Motocycle

INJURED HOPKINS FIGHTS FOR TOP TEN

2008-06-09T20:54:00.000+07:00

08 Jun 2008

John Hopkins demonstrated true grit and determination today at the Grand Prix of Catalunya to bring his Ninja ZX-RR home in 10th position, despite carrying a back injury sustained in Friday’s practice.

Hopkins got a steady start to the 25-lap race and pushed as hard as possible, despite being unable to move around easily on his race machine, to make up positions around the 4.727km circuit. The 25-year-old Kawasaki pilot settled into a rhythm and circulated on his own for most of the race, riding through the pain barrier, to cross the line with a very creditable top ten finish.

Teammate Anthony West, who set his fastest lap of the entire weekend in the opening stages, endured a hard, race long fight with Marco Melandri to finish in a points-scoring 12th position.

The Australian switched positions with Melandri throughout the race in a nail-biting battle, but despite his persistence the 26-year-old was just beaten to the flag. West was upbeat about the result and he can now look forward to racing at Donington Park, which was where he made his premier class debut aboard the Kawasaki last season.

Depending on his condition, Hopkins will ride during tomorrow’s valuable post-race test to further develop his 800cc Ninja ZX-RR, whilst West will fly to Japan for a two-day test aimed at improving the power delivery of his machine.

John Hopkins: #21 – 10th Position
“I’m in a lot of pain right now with my injury and that was a really hard race. I tried to pass a few people at the start, but I got boxed out and I lost some ground. I pushed as hard as I could to stay with the group ahead of me, but the pain set in and I had to really focus on settling into a rhythm. It was then a case of finding a way to ride without moving around too much on the machine to finish the race, and although tenth isn’t where I want to be, in this situation I’m pleased we managed to achieve that. We still have a lot of work to do with the bike, and hopefully we can be in a good condition for the next race in Britain.”

Anthony West: #13 - 12th Position
“I rode as hard as I possibly could today and I fought hard with Marco for the entire race. I passed him into the turns on many occasions, but his machine was a bit stronger on the straights and it just meant I had a lot of work to do each time he came by. The tyre went off a little in the last few laps, which meant I just didn’t quite have enough to re-take him before the finish. I’m happy we had a good race, but we still need to make big improvements to the set-up of the bike. I’m going to Japan for a test where I hope we can try to resolve the rear traction issues I’ve been suffering, then we’ll be back in Europe preparing for Donington Park and, hopefully, we can make another step forwards there.”

Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
“Hopefully this is a new start for us and I am happy that both riders finished the race today, as the last few rounds have been difficult. We need to concentrate on making improvements to the performance of the bike before the next race to provide the riders with the best package possible. Anthony will now spend some time testing in Japan where we have better resources to focus on improving the power delivery of his machine. John rode a hard race today with his injury and we are unsure yet if he’ll be able to complete many laps during tomorrow’s test. I hope he will be fit to ride and we can continue making steps forward, so that we can be even more competitive at Donington Park.”

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Vermeulen fights back as Capirossi suffers cruel blow

2008-06-09T20:42:00.000+07:00

08/06/2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen raced to a close seventh place finish at the Catalan Grand Prix near Barcelona today, as team-mate Loris Capirossi’s race came to an abrupt end when another rider crashed into him.

Vermeulen got a solid start from the third row of the grid, but was hit on the first lap by Alex de Angelis and relegated down to 14^th place. He fought his way back through the field and was closing in on sixth place on the last lap, missing out on a top-six finish by 0.066 seconds at the chequered flag.

Capirossi made a good start from 12^th and was up into eighth place by lap two, before disaster struck for the experienced Italian on the 11^th lap. Capirossi was hit from behind by - also by de Angelis - causing him to crash at high speed and injure his hand in the process. He was immediately taken the trackside clinic where he was found to have a dislocated fracture of the fifth right metacarpus and a deep wound with loss of skin to his fifth right finger. He will not be able to ride in tomorrow’s test, but hopes to be back to fitness as soon as possible.

A record-breaking crowd at the Circuit de Catalunya of over 113,000 enjoyed warm sunshine and a comprehensive start to finish victory by local hero Dani Pedrosa on his factory Honda. Valentino Rossi on his Bridgestone-shod Yamaha was second and stays on top of the World Championship classification.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in Catalunya for a two-day test, when Vermeulen will be joined by Team Test Rider Nobuatsu Aoki. The team will next be in competitive action at its ‘home’ Grand Prix at Donington Park in England on Sunday 22^nd June.

Chris Vermeulen:

“I made a reasonable start and had good first and second corners, but then I was hit by de Angelis and I lost few positions. I got myself back together but with everybody being so quick and close on lap-times it made it very difficult to pass. I got through the field and up to seventh, but I feel if I had had a better start I could have been in the top-five. I really want to pass on a lot of thanks to the team because they gave me a great bike for here and it was very consistent all weekend. I have to work on my qualifying and there is still a little area of the bike where we are struggling with grip and the way it uses the tyre, so hopefully in the next two days of testing we can work on that. I hope Loris is going to be alright soon, because he is a big part to our development and I wish him all the best.”

Loris Capirossi:

“It has been a really bad end to the weekend, because I felt that everything was working well on the bike and I felt good. I think I could have fought with Chris and James Toseland, but de Angelis tried a bit too hard and put me out of the race. But this is racing and sometimes things like this happen. Now I have to be careful because I have an injury and it will not be so easy for me to recover for the two races in one week. We will see, but I will certainly try to recover as quickly as I can!”

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“MotoGP is not an easy sport but we weren’t done any favours today! When de Angelis rammed Loris off the track in turn three the result was a fracture of his right hand. The dislocated fracture has been put back into position very skilfully by Dr. Costa, and the bone has been set in a cast. The normal recovery time for that injury is some weeks, but Loris seems keen to try and be fit for Donington in 12 days time. Whether that is realistic or not, the next few days will tell! Loris gave everything – as always – and deserved a lot better for all his efforts.

“Chris rode a very strong race after a difficult first lap that saw him a long way down the field. His recovery into the top-10 was excellent and with a better start he had the pace today to fight for fifth. Unfortunately the guys at the front had more pace than us and as we have said in recent weeks it is important to try and improve the bike’s performance over race distance.

“Clearly Loris won’t be able to test here over the next two days, so his duties will now be undertaken by Nobuatsu, and Chris’s crew and the factory will be evaluating all the possibilities of getting the GSV-R as competitive as we can possibly make it for Donington and Assen in a couple of weeks time.”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Dani Destroys Opposition To Close Title Gap

2008-06-09T20:38:00.000+07:00

June 8, 2008

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) was in a class of his own in Barcelona winning by 2.8 seconds from Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) second and Casey Stoner (Ducati) who was third. His margin of victory, however, understates the crushing nature of this triumph on home soil.


Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team)		Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP)

The Spanish sensation has now won here on a 125cc machine, a 250 and now in MotoGP. He’s also wrapped up wins in two of the three Spanish races this year and remains Honda’s most reliable points finisher this season – he’s never been out of the top four in seven races now.

Pedrosa scorched off the line and led the pack into turn one, Stoner behind him and the lightning-starting Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) now running third from seventh on the grid. When Stoner ran wide on lap one Dovi pounced on second place. He was in peak form and the ace rookie would eventually finish fourth.

By lap two Dani’s lead was a staggering 0.7 seconds as he headed Dovi, Stoner, Colin Edwards (Yamaha), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V). Rossi lay eighth at this point but he was on the move.

Dani fired in a fastest lap on the third tour of this 4.727km Montmelo track. His 1m 42.617s time an early indicator that he was the man to beat. By the time lap four rolled around he was a full three seconds ahead of Stoner who had regained second spot. Barring error or disaster Pedrosa was unstoppable.

Rossi had moved up to fourth by lap seven of this 25-lap affair and Dovi had retaken Stoner for second at precisely the same point on track the Aussie World Champion had made the mistake on lap one. Dani was blissfully unaware of all this, now more than five seconds clear of his rivals.

Dovi was slipping slightly off the pace now on lap eight and Rossi soon overhauled him for third, taking second off Stoner that same lap. Dovi would lose touch with the duo dicing for second but his mature ride to fourth signaled he will be a podium proposition in this class very shortly.

As mid-race distance approached Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) crashed out in an incident involving Loris Capirossi (Suzuki) too. The San Marinese man looked capable of a mid top-ten finish. De Puniet’s race would be cut short on the next lap when he crashed while defending sixth spot.

The Stoner/Rossi battle was the main event with Dani disappearing over the horizon, but down the order there were several spirited disputes for the points places and with just 13 riders remaining in the race after that rash of crashes, all places were worth points.

James Toseland (Yamaha) was working on Hayden for sixth and Stoner had shot past Rossi on the main straight to retake second on the brakes into turn one. Dovi held fourth ahead of Edwards and Dani was long gone, nearly nine seconds in front of the field.

The end of this race was in sight now with five laps to go and with Dani so far ahead, Rossi and Stoner locked in combat, and fiery disputes for sixth between Toseland and Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki) and for eighth between Hayden and Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V), round seven of this 18-race series had everything.

Dani and Dovi had every reason to be delighted with their day’s work. Nicky remains shy of his best with an eighth place and Nakano, who finished ninth, made the top ten, but not the top six as he wished. The crashers, all uninjured, will nurse wounded pride and look forward to Donington Park in two weeks time.

The World Championship points table look like this: Rossi 142 points, Pedrosa 135, Lorenzo (who did not race after a heavy fall in practice) 94 and Stoner on 92 points.

From : www.world.honda.com

Pedrosa wins in Catalunya

2008-06-09T20:34:00.002+07:00

Sunday, 8th June 2008

Pedrosa rides into the distance for second home win of the year. Valentino Rossi's world championship lead reduced.

Dani Pedrosa has taken his second MotoGP victory of the 2008 season - and maintained his perfect home Spanish record - by slaughtering his rivals during Sunday's Catalan Grand Prix.

A classic Pedrosa victory saw the Repsol Honda rider snatch the lead at turn one, then set off like rocket to build a two second lead over pole sitter Casey Stoner by lap 2 of 25.

Whilst his rivals squabbled, Pedrosa simply disappeared into the distance. The 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up held a 6.3secs advantage by lap 9, when a slow starting Valentino Rossi - ninth on the grid and only eighth at the end of lap one - finally reached the runner-up spot, but even the Italian could do nothing about Pedrosa.

Instead, Rossi spent the remainder of the race battling furiously with fellow Bridgestone rider Stoner, whose Ducati slipstreamed back past the Fiat Yamaha star with nine laps to go.

The young Australian was still fighting off the #46 on the penultimate lap, when Rossi dived inside to retake second on the brakes, then pushed his M1 to the limit - his inside foot waving on the brakes - as he attempted to find some breathing room for the final lap.

It worked and Rossi punched his fist with delight as he took second place by half a second. But by then Pedrosa was already celebrating his sixth premier-class victory.

Dani's advantage reached a peak of 8secs - the length of the entire back straight - before relaxing his pace to win by 2.806 secs at the chequered flag. An unusually emotional Pedrosa then returned to parc ferme to the sound of 'Dani, Dani' from the huge grandstand opposite.

Pedrosa has thus cut Rossi's world championship lead from 12 to 7 points heading into round eight at Donington Park on June 22, with Stoner now 50 points from the Repsol rider - but just two from Jorge Lorenzo, who missed Sunday's race after a hard knock to the head in Friday practice.

Lorenzo's fellow rookie Andrea Dovizioso propelled himself from seventh to second at turn one, and was still battling Rossi and Stoner for a debut MotoGP podium by the halfway stage. The JiR Team Scot rider couldn't keep pace with the title contenders in the closing stages but still equalled his best yet MotoGP finish of fourth by a comfortable five seconds over Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards.

Like Edwards, team-mate James Toseland finished where he started in sixth, but the Englishman's first ever race at the Circuit de Catalunya was more eventful than it might appear. The #52 seemed to lose his rhythm after Rossi made a tight pass for sixth at turn one on the second lap, and eventually slipped back to eleventh, before climbing back up the order to finish a fraction in front of Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen.

looked to have tangled as they retired just before the half way stage, whilst Vermeulen's team-mate Loris Capirossi and San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie Alex de AngelisRandy de Puniet dropped out of sixth for LCR Honda a lap later.

Toni Elias was the fourth non-finisher, the Spaniard failed to spot that he had been served with a jump start penalty and was subsequently black flagged.

Front row qualifier Nicky Hayden was once again unable to replicate Pedrosa's form on the factory RC212V and faded back to eighth position, with Shinya Nakano and a sore John Hopkins completing the top ten.

Retirements ahead helped Ducati's Marco Melandri - who made a great start - and Kawasaki's Anthony West secure eleventh and twelfth, but only Alice's Sylvain Guintoli finished behind the troubled factory duo.

From : www.crash.net

Race results Catalunya

2008-06-09T20:32:00.001+07:00

1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 2.175 secs
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 43min 4.981 secs
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 43min 5.518 secs
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 43min 13.068 secs
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 18.601 secs
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 43min 23.657 secs
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 23.723 secs
8. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 24.455 secs
9. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 43min 24.550 secs
10. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 49.100 secs
11. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 0.166 secs
12. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 44min 1.343 secs
13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 44min 2.954 secs

HOPKINS BATTLES BRAVELY ON AT CATALUNYA

2008-06-08T11:00:00.000+07:00

07 Jun 2008

Kawasaki’s John Hopkins bravely qualified in 14th position for tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Catalunya, after riding with an injured back sustained in a turn two highside during Friday’s practice.

Hopkins was determined to make up for the loss of valuable track time to set up his Ninja ZX-RR around the Catalunya circuit, after crashing heavily seven laps into yesterday afternoon’s practice. The battered and bruised Anglo-American rode through the pain barrier during today’s sessions, busying himself with finding a good race pace, whilst suffering with severe discomfort from the painful back injury.

The 25-year-old used this morning’s practice to identify the best tyre combination for the race and although he was hoping for a better grid position during qualifying, Hopkins remains determined to put the recent setbacks he has encountered behind him. The Kawasaki pilot will work together with his crew overnight to make further improvements to the set-up of his machine, and he will receive further treatment on his injury in preparation for tomorrow’s 25-lap race.

Teammate Anthony West had a difficult qualifying session around the 4.727km circuit, finishing in 17th position on the grid. The 26-year-old Australian’s second qualifying run came to a premature end when an electrical problem brought his Ninja ZX-RR to a halt on the back part of the circuit.

West rushed back to the Kawasaki pit box, with the aim of completing his final two qualifying runs aboard his spare machine, but the session was brought to a close before he was able to exit pit lane.

John Hopkins: #21 - 14th - 1'42.819
“It’s been difficult to ride today because I’ve never had a back injury before and I’m in quite a lot of pain. I’m finding it hard to breathe properly in places, particularly on left-hand turns, and when riding at this level with the strains put on the body at the speeds we’re traveling, it’s tough going. However, we have a good race pace despite the lost track time and we have to stay focused. Overnight we’re going to look at some areas to improve the set-up as we’re suffering with some lack of grip, particularly at the apex of the turns, and I think with a few adjustments we can improve our lap time. I’d have liked to have qualified a bit higher up the grid, but tomorrow I’m going to go out and give it my all.”

Anthony West: #13 - 17th - 1'44.558
“We made some improvements to the front-end of the machine yesterday, so practice today was all about finding a better set-up in the rear. We made a few changes but unfortunately it didn’t really bring the results we were hoping for, and I’m still suffering with grip troubles. During my second qualifying run we encountered a problem with the machine, and we ran out of time to go back out on track, which was also very frustrating. Tomorrow we have to make the best of what we have and try to get a good result in the race.”

Fiorenzo Fanali: Hopkins’ Crew Chief
“We lost a little bit of time yesterday due to John’s crash in practice, so today we focused on the sections of the circuit where he was suffering with a lack of rear grip. We made some improvements to this before running through several tyre combinations to finalise a choice for the race. We have some areas where we know we can make improvements in set-up for tomorrow, particularly to help John drive out of the turns. We have a good race pace and although we didn’t qualify where we would have liked on the grid, I am confident that the package will be strong. John is carrying an injury and he is obviously in a lot of discomfort but he always tries incredibly hard and gives us his maximum, so we can only be very thankful to him for that.”

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Rossi to race with ‘Azzurri’ in Catalunya

2008-06-08T10:56:00.000+07:00

Valentino Rossi’s YZR-M1 will carry a one-off livery for the Grand Prix of Catalunya this weekend in celebration of the European Football Championships, which begin on Sunday. The championship leader’s bike has been specially painted in the style of the shirts of the Italian national team, the ‘Azzurri’, ahead of their opening game against Holland on Monday. Rossi will also wear leathers designed in the same vein and even his famous number 46 has undergone a change for the weekend.

	YZR-M1

The special livery of the Fiat Yamaha Team star was officially unveiled at 09.50 in the pitlane of the Montmelo cicruit just before first free practice this Friday.

YZR-M1

From : www.yamaha-racing.com

Stoner's surprise pole

2008-06-08T10:53:00.001+07:00

Saturday, 7th June 2008

I really didn't expect to be on pole today, it's a big surprise!" - Casey Stoner.

MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner has his best chance of victory since the opening Qatar round, after taking his first pole position of the season on Saturday in Catalunya.

Stoner, previously on pole at last September's San Marino Grand Prix, overcame a six-strong Michelin attack to put his Bridgestone-shod Ducati at the head of the 17-rider grid.

Stoner's nearest rival was home hero Dani Pedrosa, who qualified just 0.083secs slower and is sure to be a threat in the race, but world championship leader Valentino Rossi was only ninth fastest. Stoner best both Rossi and Pedrosa to take victory in the 2007 Catalan Grand Prix.

"If I'm honest I really didn't expect to be on pole today, it's a big surprise!" smiled Casey. "Practice has been going well and we've been getting gradually better on race tyres. The guys have worked really hard and come up with two different set-ups that I'm happy with on two different machines. At the moment we're torn between which one we're going to use in the race but that's a nice problem to have!

"When we put the final qualifying tyre in I thought we were going to be lucky to be on the front row but I was able to keep it smooth - the lap itself didn't actually feel all that fast but the time was great and in general we couldn't have asked for more from the session."

After a perfect start to the 2008 season in Qatar, Stoner has taken just two podiums from the following five rounds and is currently fourth in the standings, 46 points behind Rossi. However, he arrives for this weekend's race fresh from an inspiring second place finish at Mugello.

"Over the past four races we've been able to iron some things out, work out why we weren't as fast as we perhaps could have been at the start of the season and things are getting continually better," he explained. "This pole position shows that we're going in the right direction so hopefully that trend can continue through to the race tomorrow."

But there were to be no pleasant surprises for Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri, who fell at the end of the session and will line-up just 16th on the grid.

"It's been another really difficult day," said Marco. "We haven't managed to find a solution to our problems here and so tomorrow we'll be starting from the back again. On my last run on a qualifying tyre I tried to give my maximum to improve my position but I was braking so hard that the front locked and I crashed, fortunately without injuring myself. We have to stay strong and keep working."

From : www.crash.net

Pedrosa targets Catalunya glory

2008-06-08T10:52:00.000+07:00

Dani Pedrosa has vowed to do everything he can to come away from the Catalan Grand Prix with a popular victory in front of his home crowd.

Chasing a second win on Spainish soil this season, Pedrosa is particularly keen to triumph around the Circuit de Catalunya as he grew up just 20km away in Sabadell.

More than that though, Pedrosa is determined to use this race as an opportunity to close the gap down on arch-rival Valentino Rossi, the Italian having pulled a twelve point margin over the last few events.

He is confident too, with the Repsol Honda rider claiming he is always buoyed by the superb home support he receives, while he admits the circuit is to his liking too.

“This is a great weekend because I am riding in front of my home crowd, near where I grew up, and I really feel and appreciate the fans' support. The atmosphere is always very special at Montmeló (Barcelona), with a big and enthusiastic crowd throughout the weekend. I will do everything I can to offer them a good race.

“I really like some parts of the track, especially from the left-hander after Repsol, down the hill from there, into that little left-right chicane and then uphill towards the next right. The surface is quite bumpy, probably due Formula 1 cars, racing trucks and so on.

“The start-finish straight is very long, so you need a fast bike for this track. It is also important to keep the tyres in good condition, because the surface is very abrasive, so you need a nice, fluid riding style.”

From : www.crash.net

Rossi: Ferrari wanted me; Schu falls

2008-06-08T10:48:00.001+07:00

Tuesday, 3rd June 2008

Italian legend reveals that another Italian legend wanted him to sign on the dotted line - the only thing that stopped him was his love of racing on just two wheels...

Valentino Rossi has claimed that Ferrari wanted him to make the jump across to Formula 1 – and acknowledged that he considered the switch, but in the end decided that he enjoyed racing motorbikes too much to change.

The seven-time world champion tested for the fabled Scuderia on a number of occasions, most recently at Valencia in Spain in early 2006, when he lapped competitively just a second adrift of Michael Schumacher, who has won as many titles on four wheels as Rossi has on two.

The 29-year-old Yamaha star triumphed on home turf at Mugello at the weekend, his third successive victory in 2008 and one that has extended his advantage atop the riders' standings to twelve points over Honda rival Dani Pedrosa as he seeks to add to his four consecutive MotoGP crowns achieved from 2002 to 2005, a period when the man nicknamed ‘The Doctor' proved unbeatable.

"I thought about it,” the Italian confessed to German publication Welt am Sonntag when asked about why he had never gone on to race in F1 following his encouraging testing form. “Ferrari wanted me. It is another world but I was fast.”

The prospect of a Rossi vs Schumacher showdown at the pinnacle of international four-wheeled racing would indeed have been a mouth-watering one, but ultimately the man from Urbino elected to stick with the devil he knew – even if he did recently admit to having had ‘some regrets' about his decision not to take the risk.

“There was a possibility of moving to F1,” he added in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Mundo. “I don't know whether I would have done well or not, but in the end I enjoy my life and still have the passion forSchumacher, meanwhile, had to pick himself up and dust himself down after suffering yet another fall in his new, semi-professional ‘hobby' of motorcycle racing. The German legend – a 91-time grand prix winner – returned to action in the IDM (Internationale Deutsche Motorradmeisterschaft) German motorbike championships at the Nürburgring at the weekend, only to come a cropper on lap eleven after battling his way up into 17th from 25th on the starting grid.

“I am completely okay,” the 39-year-old told the Financial Times Deutschland afterwards. “It was my mistake and a shame, because this race was proving a lot of fun. Seventeenth would have been absolutely great for me.”

From : www.crash.net

Mugello Race results

2008-06-08T10:41:00.000+07:00

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 42min 31.153 secs
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 42min 33.354 secs
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 42min 36.020 secs
4. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 42min 37.466 secs
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 42min 43.683 secs
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 42min 44.959 secs
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 42min 45.600 secs
8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 42min 46.472 secs
9. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 42min 46.480 secs
10. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 43min 1.938 secs
11. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 43min 10.774 secs
12. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 43min 21.174 secs
13. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 21.593 secs
14. Tady Okada JPN Repsol Honda Team (M) 43min 30.002 secs
15. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 43min 31.889 secs

BAD LUCK DOGS KAWASAKI AT LE MANS

2008-05-22T22:35:00.000+07:00

18 May 2008

Despite a strong start to today’s French Grand Prix at Le Mans, Kawasaki’s John Hopkins saw any chance of a top five finish disappear just after the halfway point in the race, when the chain on his Ninja ZX-RR snapped without warning.

