2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Valentino Rossi dominates Sepang test

By Matthew Birt - MCN
MotoGP
05 February 2010


Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi struck a massive early psychological blow against his MotoGP rivals with a dominant performance at the two-day Sepang test.

Rossi ended a rain-hit second day with a best time of 2.00.925 – 0.5s faster than his best time on the opening day – to easily defeat Aussie rival Casey Stoner and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
Rossi only completed 32 laps as heavy rain disrupted track time this morning and late afternoon but he finished 0.395s clear of 2007 world champion Stoner on the factory Ducati GP10.

The Italian, who turns 31 later this month, said: “After yesterday this second day has been very good as well, even though we lost a few hours to the rain, and the end we were still able to finish all our work. We worked on the new bike to find a better setting and I was happy to be the fastest overall - even though this is just testing this is important for me! At the next test we will have a few more new things but we're already happy because we're fast and strong. There is room to improve of course; Sepang is always a good track for the Yamaha so we will have to wait until Qatar to get a better understanding of our level, but we have made a great start."

Stoner’s best time of 2.01.320 helped him secure second by 0.360s from Spaniard Lorenzo.
Lorenzo, who was runner-up behind Rossi in 2009, had been woefully out of sorts yesterday and while able to show more of his true potential today, he was still 0.755s adrift of seven-times world champion Rossi.

The 22-year-old said: “"I felt much better today and I was able to be fast straight away. It wasn't a big problem yesterday, it's just that after such a long break I forget how to ride a little bit! I need a bit of time, but it was much better today. I'm happy about my performance and about my feeling with the new bike. Yamaha have made good improvements without changing the best parts of the bike and this is the best way. They have made some good modifications to the chassis and the engine and this has already improved our pace. We don't have many days on the bike until the start of the season so we will make the most of the time here next month to continue our good work."

Dani Pedrosa was fourth quickest on the factory Honda RC212V but he was almost 0.9s off Rossi’s blistering pace, which was only 0.5s off his 2009 pole position record.
Ben Spies was still feeling below his best after suffering from a chronic bout of jetlag, but he recovered sufficiently today to clock the fifth best time with a lap of 2.02.266.

The reigning World Superbike champion said: “I rode as good and as hard as I could considering how I’ve been feeling. I’m not wanting to make any excuses but I didn’t feel really good with the jetlag. It was still a good test because I learned a lot about improving my riding and adapting my style to suit the Yamaha MotoGP bike.

"It is hard to break some of my old superbike habits at the moment but I made some big improvements in a couple of places on the track where I was really struggling, particularly in the braking. It started to feel more natural today and I got down to some decent times on race tyres. I was a second faster than the first day, so we made some good progress but this is a really difficult track to learn. This track is really long and really wide but I got to a respectable pace. I’ve said it a load of times but it’s a learning process and every lap I’m learning.”

Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards was two places further adrift in seventh with Andrea Dovizioso clocking the sixth quickest time.

It was another shocking day for former 250GP world champion Marco Simoncelli on the San Carlo Gresini Honda. The Italian was fortunate to escape injury when he suffered a massive high-speed high-side at Turn 4 this afternoon.

It was the same corner where British rider James Toseland suffered a vicious 125mph on the opening day of testing a year ago and Simoncelli suffered grazes to his left arm and hip. His RC212V though was badly damaged in the crash and he ended with the 15th best time. A 2.03.245 left him over two seconds off the pace.
 
By Matthew Birt -MCN
MotoGP
26 February 2010 12:10



Valentino Rossi’s domination of the 2010 MotoGP pre-season continued today when the Italian topped the timesheets at a scorching hot Sepang circuit.


The Italian has now topped each of the four days of winter testing in 2010 and today maintained his 100 per cent record with a best lap time of 2.00.271 in a run of 39-laps.
The 31-year-old beat Aussie rival Casey Stoner by 0.241s with Nicky Hayden a surprise third fastest on the factory Ducati GP10.


