2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing

I don't think Stoner will win the world title at Phillip Island as Lorenzo is riding really well. Great to see Bautista in 4th, top effort!
 
Spies has also withdrawn after struggling through warm-up sighting effects from his get-off at t3 in qualifying, this and lorenzo being ruled out after losing part of his finger means neither factory yamaha will compete in today's race
 
Casey Stoner dominates to take championship

By Tom Cambio - MCN
16 October 2011 07:09


Casey Stoner was on dominant form to win his home race at Phillip Island with a 2.2 second lead and secure the 2011 MotoGP world championship.
The Repsol Honda rider made a strong start and led throughout an intermittently wet race to take the championship win with a 65 point lead over Jorge Lorenzo. The Spanish Yamaha Factory Racing rider was ruled out of the race after sustaining a finger injury in a fall in the final minutes of warm up.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) put in a strong performance to take second, his best result of the season so far, holding the position throughout the race until a late rain shower meant Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was able to pass an unusually cautious Simoncelli with three laps remaining. Simoncelli fought back to reclaim second on the final lap, relegating Dovizioso to third place.
Dovizioso traded places with team mate Dani Pedrosa several times, with fifteen laps remaining Pedrosa went through on the brakes but eight laps later Dovizioso reclaimed third at the Switchback and Pedrosa eventually crossed the line 13.1 seconds behind in fourth place.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Factory Racing) made a very strong start to reach second place before dropping to fifth, with Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) challenging the American in sixth. The white flag was shown for the first rain showers with eighteen laps to go and on the following lap Bautista claimed fifth. A trailing Valentino Rossi seemingly found his pace mid-way through the race, passing team mate Hayden to secure sixth before making a determined pass on Bautista that resulted in the front end of his Ducati folding on the damp track and the Italian crashing out of the second race in a row.
In the final laps the intermittent showers caught out several riders, with Karel Abraham (Cardion AB) falling before remounting to finish tenth, Bautista suffering a front end wash out and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) ending their races simultaneously in the same gravel trap.
Colin Edwards was able to capitalise on the late crashes to take fifth place, with Randy De Puniet (Pramac Racing Team) finishing in sixth ahead of Hayden who gambled on the second white flag to swap his bike. Toni Elias had been trailing on his LCR Honda, but was able to cling on to finish in eighth ahead of Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing Team).

1. 25 27 Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 171.4 42'02.425
2. 20 58 Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 171.3 +2.210
3. 16 4 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 171.2 +2.454
4. 13 26 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 170.5 +13.160
5. 11 5 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 169.3 +30.886
6. 10 14 Randy De Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 168.1 +48.800
7. 9 69 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team Ducati 166.4 +1'16.314
8. 8 24 Toni Elias SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 164.9 1 Lap
9. 7 65 Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 164.6 1 Lap
10. 6 17 Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 156.1 2 Laps

Not Classified
19. Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 171.9 4 Laps
7. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 170.6 4 Laps
35. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 170.6 4 Laps
46. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team Ducati 172.2 14 Laps

stoner-1.jpg
 
I was close to being hit by Jorge's bike when he crashed in the warm up session. It was very unlucky for him to lose his finger tip. I have the same bit missing...
 
