WSBK- arrives at Misano

The Misano World Circuit
(until 2006 called Circuito Internazionale Santamonica) is an Italian racetrack located next to the town of Misano Adriatico (Province of Rimini) in the frazione of Santamonica. Originally designed in 1969 as a length of 3.488 kilometres (2.17 mi), it hosted its first event in 1972. In 1993, the track length was increased to 4.064 kilometres (2.53 mi).(wiki)

Location Misano Adriatico, Province of Rimini, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Time zone CET, UTC+1
Coordinates [show location on an interactive map] 43°57′41″N 12°41′0″E / 43.96139°N 12.68333°E / 43.96139; 12.68333Coordinates: [show location on an interactive map] 43°57′41″N 12°41′0″E / 43.96139°N 12.68333°E / 43.96139; 12.68333
Major Events MotoGP; SBK; Formula Renault; FIA Sportscars
Circuit Length 4.064 km (2.525 mi)
Turns 11
Lap Record 1:33.918 (Casey Stoner, Ducati, 2007)




WSBK: Misano Gears Up For Superbike Scorcher

Written by: SPEED Staff SPEEDtv.com

06/16/2009 - 02:36 PM

Misano Adriatico (ITA)

(Photo: Ducati Corse)

After the overseas doubleheader in South Africa and USA, the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship returns to European soil for the start of the second half of the 2009 season. Round 8 of 14 will be held this weekend at the Misano World Circuit on Italy's sun-kissed Adriatic Riviera, with the event holding the denomination of San Marino Round. The circuit in the Romagna region, a stone's throw away from world-famous seaside resorts Rimini and Riccione, measures 4.226 km and has been the venue for 17 editions of the championship. It underwent a major restyling in 2007 with changes to the layout and sense of direction, which is now clockwise.

Misano is a circuit where Ducati has always dominated. The Italian manufacturer has taken its twin-cylinder machines onto the podium 26 times in 34 races, leaving the other manufacturers with the crumbs: Honda 3 wins, Aprilia 2, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki 1.

As for riders, the most successful at Misano is three-times world champion Troy Bayliss with 6 wins, while Giancarlo Falappa, Regis Laconi and Ruben Xaus all have three apiece. Out of all the riders who have won at Misano, only two will be on the track this coming weekend, the BMW pairing of Troy Corser (2 wins) and Xaus, who was the last to take a victory, in race 2 twelve months ago. Both Régis Laconi (Ducati DFX) and Max Neukirchner (Suzuki), who have also won at Misano, the German in race 1 last year, are currently out of action with injuries.

HAGA'S MISANO JINX

The splendid double win by Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) at Miller has reopened the title battle, which after South Africa appeared to be heading the way of Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox). The Japanese rider, bruised and battered in the Utah Round, still has a healthy lead over his rivals (53 points over the American and 64 over teammate Michel Fabrizio), but is arriving at a circuit that is his ‘pet hate' seeing as he has never won there. In 18 appearances, Haga has only scored three podiums at Misano, his best being in 2007 when he finished runner-up in race 2 behind Bayliss, while in the first he ended up on the ground after a contact with Max Biaggi, while they were fighting for second place.


TWO'S COMPANY

Both Spies and Fabrizio are aiming to take away further points from the championship leader and they arrive at Misano as the riders most in form. The Texan doesn't know the circuit but so far has always demonstrated that he has no problems in this area, and he is backed up by an ultra-competitive Yamaha YZF-R1. As for Fabrizio, the rider from Rome has made a quantum leap in quality recently, proving that he can fight for the win at every circuit, and he will be aiming high this time around.
"It's great to be back in Italy again," said Ben Spies. "It was awesome to be home for the Miller race last month, and a dream come true to win in front of my home crowd. Everything felt right at the weekend, I couldn't have been happier. I'm excited about getting on the track at Misano, it's another new circuit to learn which is cool. The Italian fans are amazing which will also make this a special race for us as a team. We need to do well here to keep the championship challenge alive, and I'm confident we can."

"I'm very happy to put the US behind me," said Tom Sykes. "There's no denying we had a couple of issues but I think we're past it. We know everything works well on the bike and we have the pace to run at the front. I'm very much looking forward to Misano now, we've got a couple of things we want to try on the bike so let's hope it works and the track suits my riding style. I'm going in to the weekend feeling confident, I know the team can do a good job so if we can crack it we can get up there. I think this weekend will be the turning of the corner and setting me up for Donington and the rest of the season." (yamaha-racing.com)


MISANO OUTSIDERS

At Misano, Superbike can often produce some major upsets and the heat will surely have a major effect on men and machines. The outsiders this weekend include Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing), who has been putting together a string of top 5 results recently. The RSV4 machine is getting closer to the top and the Italian will surely be a difficult opponent for everyone. The Noale manufacturer should bring some new material to Misano and Biaggi will be hoping to upset the applecart in front of his home fans.

ON THE WAY UP

The Honda riders are now emerging as front-runners as well after a difficult start to the season. Jonathan Rea, Ryuichi Kiyonari, Carlos Checa (Ten Kate) and Leon Haslam (Stiggy Racing) have all been on the podium at least once and the Miller race showed that the CBR1000RRs are not that far away from the level of Ducati and Yamaha. All eyes will in particular be on Rea, who is fast becoming a true contender. Progress is also being recorded by Kawasaki, who will enter American Jamie Hacking once again in place of the still convalescent Makoto Tamada as teammate to Broc Parkes.

SUZUKI AND BMW

The Suzuki Alstare team will again be present at Misano without the injured Max Neukirchner, who is expected to be back for Brno at the end of July. The team's progress will continue to revolve around Yukio Kagayama, who is not exactly 100% fit after crashing in the USA, and Fonsi Nieto who is struggling to find the best possible feeling with the GSX-R 1000. Attention will also be focused on the BMW Motorrad team, which had a difficult time overseas, but the German squad has had an opportunity to analyze everything back in the factory workshop and both Corser and Xaus will be looking for improvements this weekend.

WSBK: All change at Honda Althea

As Lagrive comes in for Hill

It's all change for the Althea Honda team from the Misano round onwards as Matthieu Lagrive replaces Tommy Hill in Superbike while Italian Superbike championship leader Flavio Gentile comes in for Lagrive in Supersport.

Unfortunately, the first part of the season wasn't very successful for either Hill and the team so together with Tommy the team decided to terminate its relationship. To replace the English rider the Team management chose Matthieu Lagrive not only because he knows the team and technical staff very well, but also because the French rider has a great experience with high-¬powered bikes as he is a five time Endurance World Champion.

With Matthieu the team really hopes to be able to gather the fruits of their hard work and they hope that Lagrive will demonstrate that Honda Althea team can obtain in Superbike the same good results as he did in Supersport.

