Italian racewinner relied on series leader for early lines.

A maiden win for Andrea Dovizioso in the premier class could not have come at a better time for the Italian. Following three races without claiming World Championship points, a month in which speculation about his future has been debated and some tough times chasing a first podium as a Repsol Honda rider, the sophomore star gave an assured display when some of the more experienced names in MotoGP fell foul of the Donington Park conditions.

The first new MotoGP racewinner since last year’s Portuguese round (won by persistent 250cc rival Jorge Lorenzo) Dovizioso now has a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. However, whilst he may have looked confident when leading the British Grand Prix, things were still tough for ‘Dovi’ on Sunday afternoon.

“This race was very difficult. With these conditions the temperature of the tyres was too low, and the light rainfall for the whole race meant that it was probably the worst scenario for riding on this tyre. We couldn’t change the bikes either, so it was really difficult to manage,” said the Honda factory rider after an ecstatic celebration on the podium. He had led the race since lap nineteen, when reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi went in too hot on the Fogarty Esses, but the lack of a close rival actually made the final eleven laps harder for the eventual winner.

“Before Valentino crashed it was easy, because I just followed him; after that I needed to understand the track better,” he explained. “Wearing a light visor also meant that I couldn’t see clearly which lines were the driest.At the end Randy (De Puniet) and Colin (Edwards) were riding at 100% and catching me, which was difficult to manage. I think maybe for the last two laps I was pushing so hard that they couldn’t risk reaching me.”

And has the win changed Dovizioso’s goals for the year? Not exactly. Speaking pragmatically, he declared that “Today wasn’t a normal situation, so we still have to understand how we can use all the potential of the package. We still need to find some solutions.”

source : motogp.com

Rossi lands last Donington pole

Valentino Rossi took pole position number four of the 2009 season on Saturday afternoon with the fastest lap of MotoGP qualifying at Donington Park. The Fiat Yamaha rider’s time of 1’28.116 gave him his first top spot for the British Grand Prix since 2005 –the last occasion in which he won at the Midlands track.

Rossi now has twice as many pole positions as he did for the entire 2008 season and, following his pole position last week in Germany, heads the qualifying timesheet for consecutive races for the first time since the beginning of 2007. His hot lap came at the end of the session in a frantic shootout, in which he sent Dani Pedrosa –the top man in both Free Practice sessions- packing by just under a tenth of a second.

Teammate and title rival Jorge Lorenzo was also hot on the Italian’s heels, placing third on the grid and maintaining his 100% record of front row starts in the current campaign. He relegated Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner –who lowsided at Macleans for his second fall of the day- to the head of the second line by just 0.044.

Andrea Dovizioso and Colin Edwards join Stoner on row two, riding for Repsol Honda and Monster Tech 3 Yamaha, respectively. Edwards’ teammate and the only home rider in the premier class, James Toseland equaled his best qualifying performance of the year with ninth in the session.

In addition to Stoner’s fall, Scot Racing rider Gabor Talmacsi also came off his bike during the run-out.

source : motogp.com &crash.net

Run of Fiat Yamaha riders on front row in 2009 extends to nine.

Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo duked it out to be crowned the king of qualifying once more in Sachsenring, taking a one-two at the German track for the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. It is the sixth time that the two have shared the front row in 2009, and the seventh time that either of the two has taken pole position.

It was Rossi’s turn to take pole position, his first at the venue in his MotoGP career. In doing so he knocked Fiat Yamaha teammate Lorenzo down to second on the grid, and was delighted to be leading the attack.

“I’m really happy for this pole because it means I’ve already got more than in the whole of last year!” beamed the Italian. “Getting the pole position here is very important for the race because it’s such a hard place to overtake, so I’m really happy. We’ve done some good work today and my team has done a great job to set-up the bike. We’ve made a few small modifications, which have improved the feeling for me and I felt very confident today despite the bad conditions.”

