Edwards and Crutchlow make positive start in Qatar

Edwards and Crutchlow make positive start in Qatar - Edwards made a blistering start from the 10th position on the grid and was looking to force his way into the fight for the top six when he lost time by running slightly off line at the second corner. Dropping back into 10th behind team-mate Crutchlow, he quickly moved up to ninth to launch a pursuit of 2010 team-mate Ben Spies.

He closely followed his compatriot for the opening five laps, the 37 year-old setting a consistently fast pace in the mid-1'56" bracket. He shadowed the fast starting Hector Barbera until lap nine when he moved into eighth position. But he had lost too much time trying to overtake the Spaniard to maintain the pressure on Spies and

he finished eighth.

Crutchlow made an impressive MotoGP debut at the Losail International Circuit having started in front of Valentino Rossi and Edwards on the grid. Hampered again by the nasty left little finger injury he suffered during the pre-race test in Qatar less than a week ago, Crutchlow rose to the occasion brilliantly, fighting for the top ten for most of the 22-lap race.

He was right on the back of a group battling for ninth that was headed by Nicky Hayden, Hiroshi Aoyama and Barbera. But like Edwards earlier in the race, Barbera proved tough to overtake and Crutchlow lost contact with Hayden and Aoyama with three laps remaining. He was rewarded for his determined performance when he swept by Barbera on the final lap to finish a hugely encouraging debut in 11th.

Colin Edwards, 8th:

"That was the best I could do and I'm happy with the way I rode and my guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 gave me a good bike as always. A top eight is pretty good considering the speed of the guys in front of me and I was pretty much where I thought I'd end up based on practice. I got a good start and thought the only way I've got any chance of getting a top six is to take a few early risks. I went round the outside at the first corner and made up a couple of places. But I had a couple of moments, one when I nearly ran into Ben, which wouldn't have been a good move. I thought I might have had something for Valentino early on but even when he's not 100 per cent he can still ride pretty good. I'm never happy with eighth but we got some decent points and we can move on to Jerez with confidence."

Cal Crutchlow, 11th:

"I'm pretty happy with that and honestly I'd have liked to have got a top ten after how well qualifying went. I couldn't keep up with the group that included Nicky and Aoyama because it was tough to pass Barbera. They passed Barbera and I then overtook him to chase them, but he got me back immediately and let them get away because his pace dropped off quite a bit. But he's got a fast bike and that makes it hard to make a pass and stay in front of him. I was happy to be in the fight for the top ten for as long as I was and the experience gained is invaluable to help me progress in MotoGP. I wanted to finish and get a race under my belt, so it was mission accomplished. The next couple of races will be tough because I don't know the circuits but I'll be doing my best for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad."

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/Tech+3+review+Qatar+GP

Rossi satisfied with Qatar progress and shoulder

Rossi satisfied with Qatar progress and shoulder - The Ducati Team rider was satisfied with day one at the MotoGP Test in Qatar, despite a minor fall on his GP11. Team-mate Nicky Hayden was also in a positive mood after Sunday's session.

With the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship just around the corner, the Ducati MotoGP Team made steady progress during the first half of a two-night pre-season Test at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, where temperatures were around 23°C and track conditions decent. Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both completed the evening solidly inside the top ten, and they look forward to taking further steps on Monday.

Valentino Rossi, 8th, 1'57.038:

“It wasn’t bad for a first day. I was able to ride the bike better, and I enjoyed myself. Although I was just eighth, my times aren’t too far from the top: seven tenths is still a big difference, but anyway it’s progress, considering that I did my best time with a very used tyre. We worked well on the settings, even if in a couple parts of the circuit I’m still not fast enough, and we’ll have to try some more solutions tomorrow. As for the shoulder, I’m happy because I have a little more strength, and that enables me to ride better. Today I also had my first crash on a Ducati, which I naturally did intentionally because after a while, you have to do a little fall… All joking aside, I entered too quickly and lost the front: I was able to pick it up and avoid crashing while I was on the track, but I dropped it in the gravel – no big deal though.”

Nicky Hayden, 9th, 1'57.137:

“Right out of the gate, it wasn’t too bad, and then we were up against a wall for a while. The team made one little change with ride height and I was able to get a decent lap time and get consistent. In parts of the track I felt pretty good, but there are spots where the steering still needs to improve. If we can do better in those areas, we should be able to drop the lap time. I feel a little bit closer than Malaysia, but we certainly need to go quicker tomorrow.”

