Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner won a very wet Sepang MotoGP race today for the Marlboro Ducati team while Valentino Rossi became the World Champion for the ninth time after finishing in third place.

125CC

The 2009 125CC World Champion Julian Simon took the victory today at the Malaysian  Grand Prix after an exciting battle with Britain’s Bradley Smith.

Simon moved into the lead on the second lap of the race and became to create a gap by lap 5 followed by his team-mate Smith. The two Bancaja Aspar riders were followed by Pol Espargaro but had created an advantage of 4-seconds by the half-way mark of the race.

Bradley Smith crashed out during the qualifying session on Saturday and suffered a broken fifth metatarsal in his right foot but soldiered on to take second at the Sepang circuit.  He managed to pass Simon on lap 13 but lost the lead when Smith made a mistake with only three laps of the race remaining.

Danny Webb on the Degraaf machine crashed out at the first hairpin with a highside, taking out the Viessmann Kiefer rider Stefan Bradl.  Marc Marquez suffered a mechanical problem on the Red Bull KTM forcing him to retire from the race while Efren Vazquez, Jonas Folgar and  Simone Corsi also crashed out during the race.

Here are the results;

250CC

Hiroshi Aoyama took the chequered flag for the 250cc MotoGP race after a fantastic battle with Marco Simoncelli and now leads the championship by 21 points.

Jules Cluzel led at the beginning of the race while Simoncelli fought his way through the front runners from eighth on the grid before crashing out on lap 10.

Simoncelli forced the Japanese rider off-line on lap 8 as he cut across the circuit in front of him pushing him onto the kerb.  Aoyama momentarily lost his second place to Cluzel but had regained the position before the end of the lap before attempting the same pass again on lap 11.  The two riders swapped positions again before Aoyama finally made the move stick on lap 13.

Aoyama had built up a one-second lead with five laps of the race remaining and finished the race with a 6.397 advantage as he crossed the finish line.

Simoncelli’s second place was threatened as they headed for the chequered flag by Hector Barbera, the two riders crossed the line side by side, ending with a photo finish which was given to Barbera who had set a faster lap earlier in the race, leaving Simoncelli to take the third step of the podium.

Mike di Meglio low-sided off his machine on lap 5 with Alvaro Bautista also losing his bike on the following lap.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

The Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner took the victory at the Sepang circuit after dominating a rain-soaked race ahead of the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa and Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi in third.  Rossi claimed the 2009 World Championship title for the ninth time despite only finishing the race in third position.

As the rain began to pour 25-minutes before the race was due to begin at the Malaysian track it caused a delayed start. Jorge Lorenzo was forced to start from the back of the grid after he failed to arrive on the grid on time after his Fiat Yamaha refused to start in the pit garage forcing the team to prepare his spare bike.

The race got underway despite the rain still falling with Pedrosa gaining the advantage of Rossi into turn one forcing the Italian to fall back to the middle of the riders.

Stoner passed Pedrosa to take the lead before the end of the opening lap with the second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso sitting in third and within 4 laps Stoner had created a gap of six-seconds.

Rossi had moved into eighth place behind Lorenzo before the Spaniard passed Loris Capirossi followed by his team-mate Rossi, but Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro proved a much harder rider to pass, taking Lorenzo five attempts before he finally made the move stick.

On lap 8, Rossi managed to get past his team-mate and by the halfway mark the track and started to show dry lines, as Rossi pulled away from Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on lap 14 allowing Rossi to claim the final step of the podium, and a position higher than he needed to claim the championship title.   Randy de Puniet suffered a huge high-side and fortunately walked away without injury.

Rossi celebrated his win with a special helmet and t-shirt stating ‘old hens make the best broth’ and including the number 9 and was also presented with a live hen donning it’s own celebration t-shirt by his fan club.

The final round of  2009 takes place at the Valencia circuit on November 6-8, with Stoner looking to take third in the championship behind Pedrosa.

Here are the results;

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;

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

Sete Gibernau 2009

The Grupo Francisco Hernando team, have withdrawn from the 2009 MotoGP Championship with immediate effect leaving Sete Gibernau without a ride.

