Casey Stoner

Casey Stoner took the chequered flag at his home circuit of the Australian Grand Prix while Jorge Lorenzo crashed-out on the first lap.

125CC

Julián Simon was crowned the 2009 champion on Sunday for the Bancaja Aspar team after winning the 125cc race on the final lap at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia.

Aprilia rider Simon was in eighth place at the end of the first lap while Cameron Beaubier on the Red Bull KTM, crashed out.  The front runners made-up of Bradley Smith, Simon, Sandro Cortese, Pol Espargaro, Simone Corsi and Nico Terol, were fighting each other for the podium places, but with four laps of the race remaining the Aspar team riders began to created a gap.

Simon needed to finish the race in front of both Smith and Terol to claim the title which he did on the very last lap at the MG corner.  The two Bancaja Aspar riders had swapped the front position during the race but Smith was forced wide on the final lap as Simon squeezed through up the inside to take the win.

British rider Bradley Smith took the second step of the podium with Sandro Cortese in third for the Ajo Interwetten team.  In fourth place was Derbi rider Pol Espargaro followed by Simone Corsi for Fontana Racing after an earlier coming together with Espargaro nearly saw the pair of them out of the race.

Jack & Jones team rider Nicolas Terol took sixth place ahead of Efren Vazquez on the second Derbi in seventh and Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta team I.S.P.A. machine.  Marc Marquez on the Red Bull KTM took ninth position followed by Sergio Gadea for the Bancaja Aspar team to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

250CC

Marco Simoncelli took his sixth victory of the season in the 250cc series of the MotoGP after taking to the front early on in the race for the Metis Gilera team.

The race was red-flagged after Roberto Locatelli on his Metis Gilera crashed-out heavily on lap 18 at MG corner and was left sprawled across the track, leaving no option but to stop the race.  The results were decided on the standings at the end of the previous lap.  Locatelli was taken to the Clinica Mobile where it is believed he has received no serious injuries but is very badly bruised.

Pepe World team rider Hector Barbera claimed the second position followed by Raffaele de Rosa on the Scot Racing team bike in third.  Alvaro Bautista had been running in second place on the Mapfre Aspar machine but an early crash saw the Spanish rider rejoin the circuit and work his way back up the grid to tenth but he is now out of the championship contention.

Jules Cluzel finished in fourth place for the Matteoni Racing team despite crashing out on the same lap as Locatelli ahead of Mike di Meglio in fifth on the second Mapfre Aspar bike and Karel Abraham on the Cardion AB Motoracing machine in sixth.

Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama finished in seventh place on the Scot Racing bike followed by Honda SAG rider Hector Faubel in eighth, Rattahpark Wilairot in ninth on the Thai Honda PTT SAG bike and Bautista in tenth.  Aoyama’s lead has now been reduced to just 12 points from Simoncelli.

Here are the results;

MotoGP

Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner took the victory at his home circuit for the third consecutive year at Phillip Island ahead of Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi.

It was Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda that took the lead at the start of the race but was unable to hold-off pole sitter Stoner for long, and once past he dominated the Australian Grand Prix as he stayed ahead of a tailing Rossi.

Spanish rider and team-mate of Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, crashed out on lap 1 of the race after running into the back of Nicky Hayden on the second Marlboro Ducati.  While Hayden ran wide and off track he was able to return to the race and finished in fifteenth but Lorenzo was out as he cartwheeled through the gravel.

Pedrosa finished the race in third place for the Repsol Honda team, over 20-seconds behind Stoner followed by Honda rider Alex de Angelis in fourth.  Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards took fifth place ahead of second Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso in sixth.  In seventh place was Marco Melandri for the Hayate team followed by Randy de Puniet in eighth, Mika Kallio on the Pramac Racing bike in ninth and Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini in tenth.

The Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi was demoted to twelfth place after being moved to the back of the grid due to an engine change.

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

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

Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha 2009

Jorge Lorenzo took pole position in qualifying yesterday before suffering a dramatic high-side towards the end of the session and was stretchered off track by medics.

The Fiat Yamaha rider crashed on turn 10, with only three minutes of the session to run, the same place where he had come-off earlier and managed to get back to the pits to get his spare bike.

Lorenzo was initially treated at the medical centre for a suspected partially dislocated right shoulder and badly bruised right foot.  Today the Spaniard will undergo further tests to see if he is fit to ride and a decision will then be made by the team.