Live Audio Commentary now available on the Official 2011 MotoGP Live Timing App

Live Audio Commentary now available on the Official 2011 MotoGP Live Timing App . Soft Pauer, the maker of the official Live Timing App for the FIM MotoGP World Championship, today launched its new and improved App on the App Store, with a version also available for Android.*

The 2011 MotoGP™ Live Timing App includes a series of new and exciting innovations, designed to offer users an added-value service over any given race weekend. Key amongst these is the introduction of live and official audio commentary*, brought direct to the user straight from the circuit by the official MotoGP race

commentators as the action unfolds. This means fans can listen to all the action on-track* while enjoying a huge variety of data on screen.

In addition to this, for the first time this year, fans will also be able to benefit from a pause and replay feature, designed to allow live pause and re-run throughout each session, including the race itself.

More timing data has also been added to the App in 2011, meaning the live timing screens and leaderboards display a vast amount of data, including best speeds. 3D track navigation means that the map can now be panned easily so that you can position the track exactly where you want it and corner names and numbers have also been added for ease of use. As ever, wireless is not needed to enjoy the App, which also runs on GPRS, so it can be used anywhere.

The App still offers users hours of racing action brought direct and in perpetuity from the track straight to the handheld as it all unfolds. Real time track positions and data stream directly from the track to the phone, with a fully interactive 3D map giving a view of the entire circuit, complete with rider positions, gaps and pitstops throughout any given lap.

Zoom in to follow a specific rider or out to get a view of the entire lap; Split the screen to see the timing screens alongside the on-map action, or follow the live leader board as the race unfolds; Follow the live commentary or review the action again and again. For the MotoGP fan, this really is an App to bring all the detail and minutiae of each and every session in MotoGP, Moto2 and 125 to life. There’s also a wealth of video content available via the site, giving users plenty of exclusive and thrilling action footage, whole ,cool shows like “After the Flag”, re-wind features from each race and much more.

Commenting on the 2011 MotoGP™ App, Soft Pauer COO Alex Powell said; “We are very excited to bring live audio commentary to our iPhone customers. This works in conjunction with our new live replay feature so that the fan never need miss a moment of the action."

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2011/MotoGP+Live+Timing+App+Live+Commentary

King of Spain, Don Juan Carlos, greets 2010 World Champions

King of Spain, Don Juan Carlos, greets 2010 World Champions - King Don Juan Carlos of Spain welcomed the three Spanish riders to his residence the Zarzuela Palace, where he personally congratulated MotoGP World Champion Lorenzo, Moto2 title holder Elías and 125cc Champion Márquez in front of an audience which included former rider Ángel Nieto.

After official photographs were taken Don Juan Carlos discussed the trio’s accomplishments with them, in the presence of Spanish Secretary for Sport, Jaime Lissavetzky.

Also in attendance at the palace for the event were

Sporting General Director Albert Soler, Motorcycling Federation President Joan Moreta, Catalunya Motorcycling Federation President Ángel Viladoms, and Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.

Both the King and the Prince of Asturias followed the three riders’ respective seasons with great interest, Don Juan Carlos attending the Aragón GP last September whilst Don Felipe took in the season finale at Valencia in November.

MotoGP riders support Sepang Circuit fundraising

The MotoGP riders and members of their teams present at the Sepang International Circuit for the current Test showed their full support on Wednesday for the charity fundraising campaign organised by the venue.

For the duration of the Test so far and until its conclusion on Thursday, SIC has been encouraging all those attending the circuit to contribute a small donation to help raise funds for the victims of the recent floods in Malaysia.

“On behalf of Sepang International Circuit, I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to all the MotoGP riders and team members for supporting our ‘RM2 or More’ Campaign for Malaysia Flood Relief Fund,” said SIC CEO Dato Ahmad Razlan Ahmad Razali, who posed

Rossi not satisfied with Sepang outcome

Rossi not satisfied with Sepang outcome. Valentino Rossi concluded the second pre-season Test of 2011 in Malaysia less than satisfied, after failing to reach the aims he and his team had set out prior to the three-day meeting at Sepang.

Ending the third and final day 11th on the timesheet with a best time of 2’01.469, Rossi was 1.804s off Casey Stoner’s top time, and said: “We can’t be satisfied with this test because we didn’t reach our goals, which were to finish close to the top six and especially to reduce the gap to the front. Instead, we’re 1.8 seconds back, and our rhythm is also lacking.”

Continued progress for Stoner, Pedrosa and Dovizioso

Continued progress for Stoner, Pedrosa and Dovizioso, The Repsol Honda garage was a contented place once again on Wednesday, as all three riders on the factory team set fast laps as well as concluding another productive day of testing at the Sepang circuit.

Casey Stoner topped the timesheet with an effort of 2’00.171, and the Australian reviewed the workload accomplished on day two.

"We tested a lot of different things including the 2011 fork and new shocks and we found quite a lot of chattering with them. We spent 90% of the day on one bike trying different configurations,

Stoner: "The Honda surprises me on every lap"

Stoner: "The Honda surprises me on every lap". Casey Stoner achieved some superb results in the first official MotoGP Test of 2011 in Malaysia last week. The Australian, who got on the Honda RC212V for the second time – after his debut last November in Valencia – closed the three days at Sepang with the third best time of the entire Test. How did these three days go Casey?