"This will be my first race with Honda Althea Superbike team. I never raced in Superbike before and so I will have to familiarize with my new CBR 1000 RR starting from Friday's free practices. I have already raced with an Honda CBR 1000 RR, but in Endurance races and so I know this will be a completely different bike”, said Lagrive. “I know the team's technical staff and I'm sure they'll help me adapt quickly to the new bike. I'm happy because I'm starting a new and exciting experience in Superbike with a very clever and skilled team. Hopefully we'll reach some very good results".

In Supersport, the team have decided to give Flavio Gentile an opportunity to race at Misano to show his talent and skills also in the Supersport World Championship. Flavio is currently participating with the Honda Althea Team in the Italian Superbike Championship and is leading the standings.

"I'm really happy to be here and I know my team will help me to quickly adapt to the new bike. I'm lucky because I can start this new interesting experience from Misano, which is actually my favourite circuit” he said. “I have always obtained good results here and I think I will be able to challenge hard this time as well. I want to enjoy myself and take this opportunity to do my best for Honda Althea team and for my sponsors".(moto-live.com)

Freestyle show at Misano World Circuit with Chris Pfeiffer

Monday, 15 June 2009 13:04

The performance skills and style of Chris Pfeiffer will be coming to Misano during the World Superbike weekend. On Sunday the most famous streetbiker freestyler in the world will perform on the track, during the pit-walk, from 11.10 to 11.25. Pfeiffer will also repeat his show in the SBK Motorzone, the commercial area of SBK, twice during the day. The first one will be at 10.00, the second at 13.00. During Chris Pfeiffer's show there will be an event-car too, with music and DJ. It will be 20 minutes long and will show how the world of motor sport can join up with music and art to make an electrifying performance.

Chris is first and foremost a big fan of motorbikes and all things engines and has been since he was a child. His streetbiker freestyler background is a very long one and he has demonstrated his skills in more than one hundred international events. Pfeiffer has also received many awards, including Stunt Riding World Champion, "Stuntwars" Champion in the legendary freestyle competition in Florida, and three times European Stunt Riding Champion. (worldsbk.com)

Mugello race

Excellent win for Stoner in tricky Italian contest

Sunday, 31 May 2009

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What the riders have to say:

1 Casey Stoner Ducati AUS 45'41.894

“At the beginning we started off really well and I had a good feeling with the bike, it was working well, but as soon as the dry patches started appearing our tyres started destroying themselves and there was no grip. I just tried to maintain the gap to the other riders until I could get onto the slicks and then I knew I wouldn’t have such a disadvantage.”

“Once I got onto the slicks I found a good feeling immediately and I was able to get to the front quite quickly, but then I started having a problem with the clutch,” Stoner continued, “The RPM was going up to the limiter and there was no forward momentum. I just tried adjusting it and I managed to get it hooked up again, but it was still difficult on the corners.”

The young Australian went on to add, “It was a really hard race and I just wanted to finish it. I just tried to stay smooth and keep the same lap times even if I couldn’t ride the way I wanted to. On the last lap I pushed in areas where I hadn’t done so all through the race, and I made a mistake so I was lucky to hold onto the victory. But I think the team did a great job and we are very grateful for this win.” (motogp.com)

2 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha ESP 0'01.001

"Honestly, this is as good as a win for me and I can't really believe the race today, it was like a movie! This morning in warm-up I was quite worried because I was slow in the rain, then on the sighting lap I slid off into the gravel pit. All I could think about was making it back to the pits as quickly as possible in case there was still a chance to make the grid and luckily I made it just in time. My team had the second bike ready and I was able to still start from the pole position. On the grid I tried not to think about the crash, I just tried to focus. But then I had a big slide off the line and the first part of the race wasn't so good for me. I have to say the biggest thank you to my guys today for getting the damaged bike ready in such a short time; it was a brilliant job and after I swapped bikes everything changed. From then on I had a great rhythm and I was able to stay on fighting to the end and take this second place. It's a really amazing result because things could have been much worse today, so thank you again to everyone for making it possible. I'm really happy with this result." (yamaha-racing.com)

3 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 0'02.076

"Of course I am disappointed not to win again in Mugello but seven times in a row is not so bad and the important thing is that I made it onto the podium. It's a very special moment in Mugello, with all the fans below, and I would have been very sad to have missed that! It was a very hard race today and once again the weather was a problem for us, we're very unlucky in these half-and-half races and I think this is my first podium in one. In the wet we were very fast because we had found a great setting, but then when we changed bikes we made a mistake and chose a front tyre that was too hard, so it took me a long time to be able to put enough temperature on it and I lost a lot of time. At the end I was able to ride better and I knew that I had to make it onto the podium, so I am happy for this. Of course after Le Mans this is a big improvement and these points are important because it's very close between the three of us." (yamaha-racing.com)


4 Andrea Dovizioso Honda ITA 0'02.129

Although he came close to reclaiming third from Valentino Rossi, Dovizioso said the result showed that he is not right up with the frontrunners in normal conditions yet.

"We are getting closer, but still not close enough to win," he said.

"We need to keep on working because we are still not as competitive as the fastest riders, especially in dry conditions. We'll use this result to give us an extra boost of motivation."

While admitting that he still needs to make further progress, Dovizioso said he was delighted with how competitive he had been at Mugello.

"The sensation of leading the race in front of my home crowd was incredible and I think overall we had a good race, he said.

"I'm satisfied. I fought like hell to take third and we were so close - only 53 thousandths from the podium! I think our race strategy was good, we changed the bike at the right moment and I pushed as hard as possible to maintain my position.

"With three laps to go I tried to keep in contact with the others and when Rossi overtook me, I managed to stay with him. Then I tried to slipstream him out of the last corner but I couldn't make it. Anyway, all in all it was an exciting race and a positive result." (autosport.com)

5 Loris Capirossi Suzuki ITA 0'03.274

“I tried to do my best but the conditions were a bit strange and I think I made the right decision about when to change onto slick tyres,” Capirossi said at the end of another wet-dry contest. “Then my pace was really good and the rhythm was constant. I tried to stay in contact with Casey (Stoner) and although the bike was good in general we were losing out because of top speed, so we look forward to getting the new engine in Barcelona.”

Asked whether he thought the new engine would make an immediate impact on results at Catalunya, Denning replied, “We only have the data and I don’t want to say too much until the thing is plugged into the chassis, because we just don’t know until then.” (motogp.com)

6 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'24.451

“It was a rerun of Le Mans. We’ve got some issues that we need to figure out; I’ve always been a front end guy, and I’ve got no confidence in the front –I’ve always been a good rain rider too! I just don’t have any confidence,” explained the Monster Yamaha Tech3 rider. “We’ll adjust, we’ll do some work, but as soon as we came in I just put my head down and saw the guys coming back to me. I think that I rode a pretty good race after that.”

Edwards finished sixth after a late pass on teammate James Toseland, once again pipping the Briton on the final laps. Had it have stayed dry for the entire day, the American would have been disappointed with anything outside the top handful of riders.

