Dovizioso Wins At British MotoGP

Italian racewinner relied on series leader for early lines.

Dovizioso delighted with Donington win

A maiden win for Andrea Dovizioso in the premier class could not have come at a better time for the Italian. Following three races without claiming World Championship points, a month in which speculation about his future has been debated and some tough times chasing a first podium as a Repsol Honda rider, the sophomore star gave an assured display when some of the more experienced names in MotoGP fell foul of the Donington Park conditions.

The first new MotoGP racewinner since last year’s Portuguese round (won by persistent 250cc rival Jorge Lorenzo) Dovizioso now has a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. However, whilst he may have looked confident when leading the British Grand Prix, things were still tough for ‘Dovi’ on Sunday afternoon.

“This race was very difficult. With these conditions the temperature of the tyres was too low, and the light rainfall for the whole race meant that it was probably the worst scenario for riding on this tyre. We couldn’t change the bikes either, so it was really difficult to manage,” said the Honda factory rider after an ecstatic celebration on the podium. He had led the race since lap nineteen, when reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi went in too hot on the Fogarty Esses, but the lack of a close rival actually made the final eleven laps harder for the eventual winner.

“Before Valentino crashed it was easy, because I just followed him; after that I needed to understand the track better,” he explained. “Wearing a light visor also meant that I couldn’t see clearly which lines were the driest.At the end Randy (De Puniet) and Colin (Edwards) were riding at 100% and catching me, which was difficult to manage. I think maybe for the last two laps I was pushing so hard that they couldn’t risk reaching me.”

And has the win changed Dovizioso’s goals for the year? Not exactly. Speaking pragmatically, he declared that “Today wasn’t a normal situation, so we still have to understand how we can use all the potential of the package. We still need to find some solutions.”

Sources: www.motogp.com

Rossi Takes 99th Triumph On Final Corner

An amazing head-to-head battle between Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo saw the Italian take his 99th Grand Prix victory by a 0.095s margin at Catalunya.

Catalunya 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights

In front of nearly 90,000 fans in Barcelona the reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi took a superb win, battling with his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo throughout the 25 lap MotoGP race to secure the win on the last corner.

Despite some slight cloud cover close to the Mediterranean coast, air temperatures of 40°C meant it was a draining experience for the premier class riders but Rossi and Lorenzo threw everything into their duel, with The Doctor executing a superb move right at the death to take maximum points.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) was on the podium again, to maintain his World Championship challenge, with the result leaving Rossi, Lorenzo and the Australian all tied on 106 points at the head of the standings – the Italian on top as the possessor of the most recent victory.

Stoner was absolutely exhausted after the race having worked extremely hard to fend off a strong challenge from Andrea Dovizioso. The Repsol Honda rider produced another consistent display to finish in fourth place for the third round in succession, having started in fourth on the grid, this time missing the podium by 0.052s.

Meanwhile, an excellent battle between Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and the brave Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) for fifth place eventually saw an Italian emerge in front of a Spaniard again, Capirossi crossing the line just over two seconds ahead.

With two-way fights for positions going on throughout the order, Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) used all his experience to overcome Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) for seventh.

Ducati riders Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Nicky Hayden crossed the line close together in ninth and tenth respectively, giving Hayden his best result of his first season with the Italian factory so far.

New MotoGP arrival Gabor Talmacsi had a better time in his very first premier class race than new Scot Racing team-mate Yuki Takahashi - who crashed out on the first lap – as the Hungarian gained experience coming home in last place. The unfortunate Toni Elías meanwhile was also unable to finish as his miserable home record continued.

Sources: www.motogp.com

MotoGP De Catalunya Race Day Result

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Motorcycle	Total time	Km/h	Gap
1	25	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	43'11.897	164.138
2	20	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	43'11.992	164.132	0.095
3	16	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	43'20.781	163.577	8.884
4	13	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	43'20.833	163.574	8.936
5	11	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	43'31.728	162.892	19.831
6	10	3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	43'34.079	162.745	22.182
7	9	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	43'35.444	162.660	23.547
8	8	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	43'37.162	162.553	25.265
9	7	36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	Ducati	43'43.694	162.149	31.797
10	6	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	43'45.490	162.038	33.593
11	5	7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	43'48.580	161.847	36.683
12	4	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	43'48.771	161.836	36.874
13	3	52	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	43'51.330	161.678	39.433
14	2	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	Kawasaki	43'56.685	161.350	44.788
15	1	59	Sete GIBERNAU	SPA	Grupo Francisco Hernando	Ducati	43'58.651	161.230	46.754
16		88	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	44'07.770	160.674	55.873
17		41	Gabor TALMACSI	HUN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	Honda	44'39.537	158.769	1'27.640
Not classified
		24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	15'45.214		16 Lap
Not finished 1st lap
		72	Yuki TAKAHASHI	JPN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	Honda

