MotoGPMatters - Kropotkin Thinks

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

2008 Qatar MotoGP Preview - Star Of The Desert
2008-03-07 01:52:00
At last. The long winter break is over, and a new day dawns on MotoGP with the season opener at the Losail circuit in Qatar . Although it's not so much a new day as a new night, as MotoGP, in its continuing  struggle to win fans over from other forms of motorsport, has scooped Formula 1 to stage the very first night race in motorsports. The fact that racing has been running under the lights for years in the US is being conveniently overlooked, as most Europeans remain blissfully unaware of N
More About: Preview , Star , Desert , 2008

Hayden And Pedrosa To Use 2007 RC212V At Losail?
2008-03-06 15:00:00
After Honda got their predictions of how to build a title-winning 800cc MotoGP bike so utterly wrong in 2007, expectations were raised that they would not make the same mistake again in 2008. If there was ever a year that you might expect HRC to come out with an unbeatable factory bike, surely this would be it. Apparently, those expectations are also wide of the mark, for this afternoon, at Losail, Repsol Honda staff were spotted by our Italian counterparts GPOne.com unpacking the parts for 2007 RC212Vs from flight cases, and cleaning them ready for use. The initial diagnosis is that HRC will be testing the 2007 bikes during Friday's free practice sessions, pitting them up against the 2008 bikes to see which is faster. Such a decision would be a remarkable implicit admission by HRC that their new bike is just not up to scratch yet. However, there are a few mitigating circumstances: the new factory RC212V suffered serious problems with grip during the night tests last week at Los...
More About: Hayden

Rusty Writes: Musco, Lighting Up The World of Sports
2008-03-05 15:25:00
For those of you who did not recently watch the Daytona 500 here in The States, you missed your best opportunity to see the handiwork of Musco Lighting prior to the GP of Qatar. Musco has been the premier outdoor lighting specialists in The States for 32 years. I first heard of them 23 (or more) years ago while I was marching in drum & bugles corps on American and Canadian football fields. For three years in the mid '80s, the annual Finals competitions were held in Madison, WI. Musco is from nearby (relatively speaking) Iowa, and there was quite a discussion about their amazing ability to use temporary lighting stands to illuminate the somewhat large Camp Randall Stadium that played host for the Finals. At the time, that stadium did not have permanent lighting. Musco was beginning to be known for showing up at a football stadium with their large trucks and providing enough light for a live television broadcast where such a thing had not been previously possible at night. ...
More About: Sports , World , The World

2008 MotoGP Season Preview - Won't Get Fooled Again
2008-03-05 02:25:00
As the final few days count down before the first MotoGP race of 2008 , and the tension and excitement starts to swell inside the breast of motorcycle racing fans, it's hard not to get carried away at the prospect of a brand new season. And there is much to get excited about: the entry of some of the most exciting young rookies into motorcycle racing's premier class; the first title defense for another new champion; and a slew of riders and, more importantly, manufacturers out for revenge.
More About: Preview , Season

2008 Qatar Night Test Day 2 - Final Times
2008-03-01 00:47:00
On the second and final day, or rather, night of testing at Qatar , two rookies ended up at the top of the heap. After James Toseland had held the top spot for much of the session, it was Jorge Lorenzo who finished with the fastest time, nearly half a second faster than the current pole record, held by Valentino Rossi. What was surprising was that Yamaha dominated the top of the timesheet, with Colin Edwards in 4th making it 3 out of 4, and only Randy de Puniet on the LCR Honda between the Texan and the Brit. Yesterday's leader, Casey Stoner, could only manage a 5th fastest time, although Stoner was the fastest man on race tires. The men expected to be Stoner's rivals for the 2008 crown did not fare particularly well. Valentino Rossi only managed the 10th fastest time, nearly 3/4 of a second slower than Stoner, while Dani Pedrosa was down in 13th, well over a second slower. As ever, Stoner is the only Ducati to get his Italian steed to fly: the remainder of his colleagues, inclu...
More About: Night , Final , Times , Test

