Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha 2010

The Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo is now leading the championship following his win at the Le Mans MotoGP at the weekend.

Valentino Rossi led the pack for the first eleven laps of the race after getting ahead of the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa while Lorenzo slotted into third place and the two Marlboro Ducati’s of Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner were running in fourth and fifth.

Lorenzo soon passed Pedrosa as Stoner put his foot down to get past his team-mate and move into fourth and chase down the Honda.  Stoner was on the tail of Pedrosa when he crashed out for the second time in the last three races.

The two Fiat Yamaha’s led the field ahead of Pedrosa as Lorenzo attempted a pass on his team-mate on lap 7.  Rossi immediately retook his position but only for another four laps when the Spaniard made his move stick and shot off into the distance.

Pedrosa was then left to fight off his challenging team-mate Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden for his third spot on the podium.  With only 5 laps of the race to go the pair were on the Spaniard and looking for a way past which Dovizioso managed and the chance for Hayden came on the final lap as Pedrosa ran wide as his tyres wore down gifting Hayden took his opportunity to grab that fourth place.

Here are the results;

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

The MotoGP cost cutting goes a bit further than expected!

The provisional MotoGP Calendar has now been released by the FIM for the MotoGP World Championship of 2010, and hopefully all teams and riders will be on the grid as the economic crisis continues.

Date – Grand Prix – Circuit:
11 April – Qatar* – Losail
25 April – Japan – Motegi
2 May – Spain – Jerez
16 May – France – Le Mans
30 May – Italy – Mugello
6 June - Great Britain – Silverstone
26 June – Netherlands** – Assen
4 July – Catalunya – Catalunya
18 July - Germany – Sachsenring
25 July - United States*** – Laguna Seca
15 August – Czech Republic – Brno
29 August – Indianapolis – Indianapolis
12 September - San Marino & Riviera di Rimini – Misano
19 September - Hungary – Balatonring
10 October – Malaysia – Sepang
17 October – Australia - Phillip Island
31 October – Portugal – Estoril
7 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia

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

In the event that one of the circuits is not able to comply with the requirements to hold the scheduled Grand Prix, the Motorland Aragon Circuit would host a reserve “event” on the same day.

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

Valentino Rossi

This weekend the MotoGP series is in France at the Le Mans circuit for the fourth round of the championship and Valentino Rossi has been wowing the crowds with a visit to the country’s capital.

Rossi took to the streets of Paris on the Monster Energy Yamaha R1 on Thursday, meeting fans, pulling wheelies and doing a burn-out by the Eiffel Tower, much to the spectators enjoyment.

Rossi is hoping to win his 99th Grand Prix this weekend after his first victory of the 2009 season last time out in Jerez.  He is currently leading the championship by 11 points ahead of Casey Stoner, with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Spain’s Dani Pedrosa running in joint third place.

The Pramac Racing’s Niccoló Canepa, celebrated his 21st birthday yesterday and was surprised by a cake from his team in the pit garage.

Meanwhile, the 250cc rider, Gabor Talmacasi will not be racing this weekend after it was announced that a disagreement had taken place with his team and his contract with the Aspar group has now been cancelled.

Talmacsi had moved to the Balaton Racing Team 250cc for this season under the supervision of Aspar, but his management company have stated a ” lack of a second bike” and the “changing of one-sided media representation rights” for the reasons behind the termination of the contract.

The provisional calendar for the 2009 MotoGP has been revealed with China being dropped and replaced by a new race in Hungary.

The Chinese Grand Prix which holds the MotoGP event at the Shanghai International Circuit, has been removed after only running the race for four years.

The calendar remains with eighteen races, starting again at the Losail circuit in Qatar, which featured the first night race.

Next year’s calendar will not start until April, unlike this year when it began in March.  The Japanese round will now be featured in April as the second round instead of September, and the Portugal race will be in October instead of April.

Donington Park will continue with it’s round for the British MotoGP, although it is thought there maybe some problems as the track will be under construction in readiness for the Formula One British Grand Prix, which is to be held at the circuit in 2010.