Dani Pedrosa dominates opening practice

By Matthew Birt - MCN
21 October 2011 10:01

Dani Pedrosa dominated the opening day of practice for Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang, the Repsol Honda beating new world champion Casey Stoner by over 0.8s in typically hot and humid conditions.
The Spaniard had topped the timesheets in this morning’s session with a 2.01.916 but improved to a 2.01.250 in the second 45-minute session.
He was the only rider to break into the 2.01 bracket and his best time easily beat Aussie Stoner by 0.820s, though he did use Bridgestone’s soft compound tyre while most of the field concentrated on evaluating the harder option.
Stoner was almost 0.5s faster in the second session with a 2.02.070 to finish 0.594s clear of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in third.
The Italian was a massive 1.414s slower than Pedrosa yet still in the top three as Honda dominated the opening day of the penultimate round of the 2011 MotoGP series.
Marco Simoncelli was fourth quickest with a 2.02.823 and Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama was fifth quickest. Aoyama, who is moving to World Superbikes in 2012 with the Ten Kate Honda squad, set a best time of 2.02.951 to finish just 0.040s ahead of experienced American Colin Edwards.
Edwards was the first non-Honda rider on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine and a best lap of 2.02.991 placed him sixth, with Alvaro Bautista impressing again on the factory Suzuki to finish seventh. He was just 0.132s behind Edwards with Randy de Puniet finished eighth.
The Frenchman was quickest Ducati rider but a 1.909s behind Pedrosa, though he did edge out factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies.
Valentino Rossi had another tough time and he could only finish 13th fastest with a best time of 2.03.677. That left him almost 2.5s off the best pace and only Hector Barbera was slower on a Ducati Desmosedici today while he recovers from the broken collarbone he suffered in Japan earlier this month.
Jorge Lorenzo's injury replacement Katsuyuki Nakasuga had a torrid day. He crashed at the last corner in this morning's session and again at Turn 13 in the second session.
He ended with a best time of 2.05.996 to finish 4.746s behind Pedrosa.
Lorenzo is currently recovering at home in Barcelona after he suffered a serious hand injury during the warm-up session for last weekend's Phillip Island race in Australia.
He remains a doubt for the final race of the season in Valencia next month.

1. 26 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 310.7 2'01.916
2. 27 Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 310.9 2'02.557 0.641 / 0.641
3. 4 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 309.3 2'02.590 0.674 / 0.033
4. 58 Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 305.6 2'03.311 1.395 / 0.721
5. 19 Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 308.3 2'03.558 1.642 / 0.247
6. 11 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 303.4 2'03.586 1.670 / 0.028
7. 14 Randy De Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 306.1 2'03.760 1.844 / 0.174
8. 5 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 305.2 2'03.778 1.862 / 0.018
9. 7 Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 308.0 2'03.908 1.992 / 0.130
10. 46 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team Ducati 305.3 2'04.280 2.364 / 0.372
11. 17 Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 306.9 2'04.345 2.429 / 0.065
12. 69 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team Ducati 303.5 2'04.474 2.558 / 0.129
13. 65 Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 303.2 2'04.521 2.605 / 0.047
14. 21 John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 302.3 2'04.609 2.693 / 0.088
15. 35 Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 304.6 2'04.666 2.750 / 0.057
16. 24 Toni Elias SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 308.3 2'04.890 2.974 / 0.224
17. 89 Katsuyuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 300.9 2'05.390 3.474 / 0.500
18. 8 Hector Barbera SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 300.3 2'06.199 4.283 / 0.809

dani-pedrosa.jpg
 
Pedrosa storms to pole

By Liam Marsden -MCN
22 October 2011

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow's race from pole position despite crashing on only his fifth lap during qualifying.
Pedrosa heads a Repsol Honda front row, with Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso second and third.
Tech 3 Yamaha rider Colin Edwards spoils the Honda party, starting from fourth place on the grid ahead of Gresini Honda rider Marco Simoncelli. Nicky Hayden is the highest Ducati in sixth place.
Factory Ducati rider Valentino Rossi will start from ninth place on the grid after a lowside mid-way through the session. Brit Cal Crutchlow starts behind Rossi in tenth.
Factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies qualified in 16th place. Spies - who is still recovering from a crash at Phillip Island last weekend, had another fall during qualifying.

1. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 2m 1.462s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda 2m 1.491s
3. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda 2m 1.666s
4. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2m 2.100s
5. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m 2.105s
6. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 2m 2.172s
7. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m 2.254s
8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 2m 2.332s
9. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 2m 2.395s
10. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2m 2.756s
11. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing 2m 2.939s
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 2m 3.077s
13. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 2m 3.438s
14. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar 2m 3.619s
15. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 2m 3.646s
16. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 3.678s
17. Katsuyuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 4.072s

pedrosa.jpg
 
Stoner fastest overall, Bautista quickest in wet

By Liam Marsden - MCN
04 November 2011

2011 MotoGP champion Casey Stoner set the fastest time during a damp free practice one at Valencia today, with Suzuki rider Alvaro Bautista the unlikely pace setter in a wet second practice session.
It was a Repsol Honda one two during the morning session, with Dani Pedrosa setting the second fastest time. Factory Ducati rider set the third fastest time ahead of team-mate Nicky Hayden.
Bautista, who in the first practice session finished 11th, 1.4s behind Stoner consistently set several fast laps in the second session, despite Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow, Nicky Hayden, Randy de Puniet and Casey Stoner all spending time at the top of the timesheet.
Colin Edwards' replacement American Josh Hayes finished 15th in session one, and 10th in session two.

