MotoGP Official Test for premier class riders- Day 1

Rain in Spain hits MotoGP morning again

Saturday, 28 March 2009 (from: motogp.com)

Wet track greets opening day of MotoGP Official Test for premier class riders.

The first day of MotoGP testing at Jerez opened with less-than-ideal conditions for the premier class riders, with heavy early rainfall leaving the track wet. The skies had held out for the previous three days of 125cc/250cc action at the Spanish circuit.

Two days of 800cc riding conclude the visit to Jerez, commencing at 10am on Saturday and ending on Sunday afternoon, and present a final opportunity for teams and riders to fine-tune their bikes before the season-opening race in Qatar on April 12th. Sunday also sees the first head-to-head clash of the year, the annual BMW M Award, from 2.05pm.

Teams will also be unveiling their new liveries and garages throughout Saturday, with pictures available soon on motogp.com

Lorenzo fastest ahead of Sunday’s live BMW M Award session

Saturday, 28 March 2009 (from: motogp.com)

Preparing well for Sunday’s BMW M Award session – which will be broadcast live on motogp.com – Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo was the fastest rider on the first day of the Official MotoGP Test at Jerez.z.

Saturday’s action concluded in southern Spain with a Spaniard at the top of the timesheet, Jorge Lorenzo leading the way with a 1’39.791s hot lap to put him 0.070s ahead of his team-mate Valentino Rossi, who was the second fastest participant in the session.

At a circuit where he started in pole position in just his second MotoGP race last year, Lorenzo registered his best time on the 97th turn of a marathon 99 lap workout, setting himself up nicely for Sunday’s BMW M Award session, in which he is sure to face stiff competition from Rossi and Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner.

Behind the factory Yamaha pair at the top of the timesheets, Stoner was third fastest on Saturday, the Australian lapping within 0.115s of Lorenzo. Stoner’s compatriot Chris Vermeulen was fourth, the Rizla Suzuki man continuing his good preseason form with a best effort 0.781s down on Lorenzo’s pace.

The experienced pair of Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) ended up fifth and sixth respectively, both within a second of topping the timesheet.

Completing the top ten were Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda), Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro) and Toni Elias (San Carlo Honda Gresini). De Angelis suffered a crash in the afternoon, despite conditions improving as the day proceeded after a wet start, but he was unhurt.

James Toseland was eleventh fastest, the Englishman looking much more comfortable on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 M1 machine after a nightmare preseason so far.

Hayate Racing’s Marco Melandri will be pleased to have lapped twelfth fastest, even though he was 1.369s down on Lorenzo’s best time. The Italian was not lapping in podium pace but will still be satisfied to have discovered a relatively competitive rhythm.

Meanwhile, although returning veteran Sete Gibernau was 16th overall and nearly two seconds off the pace, he was positive at the end of the day having managed to complete 39 laps despite his ongoing shoulder problem.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Xaus Ruben #111

Rubén Xaus #111

Personal opinion: rids on a new bike in the series, it is obvious there is still a lot of work still needed to be done on it for it to be fully competitive, a specially with Spies in Haga in the front, but he did improve his results from round 1 in Australia in the race in Qatar, so I wish him luck in the rest of the season and hope he will be able to improve even more in the races to come.

Rubén Xaus Vs Norino Brignola Monza 2006

from: http://www.ducati.com/xaus/story1.jhtml

Ruben was born in Barcelona on the 18th February 1978.
His father, who had competed in amateur motorcycle “mountain” races, was probably Ruben’s biggest influence and had Ruben on a 25cc Montesa by the time he was 5 years old! From that day he taught Ruben how to ride and encouraged him to perfect his riding by practicing endlessly on dirt bikes. At the age of 8 he progressed to a KX60 and then by 11 a KX80.

At the age of 14 he was ready for a bigger dirt bike but his father had a different idea: “Let's go road racing.” With his father’s mechanical knowledge and the help of friends, Ruben started his road racing career at 14 years old in the 125 Championship of Catalonia. Hungry for racing experience, he continued into 1993, taking part in the Solo Moto 125 Criterium and winning the 80cc Supermotard Championship of Catalonia. Ruben was ready for big bike action.

In 1994, his first year competing on a large-capacity 4-stroke bike and at high-level competition, he entered the intensely competitive Spanish Open Ducados Supersport Championship and finished a very creditable 17th. Suddenly, he was making a name for himself in Spanish motorcycle sport and in 1995 he finished 3rd in the Ducados Supersport Championship, 12th in the FIM Thunderbike Trophy and had 4 races in the 250 Grand Prix with the Fortuna Pons Team aboard an NSR 250.

Ruben improved on his Thunderbike Trophy result by finishing 6th in the series in ’96 before underlining his talent in the 600cc class with a final placing of 12th in the ’97 World Supersport series. It was also in this year that he had his first major win whilst competing in the 35th Montjuic 24 Hour Race at his home circuit of Catalunya.

Keen to progress into Superbike, Ruben decided to compete in the German Pro-Superbike Championship in 1998 on the Team Alpha Technik Suzuki GSXR 750. The experience he gained by finishing 6th in this highly competitive championship convinced him that he was going in the right direction. Superbike was definitely what he wanted but he wanted it at world level with a Factory Team. The only way to get to there was to be by proving himself in World Supersport first.

In '99 he moved into the World Supersport Championship with the Dee Cee Jeans Team and certainly proved his potential with a fine 5th in the series enjoying, also, his first win at world level at the Misano circuit. His efforts were recognized and rewarded with a place in the Factory Ducati Infostrada Team for the 2000 World Supersport Championship. Ruben would now have new pressures to deal with: the enviable pressure of being a "Factory Rider" with a major manufacturer. If he was under pressure, he didn't let it show! He soon adapted to the Ducati 748 and finished 7th in the world as well as chalking up his 2nd win at this level in a fantastic race at the Assen circuit in Holland. Once again recognised for his "Foggy"-like focus, determination, and a race maturity beyond his years, his initial goal was about to be achieved: to compete in the World Superbike Championship as a "Factory Rider".

In 2001, Ruben lined up against the world's best aboard the Team Ducati Infostrada 996R and picked up where he left off in World Supersport in 2000 - building on his experiences and gradually improving his standings. Through the middle of the year, Ruben had mostly top 10 finishes...and a handful of crashes. The signs were there, however: Ruben was testing his limits and when he didn't end up on the ground, he was being rewarded with solid results.

The turnaround came in race 1 at Oschersleben. Ruben achieved his first finish on the podium as a World Superbike rider by finishing second to world champion, Colin Edwards. In race 2 of the same day, he reversed that result to become the first-ever Spanish rider to score a victory in World Superbike. From that race forward, he finished every race of the remaining season on the podium. Everything had come together: the crew, the bike, the tyres, and most importantly: Ruben's confidence and skill.
Nobody in World Superbike wanted the 2002 season to start more than Ruben did... with the exception, maybe, of all his fans!

In 2002, Ruben continued with Team Ducati Infostrada aboard the 998F02. In the second race of the season at Phillip Island, Ruben podiumed twice; it was a great start in which he'd find himself stepping up to the podium an incredible 10 times during the season. Not even the race retirements scattered throughout the season could reduce his confidence in himself or his machine. Except for the retirements, Ruben always finished inside the top 10.

One of the most memorable races in SBK history was also the finale for 2002, a race in which Troy Bayliss and Colin Edwards battled for the number 1 plate. Ruben ran with the two champions and did his best to help his teammate, but was ultimately unable to affect the outcome. Still, his fighting spirit shone through as he finished third in both hotly contested races.

2003 was to be Ruben's third full year as a World Superbike rider but this time it would be on a brand new model, the Ducati 999. The beautiful new Team Ducati Fila machine was to serve him well as he continued to be an official factory rider.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Troy Corser #11

Troy Corser #11

Personal opinion: Had a very impressive career so far, took a risk in moving to BMW’s on the first year they are racing in BMWS, had a respectable start to the year, lets hope he will improve.

Troy Corser vs Noriyuki Haga on board!

20 Years of SBK - Troy Corser

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Troy Corser
Nationality	Australian
Date of birth	November 27, 1971 (1971-11-27) (age 37)
Place of birth	Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Website	troycorser.com
SBK Record
Current team	Team Alpha BMW
Bike number	11
World Championships	2. 1996, 2005
Race starts	283
Race Wins	33
Podium finishes	118
Pole positions	41
Fastest laps	42
2008 Championship position	3rd (72pts)

Troy Gordon Corser (born 27 November 1971 in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia) is a professional motorcycle road racer, the 1996 and 2005 Superbike world champion.

Having previously won the Australian and AMA Superbike Championship titles, and shone in a handful of wildcard rides in the Superbike World Championship (taking five podiums), he went to the series fulltime in 1995. He was classified 11th in WSBK for 1994, hence his riding #11, which he used for many years. Pole for the first round showed his potential, although he only took one podium until his win at round 5 at the Salzburgring (partly due to collisions with Anthony Gobert and Piergorgio Bontempi at Monza). A strong remainder of the season (including a win at Laguna Seca, one of the few tracks on the schedule that he knew) saw him beat Aaron Slight to 2nd overall.

He won this title in 1996, but 1997 was an unsuccessful and fragmented year in the 500cc World Championship. Back in WSBK for 1998, he came close to retaking the title, helped by a double win at Laguna, the second race by a mere 0.005sec. He lead the standings before the final round, took pole, but crashing and breaking ribs in a warm-up crash. For 1999 he was teamed with Carl Fogarty on Davide Tardozzi's team, the title going to Foggy with Corser again third. In 2000 and 2001 he was on a factory Aprilia. He took their first WSBK wins in 2001, and opened 2001 with a double victory in South Africa, but a double DNF at Monza scuppered his hopes of a championship challenge.

In 2002 he joined Carl Fogarty's Foggy Petronas team, and spent the year developing the bike before racing it in 2003 and 2004. He finished 9th in the 2004 championship, with a best result of 3rd, but chose to leave the team after this.

In 2005 he raced for the Alstare Suzuki Team on the GSX-R1000 which enabled him to regain his position as Superbike World Champion, winning the championship after a run of early-season victories - later in the season Chris Vermeulen and Noriyuki Haga were usually the men to beat.

Troy won two races early in 2006, however a crash at Phillip Island, and a DNF at Silverstone enabled compatriot Troy Bayliss to gain the upper hand in the early stages of the title chase. A double non-finish at Assen with 4 rounds to go left him 5th in the championship, behind Bayliss, James Toseland, Noriyuki Haga and Andrew Pitt. He ultimately overhauled Pitt to finish 4th, through a double podium at the final round. For 2007 he left Suzuki to join Yamaha, however he was outpaced by team-mate Noriyuki Haga and finished 5th overall, with eight podiums but no wins. He remains with the team for 2008.

Troy has been on pole at Philip Island and Valencia four times, equalling a championship record for a single track. Of the eight cases of a rider having 10 or more podium finishes at a particular circuit, Troy has four - 13 at Misano, 11 each at Laguna Seca and Philip Island, and 10 at Donington Park.
For the 2009 WSBK season Corser is to ride for BMW alongside Ruben Xaus on BMW's new superbik

This is BMW's first year in WSBK, had a respactble start to the season,
In Australia finished 8th on the first race and 17th on the second race.
in Qatar finished 9th twice,