“We were looking like finishing top five easily in the dry, all weekend we were thereabouts on average times. We would have been a little better in a completely dry race, but that beginning is what gets me.

“As far as the weather goes, we just have to look at it like this: If it rains in Qatar, then we’re screwed for the rest of the year! It’s kind of what’s happened now, with it raining nearly every race,” he joked. (motogp.com)

7 James Toseland Yamaha GBR 0'25.621

"That's my best result of the season and I'm happy with that because I feel I should be fighting around the top six on a regular basis. I started the race with quite a hard spring in the rear shock and in the first few laps I was in trouble. I hadn't planned on coming into the pits so early for my dry bike but I had no choice. I was losing a lot of time so it was definitely a gamble worth taking. The first couple of laps on slicks were eventful while I was trying to get the hard tyres to temperature, but once I'd got a rhythm going I felt pretty confident and I was pleased I'd decided to come in early. The section of track with the new tarmac was a bit scary because that never dried through the whole race, but you could ride the rest of the track pretty much flat-out and coming in when I did definitely helped gain me a lot of places once I'd picked up my pace. I had a really good dice with Randy and there were a few good overtakes. It's the first race I've enjoyed for a while because for most of it I was fighting for the top six. That's where I was a few times last season and that's where this bike and team deserve to be. Hopefully I can push on in Catalunya." (yamaha-racing.com)


8 Randy De Puniet Honda FRA 0'26.046

“Unfortunately the conditions were the same of Le Mans race but today's result is a bit better. I took a very good start but after some laps in the wet I did not feel pretty confident and was slower compared to the others; probably I have been too cautious”, he explained.
Click here to find out more!
“I changed my bike at the right moment but, for two laps, I struggled to set my rhythm especially on the damp parts of the track. Anyway I had fun battling with Toseland and tried many times to leave him behind but it was impossible. At two laps to go Edwards caught us and I pushed to end 6th but was too late. Eighth position is not so bad in these conditions but we could get that sixth place in the pocket. Thanks to my Team once again for their good work”.

9 Niccolo Canepa Ducati ITA 0'31.815
10 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'34.814
11 Marco Melandri Kawasaki ITA 0'35.090
12 Nicky Hayden Ducati USA 0'39.122
13 Mika Kallio Ducati FIN 0'52.462
14 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'52.478
15 Alex De Angelis Honda SMR -1Laps

Pedrosa to undergo further hip test after Mugello crash

Sunday, 31 May 2009 (motogp.com)

Manager Alberto Puig reveals that crash impact will need further examination.

A big crash after changing to slick tyres proved to be a miserable finale to a bad weekend for Dani Pedrosa, as the Spaniard not only failed to earn points on a day in which his three title rivals took to the podium, but also took a further hit to his injured hip.

The Repsol Honda rider had incurred what was identified as a tendon injury to his hip during practice, and suffered the misfortune of hitting the Mugello gravel in exactly the same place when thrown from his 800cc bike. Manager and mentor Alberto Puig was unable to give a medical opinion on his colleague, but did reiterate the tough nature of the fall.

“Everyone saw the crash. Dani hit the same place that was already in a bad way when he crashed, and we will have to wait until tomorrow to see what the seriousness of the situation is. There is just one more test to do, and I suppose that tomorrow we will be able to do it. I’m not a doctor, so I couldn’t say when he’d return to action or anything like that,” said the former rider.

“Dani had this hip problem on Friday, and from then on things got worse. Now we just want to make sure that the pain that he has now is from the original incident, and that today’s crash didn’t cause any more damage.”

Pedrosa will hope for a return in time for his home race, the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya, in two weeks time.

and an Amazing saves from the 250 race/QF i just had to share

Raffaele de Rosa - Outrageous save at Mugello QF!

Marco Simoncelli e Álvaro Bautista 250

Sete Gibernau #59

Sete Gibernau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grupo Francisco Hernando

Sete Gibernau Bultó
Sete Gibernau riding one of Fausto Gresin Fausto Gresini's Hondas in 2005
Nationality	Spain Spain Spanish
Date of birth	December 15, 1972 (1972-12-15) (age 36)
Place of birth	Barcelona
MotoGP Record
Current team
Bike number	59
List of Grand Prix motorcycle racing World Champions	0
Race starts	174
Wins	9
Podium finishes	30
Pole position	13
Fastest lap	8
Points	1342
2009 championship position	15th (8 pts)

Manuel Sete Gibernau Bultó (born December 15,1972 in Barcelona) is a Spanish MotoGP rider, currently residing in Switzerland. He retired from racing in 2006 but has returned to MotoGP in the 2009 season.

Valentino Rossi has mentioned Stoner, followed by Gibernau as his hardest rivals ever. Gibernau was known for his wet-weather abilities and was occasionally referred to as rainmaster. However despite his flair, he was all too often let down by an apparently temperamental nature. In-race setbacks could disproportionately affect his competitiveness, both negatively and positively. His career started slowly until he found his motivation and his intermittent flair became consistent. Then he was the principal challenger for Rossi's crown until 2005. 2006 brought a series of emotional, technical, and injury set-backs, apparently sapping his motivation. It culminated in a major mid-season no-fault racing incident which effectively eliminated him from the championship.

The Ducati Marlboro team replaced him with Casey Stoner for 2007. He turned down offers from Kawasaki, Sito Pons and Ilmor team and decided to retire from all forms of motorcycle racing. In 2008 he announced his return to MotoGP for the 2009 season. He is arguably one of the best riders in MotoGP never to have won the title.

Biography

Gibernau's grandfather was Francisco Xavier "Paco" Bultó, who founded the Bultaco motorcycle company after Montesa pulled out of Observed Trials in 1956. During Gibernau's youth, Bultaco was run by his uncle, Don Paco Bultó.

After trying many different bike categories, in particular those built by his uncle, Seté finally turned to high-speed racing in 1996. Then World Champion Wayne Rainey supported him in the Open Ducados competition, and he ran for one year with a Yamaha TZ250. He moved up to 500 cc machines with the team for 1997, and in 1998 replaced injured Takuma Aoki on a two cylinder Honda. His breakthrough came when he replaced the injured Mick Doohan at Honda during 1999, helping him to 5th overall. Gibernau failed to perform well for the team in 2000.

1990 - 2000

1990 - Debut in the "Gilera Cup" Championship.

1991 - Junior Champion in the Spanish and Catalan Championship.

1992 - European Championship, 250cc class.

1993 - Third classified in the Spanish Championship, 250cc class, Yamaha; took part to the Spanish GP race as a wild card in the 250cc class.

1994 - Fifth classified in the Spanish Championship, 250cc class.

1995 - Third classified in the Spanish Championship, 250cc class.

1996 - Twenty-first classified in the World Championship, 250cc class, Team Yamaha Rainey.

1997 - Thirteenth classified in the World Championship, 500cc class, Team Yamaha Rainey.

1998 - Eleventh classified in the World Championship, 500cc class, Honda Factory Team.