Here is the provisional calendar;

April 12th – Qatar, Losail (Evening Race)

April 16th – Japan, Motegi

May 3rd – Spain, Jerez

May 17th – France, Le Mans

May 31st – Italy, Mugello

June 14th – Catalunya, Catalunya

June 27th – Netherlands, Assen (Saturday Race)

July 5th – United States, Laguna Seca (MotoGP Class only)

July 19th – Germany, Sachsenring

July 26th – Great Britain, Donington Park

August 16th – Czech Republic, Brno

August 30th – Indianapolis, Indianapolis

September 13th – San Marino, Misano

September 20th – Hungary, Balaton

October 4th – Portugal, Estoril

October 18th – Australia, Phillip Island

October 25th, Malaysia, Sepang

November 8th – Valencia, Ricardo Tormo Valencia

Rossi, who won the Le Mans Grand Prix on Sunday, was testing out some new settings on the Fiat Yamaha and also continuing to test with the Bridgestone tyres.

Davide Brivio, Yamaha Team Manager said “It was a nice quiet day on track today and it was good to have the chance to work in such a relaxed atmosphere, without so many other riders around.  We finished quite early but we managed to get a lot of important work done, both on tyres with Bridgestone and on the general set-up of our bike with the next few races in mind.  We tested more different tyres and also made some experiments with different settings, trying to collect as much information as possible to help us to continue to improve.  The next eight weeks brings six races in close succession and so we need to be at the top of our game!  Valentino did a very good time with a race tyre this afternoon so it’s clear we’re working well, and now we’re leaving Le Mans with some great memories and with everyone feeling positive and motivated for the busiest stage of the season.”

Rossi completed 44 laps for the team on Tuesday and set a best time of 1:33.882, which was 0.333 seconds quicker than the fastest lap of the race on Sunday set by the Italian rider on his 90th winning race.

The reigning World Champion Casey Stoner, was the second fastest man testing.  The team finished their testing early after the engineers discovered the component that caused the breakdown of the Ducati’s engine on Sunday ending Stoner’s race.  The team decided it would be better not to test in the afternoon session to avoid further damage to other engines.

The engineers back at the teams factory will now replace this component before the next race at Mugello on the 1 June.  Stoner had already completed the majority of the work the team had planned before their early finish along with team-mate Marco Melandri, although he had only completed a handful of laps on the second day and finished in fourth place behind the HRC Test team rider Erwan Nigon.

Nieto donned black leathers with ‘Bravo Valentino 90′ on the front and jumped on Rossi’s bike to take him back to the pits on his parade lap, while Rossi waved a flag with ‘90+90′ on.

Rossi now leads the Moto GP Championship by three points ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo who are both on 94 points after yesterdays race.

Dani Pedrosa on the Honda, led the race at the start but was soon passed by Casey Stoner who started in third on the grid for the Ducati Marlboro team.

Britain’s James Toseland crashed out on lap 3 when he tangled with Andrea Dovizioso after being in third place which ended his race while the Fiat Yamaha bike of Rossi’s moved up into second place behind Stoner.

Rossi passed Stoner while Pedrosa tried to steal that second place slot off of the Ducati Marlboro rider.  The amazing Lorenzo moved up to sixth place while Rossi increased the gap in the lead to almost a second.

Lap 11 saw Pedrosa move ahead of Stoner and Edwards tried to follow Pedrosa but ran wide and the young Spaniard snatched back his third place.

Further down the field, Nicky Hayden on the Honda ran wide and went off track, he kept the bike upright but allowed John Hopkins on the Kawasaki Racing machine to move up a place.

Lorenzo passed Chris Vermeulen for fifth place and then the rain that blighted the 125cc session earlier in the day returned to the track bringing out the white flags and lots of preparations begin in the pit lane ready for the riders to change their bikes to the wet weather set-ups.

The chain flew off the bike of John Hopkins and went across the track ending his race while Lorenzo passed Colin Edwards to take third place.

With only eight laps to go, Stoner developed a mechanical problem on his bike which saw him retire from the race and moved the outstanding Lorenzo, who can barely walk, up into second position.