2008 Qatar Night Test Day 1 - Final Times
2008-02-29 11:56:00
Pos.RiderBikeTimeFast LapTotal Laps 1Casey Stoner Ducati1'55.3304161 2Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha1'56.0197677 3Randy De Puniet Honda1'56.0628588 4Andrea Dovizioso Honda1'56.1216381 5James Toseland Yamaha1'56.2514990 6Alex De Angelis Honda1'56.5715669 7John Hopkins Kawasaki1'56.6147171 8Dani Pedrosa Honda1'56.6217272 9Valentino Rossi Yamaha1'56.7497082 10Colin Edwards Yamaha1'56.7626182 11Toni Elias Ducati1'57.0078285 12Nicky Hayden Honda1'57.0108991 13Shinya Nakano Honda1'57.2237879 14Chris Vermeulen Suzuki1'57.5227680 15Loris Capirossi Suzuki1'57.5514266 16Marco Melandri Ducati1'57.5934670 17Sylvain Guintoli Ducati1'57.6444466 18Anthony West Kawasaki1'57.7873451
More About: Night , Qatar , Final , Times , Test

2008 Qatar Night Test Day 1 - Times at 10pm - UPDATED
2008-02-28 21:46:00
The first times are starting to appear from the first night time test at Qatar , in the warmup for next week's first ever night time Grand Prix. So far, it's Casey Stoner who is fastest, as usual. Because the session got underway late, the test is due to carry on until 1am local time, which is 10pm GMT. Times from GPOne.com: Times at 10pm local time: 1Casey Stoner Ducati1'55.3304142 2James Toseland Yamaha1'56.2514951 3Andrea Dovizioso Honda1'56.4423345 4Randy De Puniet Honda1'56.5915253 5Colin Edwards Yamaha1'56.8604143 6Valentino Rossi Fiat1'57.0384462 7Jorge Lorenzo Fiat1'57.1003243 8Alex De Angelis Honda1'57.2103442 9John Hopkins Kawasaki1'57.2203132 10Loris Capirossi Suzuki1'57.5514248 11Chris Vermeulen Suzuki1'57.6304343 12Sylvain Guintoli Ducati1'57.6444444 13Anthony West Kawasaki1'57.7873434 14Shinya Nakano Honda1'57.8354646 15Marco Melandri Ducati1'58.0894145 16Nicky Hayden Honda1'58.2083839 17Dani Pedrosa Honda1'58.2563940 18Toni Elias Ducati1'58.5914...
More About: Night , Test , 2008

Nicky Hayden's 2006 Championship Leathers For Sale
2008-02-28 13:37:00
Dean Adams, the driving force behind the outstanding Superbikeplanet.com website, is auctioning off some of the motorcycle racing memorabilia he has collected over the many years he has been working as a journalist, the proceeds of which go to the Merlyn Plumlee scholarship fund. The fund was set up after the sad demise of Merlyn Plumlee, the former Honda AMA crew chief, widely touted as one of the best ever to wield a clipboard and spanner. The latest item to be auctioned off is a unique piece of MotoGP history: a set of leathers worn by 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden during his championship campaign. The leathers are signed by Hayden, who won the AMA Superbike title with Plumlee in his garage. Current bidding (as of February 28th) stands at $3,380, which given the continuing weakness of the US Dollar, is a real bargain for a European racing fan. The auction is due to run until March 9th, so you still have plenty of time to obtain a remarkable keepsake. Adams will be auc...
More About: Championship , For Sale , Sale

Guest Column - Why Big Bang Engines Work
2008-02-24 22:46:00
The piece we ran by Sean McConnell on an alternative approach to big bang engines kicked up quite a lot of debate about the merits of big bang engines vs screamer firing orders. As luck would have it, this week's episode of Bob Hayes' utterly outstanding MotoGPOD podcast featured an excellent discussion on the history and theory of big bang engines by Scott Jones. The segment was so well-written that we asked Scott if we could run it here, as a counterpoint to Sean's article.
More About: Work , Column , Bang , Big Bang , Engines

