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Nicky Hayden admits to riding struggles

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:51:00 +0000

Nicky Hayden admitted he is going through a difficult time as he continues to struggle to adapt to the new MotoGP bikes.

The American clinched the MotoGP title in 2006 but finished down in eighth place in 2007 after just three podium finishes and no race wins.

After the first five races of the current season, he lies in seventh position, 57 points behind Repsol Honda teammate.

Hayden says he is not making excuses for his form and admits he has just been unable to adapt his style to the less powerful bikes used now.

"I'm not looking for excuses, the problem is mine: I haven't yet been able to adapt my riding style to the 800cc. I'm not happy, it's a tough period for me," Hayden was quoted as saying by Motosprint magazine.

"At the end of last year I thought I had solved my problems, but I was wrong. In the second half of last season my results weren't very good, but it was also down to some bad luck. I had managed to use the bike in the best way.

"This Honda doesn't have enough power for my riding style: I come from dirt tracks, I need to make the bike skid by using the throttle. To do that you need a lot of horsepower and great acceleration.

"The decrease in power and the different power output have put me in great difficulty."

Hayden, who last won a race in the 2006 US Grand Prix, reckons he is struggling because of his lack of experience in lesser categories.

"Pedrosa comes from the 125cc and 250cc classes, so he's used to look for linearity in the trajectory and he knows how to keep a higher speed through corners," he added. "So his riding style is very much suited to the 800cc.

"I don't ride that way, for me you need to brake hard and then make the bike turn with the gas, by skidding, in order to get good turn exit speed under acceleration.

"I need engines with a lot of power and the new (pneumatic valves) one should have enough. But I agree with the HRC engineers, who say we should wait a bit longer: we at the factory team will get this bike only once it goes really well and it's reliable."

Chris Vermeulen celebrated his best result

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:48:00 +0000

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP racer Chris Vermeulen celebrated his best result so far this season by finishing in an impressive fifth position at Le Mans in France on Sunday, with team-mate Loris Capirossi crossing the line in an equally strong seventh place.

Vermeulen started from eighth on the grid and made up a couple of places on the first lap. He then set three personal-best laps in succession as he moved into fifth place, and the Australian was in touch with the leaders as light rain started to fall on the 4'185m circuit.

Track officials waved the white flags to signify that pit-lane was open if the riders wanted to change to their wet weather bikes, but Vermeulen - like most riders – chose to stay out and consolidate his position. He had a couple of narrow escapes as the track surface got very slippery from the rain, but he brought the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R home safely to score valuable championship points for himself and the team.

Capirossi made a strong start from the fourth row of the grid and was up to seventh by the end of lap two. He was involved in a race long battle with a large group of riders, which also resulted in one of them pushing Capirossi off the track and on to the grass. The experienced Italian lost some places but battled back to take a hard, but well earned nine championship points.

Today's race started in bright sunshine with track temperatures at 26ºC, as the light drizzle fell the temperatures cooled off, but this didn't dampen the spirits of over 74,000 fans at trackside who were treated to a comprehensive victory by Valentino Rossi – a win that puts him joint second, with Angel Nieto, in the all-time list of Grand Prix victories by a rider.
Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will now stay in at Le Mans for a further day of testing, before moving on to Capirossi's home GP at Mugello in Italy on Sunday 1st June.

Chris Vermeulen:“Well that was alright – I guess! I'm happy with the weekend, we made some progress and we finally got some good points on the board. I am a little disappointed with fifth because I was really hoping I'd have a bit more pace to be able to fight with the front guys. I felt I was just that little bit behind and just couldn't close the gap. We are testing here tomorrow so hopefully we can try and improve a few more things on the bike, and make more steps in Mugello. I want to say a big thanks to my crew, they've worked out all the issues we had from China and the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R worked great all weekend and we had no problems at all.”

Casey Stoner engine problem down to faulty component

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:45:00 +0000

The post-race testing activity in Le Mans concluded early for Ducati Marlboro and 2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner, with the team solving the riddle of their Sunday engine breakdown.

Stoner undertook a series of race tyre-shod laps on Tuesday morning after a full day´s riding on Monday, and his early run was enough for the Ducati mechanics to get to the bottom of the problem.

A faulty component was localised by the Australian´s crew and, unable to rectify the situation on the spot and rather than risking further damage to the fleet of Desmosedici GP8 engines, the team opted to conclude their work and head back to Borgo Panigale to replace the part in question.

Stoner had completed 50 laps on Tuesday, which permitted him to work on Bridgestone rubber for the upcoming Gran Premio d´Italia Alice. Teammate Marco Melandri followed the 22 year-old´s schedule, and his second day was an abridged affair. He took to the track at 10.30am as a result of chilly temperatures early on, and joined Stoner in packing up shop at the 12pm lunch break.
Stoner finished outside the points for the first time in his Ducati tenure last Sunday, whilst Melandri also experienced engine problems and stalled on the starting grid.

Rossi finished the two-day Le Mans test

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:41:00 +0000

French GP winner Valentino Rossi finished the two-day Le Mans test on top by going quickest in Tuesday's session.

The Italian, who scored his second consecutive victory of the season on Sunday, continued testing tyres with Bridgestone and also trying out some new settings for his Yamaha.

Rossi was 0.333 seconds quicker than the fastest lap in Sunday's race.

"It was a nice quiet day on track today and it was good to have the chance to work in such a relaxed atmosphere, without so many other riders around," said Yamaha team boss Davide Brivio.

"We finished quite early but we managed to get a lot of important work done, both on tyres with Bridgestone and on the general set-up of our bike with the next few races in mind.

"We tested more different tyres and also made some experiments with different settings, trying to collect as much information as possible to help us to continue to improve. The next eight weeks brings six races in close succession and so we need to be at the top of our game!