Rossi had built-up a lead of almost 10 seconds with 6 laps to go and Edwards passed Pedrosa to take that final podium place while Randy de Puniet in tenth place, passed Shinya Nakano for ninth position.

With the two front runners miles ahead of the others, Edwards and Pedrosa were stuck together to battle for that third place but Edwards was determined to hold onto it.

Another exciting race and only a two weeks break until the next round at the Mugello circuit in Italy on Sunday June 1.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  44:30.799
 2.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  +   4.997
 3.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  +   6.805
 4.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  +  10.157
 5.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  +  21.762
 6.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  +  22.395
 7.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  +  27.806
 8.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  +  27.995
 9.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  +  29.344
10.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  +  30.822
11.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  +  35.154
12.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  +  36.216
13.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  +  52.038
14.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  +1:29.307
15.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  +   1 lap
16.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  +  2 laps

Retirements:

     Rider             Bike           Laps
     John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  16
     James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  2

250cc 

Alex Debon won the 250cc Grand Prix after leading every lap after starting on pole position yesterday.  He did not get a good start but by the end of the first lap he dominated the race.

After a damp start, Debon seemed to have made the right choice by opting for the slick tyres ahead of  Marco Simoncelli. 

Simoncelli and Mattia Pasini were battling for that second place with Pasini looking as if it would be his.  With only four laps to go he overtook Yuki Takahashi, but two laps later Simoncelli did the same and then chased after Pasini eventually taking him on the last corner of the last lap while setting the fastest lap of the race.

Takahashi had to be content with fourth place ahead of Mika Kallio and Manuel Poggiali.  They were followed by Hiroshi Aoyama, although eight seconds behind and Julian Simon.

Finishing off the top ten but by another 15 second gap were Aleix Espargaro and Hector Faubel.

Alvaro Bautista had a disastrous race after starting badly and never really picking up the pace to finish way back in fourteenth place.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Alex Debon        Aprilia  47:27.406
 2.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera   +   4.816
 3.  Mattia Pasini     Aprilia  +   4.998
 4.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda    +   5.770
 5.  Mika Kallio       KTM      +   6.197
 6.  Manuel Poggiali   Gilera   +   6.474
 7.  Hiroshi Aoyama    KTM      +  14.909
 8.  Julian Simon      KTM      +  17.526
 9.  Aleix Espargaro   Aprilia  +  32.925
10.  Hector Faubel     Aprilia  +  36.719
11.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia  +  48.968
12.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia  +  56.837
13.  R.Locatelli       Gilera   +  57.827
14.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia  +1:05.407
15.  R.Wilairot        Honda    +1:24.336
16.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia  +1:24.577
17.  Federico Sandi    Aprilia  +   1 lap
18.  Imre Toth         Aprilia  +   1 lap
19.  Russell Gomez     Aprilia  +   1 lap

Retirements:

     Rider             Bike     Laps
     Karel Abraham     Aprilia  24
     D.T.Pradita       Yamaha   24
     Lukas Pesek       Aprilia  21
     Fabrizio Lai      Gilera   13
     Eugene Laverty    Aprilia  11

125cc 

At his home race, the French rider Mike di Meglio took the win for the 125cc Grand Prix and is now leading the Championship.

The race was red flagged on lap 15 out of the 24 scheduled laps as the rain began to fall, making the track far to dangerous to continue.  The race was restarted 25 minutes later and the riders took their grid places in the same positions from which it was stopped.

Joan Olive who had been leading when the race was stopped got away poorly for the restart and fell back down the field  allowing Esteve Rabat to take the lead but not for long.  On the second corner Rabat slid across the track leaving the position open for Nicolas Terol who was then passed by Gabor Talmacsi.

On the second lap, Talmacsi had started to build a gap but fell off on the last corner moving him back to twenty-first place.  Terol retook the lead followed by British Bradley Smith and di Meglio.

Smith then took Terol on the third lap and then di Meglio did the same.  Di Meglio was then chasing Smith and on the penultimate lap he claimed the front position to take the victory in front of his home crowd.