“In general we were able to take some good steps forward. We tried many things, alternating between the two chassis, one more rigid and the other more flexible. We tried to find out which
one gave the best sensations. We still haven’t made big changes on the set-up,

Claudio Domenicali at Wrooom 2011

The Ducati Corse CEO’s full press conference from the event is now available to watch in the attached motogp.com video.

Now available to view in the attached video is Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali’s full press conference from the Wrooom 2011 event, where the Italian discussed the arrival of Valentino Rossi into the factory team, the Desmosedici GP11 and the new season.

Pedrosa: Sepang will be like a personal test

Dani Pedrosa has now resumed training after two months of inactivity. It was a forced rest, declared by doctors after visiting the operating room as a result of the double fracture of the left collarbone he suffered in Japan.

How was the return to work and how have you approached the physical preparation in these circumstances?

Until New Years I was resting but since the medical tests, when they gave me the green light, I've been training in Switzerland. I lost the entire month of December while many others were probably already in training. Obviously I can not force myself to the maximum everyday because the body doesn’t allow it, but I am working with my coaches doing the best I can.

What level of recovery are you at now?

Without doubt I am much better, the tests have shown this. They have given me the green light to train the left arm equal to the right although, logically, starting more smoothly. I have improved a lot in these days. It’s a slow process but I’m going in the right direction.

Are you facing this first test in Sepang with excitement? Do you have withdrawal symptoms from the bike?

Yes, there are always withdrawal symptoms from the bike! You really look forward to the first test. I am encouraged, because November and December were tough, there were a lot of problems and I was not well, but as you start to improve and see that the feeling is better, you are automatically encouraged. I know that I will not be at 100% in the first test but if I can control the bike well I will be happy. For me this is like a personal test to see how I am.

In November when you tested the RC212V at the Valencia Test, you said you would like to improve various aspects of the engine, chassis, aggressiveness of the bike… What do you expect to find in Malaysia in two weeks?

Well, basically what I asked for. Speaking with the team, we saw that there were some areas for improvement, we tried some modifications that were positive, I’m sure that they have been working on that and I hope that in Malaysia we will have a couple of options to see if they improve braking and acceleration, traction on corner exit. We will focus on that.

Will Casey Stoner’s arrival to the team change the approach of the work on the evolution of the bike? Will there be a leader in setting the direction to take?

This question is a little more for HRC but, ok, in principle during the pre-season things are tested and when the first race comes I suppose that the things that have been tested and chosen will be given to the riders, all of them.

How do you see it working inside in the Honda box this year?

Well, the same as last year but with one more rider.

What do you think is needed for 2011 to be the year for Dani Pedrosa?

One of the most important things is to try to not get injured. If I can stay on the bike and be on all the starting grids, it will certainly give me more points than if I am not.

Is Jorge Lorenzo the man to beat in 2011 or is the worst enemy in your own box?

For me all the rivals are important, so I value them equally because any of them can surprise you. We know that there are four or five riders that can be there in every race but the Championship is long and you always have to be on top. I have never underestimated anyone, intending that no one can surprise me, but we already know that the good riders will be there fighting at the front every race and you have to keep them close because they are strong riders. But, well, so am I, so we’ll be there fighting!.

Including a Valentino Rossi on the Ducati GP11…

Yes, I think that Rossi will adapt quickly to the bike. He will have to work obviously, but we have already seen in the past that he is very capable. He will definitely be there.

Of all the developments of 2011, with Stoner in your garage, Rossi at Ducati and new faces like Abraham and Crutchlow on the grid, what are you most curious about?

More than the riders -we already know that they are fast and how they will go- I think that one of the most important things of 2011 will be the practice sessions. The new timing of the sessions that we already tested at the end of the year. I think that these will play an important role on Sunday.

Rossi’s press conference from Ducati’s Wrooom 2011 presentation in full

Valentino Rossi gave his first press conference as a Ducati rider during Wrooom 2011, held last week at Madonna di Campiglio. Here you can watch the full video of the Italian star’s reflections.

Wearing Ducati colours for the first time and amid the expectations of the international press and the fans, Valentino Rossi gave a press conference at Wrooom 2011 in which he offered his opinions and expectations for 2011, the campaign which sees his debut at the controls of the Ducati Desmosedici GP11. In the attached video you can see the complete interview with the Italian.

Ducati Conclude Jerez Programme

The Ducati Team rounded off a three-day Test at the Jerez circuit in Spain on Wednesday, completing a productive programme of set-up work on the Desmosedici GP11.