Only moments after Lorenzo’s crash, Casey Stoner was seen flying through the gravel at turn 3, and was also stretchered off track.  The Ducati Marlboro rider crashed hard while in second place but was later seen walking unaided albeit with a limp and it’s reported that he has received a groin injury but is still expected to race.

Valentino Rossi who qualified in second after beating Stoner’s time at the end of the session, sat alone in Parc Ferme while the other two riders underwent medical attention.

The two Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, qualified in fourth and fifth respectively followed by Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda machine.

Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech3 Yamaha qualified in seventh ahead of Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro and Chris Vermeulen on the Rizla Suzuki.  Vermuelen had a huge crash in the morning practice session and suffered heavy bruising as well as a badly damaged machine but the team worked hard to get his bike repaired to get him on the grid.

Loris Capirossi on the second Rizla Suzuki completed the top ten line-up in an action packed qualifying session ahead of the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday.

Here are the results;

Pos  Rider             Bike             Time       Gap

 1.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha           1m21.678s
 2.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha           1m21.845s  + 0.167s
 3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati           1m21.910s  + 0.232s
 4.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda            1m22.113s  + 0.435s
 5.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda            1m22.135s  + 0.457s
 6.  Toni Elias        Gresini Honda    1m22.146s  + 0.468s
 7.  Colin Edwards     Tech 3 Yamaha    1m22.490s  + 0.812s
 8.  Nicky Hayden      Ducati           1m22.540s  + 0.862s
 9.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki           1m22.633s  + 0.955s
10.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki           1m22.662s  + 0.984s
11.  Marco Melandri    Hayate Kawasaki  1m22.842s  + 1.164s
12.  Alex de Angelis   Gresini Honda    1m23.004s  + 1.326s
13.  Sete Gibernau     Hernando Ducati  1m23.106s  + 1.428s
14.  Randy de Puniet   LCR Honda        1m23.147s  + 1.469s
15.  James Toseland    Tech 3 Yamaha    1m23.390s  + 1.712s
16.  Niccolo Canepa    Pramac Ducati    1m23.912s  + 2.234s
17.  Gabor Talmacsi    Scot Honda       1m24.528s  + 2.850s

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

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

Valentino Rossi took his Fiat Yamaha across the line on Sunday to claim his first victory for the 2009 season at the Jerez circuit in Spain.

125cc

British rider Bradley Smith took his first win of his career on Sunday in the 125cc class ahead of team-mate Sergio Gadea for the Bancaja Aspar Team.

Championship leader Andrea Iannone on the Ongetta team bike, crashed out on the first lap while third Bancaja Aspar rider Julian Simon suffered a dramatic high-side on lap five whilst in second place.

Smith had a great start from the grid and ended the race with a 13-second lead on his team-mate to claim his maiden victory on his 50th GP race.

Gadea fought a tremendous battle with Marc Márquez on the Red Bull KTM Motorsport machine, finally taking the second step of the podium with only a 0.o29s gap.

Scott Redding on the Blusens Aprilia finished in fourth place ahead of Derbi Racing Team rider EfrénVázquez.  Sandro Cortese was in sixth place on the Ajo Interwetten bike followed by Pol Espargaró on the second Derbi Racing bike and Danny Webb on the Degraaf Aprilia.

The second Ajo Interwetten ridden by Dominique Aegerter finished in ninth position ahead of Nicolas Terol on the Jack & Jones machine to complete the top ten riders of the day.

An impressive ride from Jonas Folgar on the Ongetta machine after missing out on a qualifying time for the team on Saturday.  He was in last place as the bikes lined-up on the grid and had picked his way through the field of riders to fourth place before crashing out on the penultimate lap of the race.