Gibernau was said to have been shocked by the announcement that the team are another casualty of the economic crisis that has already seen other teams tightening their belts, as they try to weather the financial storm.

The Spanish riders said in a press release;

“The person most surprised by this decision was me. Everyone in the team worked hard to keep the project on track. On a personal level, it was  a brave gamble, taken with the hope of building a successful project which would achieve targets we had set for ourselves as each Grand Prix passed.

It’s truly a pity that we are forced to abandon the project at this stage, just when we were convinced we were on the verge of achieving the results we were looking for. I’d like to thank the team, my personal sponsors, the fans and all the press, the treatment I have received, which has repaid in full the hard work and efforts which I have put in to return to racing after two years out of the World Championship. Your support has made me be happy to be racing in MotoGP again”

There are now 17 teams remaining in this seasons MotoGP Championship with Gibernau sitting 17th in the standings out of 18 riders.

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 2009

Dani Pedrosa took his Repsol Honda across the line yesterday to take his first win since June 2008 when he claimed the victory at his home track in Catalunya.

Pedrosa took to the front of the pack by the first corner after qualifying fourth on the grid, and by midway of the race had created a gap of over 3 seconds ahead of Rossi.

As Pedrosa led the riders, Stoner who had a big crash on the Marlboro Ducati in qualifying, slotted into second place ahead of Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi.

Once Rossi had passed Stoner, the Ducati rider tailed him for the next 20 laps before dropping back.  Stoner had a big crash in qualifying and is still suffering from a mystery illness and is now set to undergo further tests in America.

Jorge Lorenzo on the second Fiat Yamaha, was amazingly on the grid after his huge high-side in qualifying, almost snatched second place away from his team-mate towards the end of the race, somehow the Spaniard stayed on his bike after a series of wobbles but lost time as he ran wide.  After a terrible start from pole position, Lorenzo dropped back to eighth place but by the end of the first lap he had pulled himself back to fifth and then fourth after Andrea Dovizioso crashed out on the Repsol Honda.

As Pedrosa began to ease-off on the final lap, Ross closed the gap and was now only 1.5 seconds behind.  He tried to wrestle his way past the Honda rider on the very last corner but Pedrosa held him off to take the chequered flag.

Lorenzo finished in third place ahead of Stoner, who by the end of the race was 12 seconds behind the front runners, followed by his team-mate Nicky Hayden in fifth .

Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini, finished the race in sixth ahead of Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha and Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki in eighth.

In ninth place was Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda followed by Marco Melandri on the Hayate Racing team machine to complete the top ten riders.

Lap 4 of the race saw both Scot Racing rider Gabor Talmacsi and Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki crash out and retire from the race and on lap 8, Sete Gibernau was sent flying through the gravel on the Grupo Francisco Henando Satellite bike and was unable to rejoin.

James Toseland on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha, was given a penalty for a jump start at he beginning of the race from fifteenth on the grid.  He was told on lap 5 but had failed to take the ride-through penalty by lap 11 and was shown the black flag.   The British rider came in on the following lap, took the penalty drive through before retiring from the race on the next lap.

Toseland has since said that he was unaware of the penalty, having failed to see his pit-board or the black flag, and feels a little hard done by.  Toseland said;

“I feel like the jump start was pretty harsh,” he said. “I knew it was close but I didn’t think I’d jumped the start and that early in a 32-lap race I’m not looking at my pitboard.

“I was just concentrating on catching the guy in front and the first thing I realised that I’d been penalised was when I saw the black flag and my number.

“Obviously if I’d known I’d jumped the start then I would have come in but I’ve watched the TV replay and you can’t see anything. I didn’t gain any places either so in my opinion it’s pretty harsh.”

Here are the results;

1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 44min 1.580 sec
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 44min 1.924 sec
3. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 44min 3.506 sec
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 44min 14.012 sec
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 44min 23.243 sec
6. Toni Elias SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 44min 23.621 sec
7. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 44min 31.781 sec
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 44min 34.437 sec
9. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 44min 41.905 sec
10. Marco Melandri ITA Hayate Racing Team 44min 49.608 sec
11. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 44min 50.390 sec
12. Niccolo Canepa ITA Pramac Racing 45min 20.111 sec

Disqualified;
James Toseland GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Valentino Rossi - 100th Win

Valentino Rossi rode his Fiat Yamaha over the line to claim his 100th Grand Prix win at Assen on Saturday after starting on pole position.