Lorenzo Beats Rossi To Pole For Barcelona Race

Jorge Lorenzo’s excellent second season in MotoGP continued at his home GP on Saturday as he took pole at the Circuit de Catalunya, the Spaniard qualifying just 0.013s ahead of Valentino Rossi.

The MotoGP qualifying session at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya concluded with home rider Jorge Lorenzo securing his third pole position of 2009 in sweltering heat close to the Mediterranean coast.

The Fiat Yamaha star pleased the crowd in his special edition Barcelona FC livery securing the top slot on the grid with a 1’41.974 time on the 28th of 29 laps, putting him just ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi by a 0.013s margin.

Having never been off the podium in the premier class at Montmeló Rossi will be confident of maintaining that remarkable record on Sunday, though he knows he will have to be at his best to beat his talented young Spanish colleague.

Completing the front row is Casey Stoner as MotoGP’s current trio of form riders showed their strengths once again, the Australian Ducati Marlboro representative lapping just under a half a second down on Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso is the ‘nearly man’ in the premier class at present and he missed out on the front row by just 0.168s on his Repsol Honda factory RC212V. Nonetheless the Italian will try to fight for the podium having just fallen short at the last two rounds.

In fifth place at his home track, not traditionally his strongest circuit, Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will aim to improve his poor Barcelona record from the middle of the front row, whilst Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) ended up sixth and might have done better had he not crashed towards the end of the session.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) has looked good so far this weekend and he qualified seventh, just in front of home hero Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who also suffered a crash in the final moments – landing on his injured right hip, but not appearing to sustain any further damage as he walked away from the incident.

The top ten was rounded off by Englishman James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Finnish rider Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing), both northern Europeans doing well to deal with the ambient temperatures of 38°C.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Yamaha JogRR Plays Key Role In MotoGP

For the fourth consecutive year Yamaha JogRR MotoGP scooters have been supplied as the official scooter of the 2009 MotoGP season.

Thanks to the continuing agreement between Yamaha and MotoGP organiser Dorna Sports, staff at circuits around the world have a quick and reliable scooter to help them in their work.

Quick access to all parts of the track is vital for Dorna’s staff, but MotoGP venues and the public viewing areas around them are expansive places. That’s why Dorna staff need the ever dependable Yamaha scooters.

The Yamaha JogRR plays an important role behind the scenes of the World Championship, enabling Race Direction members to carry out track inspections and helping cameramen to find the best vantage points. The logistics staff who perfect the set-up of safety equipment and advertising boards, and timing staff who install vital recording devices, also rely on the Yamaha JogRR MotoGP at every Grand Prix.

The Yamaha JogRR’s high-output 50cc engine features MotoGP-style liquid cooling to keep the engine performing at its best in the heat of the racetrack. Coupled to V-Belt automatic transmission, the lively engine ensures performance that’s always easy to control. And, because of its lightweight 84kg frame, short wheelbase chassis and disc/drum brakes, the JogRR MotoGP delivers precise and safe handling.

The Yamaha JogRR MotoGP is the perfect bike to move around quickly and efficiently - at MotoGP circuits throughout the world.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Top Three Tyre Variations Give Bridgestone Satisfaction

Varied choices also confirm wide operating range of 2009 rubber.

For the first time since the introduction of the single-tyre rule, the podium finishers each used a different combination of tyre compounds for their dry laps last Sunday. Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi all finished the race with different slick tyre amalgamations, a product of their confidence in each compound and the time at which they entered the pits to switch to their dry bike.

“We can put this down to two things: riding style and the individual characteristics of the bikes,” analysed Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Manager. “At Mugello the characteristics of each machine and the differences in riding style are more pronounced because of the layout of the circuit – very fast and flowing. This means that the different compounds have more of an effect on each rider and bike package so individual preference is even more important.

