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

Jorge Lorenzo – Fiat Yamaha 2010

The Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took victory again yesterday at the Red Bull US MotoGP as race leader Dani Pedrosa crashed out.

It was the Repsol Honda of Dani Pedrosa that took to the front as the lights went out at Laguna Seca from his fourth spot on the grid.  As the Spaniard made a brave pass around the outside, Casey Stoner slotted in behind followed by Lorenzo in third.

On lap 6, Stoner lost his second place after making a mistake and running wide letting Lorenzo through and hot on the tail of his fellow countryman.

On lap 12 of the 32 lap race, Pedrosa low-sided off of his Honda and was out of the race handing the lead to Lorenzo who edged away from a struggling Stoner.

In third place was a very impressive Valentino Rossi, making it onto the podium just seven weeks after his accident at Mugello in which he suffered a broken leg.  Rossi managed to catch and overtake the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso who was still challenging for that third place at the final corner.

Nicky Hayden crossed the line in fifth place followed by Ben Spies in sixth.  Spies got off to a fantastic start and was in fourth place in the opening laps of the race but by lap 3 had dropped back to seventh place.  The Monster Tech3 Yamaha rider then worked his way back through the field, passing Hayden on lap 21 and setting Rossi in his sights before once again dropping back down the order on lap 25.

Colin Edwards finished in seventh place ahead of Marco Melandri in eighth, Mika Kallio in ninth and Loris Capirossi rounding off the top ten riders of the day.

Hector Barbera appeared to suffer a technical problem with his Aspar Ducati and failed to finish the race along with Alvaro Bautista, Marco Simoncelli and Aleix Espargaro who all crashed out.

Here are the results;

1.  Jorge Lorenzo  ESP Fiat Yamaha Team  43m 54.873s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 43m 58.39s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44m 8.293s
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 44m 9.061s
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 44m 9.474s
6. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44m 13.91s
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44m 35.594s
8. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 44m 42.092s
9. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 44m 47.686s
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44m 47.687s
11. Roger Lee Hayden USA LCR Honda MotoGP 45m 8.962s
12. Alex de Angelis RSM Interwetten Honda MotoGP 45m 9.539s

DNF:
Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing
Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 998m 0s
Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar
Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP

The Doctor Fans

Valentino Rossi is returning to the MotoGP grid this weekend, a month earlier than was initially expected after being given medical clearance.

The Fiat Yamaha rider had now completed two test sessions on the Yamaha R1 World Superbike and feels that he is now ready to get back in the saddle if he is to have any chance of competing for the championship.

Now lying in seventh place in the standings after missing the last four rounds following his accident at Mugello where he suffered a fractured right tibia.  The Italian rider had been told to expect at least a five-month recuperation programme but after just six weeks the reigning seven-time MotoGP champion is ready to make his return.

Despite the two test sessions going well, Rossi said;

“The big question mark is the entire race, 30 laps in a row. I have to wait and see what happens!”

Troy Bayliss – Ducati Xerox

Troy Bayliss will not be coming back to the World Superbike series following his recent two test sessions on the Ducati as he had decided he does not miss racing enough.

The former three-times World Championship rider said in an interview;

“I spoke too soon. Everything felt easy for me and I said that I wanted to comeback; I guess I started my own rumour. But when I tested here I found out that things weren’t going that good and we ended up going around in circles.

That’s when it hit me and it was hard things like that that I didn’t miss about racing. That completely I changed my mind I don’t want to come back racing and I don’t want to do any wild-cards. I’m retired and I’m happy.”

Bayliss may have retired from racing but he signed a contract for ‘professional services’ under which he remains a test rider for both Ducati WSB and MotoGP teams so for now the rumours can be put to bed, but for how long?

Valentino Rossi – Fiat Yamaha

Valentino Rossi underwent a second operation on Monday at the Centro Traumatologico Ortopeico hospital in Florence to close the wound following the initial surgery to repair his fractured right tibia.

The Fiat Yamaha rider crashed out during the practice session at Mugello, where he was thrown into the air before landing badly resulting in the break to his leg.

After undergoing surgery the same day the wound was left open until Monday with the doctor involved being pleased following the operations.

There is still no word on who will replace the Italian while he recuperates or how long that recuperation is expected to take.  As Rossi’s communications manager has pointed out, Rossi is irreplaceable.

If the Italian news reports are to be believed, Rossi could be out for the rest of the season or at best be back on his seat within 40 days but his bike is expected to be off the grid for at least the next two rounds of the championship as a mark of respect to Rossi.

Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa claimed his first victory of the season in this weekends MotoGP round at Mugello after Valentino Rossi was ruled out of the race following his crash in practice.

The Fiat Yamaha rider missed his first home race since 2000 after fracturing the tibia in his right leg on Saturday and underwent surgery to align and stabilised with a pin.  Rossi will have the wound stitched over the next few days and is expected to leave the hospital within the next ten days.  Rossi appeared in high spirits while being interviewed from his hospital bed and said;

“Now I can say my morale is reasonably high because I’ve discovered I have a great rapport with morphine!”

Pedrosa led from the first corner at the Gran Premio d’Italia and crossed the line 4.014 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Jorge Lorenzo on the Fiat Yamaha, who is still leading the championship after his second place finish.  The Spaniard held up a message for his ailing team-mate before the start of the race which read;

“Everyone can feel pain, but not everyone can be a legend”

The second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso finished in third place ahead of the Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner.  Stoner had been trading places with Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet for much of the race before securing his fourth place finish, after passing Melandri on the final lap while de Puniet had to settle for sixth place.

Ben Spies crossed the line in seventh place ahead of the Pramac Racing rider Aleix Espargaro in eighth, Marco Simoncelli in ninth and Loris Capirossi in tenth.

Nicky Hayden failed to finish on the second Marlboro Ducati after the bike folded on him on lap 5 of the race as he rode through the downhill Turn 12 while Mika Kallio also failed to finish for the Pramac Racing team after crashing out.

Here are the results;

1.  Dani Pedrosa  ESP Repsol Honda Team  42m 28.066s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 32.080s
3. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 42m 34.262s
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 53.789s
5. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 53.801s
6. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 42m 54.031s
7. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 56.872s
8. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 43m 8.238s
9. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 9.460s
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m 10.173s
11. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 11.161s
12. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 43m 11.429s
13. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 42.459s
14. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m 52.455s

DNF:
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing
Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team

Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss announced his intention of a possible return to the World Superbike series earlier this month after retiring from the sport in 2008.

Bayliss hinted he could be back on track in 2011 and is being given full support from Ducati after winning his three World Superbike championship wins with the team.

The 41-year-old Australian, tested for the factory 1198 at Mugello last week to give crucial feedback to the engineers with Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi saying in an interview that all efforts to accommodate the rider if he finalises his return to the sport.

Bayliss said after the test session;

“I really enjoyed myself and I hope the feedback I have been giving the guys is useful.  I was a little worried that I’d have forgotten how to ride after the year and a half break, but it was easy and to be honest it felt like I’d never been away!”

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