"Valentino did a very good time with a race tyre this afternoon so it's clear we're working well, and now we're leaving Le Mans with some great memories and with everyone feeling positive and motivated for the busiest stage of the season.

"Thanks to Valentino and the team for staying on and working so hard over these two days; now I hope everyone can have a good break before our home race."

World champion Casey Stoner was second quickest after his Ducati team decided to end their session early in order not to damage any more engines following the discovery of a faulty component.

Despite that, the Italian squad managed to complete the majority of their programme over the two days.

Stoner's teammate Marco Melandri completed just a handful of laps and finished at the bottom of the times, behind HRC test rider Erwan Nigon.

Pos  Rider              Team                         Time          
1.  Valentino Rossi    Fiat Yamaha Team             1:33.882
2.  Casey Stoner       Ducati Marlboro              1:34.068
3.  Erwan Nigon        HRC Test Team                1:36.341
4.  Marco Melandri     Ducati Marlboro              1:38.536

Dani Pedrosa blames tyres for race slump

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:38:00 +0000

Dani Pedrosa said problems with his Michelin tyres led to his disappointing form in the French Grand Prix.

The pole-winner, who had finished on the podium at every race this year until Le Mans, fell back to fourth in the race and consequently lost his championship lead to the victorious Valentino Rossi.

"I am sorry because we could have been on the podium but in the race I wasn't able to go as fast as I had gone during practice," Pedrosa said.

"From the beginning of the race I had some issues with the front tyre, I couldn't brake the way I wanted to brake.

"When we chose our race tyres we tried hard to choose the best tyres for the race, so we didn't expect things to turn out like they did.

"Then in the second half of the race I started to lack some rear grip. When (Jorge) Lorenzo passed me I tried to go with him and not lose contact but I couldn't manage it.

"I gave my maximum and despite the problems we finished fourth, which isn't so bad. We are second equal in the championship and we will continue to work hard to achieve better results at the next races."

Pedrosa's teammate Nicky Hayden had struggled for speed all weekend, and although he salvaged sixth on the grid, he feared that this would prove to be a one-off lap and he would fall back in the race.

His concerns proved well founded, as the 2006 champion came home a distant eighth.

"That wasn't too pretty," Hayden said. "All weekend we've been missing something, the pace hasn't been there.

"I got a good start and recovered a couple of positions but couldn't go with the group I needed to go with. I was hanging in there, then I ran off the track in Turn 6, got in just a little bit hot, didn't make it and that lost me three positions.

"I came back on, had a little dice with Loris (Capirossi) over the last few laps but it wasn't the result we wanted."

Hayden, who has not finished on the podium since last July, said he is now desperate to turn his season around.

"I need to try getting some momentum going, especially for the tracks I really love that are coming up," he said. "I need to be strong when I get to them, I need to use the people around me to find what I need."

Valentino Rossi enjoys Nieto celebration

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:36:00 +0000

Valentino Rossi's post-race celebrations continued to surprise after his 90th grand prix win at Le Mans, where he equalled Spaniard Angel Nieto's tally to become the second most successful rider ever in motorcycling.

During the cooling down lap, Rossi let Nieto, with his black leathers and black and white striped helmet, aboard his bike, riding back to the pits with a 90 + 90 flag.

"It was organised a long time ago," Rossi said. "I remember after Portugal last year when I got 88 wins so I went to Angel and I said to Angel, 'I'm close eh? So if I am able to catch you then you have to come with me on the bike."

"But at the beginning he said, 'No, No, No, I don't want....' but then he went to Dianese to make some new leathers.

"So After China he came to me and he said he was ready and he told me it was the last place he had a victory. So I had also a little bit of pressure for me as I know I have Angel Nieto waiting for me for my victory on the track.

"I think that lap together with him on the bike (was great) I said to him 'You ride', but he said, 'No you ride!

"But I think it is possible that with some training he can go faster than us on the M1," joked the Italian. "So, 180 victories on the same bike is not so bad and a great moment."

Kawasaki Racing team disappointed after French MotoGP

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 21 May 2008 13:33:00 +0000

The Kawasaki Racing team were left disappointed after a difficult French MotoGP race at Le Mans that saw them scoring a meagre two points.

American rider John Hopkins had to retire from seventh place when the chain on his Ninja ZX-RR broke, while Australian Anthony West struggled for grip and finished the race almost a lap down in 14th place.

Hopkins, who was hoping to for a good results with the way the weekend was going, was also left calling his teams for engine improvements.

"After practice and qualifying I really thought we could come away from Le Mans with a good result, which makes today even more frustrating," said Hopkins.

"I got a pretty good start, and was then able to make up places by passing on the brakes, but there are still a number of areas where we're losing out, on acceleration out of the turns for example, and this makes it difficult to make a pass stick.

"It's no fun holding off someone like (Fiat Yamaha's Jorge) Lorenzo for a whole lap, only to see him motor past you as soon as you get onto the straight. We need to work on these areas, starting with tomorrow's test, and we need to make some improvements if we're to increase our competitiveness.

"As for the chain, I guess that was just bad luck. Now we need to find out why it failed, so we can avoid the same problem in the future.

Hopkins also apologised to Suzuki rival Loris Capirossi for an overtaking move that pushed the Italian on the grass.

"Finally, I'd like to apologise to Loris for the pass I put on him, which was a little bit hard. Sorry Loris," he concluded.

West, who has lamented a lack of traction at the rear throughout the season, said that problem worsened in the race today, with the team later identifying the cause in the bike's set-up.

"I am not happy at all," he said. "This weekend has been a struggle, because we've had the same rear traction problems that we've experienced at every track since the start of the season. But then, in the race, the rear grip was non-existent; the bike was spinning up if I even thought about opening the throttle.