125cc

Sergio Gadea took the chequered flag for the Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc on Saturday in Assen, just nudging ahead of the three-way battle with Nico Terol and Julian Simón.

Mid-way through the race Gadea had caught-up with Terol and Simon who had been running at the front.  All three riders waited until the final lap to make their move with Terol running off the track to try and pass Gadea.  Terol was penalised after the race for the move and relegated to fifth, despite stepping-up onto the podium.

Bradley Smith was promoted to third place on the second Bancaja Aspar Team bike after his own battle with Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. rider Andrea Iannone, Smith’s rival for the championship.

Stefan Bradl on the Viesmann Kiefer Racing bike took seventh position followed by his fellow German Jonas Folgar in eighth for the Ongetta team.

Ajo Interwetten rider Sandro Cortese crashed out on lap 5 while in seventh place after claiming his first pole position with the team.  Danny Webb, Tomoyoshi Koyama and Cameron Beaubier also crashed out during the race.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider                 Bike     Time/Gap
 1.  Sergio Gadea          Aprilia  39m07.577s
 2.  Nicolas Terol         Aprilia  +   0.078s
 3.  Julian Simon          Aprilia  +   0.901s
 4.  Bradley Smith         Aprilia  +  12.356s
 5.  Andrea Iannone        Aprilia  +  12.400s
 6.  Stefan Bradl          Aprilia  +  20.468s
 7.  Jonas Folger          Aprilia  +  20.755s
 8.  Simone Corsi          Aprilia  +  21.263s
 9.  Pol Espargaro         Derbi    +  21.558s
10.  Marc Marquez          KTM      +  21.941s
11.  Joan Olive            Derbi    +  23.605s
12.  Efren Vazquez         Derbi    +  28.406s
13.  Dominique Aegerter    Derbi    +1m00.312s
14.  Marvin Fritz          Honda    +1m00.355s
15.  Lorenzo Zanetti       Aprilia  +1m00.615s
16.  Luis Salom            Aprilia  +1m00.629s
17.  Takaaki Nakagami      Aprilia  +1m00.997s
18.  Michael van der Mark  Honda    +1m01.030s
19.  Jasper Iwema          Honda    +1m08.795s
20.  Lukas Sembera         Aprilia  +1m09.076s
21.  Johann Zarco          Aprilia  +1m14.817s
22.  Karel Pesek           Derbi    +1m30.729s
23.  Luca Marconi          Aprilia  +1m46.244s
24.  Pepijn Bijsterbosch   Honda    +    1 lap
25.  Luca Vitali           Aprilia  +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Esteve Rabat          Aprilia  11 laps
     Tomoyoshi Koyama      Loncin    9 laps
     Cameron Beaubier      KTM       5 laps
     Sandro Cortese        Derbi     4 laps
     Randy Krummenacher    Aprilia    1 lap
     Lorenzo Savadori      Aprilia    1 lap
     Scott Redding         Aprilia    1 lap
     Alexis Masbou         Loncin     1 lap
     Danny Webb            Aprilia   0 laps

250cc

Scot Racing team rider Hiroshi Aoyama, claimed his second win of the season on Saturday and is now leading the championship.

The battle between Aoyama and Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine ended when the Japanese rider ran wide after getting it all wrong at the right-hander of the chicane.  Aoyama braked for the left-hander but Bautista ran into his back wheel, throwing the Spaniard off his bike while the Honda rider somehow managed to stay on and take the win despite a cut tyre and other damage.

Hector Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike finished in second place followed by the reigning World Champion Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera.

Aleix Espargaro crossed the line to take fourth place riding for the injured Gabor Talmacsi in the Balaton Racing team ahead of Roberto Locatelli on the second Metis Gilera.

For the third time this year Mattia Pasini for the Team Toth Aprilia left the race without any points after colliding mid-way through the race with Thomas Luthi on the Emmi – Caffe Latte machine.