“The slick Bridgestone compound choices were based on the teams’ experience from Saturday’s free practice and qualifying, on the tyre compounds that they found worked for them then. What we have seen though is that our wet tyre performs until riders can swap straight to our slick tyres.”

The Gran Premio d’Italia Alice saw the debut of a hard rear tyre, used by eight riders during the dry part of the flag-to-flag race, but it was the hard front that particularly impressed Ubukata. The varied conditions over the weekend showed the operating range of the rubber to be sufficient for any demanding condition and safer for the riders.

“Even in the damp and cold conditions we saw in the race, the hard compound Bridgestone slick worked well and consistently, so this shows that the working temperature range of even the medium and hard compound slick tyres is enough to cover all conditions from damp to dry,” said the Japanese manager.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya Given Grand Prix Presentation

MotoGP’s Spanish contingent –minus Dani Pedrosa- attend event in Barcelona’s ‘Esferic’ building.

The Gran Premio Cinzano de Catalunya was officially presented on Wednesday afternoon in Barcelona, giving details on the event that will take place in Spain on the 12th-14th of June.

Circuit de Cataunya Director General Ramón Praderas, Catalonian Govenrment Vice President Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira and General Sport Secretary Anna Pruna welcomed all but one of the Spanish riders competing in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, with the exception of injured Repsol Honda man Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo, Toni Eliás and Sete Gibernau –who himself returns from a spell on the sidelines for his home race- were all present, alongside riders from the 125cc and 250cc class.

It was announced that two riders from outside of the region would be honoured over the course of the Grand Prix weekend, with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden lined up to unveil commemorative plaques on the ‘Avenida de los Campeones’ in recognition of their respective MotoGP World Championship triumphs.

Mr. Carod-Rovira also revealed that a collaboration with a local bloodbank means that all those donating on 9th June will be given two tickets to attend the race.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Pedrosa Officially MotoGP Top Speed Record Holder

Repsol Honda rider’s 349.288kph Mugello speed confirmed.

It probably comes as little consolation to Dani Pedrosa after his abject Gran Premio d’Italia Alice weekend, but on the Mugello straight the Spaniard became officially the fastest rider ever on a MotoGP bike.

The Repsol Honda rider was clocked in the speed trap at a phenomenal 349.288kph, a top speed some 6kph quicker than the previous record for a Grand Prix round, held by Makoto Tamada on a 990cc Honda at the Shanghai circuit back in 2006. There had initially been doubt over the accuracy of the speed measurement, but Pedrosa’s achievement was quickly confirmed ahead of the MotoGP race. Loris Capirossi had been the unofficial record holder for his 347.4kph straight line speed at the 2004 Official Test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The highest top speed at the Mugello circuit before last weekend was 342.966kph, recorded by Alex Barros in 2004.

Pedrosa has been diagnosed with a small fracture to his right thigh, picked up on Saturday morning in the second practice session for round five of the MotoGP World Championship. His weekend ended with an early crash on raceday.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Rossi Pleased To Be On Podium

Valentino Rossi’s Mugello winning record came to an end on Sunday but he improved his results in flag-to-flag races.

Having never had great success before in flag-to-flag races and having crashed at Le Mans just after swapping bikes in the French wet-dry contest, Valentino Rossi was pleased with his relatively smooth showing at the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice on Sunday.

His remarkable winning run in front of his adoring Italian public logically had to come to an end at some stage and he was simply content to be on the podium alongside race-winner Casey Stoner and Fiat Yamaha colleague Jorge Lorenzo, as the three continue to jostle for supremacy in the 2009 title race.

Explaining how his race had panned out at Mugello, the World Champion said, “I have never been able to take a podium in one of these types of races before so it is the first time I have done it when we have had to change the bike. It was a good race for me especially as we found a good wet setting in just 20 minutes of warm up and I was strong in the first part.”

“I made a good decision on when to come in and change this time but unfortunately we decided to go with the harder front tyre for the second part of the race and that was a disadvantage for me, especially at the beginning. I was slow in the first two laps on slicks and I was thinking about the Le Mans crash. The front choice wasn’t right and even though I found a good pace it wasn’t enough to win.”

On avoiding allowing himself to be disappointed at the end of a sensational period of home dominance Rossi commented, “After seven victories in a row here it was just important to get on the podium for all the fans. The podium here in Mugello is always a great party and a great emotion even if we are not on the top step. The championship is very close, with the three of us separated by less than ten points, but it will be a long fight and we will try again in Barcelona next time out.”