Free Practice 1 results
1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda 1m 45.513s
2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 1m 45.736s
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 45.828s
4. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 46.073s
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 1m 46.108s
6. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 46.259s
7. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing 1m 46.371s
8. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 46.393s
9. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda 1m 46.402s
10. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 46.581s
11. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 1m 46.922s
12. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar 1m 46.967s
13. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 47.079s
14. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 47.581s
15. Josh Hayes USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 48.037s
16. Katsuyuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 48.382s

Free Practice 2 results
1. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki 1m 47.975s
2. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro 1m 48.316s
3. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing 1m 48.684s
4. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 49.021s
5. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 49.350s
6. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda 1m 49.422s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro 1m 49.613s
8. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda 1m 49.674s
9. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda 1m 49.820s
10. Josh Hayes USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 51.277s
11. Katsuyuki Nakasuga JPN Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 51.277s
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing 1m 51.838s
13. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar 1m 51.932s
14. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 52.072s
15. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 53.283s
16. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda 1m 54.342s

valencia-bautista.jpg
 
Stoner secures twelfth pole of season

By Tom Cambio - MCN

2011 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner has continued his dominant form to secure his twelfth pole position of the season, equalling Mick Doohan's record, and will start from the front of the grid for the final race of the season in Valencia.
With two minutes of the qualifiying session remaining the Australian set a 1.31.861 to cement pole position with a 1.014s lead over Repsol Honda team mate Dani Pedrosa in second.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) managed to pick up the pace in the final moments of the session to qualify in third, pushing a consistent Randy De Puniet (Pramac Racing Team) back on to the second row in fourth, ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) in fifth, who had also put in an impressive performance in the practice sessions.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) completes the second row, qualifying in sixth place ahead of team mate Nicky Hayden in seventh.
Andrea Dovizioso suffered a big crash on his final lap that sent the Repsol Honda rider tumbling into the gravel trap, but the Italian walked away and will start tomorrow's race in eighth.
Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) qualified in eleventh place, behind Hector Barbera (Mapfre Aspar) in ninth and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) in tenth.

1. 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 309.9 1'31.861
2. 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 309.4 1'32.875 1.014 / 1.014
3. 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 303.0 1'33.057 1.196 / 0.182
4. 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 305.1 1'33.118 1.257 / 0.061
5. 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 305.6 1'33.443 1.582 / 0.325
6. 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 303.7 1'33.478 1.617 / 0.035
7. 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 304.2 1'33.656 1.795 / 0.178
8. 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 306.8 1'33.824 1.963 / 0.168
9. 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 307.8 1'34.186 2.325 / 0.362
10. 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 306.6 1'34.265 2.404 / 0.079
11. 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 303.1 1'34.329 2.468 / 0.064
12. 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 303.3 1'34.671 2.810 / 0.342
13. 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 313.2 1'34.680 2.819 / 0.009
14. 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 305.7 1'34.838 2.977 / 0.158
15. 89 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA JPN Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 299.9 1'35.999 4.138 / 1.161
16. 41 Josh HAYES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 296.1 1'36.042 4.181 / 0.043

stoner-valencia.jpg
 
Stoner snatches victory from Spies

By Tom Cambio -MCN

2011 MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) stole his tenth win of the year from Ben Spies on the finish line, having managed to get the drive out of the final corner to power past Spies and win the last 800cc MotoGP race by just 0.015 seconds.
Ben Spies had looked certain to take his second victory of the season for Yamaha, having maintained pressure on Repsol Honda team mates Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa for much of the race, the Texan took second before capitalising on a mistake from Stoner that saw the Australian run wide to take the lead on lap 28.
Spies looked confident leading, but a cautious approach to the final corner gave Stoner the opportunity to close on the American and snatch victory on the finish line.