Here are the results;

Pos Driver                Bike                Time
 1. Hiroshi Aoyama        Honda         40m44.008s
 2. Hector Barbera        Aprilia           +4.424
 3. Marco Simoncelli      Gilera           +10.339
 4. Aleix Espargaro       Aprilia          +11.383
 5. Roberto Locatelli     Gilera           +11.596
 6. Alex Debon            Aprilia          +14.265
 7. Karel Abraham         Aprilia          +17.982
 8. Hector Faubel         Honda            +19.012
 9. Rattapark Wilairot    Honda            +20.926
10. Raffaele de Rosa      Honda            +21.033
11. Mike di Meglio        Aprilia          +32.128
12. Lukas Pesek           Aprilia          +41.329
13. Alex Baldolini        Aprilia        +1:05.321
14. Valentin Debise       Honda          +1:12.451
15. Imre Toth             Aprilia           +1 lap
16. Vladimir Leonov       Aprilia           +1 lap

Retirements

    Alvaro Bautista       Aprilia          22 laps
    Bastien Chesaux       Honda            19 laps
    Axel Pons             Aprilia          16 laps
    Toby Markham          Honda            14 laps
    Steve Bonsey          Aprilia          13 laps
    Mattia Pasini         Aprilia          13 laps
    Thomas Luthi          Aprilia          10 laps
    Jules Cluzel          Aprilia           5 laps
    Shoya Tomizawa        Honda             0 laps

MotoGP

Valentino Rossi took his 100th Grand Prix win on Saturday after starting the race on pole position followed by team-mate Jorge Lorenzo in second place.

As the race got underway it was Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda that took the lead from second on the grid but it wasn’t long before he was passed by the master, however, Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati managed to slip past both riders before the end of the opening lap.

On the second lap, Stoner ran wide which was all that was needed for Rossi to take full advantage and retake his place at the front and disappear into the distance.

Lorenzo got a bad start from his third position grid spot and lost several places as the race began but was soon up with the front runners and right behind the Italian although he had no chance of passing, finally finishing 20 seconds behind his team-mate.

Stoner took the third step of the podium in a race where he could not match the pace of the Fiat Yamaha’s but ahead of the Monster Tech3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards. The Ducati rider is still suffering from some sort of mystery illness and was reported as being physically exhausted after the race.

Pedrosa crashed his machine on lap 5 while in fourth place at the first corner and seven laps later his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso had an identical crash at the same spot.  Fortunately, Pedrosa received no further injuries and both riders managed to walk away from their accidents.

Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki took fifth place followed by the Tech3 Yamaha of James Toseland, taking his best result so far this season after the Pramac Racing rider Mika Kallio crashed out on the final lap.

Randy de Puniet was in seventh for the LCR Honda team after having an eventful race followed by Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini.

Elias was later penalised for the illegal using the run-off area on the final lap and was relegated to twelveth place from eighth.  Elias publicily apologised to Loris Capirossi for the incident at the chicane when he ran both of them off track.

Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro took eighth place ahead of Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki and Alex de Angelis on the Gresini Honda.

The MotoGP now heads to California for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix this weekend.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider            Bike               Time/Gap
 1.  Valentino Rossi  Yamaha           42m14.611s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo    Yamaha           +   5.368s
 3.  Casey Stoner     Ducati           +  23.113s
 4.  Colin Edwards    Tech 3 Yamaha    +  29.114s
 5.  Chris Vermeulen  Suzuki           +  33.605s
 6.  James Toseland   Tech 3 Yamaha    +  39.347s
 7.  Randy de Puniet  LCR Honda        +  39.543s
 8.  Toni Elias       Gresini Honda    +  39.774s
 9.  Nicky Hayden     Ducati           +  39.823s
10.  Loris Capirossi  Suzuki           +  40.673s
11.  Alex de Angelis  Gresini Honda    +  46.100s
12.  Marco Melandri   Hayate Kawasaki  +  57.777s
13.  Sete Gibernau    Hernando Ducati  +1m05.366s
14.  Niccolo Canepa   Pramac Ducati    +1m09.897s
15.  Yuki Takahashi   Scot Honda       +1m09.930s
16.  Gabor Talmacsi   Scot Honda       +1m25.099s

Retirements:

     Mika Kallio      Pramac Ducati       25 laps
     Andrea Dovizioso Honda               10 laps
     Dani Pedrosa     Honda                4 laps

Valentino's 99th Victory

A fantastic battle between the two Fiat Yamaha riders on Sunday saw Valentino Rossi snatch the victory from Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap of the MotoGP at Catalunya.

