Thread: MOTOGP

Lorenzo unhappy with Rossi battle tactics

Monday, 04 October 2010
Following their nail-biting fight for third position in the Grand Prix of Japan the Championship leader was dissatisfied with the manner in which his Fiat Yamaha team-mate secured the final podium spot.


Fourth position at Motegi has done little to dent Jorge Lorenzo's hopes of securing the 2010 MotoGP World Championship but the Spaniard was left extremely unhappy with the manner in which he missed out on a podium finish to team-mate and current World Champion Valentino Rossi.
Their Japanese battle began at the first turn of the opening lap and as the two remained in close contact throughout the race the fight for third really heated up towards the end of the 24-lap contest, with daring moves and touching fairings the highlights in a tense battle that engrossed everyone watching on. Rossi managed to edge the result and whilst Lorenzo was understandably disappointed at finishing off the podium for only the second time this season, it was the nature in which he did so that left him with a bitter taste in his mouth.
"The show is great for the people to enjoy and the business of motorcycle racing, it's fantastic, but when you are a rider who is on a MotoGP bike which gets up to 300 km/h in the straight and 180-200 km/h in the corners and you are feeling the other rider touch you it's not a great feeling or a good emotion because you know you are putting your life at risk," said Lorenzo in the attached video interview. "The three or four moves I made on Valentino I felt were correct and fair. On the other hand his moves were legal but on the limit, from my point of view. We have seen the way he likes to fight, it happened before with Gibernau, then with Stoner, and now with me. Maybe in the future his rivals will get a little bit mad and we will act like he usually does!"
Lorenzo added: "We are team-mates, I am fighting for the Riders' Championship but we are both fighting for the Teams' and Manufacturers' Championship as well and we have to remember this. I am disappointed to miss the podium of course because I wanted one at Yamaha's home, but this is racing."
The decision to go with the medium front Bridgestone tyre as opposed to the hard option that his rivals opted for was a key factor in his race as well said Lorenzo. "It was obvious after the race that our choice was not the best but we can't change the situation. We made a mistake with the front tyre and I didn't have so much confidence in the front so for this reason it was difficult to overtake Valentino. We also chose the old engine because with the new one we would waste a lot of fuel and would not finish the race."
Lorenzo remains on the verge of sealing his first premier class title and leads the standings by 69 points ahead of injured rival Dani Pedrosa heading into Round 15 of 18 at Sepang next weekend.
"I am very happy at the moment because we are very close to achieving a dream that has been in the making for 20 years. It was nice to get the 250cc World titles but now we are talking about something much bigger. Maybe in Malaysia we can get it and we will then celebrate, and after in Spain," he concluded.


Lorenzo unhappy with Rossi battle tactics | The Official MotoGP Website

Home GP provides plenty of positives for Aoyama

Monday, 04 October 2010
The Interwetten Honda MotoGP rider equalled his best premier class result to date with tenth in the Grand Prix of Japan, as he continued to feel improvements in his physical condition.


Hiroshi Aoyama equalled his best MotoGP result of his rookie season to date with tenth place at Motegi on Sunday, where he continued to return to peak physical condition.
The Japanese rider has been working his way back to full fitness since his return from injury at Indianapolis, and tenth in Japan was his best result since his comeback and also matched his best result to date which came in the opening round in Qatar.
"That was a really hard race and finally we were able to finish in the top ten, which equalled my best result. If we take into consideration my condition and situation and everything I think we did a good job. I want to say thanks to the team and to everybody who has worked so hard for me this week," Aoyama told motogp.com.
"I was battling for tenth place and there was a big fight which was not so easy. This weekend we were especially struggling with braking so it was difficult to pass the other riders and that's why it took me so much time to overtake other riders. In the end we were able to and the result was quite positive."
Aoyama's improving physical state meant that he felt able to ride closer to his limit than in previous rounds, and he continued: "I was able to push harder than in the last race and I felt comfortable on the bike, which is really good. I think my physical condition is getting better with each race and especially for this race, my home GP, I had an extra motivation which gave me extra strength. I didn't feel so much pain on the bike and I could therefore focus on my riding. Up until the end of the race I was able to push hard and that was a really good feeling. For sure it was not the optimum result, but I'm looking forward to the end of the season and improving our potential."