The 24-year-old Anglo-American had fought his way through into seventh place during the early stages of the race and was closing rapidly on the battle for fifth when the incident occurred. It was a bitterly disappointed Hopkins who was forced to park the chainless bike against the Armco barrier and walk back to the paddock.

It is the first time that such a failure has occurred, despite many miles of testing and racing. Kawasaki’s race engineers will now return with the chain to Japan, where they will work with the manufacturer to identify exactly what caused the chain to fail under race conditions.

With Hopkins out of the race, it was left to Anthony West to carry the flag for Kawasaki, but the 26-year-old Australian had his own problems to contend with. From the start of the 28-lap race, West was struggling with a severe lack of rear grip that saw his Ninja ZX-RR spinning up on the gas out of every turn.

In characteristic style, West refused to be defeated by the problem, and his dogged determination saw him eventually finish in 14th position, for which he was rewarded with two valuable championship points.

It was a frustrated West that returned to the Kawasaki pit box to demand answers from his crew, who were quick to identify the cause as a problem with the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR.

Both Kawasaki riders leave Le Mans disappointed, but determined to make amends in the next race at Mugello, which takes place in just two weeks time.

Anthony West: 13 - 14th Position
“I am not happy at all. This weekend has been a struggle, because we’ve had the same rear traction problems that we’ve experienced at every track since the start of the season. But then, in the race, the rear grip was non-existent; the bike was spinning up if I even thought about opening the throttle. I knew straight away that something was wrong, but short of coming in for a change of tyre and kissing any chance of a points scoring finish goodbye, there was nothing I could do. In the end, I just did what I could to ride round the problem, but I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy to see the chequered flag as I was today. Now I want to know what the problem was, and I want to be sure that we don’t have the same problem again.”

John Hopkins: #21 - DNF
“After practice and qualifying I really thought we could come away from Le Mans with a good result, which makes today even more frustrating. I got a pretty good start, and was then able to make up places by passing on the brakes, but there are still a number of areas where we’re losing out, on acceleration out of the turns for example, and this makes it difficult to make a pass stick. It’s no fun holding off someone like Lorenzo for a whole lap, only to see him motor past you as soon as you get onto the straight. We need to work on these areas, starting with tomorrow’s test, and we need to make some improvements if we’re to increase our competitiveness. As for the chain, I guess that was just bad luck. Now we need to find out why it failed, so we can avoid the same problem in the future. Finally, I’d like to apologise to Loris for the pass I put on him, which was a little bit hard. Sorry Loris!”

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

TRICKY CONDITIONS HAMPER KAWASAKI IN SHANGHAI

2008-05-22T22:34:00.000+07:00

04 May 2008

Kawasaki's John Hopkins and Anthony West were left frustrated today, after rear traction problems left them unable to fulfil their true potential in this afternoon's 22-lap Chinese Grand Prix. Hopkins finished a difficult race in 14th position, with West crossing the line a further 20 seconds back in 17th place.

After qualifying on the fifth row of the grid yesterday, Hopkins was quick to make up places from the start of today's race. The Anglo-American put himself in touch with the leaders, including eventual race winner Valentino Rossi, by riding around the outside of the field at turn one. Unfortunately, Hopkins had it all to do again after a coming together with Alex de Angelis forced him to run on at the end of the main straight, and left him nursing a painful puncture wound after catching his knee on his own foot peg.

Rear traction problems hampered the 24-year-old Kawasaki pilot's attempts to work his way back through the field, but his persistence and determination were rewarded with two valuable championship points, as he fought his way up to 14th place by race end.

The main straight also caused problems for West, who was passed by his teammate after running off the track early on in the race. Like Hopkins, the 27-year-old Australian was frustrated by a lack of rear grip from the start of the race, but he also identified a lack of front-end grip under braking as being a major factor in his disappointing result.

With both riders having declared themselves satisfied with the performance of their Ninja ZX-RR machines in race trim and on race tyres yesterday, the reason for such an unexpected deterioration in rear traction was not immediately apparent. Kawasaki's engineers will now look to the data to identify the problem ahead of the next race, which takes place at Le Mans in just two weeks time.

TOUGH DAY AT LE MANS FOR DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM

2008-05-22T22:33:00.001+07:00

An otherwise positive weekend for Casey Stoner at Le Mans ended on a negative note today as his unbroken run of 22 points-scoring finishes came to an end.

The Australian had produced another top performance in the race as he was forced to ride around an unfortunate lack of grip from one side of his front tyre - possibly due to the slight change in track conditions caused by a wet morning warm-up - on the back of another impressive display during practice.

Stoner battled through his problems to stay in the podium fight but on the 21st lap the engine of his Ducati also ran into difficulty and forced him to return to the pits. With the white flags having been shown to indicate a wet race, Stoner was able to take his second bike and return to the race on rain tyres - eventually crossing the line in 16th place, missing the points for the first time with Ducati.

After losing thirty seconds at the start of the race when his bike stalled on the grid, Marco Melandri also ended the race on rain tyres after gambling on an early change. Unfortunately for Marco the light rainfall never turned into a downpour, although he did manage to take a point in 15th.

MARCO MELANDRI
"My race was doomed from the start because unfortunately the bike was cutting out on the sighting lap and I thought it was just a temporary thing. Then when I let the clutch out at the start it stalled completely and I lost some vital seconds. Once I got going I got my rhythm together and when I saw it was raining I decided to come in and hope that the gamble of an early change would pay off with some more rain. It's a shame because things went well in the warm-up when the bike was more balanced and more predictable and I think I was capable of a good race. Now we have a couple of days to test and I'm sure we can make a real step forward before Mugello, a circuit I love."

CASEY STONER
"I got a decent start to the race today but unfortunately I just didn't have any feeling for the right hand side of the front tyre. I was losing a lot of grip at maximum lean and kept closing the front so I lost a lot of confidence. I couldn't brake as late as I had been doing during practice so I had to ride around it and managed to get to the point where it was only when the tyre was right on the edge, in T4, that I was really losing time. I was there or thereabouts, still in with a shout of a podium position, and it started to rain so I thought that could give us a chance. Unfortunately that was when I started to have a problem with the engine, I couldn't get any drive off the bottom end and couldn't overtake anybody. Then a couple of laps later the engine problem effectively ended the race for us. This weekend has had a lot of positive aspects to it - we've got back up to speed again and found our old feeling with the bike so it's just a case of everything coming together in a race. That's why I'm looking forward to the next one."

From : www.ducati.com

Le Mans Race Result

2008-05-22T22:32:00.000+07:00

	No.	Rider	Motorcycle	Team	Race Gap	Best Lap	Lap
1	46	Rossi	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	0'00.000	1'34.215	11
2	48	Lorenzo	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	0'04.997	1'34.421	14
3	5	Edwards	Yamaha	Tech 3 Yamaha	0'06.805	1'34.321	6
4	2	Pedrosa	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	0'10.157	1'34.469	6
5	7	Vermeulen	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	0'21.762	1'34.585	6
6	4	Dovizioso	Honda	JiR Team Scot	0'22.395	1'34.727	27
7	65	Capirossi	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	0'27.806	1'34.992	5
8	69	Hayden	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	0'27.995	1'35.182	10
9	14	De Puniet	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	0'29.344	1'35.191	9
10	56	Nakano	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0'30.822	1'35.430	4
11	24	Elias	Ducati	Alice Team	0'35.154	1'35.442	3
12	15	De Angelis	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0'36.216	1'35.327	8
13	50	Guintoli	Ducati	Alice Team	0'52.038	1'35.888	4
14	13	West	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	1'29.307	1'36.550	3
15	33	Melandri	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	1 Lap	1'35.922	14
16	1	Stoner	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	2 Lap	1'34.561	11
17	21	Hopkins	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	Retired	1'34.947	5
18	52	Toseland	Yamaha	Tech 3 Yamaha	Retired	1'36.603	2

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM BOUNCE BACK TO FORM IN CHINA

2008-05-22T22:30:00.002+07:00

The Grand Prix of China saw both Ducati MotoGP Team riders return to the top five as Casey Stoner clinched third place and Marco Melandri produced his best performance of the season with a battle to fifth.

Stoner had hoped to be more involved in the battle for victory but a dramatic change in the track conditions led to a different tyre choice than in practice, which limited the Australian's performance. However, the podium is still a positive finish to the weekend for the World Champion, who remains fourth in the championship.

Marco Melandri worked hard all weekend to improve his feeling with the bike and his efforts bore fruit today with an exciting charge through the pack that led him to a merited fifth place, providing a timely confidence boost ahead of the return to Europe.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) 3rd
"I'm disappointed to be honest because I know we could have done better today. The bike has worked really well in practice and we thought we had the ideal set-up for today but we changed a couple of things and for one reason or another the package just wasn't as good as before. I made a good start and I was happy with that but even in the first corner I couldn't get the bike turned, Colin Edwards came past me, and that was the story of the race. As the race wore on my lap times improved but it was too little too late and in any case it wouldn't have been enough for me to stick with the lead guys. I'm disappointed this has happened today - not so really for third place which is a good result but for the big gap from the lead. I know we can do much better so we will put this behind us, wipe the slate clean and try to do better next time out."

MARCO MELANDRI - (Ducati MotoGP Team) 5th
"This was an important day - I think I did the best race possible and in general fifth place isn't bad. The team have done a great job, we've found a much better balance with the bike and the changes Ducati have made to the traction control allow me to have a much better feel for the engine. Things had started to look up yesterday and today we confirmed it. I got a good start, put my rhythm together and was able to get into some decent times. It was good fun and now I finally feel like I can ride my Ducati. Filippo (Preziosi) has always worked so hard to help me and now I hope we can continue in this direction. Spirits are high now and I can't wait for the next race."

From : www.ducati.com

Shanghai Race Result

2008-05-22T22:30:00.001+07:00

	No.	Rider	Motorcycle	Team	Race Gap	Best Lap	Lap
1	46	Rossi	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	0'00.000	1'59.273	18
2	2	Pedrosa	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	0'03.890	1'59.384	18
3	1	Stoner	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	0'15.928	2'00.056	20
4	48	Lorenzo	Yamaha	Fiat Yamaha Team	0'22.494	2'00.308	19
5	33	Melandri	Ducati	Ducati Marlboro Team	0'26.957	2'00.451	18
6	69	Hayden	Honda	Repsol Honda Team	0'28.369	2'00.601	15
7	5	Edwards	Yamaha	Tech 3 Yamaha	0'29.780	2'00.651	11
8	24	Elias	Ducati	Alice Team	0'30.225	2'00.355	21
9	65	Capirossi	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	0'31.440	2'00.435	15
10	56	Nakano	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0'35.969	2'01.023	17
11	4	Dovizioso	Honda	JiR Team Scot	0'36.246	2'00.619	15
12	52	Toseland	Yamaha	Tech 3 Yamaha	0'43.191	2'01.515	20
13	14	De Puniet	Honda	LCR Honda MotoGP	0'43.442	2'00.845	21
14	21	Hopkins	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	0'45.855	2'00.948	10
15	50	Guintoli	Ducati	Alice Team	0'46.330	2'01.663	15
16	15	De Angelis	Honda	San Carlo Honda Gresini	0'50.593	2'01.401	10
17	13	West	Kawasaki	Kawasaki Racing Team	1'05.593	2'02.229	6
18	7	Vermeulen	Suzuki	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Retired	2'01.742	5

Fighting fifth in France for Vermeulen, strong seventh for Capirossi

2008-05-22T22:25:00.001+07:00

18/05/2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen celebrated his best result so far this season by finishing in an impressive fifth position at Le Mans in France today, with team-mate Loris Capirossi crossing the line in an equally strong seventh place.

Vermeulen started from eighth on the grid and made up a couple of places on the first lap. He then set three personal-best laps in succession as he moved into fifth place, and the Australian was in touch with the leaders as light rain started to fall on the 4’185m circuit. Track officials waved the white flags to signify that pit-lane was open if the riders wanted to change to their wet weather bikes, but Vermeulen - like most riders – chose to stay out and consolidate his position. He had a couple of narrow escapes as the track surface got very slippery from the rain, but he brought the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home safely to score valuable championship points for himself and the team.

Capirossi made a strong start from the fourth row of the grid and was up to seventh by the end of lap two. He was involved in a race long battle with a large group of riders, which also resulted in one of them pushing Capirossi off the track and on to the grass. The experienced Italian lost some places but battled back to take a hard, but well earned nine championship points.

Today’s race started in bright sunshine with track temperatures at 26ºC, as the light drizzle fell the temperatures cooled off, but this didn’t dampen the spirits of over 74,000 fans at trackside who were treated to a comprehensive victory by Valentino Rossi – a win that puts him joint second, with Angel Nieto, in the all-time list of Grand Prix victories by a rider.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in at Le Mans for a further day of testing, before moving on to Capirossi’s home GP at Mugello in Italy on Sunday 1^st June.

Chris Vermeulen:

“Well that was alright – I guess! I’m happy with the weekend, we made some progress and we finally got some good points on the board. I am a little disappointed with fifth because I was really hoping I’d have a bit more pace to be able to fight with the front guys. I felt I was just that little bit behind and just couldn’t close the gap. We are testing here tomorrow so hopefully we can try and improve a few more things on the bike, and make more steps in Mugello.

“I want to say a big thanks to my crew, they’ve worked out all the issues we had from China and the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R worked great all weekend and we had no problems at all.”

Loris Capirossi:

“It has been really hard for me all weekend; we just couldn’t go as quick as we wanted to. We made some changes yesterday and went a bit better, but today we struggled in warm-up. In the race we didn’t get the result we are looking for and seventh is not our target, but we scored some good points and we must wait for it to be our moment to go quick! I was pushed onto the grass by another rider and maybe I could have had a better result, but that is racing and he has come and apologised so that’s all good. Our potential is not too bad, but we still need to discover something new so we can go a bit quicker.”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Capirossi and Vermeulen robbed of higher finishes

2008-05-22T22:23:00.000+07:00

04/05/2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s Loris Capirossi was deprived of at least a top five position at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai today, through a mixture of bad luck and a small mistake.

Capirossi was looking to challenge for a much higher position on lap five, but an error at the end of the back straight caused the Italian racer to run off the track. He re-joined the race in 12^th place and began the task of chasing down the pack in front of him. Capirossi used all his experience to close in and pass five more riders to move him into seventh on the penultimate lap, but he suffered a transmission problem on the last lap and crossed the line in ninth position. This result gave Capirossi seven points, and moved him up to fifth in the riders’ championship.

Chris Vermeulen had an afternoon he would rather forget. The talented Australian had looked impressive during yesterday’s practice, but a similar technical fault to Capirossi which began directly from the start of the race caused Vermeulen to enter the pits and retire from the race at the end of lap six.

Today’s race was declared ‘wet’ after heavy rain this morning, but with warm air temperatures of 22ºC drying the track, all riders started on slick tyres. A crowd of just over 20,000 witnessed former World Champion Valentino Rossi win his first race since September last year.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP now travels back to Europe for fifth round of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship at Le Mans in France – the scene of Vermeulen’s premier Grand Prix victory last year – on Sunday 18^th May.

Loris Capirossi:

“It’s difficult to say that this was a positive day, but we did improve a lot and if it wasn’t for my mistake early on it could have been a lot better. I didn’t want to lose touch with the top guys and my rhythm was really good, but I ran off and that cost me some places. I got back up to seventh and then I had a technical problem and I lost two positions right at the end. Now we will go to Le Mans and make sure that we are competitive there – we had the potential to do much better today!”

Chris Vermeulen:

“Obviously I’m not happy with today’s result; in fact that’s probably an understatement! I had a problem right from the start and the chain kept slipping making the bike really difficult to ride. I felt like my pace was quicker than the four guys in front of me, but every time I tried to pass them the chain would just slip and I’d lose my momentum. Then towards the end of lap six the chain came off and I had to go into the pits and that was the race over. I am really disappointed with what happened, but we have to learn from this and make sure that it doesn’t happen again. We now have to re-group and come back even stronger in France!”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Pedrosa Puts in Determined Ride To Take Second

2008-05-22T22:22:00.000+07:00


	Shanghai Circuit



		Qualifying: May 3, 2008 Race Day: May 4, 2008 City: SHANGHAI Country: China MotoGP Laps: 22 250cc Laps: 21 125cc Laps: 19 Lap Distance (km): 5.281

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) rode a coolly calculating race at rapid pace to settle for second place behind winner Valentino Rossi (Yamaha) and ahead of third-placed Casey Stoner (Ducati). Dani has now finished on the podium at the last five Grands Prix.


Dani Pedrosa		Nicky Hayden

Rain fell before the earlier 125 and 250cc races but the track was largely dry when the grid formed for the premier class encounter. Some runners thought about riding with intermediates but then settled on slicks for this 22-lap Grand Prix.

Stoner fired his machine off the line to head the pack into turn one with poleman Colin Edwards (Yamaha) on his tail and then Rossi holding an early third spot as the field poured out of one of the tightest turns in Grand Prix racing without incident. Dani lay fourth at this early stage.

It first looked as though Edwards might have a significant advantage as the Texan rider opened up a half second lead on Stoner and Rossi as a fast-starting Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) worked on getting past Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) for fifth place.

But it was Dani who took control at the head of the field on lap two when he scythed past Rossi for third, before dispatching Stoner in second and then on the same lap taking Edwards for the lead. Rossi saw the danger of Dani making a big break and the Italian immediately upped his pace to chase the rapidly disappearing Dani.

By lap three Pedrosa held a 1.1 second advantage as Rossi dived past Edwards to make chase. Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) too was on the move, the rookie star snatching fifth as Dani put in an early fastest lap of 2m 00.585s to hold a 0.2 second advantage over Rossi.

But Rossi made his move on Dani on lap five and by the end of that lap he had extended a 0.35 second lead over the Honda man. Edwards meanwhile had run wide at turn one and dropped from third to seventh.

No one could stay with Rossi and Pedrosa and the duo were two seconds ahead of the pursuing Stoner by lap eight. Nicky was fourth at this stage ahead of a revitalized Marco Melandri (Ducati) in fifth.

Dani put in another fastest lap on lap ten as he tried to stay with Rossi. Stoner by now was almost out of sight, a full seven seconds shy of the leaders, such was the dominance of the leading pair. As Rossi upped the pace still further he managed to put 0.6 seconds between him and Dani.

The big fight was for fourth place between Melandri, Dovi, Edwards and Lorenzo. This was acted out while Rossi’s lead over Dani varied between half a second at best and quarter of a second when Dani worked his RC 212V out the turns to claw back some ground.

As the race entered the closing laps Rossi fired in a 1m 59.273s fastest lap to make Dani realize his pursuit might be in vain. Sure enough by lap 20 of this 22-lap affair, the Italian former World Champion was enjoying a comparatively comfortable one second cushion over Pedrosa.

At the flag the clock showed 3.7 seconds, Dani having decided that a safe second place at this early stage of an 18-race season was of far higher value than the risk of throwing away vital points in a vain attempt to pass the leader in only the fourth race.

There have now been four different winners of these four races and with Lorenzo finishing fourth, the title race now shows Dani leading the pack on 81 points, Lorenzo second with 74, Rossi on 72 and Stoner fourth on 56. Nicky lies eighth with 29 after a sixth place finish.

From : www.world.honda.com

Pedrosa Fights For Fourth Place In Tough Race at France

2008-05-22T22:20:00.001+07:00

May 18, 2008

This was by no means the result Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) was looking for as he finished fourth behind the three Yamahas of winner Valentino Rossi, second-placed Jorge Lorenzo and third man Colin Edwards.


Dani PEDROSA (Repsol Honda Team)		Andrea DOVIZIOSO (JiR Team Scot MotoGP)

With unsettled weather again the major factor it proved to be in the 125cc and 250cc races, this 28-lap race got underway in sunshine with rain clouds lurking in the skies. Casey Stoner (Ducati) rocketed into the lead at turn one with Dani and Edwards hot in his tracks.

As early as lap three a front foursome of Stoner, Dani, Edwards and Rossi had established some distance between themselves and the pack, and only Lorenzo of the pursuers, would have the pace to get among them in the closing stages.

On lap four Dani was eager to get past Stoner and tried a move up the inside of the Aussie at the Musée corner. He hit trouble mid-move and ran wide on the exit dropping back to third spot with Rossi moving up to second.

Dani was working hard to get back on terms with Rossi and moved up the inside of the former World Champion on the front straight before dropping in behind again as Rossi leaned on his rival on the entry to the chicane. This would be Dani’s best effort to stay with the race winner.

Rossi now had the measure of Stoner and on lap seven he made his move, the Aussie fighting back to retake the lead before Rossi hammered home his advantage on lap eight, establishing a one second lead in the space of two laps and never looking remotely threatened after that.

Dani worked his way back to second past Stoner on lap 11 as Rossi set a series of fastest laps stretching his advantage to nearly three seconds by mid-race distance. Lorenzo was lying fifth at this point as Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) ran off track while seventh in his unstinting efforts to haul himself into contention.

Rain began to fall at the start of lap 16, and although white flags were deployed to allow riders into the pits for a machine change if they wished, all stayed out in the tricky conditions save the struggling Marco Melandri (Ducati) who gambled on further rain by swapping bikes for a wet-tyre shod version (unsuccessfully as it turned out).

Rossi was now away in the distance and as Lorenzo edged past Edwards for fourth, Dani’s second place was now in jeopardy to his countryman who was on a late race charge. On lap 21 Lorenzo moved past Stoner on the pits straight, the Aussie throwing up his left hand to indicate machine trouble.

Stoner limped round for another lap trying to get to the pits to change bike, but as he footed into pitlane on his stricken Ducati, it was clear his race was as good as over. He finished 16th, out of the points, after rejoining the race on his number two bike.

As Lorenzo stole past Dani for second, Rossi held a seven second lead that he extended to more than ten seconds before easing off the gas in the closing stages to take the flag. Edwards had taken Dani’s third place off him to complete an all-Yamaha podium.

Andrea Dovizioso (JiR Scot Honda RC212V) rode a determined race to finish sixth after a slow start that left him down in 12th place at the end of lap one. Dovi was just a bike-length behind Chris Vermeulen (Suzuki). Nicky finished eighth ahead of local hopeful Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda RC212V) with Shinya Nakano (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) tenth and his team-mate Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V) 12th.

The World Championship table looks like this after five rounds: Rossi 97, Lorenzo and Pedrosa tied in second on 94, Stoner with 56 points.

From : www.world.honda.com

Rossi tops all Yamaha podium in Le Mans

2008-05-22T22:13:00.000+07:00

Valentino Rossi made another historic step in his incredible career today when he took his 90th career victory in Le Mans, equalling the record set by the great Angel Nieto, to move into second in the all-time winners list behind Giacomo Agostini. It was an outstanding display from the Fiat Yamaha Team rider and he celebrated in fine style when Nieto joined him on his slow-down lap, the Spaniard taking charge of the bike with Rossi riding pillion behind him.
It was a superb day for Yamaha in general as Jorge Lorenzo once again defied his injuries to ride into an astonishing second place behind his team-mate and Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards joined the pair on the podium in third place.