Sources: www.motogp.com

Stoner Wins At Italian MotoGP

Casey Stoner wrapped up the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice action in style with victory in another wet-dry MotoGP race.

In the second flag-to-flag race in two rounds Casey Stoner ended Valentino Rossi’s Mugello winning streak with a polished performance to give Ducati their first ever victory at the circuit.

Much of the race came down to tactics again in front of the 80,000-strong Italian crowd as the riders once more started on a wet surface and completed the 23 lap contest on slicks, with Stoner this time judging things to perfection.

The Australian retook the championship lead as he crossed the line a second in front of former leader Jorge Lorenzo, who also rode well after the scare of crashing on the sighting lap.

Lorenzo’s Fiat Yamaha colleague Valentino Rossi completed the podium in third place as his seven-year wining run at his beloved home track came to an end, the Italian hero crossing the line two seconds behind Stoner and less than one tenth in front of Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso.

It was a shame for Dovizioso to miss out on the rostrum on the last lap once again, having held the race lead early on, on wet tyres. Likewise, his compatriot Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) was leading at one stage – later in the race – but he fell away in the final laps to finish fifth.

James Toseland made a brave decision to come in first and change bikes when running towards the back of the field and he just missed out on equaling his best MotoGP result of sixth as he was outdone by his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards on the last lap, having also dueled with LCR Honda’s Randy de Puniet who was eventually eighth.

Niccolò Canepa (Pramac Racing) will be delighted to have achieved his best result to date as the second highest Ducati rider in ninth at his home race, with Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) completing the top ten behind the young Italian.

Dani Pedrosa hit the deck and crashed out on lap 14 having already damaged his hip earlier in the weekend, the Spaniard stretchered away from trackside. He will face an anxious wait to see if he is fit for his own home race at Barcelona in two weeks. Honda satellite rider Yuki Takahashi also crashed out with 13 laps to go.

Sources: www.motogp.com

MotoGP GRAN PREMIO D'ITALIA ALICE Race Result

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Motorcycle	Total time	Km/h	Gap
1	25	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	45'41.894	158.389
2	20	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	45'42.895	158.331	1.001
3	16	46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	45'43.970	158.269	2.076
4	13	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	45'44.023	158.266	2.129
5	11	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	45'45.168	158.200	3.274
6	10	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	46'06.345	156.989	24.451
7	9	52	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	46'07.515	156.922	25.621
8	8	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	46'07.940	156.898	26.046
9	7	88	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	46'13.709	156.572	31.815
10	6	7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	46'16.708	156.403	34.814
11	5	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	Kawasaki	46'16.984	156.387	35.090
12	4	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	46'21.016	156.160	39.122
13	3	36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	Ducati	46'34.356	155.415	52.462
14	2	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	46'34.372	155.414	52.478
15	1	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	46'03.967	150.292	1 Lap
Not classified
		3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	25'15.529		11 Lap
		72	Yuki TAKAHASHI	JPN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	Honda	21'18.170		13 Lap

Gran Premio d’Italia Alice Racing Numbers

Some key numbers ahead of round five of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship.

996 - Following his 12th place finish at Le Mans, Nicky Hayden has a career total of 996 points. A top twelve finish at Mugello would make him the 16th rider of all-time to reach the milestone of 1000 career points in the premier-class.

343 - The highest recorded maximum speed at Mugello is 343 kph (213.1 mph) set by Alex Barros on a factory Honda during the race in 2004.

24 - This is the 24th occasion that a GP has been held at Mugello, including 19 consecutive years from 1991.

16 - Valentino Rossi’s 16th place at Le Mans is the first time that he has ever finished last in a Grand Prix race and the first time he has ever finished a race outside a point scoring position.

13 - There has been at least one Italian rider on the podium in the premier-class at Mugello for the last thirteen years.

8 – The last eight riders who have started from pole position across all three classes have failed to convert the pole into a race victory. In fact from the last eight poles only two riders have finished on the podium – Rossi in Japan and Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans.

4 – The first four races of the year in the 250cc class have been won by four different riders (Héctor Barberá, Álvaro Bautista, Hiroshi Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli) which last occurred in 1999 (Loris Capirossi, Shinya Nakano, Valentino Rossi, Tohru Ukawa).