More Regulatory Madness - This Time, It's Rev Limits
2008-02-24 01:28:00
It seems that Ducati's first world championship title has upset the major Japanese manufacturers a very great deal. After Honda got the FIM and MSMA to reduce the capacity to 800cc, they fully expected to be able to dominate the MotoGP class as they had after the previous change, the switch to four-stroke engines in 2002. They had not reckoned on a tiny Italian factory stealing their thunder by gambling on maximum horsepower, and humiliating the big players, and natural heirs to the MotoGP crown. So it seems like the big players - or more specifically, Honda and Yamaha - have hit upon a quick way to neutralize the threat posed by Borgo Panigale: Autosport is reporting that Honda and Yamaha are pushing for rev limits to be introduced in MotoGP. Under the scheme, engines would have an artificial ceiling set on the maximum number of revs per minute they could spin at. More interestingly, the figure quoted is a maximum of 19,000 rpm. The fact that the Ducati is the only bike to rev ab...
More About: Time , Limits , Regulatory , Madness

Guest Column - The Big Bang vs. Screamer Debate in MotoGP
2008-02-21 23:09:00
With the MotoGP teams switching back and forth between "big bang" and "screamer" firing orders, there is a lot of discussion about the relative advantages and disadvantages of the two engine configurations. On the one hand, Ducati has elected to switch back to the screamer configuration, with a great deal of success, while Kawasaki is working hard on its own version of the screamer, their task made more complicated by the fact that the Green Machine is an inline four. In the other camp, Yamaha are utterly convinced of the merits of the big bang engine, and have declared that they will not use a screamer again. And there are those who believe there are even more options that this. An Australian physicist and motorcycle racer called Sean McConnell sent us a piece exploring some of the rationale behind the big bang, and offering a suggestion on how to get the benefits of both firing orders. We hope you enjoy it. The Big Bang vs. Screamer Debate in MotoGP by Sean McConnell I haven...
More About: Column , Big Bang , Guest

Ten Kate: MotoGP An Option For 2009
2008-02-20 16:47:00
As the World Superbike opener in Qatar approaches, the media is focusing its attention on some of the more unusual aspects of the World Superbike paddock. One of those anomalies is the HANNSpree Ten Kate Honda team, which is fielding not 2 but 3 top names in the Superbike championship: former MotoGP veteran Carlos Checa, double British Superbike champion Ryuichi Kiyonari, and reigning World Supersport title holder Kenan Sofuoglu. An unusual step, as every other team consists of either 2 riders, or a senior team of 2 experienced veterans, and a junior team comprising 2 up and coming talents. This unusual team line up has had the Dutch motorcycling press asking questions. In an online interview (in Dutch) with team boss Ronald ten Kate, the magazine MOTO73 asked whether the three-man team was part of a plan for a MotoGP entry in 2009. Ten Kate's response was interesting: Instead of flat out denying it, as you would expect, the Ten Kate team boss was flustered, telling the interviewe...

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 3 Times FP4 Final - Hayden Finds A Flier
2008-02-18 19:43:00
The final day of testing at Jerez started blustery but dry, the wind thankfully drying the track out quickly whenever showers passed over. Once the sun came out early in the afternoon, the track soon dried out completely, and the many riders who had stayed inside all morning were quick to come out and get some laps in. The enforced inaction was not good for everyone. James Toseland, for one, took a nasty tumble on just his 2nd lap out of the pits, badly twisting his ankle. Despite his injury, Toseland rejoined the session after a visit to the Clinica Mobile, eventually finishing the day with the 6th fastest time. The Michelins dominated the timesheet at the end of the day, with Nicky Hayden setting an incredibly fast time, 0.2 seconds faster than the existing pole record, and equaling the time he set here during testing in November, which was itself 0.3 seconds slower than the time Dani Pedrosa set at the same session. Hayden's time was indicative of the quality of the Michelin ...
More About: Final , Times , Test

Ducati And Dorna Quash Schumacher Rumors
2008-02-18 19:36:00
The rumors that Michael Schumacher was preparing to race in MotoGP as a wildcard, which we reported here earlier, are turning out to be just that, rumors. According to Autosport.com, both Carmelo Ezpeleta, the CEO of Dorna, and Ducati team boss Livio Suppo rejected the suggestion out of hand. Suppo denied ever having spoken to the German Formula 1 champion about the matter, and Ezpeleta dismissed the rumor with a joke: "Maybe we'll have him racing with Kimi Raikkonen in a sidecar!" Any prospect of Schumacher turning his hand to professional motorcycle racing is looking increasingly improbable. MotoGP is very much a young man's game, and with Schumacher due to turn 39 this year, he has his age against him.
More About: Rumors