Home GP provides plenty of positives for Aoyama | The Official MotoGP Website

SHELL ADVANCE MALAYSIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Shell Advance to support 2010 Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix

Wednesday, 08 September 2010
The Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix will take place at Sepang, Malaysia on 10th October, 2010.


CIRCUIT INFO
Pole Position: Left
Length: 5 548 m / 3.447 miles
Width: 25m
Right corners: 10
Left corners: 5
Longest straight: 920 m / 0.572 miles
Circuit records:
MotoGP 2’02.108 - C. Stoner ’09, Ducati
250cc 2’07.597 - H. Aoyama ’09, Honda
125cc 2’13.118 - A. Bautista ’06, Aprilia
2009 winners:
MotoGP C. Stoner (AUS), Ducati
250cc H. Aoyama (JPN), Honda
125cc J. Simon (SPA), Aprilia

20 years of Grand Prix racing in Malaysia

Wednesday, 06 October 2010
Malaysia has been a permanent fixture on the MotoGP World Championship calendar since 1991.


The Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix this weekend will mark the 20th anniversary of the presence of the premier class of motorcycling in the country, which first hosted the World Championship in 1991. In that time three different venues have seen action with Shah Alam, Johor and, since 1999 to the present day Sepang.
From 1991 to 1997 at Shah Alam Mick Doohan (500cc) and Max Biaggi (250cc) were the dominant riders in the Malaysian round, each claiming four wins, whilst the solo visit to Johor in 1998 saw Doohan continue his form in the premier class with Tetsuya Harada (250cc) and Kazuto Sakata (125cc) taking the honours in the other two categories.
Since Sepang took over in 1999 Valentino Rossi has been the most successful rider in the premier class with five victories to his name there, and in hosting one of the final rounds of the season it has been the site at which titles have been decided. Indeed that was the case last year with Rossi, whilst this season (and of course dependant on a range of circumstances) Jorge Lorenzo and Toni Elías could claim the MotoGP and Moto2 titles respectively at Sepang.
Here, motogp.com takes a look back through the best races in the 20-year history of MotoGP’s visits to Malaysia…
1992 – Shah Alam: Mick Doohan (Honda) won the 500cc race, which was stopped and restarted when it started to rain, from great rival Wayne Rainey. Alex Criville finished third as he achieved the first 500cc podium by a Spanish rider. Luca Cadalora repeated his victory of the previous year in the 250cc class, while the 125cc race was won by Alessandro Gramigni on his way to becoming the first rider to win a world title riding an Aprilia.
1995 – Shah Alam: Mick Doohan took his third victory in Malaysia in the 500cc contest, this time from fellow Australian Daryl Beattie. Garry McCoy had his first ever Grand Prix victory in the 125cc category for which he was awarded half points due to the race being stopped after 12 laps when it started to rain, and in the 250cc race Max Biaggi was victorious.
1998 – Johor: The one and only visit by the Grand Prix riders to the Johor circuit resulted in another victory for Mick Doohan in the 500cc race on his way to the last of his five world titles. Tetsuya Harada (250cc) and Kazuto Sakata (125cc) took the honours in the other two categories.
1999 – Sepang: On the first visit to the Sepang circuit Kenny Roberts Jnr won on his debut riding the factory Suzuki in the 500cc race. Loris Capirossi started the defence of his 250cc title with a narrow victory from Tohru Ukawa. Masao Azuma won the 125cc race riding a Honda shod with Bridgestone tyres.
2004 – Sepang: Valentino Rossi repeated the victory of the previous year but this time on a Yamaha in the MotoGP class. Having moved up to the 250cc class, Dani Pedrosa won for the second successive year at Sepang. Andrea Dovizioso clinched the world title by finishing second in the 125cc race behind Casey Stoner, who scored the first ever Grand Prix victory for KTM.
2009 – Sepang: Casey Stoner won the MotoGP race last year in Malaysia, which was delayed by over 30 minutes due to heavy rain falling as riders assembled on the grid. The race was run in wet conditions, with the riders lapping around 12 seconds off the lap record. Valentino Rossi finished third to clinch his ninth world title and seventh in the premier class. The two other classes were won by riders who would take their respective world titles in 2009 – Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda) in 250cc and Julián Simón (Aprilia) in 125cc.
You can re-live the best races of the World Championship from as far back as 1992 with highlights from each race of every season in the Seasons video section on motogp.com. Equally entertaining is a visit to the MotoGP Classics page which houses an exclusive collection of some of the most exciting battles in the premier class since 1992.