4 – Mugello is one of just four circuits on this year’s calendar where Ducati have not had a MotoGP win. The others are Indianapolis, Estoril and Le Mans.

3 – Last year at Mugello Italian riders won all three GP races: Rossi, Simoncelli and Simone Corsi. This was the first time that Italian riders won all these three classes at the same GP event on home soil since 1975 at Imola.

3 – For the first time in the 60-year history of Grand Prix racing, all three championship classes currently have Spanish riders topping the championship standings

Sources: www.motogp.com

MotoGP World Standing

Pos.	Rider	Nation	Team	Points
1	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	66
2	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	65
3	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	65
4	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	57
5	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	43
6	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	43
7	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	35
8	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	31
9	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	27
10	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	26
11	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	21
12	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	20
13	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	17
14	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	16
15	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	9
16	Sete GIBERNAU	SPA	Grupo Francisco Hernando	8
17	Yuki TAKAHASHI	JPN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	8
18	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	3

Sources: www.motogp.com

Mugello Welcomes MotoGP Riders

With an exceptionally close situation at the top of the MotoGP World Championship standings, the premier class riders could be forgiven for focusing exclusively on their immediate rivals.

Mugello is a special track for the 800cc competitors and merits added attention from them, as five of them explained on Thursday ahead of the Gran Premio d’Italia Alice.

The pre-event press conference for the Italian round brought five riders out of the pleasant sun present at the track and inside to face the gathered media. Sat at the centre of the table, World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo was flanked by teammate and Mugello dominator Valentino Rossi, former titlist Casey Stoner and local stars Marco Melandri & Niccolò Canepa.

The quintet had unanimously positive opinions of the track, noting the impressive atmosphere and enjoyable layout. Despite this, nobody was making predictions on a final result for Sunday.

“We recovered 24 points in one race at Le Mans, with perhaps a bit of luck. To get a podium here would be great; to fight with Valentino would be amazing, but it’s not my objective,” said Lorenzo, leader of the series by a single point. “I want to finish races and improve my result from last year. I will try not to repeat what happened at Jerez (where he crashed out whilst fighting for the rostrum) but who knows? It could happen.”

Lorenzo was justified in his citing Rossi as a key rival on Italian soil. His Fiat Yamaha teammate has won the past seven visits to Mugello, and always has extra motivation for his home round.

“This Grand Prix is, from one point of view, more important than the others,” admitted reigning World Champion Rossi. “It’s Italy, there’s a huge crowd and a great atmosphere. “But there are 25 points available like at any other race.”

Ducati rider Stoner dismissed any hopes of Rossi buckling under pressure by stating that “he normally performs,” before saying that he is, “confident of a good race –even if a win might be another matter.”

Expectations were left at the door for Melandri and Canepa, both hoping to spring a surprise at tracks where they have much experience. Pramac Racing rookie Canepa has more experience than anyone of the track over the last twelve months from his time as a Ducati test rider but, whilst he has the track knowledge, things haven’t been all good at Mugello. He reminded the media that the last time that he tested at the track, he left with two broken ankles and a broken elbow.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Suppo: “Riders Made The Choice To Come In”

Ducati MotoGP Project Manager reviews tricky Le Mans race.

The decision of when to change bikes was a personal one for Ducati’s factory riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden, although a particular plan had been put in place by the team beforehand to give the duo the best chance of a good result. Stoner was one of the last to come in, and placed fifth despite some difficulties early on.

“I think that maybe we should come here in June or July, because every season it’s a gamble,” said Livio Suppo, Ducati’s MotoGP Project Manager. “Unfortunately Casey didn’t feel comfortable with the wet setup, and that was a pity because usually in those conditions he is very fast. On the dry setup he also had to work on the steering damper when he was very slow on the straight.

“After that he was fast, and I think that he did the second best lap of the race. We have to be positive; last year I think that after Le Mans we were -40 from the front, and now we are -1 from the leader. There will be better circuits for us, so we’re thinking positive,” he added, drawing upbeat conclusions from a race that still keeps Stoner very much amongst the title contenders.

“We agreed with the riders beforehand that we would show on the pitboard if any rider had put in a very quick lap with the slick tyres. It was basically their decision, and they are the ones with the experience of what it is like out there.

”Now we are looking forward to Mugello. We’ve never won there, but it is our home track and we’ve just had a good test there with Troy Bayliss and Vittoriano Guareschi. Vitto got his best lap ever there, which was a good one for a test rider, and Troy was also fast, so we’re looking at a track that for sure better suits our bike.”