"I knew straight away that something was wrong, but short of coming in for a change of tyre and kissing any chance of a points scoring finish goodbye, there was nothing I could do.

"In the end, I just did what I could to ride round the problem, but I don't think I've ever been as happy to see the chequered flag as I was today.

"Now I want to know what the problem was, and I want to be sure that we don't have the same problem again."

Kawasaki competition manager Michael Bartholemy publicly apologised to West on behalf of the team, who took full blame for the rider's set-up problem.

"To Anthony I'd like to apologise, because the difficulties he experienced today were due to a miscalculation on the part of the team," Bartholemy said.

"He showed true determination this afternoon by riding around the problem to finish the race, and for that he should be commended."

Valentino Rossi: Yamaha are back on top form

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 11:10:00 +0000

Valentino Rossi believes his back to back wins in China and France prove that Yamaha are back on top form.
The former champion hasn't won consecutive races since 2006, but followed up his Shanghai success with a dominant run at Le Mans today, leading teammate Jorge Lorenzo and Tech 3's Colin Edwards in a Yamaha one-two-three. The result puts Rossi into the championship lead for the first time in a year and a half.
"I haven't won two races in a row since Mugello and Barcelona in 2006," Rossi said. "This means that we are back in business.
"After the difficulties of 2007, nobody thought that after just five races the M1 would take all the podium places. It's a great, great pleasure, and great effort by the Japanese. We are also at the top of the world championship, it's a great result."
He said changes made in the morning warm-up proved crucial to his victory, having rapidly progressed from fourth on the grid to pass Edwards, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, then pull away.
"It was a great race," Rossi said. "I didn't expect to be so fast, but we made some modifications with the team this morning and the bike worked very well. The tyres had fantastic grip, so on a completely dry track it was faster and I was able to pull away and get a good advantage.
"Then it started to rain, and I tried to ride very sweetly in the corners. We had enough grip to continue and not change bikes, and in the end we had a good advantage."
The victory was Rossi's 90th at world championship level, which puts him equal second with Angel Nieto on the all-time winners' list. To celebrate, he handed his Yamaha to Nieto - who was wearing special commemorative leathers - for the slowing-down lap and rode home on the back behind his fellow legend.
Rossi revealed that the celebration had been a long time in the planning.
"It was organised for a long, long time," he said. "After Portugal last year, when we arrived on 88 (wins), I went to Angel and said 'Angel, I'm close, so if I catch you, you have to come with me on the bike'.
"At first he said no, but in the end he said 'okay', so they made the new leathers. After China, he said to me 'for Le Mans, I'm ready, and my last victory was at Le Mans too'. So that was a little bit of pressure, because I knew Nieto was waiting for me on the track."

Colin Edwards disappointed not to win

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:58:00 +0000

Colin Edwards admitted that third place in the French Grand Prix was a disappointment on a day when he had desperately hoped to claim his first MotoGP race win.
The Tech 3 Yamaha rider secured his first podium finish since Donington Park last June, but had been convinced he was fast enough to fight for victory after flying in practice, qualifying on the front row and topping the warm-up.
However, although he fought for the lead with Dani Pedrosa, Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner early in the race, he struggled to pass his rivals and had to settle for third.
"I thought today could be the day, absolutely," Edwards said.
"I'm a bit pissed off really. I was going quickly all weekend and I felt I probably should have won this race.
"I felt like I got a really good start, and next thing I knew, there were two guys in front of me - Pedrosa and Stoner. I thought, 'okay, let's make quick work of this and then go', and that quick work didn't turn out to be so quick.
"I was struggling just to get close to them to try to put a move in. With Stoner's power, I could never get close enough at the end of a straight, and Dani was riding really good as well. I just couldn't do anything with them.
"I could've taken somebody out, but these guys are fighting for a world championship at the moment."
Edwards felt he was losing out slightly on acceleration, but reckoned the main thing preventing him from passing was the sheer quality of his rivals.
"It just seemed like it never really got there on acceleration," he said.
"These guys are world champions - you're not going to out-brake them from five bike lengths' back, you've got to be pretty close. I tried to out-brake Casey from half a bike length and ran wide, because he's at the limit. These boys are tough."
But he was eventually able to overtake Pedrosa and claim third when a rain shower made the track treacherous in the closing stages.
"I didn't think the rain was that bad," Edwards said. "The guys in front of me - they were leaving the door wide open when it was raining. I was thinking, 'what do I do here, go barrelling in and risk taking everybody out?'
"You've got to play our cards right, and that's how I got Pedrosa. He checked up a little bit and I thought, 'screw it'. I'm not going to take out a Yamaha, but I'll take a few more risks with a Honda."

