Spies Chasing Lorenzo At Silverstone 2010

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

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

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

Valentino Rossi 2010

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

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

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

Rossi said;

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

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

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

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

Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha

Valentino Rossi underwent a second operation on Monday at the Centro Traumatologico Ortopeico hospital in Florence to close the wound following the initial surgery to repair his fractured right tibia.

The Fiat Yamaha rider crashed out during the practice session at Mugello, where he was thrown into the air before landing badly resulting in the break to his leg.

After undergoing surgery the same day the wound was left open until Monday with the doctor involved being pleased following the operations.

There is still no word on who will replace the Italian while he recuperates or how long that recuperation is expected to take.  As Rossi’s communications manager has pointed out, Rossi is irreplaceable.

If the Italian news reports are to be believed, Rossi could be out for the rest of the season or at best be back on his seat within 40 days but his bike is expected to be off the grid for at least the next two rounds of the championship as a mark of respect to Rossi.

Colin Edwards

The ‘Texas Tornado’ a.k.a. Colin Edwards is to make an appearance at a MotoGP Night on behalf of the North Yorkshire Road Racing Supporters Club on 16th June.

It’s bound to be a night to remember and hopefully Colin will be giving some of his amazing quotes for you all to enjoy, such as the one given after the Qatar race in 2009;

“I like the night race. I think it’s a cool little scenario. It’s something special; you only have one a year. It’s something a little bit different. I tend to ride faster when I can’t see where I’m going. Everything works out better that way.”

Or this one when he was asked about the use of electronics in July 2009;

“Everybody has got it. Traction control, anti-wheelie control, frickin’ scratch-your-ass-while-you’re-racing control; whatever control it is, there’s always some new thing they’re coming out with. Our cornering speeds right now are so just astronomical that if you didn’t have traction control, man, you would be in orbit every other frickin’ race.”

The event is raising money to further the careers of racers from the local area, so go along and show your support for the cause and meet up with Colin.  Guests can also take their Arai helmets along to be serviced by the Arai technicians who will be available to answer any questions.

The double World Champion and top MotoGP rider will be appearing at ;

Colin Edwards in association Arai Helmets

Club Amadeus, Northallerton, DL6 1AA

16th June 2010

Doors Open at 7:00pm with the show starting at 8:00pm

Admission (on the door) is £8.00 (£5.00 for NYRRSC members)

www.nyrrsc.net

Agostini on the MV Agusta led Rossi, who was riding a specially painted 2009 Yamaha R1, escorted by TT marshalls and other riders.

Here’s a clip of the lap with an interview after from the reigning World Champion MotoGP rider;

Suzi Perry 'Dream Pillion Passenger'

The gorgeous Suzi Perry, was voted the ‘dream pillion passenger’ in a poll set be the insurance specialist ‘Devitt.  However, one-in-four of the voters considered their partners to be their ideal pillion if no celebrity was on standby.

Kylie Minogue came in second place followed by Valentino Rossi, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston, Megan Fox, Ewan McGregor, Jesus/God/Pope, Brad Pitt and drawing in tenth place were Barry Sheene, Julia Roberts, Penelope Cruz and Pink.

Suzi Perry married her Dutch boyfriend Bastien Boosten in Las Vegas on 6 August this year, after the couple met on the ‘Gadget Show’.

As well as currently presenting the MotoGP for the BBC, Suzi is also a patron of the ‘National Association for Bikes with a Disibility’.

A similar poll took place on another site recently with one voter choosing Kate Moss for his dream pillion passenger,  as she only weighs as much as a sleeping bag and always has a packet of fags on her, love it.

Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss began testing the Desmosedici GP9 yesterday alongside the factory test rider Vittoriano Guareschi at Mugello yesterday.

Bayliss was on-board the 800cc machine for the first time after being drafted in to test for the Ducati MotoGP team and said,

“This is literally the first time I’ve ridden a motorcycle since we unveiled the 1198 after the end of last season at Portimao.

It was nice to shake off a bit of rust and with Mugello being such a physical circuit it was a good work-out.

The last time I rode a GP machine was at Valencia, which was the 900cc, but the 800cc isn’t exactly lacking in power and I just spent today getting a feel for it.

I can’t wait to get back out there and hopefully by the end of the session I’ll be able to give some useful feedback to Felipe (Prezioso- the technical director).”

This is the first outing for Bayliss since retiring from the World Superbike series after winning the championship last season.

Proving that he still has what it takes, the American best remembered for his title win in 1993 aboard the Suzuki, took to the track on a Manx Norton sporting the famous number 34 from his grand prix days. Both the bike and the track were firsts for Schwantz who is also the first of the famous GP faces invited to the festival, to actually take part in the racing.

Previous guests of honour at Pukeohe include Giacomo Agostini, Umberto Masetti, John Surtees and Geoff Duke.