Smith came in second with his careers best finish so far, followed by Terol in third place.  Espargaro was in fourth place with Andrea Iannone in fifth and Bradl in sixth.

Here are the results;

Pos Rider                 Bike             Time
 1. Mike Di Meglio        Derbi       10:08.574
 2. Bradley Smith         Aprilia        +0.800
 3. Nicolas Terol         Aprilia        +3.077
 4. Pol Espargaro         Derbi         +10.407
 5. Andrea Iannone        Aprilia       +11.697
 6. Stefan Bradl          Aprilia       +11.881
 7. Lorenzo Zanetti       KTM           +16.372
 8. Joan Olive            Derbi         +16.545
 9. Raffaele De Rosa      KTM           +19.163
10. Randy Krummenacher    KTM           +22.391
11. Sandro Cortese        Aprilia       +22.847
12. Pere Tutusaus         Aprilia       +23.195
13. Simone Corsi          Aprilia       +23.553
14. Gabor Talmacsi        Aprilia       +23.695
15. Alexis Masbou         Loncin        +24.240
16. Takaaki Nakagami      Aprilia       +26.196
17. Esteve Rabat          KTM           +26.411
18. Roberto Lacalendola   Aprilia       +26.895
19. Louis Rossi           Honda         +27.446
20. Sergio Gadea          Aprilia       +31.829
21. Daniel Webb           Aprilia       +34.810
22. Robert Muresan        Aprilia       +35.190
23. Dominque Agerter      Derbi         +47.840

Not classified

    Michael Ranseder      Aprilia        4 laps
    Robin Lasser          Aprilia        2 laps
    Steven Le Coquen      Honda           1 lap
    Gioele Pellino        Loncin          1 lap
    Scott Redding         Aprilia        0 laps
    Steve Bonsey          Aprilia        0 laps
    Tomoyoshi Koyama      KTM            0 laps
    Marc Marquez          KTM            0 laps
    Stefano Bianco        Aprilia        0 laps
    Efren Vazquez         Aprilia        0 laps
    Pablo Nieto           KTM            0 laps
    Hugovan den Berg      Aprilia        0 laps
    Cyril Carrillo        Honda          0 laps
    Tobias Siegert        Aprilia        0 laps

Dani Pedrosa claimed his first pole position of the season today on the Repsol Honda with a time of 1:32.647 in the final minute of the session ahead of Colin Edwards on the Yamaha Tech-3.

Casey Stoner came in third fastest to complete the front row of the grid for tomorrows Le Mans Moto GP with Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha starting on the second row.

Rossi is joined by his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and the second Repsol Honda rider, Nicky Hayden in sixth. Chris Vermeulen starts the third row on the Rizla Suzuki alongside John Hopkins for Kawasaki Racing and James Toseland on the Yamaha Tech-3.

The fourth row consists of Andrea Dovizioso for the JiR Scot team with Loris Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki and Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda.

There is only seven points between Dani Pedrosa who is leading the Moto GP Championship and Jorge Lorenzo the rookie rider of 2008, who done well to qualify where he did, but he’s still not looking comfortable out on track.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  1:32.647
 2.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:32.774  + 0.127
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:32.994  + 0.347
 4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:33.157  + 0.510
 5.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:33.269  + 0.622
 6.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:33.286  + 0.639
 7.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:33.396  + 0.749
 8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:33.400  + 0.793
 9.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  1:33.628  + 0.981
10.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:33.689  + 1.042
11.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:33.707  + 1.060
12.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:33.723  + 1.076
13.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:34.077  + 1.430
14.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  1:34.561  + 1.914
15.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:34.670  + 2.023
16.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:34.747  + 2.100
17.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:35.082  + 2.434
18.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.349  + 2.702

250cc

Alex Debon claimed the pole position on the Aprilia at the very last moment ahead of Alvaro Bautista for tomorrows French Grand Prix.

Italian rider Marco Simoncelli was in third place on the Gilera followed by another two Aprilia riders, Thomas Luthi and Mattia Pasini.