20 years of Grand Prix racing in Malaysia | The Official MotoGP Website

Stoner going for third in a row

Wednesday, 06 October 2010
The Australian has won the last two races in succession and will hope to continue his form on a track on which he won last season. Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden is aiming for a return to the podium.

After back-to-back wins in the last two races the Ducati Team is hopeful of being amongst the frontrunners again in this weekend's Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix. The Sepang Circuit hosts the majority of MotoGP winter testing and both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were on the pace in pre-season, clocking the second and third fastest times respectively on the final day.
Test conditions are always different to a race weekend but both riders have good records here, with Stoner victorious in 2007 and 2009, and Hayden boasting six top-five finishes.
However, nobody at Ducati Team is taking anything for granted this weekend and the riders and staff are ready to give maximum effort in demanding conditions, with high ambient and track temperatures and the challenge of setting up the Ducati GP10 at a completely different kind of circuit to Motegi.
Casey Stoner:
“Motegi was our biggest question mark about set up and we had to really work hard to make the bike stable for the really heavy braking. Sepang isn’t too much about that, so we can maybe raise the bike back up again and get our traction a little better and see what happens. But we can hopefully expect to have the bike working well there. We’ve all been giving 120% all season but it’s just these last two races we’re getting something back from it. It’s a huge, huge difference for us. Going into these next two races is a big clump in a small space for us, of course, but if things keep going like they are we definitely have a good chance of doing well again on Sunday.”
Nicky Hayden:
“After we got a good result in Aragón it was frustrating not being able to back it up in Motegi, it’s not good. I think it shows the level of MotoGP - if you are off a little bit you are at the back. Anyway, now we go to Malaysia and a track where we tested a lot this winter, even though it is always very different when we come back for the race. At the tests we can ride all day long whereas at the Grand Prix we have just a few hours but it’s a track I like and I enjoy and we'll just see how the bike works. The team is working extremely hard, Casey has won the last two races so the bike is working really well now and we will go there and try to get a good result.”


Stoner going for third in a row | The Official MotoGP Website

World Championship Classification

Rider Nation Points
1 LORENZO Jorge SPA 297
2 PEDROSA Dani SPA 228
3 STONER Casey AUS 180
4 DOVIZIOSO Andrea ITA 159
5 ROSSI Valentino ITA 156
6 SPIES Ben USA 139
7 HAYDEN Nicky USA 129
8 DE PUNIET Randy FRA 88
9 SIMONCELLI Marco ITA 84
10 EDWARDS Colin USA 81
11 MELANDRI Marco ITA 79
12 BARBERA Hector SPA 69
13 BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA 58
14 ESPARGARO Aleix SPA 52
15 CAPIROSSI Loris ITA 41
16 AOYAMA Hiroshi JPN 35
17 KALLIO Mika FIN 34
18 DE ANGELIS Alex RSM 11
19 HAYDEN Roger Lee USA 5
20 AKIYOSHI Kousuke JPN 4
21 YOSHIKAWA Wataru JPN 1

