Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 2010

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa crossed the line to take the victory at the Indianapolis MotoGP yesterday after qualifying in fifth place.

It was pole sitter Ben Spies on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 that led the pack into the first corner followed by the Marlboro Ducati of Nicky Hayden and the Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  Pedrosa followed in fourth place ahead of the two Fiat Yamaha riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

By lap 2, Pedrosa had moved into second position, quickly passing his team-mate and Hayden as he began to chase down the leading man.

On lap 7, Pedrosa passed Spies to take the lead while Nicky Hayden was dropping back down the pack after his kneeslider became loose when he hit a drain cover, allowing Lorenzo and Rossi the chance to get past.

Lorenzo eventually managed to get past Dovizioso on lap 12 of the race although the Italian didn’t let him get away easily.  The Honda rider soon began to lose grip on his tyres following his impressive ride allowing Rossi to also get past, losing his chance of a podium finish.

Dani Pedrosa took the win ahead of Ben Spies in second and Jorge Lorenzo in third.  Rossi completed the race in fourth place followed by Andrea Dovizioso in fifth, Nicky Hayden in sixth, Marco Simoncelli in seventh, Alvaro Bautista in eighth, Aleix Espargaro in ninth and Hector Barbera in tenth.

Casey Stoner lost the front end of his Marlboro Ducati on lap 8 of the race while Colin Edwards was forced to retire on lap 17 after developing rear tyre problems.  Mika Kallio crashed out on lap 18 after hitting a bump on the track and was out of the race,  Marco Melandri was the only other rider who failed to finish the race.

Here are the results;

1.  Dani Pedrosa  ESP Repsol Honda Team  47m 31.615s
2. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 47m 35.190s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 38.427s
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 47m 44.248s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 47m 53.500s
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 48m 6.753s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 48m 8.355s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 8.440s
9. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 48m 16.52s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 48m 22.983s
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 48m 27.001s
12. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 48m 29.518s
13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 48m 35.754s

DNF:
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing
Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team
Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini

Spies Chasing Lorenzo At Silverstone 2010

One of the MotoGP’s worst kept secrets is expected to be announced officially this weekend that Ben Spies is to be the replacement team rider for the departing Valentino Rossi at Yamaha.

Spies will ride alongside the 2010 championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, despite the Spaniard not yet having signed his contract for the 2011 season.

The team are also looking for another sponsor for next year as the current Fiat sponsors are likely to follow Rossi to the Ducati team.  According to reports the team have been in talks with Telefonica, the Spanish telecommunications company as well as their existing partner Petronas.

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

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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.

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

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 2010

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took his second win of the season yesterday in a fantastic race at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany.

As the race got underway it was pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo on the Fiat Yamaha that took the lead ahead of Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi.

As Pedrosa stuck to the back wheel of his fellow countryman on lap 9 the red flag was waved following a huge crash which saw Randy de Puniet come off at turn 4 collecting both Alvaro Bautista and Alexi Espargaró. Neither rider could avoid the LCR Honda of de Puniet who received a broken left tibia and fibula and a possible cracked vertebra for Espargaró.  Despite returning to the pits to recover their spare bikes, neither Espargaro or Bautista were allowed to continue as they were unable to get back with their bikes within 5 minutes of the red flag.

The second 21 lap race started 25-minutes later with Lorenzo once again out in front but this time Pedrosa made  his intentions clear as he attempted a pass on the Yamaha rider before the end of the first lap.  While the took took turns at the front Rossi had made his way past Dovizioso for fourth and was after Stoner in third.

Pedrosa took control of the race after making his move stick on lap 12 breaking his own lap record from the previous year.  Rossi meanwhile was on the tail of Stoner before the two raced side-by-side across the circuit with just a handful of laps to run.