125cc

Julian Simon must be one of the most embarrassed men in the MotoGP 125cc series today after losing his win yesterday when he crossed the line to celebrate a lap to early, handing the victory to Andrea Iannone.

Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. rider Iannone, and Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc Team rider Simón exchanged the lead countless times during the race with Simón opening a gap on the penultimate lap, however, at the start of the final lap Iannone began to celebrate despite his team holding up his pit board showing him he the race still had a lap to run.

Iannone, needless to say, took full advantage of the mistake and sailed past to take his third win of the season a Simón, finally realising his error, got swallowed-up by the group of riders battling for the final podium position.

Jack & Jones Team rider Nicolas Terol, finished in second place followed by Sergio Gadea in third but only after a photo finish decision was made between himself and his team-mate Simón, who crossed the line with equal times.

Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM Motorsport bike took fifth place ahead of Jonas Folgar on the second Ongetta Team machine and Stefan Bradl on the Viesmann Kiefer Racing bike.

In eight place was Britain’s Bradley Smith on the Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc followed in ninth place by Sandro Cortese for the Ajo Interwetten Team and Randy Krummenacher for the Degraaf Grand Prix team to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider              Bike           Time
 1.  Andrea Iannone     Aprilia  41m10.494s
 2.  Nicolas Terol      Aprilia  +   2.245s
 3.  Sergio Gadea       Aprilia  +   2.330s
 4.  Julian Simon       Aprilia  +   2.331s
 5.  Marc Marquez       KTM      +   2.356s
 6.  Jonas Folger       Aprilia  +   2.531s
 7.  Stefan Bradl       Aprilia  +  10.795s
 8.  Bradley Smith      Aprilia  +  10.824s
 9.  Sandro Cortese     Derbi    +  14.984s
10.  R.Krummenacher     Aprilia  +  15.089s
11.  Scott Redding      Aprilia  +  16.427s
12.  Esteve Rabat       Aprilia  +  16.515s
13.  Johann Zarco       Aprilia  +  27.455s
14.  Joan Olive         Derbi    +  27.712s
15.  Takaaki Nakagami   Aprilia  +  28.411s
16.  Simone Corsi       Aprilia  +  33.697s
17.  Tomoyoshi Koyama   Loncin   +  42.581s
18.  Cameron Beaubier   KTM      +  48.847s
19.  Alberto Moncayo    Aprilia  +  49.532s
20.  D.Agerter          Derbi    +  49.772s
21.  Jasper Iwema       Honda    +1m02.666s
22.  Sturla Fagerhaug   KTM      +1m15.215s
23.  Johnny Rosell      Aprilia  +1m21.568s
24.  Luca Marconi       Aprilia  +1m37.919s
25.  Jordi Dalmau       Honda    +1 Lap
26.  Luca Vitali        Aprilia  +2 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider              Bike       Laps
     Lorenzo Savadori   Aprilia     16
     Luis Salom         Honda       13
     Daniel Webb        Aprilia     11
     Lorenzo Zanetti    Aprilia     10
     Pol Espargaro      Derbi        5
     Alexis Masbou      Loncin       5
     Lukas Sembera      Aprilia      4
     Efren Vazquez      Derbi        1

FASTEST LAP: Marquez, 1m51.175s on lap 7

250cc

Alvaro Bautista, on the Mapfre Aspar Team bike, dominated his home Grand Prix yesterday after taking the lead from lap 3 and remaining at the front until he crossed the line to take the chequered flag, increasing his lead in the World Championship.

Marco Simoncelli crashed his Metis Gilera on the second lap of the race and retired, claiming a mechanical problem but bringing a huge cheer from the Spanish crowd after his clash with Bautista in the last round saw him fined for dangerous riding.