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 3 Times - 1:30 pm Preliminary
2008-02-18 14:56:00
Pos.RiderFast LapDiffLapTotal laps 1Casey Stoner1'41.68549 2Valentino Rossi 1'42.4670.78288 3Nicky Hayden1'42.6670.9821212 4Loris Capirossi1'42.9631.27879 5John Hopkins1'42.9701.2851718 6Shinya Nakano1'42.9831.29835 7Toni Elias1'43.3311.6463435 8Ant West1'43.7612.076814 9Dani Pedrosa1'44.0882.4031116 10Sylvain Guintoli1'44.3552.67055 11Alex de Angelis1'44.8083.12333 12Olivier Jacque1'45.0643.37967 13Chris Vermeulen1'45.1483.46399 14Vittoriano Guareschi1'45.5973.9122829 15Andrea Dovizioso1'46.2294.54433 16Marco Melandri1'46.7665.0811313 17Niccolo Canepa1'48.5726.887 18James ToselandNo time11 -Colin Edwards0 -Randy de Puniet0 -Jorge Lorenzo0
More About: Times , Test , Jerez , 2008

L'Équipe Gets Caught Out Too - Schumacher To MotoGP Rumor Resurf
2008-02-17 21:07:00
The problem with practical jokes is that they can all too easily get out of hand. At the end of December, rumors first started emerging that Michael Schumacher was poised to make the switch to MotoGP, riding a Ducati. The rumor was based on the time Schumacher is alleged to have set at Valencia after the final Grand Prix of 2007, with the German former F1 champion riding the Ducati GP7 to within 5 seconds of the MotoGP lap record. The story was so convincing that we even ran it here at MotoGPMatters.com, and it provoked heated discussion about the role of electronics in modern racing motorcycles. Rather predictably, and rather disappointingly, the story turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by DailyMotos.com. The Spanish website had run the story for "el Dia de los Santos Innocentes", the Day of the Innocent Saints, the Spanish equivalent of April Fools' Day, a day on which practical jokes are played on friends and family, and newspapers publish seemingly plausible but entirely u...
More About: Rumor , Caught

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 2, FP3 Called Off Due To Weather
2008-02-17 20:46:00
The weather stopped play during the final session of day 2 at the official IRTA test at Jerez , after the rain returned and the wind damaged advertising signs around the track. Officials red-flagged the session after less than an hour, with parts from the damaged signs forming a hazard for the riders. Only 4 riders had been out prior to the red flag being shown, completing a total of just 15 laps between them. Frenchman Randy de Puniet was the fastest in the meaningless session, in a time of 1'55.568.
More About: Weather , Test , 2008

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 2, QP Report - Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter
2008-02-17 17:58:00
If there were any lingering doubts about who is favorite for the 2008 MotoGP title, Sunday's qualifying practice at the official IRTA test in Jerez should have laid these well and truly to rest. Within just 11 minutes of the start of the session, one rider had stamped his authority on qualifying with such force that the 2nd place rider at that moment was nearly three and a half seconds behind. Three and a half seconds. And though his lead was reduced, after the 40 minutes were up, the winning margin was still over 1.3 seconds. This wasn't a contest, it was a massacre. The session had started in hope, with the track damp after the morning's rain. Wet weather meant an upset could be on the cards, with wet weather specialists such as Kawasaki's Ant West and Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen capable of springing a surprise in a downpour. But the showers, which had been falling on and off throughout the morning, had been driven off in the early afternoon, and the session started under a wat...
More About: Report , Hope , Test , Enter