Pedrosa took the chequered flag 3.355 seconds ahead of Lorenzo with Stoner taking third place after passing Rossi on the final corner of the last lap.  Dovizioso crossed the line in fifth place followed by Marco Simoncelli in sixth, Nicky Hayden in seventh, Ben Spies in eighth, Héctor Barberá in ninth and Marco Melandri in tenth.

The Pramac Racing team rider Mika Kallio crashed out on the first lap of the restarted 21 lap race after a disastrous weekend while the Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider Colin Edwards failed to restart the race after crashing out on lap 7 of the original race.

Here are the results;

1.  Dani Pedrosa  ESP Repsol Honda Team  28m 50.476s
2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 28m 53.831s
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 28m 55.733s
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 28m 56.099s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 29m 7.634s
6. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 29m 8.233s
7. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 29m 8.411s
8. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 29m 11.433s
9. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 29m 12.476s
10. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 29m 25.693s
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 29m 35.518s
12. Alex de Angelis RSM Interwetten Honda MotoGP 29m 35.68s

DNF:
Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing
Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP >
Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Jorge Lorenzo - Catalunya MotoGP 2010

The Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo crossed the line to take the chequered flag yesterday at the Catalunya MotoGP extending his lead in the championship standings.

It was the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa that took to the front as the lights went our at the Circuit de Catalunya from fourth spot on the grid but as he came out of the first turn he discovered that he had no front brakes, forcing him wide and  back to ninth position.

Lorenzo to the front of the pack as the Marlboro Ducati of Casey Stoner began to put pressure on the Spaniard followed closely behind by the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso and Randy de Puniet.

Within two laps Dani Pedrosa was back on the pace and had fought his way back to fifth position as his team-mate passed Stoner on the inside to take second place at turn five and began to chase down the leading man.

Dovizioso then passed Lorenzo on the following lap as they headed into turn one but only managed to hold the position for a short time as the Yamaha rider retook the lead within a lap and a half.

Stoner decided he wanted a taste of the lead and after running in the slipstream of the two front runners picked up enough speed to pass but missed his braking point at turn 1, rejoining behind Randy de Puniet and Pedrosa.

Pedrosa continued to chase down the front runners, passing De Puniet on lap 7 as the battle for the lead between Lorenzo and Dovizioso went on.

Dovizioso’s moment ended when after suffering some sort of problem with his rear brakes the Honda rider crashed out leaving Lorenzo some breathing space as he cruised towards the finishing line.

Stoner recovered from his earlier off and passed Randy de Puniet before chasing down Pedrosa for second place, however, Pedrosa gave the Ducati rider no chance of passing and finished the race ahead.

Randy de Puniet finished in fourth place ahead of the Rizla Suzuki rider Alvaro Bautista in fifth and Monster Tech3 Yamaha rider Ben Spies in sixth.

In seventh place was the second Rizla Suzuki man Loris Capirossi followed by Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati in eighth, Marco Melandri on the  San Carlo Honda Gresini in ninth and Hector Barbera on the Paginas Amarillas Aspar in tenth.

Here are the results;

1.  Jorge Lorenzo  ESP Fiat Yamaha Team  43m 22.805s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 43m 27.559s
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 43m 27.761s
4. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 43m 40.862s
5. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m 44.166s
6. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 44.308s
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 43m 46.986s
8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 43m 50.746s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 43m 50.851s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 43m 55.244s
11. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44m 1.211s
12. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 44m 21.062s
13. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 44m 32.153s
14. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 44m 55.207s
15. Wataru Yoshikawa JPN Fiat Yamaha Team 44m 58.042s

DNF:
Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha 2010

The Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo continued his winning streak after taking the victory at the Assen MotoGP on Saturday, his fourth of the season.

Starting from pole position, Lorenzo led the pack into the first corner with Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa moving up the grid to slot into second and third places respectively.

On lap three as Lorenzo started to increase his lead, Pedrosa and Casey Stoner both made their move to pass the Monster Yamaha Tech3 of Ben Spies.  The second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso was the next man to make a move on Spies to slot into fourth place.