Rossi had an average start and was tailing the lead group in fifth at the end of lap one. It was soon clear how well his Yamaha-Bridgestone package was working however and he picked off first Nicky Hayden then Edwards and Dani Pedrosa to move into second behind Casey Stoner, before passing him too on lap eight. From then on Rossi was too strong for the chasing pack, stretching his lead lap after lap until some spots of rain forced him to slow slightly in the last third of the race. The sun soon came back out however, allowing the riders to continue without changing bikes and the Italian to cross the line 4.997 seconds in front to take his first back-to-back victory since 2006.

The 29-year-old’s 90th win moves him two points clear at the top of the championship with 97 points, whilst Lorenzo and Pedrosa are just behind him with 94 points each. Rossi will now stay here for two days of testing to ready himself for his home race at Mugello in Italy in two week’s time, when he will be looking for his 7th consecutive win at the track.

Valentino Rossi 1st 44'30.799; “To arrive at 90 wins like this and equal Angel’s record is a dream for me. I had quite a lot of pressure because Angel was waiting with the special leathers to join me on the bike, so I really needed to win! It was great to ride with him – I think maybe with some practice he can be as fast as us! 180 victories together on one bike is quite impressive I think!
Honestly I didn’t expect to be so fast today but together with Jeremy and my guys we decided to make some small modifications this morning and in the race my M1 and my Bridgestone tyres worked brilliantly from start to finish. When is started to rain a little bit I thought “oh no!’ and so I steadied a bit and tried to ride very sweetly; I had such a good rhythm and I really didn’t want to have to change bikes. Luckily the rain soon stopped and I was able to continue in the same way. It’s great for Yamaha to have the first three and I want to congratulate Jorge especially for doing such a good job in his condition. Thanks to everybody in the team; the job that Yamaha has done in three months is incredible. I enjoyed myself so much today, the atmosphere in our garage is perfect and now we will make two important days of testing, try to improve even more and then head to Mugello.”

Davide Brivio Team Manager; “What a day for Yamaha and for Valentino! This is a great victory, Valentino was even stronger than in China and now we are leading the championship. Our team, engineers and Bridgestone are doing a fantastic job and now we need to maintain this form through the busy run of races coming up. Next stop Mugello, which is a very important race for all of us, so we’ll be working hard at the test here to make sure we are in the best shape to try to repeat this result!”

	Valentino and Jorge

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo once again stunned onlookers by riding to second place in Le Mans today with two fractured ankles. The 21-year-old rookie has found it increasingly difficult to ride through the pain during the course of the weekend but today he found his rhythm and was able to take his fourth podium in five races. It was a Yamaha whitewash in France as Valentino Rossi took his 90th career victory, equalling Angel Nieto with the second highest number of wins in the sport’s history, and Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards rode a strong race to finish third.

Lorenzo’s race was a carbon copy of China as he dropped back through the field at the start, struggling off the line and unable to find his rhythm in the early stages. He had lost five places from fifth on the grid at the end of lap one but on lap eight he suddenly found the feeling with the bike and began to make headway, passing three riders in one lap and setting off after Chris Vermeulen, who was some distance ahead. It took the Michelin-shod rider seven laps to reel in the Australian and then another five to pass Edwards, before he leap-frogged both Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner on lap 21 to move into second. Some spots of rain caused a flurry of activity in the pits as the mechanics readied the second bikes with rain settings, but the sun reappeared and Lorenzo eventually crossed the line just under five seconds adrift of his team-mate.

Jorge Lorenzo 2nd +4'997; “Firstly I want to say congratulations to Yamaha because it’s fantastic to have three on the podium and it demonstrates how strong our bike is. After the weekend I have had, with the crashes and so much pain, I can’t believe I’m here! All last night I worried about this race because I really thought it might be too hard. It was a dream to finish sixth or seventh, especially when I could only manage 11th in the warm-up. I knew I had to try however and on the grid one of my mechanics reminded me that my rivals were just the same ones as in Portugal; this was a good motivation! I had some problems at the start and it’s clear that we need to work on these, but after a while I found my rhythm and once again I was able to make my way through the field and pass some riders. I think the rain helped me for the first time in my life because everyone was a little bit slower for a few laps, but second is unbelievable and I think I look a bit happier this afternoon! Now we have to work as hard as possible to heal my injuries and improve my physical condition, so that we can be back to our best in Mugello.”

Danielle Romagoli Team Manager; "Once again Jorge has done an incredible job in his condition and today is a great result for Yamaha and for the team. Our job this weekend has been very difficult because two crashes have meant less time to perfect the bike, but the team did a great job, found the best possible set-up and then Michelin gave us the best tyre for the race. Thanks to all of them! Now everyone needs some rest but Jorge most of all and we will all be hoping that he is able to relax and recuperate over the next ten days so that he can be back to full strength in Italy.”

Edwards trails Lorenzo

Edwards claims home podium for jubilant Tech 3 Yamaha

Colin Edwards stormed to his first podium finish of the season in Le Mans today to hand a jubilant Tech 3 Yamaha squad its first premier class top three finish since 2004. Edwards finished third in a rain-affected 28-lap race to give Tech 3 its first home podium since 2003, while the American also helped Yamaha to its first clean sweep of the rostrum since 2001.
Starting from the front row of the grid for the fourth time in five races, the American was immediately in contention for the lead as he pursued reigning world champion Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. Relegated to fourth by eventual Valentino Rossi on lap four, Edwards then spent 15 laps closely pursuing Stoner and Pedrosa, and in the process he clocked the second fastest lap of the race. Rain started to fall on lap 16, dampening the track at certain points, though not hard enough for a second successive flag-to-flag race to be played out in front of a large French crowd. Edwards briefly slipped back to fifth on lap 20, but he moved back into fourth when Stoner encountered technical problems and secured his ninth podium when he passed Pedrosa on lap 22. The result helped move Edwards into fifth place in the points, while Tech 3 Yamaha is now level on points with Ducati’s factory squad in the Team World Championship standings.
James Toseland’s Le Mans debut ended in disappointment after the British rider crashed out of ninth place following a tangle with Andrea Dovizioso on lap three. Toseland had made a fantastic start to jump to fifth by the end of the first lap, but in the frantic early exchanges slipped back to ninth before he crashed unhurt.

Colin Edwards 3rd +6.805; “I honestly thought that today was going to be my day with the pace I’d been able to run all weekend. I was fastest in free practice, fastest in the warm-up and second on the grid so I had high expectations. I really thought I could have got my first win out there, but I’ll still settle for third because it was a tough race. I thought I’d got a good start and then Casey and Dani came flying by and it was almost impossible to pass them. I tried everything, but they just didn’t make any mistakes and I couldn’t get close enough. I wanted to get by them because looking at my lap times I know I had more in the locker, but I couldn’t pass. They just had the jump on me coming out of the corners with acceleration and it would have taken a risky move for me to do it.
I’m an experienced rider and those guys are fighting for the world title while I’m in fifth, so I wasn’t going to do anything stupid. And when Valentino came blazing by like a cowboy with his guns shooting I knew he was going to push hard and that it would be tough for me. Casey had a problem and I got by him and then I passed Dani, as he seemed to check a bit at the first corner because of the rain. I didn’t think the rain was that bad and the lap times were not that much slower. I got to say a huge thanks to my team because I’ve wanted to give them a podium, and I guess there is no better to do it than in their home race. They’ve worked so hard and I’m glad to give them that podium. Congratulations to Yamaha as well because to have a 1-2-3 is fantastic. My Michelin tyres worked great too, so hopefully next time I can be closer to the win.”

James Toseland DNF; “I’m pretty frustrated because a little mistake ruins all the hard work myself and the team have put in. I wish I could have a second go at it now like you get in World Superbikes! I got a great start and really wanted to try and get away with the leaders but I lost a couple of places when John Hopkins came by with a hard but fair move. Andrea then made a small mistake and went slightly wide at the fourth corner and as I tried to go underneath him he came back on line and took my front wheel. It was just a racing incident but very disappointing because after that good start I felt like I could have got a good result.
I’m already looking forward to coming back strongly at Mugello and having done a bit of testing there before it won’t be completely alien for me. Congratulations to Colin because he has been awesome all weekend. He has been on the pace since pre-season testing and he’s deserved that podium, as has the team for all their effort. It was great for Yamaha to dominate the podium so it proves what great work was done in the winter.

Herve Poncharal Team Manager; “It has been a fantastic weekend for Tech 3 and for Yamaha. It has been a long time since our last podium and we had almost forgotten what it was like to celebrate after the race! But Colin has done a great job and I want to thank him for that. He almost got pole position yesterday but second was great and in qualifying this year he has been incredible. We knew it was going to be a tough race because this is a high calibre championship and to get a podium against such quality opposition is a great achievement, and all the more satisfying because this is our home race. Colin never gave up and in the end he was rewarded because he rode a sensible but fast race. It was an exceptional day for Yamaha and congratulations to them and Masao Furusawa. The Yamaha staff put in a tremendous amount of effort over the winter after a tough 2007 so to claim all the places on the podium is incredible.
We are not 100 percent happy because of James’ crash but we always knew this was going to be a tough part of the season but he did a good job in qualifying and his start was very impressive. He was right in the heart of the battle and riding well before the incident. I am 100 per cent confident things will get better for him and I believe today he could have finished around sixth. He is a true champion and I know he will never give up.”

From : www.yamaha-racing.com

Capirossi and Vermeulen robbed of higher finishes

2008-05-06T22:38:00.000+07:00

04 May 2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP’s Loris Capirossi was deprived of at least a top five position at the Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai today, through a mixture of bad luck and a small mistake.

Loris Capirossi:

Chris Vermeulen:

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“Today has been a disappointing end to what has been a good weekend’s work. Chris suffered an extremely unusual technical problem which I know the Suzuki factory will react to very quickly and he deserved much better – he’s an awesome racer who just needs his luck to change.

“For Loris it was his most competitive race on a Suzuki so far, and he had the pace to finish at least in the top five if everything had gone to plan. Unfortunately he made a mistake early on – which can happen when you are pushing to the maximum – and although he fought back to seventh he was denied by a similar problem to Chris.

“The Team is feeling very disappointed at the moment, but we have made some steps this weekend both in qualifying and with race pace, and the guys still have the confidence to look forward to Le Mans and pushing for the front positions.”

Mr Masahito Nishikawa – General Manager of Motorcycle Engine Design Department:

“It has been a good experience for me to visit the team and work with them here in China. I will now take my report back to the Factory and make sure that we can start to be more competitive. We will try to take the steps we need to make this bike a race winner.”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

TRICKY CONDITIONS HAMPER KAWASAKI IN SHANGHAI

2008-05-06T22:37:00.000+07:00

04 May 2008

John Hopkins: #21 - 14th
"We went out in the wet warm-up session this morning with high hopes of a good result in the rain or dry today. By the time we got to the race, the circuit had started to dry out and we had to make a decision on tyre choice, which maybe wasn't the best. I struggled right from the start with rear traction problems, and I pushed hard to make my way through the field. I made a few mistakes and ran off the track in places, it was a really tough race. I'm very disappointed as it's not the result I wanted for my hundredth Grand Prix, but we must stay focussed and try to make amends at the next round."

Anthony West: #13 - 17th
"I was looking for a better result than this today. The conditions were not ideal as the track was quite slippery after being wet this morning and it gradually dried out during the race. I followed John for a few laps and I think we were both experiencing similar problems with a lack of rear grip. I ran off the track in places because I just couldn't make the bike stick. I'm frustrated, as we need to make headway with these issues we've been having, but I'm determined for us to make a step forwards very soon."

Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
"I am disappointed with the result today as it isn't where I predicted us to be. We are not here to finish in the positions we achieved in the race. Shanghai is a circuit that we've performed quite well at in the past and I felt that we would gain better results here than in the opening rounds of the season. We suffered with rear traction problems in the race and both riders struggled to find grip. Now we have to look forward to Le Mans and everybody must work hard to improve our results there."

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM BOUNCE BACK TO FORM IN CHINA

2008-05-06T22:36:00.000+07:00

Rossi: Exactly how I wanted

2008-05-06T22:33:00.002+07:00

Monday, 5th May 2008

Valentino Rossi ended a seven-race losing streak with his first Bridgestone victory, at Shanghai on Sunday - and sent a worrying message to his title rivals by riding 'exactly how I wanted from start to finish'.

In the previous three rounds, Rossi has been forced to ride conservatively to protect his tyres in the closing stages of each race, but the ever-improving Bridgestone-Yamaha partnership showed no signs of weakness in China - forcing Rossi's only challenger, Dani Pedrosa, to finally wave the white flag with three laps to go.

Starting from second on the damp grid, behind Colin Edwards, Rossi was fourth at the end of lap one, before passing world champion Casey Stoner and fellow M1 rider Edwards by the end of the third lap.

Rossi's remaining target was Pedrosa and he made his move on the Spaniard at the end of the 1.2km back straight to take the lead on lap 5 of 22. The Italian remained in front to the chequered flag, but it was nail-bitingly close for the majority of the remaining laps, with less than half a second between the pair.

But Pedrosa finally cracked on lap 19, leaving Rossi to take his first victory since last September's Portuguese Grand Prix by 3.890secs over the Michelin-shod Honda rider, with Stoner's Ducati over 15secs back in third.

"After seven races it is a great feeling to win again; I am very happy!" said a clearly relieved Rossi, who kissed his M1 on the slow down lap. "This is a very important result for us because above all I was able to ride exactly how I wanted from start to finish and this was great fun for me.

"I had a great battle with Pedrosa and he pushed me hard and to be doing 1min 59s until the end was unbelievable!" recalled the five time MotoGP world champion, who last took the title in 2005. "All weekend we were hoping the rain wouldn't come so when we saw it this morning we were quite disappointed, then it started to dry out so we were praying that it would dry completely; we were lucky today!

"We worked very well with Bridgestone and together with their technicians we made a late tyre change and it was the right choice because my tyre worked very well until the end, as my times showed! It's the first win for us with Bridgestone so this is a great moment also for this reason and I want to say thank you to them.

"We were fast from Friday morning here and step by step we've found the perfect set-up and today the hard work paid off for everyone. We've had four races and four different winners so this shows how close the championship is, now we need to keep going because our rivals are all very near.

"Lorenzo did a great race today with his injuries, so this is a good day for everyone in the team. Thank you to my team and everyone at Yamaha, it's great to be here again," he concluded.

In the championship standings, Rossi is now just two points behind rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo - who rode injured to fourth in Sunday's race - with Pedrosa a further seven points ahead. Fellow 2008 race winner Stoner remains fourth, but is now 25 points from the top.

"We needed this!" admitted team manager Davide Brivio. "It's a fantastic feeling for everyone to win again and Valentino did a perfect job today. There are many good things about this particular win; it's the first with Bridgestone, the first for a long time and also it's put us right back in touch for the championship after a poor start in Qatar. It's important that we continue like this but everyone has a great motivation and confidence is running high in our garage."

"We've waited a long time to get back to winning ways!" added team manager Masahiko Nakajima. "All of the Yamaha staff are very happy to win again with Valentino and I want to share this moment with Valentino's fans around the world! It's been a tough weekend and it was a big battle with Pedrosa, but it was an exciting and impressive race. I really want to congratulate Valentino and now we want to continue to improve the bike for the championship fight. We've done a great job with Bridgestone this weekend and we really appreciate their work, they helped us to win today!"

From : www.crash.net

Rossi smashes losing streak in China

2008-05-06T22:25:00.002+07:00

Sunday, 4th May 2008

Valentino Rossi smashed a seven-race losing streak with his first ever Bridgestone victory in an action-packed Chinese Grand Prix, as the Italian became the fourth different MotoGP race winner in as many 2008 events.

Slicks were the tyres of choice for the damp track conditions - the lengthy Shanghai circuit drying steadily after heavy morning rain - and Rossi earned his breakthrough victory after a tense race-long battle with Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

Pedrosa took advantage of some frantic opening laps to make a small break up front, before being caught and passed by Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi, who took the lead for the first time on lap 5 of 22.

But Pedrosa then matched Rossi blow-for-blow and was still just a fraction from the Italian ten laps later, when Rossi made his victory push - pumping out new lap records to finally break the Jerez winner and take a 1.3secs lead with three laps to go.

Pedrosa later explained that there a strong tailwind along the giant 1.km back straight - which pushed up the top speeds substantially - had caused his Repsol Honda to over-rev and he was happy to settle for second under the circumstances.

Pedrosa had thus dropped rapidly away from Rossi by the flag, The Doctor taking his first victory since last September's Portuguese Grand Prix - with both fists waving in delight - by a margin of 3.890secs.

Having broken his longest losing steak since his debut 2000 season, a relieved Rossi parked his M1 at the side of the track, took off his helmet and soaked up the moment - before kissing his Yamaha and making his way slowly back to the pits.

MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner also looked set to play a starring role, after qualifying on the front row for the first time this year and holding the lead several times in the early stages, but was forced to watch in frustration as the top two rode away from him.

The Ducati Marlboro star, who hit a staggering 343.2km/h along the back straight, finally finished 12secs behind Pedrosa and 6.5secs ahead of fourth placed Jorge Lorenzo. Stoner later revealed that a softer tyre, in response to the cooler weather conditions, had proved his undoing.

Lorenzo came into the race holding a perfect podium record and the joint world championship lead, but had badly injured his ankles during a huge Friday highside - then stalled on the grid as the formation lap began.

The MotoGP rookie attempted to re-fire his Fiat Yamaha with a bump start, doing little to reduce the pain from his injured ankles, before getting assistance from officials and taking his fourth place on the grid.

The Spaniard, who celebrated his 21st birthday today, looked understandably cautious in the early stages - and had been mercilessly pushed back to eighth by the halfway mark - but retaliated with a combative performance during the last ten laps to pull a comfortable 4.4secs clear of fifth place.

The tailwind on the back straight contributed to a multitude of braking mistakes into the ultra-tight hairpin, with pole sitter Colin Edwards one of the most high profile victims.

The Texan swapped the lead with Stoner during the opening laps but - having been passed by Rossi and Pedrosa - had looked more than capable of holding third, until he ran wide on lap 6.

That dropped the Tech 3 Yamaha rider to seventh, where he eventually finished - in the middle of a close five-man pack - behind Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden, and ahead of Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi.

Melandri delivered by far his best race of the season, the Italian looking like a man transformed as he charged from 12th on the grid to fifth, shattering his previous best race finish of eleventh and releasing some of the huge pressure on his shoulders after a nightmare start to his Desmosedici career.

Capirossi was the only Rizla Suzuki rider to reach the flag after Chris Vermeulen retired with chain problems, whilst James Toseland endured his toughest MotoGP race yet - crossing the line in twelfth, albeit just a fraction behind fellow rookie Andrea Dovizioso, who faded backwards in the closing stages.

Kawasaki endured a race to forget, John Hopkins managing just 14th after several mistakes whilst trying to force his way forwards from 12th on the grid, while team-mate Anthony West finished in a distant last place - where he had started.

In the world championship standings, Pedrosa has now broken seven points clear of Lorenzo, with Rossi just two points behind his team-mate in third. Stoner remains fourth, but has slipped 25 points - one race win - behind Pedrosa.

Sunday's race was rumoured to be the final Chinese Grand Prix for the foreseeable future - a new round in Hungary, feeding on the huge support for 125cc world champion Gabor Talmacsi, is tipped to replace the Shanghai event from next season.

From : www.crash.net

Shanghai race result

2008-05-06T22:17:00.002+07:00

Sunday, 4th May 2008

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 44min 8.061 secs
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 44min 11.951 secs
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 23.989 secs
4. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 44min 30.555 secs
5. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 44min 35.018 secs
6. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 44min 36.430 secs
7. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 44min 37.841 secs
8. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 44min 38.286 secs
9. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 44min 39.501 secs
10. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 44min 44.030 secs
11. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 44min 44.307 secs
12. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 44min 51.252 secs
13. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 44min 51.503 secs
14. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 44min 53.916 secs
15. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 44min 54.391 secs
16. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 44min 58.654 secs
17. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 45min 13.654 secs

Race Standing

2008-04-26T22:35:00.000+07:00

April 26, 2008

1	Lorenzo	61
2	Pedrosa	61
3	Rossi	47
4	Stoner	40
5	Toseland	29
6	Capirossi	26
7	Hopkins	24
8	Edwards	22
9	Dovizioso	21
10	Hayden	19

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP looking for positive fortune in China

2008-04-26T22:31:00.002+07:00

24/04/2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is on its way to Shanghai for round four of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship, in a determined mood to kick-start its season on the 5,281m Chinese circuit.

The Rizla Suzuki GSV-R has shown its potential at the Shanghai International Circuit with a front row qualification plus a podium finish in 2007. New rider Loris Capirossi has also had a front row start at the Chinese track, and the talented Italian will be looking to add to his point’s tally – which is already better this season that it was at the same time last year – as he makes his eastern debut for Suzuki.

Chris Vermeulen had an unlucky accident at Shanghai last year –crashing with new 2008 team-mate Capirossi in qualifying – and unfortunately damaging his foot. He was able to race to a very creditable seventh place - after a race long battle again with Capirossi – but a fully fit Vermeulen will be looking to continue on his upward course that saw him take his best result of the 2008 season so far, last time out in Portugal.

The Shanghai circuit is the newest track in MotoGP and is situated about 30 kilometres outside of the city of Shanghai – the heaviest populated city in China. It has some of the most impressive facilities on the MotoGP calendar, with paddock offices built on stilts over a lake and huge stands for the spectators to watch the action from. The two massive aerofoil wings that cover the start straight are the obvious feature of the track, but it also includes an amazing layout with a very complicated first turn and a kilometre-long straight.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP takes to the track on Friday 2^nd May for two free practice sessions. Saturday will involve another practice followed by an hour-long qualifying session. Sunday’s 22-lap race gets underway at 15.00hrs local time (07.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

“I really enjoy Shanghai and I am sure the bike will be good there. As I have said before, we are not where we want to be at the moment and I am determined to go out and start making things happen. Suzuki and the crew are working really hard to make sure I get what I want so I need to start rewarding them with the results we deserve. It is going to be interesting in Shanghai with the extra long straight, which will give the fastest bikes an advantage, but I am sure with our package we can be competitive there.”

Chris Vermeulen:

“I had a good race in China last year even with what happened in qualifying - now Loris is in the same team I hope we will keep out of the way of each other! We made some steps forward in the test after Portugal and I hope we can carry those improvements forward into the weekend. I got my best result of the season at Estoril, but it is not nearly good enough. I need to be challenging at the front and going for podiums - Shanghai seems like a good place to start doing that!”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Pedrosa, Hayden set for 'strange' Shanghai

2008-04-26T22:29:00.000+07:00

Friday, 25th April 2008

Dani Pedrosa heads to next weekend's Chinese Grand Prix looking to break clear of compatriot Jorge Lorenzo with a repeat of his debut 2006 MotoGP victory at the unusual Shanghai circuit.

After three rounds, Pedrosa and rookie rival Lorenzo are tied at the top of the 2008 world championship standings with a third, a second and a win each.