Rossi took a dominating victory at Le Mans

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Valentino Rossi took a dominating victory in the French MotoGP leading a Yamaha 1-2-3, with the still-recovering Jorge Lorenzo finishing second and Colin Edwards in third.
This is the Italian's 90th Grand Prix victory, slotting him in second on the all-time winners list, tied with Spaniard Angel Nieto.
Rossi and 61-year-old Nieto celebrated this historic victory with the former stopping on his parade lap, and the latter, who wore overalls saying 'Bravo Valentino 90', jumping on Rossi's M1 bike and taking them both back to the pits, with Rossi waving a flag saying '90+90'.
Rossi, who now tops the championship table, took the lead with his Fiat Yamaha on lap seven of the 28-lap race from Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner and never relinquished it, opening a gap as wide as ten seconds over man-of-the-day Lorenzo.
The Spanish rookie, who dropped down to tenth at the start from fifth on the grid, began to really make an impression in the race on lap nine, when in a single lap he overtook John Hopkins's Kawasaki, Loris Capirossi's Suzuki and Nicky Hayden's Repsol Honda to slot into sixth.
The works Yamaha rider then made up a gap to Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki to overtake him for fifth place on lap 15, five laps before passing Edwards in fourth place and challenging Stoner for third.
When Lorenzo made a move on the Australian on the Le Mans front straight, the reigning champion's Ducati suffered a mechanical problem that dropped him down the order on lap 21. On the same lap the Spaniard overtook arch-rival and compatriot Dani Pedrosa's Repsol Honda for second place.
After his injury in China Lorenzo had to walk to the podium on crutches and sat on a chair during the celebrations.
Today's race was affected by the weather, with rain drops prompting the stewards to show the white flag on lap 16, thus allowing the riders to switch to bikes fitted with wet-weather tyres.
The rain increased for a couple of laps, with Rossi notably slowing down, but in the end only two riders switched bikes.
These were the two works Ducatis, with Stoner taking advantage of this rule to rejoin the track after his mechanical gremlins, and Melandri taking a gamble after his engine switched off at the start forcing him to be push-started by a mechanic.
In the end the two teammates finished the race in a disappointing 15th and 16th position for the Italian and the Australian respectively.
Three seconds behind Tech 3 Yamaha's Edwards came Pedrosa in fourth, followed a further eleven seconds back by Vermeulen, with JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in close pursuit.
Capirossi finished in seventh place, ahead of Hayden in eighth and the two customer Hondas of Randy de Puniet (LCR) and Shinya Nakano (Gresini).
Hopkins retired from seventh place on lap 17 after losing his Suzuki's chain, which almost went in the way of Dovizioso who was following.
Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland crashed out of the race from ninth place on lap 3.Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:30.799
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 4.997
3. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 6.805
4. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 10.157
5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.762
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 22.395
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 27.806
8. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 27.995
9. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 29.344
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 30.822
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 35.154
12. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 36.216
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 52.038
14. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:29.307
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 1 lap
16. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 2 laps
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16
James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2

Alex Debon takes dominant maiden win

Mike di Meglio won home race at Le Man

Loris Capirossi adds to Melandri criticism

Alex Debon takes dominant maiden win

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Alex Debon took a dominant maiden victory in the 250cc French Grand Prix at Le Mans, leading every lap after starting from pole position.
The Spaniard didn't have the bast of starts but by the end of the first lap he was back in the lead and started opening a gap, which grew to as much as 13 seconds.
The race had begun on a damp track that dried as the event progressed, and Debon's choice of slick tyres proved to be the right one.
In the end the Aprilia rider controlled the race and won by almost five seconds over a fine battle for second, involving Italians Marco Simoncelli and Mattia Pasini.
Pasini looked set to take second after overtaking Yuki Takahashi with four laps remaining, but Simoncelli battled with the Japanese two laps later and after passing him he chased his fellow countryman.
The chase was successful, with the Gilera rider overtaking his Aprilia rider on the last corner of the last lap and setting the fastest lap of the race in the meantime.
Honda's Takahashi, who looked capable of getting close to Debon in the first laps of the race, had to be content with fourth, ahead of KTM's Mika Kallio and Gilera's Manuel Poggiali.
Eight seconds behind Poggiali, the KTMs of Hiroshi Aoyama and Julian Simon finished in seventh and eighth respectively, followed 15 seconds later by the Aprilias of Aleix Espargaro and Hector Faubel rounding up the top ten.
Alvaro Bautista, starting from the second slot on the grid, made a bad start and did not figure in the race, ending in a lowly 14th place.Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Alex Debon Aprilia 47:27.406
2. Marco Simoncelli Gilera + 4.816
3. Mattia Pasini Aprilia + 4.998
4. Yuki Takahashi Honda + 5.770
5. Mika Kallio KTM + 6.197
6. Manuel Poggiali Gilera + 6.474
7. Hiroshi Aoyama KTM + 14.909
8. Julian Simon KTM + 17.526
9. Aleix Espargaro Aprilia + 32.925
10. Hector Faubel Aprilia + 36.719
11. Thomas Luthi Aprilia + 48.968
12. Hector Barbera Aprilia + 56.837
13. R.Locatelli Gilera + 57.827
14. Alvaro Bautista Aprilia +1:05.407
15. R.Wilairot Honda +1:24.336
16. Alex Baldolini Aprilia +1:24.577
17. Federico Sandi Aprilia + 1 lap
18. Imre Toth Aprilia + 1 lap
19. Russell Gomez Aprilia + 1 lap
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Karel Abraham Aprilia 24
D.T.Pradita Yamaha 24
Lukas Pesek Aprilia 21
Fabrizio Lai Gilera 13
Eugene Laverty Aprilia 11

Mike di Meglio won home race at Le Man

Stoner challenge for victory in French GP

Loris Capirossi will stay with Suzuki

Mike di Meglio won home race at Le Man

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Mon, 19 May 2008 10:34:00 +0000