Constructor Points


1 YAMAHA 309
2 HONDA 285
3 DUCATI 220
4 SUZUKI 81

Team Points

1 FIAT YAMAHA TEAM 454
2 REPSOL HONDA TEAM 387
3 DUCATI TEAM 309
4 MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3 220
5 SAN CARLO HONDA GRESINI 163
6 RIZLA SUZUKI MOTOGP 99
7 LCR HONDA MOTOGP 93
8 PRAMAC RACING TEAM 86
9 PAGINAS AMARILLAS ASPAR 69
10 INTERWETTEN HONDA MOTO 50

“Dream come true” for World Champion Lorenzo

Sunday, 10 October 2010
After sealing his first premier class title in Malaysia on Sunday the Fiat Yamaha rider gave his emotional reaction to the realisation of a lifelong dream


Third place in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday handed Jorge Lorenzo the 2010 MotoGP title, and following the achievement the 23 year-old Fiat Yamaha rider gave his reaction to the accomplishment of a lifelong ambition.
"This is my first title in the premier category and my dream has come true! This is really the maximum a motorcycle rider can achieve in his career so we have to celebrate and enjoy these hours, minutes and seconds like it's the end of the world. You imagine this moment in your head your whole life but when it comes you don't know how to act or what to say. I am trying to be relaxed, to speak clearly and not say anything crazy! I'm so tired right now; I just need to be alone in a room for a few minutes, just thinking about what I've done!” said Lorenzo .
“I want to thank so many people, it's difficult to find the words but I have to mention Yamaha, all my team, Bridgestone and everyone involved. And of course thank you very much to my fans, who have been with me every step of the way.
“The perfect situation today would have been to win, but it wasn't to be this time. I made a good start and was riding well and I thought I could go away from Andrea at one point, but then he overtook me and then Valentino as well, and I thought there were too many risks today to fight for the victory; it was better to wait until the end of the race.
“Motorcycling is my passion and my job but it's also a game, and this is what I was saying when I held up the sign saying ‘game over'. Today it's over for this season because I am the World Champion!
“I don't think about the future now, I just want to celebrate my first MotoGP title and I can't think beyond this night. The future will be tough and exciting, with giants for my rivals, but we don't need to think about that now, we can just enjoy the moment.
“We have come such a long way; some things happen very slowly in your career and some very fast. When I started in the World Championship I was almost last in the 125 class but in only eight years I have become MotoGP World Champion. It's incredible how life can change. We have fought so hard and for this. I've been fortunate because I've had good luck, good bikes and good teams. I've always been surrounded by people who want to best for me and I am very grateful for this.”
Reviewing the season so far, in which he has taken 13 podiums from 15 races – including seven wins – Lorenzo continued: “The pre-season didn't start so well with my broken finger but in the end it's been a fantastic year. If I had to pick the three best races I would say the number one was Jerez, because it was the first time I won there in MotoGP and it's maybe the best place to win a race. Plus I enjoyed my jump in the lake! Silverstone was maybe the best race I had, because I was aggressive and fast. Then finally here, not for the riding but for the importance and the World Championship. I want to win some more races this season and I will try my hardest to do so.
“I don't know yet if I will use the number one next season. If I can think of a good design then yes, if not I stick with 99!
“World Champion - it sounds unbelievable to hear these words, it is such a pleasure, you feel like you're king of the world. We will enjoy this night to the maximum."
To read more about Lorenzo’s route to MotoGP glory click here.

“Dream come true� for World Champion Lorenzo | The Official MotoGP Website

Rossi: “One of the best races of my career”

Sunday, 10 October 2010
The Italian took his 46th MotoGP win with Yamaha in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix on Sunday, after mounting a fantastic fight-back to achieve victory.