"We have had quite a good start to the season - on the podium at each of the first three races and one victory - and we are working hard to stay very competitive," said the Repsol Honda rider. "The tests we did at Estoril were useful, we worked on a few things that should help us in China, like improving front-end feeling and stability on the brakes.

"What I like the most about Shanghai is the width of the track. The surface is of good quality but a bit rough, probably due to the Formula One cars. The circuit layout isn't that great, it features some very strange corners and the balance between the straights, the tight corners and the faster corners isn't very good."

The stand-out feature of the futuristic Shanghai circuit, from a racing point of view, is its huge back straight - which, at 1.202km, is the longest on the MotoGP calendar.

Unfortunately for Pedrosa and Hayden, it seems that Honda's pneumatic-valve engine is still not performing well enough to be used at a grand prix and they will thus continue with last year's spring-valve design.

"One of the most important parts of the track is the back straight, which is very long, so you need good engine performance here," confirmed Pedrosa, fourth at Shanghai in 2007. "Braking is also very important at Shanghai. It's an unusual track and you need to ride relaxed and easy. The atmosphere is almost non-existent because the crowd isn't very big but the grandstands are huge."

Hayden has had a tougher start to the season than Pedrosa, but is closer to the front than his tenth in the standings suggests. The 2006 world champion rode to a close fourth place at Estoril and was chasing a podium at Estoril finish when he slid off.

It seems like we're making progress, Honda's working hard, the Michelin tyres are working good and I really enjoyed the bike at Estoril. We were up there all weekend, so we've just got to put the crash behind us and move on," he said.

"Shanghai is a strange track, my favourite thing is the surface, seems like it's always good and consistent. The track has got two big straightaways, the back straightaway is the highest top speed of the year and right after you've got one of the slowest corners in MotoGP, so it's really important to be stable on the brakes, so we worked on that during our tests at Estoril.

"You also need something good on horsepower, something you can do some drafting with.

"Turn one/two is quite unique and technical, with a lot of different lines, either sweep wide or stay low. And the corner coming onto the back straightaway is super important because it sets you up for that sixth-gear run. The facilities are amazing, it's probably the most over-the-top facility I've seen in my life, saying that, Indy is pretty spectacular too," he concluded.

First free practice for the Chinese Grand Prix takes place next Friday morning.

From : www.crash.net

YZR-M1

2008-04-13T11:54:00.004+07:00

Engine
Engine type:	Liquid cooled inline four-cylinder, four stroke
Maximum power:	Around 154.5kw (210 horsepower)
Maximum speed:	In excess of 320 km/h
Transmission
Type:	Six-speed cassette-type gearbox, with alternative gear ratios available
Chassis and running gear
Frame type:	Aluminium twin tube delta box, multi-adjustable steering geometry/wheelbase/ride height. Aluminium swingarm
Suspension:	Ohlins upside down front forks and Ohlins rear shock, all adjustable for pre-load, high and low-speed compression and rebound damping. Alternative rear suspension links available
Front/rear wheels:	Marchesini , available in a variety of rim size
Front/rear tyres:	- Bridgestone, 16.5 front, 16.5 in rear, available as slick
Brakes:	Brembo, two 320 mm carbon front discs, two four-piston callipers. Single 220 mm stainless steel rear disc, twin-piston calliper.
Weight:	148kg, in accordance with FIM regulations
Fuel capacity:	21 litres, in accordance with FIM regulations

Pole-star Lorenzo makes it three in a row

2008-04-13T11:53:00.001+07:00

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo made it an incredible three poles from three MotoGP starts with another masterful qualifying display in Portugal this afternoon. Estoril was one of only two circuits on the calendar at which the outstanding rookie had never before claimed a pole position, but he put that behind him in impressive style today to smash the previous record by nearly half a second.

After changeable weather conditions yesterday, today was a much more settled affair and the sunny conditions allowed the riders to vastly improve on yesterday’s lap times this morning, with Lorenzo finishing second fastest. Towards the end of this afternoon’s session the chase for qualifying times got underway and the Spaniard’s first Michelin qualifying tyre saw him take provisional pole. He then went on to improve on both of his next qualifying runs, despite dropping time in the middle section on his second tyre when briefly caught behind a slower rider. On his final soft tyre he produced an inch-perfect lap of 1’35.715 to seal a hat-trick of MotoGP pole positions and the 29th of his Grand Prix career in total.

Lorenzo’s team-mate Valentino Rossi also had a good afternoon and will line up on the outside of the front row tomorrow, with Dani Pedrosa in between the Fiat Yamaha pair, whilst Yamaha Tech 3 riders Colin Edwards and James Toseland, on his first visit to the track, take fifth and sixth spots to make it four Yamaha riders in the top six.

Jorge Lorenzo 1st 1.35.715 - 26 laps
“Each pole position has felt like a dream and I can’t believe I am here again! I am very proud to have a record like this and in fact I’m especially happy to have qualified in front here because this track has always been quite difficult for me and I’ve never been on pole at it before. Our race pace is quite good and now the aim for tomorrow will be to make the most of my starting position, stay at the front and hopefully fight for the win. It’s going to be a hard race and there are many strong riders, but I am looking forward to it. Our aim is to try to win but if that’s not possible then the podium will be okay; it’s still only my third race and I am still learning all the time! Anyway, I feel good on my bike and tyres, the team have done a great job and now we just have to cross our fingers for good weather tomorrow!”

Danielle Romagnoli - Team Manager
“Once again it’s been another very exciting qualifying session to watch this afternoon and Jorge has done another fantastic job. We made some small changes from yesterday to improve our base set-up and today we’ve had a fast and consistent race pace. Then this afternoon Michelin gave Jorge the chance to fly and he took full advantage! It’s great to be on pole as it gives us the best chance at the start and we will do our very best to maximise this chance to produce a good result tomorrow.”

	Valentino Rossi

Valentino Rossi made a welcome return to the front row of the grid for the first time this year in Portugal this afternoon, qualifying third aboard his Fiat Yamaha M1. It was the first time the 29-year-old has qualified on the front row since making the switch to Bridgestone tyres and it puts him in a good position from which to attempt a repeat of his victory here five months ago.

Times tumbled in this morning’s free practice and Rossi continued to improve his race setting, finishing the morning’s work in fourth position. This afternoon he continued in the same fashion, topping the time sheets for the first half of the session. In the later battle for qualifying tyres Rossi set his best time of 1’36.199 with ten minutes still on the clock and, with his young team-mate Jorge Lorenzo on pole it looked like being a Fiat Yamaha one-two before the party was spoiled by Dani Pedrosa pipping Rossi to second in the closing minutes.

Valentino Rossi 3rd 1.36.199 - 27 laps
“I’m really happy! It’s very important to be on the first row here and now we can think about trying to win tomorrow. We’ve made some big steps forward with Bridgestone and considering that every time we use the qualifying tyre it’s still a bit like a test, it’s a great achievement to be here. Today my bike and tyres worked very well and I felt confident and strong. We have a good setting and I can ride how I want to, which is great fun as well! Now I really hope that we can have a good race tomorrow. The weather is a worry and we will have to wait until last thing to make our final tyre choice, but we have some good ideas.
Lorenzo and Pedrosa are looking very strong but I think we are not so far and we have a chance to be there tomorrow. There is a great atmosphere in our box and everyone is looking forward to tomorrow’s challenge.”

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
“We’ve had four very good practice sessions over the last two days and now to start on the front row is a big achievement from everyone. We have a good race pace as well and so it seems that everything is coming together for us. Valentino has a good feeling from his bike and tyres and we’re really looking forward to the race now. It’s going to be difficult as usual but we will hope to stay at the front and fight for the victory.”

Colin Edwards

Edwards and Toseland on second row in Estoril
Tech 3 Yamaha duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland will start next to each other on the second row of the grid for tomorrow’s 28-lap Portuguese MotoGP race in Estoril. American Edwards missed out on preserving his 100 per cent front row starting record in 2008 by just 0.090s as he finished a qualifying session dominated by Yamaha and Michelin with the fifth best time. Toseland, who will stay with the Tech 3 team for 2009 after agreeing an extension to his current contract in Portugal, was just one place further back with a best time of 1.36.790 securing him sixth. Despite his lack of circuit knowledge at the challenging Estoril track, Toseland still beat a host of more experienced rivals to help Yamaha claim four of the top six places on the grid.
Both Edwards and Toseland go into tomorrow’s race with heightened expectations as they prepare to debut Yamaha’s pneumatic valve YZR-M1 motor. The engine is a significant improvement on the long Estoril start/finish straight, while also helping with mid-range acceleration compared to the spring valve engine they used in Qatar and Jerez.

Colin Edwards 5th 1.36.289 - 24 laps
“My first qualifier was decent and my second and third felt better. But on my last tyre I made a couple of little mistakes and that costs you a lot of time. I was pushing extra hard knowing I’d lost time and just ended up making another mistake trying to claw it back. But I was less than a tenth off the front row and while it would have been good to keep that record going I’m still happy, especially for Yamaha. To have four of us in the top six is how it should be when you don’t have chatter, you have a chassis with feel and confidence from the front. And now we’ve got the new engine too I can’t wait for the race. I’ve gone for a bit of a different tactic with Michelin this weekend for the new motor and thanks to them because it is working. I’ve gone for outright traction more than momentum to carry lots of corner speed. I’m not so worried about being the fastest guy mid-corner now because it was no good when somebody in front of me was acting like a roadblock.
Now I’ve concentrated on corner entry, getting the bike turned and getting the power to the ground on the exit to use that extra performance from the motor. I’m still doing better lap times with that tyre so it is obviously working.”

	James Toseland

James Toseland 6th 1.36.790 – 21 laps
“I’m a second off pole and still sixth which just shows how fast the boys at the front are going because normally a second covers all of us. I’m really pleased to get on the second row and it is a massive boost for me knowing I can come to a track I’ve never even seen before and be competitive near the front. Considering the first session was damp, and I crashed at the start of the second session, with the track time I have had a second row start is a great effort from the team. I had a small problem with my first qualifier on the left side but the other two worked really well and thanks to Michelin for that. I just made a few small mistakes because to go two seconds quicker on the qualifying tyres on a track I don’t know is a big ask. Everything happens so much faster and I was braking too late and approaching the entry too fast.
Against these guys you can’t afford to make a mistake. I’m looking forward to the race with the new engine. It is a big improvement and if I had the old engine here,coming off the last corner would have been difficult. It wouldn’t have mattered how hard I worked on the rest of the lap, I’d have been passed on the straight. But coming out now in third gear I can feel how much power the new engine has got. Today also showed what a great job Yamaha has done with four of us in the top six.”

From : www.yamaha-racing.com

Capirossi confident ahead of Portuguese Grand Prix

2008-04-13T11:47:00.000+07:00

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Loris Capirossi is positive he can deliver a good result from tomorrow’s Portuguese Grand Prix despite qualifying on the fourth row after a big crash at Estoril today.

Capirossi (P12, 1’37.786, 22 laps) was on his first qualifying tyre when he made a mistake going into a fast right-hand turn and lost traction, causing him to crash very spectacularly at high-speed. The gutsy Italian picked himself up and managed to get back to the pit-box to continue with the session, but he was unable to better the time he had set previously on race tyres. Capirossi and his crew had made big improvements to his Suzuki GSV-R during the early part of the qualifying session and was on a competitive race-pace towards the top of the time-sheets, which is certainly an encouraging sign for tomorrow’s 28-lap race.

Chris Vermeulen (P13, 1’37.843, 29 laps) couldn’t find the extra speed he wanted from his qualifying tyres and will start on the fifth row at the 4,182m Estoril track tomorrow. He also improved on his race pace and is pleased with his set-up for the race. Vermeulen is now determined to get a good start and be challenging for a much higher position in the race.

Today’s qualification was held in sunny, but windy conditions with track temperatures getting up to 40ºC. Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo on his factory Yamaha took his third pole position in a row.

Tomorrow’s race is round three of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship and the event gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT) on Sunday 13^th April.

Loris Capirossi:

“We have to think about tomorrow, because for us the qualifying was pretty bad - I tried a bit too hard on my first tyre and I crashed! I am very happy about the race rhythm, we tried to find a good setting and the best tyre for the race and for sure the whole package now seems really good. I am very happy with where we are on race tyres and I will need to get a good start and try to out-brake a few people into the first corner. We worked really hard today and found many good things and we now have to take that into tomorrow. It is not the best thing being so far back on the grid, but I am 100% optimistic for a good result – maybe more so than I was at Jerez!”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is ready to go at Estoril

2008-04-13T11:45:00.001+07:00

06/04/2008

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP travels to Estoril in Portugal next week for the second and final part of its double-headed Iberian trip following last month’s Spanish Grand Prix, with both riders in a positive mood ahead of the race.

Loris Capirossi raced to an excellent fifth place at Jerez recently, whilst team-mate Chris Vermeulen battled his way to 10^th after starting 12^th on the grid. Both riders stayed on in Spain for a further two days of testing and were pleased with the progress made and the data the team collected to assist them at other race-tracks throughout the coming season.

Capirossi will be looking to add to his two premier class podiums at the 4,182m long Portuguese circuit, as he makes his debut at Estoril on a Suzuki. Vermeulen is also in a confident mood and is planning on improving on his highest finish of ninth from his previous two visits to Estoril.

The Estoril circuit is a track of contrasts, where ultra-fast corners and an almost kilometre-long straight mix with one of the slowest sections on any track on the MotoGP calendar. Situated high above the towns of Estoril and Cascais just to the west of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, the circuit is only four miles from the Atlantic Ocean and high-winds are often a problem that riders, bikes and crews have to overcome.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be in action on Friday 11^th April as Capirossi and Vermeulen take to the track for two free-practice sessions. Saturday will see a final practice in the morning followed by an hour-long qualifying session in the afternoon when both riders will be going all-out for the best grid positions they can obtain. Sunday’s race is round three of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship and the 28-lap race gets underway at 13.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Loris Capirossi:

“I am looking forward to going to Estoril. I really enjoy the track and I am sure it will suit the GSV-R quite well. We had a good race at Jerez and then in the test afterwards we found a couple of things, but we are still not where we want to be and we know it’s going to be tough in Portugal. The crew are all very focussed and know what is needed and the more we ride the bike the more we are learning about it.”

Chris Vermeulen:

“We certainly made some progress at the test after the race at Jerez. We worked hard on tyres and we learned a lot from the test that will help us in the future. I cannot wait to get back on the bike and start getting the results that I expect of myself this year. We had a tough time at Estoril last year so we will be looking on putting that right straight away and working on making our way back up the leader-board!”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

BATTLING THE ELEMENTS AT ESTORIL

2008-04-13T11:44:00.001+07:00

11 Apr 2008

Typically unpredictable Atlantic coast weather greeted the protagonists of the MotoGP World Championship today at Estoril. After heavy rain on Thursday night, the 18-strong field headed out for the first practice session of the weekend on a damp track.

Kawasaki Racing Team riders, John Hopkins and Anthony West, were on great form during the morning session, both riding with a wet set up. West rode to fourth fastest on the timesheets on the last of his 20 laps, putting in a time of 1'48.873, under a second off leading man, Casey Stoner.

Hopkins, just behind his team mate, came in fifth and headed the field on highest speed when he got his Ninja ZX-RR up to an eye-watering 307.601kmh. Somewhat heroic, given the conditions.

By the afternoon session, the surface of the 4.182km, Portuguese circuit was dry but high winds were a problem. However, lap times soon plummeted and both Kawasaki riders remained on promising form.

Hopkins put in two fastest laps, putting him on provisional pole twice during the first half of the session, and the Anglo-American ended the practice with a best time of 1'39.474, putting him tenth fastest and less than a second off speediest man of the day, Dani Pedrosa.

West took over seven seconds off his earlier time, ending the day with a best lap of 1'41.572, just short of Marco Melandri's time and ahead of the Ducatis of Sylvain Guintoli and Toni Elias.

The ZX-RR began to show off its real abilities in the dry too, with Hopkins posting 314.5kmh and West, 313.5kmh: putting them among the quickest in the field. However, with further changeable weather forecast for the weekend, it may be the times from the morning, which have more relevance for the final outcome of the event…

Either way, the Kawasaki squad has busied itself during the course of the day, trying a new chassis and various settings to add to their hoard of data; so it was a constructive start to the Portuguese round.

The team now looks ahead to tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session prior to the race itself, which is scheduled for 13:00 hours, local time, on Sunday.

John Hopkins: #21: 10th - 23 Laps - 1'39.474
"This morning the conditions were poor and it was incredibly windy, so we used the session to check our wet set-up, which went well. We found a good setting at the Jerez post-race test last week, which offered more machine stability and rear grip, so the dry track time this afternoon was used to improve on that. We also had a new chassis to try and this made the bike feel easier to ride, resulting in our times being quite consistent. Overnight, we will analyse the data collected today to build on the work we've done with the new chassis. I like it here: it's a late, hard-braking circuit and it's vital we qualify on the first two rows because it's quite difficult to make passes. I'm aiming for a top five grid position, which I think we should be able to achieve."

Anthony West: #13: 16th - 25 Laps - 1'41.572
"It's certainly quite difficult here as the track conditions really aren't ideal. This morning we used our wet setting, which I felt quite comfortable with. In the later session the track was slippery in some places but dry in others. With that and the wind, it was difficult to make any real progress with the new chassis we were using, as I couldn't feel how much the wind was affecting the machine stability. Estoril isn't a track I go particularly well at, so we have a lot of work to do here. I hope that tomorrow we can have either wet or dry conditions, not a combination of both, so we can make steps forward in set-up."

Naoya Kaneko: Kawasaki Technical Manager
"This morning we checked our machine settings in wet conditions and both riders went well, so I am confident that we have a good wet set-up. In the afternoon, the track was dry but the times of all the riders were quite a lot slower than last year, due to overall conditions. This means it's been quite difficult to make any comparisons to the data we already have. Both riders had different chassis specifications to try today and we have been testing these with various settings. The feedback from John and Anthony is positive, although it's hard to come to any conclusions as the wind around the circuit makes it difficult for the riders to trace the same line on every lap. I hope the conditions are better tomorrow so that we can gain a clearer view of how the machines are performing, as well as collecting data to improve our set-up further."

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

KAWASAKI PROGRESS IN PORTUGAL

2008-04-13T11:43:00.001+07:00

12 Apr 2008

Qualifying practice for the third race of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship took place this afternoon at Estoril, in readiness for the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday, and both Kawasaki Racing Team riders slashed their previous fastest times on race tyres.

Later, on qualifiers, John Hopkins managed 10th spot on tomorrow's grid, just 0.093 seconds off the man in front of him, current world champion, Casey Stoner. And the 24-year-old Anglo American did it in style: the complex layout of Estoril providing him with ample opportunity to display his ability to pull off some outrageous lean angles.

Anthony West claimed 15th position, putting in his best time of the event so far on his third qualifying tyre and the last lap of the session. Shaking his head as he returned to the pits, the Australian clearly wasn't happy with his performance but the improvement in his times, and increasing consistency on the bike, hint that there may be more to come.

The Ninja ZX-RR pilots have work to do tomorrow. Estoril is a hard track to ride, and notoriously difficult to pass at, and furthermore, working in partnership with Bridgestone, they will be aiming to infiltrate a Michelin-heavy front pack.

John Hopkins: #21– 10th – 1'37.346
"Today we finalised our tyre choice for the race and found a durable combination, so I'm confident we have a good set-up. We will run the new specification chassis we tried for the first time yesterday, as this has given us more traction on a race tyre. The qualifying tyres lacked a bit of grip, and I made a few mistakes, which unfortunately put us on the fourth row. We've given ourselves quite a bit of work to do with the grid position we have but, if I can get a good start, we are capable of a good result."

Anthony West: #13 - 15th – 1'38.775
"I'm frustrated that we were unable to make any more of an impression today and the grid position isn't where I had hoped we would be. We still have a lot of improvements to make in order to obtain the lap times we want and we've been working hard to achieve this. However, tomorrow is race day and I'm determined to get away from the start to fight for as many points as possible."

Fiorenzo Fanali: Hopkins Crew Chief
"Today we concentrated mainly on finding a good race tyre, as in previous races here the grip level has dropped considerably after only ten laps. We had some grip problems using the qualifying tyres, particularly in the last section, so we haven't got the best grid position. However, the most important thing was to find a good set-up because this track stresses the right side of the tyre. The new chassis has given us more traction and if John can get a good start, we should be able to achieve a strong result."

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Rossi ponders Tibet protest

2008-04-13T11:37:00.001+07:00

Rossi : "All the world is with Tibet"

Valentino Rossi has revealed that MotoGP riders will meet to discuss the possibility of a protest in support of Tibet at next month's Chinese Grand Prix.

"All the world is with Tibet," Reuters reports Rossi as saying. "But we need to be careful, or else they will arrest all of us."

China's reaction to protests within Tibet has prompted demonstrations around the world and caused chaos during the Olympic torch relay.

"I am 100 percent behind Tibet. We know that to demonstrate against the Chinese regime is dangerous but we will see if we can do something," said Loris Capirossi.

Rossi previously made his thoughts clear regarding the invasion of Iraq, by wearing a special rainbow helmet to ask for 'peace not war' in early 2003.

From : www.crash.net

Rossi: Ready for anything

2008-04-13T11:36:00.000+07:00

Monday, 7th April 2008

Valentino Rossi returns to the scene of his most recent MotoGP victory this Sunday, when the Portuguese circuit of Estoril host the third round of the 2008 season.

Last October's exciting triumph over Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner marked the end of an era, being the Italian's last with Michelin tyres fitted to his Fiat Yamaha.

Having finished second to Pedrosa last time out at Jerez, the five time MotoGP world champion will now be aiming for nothing less than his first Bridgestone victory this weekend - as he also seeks to end a six-race losing steak, Rossi's longest since his debut 2000 season.

"Estoril last year was a great race; it was a fantastically close battle with Pedrosa and one of the high points of the season for us. It's also the last time I won a race and I hope that this is something we can repeat again this time!" said Rossi.

"Jerez was a very important race for us, second place in just our second race with Bridgestone and following the difficult result in Qatar it was very important, plus it gave confidence to everyone involved that our package is really coming together.

"Our bike was very strong and our tyres worked well until the end, then on Monday we had a test and were able to make some more important steps forward with Bridgestone. We have been working step by step but everyone is very focused and motivated and confidence is running high. Hopefully we are now ready to fight for the win!"

Rossi is the most successful rider in Grand Prix history at Estoril, having finished on the podium on each of his eight visits to the circuit, including five race victories.

"Portugal is usually a good track for us and I've had a lot of very good races there, especially with Yamaha. It's a different time of year to when we raced there last year so the conditions might be a little different, but I think that we're going to be ready for anything!" he concluded.

After opening rounds held at Qatar and Jerez, teams and riders will tackle Estoril without the aid of any pre-season testing data.

"We have good memories of Estoril because it is the scene of Valentino's last victory, but we are actually expecting this grand prix to be quite tough for us," claimed Rossi's team manager Davide Brivio. "Anyway, Valentino likes the track and we go there on the back of a good race at Jerez and a very positive test so our intention is to fight.

"We tried some new tyres during the Jerez test that may be useful for this weekend but mainly the idea was to continue the job of adapting the bike and the Bridgestone tyres to each other and we made some small steps forward with this.

