Dani Pedrosa 2008

This weekend the MotoGP Championship gets underway at the Losail International circuit in Qatar with it’s second night race.

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has confirmed he will be on the grid for the first race of the season after suffering injuries in a crash while testing in Qatar at the beginning of March.  Pedrosa missed some important test sessions and this will be his first time back on his machine since the accident.  Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso has proved to be outstanding in the wet as well as making progress with the factory RC212V.

Casey Stoner was a second faster than any other machine on the track at the floodlit test session and has won the last two races on this track.  However, he has not spent long spells on his Ducati Marlboro since the operation on his wrist during the winter and has admitted to not having the movement there that he had before.  Team-mate Nicky Hayden has so far been disappointed with his pace and has struggled to get to grip with his bike.  It was hoped that the Desmosedici would prove to be more suited to the aggressive riding style of Hayden but he still has a way to go yet to prove it to himself and his team.

Valentino Rossi is still aiming for his victory at the Qatar circuit after finishing down in fifth position last year’s season opener.  The Italian is happy with the improvements on his M1 machine and said that the Fiat Yamaha team have done a great job giving him the confidence to challenge any other rider out there.  Meanwhile, his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will be on Bridgestone tyres for the first time on the circuit where he made his debut in MotoGP.

The Rizla Suzuki team with riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi are confident that they can make it onto the podium at the opening round.  The team have struggled on this circuit in the past but have consistently been in the top five in testing.

James Toseland is expected to be fit to ride the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha this weekend after suffering a second massive accident during the winter practice in Jerez on March 29th.  He had a huge high-side while competing in the BMW M Award qualifying simulation, leaving him with concussion and a broken bone in his foot.  His team-mate Colin Edwards has shown impressive pace during the winter test sessions and his more than happy with improvements made to his machine.

The Pramac Ducati team are hoping to be one of the front runners this season after an impressive test session in Jerez with the former 250cc rider Mika Kallio. The Finnish rider finished in sixth place overall and at times had got up to fourth while team-mate Niccolo Canepe, continued to struggle with pace on the Ducati.

Yuki Takahashi will be riding for the Scot Racing Team making his MotoGP debut and knows that he has a lot of work ahead of him.  The rookie rider finished at the BMW M Awards event in fourteenth place in his first competitive MotoGP race.

Sete Gibernau will be on the grid for the Grupo Francisco Hernando Satellite bike Team after qualifying in an impressive eighth place at the BMW M Awards event on the Ducati.  Despite concerns for Gibernau’s fitness the team know that they must work hard but are more focused after the Jerez test session.

The San Carlo Honda team have again Alex de Angelis on their team alongside their new signing Toni Elias.  Elias rode for the Satellite Ducati team last season and so also has a lot of experience under his belt, despite only finishing in twelfth position overall.

Marco Melandri for the Hayate Racing team was almost 1.5 seconds faster in his Jerez test session than he was in any of his races in the 2008 season.  The team have put the success down to improving set-up and new parts after a disappointing Qatar test on the Ninja ZX-RR.

LCR Honda rider Randy De Puniet, was much lower down the time-sheets than he wanted to be in the last test session and is still not comfortable with the work left to do.  The Frenchman is aiming to be in the top ten at the opening round after the team admitted to still having a lot of work to do.

This is the only night race of the 2009 and the first of seventeen races on the calendar beginning on the 12th April.  The first practice takes place on Friday night with a 45-minute session for the MotoGP riders beginning at 10.30pm local time.  On Saturday the qualifying practice takes place at 23.05 local time with the Commercialbank Grand Prix Of Qatar taking place on Sunday at 23.00 local time.

Casey Stoner

The annual BMW M Award event took place at Jerez on Sunday at this weekends official test with Casey Stoner on the Ducati Marlboro claiming the brand new BMW 135i for the fastest lap of the session.

Stoner set a time of 1:38.646 seconds aboard his Desmosedici GP9 machine with only 10 minutes of the session remaining and shortly before the rain began.