1999 - Fifth classified in the World Championship, 500cc class, Honda HRC Team.

2000 - Fifteenth classified in the World Championship, 500cc class, Honda Repsol Team.

2001/2 - Suzuki

Gibernau joined Suzuki for 2001, a season in which he took his maiden victory in the rain interrupted race at Valencia. 2002 proved to be a highly inauspicious year for both Gibernau and Suzuki in general with only Akira Ryo taking a podium at the season opening race in Suzuka.

However, in the year's last race, Seté turned in an incredible performance, turning in fastest lap after fastest lap and making up tremendous ground on Rossi before finally crashing out in the last few laps. This was a sign of things to come.

2003 MotoGP season

For 2003 he joined Fausto Gresini's Movistar Honda team for 2003. Tragically, his Japanese team-mate Daijiro Kato died (in accident) in the season-opening race at Suzuka, Japan and this tragedy seemed to inspire the notoriously temperamental and spiritual Gibernau. With Kato's #74 on the bike alongside his traditional #15, Seté managed not only to win the next round in Welkom but also challenge Valentino Rossi for the championship throughout the year. 2003 was Gibernau's most consistent season, winning 4 races including the Dutch TT, to gain a total of 277 points - the second highest ever total not to win the title (behind Casey Stoner with 280 in 2008). Valentino Rossi has described 2003 in his career as "...the year of Gibernau, it was hard until the end...".

Sete vs Rossi Ger 2003

2004 MotoGP season

There was much anticipation surrounding the 2004 championship as Valentino Rossi had made surprising move to Yamaha and Gibernau's pre season and early season speed would indicate he was in perfect position to seize the title. Gibernau finished on the podium in the first 3 races, winning 2 of them and had gained the perfect start to 2004 with Rossi at times struggling to come to terms with his new bike. However, a run of victories went Rossi's way after the French round and didn't abate until Rio de Janeiro where one of the two most surprising incidents of Gibernau and Rossi's rivalries occurred.

Gibernau and Rossi were level on points, and Gibernau had the edge on Rossi for most of the weekend. Despite Kenny Roberts, Jr. taking pole, Gibernau was showing formidable race speed. Despite a poor start Gibernau carved through the field passing his rivals and Rossi seemingly with ease - until he crashed out, losing the front into the second last turn. Rossi, seeking to capitalise, pushed harder but he too then crashed out at the very same corner as Gibernau only a few laps later. Gibernau again crashed out in Germany, this time Rossi stayed aboard but could only manage 4th, moving 13 points ahead of Gibernau in the championship. Rossi then put in a consistent run of podium finishes to take out the championship, despite Gibernau winning at Brno and Losail

At the 2004 Qatar race their previously good-natured rivalry spilled over, as Rossi accused Gibernau of pressuring officials to disqualify his qualifying result for allegedly later tampering with the track patch from which he started, to get better grip off an unusually dusty surface. However, it was Gibernau's team, not Seté himself, who had noticed the track alteration and they asked race organisers to investigate. The security cameras' tapes showed Rossi's team tampering with the track, doing extended burn-outs (spinning tyres) on his starting zone which embedded rubber across it and provided better grip. Race organisers moved Rossi to the back of the grid. The media reported that Rossi put a curse on his rival that weekend; Gibernau never won another race.

2005 MotoGP season

Tensions between Gibernau and Rossi came to a head at the first race of 2005 at Jerez. Gibernau led most of the race with Rossi a close second. On the second-last lap, Rossi attacked and passed Gibernau to take the lead and then opened a gap on Gibernau. However, Rossi made a mistake and was re-passed by Gibernau with one lap remaining. On the final corner, Rossi made an aggressive pass on Gibernau to take the lead and win the race. During the pass, Gibernau and Rossi came into contact and Gibernau was unable to complete the turn and ran wide into the gravel; he did not fall and was able to continue on and finish second. The pass was controversial amongst observers; some considered it overly aggressive or even dirty racing while others felt it was a brilliant racing move. The Spanish crowd booed and whistled at Rossi after the race. Gibernau was unimpressed with Rossi's move but neither he nor his Gresini team lodged a formal protest.

Subsequently, Seté did not have a strong season, finishing the championship in 8th overall. Meanwhile team-mate Marco Melandri finished ahead of Gibernau in the 2005 championship. But 2005 did bring some joy to Gibernau as he easily took out both BMW awards.

Sete Vs Rossi Jerez 2005

2006 MotoGP season

Gibernau replaced Carlos Checa at the factory Ducati team, showing prodigious speed with his new team for 2006 in pre season testing.

Gibernau retired from the opening race at Jerez after qualifying in 2nd place, due to electronics issues on his Ducati. Seté took some time to come to terms with the booming Ducati Desmosedici. He did have a run of point scoring finishes in the early races of the season, at times proved to be faster than his experienced team mate Loris Capirossi. He managed to silence his doubters by taking pole position at the Italian Grand Prix, ahead of home-town favourites, Capirossi and Rossi. He finished fifth in the race, despite completing the race with a bleeding left foot, after his left boot protector fell off during the race.

The remains of Gibernau's motorcycle after his crash at Barcelona in 2006.

The seventh round at Catalunya in Barcelona shaped the rest of Gibernau's season and the rest of his career, in an extraordinary crash described later by race commentators as "Terrifying" and "I have never been so scared in my life, commentating a race". In the crowded first corner, a fast right-hander, Gibernau's teammate Capirossi moved left around traffic across Seté's faster line (over 124 mph (198 km/h) at the point of the accident, according to the datalogger) and collected his front brake lever, locking Seté's front wheel and flipping his bike end over end. It only narrowly missed landing on the unconscious Seté. In the resulting group crash, 6 riders went into the gravel, 5 bikes were wrecked, 3 riders were taken to hospital, and race organisers stopped the race. Seté's ambulance itself then had an accident on the way to hospital, hitting a bus just 50 metres from the hospital entrance, although he did not suffer any further injury. It was later confirmed that he had concussion and had broken a bone in his hand and re-broken the collar bone broken at Assen, necessitating the removal and replacement of the metal plate.

Caduta MotoGp Barcellona 2006

The injuries came at a bad time - Catalunya was the first of 5 races in 6 weeks. Gibernau missed the following two races at Assen and Donnington Park. Despite feeling weak, he raced in the German and USA races and was never far behind his fitter teammate on identical machinery: on the Sachsenring he finished only 3 places behind Capirossi, and at Laguna Seca he finished only 2 places behind. But within 3 days of returning to Barcelona was back in hospital: the titanium plate in his collar bone had weakened, causing complications. He missed the round at Brno in the Czech Republic.

His fitness improved and he managed a commendable 5th place at Sepang in Malaysia on Sunday 10 September, and had a podium 3rd snatched from him in a "last-gasp effort" by Rossi at Philip Island in Australia. After another 4th place at the Japanese Grand prix, Seté was fastest in the first ever 800 cc test at Motegi. In the second-last round of the season Seté was riding in 5th place when Casey Stoner crashed in front of him too close to avoid and brought Seté down with him. Gibernau suffered a broken fifth metacarpal in his hand and had apparently re-bent one of the titanium plates in his collar bone.