Vittoriano Guareschi and Franco Battaini, who were tasked with carrying out the specified work on various areas of the set-up as outlined by Filippo Preziosi, began riding at 11.30am local time on Wednesday morning. Guareschi concluded his day at 4pm having ridden 61 laps, whilst Battaini continued until 6pm after putting in 90 turns of the track.

The Desmosedici will next be on track at the official MotoGP Test at Sepang in Malaysia, which takes place from February 1st-3rd and in which factory riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will have the opportunity to evaluate the bike's progress.

“We were lucky because the weather conditions enabled us to test for all three days,” said Preziosi. “We identified two set-up configurations that Vittoriano determined to be suitable in terms of front-end feel and turn-in. With Franco, we found some interesting solutions for both anti-wheelie control and traction control.”

“We’re all satisfied with the work carried out, even though we’re aware that we’re dealing with technical solutions that were tried on a different track and in different conditions compared to those of Sepang. Only when Valentino and Nicky have had their turn to try and evaluate those solutions will we be able to have a more certain confirmation and to understand if we’ve taken a step forward – and if so, how big a step.” Source: http://motogp.com/

Wrooom finishes with a spectacular exhibition

Ducati Team riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden faced Scuderia Ferrari F1 stars Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa in an ice-race on the closing day of the Wrooom Press Meeting.

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden joined Ferrari’s Formula 1 drivers for a spectacular exhibition on Madonna di Campiglio’s frozen lake in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 5,000 people.

“This week has been a spectacular event, and the races at the end were a lot of fun,” said Valentino. “In the end, I decided to take part because the atmosphere here at Wrooom was so fantastic, and because the fans deserved it. I got a few jolts from the holes, but nothing too bad. It was worth it.”

"This was my third Wrooom, and I think it was the best one yet," echoed Nicky Hayden. "It seems like they just make it better every year. They really treat us good, and we make a lot of friends, and it’s great to see them each year. This is a great way to kick things off, but there’s been enough talking about everything now. It’s time to get out there and do the real thing. I look forward to it."

Source: http://www.motogp.com/

Preziosi details the new Desmosedici

Following the presentation of the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 on Wednesday the creative mind behind the machine, Filippo Preziosi, gave a detailed technical insight into the major characteristics of the prototype that Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will ride in 2011.

Having worked tirelessly since the Valencia Test last November, Preziosi explained that completely new aerodynamics were just one of many points that he hoped would make the Desmosedici a more improved package this year.

“The main changes are in the engine, they are internal and external and are designed to achieve a more favourable, flatter torque,” said Preziosi. “The aim of the changed aerodynamics is to reduce friction, therefore improving the maximum speed while reducing the lifting of the front wheel.”

He continued: “With the chassis we have a different rigidity and torsion, and a swingarm with a different stiffness too. We are making a new fork for Sepang, adapted to the suspension for 2011.”

“In terms of electronics we are mainly working on anti-wheelie and traction control. We will be at Jerez from January 17th-19th with Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi, who will be on track.”

Discussing working with Rossi on the development of the new bike, Preziosi said: “He is telling the technicians a lot of very precise information, the most surprising thing is how he is able to put everyone in a very calm mood and ready to work and analyse all the data. This is something very difficult to do when you are under pressure. We are also very happy because Jerry (Burgess) and the other guys have linked very well with our guys. They have great experience and we are trying to add our experience together to make a better bike.”

“I want to thank Yamaha again because they allowed Valentino to test, which was really important for us because we had a lot of priorities to work on. After that we could put them in the right order, so now we are working on the parts that we decided were priorities.”

Touching on the subject of Rossi’s shoulder injury, which has been a hot topic of conversation at the Wrooom 2011 event this week, Preziosi commented: “For sure the injury is a big problem because of the importance of the winter tests. I don’t think we’ll be able to do the winter tests in the best way because of this, but we are working hard.”

“The main goal for me this year is to develop the bike,” said Preziosi in conclusion. “We want to use this year to learn as much as possible to improve the bike.”

Source: http://motogp.com/

MotoGP 2011 Live Timing App

The MotoGP 2011 Official Live Timing App is now on sale, making it the perfect Christmas gift for the dedicated fan!

The MotoGP 2011 Official Live Timing App is already available to buy from the iTunes App Store and the Android Marketplace, just in time to make an excellent Christmas gift for the devoted MotoGP fan.

Valentino Rossi '2010 season review'

Starting the season with a victory in Qatar it appeared to be ‘business as usual’ for Valentino Rossi, but 2010 was to be a year like no other for the Fiat Yamaha man. Podiums at Jerez and Le Mans followed – all the while struggling with a shoulder problem after a motocross accident which followed the Qatar race – before the 31 year-old’s season was turned on its head by the crash in practice at Mugello, which put him out of action for four races with a broken leg.