"We think the temperatures will be lower at this time of the year than they were when we last visited Portugal and it is always windy there so we're expecting the conditions to be more like Jerez last weekend than Estoril last year. If that's the case then we should be competitive and the fans can enjoy another great weekend of racing!" he concluded.

From : www.crash.net

Edwards: New engine 'phenomenal'

2008-04-13T11:33:00.002+07:00

Friday, 11th April 2008

Colin Edwards took full advantage of his newly updated Tech 3 Yamaha to clock the third fastest Friday practice time at Estoril - just 0.125secs from fastest man Dani Pedrosa.

Riding with the pneumatic-valve YZR-M1 engine for the first times, Edwards shrugged off a disappointing morning session run in rapidly changing wet/dry conditions to figure prominently throughout this afternoon's wind affected but dry session.

Having climbed to the top of the timesheets early in the session, Edwards never dropped outside of the top three as he enjoyed the extra acceleration and top speed from the latest powerplant.

"The new engine is phenomenal. It is so good and I'm so happy," said the Texan, looking to collect his third front row grid position in as many attempts on Saturday. "With the old engine when you went from third to sixth gear it didn't really go anywhere. Whereas now, every time you shift a gear it feels like it's building more steam.

"I got behind Valentino and for the first time I can remember I was able to stick with him on the straight. Normally he'd just get smaller as he disappeared into the distance. We have been lacking three-tenths at a track like this with a long straight, and now we have it in hand and it feels good.

"So I'm really, really happy and thanks to Yamaha because it is a big improvement. I've done some pretty consistent runs on used tyres but I always go good at this track. I feel comfortable and the bike and engine feel fantastic," he enthused.

Rookie team-mate James Toseland also has the new engine, but needs to learn the technical Estoril layout before he can get the most from it. The double World Superbike champion finished Friday in 13th place, 1.5secs from Pedrosa, despite a low speed tumble on his first lap of the afternoon.

"It is quite a difficult track just on the basis that you have got such tight corners, particularly at the end of the high-speed [main] straight where you have to get the braking point for the slow first corner dead right," explained the Briton, "Then there's the tricky chicane, which you just have to ride round and round to get the hang of it.

"A cold tyre caught me out on my first lap this afternoon. I think with the rain this morning the track wasn't so clean. I went into the corner steady and at a pace where you don't even think about crashing. Next thing I was on sat on my backside and twisted my right ankle again that I hurt in testing at Jerez. But I'm really happy with progress. I'm not too far off already and we effectively lost a session this morning with the weather.

"The new engine is definitely better," he confirmed. "It has more acceleration and the lines you take are different because the power comes in quite aggressive when you are hard on the throttle. But you can exit the corner better with the extra power. It is a big step forward and I'd like to thank Yamaha. They always said the latest we would get the engine was Estoril and they stuck to that promise."

From : www.crash.net

Engine explosion hurts Elias

2008-04-13T11:28:00.001+07:00

Friday, 11th April 2008

Toni Elias suffered an unlucky start to the Portuguese Grand Prix when his Alice Ducati suffered a spectacular explosion along the Estoril main straight - injuring him in the process.

The incident occurred when the clutch on his Desmosedici broke, damaging other parts of the engine in the process and spraying debris into Elias' right foot.

The Spaniard, riding at the scene of his incredible debut 2006 MotoGP victory, immediately raised his right leg as a result of the painful impact, but was able to bring his machine safely to a halt - with a huge cloud of oil smoke billowing behind him.

"A component of the clutch broke and hit Toni's right foot," confirmed Alice technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini. "We have to investigate what happened. They were all new pieces and we have to understand why it broke. This piece of the clutch also hit the engine, which luckily is still ok, but has anyway made the bike lose some oil. The strange thing is that all the data received until the last lap [indicated nothing unusual]."

"I didn't get injured, but it really hurts," declared Elias, who returned early from a broken femur last season. "The top part of the foot is now swollen and I will have to get some physiotherapy to reduce the pain in less time possible.”

Elias unsurprisingly set the 18th and slowest lap time on Friday, with team-mate Sylvain Guintoli 17th after a difficult afternoon.

“This morning the feeling with the bike was good. Bridgestone tyres were really good," said the Frenchman, ninth fastest in the wet." This afternoon we have continued to work with a new dry setting. I really need to change my riding style. It's not easy because I have to think in a different way, I don't do things in a natural way. I have to get used to it and once I will understand the bike results will come."

From : www.crash.net

Tech 3 keeps Yamaha support

2008-04-13T11:24:00.003+07:00

Saturday, 12th April 2008

Yamaha has signed a two-year extension to its current contract with the Tech 3 MotoGP team.

Yamaha, which has supplied bikes and factory support to the French team since 1999, will thus continue to do so throughout the 2009 and 2010 MotoGP seasons.

After two often tough seasons running Dunlop tyres, Tech 3 - headed by team principal Hervé Poncharal - has enjoyed a successful start to 2008, with Colin Edwards and James Toseland achieving three front-row starts and three top-ten finishes between them in the first two races.

The new Yamaha deal was announced as Tech 3 also confirmed that it had reached an early agreement to retain Toseland for the 2009 season (see separate story).

"I am delighted that Tech 3 has been able to extend our long partnership with Yamaha until the end of the 2010 season," said Poncharal. "We can look ahead to a future that looks brighter than ever before. This new contract gives us the stability to strive towards a goal we have always shared with Yamaha, and that is to win races. I would like to thank Yamaha management, my team, and of course our riders."

"We are delighted that we are going to be continuing our relationship with the Tech 3 Team and with Hervé Poncharal," stated Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. "Our partnership is long-standing and we are very pleased with the significant improvements this year by the Tech 3 Yamaha Team both on and off the track.

"Yamaha believes in long-term relations with all of its partners and despite some difficulties in the past two years we have stuck together, made new plans and both Tech 3 and Yamaha are now seeing the fruits of our respective labours.

"Tech 3 play an important part in our MotoGP program. They have a great package this year and their early season results with Colin and James have been very encouraging. It has always been our strong intention to have four competitive bikes on the grid and we are now in that position.

"It is therefore only logical to make the commitment to stay together and we believe that this early decision will give Tech 3 the confidence to invest in the future," Jarvis added.

The identity of the second 2009 Tech 3 Yamaha rider is unknown, with Edwards believed to have a one-year deal.

From : www.crash.net

Lorenzo zeroes in on debut win

2008-04-13T11:22:00.001+07:00

Saturday, 12th April 2008

Jorge Lorenzo made it an incredible three poles from three MotoGP attempts after another masterful qualifying display in Portugal on Saturday afternoon.

Estoril is one of only two circuits on the calendar at which the young Spaniard never claimed a 125 or 250cc pole position, but that - and the absence of any previous MotoGP Estoril experience - proved insignificant as Fiat Yamaha's new star dominated much of the hour long session.

The 21-year-old's first Michelin qualifying tyre lap saw him take provisional pole and he then improved on both of his next qualifying runs, despite a near miss with a slow moving Chris Vermeulen.

On his final soft tyre attack Lorenzo produced a record-breaking 1min 35.715secs lap to seal a perfect hat-trick of MotoGP pole positions by 0.233secs over Jerez winner Dani Pedrosa, while the Bridgestone-shod factory Yamaha of Valentino Rossi was 0.484secs behind the #48 in third.

Those two riders are likely to be the main men standing between Lorenzo and a debut MotoGP victory on Sunday but, having been coy about making any pre-race expectations at the first two rounds - where he finished second and third, Lorenzo admits he will 'hopefully fight for the win'.

"Each pole position has felt like a dream and I can't believe I am here again!" said Lorenzo, the youngest rider on the MotoGP grid. "I am very proud to have a record like this and in fact I'm especially happy to have qualified in front here because this track has always been quite difficult for me and I've never been on pole at it before.

"Our race pace is quite good and now the aim for tomorrow will be to make the most of my starting position, stay at the front and hopefully fight for the win. It's going to be a hard race and there are many strong riders, but I am looking forward to it.

"Our aim is to try to win but if that's not possible then the podium will be okay; it's still only my third race and I am still learning all the time! Anyway, I feel good on my bike and tyres, the team have done a great job and now we just have to cross our fingers for good weather tomorrow!" concluded Jorge, who has suffered arm pump problems in his first two rides.

"Once again it's been another very exciting qualifying session to watch this afternoon and Jorge has done another fantastic job," added team manager Daniele Romagnoli. "We made some small changes from yesterday to improve our base set-up and today we've had a fast and consistent race pace. Then this afternoon Michelin gave Jorge the chance to fly and he took full advantage! It's great to be on pole as it gives us the best chance at the start and we will do our very best to maximise this chance to produce a good result tomorrow."

From : www.crash.net

Estoril Qualifying

2008-04-13T11:19:00.001+07:00

1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 35.715 secs
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 35.948 secs
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 36.199 secs
4. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 36.266 secs
5. Colin Edwards USA Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1min 36.289 secs
6. James Toseland GBR Tech 3 Yamaha (M) 1min 36.790 secs
7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP (M) 1min 36.998 secs
8. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1min 37.223 secs
9. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 37.253 secs
10. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 37.346 secs
11. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 37.664 secs
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 37.786 secs
13. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 37.843 secs
14. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 1min 38.561 secs
15. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 38.775 secs
16. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 38.823 secs
17. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 39.115 secs
18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 1min 39.355 secs

MotoGP stars impressed by road tyre

2008-04-13T11:15:00.001+07:00

Tuesday, 18th March 2008

Six MotoGP riders took an active role in launching Bridgestone's latest road tyre, the Battlax BT-016, at Jerez last week by performing demonstration laps in front of 130 journalists from all over the world.

Fresh from his dominant Qatar GP win, Ducati's reigning world champion Casey Stoner and team-mate Marco Melandri attended the week-long event on Wednesday, with Kawasaki's Anthony West joined by Suzuki's Loris Capirossi on Thursday, while Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis and Alice Team rider Toni Elias were present on Friday.

Each of the MotoGP riders got a first-hand taste of the BT-016 - fitted to road bikes from their respective manufacturer - under the guidance of former GP rider Jeremy McWilliams, who was working for Bridgestone to set up the bikes at the track.

All six grand prix stars seemed impressed with the agility and handling of the new tyre, which uses technology derived from MotoGP.

"Riding on track with Marco and Jeremy, for once without the pressure of the [stopwatch] was good fun," said Stoner. "My initial impressions of the tyre were good and so was my feeling with the 848 which has impressed me with the handling, the power delivery and the stability in braking. It has been a good way to relax after the excitement of the GP. Bridgestone has played an important part in my MotoGP career, they listened to me from the beginning, even if I was still young and I hadn't won MotoGP races, they gave back what I was putting in, so it has been a pleasure to join them at this event."

"It truly was a very fun event," echoed Melandri. "I went out to make five laps with my 848 and I just didn't stop lapping. After two hours they had to stop me or I would miss my plane! The tyre offered a fantastic grip, the bike was amazing in every aspect: the front precise in the changes of direction, the power simply great, the rear enjoyable when sliding entering the corners. Now I need some days of relax but not too many. I really look forward to get back working with my team in order to be able to get the maximum from my GP8."

"I have been a Bridgestone rider for many years, so it was a pleasure to join them last week in Jerez for such an important event," said Capirossi. "The BT-016 is a great tyre, and gave me a really good feeling, especially at the front, which works really well and is very stable. The rear grip is also good, and it is the first time that I feel the road tyre is similar to the race tyre. I felt immediately comfortable. I now need to get some for my own Suzuki GSX-R1000 which I use on the road!"

"It has been a privilege to welcome MotoGP riders to our Battlax BT-016 international media launch event in Jerez, a very important occasion for Bridgestone Corporation and Bridgestone Europe," said Kenji Shoda, Bridgestone Europe's director of Consumer Products.

"This new tyre sees us transfer tyre technology from MotoGP into road bike tyres and we are thrilled to have been able to showcase that cross-over by having some of the best riders in the world in Jerez," he added.

The MotoGP riders will be back at Jerez with their prototype machinery for round two of the 2008 world championship, from March 28-30.

From : www.crash.net

HARD NIGHT FOR KAWASAKI IN QATAR

2008-04-13T11:14:00.001+07:00

The 2008 MotoGP World Championship got off to a nail-biting start today at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar. The first race of the year saw new faces and old hands battling it out for podium places, providing some of the most gripping premier class racing for some time.

Kawasaki's John Hopkins started the night on great form, finishing fourth overall in the early-evening warm up, and things were looking positive as the #21 rider got a solid start when the race began at 23:00 hours, local time. He made it up to ninth position in the first few laps but, as the race continued under the extensive floodlights of the 5.38km circuit, he began having problems with front-end grip. Having to fight the bike and hold it up on his leg, the pain of his injured abductor muscle took its toll and he started losing time. Hopper eventually finished the race in 12th place, picking up four championship points.

It was a heroic effort by the 24-year-old Anglo-American, riding at considerably less than peak fitness and, although frustrated not to have finished further up the field, his performance gives an indication of what he will be capable of when he returns to full health and track conditions improve in warmer climes.

Meanwhile, Hopkins's team mate, Anthony West, also had a hard race, starting from the back of the grid after a difficult weekend in which he struggled to find his form on the Ninja ZX-RR. Having crashed during the weekend's earlier practice sessions, his confidence had dropped and he, like his team mate, struggled with the tricky conditions on the track, caused by low night time temperatures in the Qatari desert. The 27-year-old Australian crossed the line in 16th position at this, the start of his first full season in MotoGP.

Whilst it wasn't the night that Kawasaki was hoping for, lessons have been learned and injuries will hopefully soon be fully healed, enabling the squad to be on top form at the next round at Jerez, Spain, on 30th March.

John Hopkins: Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #21 - 12th
'The first half of the race felt good, and I was pretty comfortable running inside the top ten. But then, at about half race distance, the performance of the front tyre went off, and it started sliding in the turns. I had no option but to hold the bike up on my knee, but that put a lot of pressure on my injury. The pain built up very quickly, and by two-thirds distance it was excruciating. If it had just been pain then I could have ridden through it, but in the end I simply ran out of strength in the injured muscle, and I just couldn't maintain my lap times. It was hard to make it all the way to the end of the race, but although I'm disappointed not to have finished higher, at least I know that the injury wouldn't have been a limiting factor if it hadn't been for the tyre problem. This gives me some confidence going into the next race at Jerez.'

Anthony West: Kawasaki MotoGP Pilot #13 - 16th
'What can I say? Obviously I'm bitterly disappointed with my result today, because I'm not here to finish at the back of the field. I was suffering with the same problems I had in practice and qualifying and I still didn't feel totally comfortable on the bike. At around half race distance I started to feel more confident, and in some sections of the circuit I was much faster than Guintoli and Elias, who were in front of me. Through the final section I could get right alongside them, but I just didn't have enough speed to pass. And then, as soon as we hit the straight, they cleared off. This has been a weekend to forget, but I need to put it behind me now and focus on the next race at Jerez.'

Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
'It's been a difficult weekend for us, as throughout practice we struggled with the track conditions. But then John's fourth fastest time during this evening's warm-up session meant that we went into the race with increased expectations of a good result. Things were looking good, but then John's front tyre went off, and he struggled to compensate due to his groin injury. But even then he didn't give up; I don't think I've ever seen anyone lifted off a bike in so much pain at the end of a race. He's one hard rider. Anthony is obviously disappointed with his performance this weekend, but he needs to avoid the temptation to beat himself up over it, and instead focus on regaining his form for the next race at Jerez. We know he's capable of much more, and I hope he will fulfil his potential properly next time out.'

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Race live standings GP Qatar March 29, 2008

2008-04-13T11:13:00.004+07:00

P.	Driver	Team	Time
1	Casey Stoner	Ducati MotoGP	42:36.587
2	Jorge Lorenzo	Yamaha Factory	42:41.910
3	Daniel Pedrosa	Honda HRC	42:47.187
4	Andrea Dovizioso	Honda Scot	42:49.875
5	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha Factory	42:49.892
6	James Toseland	Yamaha Tech3	42:50.627
7	Colin Edwards	Yamaha Tech3	42:51.737
8	Loris Capirossi	Suzuki MotoGP	43:09.092
9	Randy De Puniet	Honda LCR	43:09.590
10	Nicky Hayden	Honda HRC	43:14.941
11	Marco Melandri	Ducati MotoGP	43:20.871
12	John Hopkins	Kawasaki Racing	43:26.444
13	Shinya Nakano	Honda Gresini	42:26.458
14	Antonio Elias	Ducati d Antin	43:35.119
15	Sylvain Guintoli	Ducati d Antin	43:35.517
16	Anthony West	Kawasaki Racing	43:42.230
17	Chris Vermulen	Suzuki MotoGP	43:42.230
18	Alex De Angelis	Honda Gresini	0:00.000

Star rookie Lorenzo lights up MotoGP

2008-04-13T11:13:00.003+07:00

Monday, 10th March 2008

Jorge Lorenzo might not have been able to win his first MotoGP race, after qualifying on a sensational pole position for the season-opening Qatar night race, but he gave it a damn good shot.

The Spaniard's only real blip on Sunday night came at the start, when he slipped back to fourth position, but thereafter the reigning 250cc world champion rode with an impressive mix of speed and aggression.

Lorenzo gradually working his way forward, culminating in a 'firm' move on Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi for second place, behind only world champion Casey Stoner, on lap 9 of 22.

The #48 then provided hope of a Stoner challenge as he clung to the Australian's rear wheel, but his earlier charge had taken its toll and the 20-year-old began to tire and suffer pain in his arms.

Lorenzo eventually crossed the line 5.323 seconds behind the Ducati rider, but the same distance clear of third-placed Dani Pedrosa and eight seconds ahead of Rossi on the Bridgestone shod M1.

It may only be the first race, but the message was clear; Lorenzo can win in 2008.

"For sure I couldn't have expected a better debut than this and I am very, very excited to be on the podium," beamed Lorenzo. "Second place is an amazing result for me and I had great fun. The start and first few laps were a bit crazy and really a bit of a scary time for me, but anyway I managed to make it through and get past some riders to get to second.

"I started to go with Stoner but after a while I became very tired and I started to have a lot of pressure and pain in my arms, so I really couldn't push any more!" he confirmed. "Anyway he was faster than us and I want to say congratulations to him because he deserved to win tonight.

"I think if I could have got a better start, maybe I wouldn't have got so tired later on and I would have been able to keep a better rhythm, but anyway I don't think I can ask for more than this tonight.

From : www.crash.net

Pedrosa grabs 'unbelievable' podium

2008-04-13T11:13:00.001+07:00

Monday, 10th March 2008

"For the first time I understand the meaning and the legend of HRC and I'm so proud to be part of this" - Dani Pedrosa.

Dani Pedrosa couldn't hide his delight after grabbing an 'unbelievable' podium finish during Sunday's season-opening Qatar Grand prix night race.

On paper it was nothing to special, but the Spaniard came into the event having missed most of pre-season testing due to a fractured hand - while Honda's 2008 RC212V had struggled so much in recent testing that two '07s were flown to Losail for evaluation by Pedrosa and team-mate Nicky Hayden.

Pedrosa eventually opted to race the '08, which he had qualified eighth on the grid - before rocketing straight into the lead at turn one after a dream getaway from the floodlit grid.

The 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up led the first four laps, slipped to fourth at mid-distance, then fought back to secure third place behind winner Casey Stoner and runner-up Jorge Lorenzo.

"Tonight's result is unbelievable, we didn't expect this, so I'm very happy," smiled Dani, who ran out of fuel on the way back to the pits. "Seven days ago I was almost last in the tests here but my team have worked really hard, bringing both 2007 and 2008 bikes here and making many changes, they've been fantastic.

"For the first time I understand the meaning and the legend of HRC and I'm so proud to be part of this. They gave me a competitive bike and the Michelin tyres worked really good and I did my best on track but without them I couldn't have been able to make it.

"My hand was quite bad from the middle of the race to the end, I couldn't brake perfectly because my hand was shaking all the time but I was able to finish the race and this is the most important thing because the hand should be in better condition at the next race.

From : www.crash.net

Stoner's night dream, Rossi's nightmare

2008-04-13T11:12:00.002+07:00

Monday, 10th March 2008

The two leading Bridgestone riders, and world championship favourites, suffered very differed fortunes during MotoGP's first ever night race at Qatar on Sunday.

Despite slipping back to sixth during some 'hectic' early laps, reigning champion Casey Stoner lived up to pre-race expectations with a calculated ride through the pack, taking the lead on lap 8 of 22 and - after shaking off determined rookie pole sitter Jorge Lorenzo - rode to a five-second victory.

"That was a fantastic race and I really enjoyed it - it was like being back in 125s!" smiled the Ducati Marlboro star, who took his first ever premier-class win at Qatar last year. "The first few laps were really hectic, there were guys bashing fairings and I just tried to stay out of the way. When I got my chance to get through I took it and from there I just focused on setting my pace.

"Jorge rode brilliantly - it wasn't an easy race by any means, especially at the start," insisted the Australian. "Over the first few laps I was struggling a bit for grip but then the tyres got up to temperature and improved. We knew we had a pretty good package for the race but obviously we couldn't be sure that things would go as well as that. I want to say thanks to everybody at Ducati for a great job, my team, the guys at Bridgestone... Thanks everybody."

"Casey is unique... there's nothing more to add to that. He didn't even make the smallest mistake today and once again he showed why the number 1 is on his bike," added Ducati MotoGP project director Livio Suppo.

Valentino Rossi had hoped that his winter switch to Bridgestone would allow him to stay with Stoner, after misery with Michelin in 2007, but the Fiat Yamaha star's fortunes deteriorated on Sunday.

The seven-time world champion overtook Dani Pedrosa to lead the race as early as lap 5, but Stoner took the position from him just three laps later as Rossi began a downward spiral that saw team-mate Lorenzo, Pedrosa and then rookie Andrea Dovizioso also overtake the #46 by the chequered flag.

From : www.crash.net

MotoGP counting on Pedrosa at Jerez

2008-04-13T11:12:00.001+07:00

Wednesday, 12th March 2008

'MotoGP's salvation from another Ducati rout this season may yet come from Dani Pedrosa and the oft-criticised Honda HRC operation...'

Sometimes it feels so nice to be hated. Until four races into the 2007 season, the Marlboro Ducati MotoGP team was loved. Loved in the same way that you might cherish a 1970s' Ducati road bike: lots of character and noise, but if you really need to arrive at your destination, you take the Honda out of the garage.

After Casey Stoner had recorded his third win in four races in China last year, sentiment towards Ducati changed. Now they were – well, not hated, but let's say resented. We wanted the colourful underdogs from Bologna to win plenty more races and some titles – but not that easily. Hey, you're spoiling our championship!

Ducati's team chief Livio Suppo must be laughing at the transformation. Ducati and Stoner continue to look so cool and commanding, while all four Japanese manufacturers, having taken such a duffing in '07, have kicked off the 2008 campaign looking not a lot more composed.

It's true that Yamaha, at least with the pneumatic-valve engine supplied to the Fiat Yamaha 'factory-factory' riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi, achieved an all-Yamaha front row in qualifying at the opening round in Qatar and brought Lorenzo home in second place. But despite squeezing more power from the YZR-M1 over the winter, they still lack the poke that wins drag-races – and races themselves - on big tracks. Meanwhile, Rossi's dramatic switch to Bridgestone rubber hasn't produced the overnight miracle that he must have dreamed of.