Frenchman Mike di Meglio won his home race at Le Mans in a shortened five-lap 125cc French Grand Prix and took the lead in the championship.
The race was red-flagged after 15 of the 24 scheduled laps because the track was deemed too dangerous with rain falling heavily and riders going very slowly.
If the red flag had been shown just one lap later, then two thirds of the race would have been completed and the regulations deem that the race would have been over with full championship points awarded.
The first, neutralised race had been dominated by Stefan Bradl, Gabor Talmacsi, Nicolas Terol and Sergio Gadea, who often exchanged the lead while heading a pack of about ten riders.
But three laps before the race was interrupted, when the track was deemed wet by circuit officials, Joan Olive came from behind and by making the most of the changing conditions he was in the lead of the race in the space of a couple of laps.When the red flag was shown, the top ten order was Olive, Terol, Bradl, Talmacsi, diMeglio, Simone Corsi, Esteve Rabat, Pol Espargaro, Bradley Smith, and Gadea.
The race was re-started at 11:55 local time, some 25 minutes after the red flag was shown, with the grid based on the standings of the last lap raced.
Olive made a poor start from pole and immediately fell back, enabling Rabat to take the lead. But that didn't last long, because at the second corner the Spaniard slid on the wet tarmac and fell off his bike. Terol inherited the lead, but lost it shortly after when Talmacsi overtook him.
Meanwhile Smith, who fell back as low as 17th after a terrible start from second in the nullified race, made a much better getaway from ninth in the shortened race and was up to third during the first lap.
On the second lap race leader Talmacsi, who had started opening a bit of a gap over the rest, also fell at the last corner and dropped to 21st. The crash left Terol in the lead, closely followed by Smith and di Meglio.
Smith overtook Terol for the lead on the third lap, but the latter was also overtaken by di Meglio, who chased Smith and passed him on the penultimate lap to triumph in front of his ecstatic home crowd.
Behind Smith in second and Terol in third, Espargaro finished the race in fourth, followed by Andrea Iannone in fifth and Bradl in sixth.Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Mike Di Meglio Derbi 10:08.574
2. Bradley Smith Aprilia +0.800
3. Nicolas Terol Aprilia +3.077
4. Pol Espargaro Derbi +10.407
5. Andrea Iannone Aprilia +11.697
6. Stefan Bradl Aprilia +11.881
7. Lorenzo Zanetti KTM +16.372
8. Joan Olive Derbi +16.545
9. Raffaele De Rosa KTM +19.163
10. Randy Krummenacher KTM +22.391
11. Sandro Cortese Aprilia +22.847
12. Pere Tutusaus Aprilia +23.195
13. Simone Corsi Aprilia +23.553
14. Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia +23.695
15. Alexis Masbou Loncin +24.240
16. Takaaki Nakagami Aprilia +26.196
17. Esteve Rabat KTM +26.411
18. Roberto Lacalendola Aprilia +26.895
19. Louis Rossi Honda +27.446
20. Sergio Gadea Aprilia +31.829
21. Daniel Webb Aprilia +34.810
22. Robert Muresan Aprilia +35.190
23. Dominque Agerter Derbi +47.840
Not classified
Michael Ranseder Aprilia 4 laps
Robin Lasser Aprilia 2 laps
Steven Le Coquen Honda 1 lap
Gioele Pellino Loncin 1 lap
Scott Redding Aprilia 0 laps
Steve Bonsey Aprilia 0 laps
Tomoyoshi Koyama KTM 0 laps
Marc Marquez KTM 0 laps
Stefano Bianco Aprilia 0 laps
Efren Vazquez Aprilia 0 laps
Pablo Nieto KTM 0 laps
Hugovan den Berg Aprilia 0 laps
Cyril Carrillo Honda 0 laps
Tobias Siegert Aprilia 0 laps

Stoner challenge for victory in French GP

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:17:00 +0000

Casey Stoner is confident that he can challenge for victory again in today's French Grand Prix after a promising qualifying performance at Le Mans.

The reigning champion - who has not won since the season-opener in Qatar - felt that only his own excess of caution stopped him taking his first pole position of 2008.

"On the first set of qualifying tyres I did okay and was really happy with it and thought we could just drop another half a second off it," Stoner said in the post-qualifying press conference.

"But on my second one I was just too conservative and we lost a minimum of three or four tenths of a second just under braking. So I'm a little bit disappointed with that.

"But this whole weekend's gone a lot better for us. The changes that we've made to the bike have really set everything up.

"The team's worked really hard since China and we're feeling much more confident. We're back to our old selves again."

He was particularly pleased with the times he achieved on race tyres before switching to qualifying Bridgestones for the final runs, and believes he can match front row partners Dani Pedrosa and Colin Edwards in the race.

"Just before we put qualifiers on, on our last two laps on the race tyre we did a good step on the settings, so I feel like I'm up to Dani and Colin's pace for the race tomorrow," Stoner said.

The Australian expects to be part of a five-way fight for victory in today's race, with the front row trio set to be challenged by the factory Yamaha riders, who have qualified fourth and fifth.

Stoner told "Dani's been riding really well all weekend - fastest in nearly every session" .

"Colin's been right there on his heels, and I've been trying to keep up with them. It seems to have been us three consistently up front all weekend. We had the package to get pole position, so we know the bike works well, it was just my mistake that meant we didn't get pole.

"Valentino (Rossi) of course is going to throw it in there - he's always done really well at this circuit and always been there or thereabouts - and Jorge Lorenzo has had a couple of crashes but is still running consistent times, so it's going to be an interesting race."

Dani Pedrosa snatched pole position

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:14:00 +0000

The Repsol Honda rider set his fastest lap of 1:32.647 in the last minute of the session, after his Tech 3 Yamaha rival, who was 0.127 seconds slower, had held the top spot for the previous 20 minutes.

This is Pedrosa's first pole position of the year, and by beating Edwards he ended the stranglehold Michelin-shod Yamahas had on qualifying this season, with the American and Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo having taken every previous pole this year.

The front row was completed by reigning champion Casey Stoner, who qualified his Ducati Marlboro in third with a time 0.347 slower than Pedrosa, but showed impressive race pace when on non-qualifying tyres.

The two Fiat Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo qualified in fourth and fifth position respectively.

Lorenzo, who is still recovering from the injuries sustained in an accident sustained in China two weeks ago, went through a gravel trap at high speed midway through the session.

He luckily just managed to stay on the bike as it hopped back on the track, after suffering no consequences in crashes in both yesterday's and this morning's free practice sessions.

The Spanish rookie also made a wrong turn towards the end of the session and went down a road used by the sportscar 24-hour race, forcing him to step off the bike to turn it around.