It’s the second year running for Stoner who was followed by Valentino Rossi, the 2007 winner on the Fiat Yamaha, and Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen in third and fourth respectively.

The second Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo took fifth place with an impressive Mika Kallio for the Pramac Racing team on his tail to take sixth, despite a trip off track earlier in the session.

Andrea Dovizioso was seventh for the Repsol Honda team ahead of Sete Gibernau on the Grupo Francisco Hernando Satellite bike, Toni Elias on the San Carlo Honda Gresini and Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3.

James Toseland, the second Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider, suffered a massive highside with only 15 minutes of the session remaining, bringing out the red flag while he was attended to by the medical team.  He was stretched off track and taken to the circuits Clinica Mobile, where it was announced that he was not seriously injured but was heavily bruised.  It has since been confirmed that the 28-year-old rider has broken the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot as well as badly spraining his right ankle,  multiple bruising and concussion.

None of the injuries, however, should stop Toseland from being on the grid at the opening round of the MotoGP Championship in Qatar on April 12, and he will want to make it up to his team after admitting that he felt the accident was his fault as he was lacking temperature in his rear tyre.

Casey Stoner - Jerez 2008

This week the MotoGP riders will take to the Jerez circuit in Spain for their final preseason test session and the teams are eager to get on with the hectic eight months ahead of them.

The Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, will not be attending as he is still  recovering from his accident at the winter Qatar test.   The Spanish rider is happy with the way the injuries to his left wrist and knee are mending and remains optimistic that he will be on the grid for the opening round of the season at Qatar on the 12 April.

It is reported that  Kousuke Akiyoshi, who has previously tested for the Suzuki team, will be replacing the young Spaniard for Honda after joining the team during the winter of 2008.  As well as racing in many of the Japanese National Championship races for 2009, he will also be taking part in the Suzuka 8 Hours alongside Shinichi Itoh.

Ducati rider Casey Stoner, is still concerned about the wrist  he had operated on at the end of the 2008 season.  Although the pain he had suffered during the Sepang test was much improved when he next tested in Qatar, he is still not 100% confident that the problem is over.

The 2009 livery of the Rizla Suzuki team is to be unveiled at the Jerez test session with the riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, who are itching to get on the GSV-R.  The pair have been promised more acceleration for their final test session after further improvements to their machines.

Another team unveiling at the event is the Monster Yamaha Tech3 crew with Colin Edwards and James Toseland as it’s riders.  The Tech3 Yamaha team finished fourth in the 2008 championship and have this year secured the sponsorship of the Monster Energy group who have also signed a personal sponsorship deal with Valentino Rossi.

The final preseason test session will begin on Wednesday 25th March until Friday 27th March for the 125cc and 250cc classes followed by the MotoGP big boys on the Saturday and Sunday.

The 45-minute qualifying shootout will take place on Sunday when all of the riders will be in with a chance of winning a brand new BMW Sports car in the BMW M Award event.  The annual event will take place in the afternoon with the rider clocking the fastest time of the session taking home the prize.

He set the fastest time after only five laps and no-one could get close.  His fastest lap of 1:49.263 was over a second and a half faster than the second place man Valentino Rossi on his 15th lap out.

Nicky Hayden put in a fast lap which moved him into the third place spot, and he was also the fastest man on the Michelin tyres.  Anthony West on the Kawasaki came in fourth, followed by Andrea Dovizioso and Shinya Nakano.

In seventh spot was the Rizla Suzuki rider Loris Capirossi with Randy de Puniet less than a tenth of a second behind.  Sylvain Guintoli and Marco Melandri completing the top ten riders. 

John Hopkins the other Kawasaki rider opted against an appearance in the session due to the ongoing groin injury pain as did Dani Pedrosa who is still recovering from surgery to his broken hand.

Casey Stoner’s prize for the fastest time was a luxury BMW cabriolet, not bad for a days work.