Of the two rivals, Rossi is certainly in the best shape. Lorenzo had a tough Friday and had to face the rain whilst already sore from a collarbone and ankle injury, but rose to the top with a reinvigorated performance on Saturday after putting fears of another fall to the back of his mind.

“Yesterday I was quite worried about my injuries but I am happy to say that today I feel a lot better and I was able to ride much more strongly and brake much later,” said the Spaniard, who leads the BMW M Award competition for qualifying results. “I was really fast in the dry this morning and then this afternoon I did a lot of consistent laps, improving all the time, which is very good because often I struggle in the wet. At the end it was very easy to crash so I didn’t want to push too much or take too many chances, it was important to be careful!”

Either Rossi or Lorenzo have won five of the eight races held to date in 2009

source : motogp.com

The Mayor of Monterey County, Chuck Dalla Sala, came to the Laguna Seca circuit to present the eight-time World Champion with the honour.

At the same time Ken Lofink, President of SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula) awarded Rossi the ‘key’ to the circuit.

Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo is planning to race this afternoon following yesterday’s accident. The 22-year-old has some pain in his shoulder but is receiving as much help as possible from the Clinica Mobile and circuit doctors and is confident of being able to take part at 1400 local time today.

Rossi commented, “I want to thank the people of Monterey and the Laguna Seca track for these great honours! I love racing here and I have enjoyed it ever since we first came in 2005 so I am very proud to have this day named after me. I hope I can put up a good performance this afternoon to thank everyone for this.”

source : motogp.com

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa took a dominant win at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday in the Californian sunshine.

After more than a year without a victory for Honda, since his own win at Catalunya last season, Dani Pedrosa triumphed at Laguna Seca on Sunday, taking the holeshot from fourth on the grid and not looking back - to cross the finishing line ahead of his closest rival Valentino Rossi.

Following a string of crashes and injury problems Pedrosa was finally back to his very best, lapping at a pace which none of his opponents could match. At one stage he had built up a significant gap at the front and although Rossi chased him down on the final lap there were no mishaps this time.

Pedrosa still has some way to go if he is to challenge at the head of the standings however, as current leader Rossi picked up more good World Championship points in second place, whilst Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner were third and fourth respectively.

Riding with an injured shoulder and foot, Lorenzo had a chance to overtake Rossi for second with four laps to go but got his move wrong and had to settle for the final podium place. Stoner ran with the frontrunners for most of the race but although he tired in the final stages he stayed within touching distance of Fiat Yamaha pair Rossi and Lorenzo at the top of the standings courtesy of his fourth place.

A good ride from Nicky Hayden at his favourite track saw him register his first top five result since joining Ducati, the American rider finishing just ahead of a similarly revitalised Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini).

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) completed the top ten.

There was disappointment for Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who lost ground in the championship when he crashed out for the second race in succession on lap seven. Indeed only twelve riders completed the race as the likes of Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing), Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), Sete Gibernau (Grupo Francisco Hernando) and James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) went home with DNFs to their names.

source : motogp.com

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Jorge Lorenzo stated his intentions with a late fast lap in the Saturday morning practice at Laguna Seca.

Out to prove a point this weekend having finished second to his team-mate Valentino Rossi in the last two MotoGP races and having crashed out on the first lap of the race last year at Laguna Seca, Jorge Lorenzo was the top man in the Saturday morning practice run.

The young Spanish Fiat Yamaha rider took his M1 round the Californian track in 1’21.799 right at the end of the session, to push Casey Stoner off the top spot, ahead of qualifying later today.

Fears about Stoner’s ability to perform this weekend at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix subsided somewhat in the first Saturday outing as the Ducati star put down a marker of 1’21.835s that only Lorenzo was able to beat on his final lap. Of course Stoner will need more than one fast lap in Sunday’s eighth race of the year and doubts linger about his current stamina levels, having only completed 23 laps in FP2 compared to Lorenzo’s 35.

Valentino Rossi was around three tenths off Lorenzo’s best in third place and will look to increase the pace in qualifying later on. The Italian himself completed 34 laps, his best time of 1’22.177 coming early in the outing.