Nicky Hayden qualified his Repsol Honda in sixth place, ahead of James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha in seventh and Chris Vermeulen's Rizla Suzuki in eighth.

Kawasaki's John Hopkins will start the race from ninth, with JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso completing the top ten.

Marco Melandri in the second works Ducati qualified in a lowly 17th place, over two seconds behind his teammate Stoner

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
1.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (M)  1:32.647
2.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  1:32.774  + 0.127
3.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  1:32.994  + 0.347
4.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  1:33.157  + 0.510
5.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  1:33.269  + 0.622
6.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  1:33.286  + 0.639
7.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  1:33.396  + 0.749
8.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  1:33.400  + 0.793
9.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  1:33.628  + 0.981
10.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  1:33.689  + 1.042
11.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  1:33.707  + 1.060
12.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  1:33.723  + 1.076
13.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  1:34.077  + 1.430
14.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  1:34.561  + 1.914
15.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  1:34.670  + 2.023
16.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  1:34.747  + 2.100
17.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  1:35.082  + 2.434
18.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  1:35.349  + 2.702

Edwards ready to win

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:12:00 +0000

Colin Edwards says he is eager to make up for last year's Le Mans disappointment by fighting for his maiden MotoGP victory in today's French Grand Prix.

The American rider took the first pole of his MotoGP career at Le Mans in 2007, only to tumble down the order when rain hit in the race.

He has yet to take a win in 88 starts in the championship, but has been a consistent front-runner since switching from the factory Yamaha team to satellite squad Tech 3 for 2008.

"It's been a long time and I'm ready to win one," Edwards said. "I should've won the race here last year. If it hadn't rained, we would have really had good pace here last year. We'll wait and see what the weather does and hope for the best."

Edwards held provisional pole for much of qualifying yesterday, before being usurped by Dani Pedrosa in the final moments. He said Le Mans was one of the strongest tracks for both him and the Tech 3 Yamaha package.

"The Yamaha works really well here, especially when you decide to turn your brain off," he said.

"It's been good. I don't know why I'm good here. The last few years it's always been a really good track for me.

"We took some stuff that we'd learned in China with bike settings and thought we'd see if it worked, and it looks good. We've been on the pace all weekend."

He also reiterated his belief that he would have held on to pole if he hadn't had to abandon his last flying lap after being delayed behind Marco Melandri - an incident that prompted the riders to exchange gesticulations on the track.

"I didn't really get a chance to get to the last section on my last lap because I ran into Marco and the lap was done," Edwards said.

"I guess he forgot I'm from Texas and I usually carry a gun around. If I'd have had one, I daresay I would've shot him...

"We're actually friends, I don't want to bag him too badly, but in the last two minutes of qualifying, you've got to pay attention."

Casey Stoner confident to fight for victory

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:09:00 +0000

Casey Stoner says he is confident he can fight for victory in either dry or wet conditions in France today, but does not want a repeat of last year's changeable weather.

Chris Vermeulen took a shock win for Suzuki at Le Mans in 2007 after rain fell halfway through the race and forced the field to pit and change onto bikes with rain tyres.

The weather has been a constant worry again this weekend, although so far it has not interfered with any of the MotoGP sessions, which have all taken place on a dry track.

"It seems like for the last three or four years it's been exactly the same here - you never know what the weather's going to do," Stoner said.

"When it rains here, it really rains. If it's going to be dry, I'd rather it really was dry and not half and half. If it's going to rain, it's better if it's raining all day rather than just for the race like it did last year.

"We're confident with both the set-ups we have, but it is going to be a very close race at the front."

The reigning champion believes the race for victory will be extremely hard-fought whatever the weather.

"All the lap times this weekend have been really, really close," said Stoner, who has qualified an encouraging third after several disappointing races.

"A lot of riders have been feeling a lot more comfortable here this weekend, not just myself, but a few other riders who have maybe struggled in past races seem to have gathered some information and started to improve their set-ups.

"It's not just myself who will be more confident running up front."

Nicky Hayden worried about race pace

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:06:00 +0000

Hayden is concerned that he will lose ground in the French Grand Prix despite improving on his poor practice form to qualify on the second row.

The former champion was outside the top ten throughout practice and looked set for a midfield start until he burst through to sixth place with his final lap of qualifying.

But Hayden is not sure if he will be able to maintain that pace in race trim tomorrow.

"It definitely hasn't been an easy day or an easy weekend," he said. "We haven't really found a direction even though we've been trying a lot of things.

"This afternoon I think we made a bit of progress and got a better feeling as time went on, so I was able to put one down later on and get a respectable grid position. But I really need to come up with something for tomorrow if I don't want to watch those guys completely disappear in the race."

Hayden said the Le Mans weekend had been a constant battle with his Honda's set-up so far.

"Getting into the corners has been the issue, then when we get the front better we hurt the rear, so it's been a constant compromise all weekend," he said.

"We've been making a little bit bigger changes than we would usually make during a race weekend but sometimes that has to be done.

"We'll definitely try another little something in warm-up. We've got a lot of work to do tonight, but these boys aren't scared of a little hard work."

Loris Capirossi adds to Melandri criticism

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 18 May 2008 09:03:00 +0000

Capirossi urged Marco Melandri to pay more attention as the Suzuki rider's final flying lap was spoiled in the final minutes of qualifying for the French Grand Prix.

Ducati Marlboro rider Melandri was riding at slow speed on the racing line when Tech 3 Yamaha rival Colin Edwards came up while trying to improve on his lap.

The accident prompted Edwards to slow down to make angry gestures at the Italian, just as Capirossi, also on a quick lap, was coming up from behind.

The MotoGP veteran had to swerve to avoid the arguing duo and lost time, ultimately qualifying in eleventh place.