Valentino Rossi’s second victory of the season came on a track at which the Italian has enjoyed great success in the past when he won at Sepang on Sunday, and the result will go down as one of the 31 year-old’s great displays.
Rossi could do little to stop Jorge Lorenzo from taking the 2010 title but with victory achieved his 46th win with Yamaha, recovering from a second-row start which had seen him drop to 11th on the opening lap to mount a stirring comeback.
“I want to say congratulations to Yamaha and to Jorge; he has been fast all season, at all tracks and in all conditions and he deserves to be the World Champion,” said Rossi, who went on to discuss his own result.
"This is a wonderful moment for me, I am so happy to win like this and take my 46th win with Yamaha on ‘my' M1,” added the Italian, who has now won at Sepang six times in the premier class – four of those with Yamaha.
Reviewing his phenomenal climb through the order, Rossi continued: “It was one of my worst starts and for a moment I was really worried, but within a few corners I understood that I could go for it, because my bike felt great today thanks to a small change we made in warm-up. Jeremy's (Burgess, chief mechanic) idea really worked!”
“I rode so well and it was a fantastic race, one of the best of my career I think. I wanted this 46th win so much because as everyone knows it's a special number for me! Thanks to my team because everyone worked so hard this weekend and I think this is a great repayment for everyone. To win like this, from 11th at the first corner, is a great feeling.”
With the result Rossi moved into third in the Championship standings, where he now lies 47 points off second-placed Dani Pedrosa with three rounds remaining.

Rossi:

Dovizioso thrilled with second at Sepang

Sunday, 10 October 2010
The Repsol Honda rider battled with Valentino Rossi for victory in the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix before finally taking his second consecutive second place finish.


Andrea Dovizioso played out a fine contest with Valentino Rossi at Sepang on Sunday, going toe-to-toe with the Italian for the race victory before finally finishing in second position at just 0.224s behind. It was the second race in succession that the Repsol Honda rider took second spot, and he was extremely satisfied with the manner in which he achieved the result.
“I’m very happy with this second place today and it was a great race. We have been fighting for the victory at the last two races at two very different tracks, and also in different conditions, so this is really positive,” said the 24 year-old, who took his first MotoGP podium at Sepang in 2008.
“I tried to stay close to Valentino on the last lap but in the final braking area I wasn’t close enough to take him in the middle of the corner, even though he was too late on the brakes and went wide. Anyway, this result for Honda, Repsol and my team is really important. Last year we were 40 seconds behind the winner in the race here, so to be just 0.2s behind means we’ve moved forward a lot.”
Dovizioso’s return to the podium in the last two rounds has come after a run of eight races without a rostrum finish, and he is more than happy to be challenging at the front once more.
“In the middle of the season, we weren’t on the podium for a long time, so to be back in the top three is very important for us,” continued Dovizioso, who has started the last two races from the front row. “We have to be happy because this was almost a win, and the riders in front of me are changing at each race, which means we have better consistency.”
“We are happy and I’d like to say thank you to Honda and my crew. From the middle of the season until now we improved a lot because of the hard work of a great team,” he concluded.