Retirement

Gibernau lost his ride at the end of 2006, when Ducati announced 17 October 2006 that Casey Stoner would replace him on the new-for-2007 800 cc bike alongside Capirossi. Kawasaki offered him a place, but Gibernau decided instead to retire from all motorcycle racing, saying at a press conference on 8 November 2006: "If I had accepted the offers to continue just for the sake of carrying on then it wouldn't have made me happy, especially if it was just for money."

Return to MotoGP (2009)

Gibernau returned to action, testing the Desmosedici GP9 at the Mugello circuit, alongside official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi, in a three day run starting on 17 June 2008. There was speculation that he could replace the uncompetitive Marco Melandri aboard the second Factory Ducati for the later races in the 2008 season. Despite positive results Ducati MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo was unwilling to confirm any definite future for Gibernau with the team.[16] Sete again tested the Desmosedici GP8 and GP9 on a three day test beginning on 1 July 2008 at the Mugello circuit. He recorded a best time of 1´50.5 on board the GP8 on race tyres, just a few tenths off this year's race record at Mugello set by Casey Stoner. He clocked a 1´48.9 on 30 July at Mugello on qualifying tyres which would have placed him 7th on the starting grid for the 2008 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix.

After a few months of speculation, on 23rd Oct at Valencia, it was officially confirmed that he would return to race in 2009 on Onde 2000 Ducati, a Ducati satellite team run by Angel Nieto. The squad is backed by Onde 2000, a Spanish building concern. With number 15 taken by Alex de Angelis, a new figure has been used for Gibernau's comeback campaign. Gibernau chose 59, in reference to the year in which his grandfather's Bultaco company produced their first bike.

He began testing for the new team at Valencia. Gibernau's quickest lap was a 1´34.451 riding the Onde 2000 Ducati GP8, that placed him a modest 14th on the 18-rider timesheets, almost 2sec from fastest man Casey Stoner (using the GP9 Ducati). At Jerez, in his first official test since return to motogp, he ranked 9th among 14 riders, notably faster than Niccolo Canepa on Alice Ducati and Vitto Guareschi on the factory Ducati.

Gibernau admitted that, at 35, among the current crop of young motogp stars - "I´m going to have to work very hard and I´m ready for that...". He admitted he was not back in MotoGP to win races, but rather to enjoy himself on the bike. Gibernau acknowledged the bikes had changed a lot in the two years he had been absent from the sport. He noted that the Ducati was now very competitive with lot of potential. "Cornering speed is extremely quick and compared to 2006 there's a lot more electronics. You must trust it almost with your eyes closed, and I still can't do it. I think the rider should do certain things, while instead you must let the bike do it."

Valentino Rossi said he is looking forward to renewing his rivalry with the former foe... “I am sorry I didn't see Sete on the track when we tested in Valencia because I think it's quite a big emotion for us to be together on the track again after all our great battles. I am happy to see him back. We spoke a little bit in the summer when he was thinking about coming back and I’m looking forward to racing him again.” Gibernau suggested he might try to rebuild his relationship with Rossi, after falling out with the Italian in the final years of their battles. "With Vale I enjoyed myself both on and off the track. Then life changes, but the experience is still positive. I did some fantastic races against a guy considered perhaps the strongest rider of all times. That for me is cause of pride. The relationship on a personal level was excellent for a while, then it changed, but I have big respect for Valentino. Perhaps now a good relationship can be rebuild again."

Personal life

Presently residing in Switzerland, Gibernau is well educated, he speaks fluent Spanish, Catalan, Italian and English; plus some French and German. His hobbies include cycling and water skiing.

Gibernau's ex-wife is the Spanish supermodel Esther Cañadas. She was always supportive of Gibernau and could often be seen in the pit garage during races, cheering him on. He formerly rode with a number 15 good luck charm, but rode with a charm given to him by Cañadas when they became a couple. However after one year as a married couple they announced their separation in mid 2008.

Like most riders, he has his superstitions - he always puts his right boot on first.

Maybe we will get to see Bayliss and Rossi on the same track after all, after Rossi’s attempt to go to WSBK for 1 race begins GP9 testing at Mugello

Troy Bayliss completed his first day of testing on board the Desmosedici GP9 at Mugello today alongside regular factory test rider Vittoriano Guareschi.

It was a first outing for the Australian on a MotoGP bike since the final round of 2006, when he followed up his second World Superbike title by competing in the final Grand Prix of the season at Valencia, scoring a sensational one-two for Ducati with victory ahead of his team-mate Loris Capirossi.

Today was also Bayliss' first taste of an 800cc MotoGP machine and his first track action of any sort since ending the 2008 WSBK title-winning season, and his legendary racing career, with a double race victory at Portimao.

"This is literally the first time I've ridden a motorcycle since we unveiled the 1198 after the end of last season at Portimao", said the Australian rider. "It was nice to shake off a bit of rust and with Mugello being such a physical circuit it was a good workout!"

"The last time I rode a GP machine was at Valencia, which was the 990cc, but the 800cc isn't exactly lacking power and I just spent today getting a feel for it. I can't wait to get back out there tomorrow and on Thursday and hopefully by the end of the session I'll be able to give some useful feedback to Filippo (Preziosi)."

motogp.com

Maybe we will get to see Bayliss and Rossi on the same track after all, after Rossi’s attempt to go to WSBK for 1 race to go head to head with Bayliss at Qatar failed.
Maybe now that Bayliss is testing for Ducati he will do a guest appetence as a wild card in one of the race?
I personally hope so. I think it will be good.
Also it is obvious the Ducati needs all the help it could get and it is good to see they are doing positives step to try and help all their riders. And that they recruiting one of the best riders for the job.
So good luck to Ducati (and of course to my beloved Nicky- I want to see you smiling again)

Niccolo CANEPA 88

Niccolo CANEPA

	88
	Place of birth: Genova
	Date of birth: 14/May/1988

MotoGP rookie Niccolo Canepa is Ducati’s homegrown representative in the premier class for 2009, continuing the factory’s tradition of running at least one Italian rider in the category. The debutant is not merely making up the numbers, however, as he has proved to be a speedy competitor with the Desmosedici during his time as a test rider.

Coming from a racing family, with his father a former rider, Canepa began his career on the national minibike scene at the age of eleven, taking numerous victories. Three years later, on the day following his fourteenth birthday, he became the youngest participant to date to ride in the Coppa Italia 600 Superstock series, with the bigger bikes becoming his speciality over the next two years. During this time he competed in several Supersport races in the international series.

In 2006 the Genoa-born rider finished second in the European Superstock Championship with the Ducati Xerox Junior Team, despite missing the final races of the campaign through injury. This was followed by a title victory in the eleven-round FIM Superstock 1000 Superstock Cup.

