Valentino Rossi 2010

It will come as no surprise to many after weeks of speculation that Valentino Rossi will move to the Ducati team for the 2011 season.

Confirmation came following the Brno MotoGP on Sunday, won by Rossi’s current team-mate Jorge Lorenzo who took his seventh victory of the season for the Fiat Yamaha team.

The 31-year-old Italian has signed a two-year deal with Ducati following a seven-year relationship with the Yamaha team with which he won four MotoGP World Championships.

Rossi said;

I think that here in Yamaha my work is finished.  The situation within Yamaha has changed a lot since 2004.   Now the M1 is maybe the best bike in MotoGP, Yamaha have great riders, so it looks like they don’t need me any more.

I’m very curious and very motivated for this new challenge and I think it will be very interesting.  I think an Italian rider on an Italian bike will be great for all Italian fans. I think we’ll have a lot of fans cheering for us.”

Doubts have already been raised on whether Rossi will be given permission to test the Ducati at the end of the season in Valencia due to contractual agreements with the Yamaha team to which Rossi stated;

“If Yamaha say no I’ll be very upset and sad.  Only Honda have said no to me in the past and that relationship was very different to the one between me and Yamaha.   If I can’t do it then I don’t understand the relationship between me and Yamaha!”

Ben Spies 2010

Riders and motorcycles from MotoGP, Moto2 and the 125cc class arrived on the streets of the Austrian capital, Vienna yesterday to the delight of the fans.

The official event took place ahead of this weekends Grand Prix in the Czech Republic with the 125cc riders Bradley Smith, Marc Marquez and Randy Krummenacher joining Moto2 riders Toni Elias, Thomas Luthi and Karel Abraham.

The MotoGP riders Ben Spies, Mika Kalio and Alex de Angelis led the parade down the famous Ringstrasse landmark in the heart of Vienna,  displaying the sight and sounds of their machines as well as meeting fans of the series.

The Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic will mark the start of the second part of the season and an announcement is expected after the race regarding the move to Ducati of Valentino Rossi for the 2011 season.

Ducati

mose

The current Moto2 rider Karel Abraham, has announced on his personal website that he has signed a deal to ride a Ducati Desmosedici GP11 next season.

He will continue to ride under his current team banner Cardion AB Motoracing and the confirmation is expected to be given at a press conference before the Brno race.

The 20-year-old rider made his debut in the MotoGP series aboard a 125cc machine in 2005 before moving up to the 250cc series in 2007.

The Czech rider is currently running in fourteenth place in the Moto2 series with a best finish of fourth place at the Catalunya race.

The Silverstone Circuit

There is to be 18 races in the MotoGP championship series for 2010 which has released by the FIM, with the return of Silverstone for the British Grand Prix for the first time since the 1980’s.

It has also been stated that if any of the races fail to go ahead the new circuit in Aragon in Spain will host the event.

April 11 *        Qatar              Doha/Losail
April 25          Japan              Motegi
May 2             Spain              Jerez de la Frontera
May 23            France             Le Mans
June 6            Italy              Mugello
June 20           Great Britain      Silverstone
June 26 **        Netherlands        Assen
July 4            Catalunya          Catalunya
July 18           Germany            Sachsenring
July 25 ***       United States      Laguna Seca
August 15         Czech Rep.         Brno
August 29         Indianapolis       Indianapolis
September 5       San Marino         Misano
September 19      Hungary            Balatonring
October 10        Malaysia           Sepang
October 17        Australia          Phillip Island
October 31        Portugal           Estoril
November 7        Valencia           Ricardo Tormo - Valencia

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

Randy de Puniet - Donington - British MotoGP 2009

The LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet, has signed his contract to stay with the team for the 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

The French rider will remain with the team for his third consecutive year on the MotoGP bike after two-years on their 250cc machine.  He is currently in joint-eighth in the standings with Alex de Angelis for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team.

After a brilliant ride by the 28-year-old at Donington, which saw him on the podium, the riders took their mid-season break.  It was during this period that de Puniet fractured his left ankle while taking part in a fitness programme on a motorcross bike.  After surgery to insert pins into the break, it was then a race against time to regain his fitness for the Brno round in two weeks time.  De Puniet finished in tenth place despite the injury not healing completely.

Alex de Angelis - San Carlo Honda Gresini 2009

Alex de Angelis took the San Carlo Honda Gresini across the line to finish in eighth place at the Czech Republic Grand Prix despite doing battle with a butterfly!

The Honda rider had been running in ninth position for the majority of the race when five laps from the end a butterfly became trapped inside his helmet.  As the insect flapped around in front of his eyes he was passed by Mika Kallio and Marco Melandri, who later crashed out of the race when Kallio ran into the back of Melandri.

Alex said;

“I set a target of a top eight today so I am satisfied to achieve that but it could have been so much better. I was comfortable running with Edwards, Hayden and the others until I suddenly got a butterfly trapped in my helmet.