MotoGP's salvation from another Ducati rout this season may yet come from Dani Pedrosa and the oft-criticised Honda HRC operation. Pedrosa's recovery from a broken hand during winter testing and a mediocre eighth place on the grid, to lead the race at Losail and eventually finish third, was totally unexpected.

By Mike Nicks
From : www.crash.net

MotoGP makes history in the desert

2008-04-13T11:11:00.000+07:00

Doha, Qatar 29/02/2008

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Jorge Lorenzo joined the rest of the MotoGP grid in somewhat unusual conditions today, as the World Championship’s first ever night-test got underway in Qatar. The test is the final one of the pre-season before the first race is run by night at the same track on 9th March.

Lorenzo lost no time in getting to grips with his new circumstances, and with 5.4 million watts lighting the track he, like most other riders, found the conditions different but no more difficult than by day. He concentrated on developing his set-up, testing Michelin tyres and just getting used to riding the M1 around a track at which his last experience was riding a 250cc machine to victory in much warmer temperatures. Lorenzo finished the day in an impressive second position after 77 laps, whilst his team-mate Valentino Rossi was ninth.

Jorge Lorenzo - Position: 2nd Time: 1'56.019 Laps: 77
"On this first night of testing in Qatar I was more curious to see how it was riding at night than anything else! I am happy with this idea and honestly speaking I felt I immediately got used to the conditions. Of course at the beginning it feels a bit strange but after few laps things become quite normal and your eyes get used to the new light. The strangest feeling I had was that I felt…lonely! Riding in the night, although the light is very strong, makes you feel alone with your bike, so you must keep the concentration very high because of course you are not alone! The right lines do not change because of the light, only when braking do you see your shadow getting closer, and that’s why you always must be alert, in order not to get confused with the shadow of another rider! As far as our performance is concerned, my time was very good today but I think with some more work we can be faster still. Tomorrow, when I am more used to the new light, the track and to the cold temperatures, we will try to do even better.”

Daniele Romagnoli - Team Manager
"It was a positive day for us. Obviously it was a very different test for the team and for all the technicians, a little bit more difficult than usual but I have to say that we did not have any major problems. The rider did not feel any particular difference than riding by day; of course he took some laps to get used to the light, but after that he started riding like it was by day. We started with the basic set-up of Jerez, with just a little change to adjust it to this track. We worked on the riding position, which we slightly changed, then we worked on the electronics, mainly on the power delivery. We also focused on the tyres today and I think we did a good job. We collected new information in these conditions, which are very different from the previous races here. Tomorrow we will be working in the same direction and hopefully we will be faster."

Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi, who won the race here two years ago, was unfazed by the unusual conditions however and it was soon business as usual for the Italian, who finished the night’s work in ninth place.

One of the main aims of the first night’s testing for Rossi was to work with Bridgestone to find the best tyres to suit the conditions, which are of course considerably cooler than during the daytime tests and races of the past four years. He also worked on general set-up as the team try to maximise the final hours of pre-season track time as the clock ticks down towards the first race. Rossi completed 82 laps overall and posted a best lap of 1’56.749, whilst team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was second fastest with a lap of 1'56.019.

Valentino Rossi - Position: 9th Time: 1'56.749 Laps: 82
“There was a lot of curiosity about this night test and I have to say that I am quite satisfied. I think they have made a great job with the lights and you can ride quite normally, as if it’s day. The visibility is quite good so there is no danger for us; it’s really no more difficult than riding in the day. Maybe it would be better to move this night race to a period when the temperature is a little bit higher however, because at the moment it’s very cold here! Today we have worked a lot on the bike set-up, but we were not so fast and we are still missing some grip in acceleration. We tested several different tyres and settings, but I am still sliding a bit when I open the throttle and the front is going a bit wide. We know that this track doesn’t have the best grip, but other riders are going faster, so we must do better. We have a couple of ideas for tomorrow and I am sure we will be able to improve.”

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
“As far as the light is concerned, after one hour testing things seemed to be normal. We got used to the new conditions very quickly and everything worked well. The lights are not a problem, but the temperature is! Maybe it would be better to ride in Qatar when the temperature by night is a little bit higher. The track temperature is equal to the air temperature - low! At the time of the race it was only 15°, so it is a limiting situation concerning tyre performance. As far as the bike is concerned, we still have some work to do to increase our performance here and we especially need to improve the setting in order to make the tyres work better in the low temperatures. Tomorrow we will be testing new settings and materials from Bridgestone and we will try to be faster than we were today.”

From : www.yamaha-racing.com

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM SATISFIED WITH FINAL NIGHT IN QATAR

2008-04-13T11:09:00.003+07:00

February 29, 2008

Ducati MotoGP Team pair Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri declared themselves happy with the work done after two nights of testing in Qatar, where they have spent time finalising their preparations for the historic night race that will get the 2008 season underway in just over a week's time.

Both riders have been impressed with the lighting system that illuminates the circuit and can't wait to get back on track for the first race of the championship. Stoner's race pace was hot once again this evening and a small crash on the way into turn two did nothing to dent his satisfaction with the job done. Melandri is also confident after making progress with the setting of his GP8.

Stoner and Melandri will be back in Doha for first free practice at the Grand Prix of Qatar on Friday 7th March at 1900h local time.

CASEY STONER, Ducati MotoGP Team
"We only had a few things left to test and I'm happy because we've used different configurations on the two bikes and they both worked well. Next week during practice we'll decide which setting to use in the race. I'm also really happy with the race tyres - the qualifiers could be a bit better but I'm not too worried because they're not the most important tyres of the weekend. I had a crash this evening going into turn 2, but luckily I wasn't seriously hurt. Having said that I think that in the Safety Commission we need to talk about the size of the gravel pieces because here, like at Jerez, they're too big - they're more like rocks than stones and they can hurt you even in a small crash. Now we've got a couple of days to relax after months of testing and then we finally go racing. We're in good shape and I can't wait to get started."

MARCO MELANDRI, Ducati MotoGP Team
"We've continued working on the set-up of the bike and we've improved compared to yesterday. We've tried a few different race tyres but we also tried to get as many laps as we could on the same tyre in order to set the bike up without that extra variable. I'm happy that the green light is almost ready for the first race because I'm convinced that we have more potential than we're showing right now."

Circuit Record: Casey Stoner, 1'56.528, 166.208 km/h
Best Pole: Valentino Rossi, 1'55.002

Lap times, Friday 29th February

1. Jorge LORENZO (Yamaha)1:54.552
2. James TOSELAND (Yamaha) 1:54.592
3. Randy DE PUNIET (Honda)1:54.973
4. Colin EDWARDS (Yamaha)1:55.464
5. Casey STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) 1:55.485
6. Andrea DOVIZIOSO (Honda) 1:55.550
7. Nicky HAYDEN (Honda)1:55.674
8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suzuki) 1:56.119
9. Alex DE ANGELIS (Honda) 1:56.249
10. Valentino ROSSI (Yamaha) 1:56.256
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Suzuki) 1:56.450
12. John HOPKINS (Kawasaki) 1:56.612
13. Dani PEDROSA (Honda) 1:56.704
14. Shinya NAKANO (Honda) 1:56.792
15. Marco MELANDRI(Ducati MotoGP Team) 1:56.902
16. Toni ELIAS (Ducati) 1:56.986
17. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Ducati) 1:57.055
18. Anthony WEST (Kawasaki) 1:57.459

From : www.ducati.com

NEW ARRIVAL FOR KAWASAKI MECHANIC

2008-04-13T11:09:00.001+07:00

05 Mar 2008

Kawasaki mechanic, Jerome Galland, found himself involved in a race of a different kind on Monday, after receiving a phone call informing him that his partner Ludivine had just gone into labour.

No problem normally, but Ludivine was in hospital in France, whereas Jerome was in the middle of the desert in Qatar!

After receiving the call at 11.30am, the father to be made a mad dash to the airport, where he made it onboard the first flight out to Europe with literally seconds to spare.

Seven hours later he departed the aircraft in Munich and caught a connecting flight to Barcelona, arriving at 9.35pm the same evening. The final 280 kilometres from Barcelona to the hospital in Beziers he travelled by rental car.

On his arrival at the hospital, the now physically exhausted Jerome was disappointed to discover he'd missed the birth of his daughter Iloa by just four hours.

Weigning in at a healthy 3kg, baby Iloa was born at 8.22pm, while Jerome was in the air between Munich and Barcelona.

But his disappointment was soon forgotten once he got to meet his newborn daughter for the first time.

"She is the most beautiful baby in the world," declared the very proud father.

But Jerome will have to wait to celebrate the birth in style, as he travels back to Qatar on Thursday to prepare Anthony West's Ninja ZX-RR machines for the opening free practice session of the 2008 season on Friday night.

The Frenchman is nothing if not dedicated!

The Kawasaki Racing Team would like to wish Jerome and Ludivine congratulations on the birth of their baby daughter.

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Stoner quickest in Qatar

2008-04-13T11:07:00.000+07:00

Eurosport - Fri, 07 Mar 22:45:00 2008

Casey Stoner laid down an early marker in the opening free practice sessions for the Qatar GP.

Not only was Stoner fastest in both sessions, he managed to improve his pace on the second outing by four tenths of a second, despite a notable drop in track temperatures.

But he was hounded all the way by rookie Jorge Lorenzo with fellow newcomer, Britain's James Toseland in third.

Add to that a bizarre collision between multiple world champions Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi, which left the Spaniard tumbling through the floodlit Losail gravel, and the opening night of competitive 2008 track action provided plenty of surprises.

Stoner had been just 0.054secs faster than Lorenzo during Friday evening's first practice session and the pair traded the top spot repeatedly during the second hour, until Stoner set what turned out to be the fastest lap of the night with 22 minutes to go.

But the Ducati star had only managed to edge 0.049secs clear of the Fiat Yamaha rider and the reigning double 250cc world champion launched an impressive attack during his remaining laps - repeatedly dipping as much as 0.24secs under the Australian's best time heading into the final sector, only for Stoner's straight-line advantage to keep the Desmosedici rider on top.

Nevertheless, Lorenzo finished the session just 0.011secs behind the #1 and the supremely confident Spaniard will surely have his sights on an incredible debut pole position during Saturday's qualifying session, when the extra corner speed provided by qualifying tyres could help overturn Casey's dominance.

Lorenzo led a trio of Michelin-shod Yamahas with double World Superbike champion Toseland 0.370secs from Stoner on his satellite (valve-spring powered) Tech 3 Yamaha. The Englishman was all-smiles after an excellent session, in which he outpaced veteran team-mate Colin Edwards by 0.130secs and erased the memories of a first session fall.

The leading Honda rider was JiR's rookie Andrea Dovizioso in fifth position, with fellow 250 graduate Alex de Angelis the next best Bridgestone rider after Stoner, in sixth place on his Gresini Honda.

Randy de Puniet was seventh for Honda LCR, with Rossi eighth fastest on combined times - and one of only three riders to lap slower in the second session.

Rossi's collision with Pedrosa came with 20 minutes of the second hour left to run, as the Italian exited a fast right hander. The Italian didn't seem to visibly shut off, but the speed difference between the pair was considerable and the young Spaniard was left raising his hands in disbelief after hitting Rossi's rear wheel, being thrown from his RCV and then rolling violently to a halt in the gravel.

Fortunately, Pedrosa didn't appear to re-injure his recently fractured hand, but the 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up still finished the first day of 2008 just tenth fastest, ahead of only one satellite RCV rider (Shinya Nakano) and having failed to beat his own FP1 time.

The Repsol Honda team-mates swapped between the '07 and '08 version of the RC212V - but with little apparent success, with Hayden just 13th.

A difficult night for Suzuki and Kawasaki saw Chris Vermeulen the lead GSV-R rider in ninth, while former team-mate John Hopkins was the top ZX-RR competitor back in 14th. New team-mate Anthony West fell at the end of the second hour on his way to 17th.

Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri was once again at the lower end of the timesheets, the Italian finishing the opening day just 15th fastest, one place ahead of former Honda team-mate Toni Elias, now riding a satellite Alice-backed Desmosedici.

Full free practice times from the Qatar Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2008 season and first ever MotoGP event:

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 55.442 secs

2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team (M) 1min 55.453 secs

3. James Toseland GBR Yamaha Tech 3 (M) 1min 55.812 secs

4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Tech 3 (M) 1min 55.942 secs

5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA JiR Scot Team (M) 1min 55.963 secs

6. Alex de Angelis RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 56.120 secs

7. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP (M) 1min 56.234 secs

8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 56.279 secs

9. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team (B) 1min 56.395 secs

10. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 56.478 secs *

11. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP (B) 1min 56.922 secs

12. Shinya Nakano JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini (B) 1min 57.011 secs

13. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team (M) 1min 57.045 secs

14. John Hopkins USA Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 57.085 secs *

15. Marco Melandri ITA Ducati Marlboro Team (B) 1min 57.091 secs

16. Toni Elias SPA Alice Team (B) 1min 57.311 secs

17. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki Racing Team (B) 1min 57.934 secs

18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alice Team (B) 1min 58.500 secs

From : www.uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Repsol riders delay '07/'08 decision

2008-04-13T11:05:00.000+07:00

Friday, 7th March 2008

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden endured a tough opening night at Qatar on Friday, when back-to-back tests with the 2007 and 2008 versions of the RC212V failed to produce a clear favourite.

Both Pedrosa and Hayden rode their fastest laps on their 2008 bikes - which nonetheless feature a 2007 spring-valve engine - but after being left just tenth (Pedrosa) and 13th (Hayden) on the timesheets neither was prepared to rule out racing the 2007 bike, which is of the same spec as that used at Valencia last November, when Pedrosa took the pole position, race victory and the lap record.

"The two bikes feel different, but it's still too early to decide which we' re going to race," confirmed Pedrosa, who was lucky to walk away from a high-speed fall at Turn 14 after making contact with Valentino Rossi during the second session.

Hayden also took a trip through the floodlit Losail gravel, but was able to stay on two wheels. The American finished day one of the 2008 racing season as the slowest Honda rider.

"That wasn't spectacular by any means, but we knew it wasn't going to be easy coming in here because we had a tough test here last week," said the 2006 world champion. "Tonight we were checking a completely different set-up, so we'll definitely have to sit down tonight and make a decision on which bike to use and take the big step forward tomorrow. So far the 07 bike is better in braking and it's more stable in changes of direction, but the lap times were very close.

"I'd say tonight's track conditions were better than the tests, I expected the track to be dirtier but it was okay. Tyres aren't an issue, the tyres are working good. My last lap I was hoping to improve, I was pushing hard and ran off the track at a pretty fast place. I took a ride through the gravel but stayed on the bike, so it was okay," he added.

"Today wasn't so easy for us but I think we are learning a lot," insisted Repsol Honda team manager Kazuhiko Yamano. "Dani used a new chassis in his 08 bike tonight and it gives him a better front feeling. He was unlucky to have a fall tonight and it seems his right hand is very painful again.

From : www.crash.net

Rossi, Pedrosa explain Qatar collision.

2008-04-13T11:04:00.000+07:00

Friday, 7th March 2008

"I was catching him and he did something unexpected" - Dani Pedrosa.

MotoGP stars Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa have each given their version of events after a bizarre clash during Friday's second free practice session at Qatar, which left Pedrosa tumbling through the gravel.

The incident occurred on the exit of turn 14 with 20 minutes of the second hour-long session to go, when Pedrosa suddenly speared into the back of Rossi at a time when both should have been accelerating equally.

Rossi, after a brief glance over his shoulder, was able to ride away unharmed, but the front tyre-to-back tyre contact threw Pedrosa from his RCV and into the floodlit Losail gravel.

Unfortunately, Dani aggravated his recently fractured hand in the accident, and finished an already difficult day - during which he switched between the 2007 and 2008 spec RC212Vs - just tenth fastest.

"The accident happened when I was riding behind Rossi. I was catching him and he did something unexpected, so I couldn't avoid him," said Pedrosa. "The accident forced me to stop the session earlier than I'd planned, so I will need to have a long talk with my mechanics tomorrow before we go out again. My right hand and arm are certainly tired after all the riding today but the only problem is that the hand is now very painful again."

"I'm really sorry that Pedrosa fell, and I hope that he is okay," began the seven-time world champion. "I was riding normally, if not at lap record pace, but I think he was travelling faster behind me and wasn't able to stop when he exited the turn and hit me from behind. It was unlucky."

Rossi went on to finish the first day of the 2008 season in eighth position, while the three Michelin-shod M1s sat inside the top four.

Pedrosa may have said that Rossi 'did something unexpected', but the Italian insisted he was riding normally.

From : www.crash.net

Lights go On for Opening 2008 MotoGP Round in Qatar

2008-04-13T11:03:00.002+07:00

It’s the MotoGP World Championship’s opening race of the season for the second consecutive year, and in 2008 the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar will be another first for the series, as the Losail International Circuit plays host to the series’ first ever night race.

One of the most ambitious lighting projects in history, the task of providing a shadow-free and safe environment for the momentous race has been months in the making. The possibility of riding in the evening at Qatar had been pondered as long as two years ago, but was only confirmed last September in an official announcement in Misano. The opening event of its kind at Losail came just last week, with the arrival of all three classes for an Official Test after the lights were formally switched on.

Whilst the track itself, and its million dollar lighting system designed by experts Musco, will be the undeniable initial focus of public attention in the build-up to the race, there is no small amount of interest in the state of affairs on track in the MotoGP and lower cylinder categories.

Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner will be competing in his first race with the number one plate, opening the defence of his 2007 MotoGP World Championship crown. The Australian began 2008 with a typically dominant display at the Official Test in Jerez in February, taking the BMW M Award prize in the 40-minute shootout that marked the first competitive action of the year. He was also the early pace-setter in the first night test, laying down the fastest time of the opening night.

Unfortunately for Stoner’s rivals, the 22 year-old has also been highly successful at both his previous race visits to Qatar. Bedraggled by flu and arriving late for the 2006 practice sessions, the then-rookie took pole position for what was only his second MotoGP race. On the day of the Grand Prix he battled with future title rival Valentino Rossi, before eventually missing out on the podium spots. In 2007 he confirmed the potential shown the previous year, and once again duked it out with the Italian. The power of the Desmosedici and the cool head of the future World Champion saw him hold off the former champ, en route to his first MotoGP victory.

Rossi is expected to be challenging Stoner once again this year, and will be competing in his first race with Bridgestone tyres on his Fiat Yamaha M1. The five-time World Champion was the winner of the 2006 race in Losail, and one of the riders to participate in the Safety Commission’s initial analysis of the night race possibility ahead of that event.

The Repsol Honda duo of Dani Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden will be attempting to establish their title credentials early on at Qatar, racing against time to complete development of the RC212V. Pedrosa saw his preseason hit hard by a testing crash in Sepang, and has been absent for the majority of practice opportunities to recover from a broken hand. 2006 World Champion Hayden has been putting the latest evolution of the machine through its paces in some marathon testing sessions, and has it all to prove in 2008.

The most movement after the final race of last year has come with the changing of garages, with just six of the eighteen-rider strong MotoGP grid staying with the same team for 2008. Big moves have come from the likes of John Hopkins, who switches to Kawasaki after a long association with Suzuki, Loris Capirossi who occupies the space left vacant by the Anglo-American, and Marco Melandri who in turn takes the veteran’s place in the Ducati Marlboro team.

Aside from the existing MotoGP competitors carrying on in the premier class with different teams (Randy de Puniet, Colin Edwards, Toni Elias, Sylvain Guintoli and Shinya Nakano) and those remaining with their 2007 teams (Stoner, Rossi, Chris Vermeulen and Anthony West) there is also an influx of new blood in the 800cc class. Heading up the interest is reigning 250cc World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, who has taken to the new cylinder class like a duck to water in preseason. The Spaniard rides for Fiat Yamaha as the only rookie factory rider, in a garage partitioned due to his running different tyres to team-mate Rossi. Lorenzo has quite the pedigree in Qatar, holding three wins at the Losail International Circuit from his time in 125cc and 250cc and the fastest night lap recorded so far at the track in last week’s Official Test.

Lorenzo’s former 250cc rivals Andrea Dovizioso and Alex de Angelis also move up to the premier class this year, riding satellite Honda machines for the JiR Team Scot and San Carlo Honda Gresini outfits respectively.

Another championship-winning rookie comes in the form of Tech 3 Yamaha’s James Toseland, a two time world champion in superbike racing. The Briton knows the circuit well on a four-stroke, was one of the first riders to try out the floodlights at the end of last year and took a highly positive second place in the standings at the Official Test, meaning he will not get a better chance to make an early mark on the MotoGP series.

The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar takes place on Sunday 9th March, at 11pm local time. The 125cc and 250cc races precede the MotoGP class, at 8pm and 9.15pm respectively. Practice sessions begin on the evening of Friday 7th March.

250cc
With the departure of last year’s top three in the 250cc class, the quarter litre category title race has been blasted wide open in 2008. The form riders in preseason testing have come from the KTM camp, with Mika Kallio clocking fast times at a number of visits to Jerez and Valencia. The Finn was the winner of the final round of 2007, and his maiden appearance in 250cc at Qatar last year could have seen him on the rostrum were it not for some untimely mechanical problems.

Kallio’s team-mate Hiroshi Aoyama has also had his fair share of misfortune in Qatar. The Japanese rider had been expected to star at the race last year after recording KTM’s then-best ever dry result of fifth in 2006, but crashed out on lap two and suffered a nasty finger injury. He will be one of the expected title contenders this year as the Austrian factory’s machines look stronger than ever.

Heading the Aprilia charge is Mapfre Aspar rider Alvaro Bautista, already a proven race-winner in the 250cc class. The Spaniard is joined in the garage this year by countryman Hector Faubel, one of a cluster of debutants that also includes 125cc success stories Lukas Pesek and Mattia Pasini.

Also on top of the range Aprilia machinery in 2008 are Emmi Caffe Latte’s Thomas Luthi, who came so close to a podium finish in his maiden 250cc race at Losail last year, Lotus Aprilia’s returning Alex Debon, and Hector Barbera, with all three expected to push for success in Qatar.

125cc
125cc World Champion Gabor Talmacsi continues in the lower cylinder category this year, and will open his title defence at the track where he took pole position and second place last season. Eying up his title are a string of competitors looking to make 2008 their own, including KTM’s Tomoyoshi Koyama, WRB man Simone Corsi, Polaris World newcomer and the fastest rider so far at the first 125cc Qatar night test Bradley Smith and Talmacsi’s own team-mate, Sergio Gadea.

Circuit Info

The fabulous Losail International Circuit lies on the outskirts of Doha, the capital city of Qatar. Built in little over a year, the track cost $58 million USD and required round-the-clock dedication from almost 1,000 workers in order to get it ready for the inaugural event on the 2nd October 2004. The track itself is a flowing layout of 5.4 kilometres, surrounded by artificial grass designed to prevent sand from the neighbouring desert from blowing onto the circuit. The main straight is over a kilometre in length and there is a good mix of medium and high-speed corners, including a couple of quick left-handers which has proved particularly popular with the riders.