Here are the results:

1 25 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 41′49.556 145.931
2 20 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 42′03.080 145.149 13.524
3 16 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 42′03.109 145.148 13.553
4 13 45 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 42′03.807 145.107 14.251
5 11 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′04.314 145.078 14.758
6 10 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′05.101 145.033 15.545
7 9 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′05.112 145.032 15.556
8 8 99 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 42′07.328 144.905 17.772
9 7 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′08.516 144.837 18.960
10 6 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 42′08.609 144.832 19.053
11 5 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′22.036 144.067 32.480
12 4 12 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 42′22.110 144.063 32.554
13 3 14 Johann ZARCO FRA WTR San Marino Team APRILIA 42′22.934 144.016 33.378
14 2 24 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 42′31.089 143.556 41.533
15 1 16 Cameron BEAUBIER USA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 42′33.999 143.392 44.443
16 73 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′34.294 143.375 44.738
17 35 Randy KRUMMENACHE SWI Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 42′34.490 143.364 44.934
18 8 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′34.533 143.362 44.977
19 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′45.020 142.776 55.464
20 69 Lukas SEMBERA CZE Matteoni Racing APRILIA 42′54.870 142.230 1′05.314
21 32 Lorenzo SAVADORI ITA Fontana Racing APRILIA 42′56.976 142.114 1′07.420
22 42 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Andalucia Aprilia APRILIA 43′06.381 141.597 1′16.825
23 39 Luis SALOM SPA SAG-Castrol HONDA 43′14.744 141.140 1′25.188
24 53 Jasper IWEMA NED Racing Team Germany HONDA 43′18.459 140.939 1′28.903
25 87 Luca MARCONI ITA CBC Corse APRILIA 43′18.568 140.933 1′29.012
26 41 Borja MAESTRO SPA Hune Racing Team-TMM APRILIA 42′28.798 137.437 1 lap
27 31 Jordi DALMAU SPA SAG-Castrol HONDA 42′31.602 137.286 1 lap
28 40 Eduard LOPEZ SPA TCR Competicion APRILIA 42′31.771 137.277 1 lap

250cc

Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama took the top step of the podium on Sunday beating Spanish favourite Alvaro Bautista in the 250cc series.

Bautista had beaten Aoyama at the last round in Japan and now the roles were reversed as the Japanese man took his revenge.

Throughout the race, the Scot Racing Team rider Aoyama, Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine and Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera, swapped the lead several times.

Pole sitter Alex Debón on the Aeropuerto-Castello Blusens bike, crashed out with 16 laps of the race remaining while in sixth place, disappointing his fans at his home circuit.

Aoyama took the lead on the final corner giving him a four-point advantage over Bautista for the lead in the championship at the end of round three.

Simoncelli finished in third place followed by Héctor Barberá on the Pepe World Team bike and Thomas Luthi on the Emmi-Caffe Latte bike.

In sixth place was Mattia Pasini on the Team Toth Aprilia ahead of Gabor Talmacsi on the Balaton Racing machine, Jules Cluzel for Matteoni Racing, Roberto Locatelli on the second Metis Gilera and Raffaele de Rosa on the second Scot Racing bike.

Here are the results:

1 25 4 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 45′08.805 152.832
2 20 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 45′08.937 152.824 0.132
3 16 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 45′11.511 152.679 2.706
4 13 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Pepe World Team APRILIA 45′11.574 152.676 2.769
5 11 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 45′26.751 151.826 17.946
6 10 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 45′26.755 151.826 17.950
7 9 28 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Balatonring Team APRILIA 45′35.093 151.363 26.288
8 8 16 Jules CLUZEL FRA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 45′35.277 151.353 26.472
9 7 15 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 45′36.451 151.288 27.646
10 6 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 45′41.174 151.027 32.369
11 5 63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc APRILIA 45′41.422 151.013 32.617
12 4 48 Shoya TOMIZAWA JPN CIP Moto – GP250 HONDA 45′43.046 150.924 34.241
13 3 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 45′45.694 150.778 36.889
14 2 55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Valencia CF – Honda SAG HONDA 45′46.042 150.759 37.237
15 1 14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 46′25.591 148.619 1′16.786
16 10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 46′34.314 148.155 1′25.509
17 8 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Racing Team Germany HONDA 45′17.952 146.459 1 lap
18 77 Aitor RODRIGUEZ SPA Milar – Juegos Lucky APRILIA 45′24.420 146.111 1 lap
19 56 Vladimir LEONOV RUS Viessmann Kiefer Racing APRILIA 45′45.476 144.991 1 lap
20 53 Valentin DEBISE FRA CIP Moto – GP250 HONDA 46′27.875 142.786 1 lap

MotoGP

At the Gran Premio bwin.com de España on Sunday, Valentino Rossi took his maiden victory for the 2009 season ahead of Spainish rider Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda.