It was flapping around in front of my eyes and I couldn’t see a thing! When it finally settled down I was able to focus again but my chance had gone.”

Valentino Rossi 2009

Valentino Rossi claimed the victory for Fiat Yamaha at the Czech Republic MotoGP on Sunday for the second year in a row after his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo crashed out.

125cc

Nico Terol on the Jack & Jones bike took the win in the 125cc class ahead of the championship leader Julián Simon on the Bancaja Aspar yesterday.

In third place was the pole sitter Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. machine, finishing 8 seconds behind the race winner.

Britain’s Bradley Smith took the fourth position on the second Bancaja Aspar followed by Pol Espargaro on the Derbi Racing bike in fifth and Ajo Interwetten rider Sandro Cortese in sixth.

In seventh place was Stefan Bradl for the Viessmann Kiefer Racing team ahead of Marc Márquez on the Red Bull KTM, Sergio Gadea on the Bancaja Aspar and Joan Olivé on the Derbi Racing machine.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider               Bike            Time
 1.  Nicolas Terol       Aprilia         40m57.378s
 2.  Julian Simon        Aprilia         +   0.168s
 3.  Andrea Iannone      Aprilia         +   8.719s
 4.  Bradley Smith       Aprilia         +  12.443s
 5.  Pol Espargaró       Derbi           +  16.006s
 6.  Sandro Cortese      Derbi           +  16.066s
 7.  Stefan Bradl        Aprilia         +  17.105s
 8.  Marc Márquez        KTM             +  17.202s
 9.  Sergio Gadea        Aprilia         +  17.223s
10.  Joan Olive          Derbi           +  17.244s
11.  Johann Zarco        Aprilia         +  17.618s
12.  Jonas Folger        Aprilia         +  21.977s
13.  Marcel Schrötter    Honda           +  34.487s
14.  Efrén Vazquez       Derbi           +  34.512s
15.  Scott Redding       Aprilia         +  41.558s
16.  Daniel Webb         Aprilia         +  43.098s
17.  Randy Krummenacher  Aprilia         +  43.121s
18.  Dominique Ägerter   Derbi           +  43.164s
19.  Takaaki Nakagami    Aprilia         +  43.453s
20.  Michael Ranseder    Aprilia         +  43.917s
21.  Tomoyoshi Koyama    Loncin          +  50.710s
22.  Luigi Morciano      Aprilia         +1m09.976s
23.  Alessandro Tonucci  Aprilia         +1m10.633s
24.  Alexis Masbou       Loncin          +1m35.007s
25.  Luca Vitali         Aprilia         +1m39.485s
26.  Luca Marconi        Aprilia         +1m39.739s
27.  Karel Pesek         Derbi           +1m40.019s
28.  Ivan Visak          Honda           +   1 laps
29.  Ladislav Chmelik    Honda           +   1 laps
30.  Lukáš Šembera       Aprilia         +   1 laps

Retirements                                 

     Simone Corsi        Aprilia            12 laps
     Lorenzo Savadori    Aprilia             8 laps
     Esteve Rabat        Aprilia             7 laps
     Luis Salom          Aprilia             5 laps
     Jasper Iwema        Honda               2 laps
     Lorenzo Zanetti     Aprilia             1 laps

250cc

Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera claimed the victory in the Sunday 250cc class followed by Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia and Mapfre Aspar Team rider Alvaro Bautista in third.

While it has now been confirmed that Alvaro Bautista will be moving up to the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team from 2010, he will be left feeling a little embarrassed today after losing his bike while doing a wheelie across the line.

On the slowing-down lap, Bautista lifted his front wheel high in the air to perform an impressive wheelie for the crowd, unfortunately, he lost control and was thrown off the back of his bike and was left sitting in the middle of the track while his machine suffered considerable damage.

Hiroshi Aoyama for the Scot Racing team finished in fourth place followed by Roberto Locatelli on the second Metis Gilera and Raffaele de Rosa on the second Scot Racing bike.

In seventh place was Héctor Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike ahead of Jules Cluzel on the Matteoni Racing bike, Mike di Meglio for the Mapfre Aspar team and Héctor Faubel on the Honda SAG machine to complete the top ten riders.

Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing bike crashed out on the first corner of his home race after making contact with Thomas Luthi on the Emmi – Caffe Latte bike.