Hiroshi Aoyama on the Scot Racing Team Honda claimed second place, seven-seconds behind the leader but after having snatched the lead from Héctor Barbera on the Pepe World Team bike on the final lap.

Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia took fourth place ahead of Alex Debon on the Aeropuerto-Castello Blusens in fifth and Thomas Luthi on the Caffe Latte Team bike in sixth.

In seventh place was Ratthapak Wilairot on the Thai Honda Sag bike followed by Karel Abraham for Cardion AB Motoracing, Raffaele De Rosa on the Scot Racing Team bike in ninth and Hector Faubel on the Pepe World Team machine completing the top ten.

Roberto Localtelli on the Metis Gilera crashed out on lap 15 after a fantastic race saw him come from sixteenth on the grid to fourth place.

Mike Di Meglio on the Mapfre Aspar Team machine had been running in seventh place on lap 14 until he took a trip through the gravel, finally finishing down in fourteenth.

Here are the results;

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider              Bike           Time
 1.  Alvaro Bautista    Aprilia  41m09.018s
 2.  Hiroshi Aoyama     Honda    +   7.185s
 3.  Hector Barbera     Aprilia  +   7.282s
 4.  Mattia Pasini      Aprilia  +  10.784s
 5.  Alex Debon         Aprilia  +  15.740s
 6.  Thomas Luthi       Aprilia  +  15.780s
 7.  R.Wilairot         Honda    +  28.654s
 8.  Karel Abraham      Aprilia  +  31.600s
 9.  Raffaele De Rosa   Honda    +  33.760s
10.  Hector Faubel      Honda    +  33.843s
11.  Jules Cluzel       Aprilia  +  34.871s
12.  Lukas Pesek        Aprilia  +  35.117s
13.  Alex Baldolini     Aprilia  +  39.840s
14.  Mike Di Meglio     Aprilia  +  42.821s
15.  Steve Bonsey       Aprilia  +1m16.524s
16.  Axel Pons          Aprilia  +1m16.689s
17.  Valentin Debise    Honda    +1m28.826s
18.  Balazs Nemeth      Aprilia  +1m39.488s
19.  Bastien Chesaux    Honda    +1m47.958s
20.  Vladimir Leonov    Aprilia  +1 Lap
21.  Toby Markham       Honda    +1 Lap

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider              Bike       Laps
     Imre Toth          Aprilia     21
     R.Locatelli        Gilera      14
     Shoya Tomizawa     Honda       13
     Marco Simoncelli   Gilera       6

FASTEST LAP: Bautista, 1m46.656s on lap 9

MotoGP

What a race!  Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo thrilled the crowd of almost 90,000 fans yesterday as they dominated the Catalunya MotoGP on their Fiat Yamaha machines.

With three laps of the race to run, Rossi passed Lorenzo on the first corner but by the following lap the Spanish rider reclaimed his lead as they ran side by side down the straight, but Rossi out-braked him and Lorenzo was once again sat behind the Italian.

At the beginning of the last lap, Lorenzo took the lead with Rossi running wide as he tried to re-pass .  Not to be deterred,  Rossi stuck on Lorenzo’s tail and snatched the victory on the final corner of the final lap.

Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro claimed the final step of the podium, more than eight seconds behind the Yamaha’s but had been having his own battle holding back the Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso who finished in fourth place just 0.52s behind.

Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki battled with the injured Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa on the second Repsol Honda for fifth place with the Italian finally holding the place.

Colin Edwards finished in seventh place on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha followed by Randy De Puniet on the LCR Honda in eighth, Mika Kallio for Pramac Racing in ninth and Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro in tenth place.

Yuki Takahashi on the Scot Racing Team machine, crashed out on the first lap of the race when he tried to pass the Rizla Sukuki of Chris Vermeulen. The Japanese rider broke his little finger in the incident and will not be taking part in the testing today.

Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini, had qualified in fifth place on the grid but crashed out on lap 10 of the race while running in eleventh.