Pedrosa led for the first half of the race after qualifying in second position on the grid but with only ten laps of the race remaining Rossi made his pass and took the Yamaha across the line for the win.

Casey Stoner on the Marlboro Ducati finished in third place after finishing the race 10seconds behind Rossi with Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda in an impressive fourth place.

Rossi’s team-mate Jorge Lorenzo had qualified in pole position and had been running with the front riders until he lost the front of his machine with three laps to run.

Marco Melandri was another rider with an impressive finish after bringing his Hayate Racing machine home in fifth place ahead of Loris Capirossi on the Rizla Suzuki in sixth.

Colin Edwards on the Monster Tech-3 Yamaha finished in seventh place with Andrea Dovizioso on the second Repsol Honda in eighth despite going off track earlier in the race.

Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini finished in ninth place ahead of the second Rizla Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen to complete the top ten riders.

Here are the results;

1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 45′18.557 158.141
2 20 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45′21.257 157.984 2.700
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 45′29.064 157.532 10.507
4 13 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 45′50.450 156.307 31.893
5 11 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team KAWASAKI 45′51.685 156.237 33.128
6 10 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 45′52.685 156.180 34.128
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 45′52.978 156.163 34.421
8 8 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 45′53.182 156.152 34.625
9 7 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46′01.246 155.696 42.689
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 46′03.740 155.555 45.183
11 5 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando DUCATI 46′06.749 155.386 48.192
12 4 72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP HONDA 46′10.432 155.179 51.875
13 3 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 46′12.240 155.078 53.683
14 2 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 46′12.498 155.064 53.941
15 1 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 46′19.794 154.657 1′01.237
16 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 46′29.453 154.121 1′10.896

Jorge Lorenzo

Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo claimed his first victory of the season on Sunday as he took the Fiat Yamaha across the line at the Japanese MotoGP ahead of his team-mate Valentino Rossi.

125cc

Andrea Iannone claimed his second win of the 2009 season for the Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. on Sunday on a rapidly drying track.

Many of the 125cc riders opted for full wet tyres to start the Twin Ring Motegi circuit giving them the advantage as the race began.

Britain’s Danny Webb led the pack from the second lap on the Degraaf Aprilia but as the track began to dry out he started to lose grip on his wet tyres.  With only 8 laps of the race left to run, Julian Simon on the Bancaja Aspar Team machine passed Webb, and the race was on for the riders on slick tyres as those riding on full wets began to drop off.

Iannone, who had qualified on pole position, was on the tail of Pol Espargaro on the Derbi Racing bike before closing in on Simon.

Simon finished in second place followed by Espargaro in third, Sandro Cortese on the Ajo Interwetten in fourth, Stefan Bradl on the Viesmann Kiefer Racing bike in fifth and Jonas Folger for the Ongetta team in sixth.

Bancaja Aspar Team rider Bradley Smith had a disappointing race finishing in tenth place after a near high-side as the race neared the end, causing him to smash the screen on his bike and suffer and injury to his face.

Scott Redding ended his race for the Blusens Aprilia with no points after retiring with an engine problem.  The rider complained of the throttle sticking causing the bike to continue revving under braking.

The Haojue Team was unable to take part in Sunday’s race after both their machines developed a technical problem, leaving Matthew Hoyle and Michael Ranseder watching from the sidelines.

Here are the results;