Further investment was required for the lighting project, which was completed under six months after the agreement to run races at night at Losail. This was key to making the track available year round, and features state-of-the-art technology to ensure shadows are at a minimum and visibility is perfect at high speed.

From : www.rossifiles.com

FIAT Yamaha Pair Plan Impressive Opening Night In Qatar

2008-04-13T11:03:00.001+07:00

The all-new Fiat Yamaha pairing of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo begin their assault on the 2008 MotoGP World Championship firmly in the spotlight this weekend as the new season gets underway beneath the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit in Doha, Qatar. The 60th season of the world’s oldest motorsport series kicks off with an historic night race, the first in Grand Prix history, and Rossi and Lorenzo will be amongst no fewer than eleven past and present FIM World Champions looking to claim motorcycling’s biggest prize.For Rossi the new campaign represents a second opportunity to reclaim the crown he held for five consecutive seasons until 2006, with the Italian having undergone an intense winter programme of physical training and MotoGP testing. As well as working on improvements with the engine of his Yamaha YZR-M1, Rossi has also been adapting to a change of tyre manufacturer and he is hoping to reap the fruit of his hard work in the dark desert landscape of Doha, where he has already celebrated victory on two previous occasions. A repeat on Sunday night would be a good omen for the 29-year-old, who has won the opening race on each of the five occasions he has won the title. A top three finish would make him the first rider ever to reach 100 premier-class podiums.

At just 20 years of age Lorenzo will be the youngest rider on the grid in Qatar, although he is unlikely to be fazed. The 250cc World Champion has been on pole position for the quarter-litre race there for the past three years and has taken victory for the last two – a clean sweep he had already managed as a precocious teenager in the 125cc class in 2004. The Mallorcan will also be buoyed by some impressive winter form on his new 800cc Yamaha, culminating with the fastest overall lap time at the final preseason test at Losail just a few days ago.That crucial two-night session also provided the circuit organizers with the opportunity to try out their incredible lighting system with the full complement of MotoGP riders on track. With 3,600 light fixtures using 250, 1500 and 2500-watt bulbs, the system needs 13 megawatt generators to produce the required 5.4 million watts of power – creating enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches. The bulbs are fixed on 1000 poles with mounting heights from 3-36 metres, all linked together by almost 500 kilometres of wire and supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.

Valentino Rossi - “Relaxed and Ready”
“Firstly speaking about the night race, after the last test I am quite relaxed about this. I think they have done an excellent job with the lights and it’s really true that you can ride just the same as you can by day. The biggest problem is of course the temperature, because it’s very cold by night and this makes our work, especially with the tyres, much harder. Generally I’m very happy and excited that we have finally reached the first race. It’s been a long time since Valencia and I am definitely ready to start a new challenge. Yamaha have worked very hard over the winter and our new bike is very good; of course there are some things still to work on and we did have some issues to contend with at the last test, but I am confident that we are in good shape overall. I am very happy with my tyres as well and now I just want to get started. We have a big task ahead of us but I know that my team and everyone at Yamaha are up to the job.

”Jorge Lorenzo - “A New Challenge”
“I was very excited before the last test to see what it was like racing at night, and to start with it was quite strange, as I expected! After a short time however I was used to it and really there is hardly any difference from the day. I did find that riding at night makes you feel strangely ‘alone’ with your bike and therefore you have to be extra alert and concentrated. I think the one thing that might be difficult in the race is the shadows, and not becoming confused by other riders’ ones, but I think it’s going to be fun. In Qatar I was very happy with the work we did and this was the perfect way to end a long winter of testing. Compared to how I was when I first rode the M1 in Valencia, I think I have really improved a lot. It’s been hard work and of course I still have a lot to learn, but I think we’re starting the season in as good a shape as I hoped. I am new to this and I don’t know what to expect from the first race, but I just hope to do my best and then I will be happy.”

Davide Brivio - “Let’s Get Started!”
“As far as the light is concerned, after one hour testing things seemed to be normal. We got used to the new conditions very quickly and everything worked well so we are not expecting problems for the race. As Valentino said, the biggest problem for us is the temperature but this is the same for everyone so we just have to do our best in the circumstances. Our pre-season in general has gone very well; Valentino was very fast in Sepang and Jerez and he has improved as expected each test as we become more used to working with the tyres and as we have improved the settings for the new bike. We had some unexpected problems in Qatar and therefore we will have to make the most of the four hours of practice to fix those, but we have some ideas and I am confident we will be ready. The practice is finally over and everyone is looking forward now to getting started.

”Daniele Romagnoli - “An Exciting Debut”
“Jorge adapted very quickly to the different conditions and he rode very well in Qatar. To finish the test fastest has given him a lot of confidence and I think he’s in the best possible shape to start the season. He has worked very hard over this winter and has improved a huge amount from when he first started. At times it’s been hard for him as expected but he has always worked at 100% so well done to him. In Qatar he was very consistent and his race simulation was also good, so there is no question that he is ready to compete in his first ever MotoGP race. All of us in the team are really excited about finally seeing him race on his Yamaha debut.”

Valentino Rossi Information:
Age: 29
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 88 (61 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 192 (132 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 49
World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)Jorge Lorenzo Information:
Age: 20
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 94 (48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 x 250cc

Losail: Lap Record
C. Stoner (Ducati) 2007, 1′56.528

Losail: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2007, 1′55.002

Grand Prix Results: Losail 2007
1. C.Stoner (Ducati) 43′2.788
2. V.Rossi (Yamaha) +2.838
3. D.Pedrosa (Honda) +8.530

Results Jorge Lorenzo (250cc): Losail 2007
1. J. Lorenzo (SPA) Aprilia 40′23.753 (250cc)

From : www.rossifiles.com

Kawasaki ADAPTING TO DARKNESS

2008-04-13T11:01:00.001+07:00

28 Feb 2008

As an absolute first for the MotoGP field racing around a track under floodlights, the riders and teams alike face a host of new challenges at the season opener in Qatar next week.

With a lighting area equivalent to that of 70 FIFA football pitches, both John Hopkins and Anthony West seem to be enjoying the idea of riding at night, despite the physical demands that racing in such conditions places upon them.

The power used to provide the huge quantity of light amounts to some 5.4 million watts - enough to provide electricity simultaneously to some 3,000 houses, and this itself can make a rider feel somewhat alone on track, with visibility reduced to only a small area immediately front of him.

These unique conditions call for a level of concentration one step up from that required for daylight racing. But it's not just the lights that cause a problem; racing at night is the exact opposite of racing during daylight hours in terms of track temperature.

Whereas the temperature increases during the day during a normal Grand Prix weekend, at night the track temperature actually drops the closer you get to midnight. This makes tyre choice for the opening race of the season critical, and it's why West and Hopkins both focussed on race tyre evaluation during the first night test yesterday.

The riders aren't the only ones who've had to meet the challenge of this new environment; everyone in the Kawasaki Racing Team has had to adapt to working during the hours of darkness, and only returning to the team hotel at 04.00 in the morning.

And it's not just the working hours that add to the challenge of racing at night. One of the biggest problems the mechanics encountered was identifying their own riders as they accelerated out of turn 16 and onto the start finish straight. In fact, the top of the straight is so dark when viewed from the pit lane signal wall, it's only possible for the mechanics to tell a Kawasaki is on it's way by the distinctive exhaust note of the 800cc inline four-cylinder machine.

'We have a solution to this problem for the race,' claimed Kawasaki's Technical Manager, Naoya Kaneko 'We have told John and Anthony that they must be right at the front from the start, so that we know the first two bikes onto the main straight on every lap are ours and we know when to show the pit boards!'

Always the optimist, Kaneko admitted that he hadn't agreed this plan with anyone outside of the team, and that there was a possibility that the other riders may have conflicting plans of their own!

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

COLD, HARD NIGHT IN THE DESERT FOR MOTOGP

2008-04-13T11:00:00.002+07:00

29 Feb 2008

The last, pre-season test before the start of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship took place tonight at Qatar's Losail circuit. After yesterday's stunning, and bewildering, introduction to riding their 800cc premier class machines at night, the riders took to the track to continue working on set ups and tyre choices ahead of next week's 22 lap race.

Kawasaki's John Hopkins, claiming 80 per cent fitness after his crash last month at Phillip Island, bravely remounted his Ninja ZX-RR to complete 55 laps over the seven hour, nocturnal testing session. Having yesterday evaluated Bridgestone tyres in readiness for the first round, the Anglo-American today focused on his bike set up.

He made considerable progress, taking a second off his best time on a race tyre and continuing to refine the set up of the bike, ready for the race. Happy with the session's results, and before tackling the circuit again next week, he will now rest, hoping to overcome the lingering pain in his upper thigh which prevented him from doing as many laps tonight as he would have liked.

Team mate, Anthony West, ended the test disappointed at his lap times but was not alone in feeling frustrated. Conditions at the track were dry but cold; comparable to the lowest European temperatures the teams are used to dealing with during a season. This made a significant difference to tyre performance and none of the Bridgestone-shod racers saw significant improvements on qualifiers.

However, he continued to test the new chassis he first tried last night and remains very happy with the improvements he felt on the bike as a result. Therefore, the 27-year-old remained optimistic for his upcoming first MotoGP race at Losail.

The team will be back at Qatar next Friday for the first free practice session of the race weekend. The inaugural round of the 2008 championship will take place, historically, on the night of Sunday 9th March, starting at 23:00 hours, local time.

John Hopkins: 12th - 55 Laps – 1'56.612
'We mainly worked on the overall bike set-up today, and we had some chassis settings to run through, as well as finalising which chassis we are going to use for the race. The results have been positive as we slashed a second off yesterday's lap time on a race tyre. We also reduced the allocation of tyres we had available to us at the beginning of the test and we know which selection we're going to use for the race. I'm feeling confident and competitive on race tyres, although we didn't try any qualifiers today. The conditions are very cold out on track but it's the same for everybody, I think this may be the biggest factor during the race. The injury I have is a bit sore from doing a lot of laps yesterday but I'm now going to Dubai with Ashleigh for a three-day mini vacation to rest before starting my race preparation.'

Anthony West: 18th - 67 Laps – 1'57.459
'Today we have been working mainly on improving the set-up of the chassis we tried yesterday and, although I'm disappointed with our lap times, we have definitely made some improvements. The conditions out on track are cold and there is very little grip, which has been the main difficulty for us. We did a race simulation, trying a selection of tyres with an aim of finding something suitable for next weekend and, in the final hour of testing, found one I'm much happier with. We have some work to do before the first practice next week but I'm confident that, with the data we have from the last two days, we can improve our lap times and be much more competitive.'

Michael Bartholemy: Kawasaki Competition Manager
“It's not been easy for us as with John's injury we still can't progress as quickly as we'd like. I was expecting a better overall performance during this test, but I know we can improve before next Friday when we start practicing again for the first race of the championship. The track temperature was not helpful, as this has caused us some trouble with the tyres, but we have worked with Bridgestone for many years and I am confident we will come up with a solution for next week. Quite a few riders crashed today, and the conditions are not ideal for MotoGP, however it's the same for all the teams and I'm sure we can make some improvements before the first race.'

From : www.kawasaki-motogp.com

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP rolls out into the light

2008-04-13T11:00:00.001+07:00

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has completed the first-ever MotoGP event held at night, as it tested at Doha in Qatar on Thursday evening.

Loris Capirossi was the first rider to take to the track to test the awesome floodlights that have been erected around the 5.38km Losail International Circuit. He was closely followed on to the track by team-mate Chris Vermeulen as the pair set about preparing their Suzuki GSV-Rs in readiness for next week’s race at the same venue - also to be held at night.

Vermeulen completed 80 laps onboard his machine, as he recorded a fastest time of 1’57.522 to give him 14^th place on the timesheets. Capirossi circulated 66 times and his quickest lap of 1’57.551 gave him 15^th spot.

Both riders worked hard to find significant advances in set-up and handling improvements from the last test at Jerez in Spain, and will be looking to better their lap-times and positions during tomorrow evening’s session.

Track temperatures dropped to 15ºC as the cool desert air made tyre choice a major issue and proved a thorough test for the Bridgestone technicians present at the track. Today’s fastest time was set by World Champion Casey Stoner on his Bridgestone-shod Ducati.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP has one more test session tomorrow which will be the final time Capirossi and Vermeulen take to the track before next week’s practice begins for the first race of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship, also at Qatar.

Loris Capirossi:

“It is really interesting riding in the night and my feeling is that it is good out there, it’s not like daylight but I am very impressed. We are working a lot on the bike and we have tried something different to find the best setting. We know the way to minimise the problems we have at the moment, we are still struggling a bit with traction which was the same as we had at Jerez. I think we are working really hard and the team is very close - we only need a bit of time to make sure we are 100% and fully competitive for the first race.”

Chris Vermeulen:

“It was quite strange out there to begin with as it wasn’t as bright as I thought it would be, there were still quite a lot of shadows so it took a bit of getting used to. The circuit has done a great job though as it is difficult to supply the level of light we need to race a MotoGP bike, but they have made that possible. From the bike’s point of view we had a big problem when we arrived here, but today we seemed to have partially solved that and that was certainly our priority at this test. Things are definitely heading in the right direction and I hope that we have sorted this problem so that we can really work on some proper testing and getting some pace out of the bike.”

IRTA Qatar Night Test Session One Classification:

1. Casey Stoner (Ducati) 1’55.330: 2. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) +0.689: 3. Randy de Puniet (Honda) +0.732: 4. Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) +0.791: 5. James Toseland (Yamaha) +0.921: 14. CHRIS VERMEULEN (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) + 2.192: 15 LORIS CAPIROSSI (RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP) +2.221:

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Rizla Suzuki heads into the night for Qatar test

2008-04-13T10:58:00.000+07:00

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is on its way to Losail in Qatar for the first running of MotoGP bikes under floodlights during the two-day IRTA test later this week.

The 5,380m long Losail International Circuit will be illuminated by thousands of high-tech light bulbs as Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen take the track for the last test before the start of the 2008 MotoGP World Championship – at the same venue - next month.

Capirossi has already experienced riding at the desert circuit under floodlights, as he was one of the chosen MotoGP stars to test out the feasibility of racing at night when he tested the new system last year on a Suzuki road-bike.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP still has some important work to conduct during the two-day test to ready itself for the first race a week later, and will be hoping that Capirossi and Vermeulen will get up to speed and adapt to the totally new conditions quickly.

The Losail track will also provide a lot of new set-up questions for both the crews and for Bridgestone, as they try to come to terms with the colder night-time temperatures that can be experienced in the desert of Qatar.

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP begins its test at 17.00hrs local time (14.00hrs GMT) on Thursday 28^th February, with both days of testing going on until mid-night local time.

Loris Capirossi:

“I tested in Qatar on a Suzuki GSX-R last year under the lights, and the track was very good. It was very bright and almost like day-light, I could even use a dark visor! It is going to be a new thing for all of us and I am really looking forward to riding my GSV-R there at night. We still have many things to test and I hope we will be able to get through all the programme so we are ready for the first race. It is going to be very strange riding through the night and not finishing till mid-night, it will be like doing a 24hr race!”

Chris Vermeulen:

“We still have a lot to do at this test as we are still looking for the best set-up for this year’s bike. We didn’t get as much dry track time as we wanted at the last test in Jerez so we need two good days at Qatar to get the best out of the bike. It is a very exciting thing to be riding the bike at night, but that will also present us with some extra problems that we will need to overcome as well, like where to put the lights on the bike and managing to stay awake!”

From : www.rizla-suzuki-motogp.co.uk

Rossi suffers final test frustration

2008-04-13T10:56:00.002+07:00

"I cannot say I am happy with this test and speaking honestly I expected to be faster here" - Valentino Rossi.
Having been just ninth fastest on the opening night of the Qatar test, Valentino Rossihad warned that he and his team 'must do better' on Friday.

However, with just a week to go before the 2008 season opener, the Italian instead concluded his pre-season preparations by slipping one further position and lapping a full 1.7secs from the top.

Rossi and the side of the Fiat Yamaha garage took a wrong turn on tyre selection and - after then 'abandoning' their initial choice - were left without enough time to complete a race simulation.

"I cannot say I am happy with this test and speaking honestly I expected to be faster here," confirmed Rossi. "Unfortunately we wasted some time working on the set-up of the bike to try to adapt it to some tyres that we then decided to abandon.

"Once we'd made this decision we worked with different tyres and things improved a bit, but the test was nearly over and we didn't have enough time to complete all the work we wanted to do. Because of this I did not do a race simulation, but I was able to make two good runs," he explained.

The Doctor thus ended the inaugural night test with a best lap of 1min 56.256secs, compared with 1min 54.552secs for pace setting rookie team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and a 1min 55.485secs for top Bridgestone rider Casey Stoner (fifth).

"Unfortunately [there] wasn't enough time to improve as much as we could have and I am still lacking a couple of tenths," he declared.

Despite an unspectacular end to winter testing, Rossi remains upbeat heading into his first grand prix weekend on Bridgestone tyres - back at Qatar, for the first ever MotoGP night race, on March 7-9.

"Generally speaking however all of the winter tests, barring this one, have been positive for us; I was fast in Sepang and fast in Jerez. It's a pity that I wasn't able to be fast here as well, but we have some good ideas for the [race] next week and this does not dent my confidence," he said.

From : www.crash.net

Rossi Second While Lorenzo Struggles in Wet and Windy Jerez

2008-04-13T10:56:00.001+07:00

Valentino Rossi guided his Fiat Yamaha YZR-M1 to second place in today’s Official Practice at Jerez today, despite bad weather disrupting the day’s proceedings at the Spanish circuit. After yesterday’s sunshine this morning saw heavy rain which, although it gradually abated, left the track very damp for the forty-minute ‘qualifying’ session after lunch.

It was nonetheless a very important day for Rossi as it was the first chance for him to ride in the wet on Bridgestone tyres, offering him and his team the chance to gather important information about their new wet set-up. Despite having had just the morning to get used to his new tyres in the conditions, Rossi finished the qualifying session in second place behind Casey Stoner with a best lap of 1’50.580.

From : www.yamaha-racing.com

Pedrosa: No improvement from injured hand.

2008-04-13T10:55:00.000+07:00

Tuesday, 19th February 2008

While Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden rocketed to the fastest lap time of the Jerez test, the dry Monday weather also prompted Dani Pedrosa to return to action - although there was no sign of improvement from the Spaniard's injured hand.

Nevertheless, the 2007 MotoGP World Championship runner-up, was at least able to compete 35 more laps as he and his technicians attempted to find a set up that would ease the stress on his hand, fractured during the very first day of 2008 testing at Sepang in late January.

From : www.crash.net

MotoGP 2008 Schedule

2008-04-13T10:51:00.001+07:00

Month Date Place
March 09 Losail
March 30 Jerez
April 13 Estoril
May 04 Shanghai
May 18 Le Mans
June 01 Mugello
June 08 Catalunya
June 22 Donington Park
June 28 Assen
July 13 Sachsenring
July 20 Laguna Seca
August 17 Brno
August 31 Misano
September 14 Indianapolis
September 28 Motegi
October 05 Phillip Island
October 19 Sepang
October 26 Ricardo Tormo Valencia

Hayabusa K2 2008

2008-04-13T10:43:00.002+07:00

Since the first time was introduced in 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa famous in the world, on the first show, it break the speed record of Honda CBR1100XX Super Blackbird. The machine capacity up to 1300cc and 175 hp, Hayabusa can reach speed up to 187mp/h.

The Hayabusa K2 shape very often have got the same shape with the first edition Hayabusa but there is much change from Suzuki technician in machine factor like 1340cc with maximum power 195hp and tank capacity was increased as much as one litre. For the front lamp performance which the shape is trapezoid get simple shape to delta shape. And then the back lamp sein to be as one with back body. But the speed are limited at 186 mph, but it claimed that the maksimum speed 357 km/jam. You can get this Hayabusa K2 only $11.800.

Dual-Purpose

2008-04-08T14:31:00.003+07:00

Dual-sports: Road-legal machines offering a compromise in highway and off-road performance, durability and comfort. Since the requirements are often conflicting, the manufacturer has to choose one or the other, resulting in a great variety of bikes in this category.
Enduros: Road-legal versions of a motocross machine, i.e., featuring high ground clearance and copious suspension with minimal creature comforts. Highly unsuitable for long distance road travel. The features that differ from the motocross versions are the silencers, the flywheel weights and the presence of features necessary for highway use.
Adventure Touring: Closely related to dual-sports, adventure tourers are motorcycles with lighter weight than just about any other bike considered a tourer, but heavier than any traditional dual-sport. Adventure tourers can handle with aplomb rough dirt paths such as fire roads however, for their weight they are generally not suited for anything more strenuous than that. The advantage is their increased number of luxury features and larger engines which make on-road riding much more enjoyable.

The popular Kawasaki KLR650 dual-purpose motorcycle

Off-road Motorcycle

2008-04-08T14:31:00.001+07:00

Motocross bikes: Motorcycles designed for racing over closed circuits, often with jumps, over varied terrain of gravel/mud/sand. Sometimes simply called "dirt bikes" when not being raced, they can also be used for informal off-road recreation, or "mudding".
Supermotos: Beginning in the mid-1990s, motocross machines fitted with street wheels and tyres similar to those used on Sport bikes began to appear. These are known as "Supermotards", and riders of these machines compete in specially organised rallies and races.
Trials motorcycles: Motorcycles made as light as possible, with no seat (as they are designed to be ridden standing up), in order to provide maximum freedom of body positioning and stunt capability for use in observed trials competition.

Street Motorcycle

2008-04-08T14:30:00.002+07:00

Choppers: Highly customised motorcycles based on a cruiser-style frame with long rake (longer front forks) and wild paint jobs. Many are created more for show than rideability.

Cruisers: A range of small to large motorcycles designed for comfort and looks with a relaxed upright or reclined seating position. They often use lots of chrome and may be highly customised.
Electric motorcycles: Nearly silent, zero-emission electric motor-driven vehicles. Operating range and top speed suffer because of limitations of battery technology. Fuel cells and petroleum-electric hybrids are also under development to extend the range and improve performance of the electric motors.
Mini bikes: Very small bikes designed to be simple run-around fun for both children and adults. Generally they have no hand-operated clutch or gearbox to simplify operation. Also known as Mini Motos. Not street-legal in most countries and jurisdictions. May be used for racing by all age levels.
Mopeds: Small, light, inexpensive, efficient rides for getting around town. Usually started by pedalling (motorcycle + pedals = moped). Mopeds typically have an engine mouted to the frame with a chain supplying the drive force to the wheel.
Naked bikes/Standard/Street bikes: Naked bikes have a riding position midway between the forward position of a sports bike and the reclined position of a cruiser. Unlike touring bikes, naked bikes often have little or no fairing (hence the title). Luggage capabilities are often an optional extra. Naked bikes are popular for commuting and other city riding as the upright riding position gives greater visibility in heavy traffic (both for the rider and to other road users) and are more comfortable than the hunched over sport bikes. Note that naked bike and standard are not fully interchangeable terms. Naked refers to the lack of bodywork and standard refers to the upright riding position.
Scooters: Motorbikes with a step-through frame, generally smaller wheels than those of a traditional motorcycle and an engine mounted near the rear wheel on the swingarm. Can be ridden without straddling any part of the bike and usually features a floorboard. Available in sport, commuter, and touring models and wide variety of engine sizes from the standard 50 cc to 850 cc.