Rossi’s best time was a massive 0.7s faster than when he topped the timesheets in Sepang earlier this month as he continued to evaluate new electronics and long life engine parts on his factory YZR-M1.
He did also complete a few laps on a new prototype YZR-M1 machine but was cagey about revealing details of its performance when asked by MCN.


He smashed his own pole position record by 0.3s and said: “I'm really happy to have beaten my pole record, it's a good feeling to be this fast in testing.
"I did this with an old tyre but we also got the chance to try a very good new tyre from Bridgestone today, which I hope we will use from the first race.
"Our bike is in great shape; we need to do a bit more work on the electronics but in general everything is better, especially the rear grip and the engine.
"Yamaha have been very clever to develop this new bike whilst keeping the best parts of the old one, I'm very happy about it.
"It was good to get the chance to try the Japanese test bike, hopefully the feedback I gave them will help us in the future.
"Now we go to Qatar and then we will see our level because it is not one of mine or Yamaha's best tracks!
"But we're in great shape and this is very important at this stag e of the season. I'm really looking forward to it."


Stoner shrugged off arm cramps to post a best time of 2.00.512 in his 33-laps, the 2007 world champion delighted with his progress on a new carbon fibre swingarm he tested today.
Stoner was 0.8s faster than his early February benchmark as he also experimented with a reduced level of traction control using Ducati’s smoother Big Bang engine.


Just 0.191s adrift of the 24-year-old was a rejuvenated American Hayden. He could barely contain his satisfaction after he recovered from a tough first day to rocket up the leaderboard into third spot.
Hayden was a massive 1.5s faster today despite being hampered by the recent right arm surgery he underwent in Italy to remove scar tissue from previous operations.


The top six was packed with three American’s, with Texan Colin Edwards leaving the Far East declaring himself ‘ready to race’ after he clocked the fourth best time.


A lap of 2.00.988 was just 0.026s clear of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Ben Spies, who again looked assured and confident on the YZR-M1.
The reigning World Superbike champion clocked a best of 2.01.014 and was the last rider to lap inside of a second of in-form Rossi.


Loris Capirossi rode Suzuki’s new 2010 long life GSV-R motor to the sixth quickest time to finish ahead of compatriot Andrea Dovizioso.
On a tough day for Honda, British GP winner Dovizioso was the fastest Honda RC212V rider but a massive 1.168s adrift of Rossi.


He beat Repsol Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa by 0.039s with the Spaniard woefully out of sorts as he blamed a mountain of problems with the set-up of his factory RC212V.
Pedrosa only finished 0.214s clear of reigning 250GP champion Hiroshi Aoyama with impressive Spanish rookie Alvaro Bautista rounding out the top ten with a quickest lap of 2.01.732.


The former world 125GP champion rode today with heavy strapping on his left arm having suffered muscle damage when saving a big slide on his factory Suzuki GSV-R.



1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 2min 0.271 sec

2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 2min 0.512 sec

3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 2min 0.703 sec

4. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2min 0.988 sec

5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2min 1.014 sec

6. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2min 1.320 sec

7. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 2min 1.439 sec

8. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 2min 1.478 sec

9. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 2min 1.692 sec

10. Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2min 1.732 sec

11. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 2min 1.980 sec

12. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2min 2.078 sec

13. Hector Barbera SPA Paginas Amarillas Ducati 2min 2.080 sec

14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 2min 2.082 sec

15. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 2min 2.367 sec

16. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2min 3.689 sec
 

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Well, the time has finally come, the first round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship is this weekend under flood lights of the Quatar circuit. Let the battle of the titans begin! :cool:

For those located in the US, SPEED will be broadcasting the MotoGP race at 4 PM eastern. They will also broadcast the first ever Moto2 race at 11 PM eastern. Sadly, there does not seem to be a time slot for the ever exciting 125cc category in SPEED's Sunday schedule.

