BIAGGI: GAME, SET AND MATCH

By Michael Esdaile

MASAMILIANO 'Max' Biaggi goes by the sobriquet 'Roman Emperor', but apart from a few flashes of brilliance since he joined the Superbike World Championship in 2007, he has not looked very imperious at all.

Then last year he signed up with Aprilia, the company with which he won his first World 250GP Championship in 1994. So keen was Aprilia to make sure the often temperamental Biaggi was happy in the team, his old 250GP crew was brought in to look after the bikes.

Last year Biaggi showed some of the Aprilia V4's potential with nine podium finishes, including the RSV4's maiden win in the first race at Brno.

This year Biaggi started the season stronger, the team had made some changes to the bike and for the first time in years, the normally tightly-wound Biaggi looked somewhat relaxed. He struggled a little at Phillip Island then scored a pair of wins at round two in Portimao, Portugal, another brace of wins at Monza and now he has finished the visit to North America with a second win at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

As in the first race, Biaggi had to deal with pole sitter Carlos Checa setting the pace out front on the Althea Ducati 1198R. The Spaniard had been untouchable since setting his astounding Superpole lap but his bike stopped with the chequered flag almost in sight in the first race.

In the re-match, Checa's Ducati led but his race was over at the start of the eighth lap, gifting Biaggi the lead. And to give the Roman a further boost, Alstare Suzuki's Leon Haslam crashed on the eighth lap, handing his world championship points lead to Biaggi on a platter.

Haslam had made a poor start by his standards and was tenth after a lap but he got his head down and charged up to sixth before crashing.

With the pressure on Biaggi eased somewhat after two major rivals were sidelined, he still kept the V4 Aprilia on the gas, trimming another 2.4 seconds off the race record he had established in the first race, with a race average of 161.442 km/h.

Troy Corser held down the second spot for a while on the BMW, but was overtaken first by Leon Camier on the second Alitalia Aprilia, then Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) and finally, three laps from the end, by his old Yamaha team-mate Noriyuki Haga.

With Checa and Haslam out of it, the Alitalia Aprilia team-mates ran comfortably out front, with Biaggi stretching his advantage over Camier. Once in third, Crutchlow put on a late charge but he wasn’t able to overtake Camier.

Max’s winning advantage was 5.899 seconds, the biggest in World Superbike so far this year and Crutchlow more than a second behind Camier. It was Aprilia’s first Superbike World Championship double-podium.

Haga was fourth, with Corser completing the top five. Not far behind Corser, Sylvain Guintoli on the second Alstare Suzuki held of Checa's team-mate Shane Bryne, bringing the Suzuki home sixth to make it five manufacturers represented by the first six placegetters.

For Checa, the weekend started so promisingly but ended with heartbreak. From the pace he was setting, he had every chance of repeating the double win he scored at Miller in 2008, then racing the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR. Had his Ducati not stopped in both races, the outcome could have been very different, not just for the results on the day, but in terms of the championship points table...

Heading to round eight at Misano, Biaggi heads the championship for the first time, 257 points to Haslam's 242. Both of them are well clear of Ten Kate Honda's Jonathan Rea (151) who had a bad weekend by his standards, scoring 14th and eighth in the two races. Despite failing to score a single point at Miller,
Carlos Checa is still fourth on the points ladder, with 141, while Haga has moved up to fifth on 135.

With five rounds and 10 races remaining, the title is still wide open, with a potential 250 points still up for grabs.

For full results, click on:
http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2010&p_Round=USA

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BIAGGI: GAME, SET AND MATCH

By Michael Esdaile

MASAMILIANO 'Max' Biaggi goes by the sobriquet 'Roman Emperor', but apart from a few flashes of brilliance since he joined the Superbike World Championship in 2007, he has not looked very imperious at all.

Then last year he signed up with Aprilia, the company with which he won his first World 250GP Championship in 1994. So keen was Aprilia to make sure the often temperamental Biaggi was happy in the team, his old 250GP crew was brought in to look after the bikes.

Last year Biaggi showed some of the Aprilia V4's potential with nine podium finishes, including the RSV4's maiden win in the first race at Brno.

This year Biaggi started the season stronger, the team had made some changes to the bike and for the first time in years, the normally tightly-wound Biaggi looked somewhat relaxed. He struggled a little at Phillip Island then scored a pair of wins at round two in Portimao, Portugal, another brace of wins at Monza and now he has finished the visit to North America with a second win at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.

As in the first race, Biaggi had to deal with pole sitter Carlos Checa setting the pace out front on the Althea Ducati 1198R. The Spaniard had been untouchable since setting his astounding Superpole lap but his bike stopped with the chequered flag almost in sight in the first race.

In the re-match, Checa's Ducati led but his race was over at the start of the eighth lap, gifting Biaggi the lead. And to give the Roman a further boost, Alstare Suzuki's Leon Haslam crashed on the eighth lap, handing his world championship points lead to Biaggi on a platter.

Haslam had made a poor start by his standards and was tenth after a lap but he got his head down and charged up to sixth before crashing.

With the pressure on Biaggi eased somewhat after two major rivals were sidelined, he still kept the V4 Aprilia on the gas, trimming another 2.4 seconds off the race record he had established in the first race, with a race average of 161.442 km/h.

Troy Corser held down the second spot for a while on the BMW, but was overtaken first by Leon Camier on the second Alitalia Aprilia, then Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha) and finally, three laps from the end, by his old Yamaha team-mate Noriyuki Haga.

With Checa and Haslam out of it, the Alitalia Aprilia team-mates ran comfortably out front, with Biaggi stretching his advantage over Camier. Once in third, Crutchlow put on a late charge but he wasn’t able to overtake Camier.

Max’s winning advantage was 5.899 seconds, the biggest in World Superbike so far this year and Crutchlow more than a second behind Camier. It was Aprilia’s first Superbike World Championship double-podium.

Haga was fourth, with Corser completing the top five. Not far behind Corser, Sylvain Guintoli on the second Alstare Suzuki held of Checa's team-mate Shane Bryne, bringing the Suzuki home sixth to make it five manufacturers represented by the first six placegetters.

For Checa, the weekend started so promisingly but ended with heartbreak. From the pace he was setting, he had every chance of repeating the double win he scored at Miller in 2008, then racing the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR. Had his Ducati not stopped in both races, the outcome could have been very different, not just for the results on the day, but in terms of the championship points table...

Heading to round eight at Misano, Biaggi heads the championship for the first time, 257 points to Haslam's 242. Both of them are well clear of Ten Kate Honda's Jonathan Rea (151) who had a bad weekend by his standards, scoring 14th and eighth in the two races. Despite failing to score a single point at Miller,
Carlos Checa is still fourth on the points ladder, with 141, while Haga has moved up to fifth on 135.

With five rounds and 10 races remaining, the title is still wide open, with a potential 250 points still up for grabs.

For full results, click on:
http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2010&p_Round=USA

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BIAGGI WINS RACE ONE IN USA

ALITALIA Aprilia rider Max Biaggi won the first race at round seven of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, Utah on May 31 after battling
to stay with with pole sitter Carlos Checa up until lap 19, at which point the Spaniard retired with an electical problem in his Althea Ducati with two laps to go.

