
24. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 8 laps completed
25. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 4 laps completed
26. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R 4 laps completed
27. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2 laps completed
28. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 0 laps completed

Race 2

In the second race it was Ben Spies that again led the riders to claim his eleventh win of the season, however, this time he had the challenging Max Biaggi to hold back.

Michel Fabrizio took third behind Biaggi, followed by Jonathan Rea in fourth and Carlos Checa in fifth.  An impressive sixth place went to Noriyuki Haga on the Ducati Xerox in sixth position.

Haga is still suffering from injuries received at an earlier round and confirmed that he is frustrated at not being able to ride to his full potential.  The Japanese riders shoulder and wrist are still causing him pain but he somehow managed to finish inside the top ten in both races this weekend, with a sixth and eighth position giving him a lead of 7 points in the championship ahead of Spies.

The Stiggy Honda duo were probably glad to see the back of this weekend with Haslam finishing in twelfth in the second race of the day while Hopkins ended with no points again after suffering technical difficulties on his machine.

Yukio Kagayama on the Suzuki Alstare bike, happened to be behind Hopkins when his troubles began.  As Hopkins slowed going into the right-hander, Kagayama had no where to go and hit the rear of the Americans bike causing him to crash out and  with only a fourteenth in race one, not a good weekend for the Suzuki team either.

Here are the results;

1. Ben Spies USA Yamaha WSB YZF R1 20 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +0.213s
3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198R +0.657
4. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000 +8.311s
5. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +8.915s
6. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198R +21.175s
7. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 +21.384s
8. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R +21.599s
9. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R +21.726s
10. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR +25.180s
11. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +25.612s
12. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR +25.622s
13. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR +26.246s
14. Matthieu Lagrive FRA HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR +31.098s
15. Lorenzo Lanzi ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +32.706s

16. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R +33.173s
17. Fonsi Nieto ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R +34.953s
18. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR +57.751s
19. David Checa ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 YZF R1 +1min 00.273s
20. Roland Resch AUT TKR Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R1000 +1min 29.794s

Not Classified

21. Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 laps completed
22. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 7 laps completed
23. Milos Cihak CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 7 laps completed
24. John Hopkins USA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 6 laps completed
25. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 6 laps completed
26. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 5 laps completed
27. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 3 laps completed

DNS Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR

Dani Pedrosa - Donington Park 2008

As the 125cc set off for the practice session this morning, it was Esteve Rabat on the Blusens Aprilia that took the top spot, when after only 5 minutes fron the start of the session, the heavens opened sending bikes and riders rushing back to their pit garages.

After 20 minutes, the teams ventured back onto the track but it remained waterlogged for the remainder of the session and the time set by Rabat earlier held the top spot.

Many of the riders barely had time to test into today’s free practice session and will be praying for better weather conditions for qualifying tomorrow.

The MotoGP session started in full wet conditions today following on from the 125cc class, however, by midway of the session, the sun came out rapidly drying the track while the riders remained on wet tyres.

It was Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda that snatched the top spot in the Friday free practice session on his final flying lap at the Donington British MotoGP today.

Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati, looked safe at the top slot until Pedrosa’s flying lap left him down in second place after running for only 16 laps of the circuit.

Third fastest was championship leader Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha ahead of the second Repsol Honda ridden by Andrea Dovisioso and Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in fifth.

Marco Melandri on the Hayate Racing Team bike, was in sixth followed by an impressive Mika Kallio on the Pramac Racing Ducati in seventh and hoping for better luck this weekend.

Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech3 Yahamah, Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini and Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati, finished in eighth, ninth and tenth respectively.

James Toseland on the second Monster Tech3 Yamaha, finished the day in twelfth position after running out of fuel towards the end of the session and walking back to the pits.

The 250cc riders had a dry track for their free practice session with Alex Debon on the Aeropuerto Castello Blusens Aprilia, setting the fastest time of the day.

The World Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama on the Scot Racing Team Honda, finished in second place with the Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar Team bike in third.  Baustista claimed his spot on his spare bike after crashing out of the session midway through.

Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera was in fourth followed by Lukas Pesek on the Auto Kelly machine in fifth and Mike De Meglio on the second Mapfre Aspar Team bike in sixth.

Thomas Luthi on the Caffe Latte was in seventh, Hector Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike in eighth, Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing bike in ninth and Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia in tenth.

There was a special rider on track today in the 250cc class, Ralf Waldmann aboard the Viessmann Kiefer Aprilia, at the age of 43.  Waldmann came runner-up twice in the 250cc World Championships of 1996 and 1997, and twice it was Biaggi that beat him.  Walmann finished in eighteenth place out of twenty-eight riders in today’s session.

Max Biaggi -Aprilia Racing 2009

Max Biaggi on the Aprilia Racing machine, took provisional pole position today for the Brno round of the World Superbike Championship in the Czech Republic.