In sixth and seventh places were the two KTM riders Mika Kallio and Julian Simon respectively. Manuel Poggaili on the Gilera was in eighth with Aleix Espargaro on the Aprilia in ninth and Hiroshi Aoyama in tenth.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike      Time
 1.  Alex Debon        Aprilia   1:38.478
 2.  Alvaro Bautista   Aprilia   1:38.479 + 0.001
 3.  Marco Simoncelli  Gilera    1:38.567 + 0.089
 4.  Thomas Luthi      Aprilia   1:38.648 + 0.170
 5.  Mattia Pasini     Aprilia   1:38.788 + 0.310
 6.  Mika Kallio       KTM       1:38.790 + 0.312
 7.  Julian Simon      KTM       1:39.051 + 0.573
 8.  Manuel Poggiali   Gilera    1:39.064 + 0.586
 9.  Aleix Espargaro   Aprilia   1:39.184 + 0.706
10.  Hiroshi Aoyama    KTM       1:39.197 + 0.719
11.  Hector Barbera    Aprilia   1:39.312 + 0.834
12.  Yuki Takahashi    Honda     1:39.446 + 0.968
13.  Hector Faubel     Aprilia   1:39.450 + 0.972
14.  Fabrizio Lai      Gilera    1:39.724 + 1.246
15.  Lukas Pesek       Aprilia   1:39.798 + 1.320
16.  R.Wilairot        Honda     1:39.924 + 1.446
17.  R.Locatelli       Gilera    1:40.171 + 1.693
18.  Eugene Laverty    Aprilia   1:40.325 + 1.847
19.  Karel Abraham     Aprilia   1:40.455 + 1.977
20.  Federico Sandi    Aprilia   1:40.595 + 2.117
21.  Alex Baldolini    Aprilia   1:40.605 + 2.127
22.  Imre Toth         Aprilia   1:41.365 + 2.887
23.  Russell Gomez     Aprilia   1:42.820 + 4.342
24.  D.T.Pradita       Yamaha    1:42.847 + 4.369
25.  Chow Ho Wan       Aprilia   1:45.655 + 7.177

125cc

Sergio Gadea took the pole position for the 125cc qualifying session today ahead of the British Bradley Smith, who was the only one of the front row riders to improve on yesterdays times.

In third and fourth places were Stefan Bradl and Simone Corsi followed by fifth place man Sandro Cortese. In sixth place was Mike de Maglio the first rider not to be on an Aprilia followed by Nicolas Terol and Gabor Talmacsi.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike     Time
 1.  Sergio Gadea      Aprilia  1:43.515
 2.  Bradley Smith     Aprilia  1:43.540  + 0.025
 3.  Stefan Bradl      Aprilia  1:43.710  + 0.195
 4.  Simone Corsi      Aprilia  1:43.711  + 0.196
 5.  Sandro Cortese    Aprilia  1:43.811  + 0.296
 6.  Mike Di Meglio    Derbi    1:43.956  + 0.441
 7.  Nicolas Terol     Aprilia  1:44.116  + 0.601
 8.  Gabor Talmacsi    Aprilia  1:44.210  + 0.695
 9.  Esteve Rabat      KTM      1:44.344  + 0.829
10.  Pol Espargaro     Derbi    1:44.485  + 0.970
11.  Joan Olive        Derbi    1:44.532  + 1.017
12.  Scott Redding     Aprilia  1:44.793  + 1.278
13.  Steve Bonsey      Aprilia  1:44.852  + 1.337
14.  Tomoyoshi Koyama  KTM      1:44.864  + 1.349
15.  Daniel Webb       Aprilia  1:44.874  + 1.359
16.  Michael Ranseder  Aprilia  1:44.893  + 1.378
17.  Raffaele De Rosa  KTM      1:44.945  + 1.430
18.  Andrea Iannone    Aprilia  1:45.006  + 1.491
19.  Alexis Masbou     Loncin   1:45.152  + 1.637
20.  Marc Marquez      KTM      1:45.250  + 1.735
21.  Stefano Bianco    Aprilia  1:45.268  + 1.753
22.  Takaaki Nakagami  Aprilia  1:45.273  + 1.758
23.  Lorenzo Zanetti   KTM      1:45.361  + 1.846
24.  Efren Vazquez     Aprilia  1:45.454  + 1.939
25.  Pablo Nieto       KTM      1:45.541  + 2.026
26.  H.van den Berg    Aprilia  1:45.864  + 2.349
27.  D.Agerter         Derbi    1:46.015  + 2.500
28.  Robert Muresan    Aprilia  1:46.140  + 2.625
29.  Pere Tutusaus     Aprilia  1:46.416  + 2.901
30.  R.Krummenacher    KTM      1:46.569  + 3.054
31.  Steven Le Coquen  Honda    1:46.645  + 3.130
32.  Cyril Carrillo    Honda    1:47.185  + 3.670
33.  Robin Lässer      Aprilia  1:47.259  + 3.744
34.  Louis Rossi       Honda    1:47.330  + 3.815
35.  Gioele Pellino    Loncin   1:47.371  + 3.856
36.  R.Lacalendola     Aprilia  1:47.854  + 4.339
37.  Valentin Debise   KTM      1:48.298  + 4.783
38.  Tobias Siegert    Aprilia  1:50.021  + 6.506