A revitalised Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) lapped fourth fastest, just ahead of Repsol Honda counterparts Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa, who lapped in similar times – around 0.75s slower than Lorenzo – in fifth and sixth respectively.

Eighth fastest participant Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki) was in the middle of an American sandwich behind Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards and in front of Ducati’s Nicky Hayden - with all three lapping at a similar speed. Edwards’ Tech 3 colleague James Toseland completed the top ten.

source : motogp.com

The hour-long first MotoGP free practice session at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix concluded with Valentino Rossi in front of his World Championship rivals on Friday.

In perfect conditions at the Laguna Seca circuit on Friday afternoon, with blue skies, Californian sunshine and temperatures of 24°C, the MotoGP riders got the eighth race weekend of the year underway – the World Champion Valentino Rossi putting down the fastest time late in FP1.

The current MotoGP ‘big three’ were on top again as the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix commenced, Rossi followed on the timesheet by his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati’s Casey Stoner.

Rossi’s 1’21.981s lap around the shortest track on the MotoGP calendar, on the last of his 32 laps, was enough to put him 0.112s ahead of the young pretender to his crown Lorenzo.

A first lap crasher in the 2008 race on his Laguna Seca debut, Lorenzo will aim to put the memories of last year’s contest behind him and already looks comfortable around the picturesque American track.

Stoner was just 0.189s down on Rossi’s pace himself as he tested his condition following the severe exhaustion he has experienced in recent weeks. The 2007 Laguna race-winning Australian is out for revenge over Rossi this weekend following their epic 2008 battle which Rossi won in such style.

In fourth place was Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa. The Spanish rider is still fighting back to 100% fitness this weekend, although he is already in far better shape than last year when he went home after the Friday practices due to injuries he sustained at Sachsenring.

There was a good start to the weekend for San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Toni Elías who immediately benefitted from the introduction of the new chassis on the Honda RC212V to lap fifth quickest.

Italian pair Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Marco Melandri (Hayate Racing) were sixth and seventh, respectively 0.899s and 1.159s down on the pace.

Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen crashed at the beginning of the session but soon got back out on track to complete 27 laps in total and still managed to go round eighth fastest.

Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Alex de Angelis (San Carlo Honda Gresini) rounded out the top ten, whilst Edwards’ compatriot Nicky Hayden made a sluggish start to his American Ducati debut in 14th place.

source : motogp.com

Italian thanks teams and family after riding ‘perfect race’ in Assen.

Valentino Rossi appears to reach a Grand Prix milestone with every victory added to his legacy, and the Italian reached a century of World Championship wins with his latest triumph on Saturday in Assen. The Fiat Yamaha rider had less of a battle on his hands than two weeks prior in Barcelona, and was in better condition to give an animated celebration –this time an unraveling of a celebratory banner and a photo with an ‘old school’ camera.

“It’s a fantastic achievement. 100 victories is a great number. Thanks to all the guys who have helped me to reach this number –my teams over the past ten years, Jeremy Burgess and especially all my close friends and family for giving me motivation. We hope to win some other races though!” said Rossi after stepping onto the podium with a custom made ‘100’ flag.

On the race itself, which he led for almost the entirety after starting from pole, the reigning World Champion commented that: “I had a good feeling and knew that I was very fast on two or three points in the track, so I tried to get out to the front as soon as possible and impose my rhythm. It was a perfect race because any mistakes would have a high cost. I knew that Lorenzo was very strong, so I tried to take an advantage.

“It’s been two races that the bike has had a good setting. This year the bike is fantastic, and we hope to continue in this way.”

Rossi will have little time to savour the win, as the MotoGP World Championship takes a swift transatlantic flight to Laguna Seca, California for next weekend’s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix. The 30-year old was a winner there in 2008, but knows that things won’t be easy stateside.

“Last year was great, but it will be hard with just 3-4 days of rest. We are in a good moment, and I hope to have a good race like last year.”