Biaggi was the only rider to set a time of under two-minutes, staying ahead of his fellow Italian Michel Fabrizio on the Ducati Xerox Team bike, who finished less than a tenth-of-a-second behind.

Carlos Checa on the Hanspree Ten Kate Honda, finished in third place followed by Ben Spies on the Yamaha World Superbike in  fourth and Lorenzo Lanzi on the DFX Ducati in fifth.

Troy Corser on the BMW Motorrad Team Alpha Racing machine, crossed the line sixth fastest ahead of the second Aprilia Racing bike of Shinya Nakano in seventh.

The second BMW of Ruben Xaus was in eighth place followed by the Kawasaki World Superbike rider Broc Parkes in ninth and Suzuki Alstare rider Yukio Kagayama completing the top ten riders of the day.

Shane Byrne on the Sterilgarda Ducati finished in eleventh ahead of John Hopkins on the Stiggy Honda, who had crashed during the session.

Noriyuki Haga, back on the Ducati Xerox team bike, made steady progress during the session, finishing in fifteenth place overall, a mere 1.080 seconds off the fastest lap set by Biaggi.

Another rider returning to the championship was Makoto Tamada for the Kawasaki Superbike Racing team.  The Japanese rider ended the day in seventeenth place after his final lap, which would have seen him in fourth position, was annulled after it was deemed he had started his fast lap after the chequered flag had been shown.

Here are the results;

1 3 M.BIAGGI ITA Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′59.982
2 84 M. FABRIZIO ITA Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2′00.066
3 7 C. CHECA ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′00.205
4 19 B. SPIES USA Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2′00.558
5 57 L. LANZI ITA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2′00.581
6 11 T. CORSER AUS BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2′00.603
7 56 S. NAKANO JPN Aprilia Racing Aprilia RSV4 Factory 2′00.648
8 111 R. XAUS ESP BMW Motorrad Motorsport BMW S1000 RR 2′00.731
9 23 B. PARKES AUS Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′00.887
10 71 Y. KAGAYAMA JPN Suzuki Alstare BRUX Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′00.958
11 67 S. BYRNE GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 2′01.017
12 121 J. HOPKINS USA Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.021
13 65 J. REA GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.023
14 96 J. SMRZ CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 2′01.031
15 41 N. HAGA JPN Ducati Xerox Team Ducati 1098R 2′01.062
16 66 T. SYKES GBR Yamaha WSB Yamaha YZF R1 2′01.070
17 100 M. TAMADA JPN Kawasaki World Superbike R.T. Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′01.385
18 91 L. HASLAM GBR Stiggy Racing Honda Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.403
19 9 R. KIYONARI JPN Ten Kate Honda Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.439
20 14 M. LAGRIVE FRA Honda Althea Racing Honda CBR1000RR 2′01.720
21 99 L. SCASSA ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′02.155
22 77 V. IANNUZZO ITA Squadra Corse Italia Honda CBR1000RR 2′02.346
23 10 F. NIETO ESP DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 2′02.644
24 25 D. SALOM ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX 10R 2′02.691
25 94 D. CHECA ESP Yamaha France GMT 94 Ipone Yamaha YZF R1 2′02.785
26 53 A. POLITA ITA Celani Race Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′02.940
27 88 R. RESCH AUT TKR Suzuki Switzerland Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′04.041
28 51 M.CIHAK CZE ProRace Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 2′04.905

Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare 2009

The teams and riders of the World Superbike Championship, will begin the official three-day test next week at Imola, for the first time in three-years.

On day one of the test, the Superstock machines take to the track leaving the two days free for the Superbike and Supersport riders.

Since the series last tested at the circuit in 2006, many changes have taken place including a new chicane on the main straight, approved by Claude Danis.  The track now features new pit garages as well as an international standard media centre.

Max Neukirchner will be returning to work for the Suzuki Alstare team after his horrendous accident at the first corner at Monza.

Michel Fabrizio will be the sole rider for the Xerox Ducati team while Noriyuki Haga continues to recuperate from his accident at Donington which left him with a broken arm and fractured scapula.

It is also rumoured that Matteo Baiocco, who recently lost his ride with the PSG-1 Corse team after they withdrew from the championship with financial difficulties, is to ride as a wild-card for the DFX Ducati team alongside Lorenzo Lanzi.

Other riders attending the test are ; Makoto Tamada (Kawasaki WSB Team), (Yamaha WSB) Ben Spies & Tom Sykes, (Ten Kate Honda) Carlos Checa, Jonathan Rea & Ryuichi Kiyonari, (BMW Motorrad) Troy Corser & Ruben Xaus, (Aprilia Racing) Max Biaggi & Shinya Nakano, (Stiggy Racing Honda ) Leon Haslam & John Hopkins.

The first day of testing takes place on Tuesday 14th July until Thursday 16th July 2009.

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