A HARD-FOUGHT win in Sunday's Malaysian MotoGP shows Valentino Rossi has regained the form and physical stamina to challenge Casey Stoner at this weekend's Phillip Island race. Rossi is riding with a broken leg and battered shoulder, courtesy of a crash in practice at the Italian MotoGP in June and a motocross training accident in April respectively.
The leg is healing, but the Italian champion needs surgery to repair the shoulder injury and some had speculated he would cut short his season after this weekend's race.
Rossi dismissed the rumours in Malaysia.
"For sure, I will go to Australia and if I don't have any extra pain, I will finish the season," he said.
"I am still not at 100 per cent, but I'm getting better all the time. The shoulder in fact is now a bigger issue than the leg, but I'm getting fitter and fitter.
"Phillip Island is one of my favourite tracks and of course I want to try to do well. We will have to see how strong I am when I get there.
"Stoner is always very strong there and it's also one of (Jorge) Lorenzo's favourites, it will be a big fight for sure.
"It's an incredible track, next to the ocean, amazing views and a proper track, not designed on a computer.
"Lukey Heights is amazing especially, but really the whole thing is incredible, fast and flowing and technical."
Rossi will take Stoner's place in the Ducati team next year, with the Australian moving to Honda. The 31-year-old also wants to do well for his crew, led by Mick Doohan's former chief mechanic Jeremy Burgess.
"It's always a big pleasure to come and race in Phillip Island. The Australian fans are great, quite crazy too," Rossi said.
"It's special for me too, because so many of my team are Australian and it's their home race."
Ducati has yet to announce whether Rossi's crew will join him in the Italian-based team, but Yamaha has confirmed the crew has not re-signed for next year, meaning Rossi's tight-knit group is expected to continue.
"My guys know I would love them to come, but it's their decision. I won't pressure them," Rossi said.
Ducati Corse boss Filippo Preziosi said at Sepang, Malaysia, that the human relationship and professional talents of the Rossi "package" would be welcome and it could happen.
Having an Italian of Rossi's calibre aboard the Ducati is a dream for the Italian bike maker and the marketing bonanza will go a long way to offset his rumoured $21 million salary.
Ducati president Gabriele del Torchio was delighted when the signing was announced in August.
"I believe that by combining two Italian icons, and Valentino is for sure an Italian icon, it will have a tremendous effect not only in Italy, but all over the world," he said.

some rambling notes from Sepang
Prices in ringit - an easy conversion to baht x10

..

Hadn't pre-booked, same as last year they were selling tickets at the MotoGP promotional stand at KLCC shopping centre (Petronas Towers), 130r got a main grandstand seat, and '20 Years Malaysia Grand Prix' t-shirt and cap, 100r without. K1 grandstand was 60, F grandstand 30. Inside KLCC there was a big Tissot stand with a couple of Ducatis, they sponsor Nicky Hayden

..

headed off 8.30, walked to Pasar Seni train station, on to KL Sentral, breakfast at McDonalds. Intended to catch a bus out, but there were people selling combined train/bus tickets [at] 25r 250baht return thought we'd try the train on the basis it would be a quicker trip afterwards. First mistake.

Train went to Nilai station, not the one near LCCT airport i expected (its about 5min from Sepang), 25 min bus trip from there after a 15min delay for no apparent reason.

Arrived at Sepang about 10.30am, plenty of time before the 125cc race at noon.
More display stalls than last year, most with the traditional girls on display (this link for Girls of MotoGP) . . . and some motorbike gear too

..

Learnt last year to eat early, seat early (no numbered seats it's quick and the dead stuff. So four small pizzas, 4 bottles of water and we settled in the main grandstand, 60m in front of the start/finish line and directly across from the Dovizioso/Pedrosa pits (P not racing but his bikes there), Fiat Yamaha off to the right and Ducati to the left - plenty to see, and above them was a huge screen to see rest of the course action.

....

more soon . . .

..

125

a last chance for me to see the 125s in action as just three more races and they are extinct at this level, being replaced by 250 four strokes.

..

Marc Márquez won from pole position a to take over the leadership of the 125cc Championship by three points. Márquez now tops the standings on 247 points, with Terol second on 244 and Espargaró third on 235.

******************

Moto 2

..

Swiss supporters of M2 rider Thomas Luthi were bloody irritating with their huge cowbells . . .then he crashed and they went away.

Tony Elias finished fourth, giving him enough points to be the first ever Moto 2 world champion.

..