In the first session Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda edged out his rival Jorge Lorenzo on the Fiat Yamaha by just under a three-tenths of a second followed by Valentino Rossi in third place on the second Fiat Yamaha.

Casey Stoner finished fifth quickest on the Ducati Marlboro ahead of Colin Edwards on the Tech-3 Yamaha and Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki.

Here are the times for the Free Practice 1;

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  1:34.227
 2.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:34.276  + 0.049
 3.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:34.287  + 0.060
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:34.487  + 0.260
 5.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:34.630  + 0.403
 6.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:34.959  + 0.732
 7.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:35.047  + 0.840
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:35.073  + 0.846
 9.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.133  + 0.906
10.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:35.239  + 1.012
11.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:35.256  + 1.029
12.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:35.378  + 1.151
13.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:35.450  + 1.223
14.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:35.678  + 1.451
15.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:35.848  + 1.621
16.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.877  + 1.650
17.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  1:36.039  + 1.812
18.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:36.414  + 2.187

In the second session Pedrosa carried on from where he left off but kindly let Edwards take the lead until the last five minutes when stoner took a turn at the front but, Pedrosa didn’t let him stay there for long and in the final moments regained his place in the lead.

Jorge Lorenzo, who had been amazing, bearing in mind his injuries, took fourth place but just before the end of the session he fell on the exit of turn one.  He was immediately on his feet although looking a bit wobbly, but was stretchered off the track.

After the session Lorenzo said to Eurosport “The first thing I did when I crashed this afternoon was to stand up in order to check that I hadn’t done any more damage!  Luckily it’s okay and I don’t think I have made anything worse and at the moment I don’t need to have any more injections, which is better for me.  The pain in my ankles is not so bad and to ride is okay, the main problem is that I am lacking the confidence that I know I should have, but I just need to keep thinking positively and I am sure that this will come soon.”

Chris Vermeulen took fifth place on the Rizla Suzuki followed by Valentino Rossi on the Fiat Yamaha.  Randy de Puniet was in eighth place behind Shinya Nakano.

Here are the times for Free Practice 2;

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
 1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  1:34.227
 2.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:34.276  + 0.049
 3.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:34.287  + 0.060
 4.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:34.487  + 0.260
 5.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:34.630  + 0.403
 6.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:34.959  + 0.732
 7.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:35.047  + 0.840
 8.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:35.073  + 0.846
 9.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.133  + 0.906
10.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:35.239  + 1.012
11.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:35.256  + 1.029
12.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:35.378  + 1.151
13.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:35.450  + 1.223
14.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:35.678  + 1.451
15.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:35.848  + 1.621
16.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.877  + 1.650
17.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  1:36.039  + 1.812
18.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:36.414  + 2.187