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 2, QP Times - Business As Usual
2008-02-17 16:01:00
Pos.No.RiderManufacturerFast LapDiffDiff Previous 11Casey STONERDUCATI1'49.263 246Valentino ROSSIYAMAHA1'50.5801.3171.317 369Nicky HAYDENHONDA1'50.7851.5220.205 413Anthony WESTKAWASAKI1'50.7991.5360.014 54Andrea DOVIZIOSOHONDA1'51.3122.0490.513 656Shinya NAKANOHONDA1'51.5942.3310.282 765Loris CAPIROSSISUZUKI1'51.8942.6310.300 814Randy DE PUNIETHONDA1'51.9792.7160.085 950Sylvain GUINTOLIDUCATI1'52.0582.7950.079 1033Marco MELANDRIDUCATI1'52.2382.9750.180 1115Alex DE ANGELISHONDA1'52.4633.2000.225 1252James TOSELANDYAMAHA1'52.7553.4920.292 137Chris VERMEULENSUZUKI1'52.7793.5160.024 145Colin EDWARDSYAMAHA1'52.8263.5630.047 1519Olivier JACQUEKAWASAKI1'53.2834.0200.457 1648Jorge LORENZOYAMAHA1'53.2924.0290.009 1722Vittoriano GUARESCHIDUCATI1'54.6945.4311.402 1859Niccolo CANEPADUCATI1'57.4538.1902.759 1924Toni ELIASDUCATI1'57.6988.4350.245 Did not start: 2Dani PEDROSAHONDA 21John HOPKINSKAWASAKI
More About: Business , Business As Usual , Times , Test , Jerez

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 2, FP2 Times, 1pm - Rain Shakes The Field Up
2008-02-17 14:31:00
The rain in Spain has been falling mainly on the track at Jerez today, turning up a few of the usual wet weather suspects. Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen shone as always in the rain, with Casey Stoner also putting in a strong performance. Dani Pedrosa decided to sit this morning's session out, not wishing to risk further injuring his recovering hand. With the rain still falling, the list of candidates for the BMW Z4 has been shuffled around. Vermeulen and his compatriot Ant West have to be taken into consideration, as both Australians are fantastic in the wet. But Casey Stoner isn't too shabby either, as his display at Donington proved, and Colin Edwards is another man to watch, as the Texan won himself a BMW sports car the last time the IRTA qualifying session was run in the rain, at Catalunya in 2006. Pos.No.RiderManufacturerFast LapDiffDiff Previous 11Casey STONERDUCATI1'51.427 27Chris VERMEULENSUZUKI1'51.6210.1940.194 34Andrea DOVIZIOSOHONDA1'52.0370.6100.416 469Nicky HAYDEN...
More About: Rain , Times , Test , Field

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 1 - A Brief Analysis
2008-02-16 23:48:00
The first day of testing at Jerez was yet another object lesson on ignoring the headline times and focusing on the big picture. If you were to judge Saturday's times just on the timesheet printed at the end of the day, then it would be simplicity itself to fall into the gaping trap laid by a smattering of qualifying tires. Nicky Hayden's fastest lap is not that much of a surprise, Hayden having been quick at the last Sepang test, and even Randy de Puniet atop the timesheets is a common sight this winter. But looking beyond de Puniet, the picture is of Yamaha dominance, with Gresini Honda close behind. Casey Stoner, the reigning world champion and the hot favorite to retain his crown, is way down in 9th place, behind the main rival for his crown, Valentino Rossi. Dani Pedrosa, the other candidate for the title, has fared even worse, only managing a 12th position. But look behind the headlines and you see a different story. The top 7 times, from Nicky Hayden all the way down to S...
More About: Analysis , Test , 2008

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 1 Times - Final
2008-02-16 19:52:00
Pos.Rider BikeFastest LapDiff.Total Laps 1Nicky Hayden Honda1'39.200107 2Randy de Puniet Honda1'39.4440.24482 3Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha1'39.5280.32894 4Colin Edwards Yamaha1'39.6290.42978 5James Toseland Yamaha1'39.6780.47891 6Alex de Angelis Honda1'40.1650.96575 7Shinya Nakano Honda1'40.1920.99282 8Valentino Rossi Yamaha1'40.6411.44192 9Casey Stoner Ducati1'40.6511.45166 10Andrea Dovizioso Honda1'40.7671.56758 11Loris Capirossi Suzuki1'40.8431.64364 12Daniel Pedrosa Honda1'41.3522.15237 13Marco Melandri Ducati1'41.3922.19283 14Toni Elias Ducati1'41.7032.50391 15Chris Vermeulen Suzuki1'41.7632.56379 16Anthony West Kawasaki1'41.8212.62183 17John Hopkins Kawasaki1'41.9012.70126 18Olivier Jacque Kawasaki1'42.5573.35767 19Niccolo Canepa Ducati1'42.6523.45261 20Sylvain Guintoli Ducati1'42.6983.49868 21Vittoriano Guareschi Ducati1'43.4354.23566 Record times and times from the 2007 MotoGP race at Jerez . Pole Position2007Dani PEDROSA1'39.402160.185 Km/h Fastest Lap2007...
More About: Final , Times , Test , 2008