Placings: Rolfo, De Angelis, Iannone, Elias

Points
262 Elias
168 Simon
163 Iannone
138 Luthi
119 Corsi

and back in 19th on 30pts, Thailand's Rathapark Wilairot. As I was seated next to one of his supporters I paid more attention than usual, and we counted where he was in the field with each lap. He started 24th on the grid, was 13th at one point but dropped to 16th and out of the points. He finished 26 seconds behind the winner, in a starting field of 39.

godd one man looks like a great trip thankx 4 the fotos

Moto 2 race finished and 45min before the main race at 4pm. Headed off for a pee (clean toilets and no queue), icecreams (sold out) and more water (sold out). F*ck, that really pissed me off, same last year, though earlier I think 1pm some stalls had closed having sold all their food/water.

Found another queue for a water, stood in line for 26 minutes - yes I was counting - on concrete in 34 degrees - more like 40 with temp of concrete. Get to counter, four people serving but one man had the money, so I asked for 4 waters (8r) handed over 10r, person serving ten goes to money mna, waits till he's free and hands over 10r says I spent 8r, he calculates cleverly I am due 2r change. No wonder the queue moved so slowly.

..

Back to seat - the advantage of having Ms G along she can save my seat, last year by myself everytime I left had to find a seat somewhere else. Met an Oz couple who'd come along to support Casey Stoner, they have the Ducatis out warming up outside the pits across from us, what a fantastic noise . . .

..

Race starts, Rossi loses plenty of positions on the front straight doesn't look good for him. Stoner crashes yet again without completing one lap, the couple in front have heads in their hands while many of the Rossi supporters stand and cheer as the big screens show Casey walking across the gravel. Stoner Ducati pits busy - wheel the spare bike away, timing crew head inside . . . end of their day after less than 90 seconds racing.

..
Rossi leading Dovizioso, and taking the flag for his 46th win for Yamaha


Lorenzo re-appeared with a new number on the front - the 2010 #1 Moto GP champion

and the trip back to KL. What a fffffff*ckin' nightmare. Got to the bus, seated, full to overcrowding and just sitting there, engine running going nowhere. About 20min and finally on the move, takes an hour to Nilai station. Train due in 20min, not too bad.

Train delayed - bad. Arrives 22min late and is as full as i have ever seen a train anywhere, they hadn't put any extra trains/carriages on, and it was already full of workers heading home. Forced our way in and had a very uncomfortable 1hr trip back to KL Sentral. In total it had taken us 3hrs 15. An absolute f'in balls-up re organisation, never again take a bus/train combo. Though last year was worse as not enough buses available ending up being robbed for a taxi and getting home at 9.30pm.

Actually think the best option would be to fly out the evening after the race, Sepang no more than 10min from the LCCT terminal Air Asia uses.

******************

Points after Sepang (3 races, 75 points, still to go this season)
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 313
2 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 228
3 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 181
4 Casey STONER Ducati AUS 180
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Honda ITA 179
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 152
7 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati USA 139
8 Randy DE PUNIET Honda FRA 94
9 Marco SIMONCELLI Honda ITA 92
10 Marco MELANDRI Honda ITA 86

******************


the end

Roll on next season, The Doctor on a Duke!! bring it on!!!

^ Dr Ducati!!

and a little bit on Moto GP merchandise

the genuine stuff for Rossi/Lorenzo was all very pricey - 130r (1300baht) for a cap, 180/1800 for a t-shirt.

Meanwhile at the Chinatown markets - a range of replica caps and shirts . . . cap 50r, no thanks . . . walk away . . . voice calling out 40? 30? then 20? . . . so got one of those, t-shirts similar haggling down from 50 to 25. One thing I'll say about the Malaysian clothes is that they can be far better quality than what's on sale at Thai markets, I still have t-shirts that've had a lot of wearing that i bought at the 2009 GP.

They also had #46 Rossi/Ducati gear on sale . . .

Casey Stoner unconcerned by Sepang spill

14.10.2010

The home favourite has an envious record around his local circuit...

Casey Stoner is refusing to dwell on the first lap accident that ruled him out of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang as he looks to make it four consecutive wins on home soil at Phillip Island.

Stoner was chasing a third straight victory at Sepang but wouldn't complete the opening revolution, an error that has once again opened up the fight for third in the standings between himself, Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.

