Talking about the challenges that lie ahead in the coming season Rossi gives an update on his physical condition following the shoulder surgery at the end of 2010 and when we can expect to see him back to full fitness.

He gives his views on the task that faces him in the season ahead with the pressure of moving to a new team and what can be expected in the year ahead.

Ducati teammate Nicky Hayden also speaks about how he hopes 2011 will be an improved season and what it will be like having Rossi as a teammate.

See the British Eurosport Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden interviews here.

Eurosport UK’s deal creates a full weekend of live coverage featuring the pre-race practice and qualifying sessions for the 125cc class, Moto2 (formerly 250cc class) and MotoGP as well as the live 125cc and Moto2 races.

As they have done since 2009 British Eurosport will continue to show all the MotoGP races in full but delayed by one hour after the start of the live race.

The 2011 season will also see the return of popular commentary team for MotoGP Toby Moody and Julian Ryder who will be on-site for the opening round of 2011 in Qatar and cover all the European rounds for Eurosport.

Eurosport UK’s Managing Director, David Kerr said: “Renewing our deal to broadcast MotoGP is great news for fans of the sport. We have been able to provide a very comprehensive package of coverage around race weekends which give them access to all the practices and qualifying in full. Motorcycle racing is an important part of Eurosport’s programming and I am pleased the loyal and passionate fans who follow our coverage can continue to do so to the same level in 2011.”

The deal continues to reinforce the channel’s position as the leading broadcaster of motorcycle racing in the UK market with live and exclusive rights to the MCE British Superbike and World Superbike Championships respectively, alongside the MotoGP coverage.

X rays confirmed that Pedrosa had broken his collarbone in three places, an injury that will surely end the riders season at put an end to his hopes of overhauling fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo in the race for the championship.

It will also deprive Moto GP fans of an exciting finale to the season which has seen Pedrosa in the form of his life while mounting a real challenge to Lorenzo.

MotoGP medical director Michele Macchiagodena said;

“When he crashed he suffered a multiple fracture of the left collarbone, and that requires an operation to have the best chance of returning to racing as soon as possible, but not for this race, of course.

First we need to know when he can be operated on, then we will know when he can race again. We will see him in Australia.

We X-rayed the ankle as well and it is okay. He had old fractures but nothing new, just a small contusion.”

Barring a miracle recovery by Pedrosa, the championship title appears to have been handed to Lorenzo, with Casey Stoner 129 points behind in third place with just four rounds remaining.

It is sad to see Pedrosa out of the race following his recent results and fans have been robbed of a fantastic finale to the season, but Lorenzo has been in consistent form outperforming team mate Valentino Rossi all year even before the Italian broke his leg.

There is a lot a negativity from fans and media regarding Lorenzo, but for me, along with Pedrosa he has been the outstanding rider in this years title race.

Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro 2010

The Ducati rider Casey Stoner took his first win of the season yesterday when he crossed the line at the Aragon MotoGP.

Starting from pole position, the Australian dominated the race from the off, finishing the race 5.148 seconds ahead of second placed man Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa dropped back to fifth place after getting shuffled out of the pack in the opening corner but had soon fought his way back to slot in behind Stoner.

The battle for the final step of the podium went down to the line between the second Ducati of Nicky Hayden and the current leader of the championship Jorge Lorenzo.  After several attempts, Hayden managed to make his move on the Yamaha rider stick finally passing him on the final lap to take his first podium finish this season.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies crossed the line in fifth place after and exciting race for fifth place against the second Repsol Honda of Andrea Dovizioso.  The Honda rider unfortunately crashed out on the final lap after pushing for the place.

Valentino Rossi finished in sixth place on the second Fiat Yamaha ahead of Marco Simoncelli and Alvaro Bautista with Marco Melandri in ninth position followed by the Pramac Racing rider Alex Espargaro.

The LCR Honda rider Randy de Puniet, was lucky to have escaped injury after spectacularly crashing out on lap 16 of the race.

The teams and riders of MotoGP assembled on the circuit on Sunday morning to pay their respect to Shoya Tomizawa who died two-weeks ago at the Misano circuit.  The popular Japanese riders bike was placed on the starting grid and it was announced that his number 48 would be retired from the Mot02 World Championship.

Here are the results;

1.  Casey Stoner  AUS Ducati Marlboro Team  42m 16.53s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42m 21.678s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 26.026s
4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 26.11s
5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 43.86s
7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 51.784s
9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s
10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s
11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s
13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 4.849s
14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s

DNF:
Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team
Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP

Shoya Tomizawa R.I.P.

The MotoGP riders and teams were in mourning today following the Moto2 race at Misano yesterday resulted in the death of the young Japanese rider Shoya Tomizawa.

The 19-year-old fell on lap 12 of the race while in fourth place and was hit by Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding who were unable to avoid the crashed rider.

The official statement from Dorna read;

“On Sunday 5th September during the Moto2 race at the Misano World Circuit, rider Shoya Tomizawa aged 19 suffered a serious crash and subsequent cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma.

“Given the seriousness of his condition – especially for the thoracic and abdominal trauma – Tomizawa was immediately treated at the Misano World Circuit medical centre and put under artificial respiration.

“The rider was taken by ambulance to the Riccione hospital accompanied by two doctors – helicopter was not used in order to allow for the proper respiratory support to be administered. Despite various attempts to resuscitate him Shoya sadly succumbed to his injuries at 14.20.

“Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Shoya’s family and friends at this tragic loss.”

The Honda rider made history this year for being the first Moto2 Grand Prix winner at the Qatar followed by a pole position and podium for the following round.

Alex de Angelis managed to walk away from the carnage while Scott Redding received ten stitches to a laceration on is back.

R.I.P. Shoya Tomizawa

Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the results;

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

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

Spies Chasing Lorenzo At Silverstone 2010

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

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

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

Valentino Rossi 2010

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

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

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

Rossi said;

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

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

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

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

Ben Spies 2010

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

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

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

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

Dani Pedrosa 2010

Following the last MotoGP round at Laguna Seca, the Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa spent a couple of days at the Honda Racing school of Indonesia as a guest instructor.

As well as passing on his personal riding advice to the chosen lucky students the Spaniard also put in some demonstration laps on a 110cc Honda Blade.

Hundreds of fans of the rider attended the event along with the 16 special students to see Pedrosa ride around the Sentul Karting circuit, surprising the Honda rider with their knowledge of the sport.

Dani said;

“It was great fun riding the 110cc Blade.  Obviously, it has very low horsepower compared to my RC212V, but I think that it’s great for the children to start understanding how to ride a motorbike, get to grips with the gears and the riding style needed.  The best advice I can give them is to follow their instinct from the heart and to have fun on the bike. They have an opportunity in life, so they must remember that and give it their all. When I started, I was also very small, but full of passion. I would never have imagined that I would race in the World Championship, but I was very lucky to be part of a project – like them now –, so they must go on dreaming and work hard to make their dreams come true. I was really surprised by how many people in Indonesia watch MotoGP. They are very passionate and know everything about the championship. It’s a beautiful country, the people are very friendly and everyone has told me that I must come back and visit Bali. Now, I’ll go home, visit my family and have fun with my friends, after so many races in such a short time. And then, my team and I will have to get ready for the second half of the season and to win races”.