Andrea Dovizioso secured a hard-earnt third place, and in the process third in the championship, having been caught up in a tumultuous start that saw Alvaro Bautista clipping the Italian's rear wheel and losing the front end, with the Suzuki rider sliding across the densely packed track and taking out a trio of Ducatis in the process.
Bautista's machine knocked Valentino Rossi off, leading to a domino effect that saw Nicky Hayden and Randy De Puniet all ending the race in the gravel trap at the first corner, a galling end to the difficult season fared by the factory Ducati squad.
Dovizioso caught the leading pack, passing Spies and then Pedrosa to take second. Stoner pulled out an impressive lead whilst his team mates spent the next third of the race trading places, whilst Spies stalked the duelling Hondas.
With thirteen laps remaining Spies tried to take third from Pedrosa but was unable to get the drive out of the corner to secure the position. Pedrosa and Dovizioso continued to jostle for second, whilst Stoner's gap of almost ten seconds began to shrink in the increasingly heavy rain.
Spies passed Pedrosa to take third and with five laps remaining passed Dovizioso at turn five to take second place just 2.3s behind Stoner.

With just three laps remaining Spies closed on Stoner before taking advantage of a rare mistake from the world champion, who ran wide at turn six, to take the lead. Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), who had been locked in a battle for fifth with Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) throughout the race, took fifth and began putting Pedrosa under pressure on the penultimate lap.
On the final lap Pedrosa dropped off the pace and in a surprise twist both Crutchlow and Abraham passed the Spaniard. Abraham took a tight line to take fourth with Crutchlow promptly reclaiming his position and in the process the Czech rider clipped his back wheel and crashed out of the race. Crutchlow secured his best result of the season in fourth and was awarded the accolade of 'Rookie of the year'.
Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha Factory Racing), who was standing in for an injured Jorge Lorenzo, put in an impressive performance to finish the race in sixth, whilst Josh Hayes who was filling in for Colin Edwards on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine took seventh.
Karol Abraham managed to remount and finish in eighth following his off-track excursion, ahead of Loris Capirossi who finished his three hundred and twenty-eighth and final GP in ninth place.

1. 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 149.2 48'18.645
2. 20 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 149.2 +0.015
3. 16 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 148.9 +5.936
4. 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 148.8 +8.718
5. 11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 148.7 +9.321
6. 10 89 Katsuyuki NAKASUGA JPN Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 148.0 +23.818
7. 9 41 Josh HAYES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 147.5 +33.118
8. 8 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 147.3 +37.952
9. 7 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 146.7 +48.953
10. 6 24 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 146.6 +52.501
11. 5 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 145.9 +1'06.519
12. 4 7 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 145.8 +1'08.760

Not Classified
14. Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 0 Lap
19. Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 0 Lap
46. Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0 Lap
69. Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 0 Lap

casey-stoner-valencia.jpg
 
I just finished reading a magazine article (AMCN Volume61 Number15/1-14Feb' 2012 starting on page84), the organizers of the IOM TT are planning to go global with a TT series of real road racing!
Planed tracks to join the series are Nurburgring Nordschliefe, Long Beach, Macau, Valencia & Mount Panorama, Bathurst along with those already in the Duke Videos Road Racing series in Ireland, the Isle of Man & parts of Europe.....
Does anyone have more information by any chance?
 
Im sorta glad if they don't race at Bathurst, the V8's have murdered the place by encasing it in a coffin of concrete in my opinion....
But since the V8's have had the various state laws repealed so that they may race on public thoroughfares there's always the chance that IF enough finances can be waved under the politicians noses then Im sure it could happen somewhere else.....
Just imagine, somewhere like Lobethal, S.A or Peel, Bathurst or even my favorite, Bungonia, Gouldburn could once again have the surrounding plains & hills legally echoing to the sound of screaming superbikes!
Then again, there's plenty of other suitable open roads here in Oz.
I sincerely hope something comes to fruition, whether they make it down under or not, besides, there's plenty of Road Racing just over the Tasman in New Zealand so those that can afford it won't have too far to travel to enjoy a visit from the TT men I'm sure!
 
I have thrown a leg over damn near every type of motorcycle ever made. I've done all types of skills and race types BUT these Isle Of Man guys have got to be the craziest god gifted riders the world has ever seen. Yeah sure we throw caution to the wind on a track but these crazy arse fools blast down country roads at a buck 70 like they are going for coffee. I've seen some of your guys travel across the pond to race here and it was easy to see who they were on the track simply by watching their style.

Seeing this race is on my bucket list for I truly feel for me to give my life to this sport the way I have and not go see it would be a travesty to myself.

Much Much respect to these men.
 

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