Stoner was desperately trying to find a way past Pedrosa while Spies retook the position from Dovizioso with Randy de Puniet also in the battle for the points.

Lorenzo crossed the line 2.935 seconds ahead of Pedrosa, while Stoner made it onto the podium for the first time this season with third place.  Spies finished in fourth place followed by Dovizioso and De Puniet in fifth and sixth, Nicky Hayden in seventh, Colin Edwards in eighth, Marco Simoncelli in ninth and Aleix Espargaro completing the top ten finishers.

Here are the results;

1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 41′18.629 171.518
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 41′21.564 171.315 2.935
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team DUCATI 41′25.651 171.034 7.022
4 13 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 41′31.894 170.605 13.265
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 41′33.952 170.464 15.323
6 10 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 41′34.401 170.434 15.772
7 9 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team DUCATI 41′44.496 169.747 25.867
8 8 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 41′47.620 169.535 28.991
9 7 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 41′54.287 169.086 35.658
10 6 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 41′54.466 169.074 35.837
11 5 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team DUCATI 42′15.398 167.678 56.769
12 4 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar DUCATI 42′15.519 167.670 56.890
13 3 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 42′19.244 167.424 1′00.615
14 2 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 42′26.703 166.933 1′08.074
15 1 64 Kousuke AKIYOSHI JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP HONDA 41′42.019 163.380 1 lap

Jorge Lorenzo - Silverstone 2010

The Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo won the British MotoGP yesterday after dominating the race from pole position at the Silverstone circuit.

The Spaniard crossed the finish line 6.743 seconds ahead of second place man Andrea Dovizioso on the Repsol Honda and Ben Spies taking his first podium this season in third for the Monster Yamaha Tech3 team.

As the race got underway, Lorenzo had a fight on his hands as he battled with his fellow countryman Dani Pedrosa for the lead.

The Ducati Marlboro rider Casey Stoner had a terrible start seeing him drift towards the back of the grid from sixth position by the first turn while the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Melandri crashed out on the opening lap.

By lap 7, Lorenzo had managed to create a 5 second gap while Dovizioso and the LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet fought for second place with the second Marlboro Ducati of Nicky Hayden hot on their tails.

Stoner struggled to make his way back up the grid finally making it past Pedrosa who was sitting in eighth place on lap 13 of the race.  Meanwhile Loris Capirossi crashed his Rizla Suzuki whilst trying to pass the Páginas Amarillas Aspar machine of Héctor Barbera, running off circuit and landing in a heap in the gravel trap ending his chances of any points in the race.

As Dovizioso, De Puniet and Hayden continued their own race for the two remaining podium places the gap between the three riders was less than half a second with Spies still tracking them down for his share of the points.

While Lorenzo rode a lonely race way out in front and with only three laps of the race remaining, Hayden and Spies both managed to make it past De Puniet followed by Stoner who had now moved into fifth place.

On the final lap of the race, Spies made his move on Hayden and slotted into third place where he remained until the chequered flag behind the second place man Dovizioso.

Hayden finished in fourth place ahead of Stoner in fifth and De Puniet in sixth. Marco Simoncelli claimed his best result so far this season with seventh place followed by Pedrosa in eighth, Colin Edwards in ninth and Aleix Espargaro in tenth.

Hiroshi Aoyama did not take place in the race after suffering injuries when he crashed during the morning warm-up session.  The Interwetten Honda rider received heavy contusions to his back and was sent to hospital for a CT scan.

Here are the results;

1.  Jorge Lorenzo  ESP Fiat Yamaha Team  41m 34.083s
2. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 41m 40.826s
3. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 41m 41.180s
4. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 41m 41.397s
5. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 41m 41.577s
6. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 41m 43.138s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 41m 48.508s
8. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 41m 49.396s
9. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 2.0370s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 16.477s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 17.448s
12. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 17.491s
13. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 42m 17.663s

DNF:
Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini