Sachsenring - Germany- before the race

Racing numbers for Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

Thursday, 16 July 2009

Numbers and statistics for the latest round of the MotoGP World Championship.

159 – At Sachsenring, Valentino Rossi is scheduled to make his 159th successive premier-class GP start without missing a race. This will take the record for successive premier-class starts from Alex Barros, who started 158 successive races.

61 – With his tenth place finish at Laguna Seca, Marco Melandri has scored 61 points from the first eight races of the year. This is four more than top Kawasaki rider of last year John Hopkins scored throughout the complete 2008 season.

18 – Dani Pedrosa’s win at Laguna Seca ended an 18 race sequence without a win for Honda in MotoGP, since Pedrosa won in Catalonia last year. This is the longest sequence of races in the premier-class without a Honda win since they re-entered Grand Prix racing in 1982.

16 – Valentino Rossi has been on the podium sixteen times in the seventeen races since finishing second in Germany last year. The only occasion he has not finished on the podium during this period was when he crashed at Le Mans and re-started to finish 16th.

15 – Spanish riders have started from pole on fifteen occasions across the three classes in 2009. None of these riders have gone on to win the race after starting from pole.

11 – Race day in Germany will be the 11th anniversary to the day of the very first Grand Prix event to be held at the newly built Sachsenring circuit in 1998.

3 – Sachsenring is one of just three current circuits where Rossi has not started from pole in the premier-class; the others are Laguna Seca and Misano.

3 – There are only three riders in the 250cc class who have scored points at all seven races held so far in 2009; Hiroshi Aoyama, Hector Barbera and Raffaele de Rosa.

And now lets hear wht the boys have to say:

World Champion and standings leader Valentino Rossi was the first man to speak in Thursday’s press conference at Sachsenring, as he, Dani Pedrosa, Chris Vermeulen, Nicky Hayden and Mika Kallio commented on their 2009 experiences to date and offered their views on riding at the hilly German venue.

On his Sachsenring record Rossi stated, “It is always a difficult track for me personally but I have had some good victories here in the past, one in the 250cc class, one in MotoGP in 2002 and two in a row with Yamaha more recently. In 2007 I made a mistake in the race and lost a lot of important points in the championship, but last year was good in difficult conditions. It was very cold and there was a lot of rain but arriving in second position was an important result.”

Moving on to explain his approach the ninth GP weekend of the year, which he goes into with a nine point championship lead, Fiat Yamaha rider Rossi added, “This year we arrive here with a good pace and having got some good results. We also have a clear idea on our setting so we hope to start well from Friday.”

Meanwhile, Repsol Honda’s ‘comeback kid’ Pedrosa, who finally returned to full form with victory last time out at Laguna Seca less than two weeks ago, referenced his U.S. win saying, “It was a good result for me and for all our team, so we went out afterwards for dinner to celebrate and it was nice.”

Currently fourth in the classification, Pedrosa turned his focus to Sachsenring, where he dramatically crashed out last year, but normally goes well, adding, “I’ve also had some good times here but last year especially was not the greatest moment! It is a track where things are tight, the lap times are very close between the riders, so you have to work very hard to get on the front row.”

Rizla Suzuki representative Vermeulen, who lies eighth in the championship and was on the podium in 2008’s wet race in Germany despite starting 14th on the grid, stated, “Like Valentino said last season it was a very tough in the race, with conditions so different to practice and qualifying. We had struggled to get the most out of one lap on the tyre but I was very happy to be back on the podium in the race. It looks like the weather could be unstable again this weekend so it will be important to be fast in all conditions.”

Ducati’s fast-improving former World Champion Hayden arrives at round nine having boosted his confidence in his home race at Laguna. The American remarked, “In my last four races I’ve gone twelfth, tenth, eighth and fifth, so we know we are going in the right way. The next step, to put myself in with the front group, is the hardest one, but there is a lot of racing to go this year. We just have to keep our heads down and see what happens.”

Stoner diagnosed with mild anaemia

By Pablo Elizalde from autosport.com

Tuesday, July 14th 2009, 13:28 GMT

Casey Stoner has been diagnosed with a slight gastritis and mild anaemia after the Australian underwent further tests in the United States last week.

Stoner has been affected by the illness since the Catalunya Grand Prix and doctors were yet to discover the reasons for his slump during the races.

After staying in the United States following the Laguna Seca race, the former world champion underwent further tests and was finally given a verdict.

The Australian says he will now follow the doctors' indications to try and make a full recovery.

Ducati said doctors are sure that with the right treatment Stoner will be back to full fitness in a matter of weeks.

"I have been in USA until Saturday to do all the tests," Stoner said. "First of all I'd like to thanks all the doctors involved in this, Dr. Ting and Dr. Tuan in the Fremont Surgery Center, Dr. Macchiagodena, Dr. Catani, Dr. Ceccarelli and of course my physiotherapist Freddy.

"Hopefully step by step I will feel better with their indications. I still don't feel like I am 100 per cent but the biggest problem now is the ribs that are very painful after the crash in the USA GP qualifying.

"It will be probably another hard weekend, but as always, we will do our best to stay as much as possible close to the lead of the championship".

Team boss Livio Suppo added: "This is a delicate time for Casey but we know he is made of stern stuff. He will continue to fight like a lion, as he has done in the past few races, even though the crash at Laguna left its mark on him and that certainly won't help.

"Nicky again rides at a circuit where he has always gone well at in the past and I'm sure he will be able to confirm that the improvement made at Laguna is only the start!"

Nicky Hayden: "I'm Starting To Enjoy Riding The Ducati"

Submitted by David Emmett on Thu, 2009-07-16 19:27.

at motogpmatters.com

At the pre-race press conference for the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, Nicky Hayden spoke about the progress he'd been making on the Ducati, after a difficult start to the season. Speaking to a packed press room, under questioning from MotoGP.com's official commentator Nick Harris, the American revealed how the hard work put in by him and the team were starting to pay off. Below is a transcript of part of Hayden's interview:

Your 5th place at Laguna must have given you a great boost.

Last couple of races we've been 10th, 8th, 5th, we've made a lot of progress. That makes me happy that we're moving in the right direction, and we've found a way with the team. I'm enjoying riding the bike more. It's pretty good, and we need to keep going. But now I know that to stick my nose in the next group is when it's going to get real hard. That's the big step, that final group up front. We're going in the right way, just keep our head down and there's a lot of racing left to go.

What made the difference or did it just start to click? You've changed personnel, you've all been working very hard to make it work?

It was a lot of little things. In the beginning everything was wrong; I didn't feel any confidence in the bike, and a lot of bad luck, and it was just a disaster really. But slowly we've just started eliminating problems and working through it. Sure we've had some setbacks along the way and it hasn't just come over night - not that anything at this level ever does. It hasn't been just one thing that fell in place. We're still a long way off where we want to be and there's still a lot of work left to do. But certainly a lot of people have worked hard, and the team is starting to understand me better and the communication has certainly improved since the beginning of the season so now we're able to make a lot more progress through the weekend.

And there's a lot of work with Bologna and from the test team and they spend a lot of time testing. I spend a lot of time in Bologna with Filippo talking about things. We'll see if we can't keep it up because now I'm enjoying it. The bike is good, but that's the thing, sometimes it's hard to get it out of the bike, though when the bike is right it has huge potential but when it's off a bit it can often be a nightmare.

Injured Lorenzo says podium realistic

By Matt Beer at autosport.com

Monday, July 13th 2009, 13:44 GMT

Jorge Lorenzo thinks a podium should still be possible at the Sachsenring this weekend even though he admits he will not be back to full fitness following his Laguna Seca accident.

The Yamaha rider managed to take third in America despite damaging his shoulder and breaking bones in his foot when he had a violent high-side shortly after taking pole position in qualifying.

He said his condition had improved since then, but was not yet perfect.

"Following my injuries in Laguna Seca, I am feeling a lot better after a week of rest but I won't be at 100 per cent this weekend," Lorenzo warned.

"I have some pain in my foot when walking and also in my shoulder joint, so the first thing I will do when I get to Sachsenring is go to the Clinica Mobile."

He expects this race to be a damage limitation exercise.

"My aim as ever this weekend is to be on the podium and to try to get as many points as possible compared to the rivals that are in front of me," he said.

His team manager Daniele Romagnoli is confident that Lorenzo can still take home plenty of points despite his injuries, having shrugged the discomfort off very effectively as he battled team-mate Valentino Rossi for second at Laguna.

"We're happy to report that Jorge's condition is a lot better after a week of rest," Romagnoli said. "He won't be in perfect condition but he will be a lot stronger and therefore able to push harder on the bike this weekend than he could in Laguna.

"In America Jorge showed once again that he has a great determination to achieve his potential whatever condition he is in and so we hope that in Germany we can be in good shape once again, be at the front and fight for the podium. We need to try to recover some points as we look to the summer break."

Lorenzo currently holds second in the world championship, nine points behind Rossi, and seven ahead of Casey Stoner.

Gresini team bring progress back to Europe

Toni Elias

“It is important that we have started to find the right way forward at this stage of the season because there is still a long way to go and perhaps if we had taken any longer it would be too late. We have had eight tough races but we're starting to find the limits of this bike and we still have nine races left in which to push it to the maximum”, he said. “To be honest I don't like Sachsenring much but looking back I have raced there injured on three occasions so maybe that's why I don't have good memories or good results to reflect on! Last year could have been much better but it rained so hopefully this is the year my fortunes change in Germany. I stayed on in America for an extra day to go sightseeing in San Francisco, which was great fun, but after that I was straight home to train and get ready for another important race.”moto-live.com

Alex De Angelis'

"I have had so many good results at Sachsenring in the past, just the kind of results we could do with right now! Unfortunately we made the wrong choice with the setting for the race at Laguna but there were a lot of positives about the weekend as a whole and we are looking to bring those to the fore in Germany”, he said. “The German Grand Prix is definitely one of my favourites. I have a lot of affection for the Sachsenring circuit because I took my first pole there and I was on the podium every year from 2002 to 2007. The track is very technical, varied and without any long straights so it is important to have a good chassis set-up, more than a powerful engine. We're going through a difficult phase right now but we won't give up."moto-live.com

Kallio: Not as bad as it looks!

Mika Kallio will return to MotoGP action in this weekend's German Grand Prix after a nasty finger injury forced him to miss the recent Laguna Seca round.

The MotoGP rookie fell from his Pramac Ducati just a few corners short of claiming a career best sixth at Assen, then had part of his left ring finger ground away when his hand became trapped under the bike.

“It looks quite bad, but the pain is ok now,” said Kallio on Thursday in Germany. “I think it's not so bad for riding, but if I feel too much pain we just need to get an injection and that's it. Of course it would be much nicer to ride without this, but this is how it is.

"I would say I am at 90% of my usual physical condition," he added. "I will have to wear a special glove made by Alpinestar with much more space for my left ring finger due to the big bandage I have on it. For sure in the next few weeks I will not be able to get married as the ring would never fit!"

Kallio scored two eighth places in his first two MotoGP rides, but has claimed points in only two of the six races since (including his American absence).

“It's really tough in MotoGP,” said the Finn. “The start of the season was really good but then we get some little problems and struggled with some settings, so the feeling with the bike was not what exactly what I wanted. That it why the results were a little bit down.

“But now I think we are coming back. Like we saw in Assen, when everything was quite good. My speed and lap times were constant and good during the race.

“For sure it will be a tough weekend here," he continued. "Qualifying is really important here and we'll see what happens, because my finger is not so good. But wherever we qualify, we will push in the race.”

"It is so nice to have Mika back with us," stated Pramac Racing technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini. "We really missed him in America, but I am still convinced that we took the right decision by leaving him at home for one weekend to recover in the best way possible and not ruin the rest of the season.

"From the beginning of the season Mika has been telling me that this is one of his favorite tracks, if not the favorite, this is why we expect a lot here. For sure it will not be easy due to the injury, but we believe that Mika will almost be in the best physical condition possible to compete at the maximum level." crash.net

And the real sad news this week, another team runs into financial difficulties and another rider loses his sit.
So good bye to Gibernau- hopped to see more of you this year. better luck somewhere else

Gibernau's team quits MotoGP grid

http://news.bbc.co.uk

German MotoGP, Sachsenring
Date: 18-19 July
Saturday 18 July: Qualifying: 1150-1500, BBC Red Button/online Sunday 19 July: 125cc & 250cc races 0950-1205, BBC Red Button/online Race live: 1230-1400, BBC Two/online ; MotoGP Extra, 1400-1430, BBC Red Button/online

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Gibernau's career has been blighted by a string of injury problems

Sete Gibernau's future in MotoGP is in doubt after his Ducati satellite team Grupo Francisco Hernando withdrew from the championship for financial reasons.

The Spaniard returned to the series this season after two years away and competed in six races, missing two others because of a broken collarbone.

"I am the most surprised at this decision," said Gibernau.

"It's a shame that just as we're getting close to picking up the results we were after we have had to pull out."

The former world championship runner-up has yet to make a statement over whether he plans to continue riding.

He retired for the first time in 2006 after a crash at the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Gibernau's most recent race of his comeback also ended in disappointment, crashing out of the United States Grand Prix at Laguna Seca.

MotoGP- Laguna Seca - FP1

Video: the Yamaha boys (Rossi, Lorenzo, Edwards and Toseland) star in hilarious 'The Office’ spoof

this is so funny- you have to see it again and again

Laguna action gets underway with Rossi leading the way

Friday, 03 July 2009

The hour-long first MotoGP free practice session at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix concluded with Valentino Rossi in front of his World Championship rivals on Friday.

In perfect conditions at the Laguna Seca circuit on Friday afternoon, with blue skies, Californian sunshine and temperatures of 24°C, the MotoGP riders got the eighth race weekend of the year underway – the World Champion Valentino Rossi putting down the fastest time late in FP1.

The current MotoGP ‘big three’ were on top again as the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix commenced, Rossi followed on the timesheet by his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner.

Rossi’s 1’21.981s lap around the shortest track on the MotoGP calendar, on the last of his 32 laps, was enough to put him 0.112s ahead of the young pretender to his crown Lorenzo.

A first lap crasher in the 2008 race on his Laguna Seca debut, Lorenzo will aim to put the memories of last year’s contest behind him and already looks comfortable around the picturesque American track.

Stoner was just 0.189s down on Rossi’s pace himself as he tested his condition following the severe exhaustion he has experienced in recent weeks. The 2007 Laguna race-winning Australian is out for revenge over Rossi this weekend following their epic 2008 battle which Rossi won in such style.

In fourth place was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The Spanish rider is still fighting back to 100% fitness this weekend, although he is already in far better shape than last year when he went home after the Friday practices due to injuries he sustained at Sachsenring.

There was a good start to the weekend for San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elías who immediately benefitted from the introduction of the new chassis on the Honda RC212V to lap fifth quickest.

Italian pair Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) were sixth and seventh, respectively 0.899s and 1.159s down on the pace.

Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed at the beginning of the session but soon got back out on track to complete 27 laps in total and still managed to go round eighth fastest.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) rounded out the top ten, whilst Edwards’ compatriot Nicky Hayden made a sluggish start to his American Ducati debut in 14th place.

Rossi satisfied but with improvements still to make

Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com

World Champion Valentino Rossi spoke to motogp.com on Friday after starting the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix in good form.

In search of GP victory 101 this weekend in California the sensational winner of last year’s Laguna Seca race Valentino Rossi was the fastest man at the track on Friday as the round eight action got started.

Topping the FP1 timesheet ahead of his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner by 0.112s and 0.189s respectively, with a 1’21.981 lap, Rossi knows he needs to stay on the pace and to improve his setting on Saturday in order to keep in front of his young rivals.

“It was a good first practice because I’m in first place and also because we worked well on the bike,” said the iconic Italian rider. “We checked some interesting things, we tried to improve the feeling with the bike and we gathered important data in order to improve on Saturday.”

The 30 year-old continued, “Already the lap time is not too bad. We are very close together again with Stoner and Lorenzo but it looks like we are competitive and our Yamaha is good here at this track.”

Asked about the specifics as to where he will focus on Saturday, Rossi replied, “We have to improve the setting still, because on certain corners it is possible to make it better. We are also working a lot on the electronics so that we control the ‘wheelies’ because on this track there are lots of bumps and jumps, so tomorrow we will continue to work in this way.”

Marathon man Lorenzo relearning Laguna Seca

Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com

Extended sighting mission for Fiat Yamaha rider in opening Laguna Seca session

38 laps –the fastest of which a 1’22.093- was all it took for Fiat Yamaha Jorge Lorenzo to make up for any lack of track time at Laguna Seca. The current second-placed rider in the MotoGP World Champion crashed out of his U.S. debut last year before even crossing the start/finish line once, although on Friday in 2009 he quickly reacquainted himself with the technical circuit.

“I was very fast today and I feel good here at this track in the California sunshine! I know that this is a very complicated circuit to get used to and that you have to make a lot of laps to learn it, but I did have some time on it last year and I feel great here now,” said the Spaniard, once again edged out at the last moment by teammate Valentino Rossi in the Friday run by just a tenth of a second.

“Today I stopped after a few laps and changed the tyre to the harder Bridgestone one and then I felt even better; I was having a lot of fun riding the bike and I was able to do more or less race distance with consistent lap times. We will work on further improving our setting tomorrow and I hope that I can continue in the same way again.”

Lorenzo is riding this weekend without Team Manager Daniele Romagnoli accompanying him on his side of the garage, the Italian attending to a family matter back in Europe.

Stoner expecting Assen/Barcelona-like fatigue at Laguna

Friday, 03 July 2009 motogp.com

Third in Friday’s free practice session, Casey Stoner was frank about his continued lack of fitness when talking after the run-out.

2007 racewinner Casey Stoner opened up this year’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix weekend with the third fastest time of the first free practice session, with a 1’22.170 lap of the Laguna Seca circuit belying his still-fragile physical state. The Australian has been battling a mystery virus over the past pair of races and, unfortunately for the Ducati man, is predicting just as hard a fight this Sunday.

“The bike’s working well, which is once again a disappointment for me because I don’t think that we can really keep up for the race this weekend,” a downbeat Stoner acknowledged on Friday afternoon.

“Everything’s been working well these past three races, and I feel like we should have been fighting at the front -even if we finished in the same positions. It looks like it’s going to be a similar weekend to the last two, but at least this time we are kind of expecting it, whereas at Assen I thought that all my problems were over.”

Stoner was experiencing fatigue as early as the midway point of the session, causing him to make running modifications to his riding style in order to conserve his energy. In order to maintain his endurance for the session, the former MotoGP World Champion is having to make sacrifices to his lap strategy.

“Braking is one of the hardest points for me at the moment. I’m taking the corners however I can at the moment, which is what you do when you get fatigued. My braking points are getting way too early though, so it all just combines to give a slower lap time,” he lamented, before giving credit to those who he believes have been the driving force behind his recent podium damage limitation.

“For me it’s been the bike these past two races. If it wasn’t working so well I wouldn’t have been on the podium. The bike can still do quick lap times even when I’m backing off.”

epsol Honda riders fourth and sixth

In Laguna FP1 moto-live.com

04/07/09 11:09

Dani Pedrosa The first Free Practice session for the US Grand Prix took place at Laguna Seca today with Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso finishing the one-hour period in fourth and sixth places. Under sunny skies at the highly-technical Californian circuit, the factory Honda pair began the intricate process of tailoring their RC212V machines to the unique challenges of Laguna's flowing corners and relentlessly undulating layout. Pedrosa made continuous steady progress today as he and his crew continued to familiarise themselves with the improved feeling from the RC212V's modified chassis. Though he missed last year's race here due to injury, the 23-year-old Spaniard looked comfortable and relaxed on track today and steadily climbed the timesheets, setting his fastest time on the last of the 31 laps he completed this afternoon. With a gap of 0.656s to today's fastest time, set by Valentino Rossi, and with a further i ncrease in pace expected in tomorrow's practice and qualifying sessions, Pedrosa looks on course for a competitive weekend. “I'm quite happy with how this session went on my return to Laguna Seca after missing most of last year's race meeting. I took my time this afternoon, getting familiar with the layout again before working up to full pace later in the session”, he said. “We did a lot of laps and at the end of the session my hip was a little bit painful, but it wasn't too bad and I was able to ride the bike as normal. That's important here because this is a circuit where the machine wheelies and shakes quite a lot so you need to be able to control it. We have to work a little more to get the correct gearing and to improve the set-up so I think tomorrow morning's session will be very important to prepare for qualifying. I'm feeling confident for tomorrow.” Dovizioso took a more direct approach to today session than his Repsol Honda team-mate, almost instantly appearing towards the top of the timesheets and holding first place early in the hour.It's only the second time Dovizioso has ridden at the Laguna circuit - after his impressive debut in last year's race when he finished fourth - but once again he showed his immediate grasp of the peculiar demands of the track, ending the session in a competitive sixth place and just 0.243s behind Pedrosa. The Italian will work with his crew to improve the feeling from the front of his RC212V, and when that's achieved Dovizioso too is destined for a strong showing in qualifying tomorrow. “The lap times came easily today and I'm quite happy with the pace we were able to achieve. We did three runs with the soft Bridgestone tyres and then the last run with the hard tyre option and the results were promising”, he said. “It took a while for the hard tyres to warm up though, so in the end I couldn't push as hard as I wanted to improve my lap time. Because of that I'm confident we have room to go quicker tomorrow. Despite the fact that it was quite easy to get the rhythm, I'm not totally happy with my feeling from the front of the bike in the middle of the turn so we will need to work on that and try a few options tomorrow. I like the challenge of this track and the atmosphere here, so I'm looking forward to getting back out there in the morning.” Melandri relieved to be on the pace By Matt Beer from autosport.com Saturday, July 4th 2009, 05:22 GMT Marco Melandri believes Hayate Kawasaki is back on the pace at Laguna Seca after a run of poor events. The Italian took seventh place in Friday practice and hopes to maintain that form in qualifying. "It's been a good day for me," Melandri told the official MotoGP website. "I really like this track and it looks like the bike is working quite well, so we've had a good start to the weekend. "Now we've got to keep working hard and see what's going on for the race, because 32 laps on this track is going to be very, very tough." After a very promising start to the season for the new team formed in the wake of Kawasaki's departure, Hayate and Melandri's fortunes have declined in recent weeks. Melandri took three straight top six finishes, including an incredible podium at Le Mans, but for the past three races he has been unable to get into the top ten, apart from some brief heroics during the wet part of the Italian Grand Prix. Given those frustrations, he said he was relieved to only have minor issues to attend to after practice at Laguna Seca. "We have to improve the turning a little bit, especially when the tyre drops off a little bit. Also rear grip can be not so bad for us," he said. "Just normal things, so I'm quite happy because compared to the last three races, where we've been struggling a lot, this is a good step forward for us." Tech3 riders confident of big improvements In Laguna Seca moto-live.com 04/07/09 10:48 Colin Edwards Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team duo Colin Edwards and James Toseland are confident they can make big improvements in Laguna Seca after an encouraging start to the American Grand Prix this afternoon. Home favourite Edwards and British rider Toseland were both challenging for the top five in the early stages of a session run in gloriously sunny California conditions. Brimming with confidence after equalling his best result of the season with fourth place in Assen just six days ago, Edwards eventually finished ninth with a best time of 1.23.285. Looking to score his 100th point-scoring Grand Prix finish in Sunday's 32-lap clash, Edwards is confident he can drastically improve his pace having encountered some front and rear suspension issues today. The 35-year-old though was only 0.6s away from fourth place. “It wasn't the great start to my home race I was looking for and the bike feels just way too stiff. The main problem is in the hard braking because I've no feeling with the bike bouncing around on me. There's just not enough movement from the suspension”, he explained. “When you've got the handlebars moving and up and down and the seat moving up and down it's obvious the suspension is not absorbing the bumps enough. There are some huge bumps out there and today it felt a bit like motocross. So we'll soften it up for tomorrow and make the suspension react faster and let it move more freely rather than having a jerky and bouncing sensation. It feels like there's a second waiting right in front of me but I'm a bit handcuffed at the moment. Once we fix these issues, and I know we will because my guys at Tech 3 are awesome, I'm not going to have to push and hang it out to find the time. I know it will come immediately as soon as we get the bike working. I'm confident we can find what we need and put on a good show for the American fans and for Monster's home race.” Boosted by his season best sixth place in Assen last weekend, Toseland finished in 13th place with a best time of 1.23.690s, though he was less than a second off sixth in another close session. With Fiat Yamaha Team Director Masahiko Nakajima again helping the 28-year-old this weekend, Toseland will work hard with his team tonight to find a setting to improve rear grip ahead of title sponsor Monster's all-important home race on Sunday. “The position isn't that great but I feel like it was a pretty decent session. We've got a bit of work to do but there is no need to panic. We're just missing a bit on the set-up really”, he said. “I'm lacking a bit of edge grip on the harder rear tyre, and that is the one we're going to have to race with looking at the temperature. This track isn't quite as good for grip as Assen and we know what we've got to do to get more grip from the rear but we just ran out of time at the end of the session. And I'm still adapting to the new set-up we had in Assen because that changed the balance of the bike quite a lot. With the tighter corners and the undulation it just takes a bit of getting used to being so different to Assen. I'm confident with the bike a bit more comfortable that I can go quite a bit faster and be up there challenging for a good result for Monster in what is a massive race for our sponsor.” Elias made an impressive start and was in the 1'23s on his first run, making two pit-stops as he adjusted the base setting of his factory spec. RC212V machine and briefly leading the time sheets as he eventually broke into the 1'22s. “We're happy to have started the weekend in this way. We know everybody will go faster tomorrow and we'll have to wait and see how much margin for improvement we have but for now it is important to start like this because so far this year at every circuit we've had a bad first practice”, he said. “We've made some pretty major adjustments to the suspension here because this is a very aggressive circuit in that respect, in terms of the elevation changes, the bumps and the hard-braking areas, and we need to improve it even more tomorrow if we are to keep pace with the others. Tomorrow I'll be working with two identical chasses for the first time and that will be important if we want to try something radical because we can quickly revert to a setting we know is working. Hopefully that can help us improve more than usual in the time available.” Elias and De Angelis make positive start moto-live.com De Angelis worked diligently on ironing out front-end problems suffered during the race at Assen before himself breaking into the top ten with a lap made all the more impressive by the fact that it was set on a used front tyre and a hard compound rear.As such, the San Marino rider is confident that a few set-up tweaks overnight can help him make an even stronger challenge in tomorrow's final free practice and qualifying sessions. “I did my fastest time at the end of the session on the harder tyre and the track temperature today probably wasn't as hot as it could be, so I'm really pleased. We have worked a lot today on the problem I had in the race at Assen, which was with the front folding, and I think the fact I spent the whole session today on the same front tyre without virtually any trouble shows that we've made some good decisions”, he explained. “We still have to work the set-up of the bike around the intricacies of this circuit but to have set the tenth fastest time on a used front tyre and a hard rear – I have to be happy with that. We've also worked a lot on rear traction since the Barcelona test and whilst the front guys clearly have a bit more than us in this aspect we're getting closer. This circuit in particular is a place that gets grippier as the weekend goes on so hopefully we can make more improvements tomorrow.” Vermeulen frustrated by early crash By Matt Beer from autosport.com Saturday, July 4th 2009, 05:28 GMT Suzuki ended Friday practice for the United States Grand Prix frustrated after Chris Vermeulen's early accident spoiled the team's plans for the afternoon. Vermeulen had high hopes for the weekend given his excellent record at Laguna Seca, having taken pole on his MotoGP debut at the track in 2006 and finished on the podium for the past two years. But he fell at Turn 2 within the first few minutes of the opening practice session and was unable to get his primary bike back to the pits. He was eighth fastest on his spare by the end of the afternoon, but was unable to complete the team's planned programme. "I was really looking forward to coming back to Laguna as it is obviously a track I enjoy, but it wasn't the start I wanted," Vermeulen admitted. "On the fourth or fifth lap I was just starting to build up my pace and as I entered Turn 2 I locked the front wheel and went down. Unfortunately the bike was on the outside of the circuit so I was unable to get it back for the rest of the session. "I got back to the pits and went out on the other bike but it was set up very differently - geometry wise - and it didn't quite work as well as we'd hoped around here." Vermeulen's team-mate Loris Capirossi was also unhappy, having ended the day in 12th. "We tried to do something big with the setting today and we started with two very different bikes," he said. "We never really found the best solution with either bike and went back to the first one and modified that a bit to try and find the best settings for this track. "On the last run we did improve a bit but we still need to work harder and improve a lot more tomorrow." Randy de Puniet – 11th “In the beginning I faced some front end problems but we quickly fixed them with the guys. After that I came in on a harder rear tyre but struggled with the rear grip on the maximum angle in the corners so I could not go faster. Unfortunately my machine no. two had some brake problems so we could not really use that bike to adjust our problems. However we knew our issues and we’ll try to fix them for tomorrow’s qualifying. Obviously I expected a better base set up but we still have track time to improve the grip."

WSBK: race results from Assen

Rossi earns 100th career victory

Report - Rossi takes Dutch MotoGP news.bbc.co.uk

Valentino Rossi romped to his 100th career victory as he won the Dutch MotoGP at Assen to go clear in the MotoGP world championship standings.

The reigning world champion came home ahead of Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo, with Australia's Casey Stoner, who led early on, finishing third.

Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso crashed out from threatening positions on the same corner.

Their exits helped James Toseland to sixth, his best result of the season.

"I'm so happy, it was a great race," Rossi told BBC Sport.

"I felt good from the first lap, so I decided to push to the maximum.

"I know Jorge Lorenzo is hard to beat but I have great pace, the tyres worked very well and Yamaha is fantastic on this track."

His victory was a lot more straight forward than his dramatic win over Lorenzo in Barcelona, and he joked "this was more boring from the outside, but another battle with Jorge like that is too much for old people like my grandmother."

Stoner's third place finish was all the more impressive considering he was suffering from stomach cramps for the second consecutive race, and after the race he was clearly in pain.

"It's not my fitness, I know I've trained hard enough, it's something a bit strange", said the Australian.

"Luckily the bike was working well on a bad day."

Once Rossi got past Stoner there was no great battle for the podium places, with the main area of excitement being the battle for sixth place.

Toseland was at the front of the pack for a lot of the time, holding off the attentions of Mika Kallio, but going into the closing stages, it seemed his chance of sixth place was gone.

But Toni Elias and Loris Capirossi went on to the grass at the final corner, opening the door for Toseland to go through, and Kallio skidded off into the gravel and failed to finish.

"I was getting ready to pass Mika at the last corner when Elias came under me at Turn 10. That let Loris through too and I'd gone from sixth to ninth!," said Toseland.

"It was so chaotic I didn't even see Kallio crash and I thought when Elias dived under Loris at the last chicane that they might run off. Fortunately for me they did and I took advantage - leading that group for so long, I think I deserved sixth."

Earlier, in the 125cc race, Spain's Sergio Gadea claimed his first win of the season as he came home ahead of Nico Terol and Julian Simon, with Bradley Smith fourth.

But Smith was promoted to a podium position after Terol was penalised 20 seconds for a clash with Gadea.

That result ensures Smith remains in close contention in the 125cc championship standings.

And Hiroshi Aoyama took the lead in the 250cc standings after winning his race, ahead of Hector Barbera and Marco Simoncelli.

Previous championship leader Alvaro Bautista failed to finish after hitting the back of Aoyama's bike.

---

Dutch MotoGP race result:
1 V Rossi (Ita) Yamaha 42 minutes 14.611 seconds

"This is a very emotional moment and for sure I will remember this 100th victory for the rest of my life. When I reached 70, 100 seemed a long way away but here I am and it has been great, great fun getting here. It is down to so many people, like Jeremy and my guys who have been with me for ten years and all of the team who always give 100% and always give me the best bike possible. Especially however I have to thank the friends who have been with me my whole life and my father Graziano, who won here in Assen 30 years ago when I was a baby, and my mother Stefania, because they have always supported me. It's great to reach this moment here at Assen because it's the 'Cathedral' of motorcycle racing and the most historic track we go to. Today was a perfect race - I got a great start and my bike was incredible which meant that my pace was very strong. In fact I think it was better for everyone's hearts not to have another last-lap battle like in Barcelona! I had a good advantage from Lorenzo in some parts of the track and it was a great ride for me. Now I have 100 wins and I'm only the second rider to arrive at this number, but Agostini still has 22 more and for me he is still the greatest. 100 is a great result but the atmosphere in our team is wonderful and the motivation is still as high as ever - we want to win a few more races together yet!" yamaha-racing.com
2 J Lorenzo (Spa) Yamaha 42:19.979

"First of all I have to say congratulations to Valentino because this is an incredible thing to achieve and this day belongs to him. Unfortunately I didn't get a good start today and I had to take a few risks to pass people and come back to the front. Once I did I tried to go after Valentino but in some places I just wasn't as fast as him; he was riding 36.5s every time and I didn't really have quite enough confidence to push that hard today because the bike didn't feel perfect. As the race went on I started to feel the front tyre 'close' a bit and I decided that it was safer to come home in second! Another podium is a great result; it's my fiftieth and we continue to be very strong this season so I am happy. I am only five points from the lead and we are in a good position going to Laguna, which I am very excited about." yamaha-racing.com

3 C Stoner (Aus) Ducati 42:37.724

Ducati’s MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo spoke to motogp.com on Saturday afternoon in the Netherlands, saying, “There is something wrong with Casey’s condition and we are trying to understand what is wrong and trying to help. What we have done so far is not enough and we have to investigate more. Dr Claudio Macchiagodena from Clinica Mobile has done a lot to help after the race and he has some ideas for Laguna so let’s just hope.”

Stoner was quoted by Ducati as stating, “I’ve been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday and I’ve just got worse as the weekend has gone on. I’ve taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can’t keep going like this and it is costing us points.”

“Thankfully I had a fantastic bike underneath me again today and I owe the team for that. A big thank also to Dr Macchiagodena and our physiotherapist Freddie (Dente), who took good care of me both in Catalunya and here. Unfortunately we don’t have much time to get fit for Laguna but we’ll see what we can do.” motogp.com

4 C Edwards (USA) Yamaha 42:43.725

"When [Andrea] Dovizioso came by I was biting my teeth to stay with him and keep the pressure on. But then I saw him crash in front of me and just before that I'd had a moment with the right side of the front," he added. "I'd done 32-laps on that tyre yesterday but coming in and out of the pits all of the time it's hard to get an accurate assessment of what's going to happen.

"I just held station after that because I could see I wasn't catching [Casey] Stoner and I was holding [Chris] Vermeulen off comfortably."

Edwards added that because of the quality of the riders in the factory squads it's become difficult to pick up podiums in 2009, though he believed his performance in Assen was worthy of one.

"My target was just to ride without making any mistakes and keep the momentum going," he said. "I rode my hardest but this year in MotoGP it is so hard just to get a podium. The field is so strong now and it's the hardest year I've ever had in MotoGP. I've ridden nowhere near as hard as that in the past and been on the podium." autosport.com/

5 C Vermeulen (Aus) Suzuki 42:48.216

"I'm obviously happy because this is my best result of the year and we have shown that we have made a step with the bike after the Barcelona test - especially on the chassis side of things,” said Chris.

“At this track - and the next couple that we are going to - it is not so important on the motor front, so the slight speed disadvantage that we have is not so bad and we can still be competitive.

“I got a good start to the race and got in with the front guys early on. I tried as hard as I could to stay with them, but didn't quite have the lap-times to hang in there. I kept pushing all race and when Colin came past I tried to hang on to him, but he seemed to have a bit more rear grip than me.

“Most of the race after that was pretty boring as I was on my own,” he admitted. “I'm happy with fifth and it gives us some valuable points in the championship and a good result to take forward into Laguna Seca."

"It is nice for the team to have been in the top-five at the last three GPs,” said Suzuki team manager Paul Denning. “It is also great for Chris to find a good improvement here at Assen that will give him a step forward in confidence as we head to three of his favourite tracks. He rode a strong race today and it's a good platform to build on.” crash.net
6 J Toseland (Gbr) Yamaha 42:53.958

"I was a bit nervous on the start because I'd no experience with a new clutch set-up we were running," he said. "I did a pretty good start but still lost three or four places. I knew I'd got a pretty good race set-up so just tried to stay calm and in the first couple of laps I took advantage of that to get into the top ten.

"It was an incredible battle for most of the race and I knew I wasn't much stronger than the rest and I knew if I got to the front that it wasn't going to be a case of me pulling away.

"I knew once I was at the front of the bunch that it would be a case of protecting it. That's exactly what I did but it was nearly all spoiled on the last lap. I was getting ready to pass Mika at the last corner when Elias came under me at Turn 10. That let Loris through too and I'd gone from sixth to ninth!

"It was so chaotic I didn't even see Kallio crash and I thought when Elias dived under Loris at the last chicane that they might run off. Fortunately for me they did and I took advantage of it, and leading that group for so long I think I deserved sixth." autosport.com/

7 R De Puniet (Fra) Honda 42:54.154

It has been a thrilling and stressful race for me. The grid position did not help us and I took a bad start but after the first corner I overtook some riders and was up to ninth by the end of the first lap. After that I caught a group of riders faster than me with better engines and could not pass them. Suddenly Toseland passed me after the back straight but he was on the limit and hit my machine. Once again I had to push to catch the group but then Elias came up and hit me on turn no. 3. However I stayed focused and when Capirossi and Elias made a small mistake in the last corner I was ready to take the chance to pass them. After a difficult qualifying we deserve this 7th place. My squad made a very good job on the electronic system between the warm up and the race." motogp.com
8 T Elias (Spa) Honda 42:54.385

"I'm happy because it looks like little by little we're making progress. The problem here was that I qualified badly yesterday, I got a bad start today and a lost so much time at the start of the race fight with Sete, Talmacsi, Takahashi and Canepa. It was only three laps but it felt like a lifetime! Once I got free of them I was able to keep passing riders until there was three seconds of clear track in front of me to the second group, which I was able to close down. There were some really hard riders in that group and it was a lot of fun. I want to publicly apologise to Capirossi though because I was very late into the last chicane and ran us both off track. I feel bad for him but I just had to give it everything I had today. Race Direction have decided to penalise me for it, which I have to accept, but the most important thing about today was the performance and not the result." motogp.com
9 N Hayden (USA) Ducati 42:54.434

"When you start from 13th you are always going to have a lot of work to do but that was the best bike I've had underneath me all season so I want to say a huge 'thank you' to the team for that, they have worked so hard. I got a great start and was able to lead the second group for a while until a couple of guys came past and I lost my rhythm a bit. I made a little mistake under braking on the back straight, ran wide and lost a lot of time but I fought back and got in with the group again. I was having great fun but unfortunately the left handlebar came kind of loose about halfway through the race and cost me a lot of time - that's when a lot of the guys got past me. I know I'm coming out with a lot of excuses this year but a loose handlebar at that speed is pretty scary! The guys are looking at how it happened. Anyway, man it was a hard battle. I know we were only fighting for fifth or sixth but it felt like there was a title on the line out there! Big respect to everybody in the group though. Elias made a big mistake but everybody left it all out on the track today and we all shook hands afterwards. It was good to be a part of the battle." motogp.com
10 L Capirossi (Ita) Suzuki 42:55.284

“This first practice has been quite good for us today because I didn’t have a lot of information from last year as I only did one session, so it felt quite new for me here on a Suzuki. The bike was working well and we only changed a few things during the practice. I did the whole session with one front tyre and at the end when I tried to push a bit harder it started to move a bit more, but it still felt good so I’m happy with that. Overall it has been a good first day and now I want to get straight back on the bike and make things even better!”motogpworld.net
11 A de Angelis (RSM) Honda 43:00.621

"From the first lap to about three quarter distance it was a good race for me, fighting in a group for seventh place. We've been working hard to find rear traction recently and made some progress at the Barcelona test that has helped us here and I think we have gathered more interesting data to help us move forward. Unfortunately it was the front tyre that we struggled with today. From about halfway through it was pretty worn and the front was folding on me more and more. I almost crashed on a few occasions so decided it was best to back off and settle for the position I was in. It is not exactly where we want to be but I think we are getting closer and I'm excited about taking this progress to America."
12 M Melandri (Ita) Kawasaki 43:12.388
13 S Gibernau (Spn) Ducati 43:19.977
14 N Canepa (Ita) Ducati 43:24.508
15 Y Takahashi (Jpn) Honda 43:24.541

World Championship

1 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 131
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 126
3 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 122
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team 69
5 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 67
6 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 67
7 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 56
8 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team 55
9 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 53
10 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 51
11 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 39
12 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 31
13 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team 27
14 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini 27
15 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing 26
16 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing 12
17 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando 12
18 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP 9

Rossi reflects on reaching century of Grand Prix wins

Saturday, 27 June 2009, motogp.com

Italian thanks teams and family after riding ‘perfect race’ in Assen.

Valentino Rossi appears to reach a Grand Prix milestone with every victory added to his legacy, and the Italian reached a century of World Championship wins with his latest triumph on Saturday in Assen. The Fiat Yamaha rider had less of a battle on his hands than two weeks prior in Barcelona, and was in better condition to give an animated celebration –this time an unraveling of a celebratory banner and a photo with an ‘old school’ camera.

“It’s a fantastic achievement. 100 victories is a great number. Thanks to all the guys who have helped me to reach this number –my teams over the past ten years, Jeremy Burgess and especially all my close friends and family for giving me motivation. We hope to win some other races though!” said Rossi after stepping onto the podium with a custom made ‘100’ flag.

On the race itself, which he led for almost the entirety after starting from pole, the reigning World Champion commented that: “I had a good feeling and knew that I was very fast on two or three points in the track, so I tried to get out to the front as soon as possible and impose my rhythm. It was a perfect race because any mistakes would have a high cost. I knew that Lorenzo was very strong, so I tried to take an advantage.

“It’s been two races that the bike has had a good setting. This year the bike is fantastic, and we hope to continue in this way.”

Rossi will have little time to savour the win, as the MotoGP World Championship takes a swift transatlantic flight to Laguna Seca, California for next weekend’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. The 30-year old was a winner there in 2008, but knows that things won’t be easy stateside.

“Last year was great, but it will be hard with just 3-4 days of rest. We are in a good moment, and I hope to have a good race like last year.”

Honda riders frustrated by crashes

By Simon Strang from autosport.com

Saturday, June 27th 2009, 17:52 GMT

Factory Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso left Assen frustrated after both crashed out of the Dutch TT while in strong positions.

Pedrosa started the race on the front row and briefly led before dropping behind Casey Stoner and eventual winner Valentino Rossi. He was racing for a podium when he crashed out of the race on lap four.

"The good news is that I didn't hurt myself in the fall and, considering my recent run of luck with injuries, this is a big relief," said Pedrosa, who is still covering from leg and knee injuries. "But of course I'm disappointed with the result today because, even though it's unlikely I could have won the race, I was feeling strong on the bike again and believe I could have made the podium.

"My feeling on the machine this weekend has been much better and I have been able to ride close to my maximum potential, so I was quite confident coming into this race.

"I made a fast start and found a good rhythm, so the crash was very unexpected - for the whole weekend I had no warning this might happen."

Pedrosa remains positive despite the crash and believes the HRC team, which has now gone 12 months without a victory, is on the cusp of a breakthrough in form.

"We have to forget this race and remain positive and focused because we have been the best in the past and I believe we can be the best again," he said.

"The whole team deserves better than this and I know we will work even harder to take the fight to our rivals, even though they are very strong.

"Laguna is the next race and we will go there with the same positive mood that we brought to Assen this weekend."

Dovizioso was chasing Stoner for third position when he fell at the same place as his team-mate within a couple of laps.

"I had a good start but I was trapped by a bunch of riders and it took me a few laps to get by them," he said. "Once I was past I was feeling quite comfortable, although I wasn't sure I could catch Stoner.

"Then, while I was in the middle of the corner at the maximum lean I lost the front. I wasn't on the brakes when it happened – we have to lean a long way over in the middle of the turn and that's when it caught me out."

MotoGP 2009 season is about to start:

MotoGP 2009 steps into the spotlight

In Qatar

http://www.moto-live.com/ 07/04/09 14:37

On the evening of Friday 10th April the spotlight will finally fall on the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, figuratively and literally, as the world's premier motorcycle racing series gets underway with the first practice session of a season of change in Qatar. The restrictions imposed by single tyre rule have already become a familiar part of the teams' working system within the pit box during the winter tests, although the next major examination will be how they can adapt to the severely reduced track time during a Grand Prix weekend. The action starts on Friday with a single free practice session of 45 minutes, followed by two further sessions of the same length on Saturday – the second of those deciding the grid positions for Sunday, which retains the same programme of a 20-minute warm-up before the race.

MotoGP 2009 season factbox

Eurosport - Thu, 09 Apr 12:37:00 2009

The MotoGP championship starts in Qatar on Sunday with a night-time race. Check out these facts ahead of the 2009 season.

* Four riders have left the championship since 2008: France's Sylvain Guintoli, American John Hopkins, Japan's Shinya Nakano and Australian Anthony West. Four have come in: Italian Niccolo Canepa, Spain's Sete Gibernau, Finland's Mika Kallio and Japan's Yuki Takahashi.

*The average age of riders is 27 years and 32 weeks. The oldest is Gibernau at 36; the youngest is 20-year-old Canepa.

*World champion Valentino Rossi has eight world titles, six in MotoGP/500cc and one from each of 250cc and 125cc) He has a total of 97 race wins, 71 in the top category.

*Rossi's tally of wins is the second highest in grand prix racing but still well short of compatriot Giacomo Agostini's record of 122.

*American Nicky Hayden, the 2006 champion with Honda who has now switched to Ducati, will be starting his 100th grand prix this weekend.

*Last year's Qatar Grand Prix saw the youngest podium in the top category with an average age of 21 years 47 weeks.

*Ducati riders have won the season-opening race for the last three years. Australian Casey Stoner has won for the past two years in Qatar.

*There are 17 races this season and Rossi has previously won at all of the circuits involved. However he has not won after dark in Qatar, with his last victory there in 2006 when the race was held in the afternoon.

*All riders are now using Bridgestone tyres after the switch to a single supplier. Each rider has a maximum of 12 rear and eight front tyres per weekend, excluding rain tyres.

*Friday morning practice has been cancelled this season and all other sessions shortened to 45 minutes to reduce engine mileage and cut costs.

a few words from the riders:
from: http://www.moto-live.com
he Ducati Marlboro Team is once again ready to take up the challenge head-on, with Casey Stoner having enjoyed an excellent preseason of testing and feeling satisfied both with the work done by the Ducati engineers on the GP9 and with the recovery of his injured wrist following an operation.

“I'm leaving behind the end of the summer holidays in Australia but to tell you the truth I really can't wait for the new season to start”, he said. “I'm really pleased with the progress we've made together with the Ducati engineers behind the scenes and with the tests we've done out on the track. Everybody has worked really hard, the bike has improved in a variety of areas and it's much easier to ride. The power delivery from the engine is better, the carbon frame has improved stability and I'm happy with the carbon swingarm too, even though we have only tried it in the last two tests and it still needs a little more work before we full understand it. So testing has been positive but we know that racing is another story and we simply cannot afford to drop our guard at any point – we have to keep working hard to make sure we don't make the same mistakes as last season, which we went into with too much confidence. Qatar is not a particularly exciting track, it is very flat, but it's not too bad. We're just hoping the temperature is higher than it was for the test.”

Nicky Hayden, set to contest his 100th Grand Prix in Qatar, has worked hard over the winter to adapt to a completely new bike, new tyres and new team.
Despite not quite obtaining the desired results in the last test at Jerez, he has made constant progress throughout the preseason and is excited about making his race debut for Ducati.

“It's nice to be going racing again. The season is starting out much later than usual this year even though we haven't been doing much testing. To be honest with you I'd like to have had a little more time with the bike in preseason but this is what we've got to deal with and now it's time to get serious. If I could have chosen anywhere to be making my debut on the Ducati I would have chosen Qatar, where we had a good test session a few weeks ago, so I guess I'm lucky in that respect!”, he commented.

“I can't hide the fact that I'd like to be closer to the front than where we're at right now and further down the road in terms of the work we've got to do with the team but I'm still really pleased that the season is starting because I love the races, I love racing and I love competing against those other guys. I'm looking forward to getting out to Qatar, where the temperature should be a bit higher than it was in the test, and we'll try to start out the season on the right foot by getting a decent result and enjoying myself as much as possible”, he added. “I can't believe it's already been a hundred GP starts - I have really enjoyed them all… well some a lot more than others! But it's been an honour to race in Grand Prix with all these great riders, sweet tracks, and the awesome fans all over the world! I know it won't be easy but I really hope my best GPs are ahead of me. It seems only fitting to start my 100th race with a new bike and team!”

from:yamaha-network.com

Valentino Rossi - "We're in good shape"
"Qatar isn't one of our strongest tracks but we still have a few cards to play and I hope that a little more work will see us improve for the first race. Tests really mean nothing once you get to raving, the situation is totally different and really we have little idea what will happen until we get there, it's very exciting! I'm feeling confident, we're in good shape even if we're going to what was our worst track during testing, but I am happy about the performance of my M1 in general; Yamaha have done a great job and so this makes me happy. With the new single tyre rule the tactics will become clearer race by race. I think a lot of new factors will come into play and strategy is going to be quite important to determine where you start the race. I think luck will also be a factor in qualifying, more so than previously! In fact, I am quite curious to see what will happen in a 45 minute race with so few tyres, it's going to be interesting. I've used the last week to relax, recharge and train. It's going to be a very long season and we need to be consistently at 100%. We will take it race by race and keep focused on the target, which is of course winning the championship once again."

Jorge Lorenzo - "Eager to start"
"I am feeling good and I'm eager to start the championship. Preseason has been hard work, but finally I understood how to be fast with the new Bridgestone tyres and the last day in Qatar and the test in Jerez have left me feeling confident and hopeful for a good start to the season. The tyres are very different and I have had to adapt my riding style, but step-by-step we have become accustomed to them. For qualifying it's a bit of a pity because I was a rider that was always strong on qualifying tyres, but it's the same for everyone so we will get used to it. I feel much more experienced than this time last year and much stronger as well, even if I was on pole for this race last year! My target for the season is to improve on my fourth position of last year; I want to make sure I improve year by year. The championship is too big to think about yet, for now I am just concentrating on Qatar. I also have a new number, 99, which I think looks good on my M1 and I hope that it will bring me luck!"

from: http://www.moto-live.com
Starting his fourth season in the factory Repsol Honda Team, Spanish ace Dani Pedrosa flies to Qatar determined to take part in the opening event of the year. The tough 24-year-old has made encouraging progress since undergoing surgery on his left wrist and left knee at the beginning of March and is cautiously confident that he will have sufficient flexibility and strength in his left leg to compete in Sunday's 22-lap race.

While Pedrosa is not expecting to be at his peak this weekend, having missed out on significant fitness training time and been absent for several days of pre-season practice, the three-time World Champion is nevertheless fully focused on beginning his 2009 campaign by pushing for the best result possible.



On the other side of the Repsol Honda garage is Italian star Andrea Dovizioso who will be making his race debut as a works Honda MotoGP rider this weekend. The former 125cc World Champion has quickly adapted to life in Repsol Honda colours and has enjoyed a profitable winter testing programme, ably dealing with the extra demands of being a factory rider. He'll be relishing his first race outing on the works-specification RC212V at a circuit he performed so well at last year in his debut MotoGP race. On that occasion, Dovizioso finished in fourth place, one place behind his new team-mate Pedrosa, and ahead of 2008 World Champion Valentino Rossi.

“I like racing in Qatar, and riding under the floodlights at night is very special. It has an amazing, unique atmosphere and the layout of the track is different from the other circuits, in particular the turns are very long and it is not easy to get high speed corner. Still, I have always had good results in Qatar and last year, at my debut in MotoGP, I had a fantastic race. At the last test in Jerez our machine had improved compared to the previous test we did in Qatar at the beginning of March, so I'm confident for the first race of the season and I will be doing my best to fight up front.”

Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen were regularly amongst the top riders at all of the 2009 tests, culminating with Capirossi recording the third quickest time at the final test in Spain last month, with teammate Vermeulen narrowly behind with the fifth fastest lap.

Now both riders will be planning to continue with the good run of form that has seen the 2009 Suzuki GSV-R emerge as one of the most improved bikes of the year.

"It was pleasing to finish the test schedule with a good result at Jerez and it shows how far the bike has come on in the winter. But now we have to be focused on racing, because we have to keep improving and try to get the best position we can”, said Capirossi. “We want to be on the podium and winning races and I believe that is where we can be. Qatar has been a tough track for Suzuki in the past, but the test there earlier this year was quite good and hopefully we can get the season off to a strong start!"
"Last week at Jerez we had a very good test and it gave us a chance to check a few things and get right into the racing mode in time for Qatar”, added Vermeulen. “We had an important test at Doha last month and we are going there a lot better prepared than the same time last year. Qatar has been a track that we have struggled at in the past, but the new GSV-R seems to be working very well there this year and both Loris and I were well on the pace in the test.Hopefully we can stay in the top-five at Qatar, because that is certainly what we are aiming for and if we can it will get the season off to a strong start and give us something to build on throughout the year!"

The Pramac Racing Team, after renovating its structure between the end of the past season and the winter break, is ready more than ever for this challenging year at full speed.

The new red and white riders are in fact two of the three rookies of the year: Finnish rider Mika Kallio, who has concluded in third position the past season in the quarter liter class, and Italian Niccolò Canepa, the youngest rider in MotoGP of the season who still has to turn 21. Two young riders eager to show their potential and that for sure will never even think about giving up.

Paolo Campinoti - Team Principal Pramac Racing

"Finally! This hasn't only been one of the hardest winter breaks for our sport, but it has been one of the longest. After all the talk over the winter, we can now get back to track action. It has been a constructive period for all of us, we have united our strength to improve our world and soon we will receive the benefits. Our team has worked very well during winter testing and the proof is the good sixth position conquered by Mika Kallio during the only important hour in Jerez official test. In addition in Qatar we will have a small advantage: we will have more energy than all the others because this marvellous circuit will be under floodlights also thanks to 44 Pramac generators. Jokes apart, we are really happy and trustful in the choices we made, Niccolò and Mika want to do really well and this is energizing the Pramac Racing Team for the long season that is about to start."

Mika Kallio - Pramac Racing rider

Our last performance in Jerez official test have been really satisfying for us, but we have to keep our feet on the ground, in Qatar everyone will be eager to begin in the best way the season. Losail is a track that I like and surely we can have a lot of fun. My first race in MotoGP is about to begin: many sensations are going thru my head, but surely no fear."

Niccolò Canepa - Pramac Racing rider

"I am so happy to be at the first race, my MotoGP adventure is about to begin. I can't wait to step on my Ducati Friday afternoon. I had a really intense winter; I worked hard on and off track to be at the best. I am ready! I will only need a bit of time to get used to racing shoulder to shoulder again because it has been basically more than a year that I don't properly compete in a race. I like the layout of Losail circuit, we have done quite well during the last test and I hope to be able to even improve."

San Carlo Honda Gresini Team hoping to shine
For Elias the Grand Prix of Qatar signals a welcome race return to the team he competed with for two seasons in 2006 and 2007, during which time he scored three podiums and clinched his first MotoGP win. The Spaniard will be riding a factory-spec Honda RC212V machine, which Fausto Gresini's team are proud to have been entrusted with by the Japanese manufacturer.

“We have struggled a little more than we expected in testing but we know where the problems lie and it is good to be going back to a circuit where we already have lots of data”, he explained. “I'm happy to be going racing with this team again, with Honda and on this fantastic bike. Ideally I'd like to be starting the season in better shape but the truth is we have work to do in a short space of time when we get out to Qatar and we'll be pushing hard in every aspect to approach the race in the best possible way. Racing at night makes it a bit tricky but Losail is one of my favourite circuits and I've started on the front row there twice before – both times with this team. I remember in particular three years ago we were three seconds off the pace on the first day and still managed to qualify on the front row. That just shows how quickly things can change in racing so we'll go there with optimism, fight hard and see what happens.”

For the second season in succession De Angelis will also be on board an RC212V as he looks to build on an encouraging rookie year.

“I love Qatar as a circuit, it is one of my favourites, but I just hope it is a little warmer than when we were there for the test so that we can get more heat into the tyre because this is the area we're struggling with the most”, he said.“We haven't had much time to work on the bike this winter and it was a real shame that it started to rain after the ‘qualifying' session at Jerez because we were planning to do a race simulation, which I haven't managed to do yet this preseason. It means we go out there with a few question marks, particularly regarding tyre wear over race distance, but even so I am confident and excited to be going racing again.”

“We are going to Qatar armed with a lot of data from testing and with the determination to work hard and sort out the few doubts than we still have”, added Team Manager Fausto Gresini. “We know it is a good machine but we're struggling to get 100% performance out of the chassis and making progress with this is our target for Qatar. I know my team well enough to have confidence that they will do it and of course we are all excited to be going racing again. This spirit of competition is why we are all here.”

Chris Vermeulen #7

Personal opinion: a good rider, hope he will manage to be on the podium on a dray rain. Wishing him a better luck next year.

Chris Vermulen - Impossible Slide!

Chris Vermeulen Safe

Riding Commercial

Chris Vermeulen Bio

from: http://www.chrisvermeulen.com

Bio details
Born:	19/6/1982 - Brisbane Australia
Lives:	Andorra
Occupation:	MotoGP rider

I lived most of my life at Yandina, where my family own the bakery. My dad loved riding and racing bikes and bought me my first motor bike, a Yamaha Pee Wee 50, as a present for my first birthday. I would hound dad to take me riding every day and he’d sit on the back of the bike and teach how to ride and use the controls.

When dad was at work, I would rip around on my pushy and when I was about two and a half years old, I could ride it well enough to take the training wheels off. On that same day, I rode my motor bike solo for the first time. By the time I was three, I wanted to ride trials bikes like my dad and I was convinced I would one day enter trials competitions.

Lessons from dad

My first solo ride

At six years of age I started to race BMX and although I loved it, I pretty soon figured out that it would be heaps more fun with a motor instead of pedal power, a concept that took my mum about 5 years to agree with. The pinnacle of my BMX career was to finish second in the Queensland BMX Championship in 1992.

Although I had trials bikes all through this period, my real conversion from BMX to motor bike racing really happened when with mum and dad took me to a Christmas party at the local Kawasaki dealership in Nambour and I spent the whole time drooling and climbing all over the then new KX 60.

I had to have it and my powers of persuasion worked overtime until I was able to convince mum and dad to allow me to sell my trials bike and put the money toward my first motocross bike, a brand new KX60.

Getting BMX air

My new KX60

My first ever motor bike racing experience was at a local country track at Kilcoy, where I competed in motocross and dirt track on the same day. I can’t remember how I went, but I do remember loving every minute of it.

After that day, it was hard to get me off the bike and I practiced around the paddocks at home from dawn till dark. I continued racing both motocross and dirt track, but enjoyed dirt track racing more, because I loved the speed. During those dirt track years, I won ??? state titles and was second to Broc Parkes in 4 Australian titles.

Road racing was always something that intrigued me. My whole family would watch the grand prix and world superbike races, cheering on our heroes, Gardner and Doohan. I would sit there and quietly dream and scheme about how I would do that myself one day. The need for speed was taking over.

Mum and dad bought me an old 125 grand prix bike, but I was too young to race and could only practice. I was fifteen and busting to become sixteen so I could start racing, when the first junior road racing class for fourteen to sixteen year olds was introduced. I jumped straight into it and once again, mum and dad sprung for a bike, a Moriwaki 80cc. I raced it twice in the juniors before I turned 16 and won both times.

In 1998, my first year of senior racing I found myself piloting a 600 super sport bike and a 250 grand prix bike at the same meetings. Very intense and very busy, but a fast learning curve.

Because I had ridden well in the first few races, engine tuner Kev Marshall convinced Yamaha to supply me with an R1 to compete in the Australian Super Bike Championship for the 1999 season. This was a massive step up in power and the calibre of competition. I knew I would have to be on my game if I was to impress.

My Yamaha R1 - Aust Superbikes 99

In that same year, I also got the opportunity to ride in the Asian 250cc Championship for Suzuki Malaysia under the guidance of Barry Leong. This was really cool at the time; because I had moderate success and was able to use the prize money I won in Asia to help mum and dad meet the costs of my Australian Super Bike campaign.

Me & Barry Leong on the grid in Malaysia

Although 1999 was incredibly exciting and busy with lots of different racing, it was a watershed year for me career wise, because it was that year I met Barry Sheene. Barry and I seemed to click straight away and he immediately stepped in to help me get organised with some sponsors and give me the benefit of his vast experience. It was at his suggestion, that I packed up and headed off to England to try my luck in the 2000 British Super Sport and Super Stock Championships.

Barry Sheene

Barry was an amazing person. He was irreverent and cheeky, but he knew bike racing back to front and inside out and was in my opinion, the first of the modern breed of bike racer. Barry knew there was a lot more to racing than what happened on the track and his invaluable advice about what to expect and how to handle it, has stood me in good stead. He was a true friend until the end and apart from mum and dad, is the person who has helped me most in my racing career. I miss him, as many do.

England was an eye opener and the racing very tough. It was a big learning curve and a step up in intensity. I was happy to learn as much as I did that year, and finish 4th in Super Stock and 5th in Super Sport.

Late in 2000, the Castrol Honda World Super Sport team needed a rider for the last 3 races and I got the nod. I did well enough in all 3 rides to secure the job as team rider for the 2001 season.

Although it started out well, 2001 is a year I would rather forget. The bike wasn’t on the pace and we had tyre problems all season. I finished 17th and learnt the humility that comes with not winning.

In hindsight, 2001 hardened me up and I knew I had to really focus and get everything right if I was to make my new career successful. I had always trained hard to be fit enough to race at the top level, but my training efforts intensified in my quest for better performance.

Castrol Honda World Super Sport bike 2000

2002 was a much better year. I was asked to ride for the Van Zon Honda World Super Sport team out of Belgium, which was a satellite Ten Kate team. I had a fairly good year and finished 7th in the World Super Sport Championship.

My Van Zon Honda 600 Super Sport bike

The Ten Kate boys signed me for their official team in 2003 and what a year it was. I was fit, on a great bike with a great team and with it all coming together so well, I really honed my racing skills.

I had dreamed of one day of being world champion and 2003 was the year my dreams were realised. When handed the trophy, I couldn’t help think what an amazing journey I had been on since those days belting around paddocks and dirt tracks on my Pee Wee 50.

2003 World Super Sport Champion

In 2004 Ten Kate took a one bike team into World Super Bike and I was the pilot. I had the whole team’s resources behind me and we made big advances in developing the new bike. We won quite a few races and I finished 4th in the world championship.

My first Ten Kate Super Bike – 2004

In 2005, I stayed with Ten Kate Honda in World Superbike, but this time I had a team mate, fellow aussie Karl Muggeridge. I had a good year, finishing a narrow 2nd in the world championship to Troy Corser. I also got a ride in the Suzuka 8 hour endurance race on the factory Honda. What a bike! I wanted more of this factory support and my thoughts were starting to turn to MotoGP.

On the podium at Imola - World Superbike 2005

My chance came in late 2005 when Troy Bayliss busted himself up riding his motocross bike and I got offered the fill in ride on his Camel Honda alongside his team mate Alex Barros. I competed in the grand prix at Phillip Island and Istanbul and finished 11th in both races. I was happy with those results, as I had never even sat on a MotoGP bike before that Phillip Island race and those 990’s were real beasts.

My first MotoGP ride at Phillip Island

Beasts they might have been, but the power to deliver the speed I had always craved was in my right hand and the exhilaration of winding on the throttle on a MotoGP bike took my breath away. I knew I had arrived where I wanted to be.

I secured a full time GP ride for the 2006 season with the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team on the GSVR990. I knew it would be tough as Suzuki hadn’t won for some time, but I was excited at the prospect of being part of the development of their GP bike. My first season had mixed results. I claimed two pole positions and my best effort was second at my home grand prix at Phillip Island. I finished the season in 11th place, but was happy with what I had learnt in my rookie year.

2nd at Phillip Island in 2006

2007 saw the introduction of the 800cc GP bikes and they required a different riding style to the big 990’s. Traction control was improving and the name of the game was maintaining corner speed, rather than harnessing brute power. I adapted well and won my first MotoGP race at Le Mans in France in May 2007. It was Suzuki’s first victory in the four stroke category and standing on top of the podium filled me with pride.

My first MotoGP Victory at Le Mans

That victory was in the rain and because of it and other good performances in the wet, the commentators labelled me the “Wet Weather Specialist” and said that “I loved riding in the rain”.

Let me clear this up once and for all. I HATE RIDING IN THE RAIN. Maybe I handle it better than the other guys because my dirt track background taught me how handle the bike moving and sliding under me, but I don’t really like it. Give me a dry track any day!

I finished the 2007 season in 6th place, with three other podium finishes apart from the victory in France and was hopeful of further improvement in 2008.

I really don't like riding in the rain but I'm good at it

Despite my resolve to push harder in 2008, it turned out to be almost as tough as my nightmare year in 2001. Despite Suzuki’s and my teams best efforts, my bike lacked power in the straights and the ability to maintain speed in long fast corners. Racing bikes at the top level is all about tenths of a second and we worked very hard to rectify these problems, but just couldn’t find that extra 1% needed to be competitive. Despite this, I had two podium finishes for the year, 3rd places at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca and finished the year in 8th position overall.

Looking for that extra 1%

Much of our racing is in Europe, so I am based in Andorra, a small principality between Spain and France. I like living in Europe and travelling the GP circuit, but I can’t wait to come back to Australia for a couple months in the off season to spend Christmas with my family and friends.

Family - Sheree, Jess, Peter (dad), Renita, Julie (mum) & me

It’s during my time in Australia in the off season that I really step up my training. My fitness regime consists of running, cycling, mountain biking, ski paddling, surfing, ocean swimming and motocross.

Training - Beach running & swimming

My new Specialized S-Works mountain bike

My other interests outside bike racing are typical aussie boy stuff, old hot rod cars, sailing, boating & fishing.

Dad and I built my 1954 Ford F100 Ute

I love sailing – perfect relaxation

I am really looking forward to the 2009 season. The last round of testing we did with the parts that will go into the 09 bike was very encouraging and hopefully the controlled tyre rule will make the racing closer and more competitive.

Have a great year and thanks for being interested in my career.

Chris