Canepa’s relationship with Ducati continued into 2007, when he took over from Shinichi Ito as the factory’s test rider. In addition, he competed as a wildcard on a superbike to keep in race shape.

The Alice Team garage is his new home for the 2009 campaign, joining Mika Kallio as both undertake their first MotoGP campaign.

Mika Kallio #36

Mika Kallio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mika Kallio
Mika Kallio
Nationality	Finnish
Date of birth	November 8, 1982 (1982-11-08) (age 26)[1]
Place of birth	Valkeakoski (Finland)
Website	mikakallio.com
MotoGP Record
Current team	Pramac Racing
Bike number	36
Championships	0
Race starts	117
Wins	12
Podium finishes	33
Pole positions	14
Fastest laps	8
Points	1120
2009 championship position	7th (16 pts)

Mika Kallio (born 8 November, 1982 in Valkeakoski) is a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He debuted in the 125cc World Championship with the Finnish rookie team Ajo Motorsport in 2001 and was awarded the "Rookie of the Year" in 2002. After moving to Red Bull KTM during the 2003 season, he finished runner-up in the class in 2005 and 2006.

In his first year with KTM in the 250cc class, Kallio took two wins and finished seventh. In 2008, he led the championship throughout the first half of the season, eventually having to settle for third place. For the 2009 season, he moved to the MotoGP (800cc) class, racing on a Ducati Desmosedici GP9 for Ducati's satellite team Pramac Racing.

Career

Domestic

Kallio started racing in 1997 and won the Finnish championship in road racing with further success in 1999 and 2000. During 2000, he also became the Nordic champion after finishing second in the previous year.

While Kallio pursued his road racing goals, the Finn has also scored plenty of success in ice racing back home in Finland, having achieved the Finnish motorcycle ice racing championship in 2000, 2004 and 2005 in the 125cc class. At 500cc level, Kallio also won the title in 2004 and 2006.

125cc (2001-2006)

Kallio made his debut in the 125cc World Championship as a wildcard rider at the 2001 German Grand Prix. Continuing with Ajo Motorsport and the Honda RS125R for a full season in 2002, he finished as the Rookie of the Year. Halfway through the 2003 season, Kallio switched to Red Bull KTM, KTM's factory team. He immediately took his career-best fourth place in Czech Republic. The highlight of 2003 was his first-ever class podium, a second place at Sepang behind Dani Pedrosa.

Kallio racing with his KTM bike.

After a 2004 season filled with bike reliability issues, Kallio took his first championship pole position and victory at the second round of the 2005 season at Estoril. He went on to take seven more poles and three more wins and lost the world title by just five points to Thomas Lüthi. He lost five points at the fourth-last Grand Prix in Qatar when his KTM team-mate, Gábor Talmácsi, pulled out from behind the slipstream and passed him on the last few metres of the race to take the win by 0.017 seconds. Kallio had started from pole position and led every lap of the race and was not pushing on the home straight anymore, as Talmácsi had been ordered to stay back by the team because he was not a title contender. Talmácsi was fired after the season finale at Valencia.

Kallio's 125cc KTM bike.

In 2006, Kallio was again a challenger for the 125 cc title. Although he produced his best season to date, the young Finn was outshone by Spain's Álvaro Bautista and while he tried to hang onto the Spaniard, he was forced to settle for the runner-up spot once again, although he did finish a full 65 points ahead of the third position. Kallio scored three victories, four pole positions and 11 podiums during the 2006 campaign. At the end of the year, viewers of the Finnish motorsport television series Ruutulippu voted Kallio the Finnish Motorsportsman of the Year for the second year running. He collected 33.1% of all votes and pipped enduro world champion Samuli Aro, WRC runner-up Marcus Grönholm and F1 star Kimi Räikkönen.

250cc (2007-2008)

For the 2007 season, Kallio moved up to KTM's squad in the 250cc category alongside Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama. After a difficult start to the season with mechnical woes at Qatar and Spain, Kallio would consistently be fighting around the top six positions. The turning point of the season would be at Germany, where Kallio took his debut pole position and podium finish in the class for come home in 2nd behind team mate Aoyama to cap a fine 1-2 for KTM. A third place followed at the Czech Republic, although a nasty highside at San Marino, and more mechnical problems at Portugal were to slow his progress.

However the Finn would capture his first 250cc class victory at the rain-soaked Japanese race, and later added to his tally at the final round in Valencia, fending of Alex de Angelis on the final lap. He ended the season with two pole positions, two wins, four podiums and two fastest laps to place him seventh in the standings with 157 points.

Kallio remained at KTM for 2008. A strong start to the season saw a third place at the season opener under the floodlights of Qatar. A fortunate win at Jerez, Spain after title rivals Álvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli crashed out together on the final lap. Another solid third place at Portugal, before contining his strong run with a masterful victory in China under tricky conditions. Kallio had built up a strong lead in the championship but his luck would soon change. After difficult races in France and Italy, the latter hampered by clutch issues at the start of the race, his bad luck continued in Catalunya when his bike broke down, and almost crashed on his return to the pits. His healthy lead in the standings had simply vanished.

His woes seemed to continue at Donington Park after qualifying only 14th. However, he passed one rider after another to jump up right to the head of the field to take a surprise victory. It were to be his final win in 250s. The KTM riders could not keep up with the pace of Piaggio riders and his title challenge was over in Australia, having been passed by eventual champion Simoncelli and Bautista a few races before. He did however make a long awaited return to the podium in third place, beating off fellow KTM rider Julián Simón to the line.

A forgettable race in Malaysia was followed by an accident in the final round at Valencia. Having been the only rider to keep pace with the new world champion, Simoncelli, Kallio was pushing to the limit to keep up and launch an attack on the final lap. However, he crashed half way round the final lap and slowly came home in an 11th place. He wrapped up the year to finish third overall with 196pts. It included three victories, three more podiums and two fastest laps, although he did not score a single pole position.

MotoGP (2009-)

On 19 October 2008, Kallio was announced as part of the new Pramac Racing lineup for 2009 in Moto GP alongside Italian Niccolò Canepa. The Finn has been provided with the latest spec Ducati Desmosedici GP9 ensuring equality for the satellite teams and the factory squad.

Mika Kallio #36

Personal opinion: finished 3rd last year in 250, even due he is on a Ducati satellite team, he came 8th in the first race in Qatar which is very impressive, and ahead of much more experienced riders.






iCE RACING

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

YES THEY ARE RACING MOTORBIKES IN AN ICE COVERED TRACK.

Mika Kallio
Date of Birth: 8.11.1982 Valkeakoski
Residence Town: Monaco
Heigth/Weight: 165cm / 58kg
Class: MotoGP
Team: Pramac Racing
Interests: Iceracing with motorcycle, fitness, fishing, boating

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mika Kallio (born 8 November, 1982 in Valkeakoski) is a Finnish Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He debuted in the 125cc World Championship with the Finnish rookie team Ajo Motorsport in 2001 and was awarded the "Rookie of the Year" in 2002. After moving to Red Bull KTM during the 2003 season, he finished runner-up in the class in 2005 and 2006.