2008 Irta Test Jerez Day 1 Times From 2pm Local Time
2008-02-16 15:21:00
Pos.Rider Best LapLap No.Total Laps 1Valentino Rossi 1'40.6413253 2James Toseland1'40.7680.1273748 3Casey Stoner1'40.8930.2521626 4Randy de Puniet1'41.0820.4414545 5Nicky Hayden1'41.1970.5562947 6Colin Edwards1'41.2440.6031830 7Jorge Lorenzo1'41.3090.6683642 8Alex de Angelis1'41.3970.7563645 9Shinya Nakano1'41.4350.7944652 10Andrea Dovizioso1'41.5570.9162121 11Dani Pedrosa1'41.6130.9721225 12Ant West1'41.8211.1802741 13Marco Melandri1'41.8711.2302829 14John Hopkins1'41.9011.2601214 15Loris Capirossi1'42.3681.7272727 16Chris Vermeulen1'42.9042.2633333 17Toni Elias1'43.1042.4633235 18Sylvain Guintoli1'43.5962.9551928 19Olivier Jacque1'43.7433.1021626 20Niccolo Canepa1'43.8743.2332128 21Vittoriano Guareschi1'44.4233.7822733
More About: Time , Local , Times , Test , Jerez

Aide Memoire: The Fastest Laps At Jerez Summarized
2008-02-16 13:24:00
Even MotoGP addicts such as myself can't keep track of every single fast lap at every single racetrack round the world, so as an aid to our collective memories, here's a list of the fastest laps set at Jerez over the past few years. Whenever you see times posted on this or other websites around the internet, you have a yardstick against which to measure them right here. The 2007 times were or course set at the second race of the 800cc era, while the circuit record and pole record were both set on the old 990s. Pole Position2007Dani PEDROSA1'39.402160.185 Km/h Fastest Lap2007Valentino ROSSI1'40.905157.799 Km/h Circuit Record Lap2005Valentino ROSSI1'40.596158.284 Km/h Circuit Best Lap2006Loris CAPIROSSI1'39.064160.732 Km/h
More About: Aide

2008 Irta Test Preview - Zero Hour
2008-02-16 00:35:00
Grand Prix Zero: The unofficial jocular name for the official IRTA tests at Jerez. The joke, after the idiosyncratic tendency of computer programmers to start counting at zero instead of one, is that the only "official" preseason test has grown so much in popularity, importance, and status that it has become a de facto Grand Prix, albeit a rather strange one. For the meeting has a qualifying practice, but not a race; its highlight is on a Sunday, but it finishes on Monday; it has a paying audience, television coverage, even a prize, in the form of an expensive BMW sports car, but the 40 minutes of action which the weekend centers around is arguably the least important part of the entire event, where bikes which are still in the midst of development are pitted against each other as if in a race. If truth be told, the 40 minute shootout for the BMW Z4 is an irrelevance: It bears no relation to the racing, and tells us nothing about where the teams stand or what the season will bring....
More About: Preview , Test , Hour , 2008

Pedrosa and Hopkins Both Confirmed For Irta Test
2008-02-15 21:46:00
With the season not yet even started, beds in the MotoGP sick bay have already been filling up. Kawasaki's John Hopkins suffered a very painful groin injury after a fall at Phillip Island, and Dani Pedrosa had even worse luck, breaking a bone in his hand in a huge crash on the first day of testing after the winter ban ended. Both men had question marks hanging over the start of their seasons, but luckily for them, their recovery has been remarkably swift. This means that Hopkins and Pedrosa have both been given the green light to take part in the official Irta test at Jerez, which starts on Saturday. But though both men are keen to get back to work, they are very aware of their limitations. Dani Pedrosa told the press at the Repsol Honda team launch in Zaragoza, Spain on Thursday that he intends to first check how he feels on the bike, before starting to push for fast lap times. "I still find moving my hand very difficult. It's a bit tense in all that area." John Hopkins will b...
More About: Test