Sources: www.motogp.com

Complicated Day For Rossi

A crash, a ride through penalty, three bike changes and no points at Le Mans left Valentino Rossi with plenty on his mind.

It is hard to imagine how World Champion Valentino Rossi could have had a more complex race to deal with at the Grand Prix de France on Sunday.

The Fiat Yamaha rider went into pit lane on four separate occasions at Le Mans, three times to change bikes and once for a ride through penalty, after he got his strategy wrong for once and suffered a costly fifth lap crash having made an early switch onto slicks.

A fortnight ahead of his home race at his beloved Mugello circuit the Italian star slipped to joint second in the standings as his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo snatched top spot in the championship race by one point, with an accomplished win.

Reviewing Sunday’s proceedings, Rossi commented, “I had difficulties from the start and I really could not ride my bike to its best. By the fourth lap I felt that I was quite slow and that I couldn’t ride as I wanted. I decided to change bikes early because usually this strategy pays off. I knew that I had to warm the tyres up a little bit but I crashed anyway in that corner because at that point the track was still wet and I just didn’t ride into it in a calm enough manner.”

He continued, “Luckily I was able to make it back to the pits and then later I changed again, but the rule says that if you change the bike again then you have to use one wet tyre, and so this is what we did. When I started that time, the pit-limiter on my bike was not on and so I was given a ride-through for speeding, but by that time it was too late for our race anyway.”

Summarising the round four results overall, Rossi added, “We’ve had problems throughout the entire weekend with the set-up of the bike and I was just hoping that I could stay with the riders in front and get some important points for the championship. Now we go to Mugello, my home GP, where I will perhaps be even more motivated than usual!”

Sources: www.motogp.com

Big Achievement For Melandri & Hayate

Back on the podium for the first time since 2007 Marco Melandri was a happy man after MotoGp race at Le Mans.

Although Sunday’s MotoGP race at the Grand Prix de France was an unusual contest, the riders changing from wets to slicks midway through on a wet-drying track, Marco Melandri fully deserved his second place at Le Mans.

Before the season few would have predicted that four races into the championship the Italian rider would have achieved three consecutive top tens, his first podium since 2007 and fifth place in the standings with the newly formed Hayate Racing team.

On a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR which was updated over the winter, after John Hopkins and Anthony West both struggled on the 2008 version of the prototype, Melandri has stepped up results on the machine despite the difficult circumstances he face over the winter – as he dealt with uncertainty about his MotoGP future.

On his achievement at the fourth round of 2009 Melandri stated, “It is awesome to be back on the podium. One month and a half ago, to imagine tasting the champagne again would have been so difficult, so it is one of the best feelings I have had in my life. I had a very difficult 2008 season and now I am working to get my speed back.”

Talking through the French race he explained, “It was tough because at the beginning my wet tyres were probably a bit too soft for the conditions that we had and every lap I wanted to change the bike, but it was still too early. When I changed the bike maybe I should have done it a lap later, so I just tried not to make any mistakes and just keep the pace. In the end I managed to have a really good race.”

Looking ahead to his home race next time out in Italy, he added, “I know it will be tough at Mugello but I just want to enjoy today. I must say thanks to my team and to Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna CEO) who helped me to come back in after Kawasaki pulled out. It would be a dream to get a good result in Mugello, so I hope to get into the top ten there.”

Sources: www.motogp.com

Lorenzo Dramatic Victory At MotoGP De France

In a hectic French MotoGP race, which started on a wet surface and was completed on slicks, Jorge Lorenzo judged conditions perfectly to take his second win of the year.

Spanish star Jorge Lorenzo found the perfect remedy for his Jerez frustrations at Le Mans, bouncing straight back from his DNF in Spain with a brilliant win at the Grand Prix de France in highly difficult conditions - to return to the top of the standings.

Lorenzo took the lead on the first lap and shot away at the front, building up a big advantage on wet tyres as the track dried quickly, eventually being the last rider to change onto slicks in his first ever ‘flag-to-flag’ contest and riding superbly on both sets of tyres to win by a 17 second margin.

Another brilliant effort by Hayate Racing’s Marco Melandri saw him cross the line second for his first podium since 2007, having been unsure of his MotoGP future over the winter.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa hunted down his team-mate Andrea Dovizioso on the final lap for third place to secure his third consecutive podium result.