In his first year with KTM in the 250cc class, Kallio took two wins and finished seventh. In 2008, he led the championship throughout the first half of the season, eventually having to settle for third place. For the 2009 season, he moved to the MotoGP (800cc) class, racing on a Ducati Desmosedici GP9 for Ducati's satellite team Pramac Racing.

Career

Domestic

Kallio started racing in 1997 and won the Finnish championship in road racing with further success in 1999 and 2000. During 2000, he also became the Nordic champion after finishing second in the previous year.

While Kallio pursued his road racing goals, the Finn has also scored plenty of success in ice racing back home in Finland, having achieved the Finnish motorcycle ice racing championship in 2000, 2004 and 2005 in the 125cc class. At 500cc level, Kallio also won the title in 2004 and 2006.

125cc (2001-2006)

Kallio made his debut in the 125cc World Championship as a wildcard rider at the 2001 German Grand Prix. Continuing with Ajo Motorsport and the Honda RS125R for a full season in 2002, he finished as the Rookie of the Year. Halfway through the 2003 season, Kallio switched to Red Bull KTM, KTM's factory team. He immediately took his career-best fourth place in Czech Republic. The highlight of 2003 was his first-ever class podium, a second place at Sepang behind Dani Pedrosa.

Kallio racing with his KTM bike.

After a 2004 season filled with bike reliability issues, Kallio took his first championship pole position and victory at the second round of the 2005 season at Estoril. He went on to take seven more poles and three more wins and lost the world title by just five points to Thomas Lüthi. He lost five points at the fourth-last Grand Prix in Qatar when his KTM team-mate, Gábor Talmácsi, pulled out from behind the slipstream and passed him on the last few metres of the race to take the win by 0.017 seconds.[2] Kallio had started from pole position and led every lap of the race and was not pushing on the home straight anymore, as Talmácsi had been ordered to stay back by the team because he was not a title contender. Talmácsi was fired after the season finale at Valencia.

Kallio's 125cc KTM bike.

In 2006, Kallio was again a challenger for the 125 cc title. Although he produced his best season to date, the young Finn was outshone by Spain's Álvaro Bautista and while he tried to hang onto the Spaniard, he was forced to settle for the runner-up spot once again, although he did finish a full 65 points ahead of the third position. Kallio scored three victories, four pole positions and 11 podiums during the 2006 campaign. At the end of the year, viewers of the Finnish motorsport television series Ruutulippu voted Kallio the Finnish Motorsportsman of the Year for the second year running. He collected 33.1% of all votes and pipped enduro world champion Samuli Aro, WRC runner-up Marcus Grönholm and F1 star Kimi Räikkönen.

250cc (2007-2008)

For the 2007 season, Kallio moved up to KTM's squad in the 250cc category alongside Japan's Hiroshi Aoyama. After a difficult start to the season with mechnical woes at Qatar and Spain, Kallio would consistently be fighting around the top six positions. The turning point of the season would be at Germany, where Kallio took his debut pole position and podium finish in the class for come home in 2nd behind team mate Aoyama to cap a fine 1-2 for KTM. A third place followed at the Czech Republic, although a nasty highside at San Marino, and more mechnical problems at Portugal were to slow his progress.

However the Finn would capture his first 250cc class victory at the rain-soaked Japanese race, and later added to his tally at the final round in Valencia, fending of Alex de Angelis on the final lap. He ended the season with two pole positions, two wins, four podiums and two fastest laps to place him seventh in the standings with 157 points.

Kallio remained at KTM for 2008. A strong start to the season saw a third place at the season opener under the floodlights of Qatar. A fortunate win at Jerez, Spain after title rivals Álvaro Bautista and Marco Simoncelli crashed out together on the final lap. Another solid third place at Portugal, before contining his strong run with a masterful victory in China under tricky conditions. Kallio had built up a strong lead in the championship but his luck would soon change. After difficult races in France and Italy, the latter hampered by clutch issues at the start of the race, his bad luck continued in Catalunya when his bike broke down, and almost crashed on his return to the pits. His healthy lead in the standings had simply vanished.

His woes seemed to continue at Donington Park after qualifying only 14th. However, he passed one rider after another to jump up right to the head of the field to take a surprise victory. It were to be his final win in 250s. The KTM riders could not keep up with the pace of Piaggio riders and his title challenge was over in Australia, having been passed by eventual champion Simoncelli and Bautista a few races before. He did however make a long awaited return to the podium in third place, beating off fellow KTM rider Julián Simón to the line.

A forgettable race in Malaysia was followed by an accident in the final round at Valencia. Having been the only rider to keep pace with the new world champion, Simoncelli, Kallio was pushing to the limit to keep up and launch an attack on the final lap. However, he crashed half way round the final lap and slowly came home in an 11th place. He wrapped up the year to finish third overall with 196pts. It included three victories, three more podiums and two fastest laps, although he did not score a single pole position.

MotoGP (2009-)

On 19 October 2008, Kallio was announced as part of the new Pramac Racing lineup for 2009 in Moto GP alongside Italian Niccolò Canepa. The Finn has been provided with the latest spec Ducati Desmosedici GP9 ensuring equality for the satellite teams and the factory squad.[5]

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Brendan Roberts #24

Brendan Roberts #24

Personal opinion: did very well in Superstock wan the championship last year, seams to be good in the wet, should be interesting to see him in a wet race.





Full Name: Brendan Roberts
Nickname: Brendo
Birth Date: 03/02/1985
Place of birth: Adelaide, Australia
Current home town: My home on wheels!
Height: 175cms
Weight: 78kgs
Eyes: Green / Brown
Hair: Dark Brown
Marital status: in a relationship
Hobbies: Gym, cycling, and triathlons
Music Various
What car do you drive: Fiat
Team for 2009: Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R
First race:: Motocross- NOV 92
Road racing - JUL 03
First bike: Motocross- JR 50 SUZUKI
Road racing - YAMAHA R6
First win: Motocross - NOV 92
Road racing - SEPT 03
Favourite UK track: Donnington Park
Favourite track abroad: Phillip Island
When did you start riding? When I was 7 years old
How did you get into bikes? I pestered my Dad!
Racing heroes? Mick Doohan
Most respected racing rival? Claudio Corti !
Best memories? Phillip Island 2004 where I won the
Australian 600CC Superstock

Race History

2008 Superstock 1000 Championship

first position with 109 points

2007 FIM Superstock 1000 Championship

Brendan Roberts will compete in the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, riding the brand-new Ducati 1098 of the Ducati Xerox Junior Team.