Meanwhile, Gabor Talmacsi, the 125cc World Champion, was also on track for the Scot Racing team, fuelling rumours that he is to be a replacement for Takahashi, despite the teams protest that they are to run with two riders for the rest of the season.  Talmacsi finished in seventeenth place, he may have been the last over the line but he still completed the race unlike his team-mate.

The majority of the riders were too remain at the circuit today for a test session running from 10am until 6pm.  As previously mentioned, Takahashi will not be taking part in the session and neither will Dani Pedrosa due to fatigue.

Here are the results;

CLASSIFIED:

Pos  Rider             Bike            Time
 1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    43m11.897s
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    +   0.095s
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    +   8.884s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     +   8.936s
 5.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    +  19.831s
 6.  Daniel Pedrosa    Honda     +  22.182s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    +  23.547s
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     +  25.265s
 9.  Mika Kallio       Ducati    +  31.797s
10.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati    +  33.593s
11.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    +  36.683s
12.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     +  36.874s
13.  James Toseland    Yamaha    +  39.433s
14.  Marco Melandri    Kawasaki  +  44.788s
15.  Sete Gibernau     Ducati    +  46.754s
16.  Niccolo Canepa    Ducati    +  55.873s
17.  Gabor Talmacsi    Honda     +1m27.640s

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider             Bike       Laps
     Toni Elias        Honda         9
     Yuki Takahashi    Honda         0

FASTEST LAP: Stoner, 1m42.858s on lap 2

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

Jorge Lorenzo

Last weekend saw the MotoGP riders heading to a rain-soaked Le Mans circuit in France with Jorge Lorenzo taking the victory for the Fiat Yamaha team.

125cc

For the first time since 2005 Julián Simón claimed the win for the Bancaja Aspar Team in dismal weather conditions at the Sunday 125cc race.

The Spaniard had qualified in seventh place but won the race with a 27 second lead over second place man, 15-year-old Jonas Folger for the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. machine.

Many of the riders crashed-out as they struggled for grip on the water-logged circuit, including some of the leading names.

Sergio Gadea on the Bancaja Aspar bike took the third place after snatching it from his team-mate Bradley Smith with only three laps left to run.

Takaaki Nakagami, team-mate of second place man, finished in fifth place after qualifying in 31st place while the Ajo Interwetten rider Dominique Aegerter, claimed sixth despite crashing midway through the race.

Another crash victim was Andrea Iannone for the Ongetta team, who went down with the Aprilia on the opening lap, putting him to the back of the field, but an impressive ride saw him work his way back to seventh place.

In eighth place was Efren Vazquez on the Derbi Racing Team bike followed by Nicolas Terol on the Jack & Jones Aprilia and Lorenzo Zanetti for the Ongetta team in tenth place.

Out of the 33 riders that were on the grid for the start of the race, only 15 of those riders crossed the line to take the chequered flag,

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider              Bike      Time
 1.  Julian Simon       Aprilia   47m08.273s
 2.  Jonas Folger       Aprilia   +  27.084s
 3.  Sergio Gadea       Aprilia   +  30.916s
 4.  Bradley Smith      Aprilia   +  31.530s
 5.  Takaaki Nakagami   Aprilia   +1m09.235s
 6.  D.Aegerter         Derbi     +1m12.223s
 7.  Andrea Iannone     Aprilia   +1m13.063s
 8.  Efrén Vazquez      Derbi     +1m19.912s
 9.  Nicolas Terol      Aprilia   +1m40.036s
10.  Lorenzo Zanetti    Aprilia   +1m42.700s
11.  Esteve Rabat       Aprilia   +1m59.326s
12.  Sandro Cortese     Derbi     + 1 Lap
13.  Jasper Iwema       Honda     + 1 Lap
14.  Gregory Di Carlo   Honda     + 1 Lap
15.  R.Krummenacher     Aprilia   + 2 Laps

NOT CLASSIFIED/RETIREMENTS:

     Rider              Bike      Laps
     Lorenzo Savadori   Aprilia    16
     Stefan Bradl       Aprilia    14
     Scott Redding      Aprilia    13
     Tomoyoshi Koyama   Loncin     10
     Luca Vitali        Aprilia    10
     Cameron Beaubier   KTM         8
     Lukas Sembera      Aprilia     8
     Marc Marquez       KTM         8
     Johann Zarco       Aprilia     8
     Sturla Fagerhaug   KTM         6
     Joan Olive         Derbi       5
     Pol Espargaro      Derbi       5
     Daniel Webb        Aprilia     4
     Steven Le Coquen   Honda       4
     Simone Corsi       Aprilia     2
     Alexis Masbou      Loncin      2
     Cyril Carrillo     Honda       1
     Luca Marconi       Aprilia     0

FASTEST LAP: Smith, 1m56.188s on lap 24

250cc

The weather hadn’t improved for the 250cc race but that didn’t seem to be a problem for the Metis Gilera rider Marco Simoncelli, who dominated the race to take the win by an 18 second gap.

Hector Barbera on the Pepe World Team machine claimed his first podium finish after taking second ahead of Simoncelli’s team-mate Roberto Locatelli in third.

In fourth place was the Spaniard Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar Team bike followed by Ratthapark Wilairot on the Thai Honda PTT SAG bike in fifth.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider                Bike     Time
 1.  Marco Simoncelli     Gilera   49m07.591s
 2.  Hector Faubel        Honda    +  18.128s
 3.  Roberto Locatelli    Gilera   +  21.642s
 4.  Alvaro Bautista      Aprilia  +  31.087s
 5.  Ratthapark Wilairot  Honda    +  50.497s
 6.  Raffaele de Rosa     Honda    +  56.366s
 7.  Lukas Pesek          Aprilia  +1m16.025s
 8.  Hiroshi Aoyama       Honda    +1m22.882s
 9.  Imre Toth            Aprilia  +1m35.556s
10.  Vladimir Leonov      Aprilia  +1m47.990s
11.  Hector Barbera       Aprilia  +    1 lap
12.  Karel Abraham        Aprilia  +    1 lap
13.  Valentin Debise      Honda    +    1 lap
14.  Toby Markham         Honda    +    1 lap

Retirements:

     Alex Debon           Aprilia  21 laps
     Alex Baldolini       Aprilia  18 laps
     Thomas Luthi         Aprilia  18 laps
     Mike di Meglio       Aprilia  10 laps
     Mattia Pasini        Aprilia  4 laps
     Axel Pons            Aprilia  3 laps
     Aitor Rodriguez      Aprilia  3 laps
     Angel Rodriguez      Aprilia  2 laps
     Shoya Tomizawa       Honda    1 lap
     Bastien Chesaux      Honda    0 laps

MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo on the Fiat Yamaha took the victory at Le Mans yesterday followed by an impressive Marco Melandri in second place for the Hayate Racing Team.

Lorenzo dominated the circuit on Sunday after swapping bikes midway through the race as the track began to dry.

As the riders left the pit lane, they were on wet tyres seeing many of them returning to take their second bikes fitted with slicks as parts of the circuit began to dry.

Valentino Rossi actually changed his machine three times during the chaotic race, as well as a drive-through penalty and a crash, leaving  him down in last place.

Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda finished in third place after passing his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in the final moments.

Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro finished in fifth place ahead of Chris Vermeulen in sixth on the Rizla Suzuki and Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha in seventh.

In eighth place was the second Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi followed by James Toseland on the second Monster Tech 3 and Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini machine completing the top ten.

A disappointing race for the LCR Honda team after Randy de Puniet could only manage a fourteenth place.  After coming into his pit garage to take the bike with slick tyres, de Puniet went on to make a mistake going into turn four and lost valuable time.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time
 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           47m52.678s
 2.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  +  17.710s
 3.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            +  19.893s
 4.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            +  20.455s
 5.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           +  30.539s
 6.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           +  37.462s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    +  40.191s
 8.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           +  45.421s
 9.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    +  50.307s
10.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    +  53.218s
11.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    +  53.550s
12.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           +  56.647s
13.  Yuki Takahashi    Scot Honda       +  56.688s
14.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        +1m11.299s
15.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    +1m15.385s
16.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           +   2 laps

Retirements:

     Mika Kallio       Pramac Ducati    11 laps