Biaggi was later to say he didn't think he would have been able to beat the Spanish veteran, such was the pace he was riding at on the 1198R Ducati.

With Checa's DNF, Biaggi swept into the lead and won comprehensively. Behind him, championship leader Leon Haslam grabbed second on the Alstare Suzuki to keep his championship hopes alive, despite Biagi taking five points off him with the win.

Haslam was almost five seconds behind Biaggi at the chequered flag. The final podium place was secured by the rejuvenated Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who had been fastest in the morning warm-up but who expressed surprise at being on the podium.

Haga said that from the first lap the feeling he was getting from his rear tyre did not give him much confidence, then added: "But I never give up, full gas until last lap. I'm really happy for third place."

Haslam was held up when Jakub Smrz's Ducati started spewing smoke on the opening lap.

"He was leaving a lot of oil and I didn't want to follow too close. It took a fair few laps to get to the front and obviously I got gifted a second by Carlos going out, but we'll take that and if I get a bit better start in the second race, then I'll try and beat this guy next to me (Biaggi)."

But Biaggi shook his head and rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I feel very lucky, first of all, because I think Checa deserved that race because he rode very hard. But racing's racing, sometimes these things can happen, this time was our turn, and I'm very happy."

Leon Camier was running third behind Biaggi and Checa for most of the race, but could not keep Haslam and Haga behind on the final laps. Checa set a new lap record of 1m 48.045s on lap four, 0.723 of a second under Ben Spies' one year old lap record, set in race two in 2009.

Meantime, on his way to his fifth race win of the year, Biaggi recorded a record race time of 38m 20.442s - 4.949 seconds faster over the 21 laps (103.047 km) than the previous mark, established by Ben Spies in race two last year. Biaggi's race average was 161.260 km/h compared with 160.914 km/h set by Spies in 2009.

For full results, click on: http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2010&p_Round=USA

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BIAGGI WINS RACE ONE IN USA

ALITALIA Aprilia rider Max Biaggi won the first race at round seven of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship at Miller Motorsports Park, Utah on May 31 after battling
to stay with with pole sitter Carlos Checa up until lap 19, at which point the Spaniard retired with an electical problem in his Althea Ducati with two laps to go.

Biaggi was later to say he didn't think he would have been able to beat the Spanish veteran, such was the pace he was riding at on the 1198R Ducati.

With Checa's DNF, Biaggi swept into the lead and won comprehensively. Behind him, championship leader Leon Haslam grabbed second on the Alstare Suzuki to keep his championship hopes alive, despite Biagi taking five points off him with the win.

Haslam was almost five seconds behind Biaggi at the chequered flag. The final podium place was secured by the rejuvenated Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who had been fastest in the morning warm-up but who expressed surprise at being on the podium.

Haga said that from the first lap the feeling he was getting from his rear tyre did not give him much confidence, then added: "But I never give up, full gas until last lap. I'm really happy for third place."

Haslam was held up when Jakub Smrz's Ducati started spewing smoke on the opening lap.

"He was leaving a lot of oil and I didn't want to follow too close. It took a fair few laps to get to the front and obviously I got gifted a second by Carlos going out, but we'll take that and if I get a bit better start in the second race, then I'll try and beat this guy next to me (Biaggi)."

But Biaggi shook his head and rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I feel very lucky, first of all, because I think Checa deserved that race because he rode very hard. But racing's racing, sometimes these things can happen, this time was our turn, and I'm very happy."

Leon Camier was running third behind Biaggi and Checa for most of the race, but could not keep Haslam and Haga behind on the final laps. Checa set a new lap record of 1m 48.045s on lap four, 0.723 of a second under Ben Spies' one year old lap record, set in race two in 2009.

Meantime, on his way to his fifth race win of the year, Biaggi recorded a record race time of 38m 20.442s - 4.949 seconds faster over the 21 laps (103.047 km) than the previous mark, established by Ben Spies in race two last year. Biaggi's race average was 161.260 km/h compared with 160.914 km/h set by Spies in 2009.

For full results, click on: http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_S_Campionato=SBK&p_Anno=2010&p_Round=USA

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CHECA PUTS ALTHEA DUCATI ON POLE

ARE WE set for a repeat of 2008 at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, host of round seven of the 2010 HANNspree Superbike World Championship?

Two years ago Spaniard Carlos Checa put the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR on pole, then took off to win both races next day.

This year Checa has put the privately entered Althea Team Ducati 1198R on pole, recording the fastest ever Superbike lap at the Utah circuit, outside Salt Lake City. Checa scorched off a best of 1m 47.081s - more than a second faster than his 2008 pole (1m 48.193s) and also under the class lap record 1m 48.768s set by Ben Spies on his way to winning the second race last year.

It is perhaps worth noting that last year Spies qualified on pole and won both races. Will Checa be able to repeat that perfomance?

If so, it will be yet another round of the 2010 HANNspree Superbike World Championship that Yamaha will have gone winless - a far cry from last year when Ben Spies was a serious force from the outset.

"In the regular qualifying session we did a good job", stated Checa, "and then Superpole went extremely well: I was braking as late as possible, exiting corners at top speed and I finished with a time that I didn't expect, so I'm extremely satisfied. I'm just as happy with the work that I've carried out with my team in preparation for the races."

Checa's blistering lap edged out Alitalia Aprilia rider Max Biaggi (1m 47.414s) with Sterilgarda Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow next (1m 47.648s) and Czech privateer Jakub Smrz (1m 47.662s) rounding out the front row.

RED FLAG IN SUPERPOLE

The third Superpole session was red-flagged at one point after Assen double winner Jonathan Rea high-sided the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda mid-session and Smrz also crashed. The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland highsided off the Honda, sustaining tyre burns to his neck and chest. However, he expects to be fit enough to compete in tomorrow’s two 21-lap races at the 4.907 km circuit.

World Championship points leader since round one, Alstare Suzuki rider Leon Haslam, was fifth fastest on the GSX-R1000, heading the second row of the grid.

Although Superpole 3 started again, Haslam had already used up his Pirelli qualifiers and was unable to go any faster. His team mate, Sylvain Guintoli, improved from Saturday and would probably have finished on the second row of the grid, but for the smallest of mistakes in one of the timed splits. The Frenchman will now start from row three.

"In final Superpole, I was on a flyer," Hasalam reported, "and, according to my first two splits, on course for the second or third quickest time. Then the red flag came out and that was the end of that. Although the session started again, I did not have any qualifiers left to use and there really wasn’t enough time to make an improvement, so row two it is for me. It’s not so bad, because turn one is a long way off, but it could be bad if Max (Biaggi) makes a good start because the Aprilia is so fast and he could easily exit the first corner with a good advantage.

"I’m pretty happy with my bike set-up, though of course I always think that we can improve it further. We will all sit down and look at the telemetry this evening and decide if we want to make some small changes in tomorrow morning’s warm-up. One thing is sure - tomorrow’s races are going to be long and hard and there are going to be some really good battles. The nature of this track suits the Ducatis and Aprilias and I think all of us four cylinder boys are going to have work our socks off to stay with them, but we will see what happens as the races play out. I am leading the championship now and I want to be still leading it when we leave Monday evening."

For the full details on qualifying positions, click on the link: http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_Round=USA&p_Anno=2010&p_Manifestazione=07&p_Gara=01&p_Sessione=Q6A&p_Stampa=RIE

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CHECA PUTS ALTHEA DUCATI ON POLE

ARE WE set for a repeat of 2008 at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah, host of round seven of the 2010 HANNspree Superbike World Championship?

Two years ago Spaniard Carlos Checa put the Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR on pole, then took off to win both races next day.

This year Checa has put the privately entered Althea Team Ducati 1198R on pole, recording the fastest ever Superbike lap at the Utah circuit, outside Salt Lake City. Checa scorched off a best of 1m 47.081s - more than a second faster than his 2008 pole (1m 48.193s) and also under the class lap record 1m 48.768s set by Ben Spies on his way to winning the second race last year.

It is perhaps worth noting that last year Spies qualified on pole and won both races. Will Checa be able to repeat that perfomance?

If so, it will be yet another round of the 2010 HANNspree Superbike World Championship that Yamaha will have gone winless - a far cry from last year when Ben Spies was a serious force from the outset.

"In the regular qualifying session we did a good job", stated Checa, "and then Superpole went extremely well: I was braking as late as possible, exiting corners at top speed and I finished with a time that I didn't expect, so I'm extremely satisfied. I'm just as happy with the work that I've carried out with my team in preparation for the races."

Checa's blistering lap edged out Alitalia Aprilia rider Max Biaggi (1m 47.414s) with Sterilgarda Yamaha's Cal Crutchlow next (1m 47.648s) and Czech privateer Jakub Smrz (1m 47.662s) rounding out the front row.

RED FLAG IN SUPERPOLE

The third Superpole session was red-flagged at one point after Assen double winner Jonathan Rea high-sided the HANNspree Ten Kate Honda mid-session and Smrz also crashed. The 23-year-old from Northern Ireland highsided off the Honda, sustaining tyre burns to his neck and chest. However, he expects to be fit enough to compete in tomorrow’s two 21-lap races at the 4.907 km circuit.

World Championship points leader since round one, Alstare Suzuki rider Leon Haslam, was fifth fastest on the GSX-R1000, heading the second row of the grid.

Although Superpole 3 started again, Haslam had already used up his Pirelli qualifiers and was unable to go any faster. His team mate, Sylvain Guintoli, improved from Saturday and would probably have finished on the second row of the grid, but for the smallest of mistakes in one of the timed splits. The Frenchman will now start from row three.

"In final Superpole, I was on a flyer," Hasalam reported, "and, according to my first two splits, on course for the second or third quickest time. Then the red flag came out and that was the end of that. Although the session started again, I did not have any qualifiers left to use and there really wasn’t enough time to make an improvement, so row two it is for me. It’s not so bad, because turn one is a long way off, but it could be bad if Max (Biaggi) makes a good start because the Aprilia is so fast and he could easily exit the first corner with a good advantage.

"I’m pretty happy with my bike set-up, though of course I always think that we can improve it further. We will all sit down and look at the telemetry this evening and decide if we want to make some small changes in tomorrow morning’s warm-up. One thing is sure - tomorrow’s races are going to be long and hard and there are going to be some really good battles. The nature of this track suits the Ducatis and Aprilias and I think all of us four cylinder boys are going to have work our socks off to stay with them, but we will see what happens as the races play out. I am leading the championship now and I want to be still leading it when we leave Monday evening."

For the full details on qualifying positions, click on the link: http://sbk.perugiatiming.com/pdf_frame.asp?p_Round=USA&p_Anno=2010&p_Manifestazione=07&p_Gara=01&p_Sessione=Q6A&p_Stampa=RIE

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COPS BLOCK SUPERBIKE ROAD

BATHURST at Easter used to be a mecca for Australian motorcyclists, until the actions of the

New South Wales' police finally killed it. In 1988, the cops almost outnumbered the paying spectators on Mount Panorama.

First they set up check-points. They said this was to randomly check for licences (both drivers and vehicles) - but we all noticed it was only motorcyclists they pulled over. Having antagonised the staunch Aussie motorcyclists who rode sometimes vast distances to attend, the NSW storm troopers added insult to injury by building what they fondly described as a 'police station' (but which everyone else called 'the compound') on top of Mount Panorama and when the lads were just getting into full party mode, out would come the jack-booted (yes!) storm-troopers and lay into them with their clubs.

Let us now fast-forward to the state of Utah, USA.

It is Superbike World Championship weekend at Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele outside Salt Lake City.

So what does the brains trust that calls itself a police force do?

Why, it sets up a road block between on the road leading from the track to Highway 80, closes one lane of traffic and conducts a "motorcycle safety inspection" on every motorcycle trying to leave the track after practice.

What does this do for motorcyclist-police relations?

What does it do for traffic flow?

Well, on the latter score, the meat-heads in charge of the Utah Highway Patrol who ordered this "safety inspection" caused a long back-up of traffic (some estmates said it took between 40 to 60 minutes to get past).

As a result the race track officials called the Utah Governor Gary Herbert and asked that the "safety inspections" be halted ASAP.

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EURO PRIZE FOR BIKE BUILDING

THIS just in from Australian web site gizmag ( http://www.gizmag.com ): a challenge has been issued to university teams from around the world to design and build a high speed road-racing motorcycle from scratch, with an eye towards cost-effective production.

The contest is being organised by the Moto Engineering Foundation (MEF) - http://www.motostudent.com/. It supplies each team with a 125cc two-stroke engine, suspension, brakes, tyres, wheels and muffler. The challenge for the teams is to design a prototype around these components, with a hypothetical production run of 500bikes in mind. There is one stipulation: the projected manufacturing cost of the bikes cannot not exceed 4500 Euros ($5,654) per unit. Teams can use components other than those supplied, except for the engine.

The winner will be chosen at the Ciudad del Motor (Motor City) event in Aragón in October. First prize is 6000 Euros.

The Moto Engineering Foundation started the MotoStudent competition in Spain in 2008. It pitted teams of university students from Spanish and other European universities against each other, with an aim to eventual make it world-wide. The competition is similar to the Formula SAE competition in the USA, in which university student teams build open wheel race cars.

Read more...

EURO PRIZE FOR BIKE BUILDING

THIS just in from Australian web site gizmag ( http://www.gizmag.com ): a challenge has been issued to university teams from around the world to design and build a high speed road-racing motorcycle from scratch, with an eye towards cost-effective production.

The contest is being organised by the Moto Engineering Foundation (MEF) - http://www.motostudent.com/. It supplies each team with a 125cc two-stroke engine, suspension, brakes, tyres, wheels and muffler. The challenge for the teams is to design a prototype around these components, with a hypothetical production run of 500bikes in mind. There is one stipulation: the projected manufacturing cost of the bikes cannot not exceed 4500 Euros ($5,654) per unit. Teams can use components other than those supplied, except for the engine.

The winner will be chosen at the Ciudad del Motor (Motor City) event in Aragón in October. First prize is 6000 Euros.

The Moto Engineering Foundation started the MotoStudent competition in Spain in 2008. It pitted teams of university students from Spanish and other European universities against each other, with an aim to eventual make it world-wide. The competition is similar to the Formula SAE competition in the USA, in which university student teams build open wheel race cars.

Read more...

2010 AMA HANGTOWN RECAP - VIDEO

AMA Motocross At Hangtown 2010 (250 Class) Highlights - from Speed




AMA Motocross At Hangtown 2010 (450 Class) Highlights - from Speed

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2010 AMA HANGTOWN RECAP - VIDEO

AMA Motocross At Hangtown 2010 (250 Class) Highlights - from Speed




AMA Motocross At Hangtown 2010 (450 Class) Highlights - from Speed

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JOIN KR GP TOUR TO PHILLIP ISLAND

ONCE again, Kiwi Rider is running a tour to the Australian round of the MotoGP world championship at Phillip Island.

We have been running tours to Phillip Island since 1995.

Our first tours were for the Superbike World Championship events there, then in 2004 we added a MotoGP tour to the mix.

One of the great features of the KR tour is that tour members stay at Phillip Island, just a whisker more than three kilometres from the race track. Some of the fitness brigade have walked to and from the track in past years rather than riding in our shuttle vans.

There are plenty of other tours, but most of them require you to stay in Melbourne and travel about an hour and a half by bus each way, each day!

Not only do we bed you down on the Island near the track, we also provide you with an evening meal each day, and a few 'refreshments' as part of the package.

This year we fly out of Auckland on Thursday, October 14 and fly back to Auckland from Melbourne at 6.00 pm on Monday, October 18.

We provide return economy class airfares, accomodation in four near new three bedroom houses at Smiths Beach, transfers to and from Melbourne airport, transfers to and from the track, grand stand seating and a big BBQ meal each night, as well as a few cold ones to help the telling of tall tales.

Want to know more? Call Todd Sutherland at Kiwi Rider on 09 416 5307, or 021 709 989. Or e-mail: MotoGP@trackfun.co.nz

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JOIN KR GP TOUR TO PHILLIP ISLAND

ONCE again, Kiwi Rider is running a tour to the Australian round of the MotoGP world championship at Phillip Island.

We have been running tours to Phillip Island since 1995.

Our first tours were for the Superbike World Championship events there, then in 2004 we added a MotoGP tour to the mix.

One of the great features of the KR tour is that tour members stay at Phillip Island, just a whisker more than three kilometres from the race track. Some of the fitness brigade have walked to and from the track in past years rather than riding in our shuttle vans.

There are plenty of other tours, but most of them require you to stay in Melbourne and travel about an hour and a half by bus each way, each day!

Not only do we bed you down on the Island near the track, we also provide you with an evening meal each day, and a few 'refreshments' as part of the package.

This year we fly out of Auckland on Thursday, October 14 and fly back to Auckland from Melbourne at 6.00 pm on Monday, October 18.

We provide return economy class airfares, accomodation in four near new three bedroom houses at Smiths Beach, transfers to and from Melbourne airport, transfers to and from the track, grand stand seating and a big BBQ meal each night, as well as a few cold ones to help the telling of tall tales.

Want to know more? Call Todd Sutherland at Kiwi Rider on 09 416 5307, or 021 709 989. Or e-mail: MotoGP@trackfun.co.nz

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ESPARGARO TOPS 125GP

ONCE again it was an all-Spanish podium after the 125GP at Le Mans on Sunday, Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing Derbi) taking victory with a fantastic ride in the 125cc race, edging out Nico Terol for the victory and narrowing his rival’s lead at the top of the World Championship standings to two points.

Terol (Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia) led into the first turn after a storming start from his pole position, and Espargaró stuck on the Bancaja Aspar rider’s back wheel as the duo pulled away after the early stages of the race. Espargaró eventually made his decisive move to secure the win on the last lap, and crossed the line almost a second ahead ahead of Terol.

Behind the two race leaders with Bradley Smith, Marc Márquez, Efrén Vázquez and Sandro Cortese engaged in a thrilling battle for third spot. Smith held that place for most of the race but on the final lap, Márquez sneaked past him and despite the Englush rider's attempts to re-claim the spot, in touching fairings with Marquez, Vázquez squeezed through Smith's off-line bike and snatched fourth. Smith finished fifth, with Cortese completing the top six.

In his battle to get up to third at the finish, Márquez trimmed a couple of tenths of a second off Espargaró's 2008 lap record, setting the new mark at 1m 43.787s - 145.162 km/h for the Le Mans circuit.

For the complete results list, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/125cc/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_24b836d1

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ESPARGARO TOPS 125GP

ONCE again it was an all-Spanish podium after the 125GP at Le Mans on Sunday, Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing Derbi) taking victory with a fantastic ride in the 125cc race, edging out Nico Terol for the victory and narrowing his rival’s lead at the top of the World Championship standings to two points.

Terol (Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia) led into the first turn after a storming start from his pole position, and Espargaró stuck on the Bancaja Aspar rider’s back wheel as the duo pulled away after the early stages of the race. Espargaró eventually made his decisive move to secure the win on the last lap, and crossed the line almost a second ahead ahead of Terol.

Behind the two race leaders with Bradley Smith, Marc Márquez, Efrén Vázquez and Sandro Cortese engaged in a thrilling battle for third spot. Smith held that place for most of the race but on the final lap, Márquez sneaked past him and despite the Englush rider's attempts to re-claim the spot, in touching fairings with Marquez, Vázquez squeezed through Smith's off-line bike and snatched fourth. Smith finished fifth, with Cortese completing the top six.

In his battle to get up to third at the finish, Márquez trimmed a couple of tenths of a second off Espargaró's 2008 lap record, setting the new mark at 1m 43.787s - 145.162 km/h for the Le Mans circuit.

For the complete results list, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/125cc/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_24b836d1

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ELIAS AGAIN IN MOTO2!

SPANIARD Toni Elias kept his head, rode forcefully on his Gresini Racing Moriwaki, and scored his second win of the year in the new Moto2 class at Le Mans on Sunday. In the process he opened up an 18-point lead at the top of the Moto2 World Championship. He led home Julián Simón and Simone Corsi in a race that was extremely eventful in its opening stages.

Elías made a rapid start from seventh on the grid and took the early lead, but Alex Debón was soon in front. However, the Valencian rider was penalised for a jump-start and had to take a ride through penalty as he lost first position. Yuki Takahashi crashed out from fourth, and pole position man Kenny Noyes suffered the same disappointment in a crash-riddled race that saw many riders suffer front-end slides, and crashes.

At the head of the race Elías, Jules Cluzel and Simón established a break, but disaster struck the Frenchman Cluzel when he lost the front of his bike. Championship leader at the start of the race, Shoya Tomizawa ran off twice, first as the result of De Rosa’s crash which forced him wide, then of his own accord, bringing down Mattia Pasini too.

As Elías stretched out his lead and Simón shored up second, Andrea Iannone and Corsi scrapped for third behind, with the latter coming out on top to claim his first Moto2podium.

For the full list of results, click on the following link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_41ee670d

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ELIAS AGAIN IN MOTO2!

SPANIARD Toni Elias kept his head, rode forcefully on his Gresini Racing Moriwaki, and scored his second win of the year in the new Moto2 class at Le Mans on Sunday. In the process he opened up an 18-point lead at the top of the Moto2 World Championship. He led home Julián Simón and Simone Corsi in a race that was extremely eventful in its opening stages.

Elías made a rapid start from seventh on the grid and took the early lead, but Alex Debón was soon in front. However, the Valencian rider was penalised for a jump-start and had to take a ride through penalty as he lost first position. Yuki Takahashi crashed out from fourth, and pole position man Kenny Noyes suffered the same disappointment in a crash-riddled race that saw many riders suffer front-end slides, and crashes.

At the head of the race Elías, Jules Cluzel and Simón established a break, but disaster struck the Frenchman Cluzel when he lost the front of his bike. Championship leader at the start of the race, Shoya Tomizawa ran off twice, first as the result of De Rosa’s crash which forced him wide, then of his own accord, bringing down Mattia Pasini too.

As Elías stretched out his lead and Simón shored up second, Andrea Iannone and Corsi scrapped for third behind, with the latter coming out on top to claim his first Moto2podium.

For the full list of results, click on the following link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_41ee670d

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LORENZO WINS AGAIN

FIAT Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo won the French MotoGP on Sunday to extend his championship lead while Casey Stoner, Ben Spies and Loris Capirossi crashed out.

Stoner started from the front of the second row of the grid, was passed by Marlboro Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden in the first few corners but on the second lap the 2007 World Champion passed the 2006 World Champion and started closing on the front-runner trio of Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. Just as it appeared Stoner was about to get onto Pedrosa's tail, the crashed in a slow corner during the third lap. The overhead helicopter shot made it look as if the rear tyre had broken away, but Stoner said it was the front that went first. He said he was not pushing the bike hard and had not experienced any problems with his GP10 earlier in the weekend, had been fastest in the warm-up session in the morning and was therefore extremely frustrated after targeting a first podium of the 2010 season.

“I pushed that bike around all weekend and it had been almost faultless,” he explained. “I did need to get it hooked up a little better out of the corners but we had not had a problem with the front-end all weekend, so there was no reason for it. I went through that corner and lost the front about halfway through it, and it’s not really a corner where you are pushing.” He continued: “We need to start figuring out what’s going wrong and so far we have not made the Championship start we wanted to. It’s making things extremely difficult, if not impossible for us. So we just have to look to the next race.”

Stoner’s race pace throughout the weekend had indicated that he would challenge at the front, and he commended race winner Jorge Lorenzo’s display.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Stoner stated. “We had a really good shot at giving Jorge a run for his money. Obviously he was going to be the one we were going to try and battle with. He made the others look a little silly today, and my hat goes off to him. It would have been nice to be up front.”

With Stoner out, Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa slowly pulled away from the rest, led by Andrea Dovizioso, who had passed Hayden just after Stoner crashed. Behind Hayden, the order was Marco Melandri (San Carlo Gresini Honda), Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda), Colin Edwards (Tech3 Yamaha), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Gresini Honda) and Ben Spies on the second Tech 3 Yamaha.

TWO MORE CRASHES
Capirossi started to up the pace, passing Edwards on lap six, and began to open a gap on the American, before crashing. He was able to re-mount his Suzuki GSV-R, but was unable to get the motor running again and was forced to retire. Capirossi was at odds to explain what caused the crash – similar to the one last time out in Jerez.

Moments later, Spies was out of the running, like Stoner and Capirossi, suffering a front-end lose.

"I got a good start and after the first two laps I got into a decent rhythm," the Texan reported. "Capirossi and Colin started to come back to me a little bit and I was feeling quite confident. But I looked up and saw Capirossi lose the front at the third corner and as soon as I tipped in, I lost the front too and I was down. It was a weird crash but luckily I didn't pick up any further injury. Now I can take this week off and rest and go to Mugello to push at 100 per cent. It has been a rough last couple of races but I'm still confident I can be closer to the front when things are right and be doing a lot better."

ROSSI DEFENDS
Out front Rossi was leading with Lorenzo shadowing his team-mate's every move, looking for an opening.

The fight for the win started on lap seven when Lorenzo took the lead from Rossi, only to see the Italian immediately reclaim it. Undeterred, Lorenzo pushed again on lap 12, this time making his move stick as he moved into first and began to open up an advantage.

As the Yamaha duo occupied the top two spots, the battle for third was also extremely engrossing, and involved another pair of team-mates. Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa and Dovizioso were tight in third and fourth, with Hayden refusing to lose touch in fifth.

Lorenzo’s lead over Rossi at the front had stretched to over four seconds with four laps to go, and Pedrosa and Dovizioso were by now locked in a duel for the final podium spot. Marco Simoncelli, Colin Edwards and Héctor Barberá were involved in another tricky encounter for eighth position, as was Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda) until a 'moment' on his bike saw him lose valuable seconds.

HONDA vs HONDA
A thrilling last lap played out as Dovizioso forced his way through on Pedrosa to take third, and Hayden also squeezed past the Spaniard after he ran wide. Lorenzo crossed the line to take victory with a gap of 5.672 seconds over Rossi, with Dovizioso taking his second podium of the season in third place.

Hayden finished fourth for the third consecutive race, with Pedrosa ending the race in fifth. Melandri was sixth as a pre-race switch of suspension paid off for him, with Randy de Puniet taking seventh in his home GP. The top ten was completed by Hector Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Ducati)and Simoncelli. Aoyama took 11th place, and was followed by Edwards and Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati).

BACK-TO-BACK WINS
Jorge Lorenzo’s commanding win not only extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to nine points, but also delivered the 23 year-old back-to-back victories in the premier class for the first time in his career.

"I am so happy to win for the second race in a row, it's the first time for me in MotoGP and it makes me feel very confident in myself,” enthused Lorenzo, whose practice of his race starts paid off. “Finally I made a good start, which I'm really happy about, then I easily got past Pedrosa.”

He continued: “Passing Valentino wasn't so easy because he was braking so deep and I had to be very patient, something that I might not have managed one year ago! Finally I overtook him but I didn't expect to be able to get away like that. My bike and Bridgestone tyres just felt so good and it wasn't difficult for me to keep this pace up.”

Lorenzo won the MotoGP race at the French circuit last year and was second in his premier class debut at Le Mans the year before, and he added: “I have had a good time in Le Mans since I joined Yamaha; one second place and two victories, so I think I can say I enjoy racing here in France!”

There was also another interesting celebration from the Spaniard as he pulled up a chair in front of a big screen after taking the chequered flag and ate popcorn, following on from his water-based antics at the last round at Jerez.

Focusing on the fourth round at Mugello in a fortnight, a track at which he finished second last season, Lorenzo expects a tough battle to maintain his advantage at the top of the standings.

“It is fantastic to be leading the Championship but there is a long way to go and now we go to Mugello, a track that I love but where my rivals are very strong,” he concluded.


RESULTS
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 44'29.114
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'05.672
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'07.872
4 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'09.346
5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'12.613
6 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'21.918
7 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'29.288
8 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'33.128
9 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 0'33.493
10 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'33.805
11 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 0'34.346
12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'37.123
13 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'55.061

Fastest Lap: Lorenzo, 1m 34.455s - 159.352 km/h (lap 15). Lap record: Valentino Rossi, 1m 34.215s - 159.910 km/h (2008).

For detailed results, click on this link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/MotoGP/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_457e033e

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LORENZO WINS AGAIN

FIAT Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo won the French MotoGP on Sunday to extend his championship lead while Casey Stoner, Ben Spies and Loris Capirossi crashed out.

Stoner started from the front of the second row of the grid, was passed by Marlboro Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden in the first few corners but on the second lap the 2007 World Champion passed the 2006 World Champion and started closing on the front-runner trio of Valentino Rossi, Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa. Just as it appeared Stoner was about to get onto Pedrosa's tail, the crashed in a slow corner during the third lap. The overhead helicopter shot made it look as if the rear tyre had broken away, but Stoner said it was the front that went first. He said he was not pushing the bike hard and had not experienced any problems with his GP10 earlier in the weekend, had been fastest in the warm-up session in the morning and was therefore extremely frustrated after targeting a first podium of the 2010 season.

“I pushed that bike around all weekend and it had been almost faultless,” he explained. “I did need to get it hooked up a little better out of the corners but we had not had a problem with the front-end all weekend, so there was no reason for it. I went through that corner and lost the front about halfway through it, and it’s not really a corner where you are pushing.” He continued: “We need to start figuring out what’s going wrong and so far we have not made the Championship start we wanted to. It’s making things extremely difficult, if not impossible for us. So we just have to look to the next race.”

Stoner’s race pace throughout the weekend had indicated that he would challenge at the front, and he commended race winner Jorge Lorenzo’s display.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Stoner stated. “We had a really good shot at giving Jorge a run for his money. Obviously he was going to be the one we were going to try and battle with. He made the others look a little silly today, and my hat goes off to him. It would have been nice to be up front.”

With Stoner out, Rossi, Lorenzo and Pedrosa slowly pulled away from the rest, led by Andrea Dovizioso, who had passed Hayden just after Stoner crashed. Behind Hayden, the order was Marco Melandri (San Carlo Gresini Honda), Randy De Puniet (LCR Honda), Colin Edwards (Tech3 Yamaha), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Gresini Honda) and Ben Spies on the second Tech 3 Yamaha.

TWO MORE CRASHES
Capirossi started to up the pace, passing Edwards on lap six, and began to open a gap on the American, before crashing. He was able to re-mount his Suzuki GSV-R, but was unable to get the motor running again and was forced to retire. Capirossi was at odds to explain what caused the crash – similar to the one last time out in Jerez.

Moments later, Spies was out of the running, like Stoner and Capirossi, suffering a front-end lose.

"I got a good start and after the first two laps I got into a decent rhythm," the Texan reported. "Capirossi and Colin started to come back to me a little bit and I was feeling quite confident. But I looked up and saw Capirossi lose the front at the third corner and as soon as I tipped in, I lost the front too and I was down. It was a weird crash but luckily I didn't pick up any further injury. Now I can take this week off and rest and go to Mugello to push at 100 per cent. It has been a rough last couple of races but I'm still confident I can be closer to the front when things are right and be doing a lot better."

ROSSI DEFENDS
Out front Rossi was leading with Lorenzo shadowing his team-mate's every move, looking for an opening.

The fight for the win started on lap seven when Lorenzo took the lead from Rossi, only to see the Italian immediately reclaim it. Undeterred, Lorenzo pushed again on lap 12, this time making his move stick as he moved into first and began to open up an advantage.

As the Yamaha duo occupied the top two spots, the battle for third was also extremely engrossing, and involved another pair of team-mates. Repsol Honda’s Pedrosa and Dovizioso were tight in third and fourth, with Hayden refusing to lose touch in fifth.

Lorenzo’s lead over Rossi at the front had stretched to over four seconds with four laps to go, and Pedrosa and Dovizioso were by now locked in a duel for the final podium spot. Marco Simoncelli, Colin Edwards and Héctor Barberá were involved in another tricky encounter for eighth position, as was Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda) until a 'moment' on his bike saw him lose valuable seconds.

HONDA vs HONDA
A thrilling last lap played out as Dovizioso forced his way through on Pedrosa to take third, and Hayden also squeezed past the Spaniard after he ran wide. Lorenzo crossed the line to take victory with a gap of 5.672 seconds over Rossi, with Dovizioso taking his second podium of the season in third place.

Hayden finished fourth for the third consecutive race, with Pedrosa ending the race in fifth. Melandri was sixth as a pre-race switch of suspension paid off for him, with Randy de Puniet taking seventh in his home GP. The top ten was completed by Hector Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Ducati)and Simoncelli. Aoyama took 11th place, and was followed by Edwards and Mika Kallio (Pramac Ducati).

BACK-TO-BACK WINS
Jorge Lorenzo’s commanding win not only extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to nine points, but also delivered the 23 year-old back-to-back victories in the premier class for the first time in his career.

"I am so happy to win for the second race in a row, it's the first time for me in MotoGP and it makes me feel very confident in myself,” enthused Lorenzo, whose practice of his race starts paid off. “Finally I made a good start, which I'm really happy about, then I easily got past Pedrosa.”

He continued: “Passing Valentino wasn't so easy because he was braking so deep and I had to be very patient, something that I might not have managed one year ago! Finally I overtook him but I didn't expect to be able to get away like that. My bike and Bridgestone tyres just felt so good and it wasn't difficult for me to keep this pace up.”

Lorenzo won the MotoGP race at the French circuit last year and was second in his premier class debut at Le Mans the year before, and he added: “I have had a good time in Le Mans since I joined Yamaha; one second place and two victories, so I think I can say I enjoy racing here in France!”

There was also another interesting celebration from the Spaniard as he pulled up a chair in front of a big screen after taking the chequered flag and ate popcorn, following on from his water-based antics at the last round at Jerez.

Focusing on the fourth round at Mugello in a fortnight, a track at which he finished second last season, Lorenzo expects a tough battle to maintain his advantage at the top of the standings.

“It is fantastic to be leading the Championship but there is a long way to go and now we go to Mugello, a track that I love but where my rivals are very strong,” he concluded.


RESULTS
1 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 44'29.114
2 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'05.672
3 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'07.872
4 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'09.346
5 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'12.613
6 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'21.918
7 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'29.288
8 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 0'33.128
9 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 0'33.493
10 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 0'33.805
11 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 0'34.346
12 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'37.123
13 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'55.061

Fastest Lap: Lorenzo, 1m 34.455s - 159.352 km/h (lap 15). Lap record: Valentino Rossi, 1m 34.215s - 159.910 km/h (2008).

For detailed results, click on this link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/MotoGP/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_457e033e

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SPIES, KALLIO & BAUTISTA HURT

TEXAN Ben Spies, Finn Mika Kalio and Spaniard Alvaro Bautista were all injured during practice for the May 23 Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.

Bautista was the worst affect, and will not start the MotoGP race, leaving Loris Capirossi as the sole Suzuki rider on the grid.

Bautista suffered from a big high-side on only the third lap of Saturday morning’s practice session. He landed hard and sustained some more minor injuries, as well as aggravating the broken collarbone that sustained only a week ago. Bautista was one of three riders to all crash on the same lap, caught out by the low track temperatures. He was treated by Dr. Costa’s staff straight after the session and after careful consideration and discussions with the team, took the decision to abandon any further attempts to race this weekend.
Bautista will return to Spain for further treatment - as well as rest and recuperation - to make sure he is 100% fit for the next round of the season at Mugello in Italy in two weeks’ time.

Meantine Kallio put on a brave face and rode on with a painful shoulder after crashing his Pramac Ducati in practice earlier in the day, eventually qualifying 16th. He rose from 17th on the grid at the Spanish GP at Jerez to place seventh and will aiming for a similar recovery on Sunday.

"Fortunately the shoulder is not broken. Despite the pain I really wanted to take part in qualifying and I tried to get the perfect balance for the bike for the race,” said the Finn. “Unfortunately, the pain and the time that I lost have only allowed me to take half a second off the time I have achieved in the practice on Friday. To start again from the bottom of the grid is not so nice, but I will give it my best to repay the tremendous work the team have done for me."

Ben Spies proved he's got the bravery to match the speed in Saturday afternoon's qualifying session, which was run in sunny and humid conditions that saw air temperature peak at 28 degrees. The Texan suffered a big crash in the early stages of the morning's final practice session when he lost control of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine at the entry to the Dunlop chicane.

Spies was thrown several metres in the air before landing heavily. He suffered a badly swollen left foot, but despite discomfort when downshifting and changing direction, he quickly built up his pace and confidence, despite missing nearly a whole hour of crucial set-up time. Only a quarter of the qualifying session had elapsed when he broke into the top ten and the 25-year-old continued to defy the pain with a series of consistent laps. But his efforts didn't see him maintain his place in the top ten. A best time of 1m34.920s left him 12th on the grid, though he remains confident that he can challenge in the battle for the top six in Sunday's 28-lap encounter.

Read more...

SPIES, KALLIO & BAUTISTA HURT

TEXAN Ben Spies, Finn Mika Kalio and Spaniard Alvaro Bautista were all injured during practice for the May 23 Monster Energy Grand Prix de France.

Bautista was the worst affect, and will not start the MotoGP race, leaving Loris Capirossi as the sole Suzuki rider on the grid.

Bautista suffered from a big high-side on only the third lap of Saturday morning’s practice session. He landed hard and sustained some more minor injuries, as well as aggravating the broken collarbone that sustained only a week ago. Bautista was one of three riders to all crash on the same lap, caught out by the low track temperatures. He was treated by Dr. Costa’s staff straight after the session and after careful consideration and discussions with the team, took the decision to abandon any further attempts to race this weekend.
Bautista will return to Spain for further treatment - as well as rest and recuperation - to make sure he is 100% fit for the next round of the season at Mugello in Italy in two weeks’ time.

Meantine Kallio put on a brave face and rode on with a painful shoulder after crashing his Pramac Ducati in practice earlier in the day, eventually qualifying 16th. He rose from 17th on the grid at the Spanish GP at Jerez to place seventh and will aiming for a similar recovery on Sunday.

"Fortunately the shoulder is not broken. Despite the pain I really wanted to take part in qualifying and I tried to get the perfect balance for the bike for the race,” said the Finn. “Unfortunately, the pain and the time that I lost have only allowed me to take half a second off the time I have achieved in the practice on Friday. To start again from the bottom of the grid is not so nice, but I will give it my best to repay the tremendous work the team have done for me."

Ben Spies proved he's got the bravery to match the speed in Saturday afternoon's qualifying session, which was run in sunny and humid conditions that saw air temperature peak at 28 degrees. The Texan suffered a big crash in the early stages of the morning's final practice session when he lost control of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 YZR-M1 machine at the entry to the Dunlop chicane.

Spies was thrown several metres in the air before landing heavily. He suffered a badly swollen left foot, but despite discomfort when downshifting and changing direction, he quickly built up his pace and confidence, despite missing nearly a whole hour of crucial set-up time. Only a quarter of the qualifying session had elapsed when he broke into the top ten and the 25-year-old continued to defy the pain with a series of consistent laps. But his efforts didn't see him maintain his place in the top ten. A best time of 1m34.920s left him 12th on the grid, though he remains confident that he can challenge in the battle for the top six in Sunday's 28-lap encounter.

Read more...

NOYES HAS MOTO2 POLE

AMERICAN Kenny Noyes, who was a front-runner for a big part of the Moto2 race at Jerez, rode a storming qualifying session to take pole position for Sunday’s race, posting a best lap of 1m 39.234s to put his Promoharris machine team at the head of the grid.

That was 0.432 seconds under Marco Simoncelli's 250GP lap record for the circuit, set in 2008, but 0.964 of a second slower than Alvaro Bautista's 250GP class pole record time

Noyes is the first American to take pole in the intermediate GP class since John Kocinski at the Australian 250cc GP in 1990.

As was the case in the earlier practice session, there was little separating a large number of riders, with the top 27 all within a second of one another.

Second fastest, at just 0.031s behind Noyes, was Yuki Takahashi who will ensure that his Tech3 team start their home race from an encouraging spot. Alex Debón joins them on the front row, as will Frenchman Jules Cluzel.

Fonsi Nieto and Sergio Gadea maintained their consistency from practice to take the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively, whilst Toni Elías recovered from an early crash to record the seventh quickest lap. Simone Corsi will complete the second row.

The lap record for the now defunct 250cc Grand Prix class at Le Mans was set in 2008 by Marco Simoncelli on a rotary disc valve two-stroke V-twin Gilera at 1m 39.666s - an average of 151.164 km/h. The pole position record in 250GP was set in 2009 by Alaro Bautista at 1m 38.270s, 153.312 km/h.

For the complete list of qualifying Moto2 riders for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/QP/Classification.pdf?v1_9526d4be

Read more...

NOYES HAS MOTO2 POLE

AMERICAN Kenny Noyes, who was a front-runner for a big part of the Moto2 race at Jerez, rode a storming qualifying session to take pole position for Sunday’s race, posting a best lap of 1m 39.234s to put his Promoharris machine team at the head of the grid.

That was 0.432 seconds under Marco Simoncelli's 250GP lap record for the circuit, set in 2008, but 0.964 of a second slower than Alvaro Bautista's 250GP class pole record time

Noyes is the first American to take pole in the intermediate GP class since John Kocinski at the Australian 250cc GP in 1990.

As was the case in the earlier practice session, there was little separating a large number of riders, with the top 27 all within a second of one another.

Second fastest, at just 0.031s behind Noyes, was Yuki Takahashi who will ensure that his Tech3 team start their home race from an encouraging spot. Alex Debón joins them on the front row, as will Frenchman Jules Cluzel.

Fonsi Nieto and Sergio Gadea maintained their consistency from practice to take the fifth and sixth fastest times respectively, whilst Toni Elías recovered from an early crash to record the seventh quickest lap. Simone Corsi will complete the second row.

The lap record for the now defunct 250cc Grand Prix class at Le Mans was set in 2008 by Marco Simoncelli on a rotary disc valve two-stroke V-twin Gilera at 1m 39.666s - an average of 151.164 km/h. The pole position record in 250GP was set in 2009 by Alaro Bautista at 1m 38.270s, 153.312 km/h.

For the complete list of qualifying Moto2 riders for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/QP/Classification.pdf?v1_9526d4be

Read more...

ROSSI UNDER 2005 LAP RECORD

VALENTINO Rossi's demand for a faster Yamaha seems to have been rewarded. In qualifying at Le Mans for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, the Italian rocketted through the speed trap at 290 km/h with the fastest bike on the track. Quite a turn around from a few weeks ago when the Yamaha was slower than almost everything out there.

In the process, Rossi turned a best lap of 1m 33.408s which was 0.27 seconds under the lap record he set on the 990cc Yamaha YZR-M1 on the final lap (lap 28) of the 2005 race.

Rossi's pole time for Sunday's race was also under his 800cc MotoGP class lap record of 1m 34.215s, set in 2008.

Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, winner of the Spanish GP at Jerez was just a fraction of a second slower on his best lap than Rossi, with a 1m 33.462s effort, beating out Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who rounded ou the front row of the grid with a 1m 33.573s effort.

It was the seventh time that Yamaha team-mates Rossi and Lorenzo have qualified 1-2 in a MotoGP event.

Heading the second row of the grid was Marlboro Ducati's 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner (1m 33.824s) with team-mate Nicky Hayden alongside him with a 1m 33.84s effort.

Local heart-throb Randy DePunet gave the French fans something to skite about, rounding out the front row on his satellite Honda with a 1m 34.074s effort.

The qualifying times were:

1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'33.408
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'33.462
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'33.573
4 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'33.824
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1'33.845
6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'34.074
7 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'34.204
8 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'34.304
9 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'34.306
10 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 1'34.514
11 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'34.523
12 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'34.920
13 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1'34.942
14 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1'34.979
15 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1'35.235
16 Mika Kalio Ducati FIN 1'35.810

Read more...

ROSSI UNDER 2005 LAP RECORD

VALENTINO Rossi's demand for a faster Yamaha seems to have been rewarded. In qualifying at Le Mans for the Monster Energy Grand Prix de France, the Italian rocketted through the speed trap at 290 km/h with the fastest bike on the track. Quite a turn around from a few weeks ago when the Yamaha was slower than almost everything out there.

In the process, Rossi turned a best lap of 1m 33.408s which was 0.27 seconds under the lap record he set on the 990cc Yamaha YZR-M1 on the final lap (lap 28) of the 2005 race.

Rossi's pole time for Sunday's race was also under his 800cc MotoGP class lap record of 1m 34.215s, set in 2008.

Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, winner of the Spanish GP at Jerez was just a fraction of a second slower on his best lap than Rossi, with a 1m 33.462s effort, beating out Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who rounded ou the front row of the grid with a 1m 33.573s effort.

It was the seventh time that Yamaha team-mates Rossi and Lorenzo have qualified 1-2 in a MotoGP event.

Heading the second row of the grid was Marlboro Ducati's 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner (1m 33.824s) with team-mate Nicky Hayden alongside him with a 1m 33.84s effort.

Local heart-throb Randy DePunet gave the French fans something to skite about, rounding out the front row on his satellite Honda with a 1m 34.074s effort.

The qualifying times were:

1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'33.408
2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 1'33.462
3 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 1'33.573
4 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 1'33.824
5 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 1'33.845
6 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 1'34.074
7 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 1'34.204
8 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 1'34.304
9 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 1'34.306
10 Aleix Espargaro Ducati ESP 1'34.514
11 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 1'34.523
12 Ben Spies Yamaha USA 1'34.920
13 Marco Simoncelli Honda ITA 1'34.942
14 Hiroshi Aoyama Honda JPN 1'34.979
15 Hector Barbera Ducati ESP 1'35.235
16 Mika Kalio Ducati FIN 1'35.810

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RUMOURS SWIRL AROUND MV AGUSTA

IT HAS been reported by Italian newspaper Il Sol 24 Ore that former Ducati CEO, Federico Minoli, has 34+ million euros in private equity financing behind him for an offer to Harley-Davidson for MV Agusta.

The 34 million euros quoted, if accepted, would mean Harley-Davidson would still lose out on its investment in the iconic Italian brand. The high-rollers at the American company paid $US109 million to buy MV with $US70 million of that going towards paying the company’s bad debt. While under Harley's control, MV launched new versions of its F4 and Brutale, and an F3 is rumored to be in the works.

MV Agusta earned 34 million euros in revenue during 2009 and reported a 20 million euro loss, before interest and taxes.

Minoli took over as head of Ducati in 1996 and in 2002 was promoted from CEO to President of the  company. He moved from Boston back to Italy in 1996 to take up his appointment at the Bologna manufacturer after venture capital company Texas Pacific Group acquired it from the Castiglioni family. Minoli was born in Gallarate, the original home of MV Agusta and his mother came from Verghera, which was where Count Agusta was based. (MV stands for Moto Verghera).

In addition to the rumours about Minoli heading a buy-out of MV, there have also been suggestions that Paulo Berlusconi (brother of the Italian Prime Minister) was also a potential suitor.

But proving there is always an Italian soap opera surrounding Italian motorcycle manufacturers, there are also rumours that Claudio Castiglioni may be a bidder, with backing from the Italian San Paolo bank.

It was Castiglioni's company that aquired Ducati from the Italian government in 1985 and then bought Moto Morini, and in 1988 aquired the rights to the MV Agusta name.

Read more...

RUMOURS SWIRL AROUND MV AGUSTA

IT HAS been reported by Italian newspaper Il Sol 24 Ore that former Ducati CEO, Federico Minoli, has 34+ million euros in private equity financing behind him for an offer to Harley-Davidson for MV Agusta.

The 34 million euros quoted, if accepted, would mean Harley-Davidson would still lose out on its investment in the iconic Italian brand. The high-rollers at the American company paid $US109 million to buy MV with $US70 million of that going towards paying the company’s bad debt. While under Harley's control, MV launched new versions of its F4 and Brutale, and an F3 is rumored to be in the works.

MV Agusta earned 34 million euros in revenue during 2009 and reported a 20 million euro loss, before interest and taxes.

Minoli took over as head of Ducati in 1996 and in 2002 was promoted from CEO to President of the  company. He moved from Boston back to Italy in 1996 to take up his appointment at the Bologna manufacturer after venture capital company Texas Pacific Group acquired it from the Castiglioni family. Minoli was born in Gallarate, the original home of MV Agusta and his mother came from Verghera, which was where Count Agusta was based. (MV stands for Moto Verghera).

In addition to the rumours about Minoli heading a buy-out of MV, there have also been suggestions that Paulo Berlusconi (brother of the Italian Prime Minister) was also a potential suitor.

But proving there is always an Italian soap opera surrounding Italian motorcycle manufacturers, there are also rumours that Claudio Castiglioni may be a bidder, with backing from the Italian San Paolo bank.

It was Castiglioni's company that aquired Ducati from the Italian government in 1985 and then bought Moto Morini, and in 1988 aquired the rights to the MV Agusta name.

Read more...