1 25 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′23.716 135.892
2 20 60 Julian SIMON SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 42′25.062 135.820 1.346
3 16 44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′28.755 135.623 5.039
4 13 17 Stefan BRADL GER Viessmann Kiefer Racing APRILIA 42′30.620 135.524 6.904
5 11 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 42′36.777 135.198 13.061
6 10 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′38.557 135.104 14.841
7 9 6 Joan OLIVE SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 42′40.136 135.020 16.420
8 8 94 Jonas FOLGER GER Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 42′40.199 135.017 16.483
9 7 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Ajo Interwetten DERBI 42′51.216 134.439 27.500
10 6 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 42′54.075 134.289 30.359
11 5 99 Danny WEBB GBR Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 43′01.263 133.915 37.547
12 4 71 Tomoyoshi KOYAMA JPN Loncin Racing LONCIN 43′07.572 133.589 43.856
13 3 12 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 43′23.605 132.766 59.889
14 2 8 Lorenzo ZANETTI ITA Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 43′23.857 132.753 1′00.141
15 1 24 Simone CORSI ITA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 43′26.317 132.628 1′02.601
16 16 Cameron BEAUBIER USA Red Bull KTM Motosport KTM 43′26.325 132.628 1′02.609
17 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Jack & Jones Team APRILIA 43′33.583 132.259 1′09.867
18 35 Randy KRUMMENACHE SWI Degraaf Grand Prix APRILIA 43′33.599 132.259 1′09.883
19 33 Sergio GADEA SPA Bancaja Aspar Team 125cc APRILIA 43′38.765 131.998 1′15.049
20 73 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN Ongetta Team I.S.P.A. APRILIA 43′43.574 131.756 1′19.858
21 5 Alexis MASBOU FRA Loncin Racing LONCIN 44′07.129 130.583 1′43.413
22 7 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Derbi Racing Team DERBI 44′16.626 130.116 1′52.910
23 69 Lukas SEMBERA CZE Matteoni Racing APRILIA 44′30.840 129.424 2′07.124
24 58 Yuuichi YANAGISAWA JPN 18 Grage Racing HONDA 44′31.118 129.410 2′07.402
25 87 Luca MARCONI ITA CBC Corse APRILIA 42′36.873 128.433 1 lap
26 10 Luca VITALI ITA CBC Corse APRILIA 42′36.927 128.430 1 lap
27 55 Hiroomi IWATA JPN Dydo Miu Racing HONDA 42′51.571 127.699 1 lap
28 59 Satoru KAMADA JPN Endurance & Osl HONDA 44′14.382 123.715 1 lap
29 57 Yuki OOGANE JPN Endurance & Okegawajuku HONDA 43′23.194 119.508 2 laps
Not Classified
56 Yuma YAHAGI JPN Okegawajuku & Endurance HONDA 25′49.120 122.727 9 laps
14 Johann ZARCO FRA WTR San Marino Team APRILIA 22′27.306 128.282 10 laps
45 Scott REDDING GBR Blusens Aprilia APRILIA 13′40.407 126.402 14 laps
32 Lorenzo SAVADORI ITA Fontana Racing APRILIA 4′37.688 124.482 18 laps

250cc

Alvaro Bautista on the Mapfre Aspar machine took the win in the 250cc class followed by Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama on the Scot Racing machine.

Bautista had started from the front row of the grid and battled with his team-mate Mike di Meglio and then Gabor Talmacsi on the Balaton Racing 250cc machine to stay at the front before Di Meglio crashed out.

The Scot Racing rider Aoyama was his next target and Bautista tailed him for ten tough laps before finally passing the Japanese rider with six laps remaining.

Bautista took the win followed by Aoyama and Mattai Pasini of the Team Toth Aprilia, who had a huge crash in Friday’s practice, to complete the podium.

Talmacsi finished in fourth place ahead of Alex Debon on the Aeropuerto-Costello Blusen machine and wild-card rider Shuhei Aoyama, the younger brother of Hiroshi, on the Harc-Pro Honda.

Marco Simoncelli on the Metis Gilera had qualified in pole position finished down in seventh place after suffering a front puncture during the race and had to return to the pits for a new tyre.