"I think more attention needs to be paid on the last lap," Capirossi told Italia1 television. "It's normal everyone is pushing in the last two minutes of qualifying, so when you come out of the pits you should control yourself.

"I was some way behind Colin. He was pushing and Marco didn't look while he was on the racing line. Colin started making gestures towards Marco while I was coming up. At the exit of the turn I found both of them in front of me in the middle of the track.

"It's a shame because I lost my lap, but no one got hurt nor fell, so it's ok. On that lap I was five tenths down in T3, so I could have been fifth or sixth or seventh even if I lost some tenths in the last sector. But it's not a problem."

Despite qualifying out of the top ten, Capirossi is confident his package will allow him to ride near the front tomorrow, provided he can have a good start of the race.

"As for tomorrow I'm quite satisfied with the way we did today with the race tyres," he said.

"I made a big improvement from this morning and from yesterday. We changed the set-up by quite a bit so I think that tomorrow, if we start well, we can stay among the best guys, but not with the guys at the front who are a bit quicker.

"This is a track where you need to be a bit more aggressive to overtake compared to other tracks. But this is no problem for me. If I need to put more grit in, I always do."

Jorge Lorenzo given green light to race

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:06:00 +0000

Jorge Lorenzo has been given the official green light to take part in this weekend's French Grand Prix at Le Mans.
The Yamaha rider, who injured both his ankles in a crash during practice in China, underwent an assessment in Barcelona this afternoon by Doctor Xavier Mir.
The check-up confirmed Lorenzo's injuries were healing well, although the Spaniard will have to continue physiotherapy before he takes to the track for first free practice tomorrow
"Not enough time has passed yet for the injuries to fully heal, but Jorge's pain threshold will allow him to compete without too much risk this weekend," said Doctor Mir.
Lorenzo has been on a wheelchair since his crash.

Toni Elias targets more progress in France

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:45:00 +0000

Elias is looking to make more progress in France this weekend following his best result of the season in the Chinese Grand Prix.
The Alice rider has endured a difficult start to the season, but he seemed to take a step forward in performance in Shanghai, where he scored a season-best eighth place.
Now the Spaniard wants to keep progressing.
"In world of sports you can never be pleased, even if you win a race or the world championship," said Elias in a team preview ahead of this weekend's Le Mans race.
"The most important challenge is always the next one. This has to be the right spirit. In Le Mans last year I surely didn't have much fun: it was one of the worst days of my career.
"I hope to have a bit more luck on this occasion. The Team is working in the right direction and I am sure that also thanks to the support of Ducati and Bridgestone our season can only get better."
Teammate Sylvain Guintoli admitted he is eager to race at home again, especially after managing to lead last year's race for a few laps.
"I can't wait any longer," he said. "I always feel unique sensations in Le Mans. Especially last year, when I was in front of everyone for a moment during the race, I felt the fans' support as I had never done before.
"I would like to give to my supporters the same emotions this weekend, maybe by improving last year's final result.
"For sure, seeing this year's results, the tenth position would be a good step forward, but at home, I want even more. I really enjoy the track's layout, it will be a fantastic race."

Jorge Lorenzo won't be fully fit in France

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:05:00 +0000

Jorge Lorenzo says he will not be fully fit for the French Grand Prix next weekend, but the Spaniard confirmed he will race at Le Mans despite his injuries.

Lorenzo injured both his ankles in a dramatic crash during practice in China. Despite that, the Yamaha rider took part in the race and finished in fourth position.

Further checks after the race showed Lorenzo's injuries were worse than initially thought, and the Spaniard has been confined to a wheelchair since then.

But the 21-year-old says his mental condition will make him strong at one of his favourites track next weekend.

"I was lucky in China," said Lorenzo in a team preview. "If I'd have landed differently it could have ruled me out until the middle of the season and certainly prevented me from enjoying myself as much as I am in this early part of the season.

"In China I realised the risks in this sport; as riders we have to take a lot of risks and that Sunday in Shanghai, with my emotions and my feelings, I knew I had to go through it and take risks again because my team were depending on me in the box.

"I won't be at 100% for Le Mans but my mental condition should make me strong at one of my favourite circuits and I am really looking forward to the race just the same.

"I know my team will help me all that they can and hopefully I will be in good enough shape to challenge strongly, as I have at the first four races. China was unfortunate but now I have to move on."

Valentino Rossi aims to carry momentum

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:03:00 +0000

Rossi is aiming to carry the momentum of his MotoGP win in China earlier this month into the next race at Le Mans this weekend.

The Italian scored his first victory of the season at Shanghai and hopes his good form will continue in France, where he feels he was unfortunate not to win last season.

"Last year Le Mans was incredibly disappointing for us," he said. "We were hoping for a good result in the dry, but the rain came and things didn't go as planned.

"This year, however, we're going there on a high after the fantastic result in China and I'm confident we can have a good weekend.

"Yamaha usually go very well at Le Mans and, although it's the first time we've been there with Bridgestone, I'm confident we'll be strong there. I'm nine points from the top of the championship but our rivals are very motivated too, so there's no let-up and we must go for the maximum points again."

Rossi is keen to make the most of his victory at Shanghai, which was his first in eight races since September last year, with a run of seven races in nine weeks beginning in France this weekend.

"China was a very important boost for everyone, and a great result for all the hard work that everyone has put in so far this season to get us to this point," he added. "Now we have to make the most of this moment and keep pushing like this.

"This is the start of the busiest phase of the championship and it's always hard work but also great fun. Let's hope we can get this run of races off to the best possible start in France."

Chris Vermeulen targets Le Mans resurgence

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:42:00 +0000

Chris Vermeulen is hoping to emulate his maiden MotoGP victory at Le Mans last year when he returns to the French circuit for the next round of this season's championship next weekend.

