Checa’s time is faster than the official Misano WSBK Best Lap of 1min 35.001sec and only one second slower than the 2010 MotoGP pole time.

The Althea Ducati rider still leads the 2011 World Superbike Championship but had his lead cut to just 27 points after his 9th-10th Monza finishes.

Misano will host round six of this year’s WSBK championship on 12th June.

“We have worked well, concentrating on both chassis settings and electronics, as well as on the tyres of course,” said Checa. “We have found a good set-up for the Misano race and have also identified a few things that could be useful [next time] at Miller too.

“Let’s say I’m satisfied. I’ve got good sensation back again; after Monza, a really difficult round for me, I’m happy to have been able to come here and be competitive once again. I’m very pleased.”

Carlos Checa has won an amazing four of the eight races so far this season and managed top three finishes in every race before his disappointment at Monza.

Casey Stoner – Ducati Marlboro 2010

The Ducati rider Casey Stoner took his first win of the season yesterday when he crossed the line at the Aragon MotoGP.

Starting from pole position, the Australian dominated the race from the off, finishing the race 5.148 seconds ahead of second placed man Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa dropped back to fifth place after getting shuffled out of the pack in the opening corner but had soon fought his way back to slot in behind Stoner.

The battle for the final step of the podium went down to the line between the second Ducati of Nicky Hayden and the current leader of the championship Jorge Lorenzo.  After several attempts, Hayden managed to make his move on the Yamaha rider stick finally passing him on the final lap to take his first podium finish this season.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies crossed the line in fifth place after and exciting race for fifth place against the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  The Honda rider unfortunately crashed out on the final lap after pushing for the place.

Valentino Rossi finished in sixth place on the second Fiat Yamaha ahead of Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista with Marco Melandri in ninth position followed by the Pramac Racing rider Alex Espargaro.

The LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet, was lucky to have escaped injury after spectacularly crashing out on lap 16 of the race.

The teams and riders of MotoGP assembled on the circuit on Sunday morning to pay their respect to Shoya Tomizawa who died two-weeks ago at the Misano circuit.  The popular Japanese riders bike was placed on the starting grid and it was announced that his number 48 would be retired from the Mot02 World Championship.

Here are the results;

1.  Casey Stoner  AUS Ducati Marlboro Team  42m 16.53s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42m 21.678s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 26.026s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 26.11s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 43.86s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 51.784s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 4.849s
14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s

DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP

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

MotoGP Pramac Racing 2009

The Spanish rider Aleix Espargaró has signed to race for the Pramac Racing team for the 2010 season, riding alongside Mika Kallio.

The 20-year-old, made his debut in the MotoGP series for the team, replacing Kallio who was drafted into the Marlboro Ducati team to ride for the ailing Casey Stoner.  He rode in the Indianapolis round, finishing thirteenth and then again at the Misano circuit, finishing in eleventh.

Espargaró looked to moving onto the new Moto2 machine next season after spending the majority of the year working on the development of the machine but said when this chance came along he couldn’t turn it down.

The new satellite Ducati rider said;

“I am very happy to be arriving in MotoGP after the time I have had this year. It is better news to be riding for Ducati all through next season than to be riding in the final few races of this year, which could have happened. The two races that I did for Ducati this year were good, I was very comfortable on the bike and with the team. I think I adapt well to MotoGP because I’m quite tall and the bikes suit me better than Moto2 machines. 2010 could be a good year for me.”

“I performed well in the two MotoGP races I did but now I will have the whole winter to practice with the bike, get the set-up right and prepare for 2010. I will be able to prepare calmly and precisely for racing in MotoGP.”

Andrea Iannone – Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. – British MotoGP 2009

It was an exciting 125cc race at Misano on Sunday, with the two front runners Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. rider Andrea Iannone and Bancaja Aspar Team rider Julian Simon, fighting for victory.

With three laps of the race to run, the leading pair were joined by Derbi Racing Team rider Pol Espargaró, who after a terrible start, put in some fast laps and some impressive overtaking before passing of the leading  riders.

On the penultimate lap, Iannone and Espargaró switched the lead several times, however, on the final corner of the final lap, Iannone attempted to pass the Spanish rider on the inside, which is where  it all  went wrong and both riders crashed out of the race and gifting the top step of the podium to Julian Simon.

The two had some heated words in the gravel trap before Iannone appeared to headbutt Espargaró.  On returning to the pits Iannone continued his anger at waiting journalists and has since been fined $5,000 by the Race Direction because of his conduct and has now issued an apology to Pol Espargaró.

A press release was sent out on Monday by the Ongetta Team on behalf of Andrea Iannone which said;

“I had been waiting for the Misano race for a long time and I had dreamed about achieving a good result in front of the Italian fans, but the dream turned into a nightmare a few metres from the finishing line.

It was a great race, with both of us riding very correctly and with Pol Espargaró riding bravely, imposing his rhythm right until the end. But on the last corner I felt confident and certain I could get past him. I broke really hard, went on the inside, arrived at the apex and then when I thought I had got through the angle changed. I couldn’t do anything at that point to avoid the crash and I took Pol out of the equation as he was going around the outside and he had no fault in the crash. We hit the ground and all I could think of was that a big chance had been lost.

Then when I went to apologise to Espargaró he understandably reacted with some strong words and punched my bike.  As Valentino Rossi said later I should have gone to apologise again but instead I lost my temper and I did something which I will always regret for the rest of my life. When I went back to the pit-box there were several journalists waiting for me and I made another mistake by saying some things in the heat of the moment which I really did not think. It was something that happened because of the intensity of the moment, after such a dramatic end to an amazingly close race.

On Sunday night, thinking through everything that had happened I was ashamed about what had happened with Pol and the things I said to the media afterwards. I have to say that I really appreciate Pol’s qualities as a rider, he is very fast and, like me, he tries to do the very best job he can. I want to apologise to everyone, to my team, to my sponsors and all fans of motorcycle racing. I am sure this will not happen again”.

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.”

Pramac Racing 2009

Aleix Espargaro is to make his debut at the Indianapolis MotoGP for the Pramac Racing team as a replacement for Mika Kallio.

With the mystery illness still effecting Casey Stoner, Kallio was given the temporary ride on the Ducati leaving a spare seat at the Pramac team.  Stoner isn’t expected to return until October for the Portugal round and Kallio will be filling his place until then.

The 20-year-old Spanish rider said;

“I am very happy as this season has been very hard for me. We are beginning a project for next year to be back in the World Championship and this will be a good chance to get back in touch with things. This season I have ridden for a couple of races in the 250cc category in Assen and Sachsenring concluding in fourth and seventh positions, therefore I feel physical ready. It is like a dream come true to find myself all of a sudden in MotoGP. I want to thank the Pramac Racing team for giving me this opportunity to compete at the top level of motorcycle racing.”

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.