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

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha 2009

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, took the win at the Indianapolis MotoGP on Sunday after Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa both crashed out.

125CC

Pol Espargaro claimed his maiden win in the 125cc Indianapolis MotoGP on Sunday, in a thrilling race that went to the very last lap.

The 18-year-old Derbi Racing Team rider, crossed the line just 0.120 seconds ahead of the Bancaja Aspar rider Bradley Smith.  In third place was Simone Corsi on the Fontana Racing machine followed by Nico Terol on the Jack & Jones bike in fourth.

Championship leader Julian Simon on the second Bancaja Aspar bike, finished in fifth place ahead of Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM, Stefan Bradl on the Viessmann Kiefer Racing bike, Joan Olive on the Derbi Racing Team machine, Takaaki Nakagami for Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. and Dominique Aegerter on the Ajo Interwetten.

Here are the results;

250CC

Marco Simoncelli took the chequered flag on Sunday for the Metis Gilera 250cc MotoGP team, in the first and last 250cc event at the circuit.

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha 2009

The Italian rider, is currently running third in the championship, 27 points behind the Scot Racing Team rider Hiroshi Aoyama, with five rounds left to run.

Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista, took the final step on the podium as he took third for the Mapfre Aspar Team, adding valuable points to his season, and now only 16 points behind Aoyama.

Mike di Meglio, qualified in pole position on his Mapfre Aspar Team machine, finishing fourth in the race, he was followed by Roberto Locatelli on the Metis Gilera in fifth and Hector Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike in sixth.

Lukas Pesek on the Auto Kelly – CP bike, finished in seventh place ahead of Hector Faubel on the Valencia CF – Honda SAG, Thomas Luthi on the Emmi – Caffe Latte and Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing team bike completing the top ten riders.

Jules Cluzel on the Matteoni Racing machine, was leading the race after qualifying in fifth place when he crashed out and later the Team Toth Aprilia rider Mattia Pasini went down, after starting from seventh on the grid.

Here are the results:

MotoGP

For the third time this season, the Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo took the victory for the Fiat Yamaha team while his team-mate Valentino Rossi crashed out of the race.

Dani Pedrosa made a great start from pole position on the Repsol Honda to take the lead at the start of the race ahead of Rossi and Lorenzo, but on just lap 4 of the race, Pedrosa went down.  After struggling to get the bike upright, the Spanish rider rejoined the track in last place.

Once again, the battle began between the two Fiat Yamaha riders, with Lorenzo passing Rossi on lap 9, however, on the following lap Rossi went down.  He managed to get his Yamaha back on the circuit only to retire a couple of laps later due to damage on the R1.

With Rossi and Pedrosa out of the running, the San Carlo Honda rider Alex de Angelis was now in second place with the Ducati Marlboro rider Nicky Hayden hot on his tail.  Hayden crossed the line to take third after holding off the challenging Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.

Colin Edwards finished in fifth place for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, followed by his team-mate James Toseland in sixth.  Loris Capirossi took seventh for the Rizla Suzuki team followed by Mika Kallio on the factory Ducati in eighth, Toni Elias on the second San Carlo Honda in ninth and Pedrosa in tenth.

Pedrosa had clawed his way back through the field taking the tenth position from Chris Vermeulen on the second Rizla Suzuki as they crossed the line.

Marco Melandri crashed out on the Hayate Racing machine, late on in the race while battling with James Toseland for sixth position.

The riders and team now head to Misano for round 12 of the championship, next weekend.

Here are the results;

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

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.

He was out on his final run of the day when he lost control of his Aprilia and crashed.  It was initially thought that he had suffered no injury but after some discomfort with his hand he was seen at the circuit medical centre where the break was spotted.

The 23-year-old, underwent surgery on Thursday where he was fitted with a titanium plate to his fourth metacarpal and also had the fifth metacarpal pinned due to a dislocation.  He will now be returning to his Hungarian home where he has been told that he must rest his hand for the next 30 days before having the pin removed, he can then return to the track.

The older brother of Spanish rider Pol Espargaro, Aleix, is now to be a replacement for Németh this weekend at Assen.