The Australian won last year's rain-soaked race to give Suzuki their first four-stroke MotoGP victory, and is keen to recover from his retirement in China with a strong result on a circuit that holds good memories for him.

"I'm looking forward to Le Mans, and not just because of the memory of my first MotoGP win," he said. "We need to get back on the bike and try to get the GSV-R as competitive as it can be.

"I was really disappointed after Shanghai. The results we're getting are not what we all deserve for the hard work we're putting in, maybe we just need that bit of luck to go our way. What better place than Le Mans for that to happen?"

Vermeulen's Suzuki teammate Loris Capirossi, who lies fifth in the championship, also called for a strong performance at Le Mans.

"I believe the bike is very capable of running at the front," he said. "We need to start getting the positions that we want and everybody at Suzuki is working hard to make it happen."

Bridgestone reflect on Chinese success

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:40:00 +0000

A first win for Valentino Rossi since his switch to Bridgestone tyres over the winter was a just reward, after two podiums in successive races before arriving in China, and the Italian headed a list of six riders on Japanese rubber in the Shanghai top ten.

Whilst Rossi set the fastest lap of the race, a record-breaking 1´59.273 on lap 18 of 22, Ducati Marlboro´s Casey Stoner also made a solid return to the podium with a third-placed finish, making it the second consecutive Chinese GP with two Bridgestone-shod riders on the rostrum.

Other notable performances came from Marco Melandri in fifth, his best result to date with Ducati, Alice Team´s Toni Elias in eighth, another season best on the Desmosedici, Suzuki´s Loris Capirossi in ninth and San Carlo Honda Gresini´s Shinya Nakano in tenth.

The manager of Bridgestone Motorsport´s Motorcycle Race Tyre Development unit, Tohru Ubukata, reviewed the round four visit to the Far East in full in his customary post-race debrief.

Were the Chinese GP race results a good morale boost for Bridgestone?
`We have always been able to enjoy strong results in China, even though the track itself is very challenging. We never head to a Grand Prix venue expecting to get podiums or victories because the competition is very tough, but Valentino´s win, Casey´s third place and top ten results from several of our other teams certainly showed that our tyres worked well in Shanghai again. After a couple of difficult races, it was nice to see our riders in competitive form right from the very first practice session and able to be on the pace throughout the entire weekend.´

Were you surprised by the lap times in the race?
`The lap times of Valentino and Dani (Pedrosa) were very fast in the final part of the race, and even quicker than the practice times. I was pleasantly surprised that our tyres were able to perform so strongly right up to the end of the race, and this is a testament to the work of our development engineers in Japan. In the fastest lap classification, Valentino was quickest, but with Casey third for Ducati, Toni fifth for Alice Team and Loris sixth for Suzuki, we were able to see competitive lap times by many of our teams.´

Some riders were unable to recreate their practice pace in the race, was this related to tyre choice?
`The final tyre choice for the race is always made by our teams, but based on our recommendation. With the drying track conditions faced in China and track temperatures over 20 degrees cooler than during the practice sessions, we suggested to our teams to use medium compound rear tyres, which for most riders was one step softer than in the practice. Some riders were not able to recreate their practice pace, but we did not have any practice time in those track conditions, so it was not an easy situation. Nevertheless, I think all our teams should be commended for their adaptation in such changeable conditions.´

Qualifying appeared to be another step ahead for Bridgestone, were the results within your targets?
`This was the first time this season that we have had two riders on the front row and it was a great qualifying performance from Valentino and Casey. The Suzuki riders also made big steps ahead with Loris and Chris (Vermeulen) in the top eight, their best qualifying results of the season so far. We brought new rear construction qualifiers to China which helped us improve the overall grid positions, even if the gap to pole position is still too much. Our rivals continue to perform very strongly in this area, so we must work even more, but we are getting there step by step.´

How do you view the so-called tyre war after four events?
`There have been four different winners in the first four races, using both brands of tyre, so it is about as even as it could possibly be. There have been two victories using Bridgestone tyres with Casey in Qatar and now Valentino in China, so I believe we can be satisfied. The performance of both tyre manufacturers is at a very high level, as we have seen by the lap times and competitiveness in recent races, but this is the great thing about competition - we must keep up an aggressive rate of development for each and every race.´

Wet conditions of China GP puts a dampener on Corsi & Terol´s podium run

noreply@blogger.com (CrazyRacer) — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:39:00 +0000

A rain-soaked 125cc race in Shanghai put a dampener on the respective podium runs of Simone Corsi and Nico Terol, but the Jack&Jones WRB riders were handed a lifeline with the inability of their World Championship rivals to take maximum points.

With two wins to his name at this early stage of the season, Corsi retains the leadership of the 125cc standings, although he was unable to make it three consecutive triumphs as a collision with Lorenzo Zanetti forced him into retirement. The Italian was understandably not best pleased with the turn of events, although could draw one positive from the visit to China.

`I leave China as the leader of the World Championship, which is the only reason to be upbeat as we return to Europe,´ reviewed Corsi, who holds a nine point advantage in the lower cylinder category.

`I had a relaxed start in order to avoid the cluster and fairing-bashing of the early stages. I was planning on upping the pace when the danger had passed, but any chance I had was wiped out by Zanetti´s run-off. I could have been in the top five, but that doesn´t mean anything now.´

Team-mate Terol did not have quite the disastrous day experienced by Corsi, although an eight place finish did mean that he now finds himself level on points in the championship with Joan Olive, with both lying second in the standings.

`It was a difficult race, as are all wet races,´ said Terol. `I wasn´t too confident, because I´ve never been a good wet weather rider, and for that reason I think that I wasn´t able to take that next point. I think my position in the moment is a good one,´ analysed a reflective Terol.