Here are the results;

Pos Driver                  Bike               Time/Gap
 1. Marco Simoncelli        Gilera           41m06.490s
 2. Mattia Pasini           Aprilia             +0.684s
 3. Alvaro Bautista         Aprilia             +4.381s
 4. Hiroshi Aoyama          Honda               +8.746s
 5. Roberto Locatelli       Gilera              +9.721s
 6. Raffaele De Rosa        Honda              +10.870s
 7. Hector Barbera          Aprilia            +15.639s
 8. Jules Cluzel            Aprilia            +18.411s
 9. Mike di Meglio          Aprilia            +18.563s
10. Hector Faubel           Honda              +19.958s
11. Rutthapark Wilairot     Honda              +20.084s
12. Lukas Pesek             Aprilia            +30.632s
13. Shoya Tomizawa          Honda              +37.118s
14. Balazs Nemeth           Aprilia          +1m17.484s
15. Valentin Debise         Honda            +1m24.684s
16. Axel Pons               Aprilia          +1m25.132s
17. Imre Toth               Aprilia          +1m46.925s
18. Aitor Rodriguez         Aprilia          +1m52.465s
19. Vladimir Leonov         Aprilia          +1m59.794s

Retirements

    Bastien Chesaux         Honda               12 laps
    Alex Debon              Aprilia              9 laps
    Alex Baldolini          Aprilia              6 laps
    Toby Markham            Aprilia               1 lap
    Karel Abraham           Aprilia              0 laps
    Thomas Luthi            Aprilia              0 laps

MotoGP

Valentino Rossi and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, were separated by only 1 second for the majority of the Brno round of the MotoGP, breaking away from the third place man Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda. On lap 16, Lorenzo passed Rossi to take the lead going into turn 3.  On the following lap, Rossi retook his position but as Lorenzo attempted his next move, he lost the front of his machine and slid off into the gravel and was out of the race.

Pedrosa finished in second place ahead of the Gresini Honda rider Toni Elias in third after an exciting battle with the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso until the final corner.

Loris Capirossi claimed fifth position for the Rizla Suzuki team followed by Nicky Hayden in sixth, his best position of the season so far for the Ducati Marlboro team, with Colin Edwards on the Tech 3 Yamaha in eighth.

The second Gresini Honda rider Alex de Angelis finished in eighth place ahead of James Toseland on the second Tech 3 Yamaha and Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda completing the top ten.

Mika Kallio on his debut ride for the Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner, rode into the back of Marco Melandri’s Hayate Kawasaki, ending both their races and the two were seen pushing and pointing as they picked theirselves up out of the gravel.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike               Time/Gap
 1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           43m08.991s
 2.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda             + 11.766s
 3.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda     + 20.756s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda             + 21.418s
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki            + 21.538s
 6.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati            + 25.544s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha     + 25.676s
 8.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda     + 34.109s
 9.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha     + 35.617s
10.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda         + 39.824s
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki            + 40.776s
12.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati     + 50.661s
13.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda        + 59.188s

Retirements:

     Mika Kallio       Ducati           20 laps
     Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  20 laps
     Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           17 laps
     Michel Fabrizio   Pramac Ducati    5 laps

Valentino Rossi

This weekend the MotoGP riders return to work in Brno for the Cardion AB Czech Republic Grand Prix after their mid-summer break for the remaining seven rounds of the MotoGP Championship.  On Monday the teams and riders also have a day of testing taking place.

The Brno press conference took place yesterday with Valentino Rossi, Mika Kallio, Andrea Dovizioso, Loris Capirossi and Gabor Talmacsi in attendance.

From this round of the championship, the new engine rule comes into play, giving the riders only five engines to compete the remaining rounds of the season.  Rossi said;

“It changes the way we will work on the bike a little bit. Now you have to plan more which bike you use during the practice and you have to take care of the engine, even after the race. It should save money so it is important. In Monday’s test we have some small details to check and we will try to take another step forward with the bike.”

Dovizioso confirmed that the Repsol Honda team will be testing a new swingarm throughout the weekend and onto the Monday test, if conditions allow.

Loris Capirossi announced that the team will be using a new engine on the Rizla Suzuki at this round and will be testing further new parts on Monday as well as a possible new chassis.

Mika Kallio, is the replacement rider for the Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner, after it was announced that he would be out for the next three rounds while he recovered from his mystery illness.

Gabor Talmacsi will be in front of many of his home fans for the first time as a MotoGP rider and is hoping to give them a good result.

Randy de Puniet will on the LCR Honda, despite fracturing his ankle in a motorcross training programme the week after the UK round of the championship.

Randy de Puniet - LCR Honda 2009

Randy de Puniet, the MotoGP LCR Honda rider, suffered a broken accident while training on Saturday on a motorcross bike.

The Frenchman, was taking part in a summer fitness programme with his personal trainer at the weekend, who himself is a former motorcross rider, when de Puniet crashed entering a corner, injuring his leg.

The 28-year-old, was taken to a nearby hospital where x-rays showed a fracture to the left ankle.  The rider underwent surgery to insert a screw into the bone and was discharged yesterday.

De Puniet said;

“Yves and I have a specific training programme to improve my performance on track this year. This programme has helped me a lot so far and through the summer break I didn’t want to stop training. So we went out to do a short motocross session, but unfortunately I had a fall and the impact on the ground caused a fracture of the left ankle.”

“I am very disappointed about this setback but training is very important for me in order to be in good shape in MotoGP. I will do my best to race in Brno and I am sure that the Clinica Mobile staff will support me in the best way.”

It will now be a race against time to get the Honda rider back to fitness for the next round of the MotoGP Championship at Brno on 14-16 August.