Rossi's Tax Woes Finally Settled - At A Price
2008-02-12 15:26:00
In 2007, just as everything seemed to be going against Valentino Rossi, with the Yamaha M1 too slow and the Michelin tires seemingly unable to last an entire race, the Italian tax authorities added insult to injury by slapping a monster fine of 112 million Euros. Coming as it did just prior to the Brno round, the media attention distracted the Italian from racing, adding yet another obstacle in his path to regain the MotoGP title. The dispute centers on the question of residence: Rossi is officially domiciled in London for tax reasons, as the UK has a very attractive tax regime for people who spend more than half the year outside the country. The Italian tax authorities, however, claimed that Rossi was actually living in Tavullia in Italy, finding evidence that Rossi owned several luxury cars in a house in Italy, as well as a yacht, and that as a consequence, the 7 time world champion owed Italian income tax over the money he had earned in the years between 2001 and 2006. Now, V...
More About: Price , Finally

Spies To Ride Both US MotoGP Rounds
2008-02-07 23:34:00
There had already been plenty of speculation, but now there's yet more confirmation: Ben Spies is getting ready to make the switch to MotoGP. On Thursday, he told Roadracing World that he'll be racing both US MotoGP rounds, at both Indianapolis and Laguna Seca. He also told Roadracing World that he hopes to have two tests lined up on the Suzuki GSV-R MotoGP bike before the races. This would allow Spies to arrive at the races reasonably well-prepared, and given that Laguna Seca is one of Spies' favorite tracks, and a track he is nigh on unbeatable at, it raises hopes that Spies could actually be competitive there. Spies has a contract with Yoshimura Suzuki until the end of 2008, and plans to move to MotoGP in 2009, reportedly in a team to be run by Spies' friend and mentor Kevin Schwantz. But as he told Roadracing World, "nothing's signed yet."
More About: Ride , Rounds

More Number Changes - Pedrosa To Take #2 Plate
2008-02-07 23:12:00
Once upon a time, it was pretty easy to see who the fast guys were and who the slow guys were. The fast guys all had low numbers, taking the numbers allotted to them by virtue of the championship performances in the previous year, while the guys with the high numbers were privateers, or rookies, or people heading towards the tail end of their careers. Then, after a young British champion insisted on using his lucky number instead of the #1 plate he had earned by winning a title, riders, teams and sponsors saw the power of marketing, and numbers became a part of a rider's identity. Since then, riders have increasingly held on to a single number to use, regardless of their performance the previous season, and the grid was awash with increasingly individual, and increasingly illegible, stylized number plates, with the number becoming the brand. As a consequence, we now all know that #3 is Max Biaggi, #33 is Marco Melandri, #100 is Neil Hodgson, #15 is Sete Gibernau, and #21 is John H...
More About: Number

Sepang 2 Test Day 3 - Lorenzo Takes Top Time
2008-02-07 12:59:00
The final day of testing at Sepang saw an already depleted field thin out even more, with Nicky Hayden electing to head for home yesterday. That left only the Fiat Yamahas of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo and the Gresini Hondas of Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis running laps, with the Kawasaki and Yamaha test teams making up the numbers. Rossi spent much of the day concentrating on long runs on race tires, which produced evidence of significant progress in the Yamaha garage. The Italian site GPOne.com has an interesting comparison of the times set by Rossi and Casey Stoner at this test and the previous test at Sepang. For the sake of readability, I have reproduced them here: Lap no.Rossi,Feb 7thRossi,Jan 24thStoner,Jan 24th 12'56.6092'03.4852'01.940 22'03.4192'02.2902'01.865 32'02.1612'02.2012'01.584 42'01.8342'02.7412'01.910 52'01.7812'02.0732'01.693 62'01.8692'02.2192'13.140 72'01.5512'01.8792'01.570 82'01.7642'01.8522'01.510 92'01.6272'02.241 10...
More About: Time , Test