A nightmare for Valentino Rossi saw him slip from first to joint second in the standings after a chaotic race. The World Champion swapped bikes three times, suffered a crash and was given a ride through for speeding in pit lane before eventually finishing last.

Australians Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) and Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) were fifth and sixth respectively, with Stoner drawing level with Rossi in second place in the championship.

Veterans Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who mounted a comeback from sixteenth early in the race, and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) would have ultimately hoped for better than their seventh and eighth places.

A solid performance for James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) saw the Englishman take a step in the right direction in ninth and Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) completed the top ten.

Lorenzo's advantage at the top of the standings is just one point, ahead of title favourites Rossi and Stoner who sit jointly in second position with 65 points each. Mugello, one of Rossi's favourite venues and his home circuit, will host the next round, the Gran Premio d'Italia Alice, the fifth date on the 2009 MotoGP World Championship calendar.

Sources: www.motogp.com

MotoGP De France Race Day Result

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Motorcycle	Total time	Km/h	Gap
1	25	99	Jorge LORENZO	SPA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	47'52.678	146.848
2	20	33	Marco MELANDRI	ITA	Hayate Racing Team	Kawasaki	48'10.388	145.948	17.710
3	16	3	Dani PEDROSA	SPA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	48'12.571	145.838	19.893
4	13	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	ITA	Repsol Honda Team	Honda	48'13.133	145.810	20.455
5	11	27	Casey STONER	AUS	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	48'23.217	145.303	30.539
6	10	7	Chris VERMEULEN	AUS	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	48'30.140	144.957	37.462
7	9	5	Colin EDWARDS	USA	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	48'32.869	144.822	40.191
8	8	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	ITA	Rizla Suzuki MotoGP	Suzuki	48'38.099	144.562	45.421
9	7	52	James TOSELAND	GBR	Monster Yamaha Tech 3	Yamaha	48'42.985	144.320	50.307
10	6	24	Toni ELIAS	SPA	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	48'45.896	144.177	53.218
11	5	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	RSM	San Carlo Honda Gresini	Honda	48'46.228	144.161	53.550
12	4	69	Nicky HAYDEN	USA	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati	48'49.325	144.008	56.647
13	3	72	Yuki TAKAHASHI	JPN	Scot Racing Team MotoGP	Honda	48'49.366	144.006	56.688
14	2	14	Randy DE PUNIET	FRA	LCR Honda MotoGP	Honda	49'03.977	143.291	1'11.299
15	1	88	Niccolo CANEPA	ITA	Pramac Racing	Ducati	49'08.063	143.093	1'15.385
16		46	Valentino ROSSI	ITA	Fiat Yamaha Team	Yamaha	49'28.685	131.949	2 Lap
Not classified
		36	Mika KALLIO	FIN	Pramac Racing	Ducati	20'47.302		17 Lap

Pedrosa In Pole Position For Grand Prix De France

Repsol Honda rider heads the grid at Le Mans after an exciting MotoGP qualifying session at Le Mans.

In-form Spaniard Dani Pedrosa snatched his first pole position of 2009 right at the death of Saturday afternoon’s MotoGP qualifying session at the Grand Prix de France as the riders got the chance to give it full gas on a dry track.

With Le Mans typically experiencing four seasons in a day morning rain gave way to afternoon sunshine, with provisional pole changing hands several times, before Pedrosa made it his own with a best effort of 1’33.974 on his final lap, to take first spot by a 0.005s margin.

The factory Honda rider who appears to be getting stronger every time he gets on his RC212V at present, following an injury plagued winter, will be joined on the front row by fellow Spanish rider Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) and Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro).

Valentino Rossi made improvements as the session went on, his final position of fourth being a significant step forward having lapped eleventh fastest on Saturday morning.

Rossi’s compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and his former team-mate Colin Edwards, who briefly held provisional pole in the session, will line up behind him on the grid.

The third row will feature Rizla Suzuki pair Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi who both qualified within a second of Pedrosa, at a track where Vermeulen took victory in 2007.

The top ten was rounded off by Italian competitor Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) and home rider Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) who both bounced back from crashes in the hour-long session.

The weathermen have suggested that there is an 80% chance of rain on Sunday at the time of the fourth MotoGP race of the year.

Sources: www.motogp.com