So, who are your contenders for the 2010 crown?
 
I can't wait till the weeked and the start of motogp, sould be another cracking season.........:cool: plus the full grids of motogp2 should be quite entertaining......:D I'll have to go with rossi again for the win, but i'm sure stoner is going to have something to say about that:eek:
 

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Ross Balfour

#99 | Roaring Pipes Maniacs
Stoner will win he always runs good here. I think Stoner will own this season with Rossi and Lorenzo behind. Battle for 4th will be good with Pedrosa, Hayden, Spies, Edwards, Dovi and Melandri

Good season ahead hopefully
 
I don't think Lorenzo will be up front straight out of the gate. He didn't look so great for much of the preseason and with the addition of this injury, it will be hard for him to keep pace. I would love to see Stoner regain the crown, but I have a feeling this season may come with a bit of a twist.
 
Qatar MotoGP: Casey Stoner lights up first practice

By Matthew Birt - MCN
MotoGP
09 April 2010 21:49



Casey Stoner’s quest for a fourth straight victory in the Qatar MotoGP race started in dominant fashion tonight when the Australian topped the timesheets in the opening practice session of 2010.

Stoner was untouchable once the 24-year-old hit the top with just 12 minutes of the hour-long session completed when he moved ahead of title rival and reigning world champion Valentino Rossi.

Stoner, who is undefeated at the Losail International Circuit since 2007, was so dominant that at one stage shortly before the halfway mark he led the field by close to a second.
A lap of 1.55.500 put the 2007 world champion 0.906s clear of Rossi and that time was never surpassed for the remainder of the session.

Stoner’s best though on the new Big Bang GP10 Ducati was marginally slower than his best time when he topped the timesheets at last month’s night test in Doha.

But he still finished a massive 0.526s clear of the field with Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo finishing second fastest.
The Spaniard showed no signs of a lingering right hand injury slowing him down as he steered his factory Yamaha YZR-M1 to a best time of 1.56.026.

Lorenzo posted that time with just four minutes remaining but he was involved in late drama after a crash in the dying moments.
The 22-year-old though was able to walk away unscathed and finish ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi by just 0.002s.

Rossi had led the early minutes of the session under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit.
But he ended up third quickest ahead of Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso, who denied Nicky Hayden a morale-boosting top four on his penultimate lap.

British GP winner Dovizioso ended with a best time of 1.56.698 to beat Kentucky rider Hayden by just 0.095s.
Factory Ducati rider Hayden staged an impressive fightback in the final quarter of the session after the 2006 world champion had been left languishing down in 16th position at one stage.

Just six minutes were left on the clock when he moved into fourth and he ended up beating fellow American Ben Spies by 0.025s.
Texan Spies was sixth fastest with a best lap of 1.56.818 after the reigning World Superbike champion had occupied third on the timesheets in the early exchanges of the 2010 campaign.

Spies, who completed the double in Doha at last year’s World Superbike clash, finished well clear of fellow Texan and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Colin Edwards. Edwards was left down in 12th place with a best lap of 1.57.167 that was some way off his pace at the recent night test.

Alvaro Bautista made an impressive debut on the factory Suzuki GSV-R when he logged a best time of 1.56.998 to claim seventh.
He was close to 0.4s faster than experienced team-mate Loris Capirossi, who had a troublesome start to his record-breaking 300th Grand Prix appearance.

The 37-year-old was only 13th fastest and he escaped injury when he crashed heavily with 22 minutes remaining.
And Dani Pedrosa’s problems continued tonight as the Spaniard was unable to post a time good enough to secure a top ten finish.

The triple world champion has had major issues in adapting to Ohlins suspension and has also found Honda’s 2010 RC212V chassis difficult to set-up.

Pedrosa was testing a revised chassis tonight with extra stiffness to bolster his confidence but he ended up 11th with a best time of 1.57.133.
 

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