2006 NATIONAL SUPERSTOCK CHAMPION
6 RACE WINS
8 PODIUM FINISHES

CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS AFTER 13 ROUNDS
BRENDAN ROBERTS 216
AARON ZANOTTI 141
LUKE QUIGLEY 138
LEE JACKSON 126

2005 - Virgin Mobile R6 Cup
Championship Standings after 12 of 12 Rounds:
Billy McConnell 173
Brendan Roberts 156
Tommy Bridewell 150
Jon Boy Lee 136
Ian Lowry 128
Adam Jenkinson 123
With 6 podium finishes, 2 race wins and 5 lap records

2004 Australian Road Race Championship
Superstock 600cc Champion
21 races
17 podiums
7 wins
3 poles

2003 purchased a Yamaha R6 in July
Mallala Club race – Qualified 30th, race 1 = 27th, race 2 = 19th
August - Australian Road Race Championship, R5 Eastern Creek,
Superstock 600cc Qualified 3rd, race 1 = 3rd, race 2 = 8th, Overall 5th MX History
2003 Australian MX Championship 9th 450cc

2002 Australian MX Thumper Nationals 5th 450cc
Represented Australian MX team in Oceanic Cup, Australia Vs New Zealand Held at Upper Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand 1st

2001 South Australian MX Championship 250cc Champion
Australian MX Championship 11th 125cc
Represented Australian MX team in Oceanic Cup, Australia Vs New Zealand Held at Upper Hutt, Wellington, Australia 1st

2000 Injured shoulder and arm

1999 Injured with broken arm

1998 Indonesian MX Championship 80cc Champion

1997 Australian MX Championship 3rd 80cc and 100cc
World MX GP, Bandung, Indonesia 6th 80cc

1995 Australian MX Championship 2nd 60cc and 80cc

1994 Australian MX Championship 2nd 52cc

1992 November started racing - age 7?!

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Jakub Smrž #96

Jakub Smrž #96

Personal opinion: he is a pretty strong rider, he is improving constantly, I hope this year he will continue to, maybe this year he will finish in the top 10

Jakub Smrz superpole lap Phillip Island

www.OnTheThrottle.tv interviews Ducati 1098 rider Jakub Smrz during HANNspree FIM World Superbike Championship round 6 at Miller Motorsports Park in the U.S. The best Motorcycle roadracing.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jakub Smrž (born April 7, 1983 in České Budějovice, Czech Republic) is a professional motorcycle road racer currently competing in the Superbike World Championship.

Current team Guandalini Racing by Grifo's

He first entered the 125cc World Championship in 2000. He was 17th overall in 2001, then divided his time between 125cc and the 250cc championships in 2002. He remained in the 250cc World Championship until 2006, finishing 12th overall with a best of 7th that year.

For 2007 he was the surprise choice to replace Roberto Rolfo at the formerly race-winning SC Caracchi Ducati team in the Superbike World Championship. On a customer Ducati 999 F05 he frequently troubled the top 16 in qualifying. He finished the season 14th with a best race result of 8th.

In 2008 he roding a customer Ducati 1098 RS 08 for the Guandalini Racing by Grifo's teamand finished 13th.

Jakub Smrž lives in Jílovice.

Get to know the grid: WSBK- Shane Byrne #67

Shane Byrne #67 (a.k.a. Shakey)

Personal opinion: wan last year in BSB a head of Sykes and Haslam, didn’t have the best start of the year, lets hope things will improve for him.

Shakey's high side at BSB Race 1 at Brands Hatch (Oct 2006). The race was red flagged but thankfully Shakey was up and walking within a few minutes. Saw his bike in the pits after though and was a bit on the bent side!

In 2009 season
Rides with: Sterilgarda
On: Ducati 1098R

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shane Byrne (born 10 December 1976 in Lambeth, London), often known as Shakey, is a British motorcycle road racer. He is a 2003 and 2008 British Superbike champion, World Superbike race winner, and MotoGP competitor. He currently lives in Spain with his Czechoslovakian girlfriend Petra. Shane and Petra recently celebrated the birth of their first child, a boy named Zack.

Early days

While working as a road tester for Colin Schiller's Fast Bikes magazine, Shakey sat and passed his motorcycle test on a Ducati 996 SPS. A test he did at a wet Oulton Park in this era impressed Paul Bird, twice his future boss.

Shane emerged in the British Superbike Championship in 1999, initially on a private Kawasaki. In 2001 he was 8th in the championship with 5 top-5 finishes, and was comfortably champion of the Cup for privateers - he was the privateer winner in 22 races out of 26.

Success

He then joined Renegade Ducati for 2002, taking his first BSB win, and replaced reigning champion Steve Hislop with MonsterMob for 2003. He stunned the paddock by storming to a string of wins, taking the title with ease. He impressed further by achieving a double win at Brands Hatch for the British round of the Superbike World Championship.

International racing

For 2004 he joined fellow Brit Jeremy McWilliams in MotoGP with Aprilia, although he missed several races through injury. He spent much of 2005 racing for Kenny Roberts' team on a KTM MotoGP bike, before they were forced to pull out due to an internal dispute between the chassis and engine manufacturers. He raced in Malaysia and Qatar for Camel Honda, but did not impress Honda enough to earn a 2006 ride.

Back to Britain

For 2006 he returned to the British Superbike championship with Rizla Suzuki. His first podium came in race 7, despite a severe stomach bug that weekend. He missed races 11 and 12 after a 187 mph crash caused by a brake failure, although he was not seriously hurt. At Knockhill he qualified 2nd, and followed a 2nd place finish in race 1 with the team's first win of the season in race 2. This was despite the team's bikes having been stolen and dumped in a barn alongside horse manure a week previously. At the final round of the season he was running 3rd when he highsided, being knocked out in the process. Although he again escaped serious injury, he was unable to contest the final race of the year, which meant he slipped from 4th to 6th in the championship standings.

For 2007, Byrne was re-united with his former Monstermob boss Paul Bird who was now running the Stobart Vent-Axia team, a privateer team using the 1000cc Honda Fireblade. The Honda was competitive from the start, giving Shane more opportunities to fight at the front. He finished fifth overall, with a win, a pole position, and nine further podiums.

For the 2008 British Superbike championships, Byrne competes for the Airwaves Ducati squad on a Ducati 1098 alongside Leon Camier. The combination was immediately dominant. He won three of the opening four races - in the second race at Oulton Park he went wide on lap one, dropping to 13th place, but fought back. Almost immediately after he passed Cal Crutchlow for third place, Leon Haslam hit Tom Sykes, giving Byrne the lead. This race was stopped four laps early, after several riders including Crutchlow and Karl Harris fell. In race 2 at Snetterton he was held up by a crashing Harris on lap 1, dropping to 13th before fighting back to win. He finished each of the first 14 races on the podium, often coming through the field after poor starts.

World Superbikes

24 hours after clinching the British Superbikes Championship, Byrne confirmed that he would contest the 2009 World Superbikes championship with the Sterilgarda Ducati team, teamed with Alex Polita. This is his first full-time World Superbike campaign, although he has made successful wild card appearances in the past