Here are the results,

1 25 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team APRILIA 44′06.488 150.207
2 20 4 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 44′12.377 149.874 5.889
3 16 75 Mattia PASINI ITA Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 44′28.320 148.978 21.832
4 13 28 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Balatonring Team APRILIA 44′32.394 148.751 25.906
5 11 6 Alex DEBON SPA Aeropuerto-Castello-Blusens APRILIA 44′37.273 148.480 30.785
6 10 73 Shuhei AOYAMA JPN Harc-Pro HONDA 44′40.276 148.314 33.788
7 9 52 Lukas PESEK CZE Auto Kelly – CP APRILIA 44′43.460 148.138 36.972
8 8 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Emmi – Caffe Latte APRILIA 44′47.506 147.915 41.018
9 7 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing APRILIA 44′48.137 147.880 41.649
10 6 48 Shoya TOMIZAWA JPN CIP Moto – GP250 HONDA 44′59.351 147.266 52.863
11 5 40 Hector BARBERA SPA Pepe World Team APRILIA 45′07.376 146.829 1′00.888
12 4 35 Raffaele DE ROSA ITA Scot Racing Team 250cc HONDA 45′12.835 146.534 1′06.347
13 3 10 Imre TOTH HUN Team Toth Aprilia APRILIA 45′59.637 144.048 1′53.149
14 2 59 Kazuki WATANABE JPN Bardral Racing with SJ-R YAMAHA 44′08.992 143.541 1 lap
15 1 56 Vladimir LEONOV RUS Viessmann Kiefer Racing APRILIA 44′36.925 142.043 1 lap
16 8 Bastien CHESAUX SWI Racing Team Germany HONDA 44′41.786 141.785 1 lap
17 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 44′59.056 140.878 1 lap
18 77 Aitor RODRIGUEZ SPA Milar – Juegos Lucky APRILIA 45′22.675 139.656 1 lap
Not Classified
14 Ratthapark WILAIROT THA Thai Honda PTT SAG HONDA 35′00.695 148.096 5 laps
25 Alex BALDOLINI ITA WTR San Marino Team APRILIA 33′15.734 147.224 6 laps
55 Hector FAUBEL SPA Valencia CF – Honda SAG HONDA 11′47.466 146.581 17 laps
63 Mike DI MEGLIO FRA Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc APRILIA 9′46.700 147.295 18 laps
7 Axel PONS SPA Pepe World Team APRILIA 6′12.705 139.120 20 laps
16 Jules CLUZEL FRA Matteoni Racing APRILIA 4′05.545 140.777 21 laps
15 Roberto LOCATELLI ITA Metis Gilera GILERA 4′05.665 140.708 21 laps

MotoGP

The qualifying session for the MotoGP on the Saturday had to be cancelled as heavy rain in the early afternoon led to a waterlogged circuit.  The grid positions for all three of the races were then decided on the Free practice positions.

Valentino Rossi was given pole position alongside Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro and Jorge Lorenzo on the second Fiat Yamaha.

Rossi was in the lead by the first corner followed by the Rizla Suzuki of Chris Vermeulen as Dani Pedrosa on the Repsol Honda went around the outside of Stoner to take third.

Lorenzo and Pedrosa were now battling for second place as Rossi struggled to put a gap between himself and his team-mate.  Both riders caught up with Rossi with 17 laps of the race still to run with Andrea Dovizioso on the second Repsol Honda close behind the trio.

Lorenzo tried to sneak past Rossi on the next lap before finally making it stick later on the same lap.  Stoner had meanwhile battled his way back to fifth place as Rossi and Pedrosa continued their own battle for second place.

Pedrosa and Rossi swapped places and paint at times in an impressive ride from both riders but Rossi finally took the second postion and held on to it.

James Toseland on the second Monster Tech3 Yamaha finished the race in ninth position and was pleased with the progress he had made.  Toseland battled with Vermeulen on the final lap of the race but managed to hold him back and keep the ninth place he’d fought for.

Nicky Hayden on the second Ducati Marlboro was taken out of the race on the fist lap by Yuki Takahasi on the Scot Racing team bike.  Hayden got a good start off the line and managed to gain a couple of places before the incident at turn 4, fortunately he suffered no serious injuries.

A disappointing weekend for the San Carlo Gresini Honda team as Alex de Angelis finished in thirteenth place and team-mate Toni Elias completed the race in fifteenth after dropping his bike after only a few laps as he went onto the dirty part of the track losing grip.

Here are the results;

1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 43′47.238 157.886
2 20 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team YAMAHA 43′48.542 157.808 1.304
3 16 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43′51.001 157.661 3.763
4 13 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team DUCATI 43′52.929 157.545 5.691
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 43′56.445 157.335 9.207
6 10 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team KAWASAKI 44′17.793 156.071 30.555
7 9 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 44′19.994 155.942 32.756
8 8 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing DUCATI 44′26.654 155.553 39.416
9 7 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44′30.344 155.338 43.106
10 6 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP SUZUKI 44′30.483 155.330 43.245
11 5 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP HONDA 44′32.072 155.237 44.834
12 4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YAMAHA 44′33.778 155.138 46.540
13 3 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 44′40.763 154.734 53.525
14 2 88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing DUCATI 45′09.042 153.119 1′21.804
15 1 24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini HONDA 44′25.681 149.126 1 lap
Not Classified
59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando DUCATI 41′40.115 117.523 7 laps