Sport bikes: Fast, light, sleek motorcycles designed for maximum performance, for racing or spirited road riding. They are distinguishable by their full fairings and the rider's tipped-forward seating position. They are also called "race replicas" because of their connection to the racing category for production motorcycles known as Superbike racing, and earlier similar race series (the term arose in the 1980s). The power to weight ratio of the 900 cc+ models typically matches or exceeds one bhp of power for every one kg of mass.
- Racing bikes: Motorcycles designed for circuit or road racing, including mass-production motorcycles modified for motorcycle racing or sport riding.
- Street customs: Highly customised motorcycles with wild paint jobs also built for show, but constructed from a sport bike frame instead of a cruiser-style frame.

Touring motorcycles: Touring bikes are designed for rider and passenger comfort, luggage carrying capacity, and reliability. Cruisers, sport bikes and some dual-sports can also be used as touring bikes with the addition of aftermarket luggage and sometimes seats. Common throughout the touring market are usually large-displacement fairings and windshields (for weather and wind protection), large-capacity fuel tanks (for long-range travel), engines optimised for progressive torque rather than highest possible power, and a more relaxed, basically upright seating position.
- Sport touring motorcycles: Sport-tourers combine attributes of a sport bike and a touring motorcycle. They are built for comfortable long-distance travel while maintaining a forward-leaning riding position, good handling, and high performance.
Underbones: Small motorcycle which is a crossover between a scooter and a true motorcycle with step-through frame, popular in Southeast Asia. While the fuel tank for most motorcycles are tear-shaped and located at the top and just behind the instrument panel, the fuel tank for an underbone motorcycle is located under the seat.

Harley-Davidson Softail Heritage Classic. A typical "cruiser" design

An Italian 125 cc Cagiva Planet.
A "standard" or "naked" motorbike

A Kawasaki ZX-7RR sport bike

A BMW R1200RT touring bike

Motorcycle Safety

2008-04-08T14:30:00.001+07:00

Motorcycles have a higher rate of fatal accidents than automobiles. United States Department of Transportation data for 2005 from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System show that for passenger cars, 18.62 fatal crashes occur per 100,000 registered vehicles. For motorcycles this figure is higher at 75.19 per 100,000 registered vehicles – four times higher than for cars. The same data show that 1.56 fatalities occur per 100 million vehicle miles travelled for passenger cars, whereas for motorcycles the figure is 43.47 – 28 times higher than for cars. Furthermore for motorcycles the accident rates have increased significantly since the end of the 1990s, while the rates have dropped for passenger cars.
The two major causes of motorcycle accidents in the United States are: motorists pulling out or turning in front of motorcyclists and violating their rights-of-way and motorcyclists running wide through turns. The former is sometimes called a SMIDSY, an acronym formed from the motorists' common response of "Sorry mate, I didn't see you". The latter is more common when motorcyclists mix drinking with riding.^[14] Motorcyclists can anticipate avoid these crashes with proper training, increasing their conspicuousness to other traffic, and separating alcohol and riding.
The United Kingdom has a number of organisations which are dedicated to improving motorcycle safety by providing advanced rider training over and above what is necessary to pass the basic motorcycle test. These include the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA). Along with increased personal safety, riders with these advanced qualifications often benefit from reduced insurance costs.
Motorcycle Safety Education is offered throughout the United States by a number of organisations ranging from state agencies to non-profit organisations to corporations. The courses, designed by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF), include a Basic Rider Course, an Intermediate Rider Course and an Advanced Rider Course.
In the UK and some Australian jurisdictions, such as New South Wales,^[15] the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, it is compulsory to undertake a rider training course before being issued a Learners Licence.
In Canada, motorcycle rider training is compulsory in Quebec and Manitoba only, but all provinces and territories have Graduated Licensing programs which place restrictions on new drivers until they have gained experience. Eligibility for a full motorcycle license or endorsement for completing a Motorcycle Safety course varies from province to province. The Canada Safety Council (CSC), a non-profit safety organisation, offers the Gearing Up program across Canada and is endorsed by the Motorcycle and Moped Industry Council. Training course graduates may qualify for reduced insurance premiums.

History

2008-04-08T14:29:00.001+07:00

The inspiration for arguably the first motorcycle was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt (since 1905 a city district of Stuttgart) in 1885. The first petroleum-powered vehicle, it was essentially a motorised bicycle, although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car").
However, if one counts two wheels with steam propulsion as being a motorcycle, then the first one may have been American. One such machine was demonstrated at fairs and circuses in the eastern U.S. in 1867, built by Sylvester Howard Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts.
In 1894, Hildebrand & Wolfmüller became the first motorcycle available for purchase. In the early period of motorcycle history, many producers of bicycles adapted their designs to accommodate the new internal combustion engine. As the engines became more powerful, and designs outgrew the bicycle origins, the number of motorcycle producers increased.
Until the First World War, the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world was Indian, producing over 20,000 bikes per year. By 1920, this honour went to Harley-Davidson, with their motorcycles being sold by dealers in 67 countries, until 1928 when DKW took over as the largest manufacturer.
After the Second World War, the BSA Group became the largest producer of motorcycles in the world, producing up to 75,000 bikes a year in the 1950s. The German company NSU Motorenwerke AG held the position of largest manufacturer from 1955 until the 1970s.
From the 1960s through the 1990s, small two-stroke motorcycles were popular worldwide, partly as a result of East German Walter Kaaden's engine work in the 1950s.

Today, the Japanese manufacturers, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, and Yamaha dominate the motorcycle industry, although Harley-Davidson still maintains a high degree of popularity in the United States. Recent years have also seen a resurgence in the popularity of several other brands sold in the U.S. market, including BMW, KTM, Triumph, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi and Ducati.

Outside of the USA, these brands have enjoyed continued and sustained success, although Triumph, for example, has been re-incarnated from its former self into a modern world-class manufacturer. In overall numbers, however, the Chinese currently manufacture and sell more motorcycles than any other country and exports are rising. The quality of these machines is asserted to be somewhat lower than their Japanese, European and American counterparts.
Additionally, the small-capacity scooter is very popular through most of the world. The Piaggio group of Italy, for example, is one of the world's largest producers of two-wheeled vehicles. The scooter culture has, as yet, not been adopted widely in North America.

Tips Speed Up Machine 4

2008-04-08T14:27:00.002+07:00

Something safety,you can also try to change your exhaust.
It's simple, you just pick up any exhaust that you like, because there are many type exhaust like for acceleration or power, and there's also for maximum speed, or just choose your favorite sound from this exhaust.

Acceleration usually with short exhaust and for the maximum speed use the long exhaust. You just need to specify your exhaust neck for installation because the body usually available to choose.

Tips Speed Up Machine 3

2008-04-08T14:27:00.001+07:00

IF there's more money in you, you can do this tips too guys...you can set-up NOS (Nitrous Oxide) on your machine to give more power acceleration...this is very cool...^^
But there are some danger with this tips...as the most dangerous problem is blown engine because overload heat at your machine...or there's some mistake on set-up may cause that problem...so be careful on set-up this NOS...

Tips Speed Up Machine 2

2008-04-08T14:26:00.002+07:00

Maybe if you have much money you can try this tips...You can change your CDI and your "Busi" together to feel more powerful acceleration...You can change your CDI with "No Limiter" type...
Or you can kick off the limiter of your CDI, but it can broke the Guarantee of your bike...so you must really-really thinking about this tips before do it...

Tips Speed Up Machine 1

2008-04-08T14:26:00.001+07:00

You can speed up your machine acceleration on cheap way by changing your "busi" with the racing type/cool type. Not much money with that and it very save to do.
By doing that you will be get more powerful acceleration with your motorcycle. It can be applied too with your car.

SportClassic SPOR 1000 bipisto

2008-04-08T14:25:00.003+07:00

THE CAFÉ RACER STYLE OF THE ORIGINAL DUCATI SPORT 750

In the 1970s, sport riders were modifying their street bikes with some of what they saw being used on the racetrack, including clip-on handlebars, rear set footpegs, and 'fast' colours. This was done just as much for the look as for increased performance. The Café Racer style was born.

SINGLE AND DUAL SEAT IN ONE

The Sport 1000 biposto, features a comfortable dual seat, raised handlebars and classic twin shocks. A removable rear seat cover gives the Sport 1000 biposto the Café Racer look, but when removed reveals a seat for your favourite passenger.

DUCATI PERFORMANCE

The Sport 1000 is built with quality throughout. It uses high performance Marzocchi front forks with classic brushed aluminium surfaces and for rear suspension, it features a massive 60 mm swingarm, and twin fully adjustable Sachs shocks. The unique suspension layout of the Sport 1000 ensures that its look matches the classic appeal of the bike, while still delivering the superior road holding and performance you expect from Ducati.

From : www.Ducati.com

Superbike 1098 R

2008-04-08T14:25:00.001+07:00

BUILT TO WIN

The 1098 R is the ultimate Superbike. The most advanced, most powerful twin-cylinder motorcycle ever built. It is the product of a team of designers and engineers focussed on one objective only - to win.

The 'R' is a race bike, pure and simple. Its competition specification and superior components together with advanced electronics and race-proven chassis technology deliver a level of performance that empowers you with confidence and capability. On the road, it distinguishes you as a connoisseur of high-performance motorcycles. On the track it promotes you to a higher level of riding and closer to realising your dreams.

World Superbike rule changes mean that the road-going 'R' version is closer than ever to our factory race bike. The 1098 R is not a replica - it's the real deal. An incredible 180hp L-Twin Testastretta Evoluzione engine in a race-winning Trellis chassis set-up tips the scales at an unbelievably lightweight 165kg (364lbs) and comes with a race kit that introduces Ducati Corse's world championship winning traction control system.

Once again, Ducati raises the bar and sets the world standard for sport bikes while turning the heads and racing the hearts of enthusiasts throughout the world.

The 1098 R - Built to win.

A CULTURE OF WINNING

Ducati Superbikes, designed, engineered and built in Borgo Panigale, Bologna, have always represented the pinnacle of Ducati motorcycle technology and racing success. For Ducati, racing and winning are a way of life and a way of thinking for our designers, engineers and everyone at the factory. The unique engineering solutions they embrace are proven on the race track, where the only way to the winner's circle is with technical superiority and dependable performance.

The 1098 R is in form and function the culture and product of a company dedicated to engineering excellence and winning performance. Ducati have dominated World Superbike racing, winning 12 World Championships and taking the Manufacturers' title 14 times since 1990. Furthermore, Ducati have won more individual World Superbike races than all other manufacturers combined and have now proven its superiority by winning the 2007 MotoGP World Championship. The results speak for themselves.

For more information click www.ducati.com

From : www.Ducati.com

Monster S2R 1000

2008-04-08T14:24:00.002+07:00

SR ROAD SAVVY AND 1000 POWER

The Monster S2R 1000 is a blend of sport and character - the power of the 1000 Dual Spark engine combines with the Ducati Trellis frame and advanced suspension to pack punch and confidence into every corner. The S2R 1000 is the ideal choice for anyone who wants the 'mean' look of the SR series with Desmo2 power and the simple beauty of an air-cooled engine.

Fire-up our most powerful air-cooled Monster and feel the potent 95hp, high torque, Desmo2 1000 engine at your command. The 1000 DS engine was developed with the specific objectives of increased broad, linear power and increased efficiency, and the result is ideal for the S2R 1000. The Dual Spark solution gives a more efficient combustion and boosts power, especially at low and medium rpm, and when combined with advanced fuel injection and computer engine control, the 1000 DS never fails to thrill.

The upside-down Showa forks and ZF Sachs rear shock ensure confident road holding and are adjustable, allowing you to set up the bike to suit your personal riding style or for when you add a passenger. The high performance Brembo brake system provides the finishing touch to the biggest air-cooled Monster.

From : www.Ducati.com

Vehicle Detil of Desmosedici

2008-04-08T14:24:00.001+07:00

Vehicle

The engine clearly represents the beating heart of this fantastic motorcycle, but the technological advancements also extend to the chassis: a signature tubular trellis hybrid frame, refined components, and a superb carbon fibre body. This is a motorcycle that is destined for an expert rider, someone who is always looking for extreme sporting performance, as well as being an exclusive, esoteric, reliable product that is more than capable of track racing.

The colour scheme of the Desmosedici RR was the work of Alan Jenkins, the designer and one of the men behind the Desmosedici MotoGP, who was also responsible for the aerodynamics package which is aimed at achieving maximum speed and excellent handling. The bike is totally inspired by the racing machine, the Ducati Desmosedici GP6, from which it inherits all the aggressiveness of its lines. It is fitted with a new lightweight multifunction dashboard, developed in collaboration with Ducati Corse, the same one that has been fitted to the racing machine, the Desmosedici GP7.

Desmosedici-style digital instrumentation is taken from Ducati's MotoGP GP7 project. This pure racing, minimalist solution by Digitek has no switches or buttons to compromise its clean lines. The wide screen allows the rider to read six values at the same time and to scroll through and select from various menus by handlebar-mounted switch gear.

Activating the Ducati Data Analyser (DDA) riders are able to acquire up to 2MB of data (approximately 3.5 hours). The system records several channels of data including: vehicle speed, engine rpm, throttle opening, engine temperature, distance travelled, laps and lap times. So riders are able to compare, analyse and get an inside view of the Desmosedici RR performance.

The bike's development could not have been made possible without the significant collaboration of Vittoriano Guareschi, the official Ducati Corse tester, whose riding abilities and hundreds of hours of track time have made a fundamental contribution to the evolution of the project.

For the first time the Ducati Desmosedici RR uses a new welded tubular steel trellis hybrid frame (ALS 450) with the frame geometry that is the same as that of the Desmosedici GP6.

This construction guarantees an excellent stiffness-to-weight ratio, allowing superior manoevrability and riding precision. Attached to the red frame is the rear seat support in high temperature resin type carbon fibre. This material, normally used only on racing bikes, has the characteristic of being extremely lightweight but exceptionally rigid.

The Desmosedici RR sports a new extra-long, cast, forged and pressed aluminium alloy swingarm. The geometry and the technology of this component derive directly from the MotoGP bike, and give the RR a high level of traction, and excellent weight distribution as well as a superb stiffness-to-weight ratio.

In the suspension department the Ducati Desmosedici RR features the most advanced technical components.

The rear suspension geometry and layout is the same as that of the GP6, with the rear shock attached above the swingarm and to a rocker, which is hinged to the crankcase.

The front suspension features 43 mm upside-down Öhlins FG353P pressurized forks (PFF), with TiN coated sliders. The forks, which come directly from competition use, as well as being pressurized thus ensuring excellent track performance, are fully adjustable in preload, rebound and compression.
The rear shock is also Öhlins and has rebound, low/high speed compression adjustment and hydraulic preload adjustment. For the first time ever, this Ducati production motorcycle features Marchesini forged and machined magnesium alloy wheels, with a 7-spoke design as on the GP6. This helps to reduce unsprung weight and inertia, all the while improving handling and suspension response.
With the aim of producing the ultimate track performance, Ducati and Bridgestone have developed special tyres for the Desmosedici RR. The tread pattern, construction and profile are being specially developed and produced by the Japanese tyre manufacturer.

The numerous racing components of this high-performance machine also include its Brembo brakes. Up front the Desmosedici RR features a new pair of radial 'monoblock' callipers with four 34 mm pistons: monoblock technology, until now only used for racing callipers, allows calliper stiffness to be increased, thus improving braking response; the front brake system is completed by a radial master cylinder, with hinged lever and remote 'quick' adjuster that enables the right brake lever position to be found during the ride. The pair of front brake discs are two semi-floating 330 mm x 5 mm discs, with machined flange. The Brembo rear brakes are made up of a 240 mm fixed disc and a calliper with two 34 mm pistons.
The Desmosedici RR's new exhaust system has been specifically developed to deliver the best power and at the same time to ensure road riding pleasure. Significantly lighter, it has been engineered with a power-increasing 4-2-1 layout that uses 42mm diameter tubing with wall thickness of 0.8mm (.030in) AISI 309. The new exhaust system is equipped with a pass-by valve and ends with a silencer incorporated in the rear tail that features two exhaust exits to vertically release the exhaust gas. The upper part of the rear tail combines a ceramic carbon fibre cover, the same solution as single-seater F1 cars.
The Desmosedici RR will be available with a special race kit that includes a 102 dB racing exhaust, a dedicated CPU, bike cover and paddock stand.
Two versions of the RR will be available: 1) the Desmosedici RR - painted in 'Rosso GP', with a white number plate on the tail section; 2) the Desmosedici RR 'Team Version' - painted in 'Rosso GP', and as with the factory Corse bikes, this has a broad white stripe on the fairing. A team sponsor decal kit will be provided with each bike.

For this exclusive Ducati, a new dedicated service plan is included. Each Ducati Desmosedici RR owner can benefit from a three-year warranty and three years of scheduled maintenance, free of charge.

From : www.Ducati.com

Desmosedici RRDesmosedici RR

2008-04-08T14:23:00.002+07:00

MASSIVE SUCCESS FOR DESMOSEDICI RR: THE WHOLE PRODUCTION RUN SOLD OUT

Every single one of the 1500 Ducati Desmosedici RR bikes, the first true MotoGP replica which the Borgo Panigale manufacturer decided to produce in a limited number, has been sold. Following the conquest of Ducati's recent MotoGP title by Casey Stoner, the race was on to purchase the last remaining bikes available.

Reservations for the Desmosedici RR have been accepted via the official Ducati dealer network since 2 June 2006. Production of the 1500 limited edition motorcycles began in October 2007 and first deliveries are reserved to 999R owners who placed their Desmosedici RR order before 30 September 2006. Production of all remaining orders will be completed by December 2008.

DUCATI DESMOSEDICI RR: THE ULTIMATE DUCATI EXPERIENCE

The dream of a true GP replica has finally come true and the Desmosedici RR is the first-ever road-going motorcycle to offer such a stunning wealth of performance and technology that comes directly from Ducati's experience in MotoGP. The RR derives from the Ducati Corse Grand Prix racing Desmosedici GP6, the same bike with which Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau competed with in the 2006 MotoGP World Championship.

The body design and the aerodynamics faithfully reflect the Desmosedici GP6. The colour scheme, the fittings, the materials used in its construction as well as the technical features of the powerful four-cylinder desmodromic engine built by the Borgo Panigale factory engineers, leave no doubts whatsoever: the Desmosedici RR is the ultimate expression of the most extreme MotoGP racing machine today.

This is the new frontier of Ducati technological evolution, a dream come true, demonstrating once again the courage and the passion of Ducati, as well as the ability to transfer the experience of the racing world to a machine that is destined for road use.

Check out all the details in the complete description of the engine and in the thorough analisys of the vehicle, not to mention the tech specs as well as the most recent pictures at Ducati.com.

From : www.Ducati.com

Honda RC212V

2008-04-08T14:23:00.001+07:00

Overall Length	(mm)	2,050
Overall width	(mm)	645
Overall height	(mm)	1,130
Wheelbase	(mm)	1,440
Road Clearance	(mm)	130
Weight	(kg)	Over 148
Engine Type		Liquid-cooled, Four-stroke, DOHC 4 Value, V-5
Displacement	(cc)	990
Max Power	(PS)	Over 240
Frame Type		Twin-tube
Tire size(inch)	Front	17
Tire size(inch)	Rear	16.5
Suspension	Front	Telescopic
Suspension	Rear	New Unit Pro-link
Fuel Tank Capacity	(L)	22

Motocycle

INJURED HOPKINS FIGHTS FOR TOP TEN

Vermeulen fights back as Capirossi suffers cruel blow

08/06/2008

Dani Destroys Opposition To Close Title Gap

Pedrosa wins in Catalunya

Race results Catalunya

HOPKINS BATTLES BRAVELY ON AT CATALUNYA

Rossi to race with ‘Azzurri’ in Catalunya

Stoner's surprise pole

Pedrosa targets Catalunya glory

Rossi: Ferrari wanted me; Schu falls

Mugello Race results

BAD LUCK DOGS KAWASAKI AT LE MANS

TRICKY CONDITIONS HAMPER KAWASAKI IN SHANGHAI

TOUGH DAY AT LE MANS FOR DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM

Le Mans Race Result

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM BOUNCE BACK TO FORM IN CHINA

Shanghai Race Result

Fighting fifth in France for Vermeulen, strong seventh for Capirossi

18/05/2008

Capirossi and Vermeulen robbed of higher finishes

04/05/2008

Pedrosa Puts in Determined Ride To Take Second

Shanghai Circuit

Pedrosa Fights For Fourth Place In Tough Race at France

Rossi tops all Yamaha podium in Le Mans

Capirossi and Vermeulen robbed of higher finishes

TRICKY CONDITIONS HAMPER KAWASAKI IN SHANGHAI

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM BOUNCE BACK TO FORM IN CHINA

Rossi: Exactly how I wanted

Rossi smashes losing streak in China

Shanghai race result

Race Standing

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP looking for positive fortune in China

24/04/2008

Pedrosa, Hayden set for 'strange' Shanghai

YZR-M1

Pole-star Lorenzo makes it three in a row

Capirossi confident ahead of Portuguese Grand Prix

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP is ready to go at Estoril

06/04/2008

BATTLING THE ELEMENTS AT ESTORIL

KAWASAKI PROGRESS IN PORTUGAL

Rossi ponders Tibet protest

Rossi: Ready for anything

Edwards: New engine 'phenomenal'

Engine explosion hurts Elias

Tech 3 keeps Yamaha support

Lorenzo zeroes in on debut win

Estoril Qualifying

MotoGP stars impressed by road tyre

HARD NIGHT FOR KAWASAKI IN QATAR

Race live standings GP Qatar March 29, 2008

Star rookie Lorenzo lights up MotoGP

Pedrosa grabs 'unbelievable' podium

Stoner's night dream, Rossi's nightmare

MotoGP counting on Pedrosa at Jerez

MotoGP makes history in the desert

DUCATI MOTOGP TEAM SATISFIED WITH FINAL NIGHT IN QATAR

NEW ARRIVAL FOR KAWASAKI MECHANIC

Stoner quickest in Qatar

Repsol riders delay '07/'08 decision

Rossi, Pedrosa explain Qatar collision.

MotoGP stars Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa have each given their version of events after a bizarre clash during Friday's second free practice session at Qatar, which left Pedrosa tumbling through the gravel.

Lights go On for Opening 2008 MotoGP Round in Qatar

FIAT Yamaha Pair Plan Impressive Opening Night In Qatar

Kawasaki ADAPTING TO DARKNESS

COLD, HARD NIGHT IN THE DESERT FOR MOTOGP

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP rolls out into the light

Rizla Suzuki heads into the night for Qatar test

Rossi suffers final test frustration

Rossi Second While Lorenzo Struggles in Wet and Windy Jerez

Pedrosa: No improvement from injured hand.

MotoGP 2008 Schedule

Hayabusa K2 2008

Dual-Purpose

Off-road Motorcycle

Street Motorcycle

Motorcycle Safety