Nonetheless, having won at Aragon and Motegi before that, Stoner is merely pleased to have found a breakthrough with the Ducati GP10, which coupled to his excellent Australian Grand Prix record, gives him optimism of further success this weekend.

"Three races ago this race wasn't looking good for us because the bike wasn't working in the areas that you need it to work at Phillip Island,” he said. “But, during the last three races we have made improvements, so we come into this weekend looking pretty good.

“It's good sometimes to race in the cooler conditions we get at Phillip Island, but the best thing about this track is definitely the fast corners!"

Carlos Checa set for MotoGP return?

The Spaniard, who hasn't raced in MotoGP since 2007, would bring a wealth of experience to the satellite Ducati outfit.
Carlos Checa looks increasingly likely to return to the MotoGP ranks before the 2010 season is out as rumours grow that he is being lined up to replace Mika Kallio at Pramac Ducati.

Speculation began circulating at Sepang that Checa, whose reputation in the Ducati ranks has soared on the back of his outstanding World Superbike campaign with Althea Racing, would take over from Kallio for the final two events at Estoril and Valencia.

While both parties have remained coy on the subject, rumours have spiked after Checa posted a video on Twitter of him testing the official Ducati GP10 machine at Mugello.

It is thought Checa, whose WSBK season is over, would be drafted in to replace the out-of-favour Kallio, who sits at the bottom of the MotoGP leaderboard for full-time riders and has finished at the back during the last three races.

The Spaniard, who has 220 grand prix starts to his name, would be an ideal replacement for Kallio, bringing necessary experience to a Pramac team that has persevered with two fairly novice riders in 2010.

The move, however, would not be a precursor to a potential MotoGP return for the 37-year-old as he has already committed to a two-year deal with Althea Ducati in World Superbikes.

^ thanks for the report mate sounds like a good trip

its pissing down in melbourne should make for an interesting weekend

Brits excel in delayed wet 125cc first practice

Friday, 15 October 2010
Bradley Smith topped the first 125cc practice at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix as extreme weather conditions at Phillip Island delayed the start of the day’s programme. Championship leader Marc Márquez and British youngster Danny Kent completed the top three.


Heavy overnight rain combined with high winds meant that poor conditions at Phillip Island on Friday led to a two-hour delay to the start of the first practice – the 125cc class – at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix. When the action finally got underway it was British rider Bradley Smith (Bancaja Aspar) who set the best time of the session with a lap of 1’54.547.
Conditions appeared to get worse before they got better, but just after the halfway point of the hour-long session they began to improve noticeably and subsequently so did the lap times. Following Smith on the timesheet at the conclusion of the session was Championship leader Marc Márquez (Red Bull Ajo Motorsport) at +0.925s on the lead time, with 16 year-old Brit Danny Kent (Lambretta Reparto Corse) putting in an impressive display to place third at +1.108s on Smith.
Sandro Cortese (Avant Mitsubishi Ajo), Nico Terol (Bancaja Aspar), Johann Zarco (WTR San Marino Team), Pol Espargaró (Tuenti Racing) and Tomoyoshi Koyama (Racing Team Germany) completed the top eight.
With the conditions providing a tricky asphalt surface for the riders to contend with crashers during the session were Luis Salom (Stipa-Molenaar Racing), Marcel Schrötter (Interwetten Honda 125), Adrián Martín (Team Aeroport de Castelló), Simone Grotzkyj (Fontana Racing), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX) and wild cards Jordan Zamora (Eurotwins Brisbane) and Nicholas Diles (Aprilia RSW Racing), with Espargaró, Randy Krummenacher (Stipa-Molenaar Racing) and Khairuddin Zulfahmi (AirAsia - Sepang International Circuit Team) all experiencing run offs.

motogp free practice on now

Lorenzo leads off at Phillip Island

Friday, 15 October 2010
The World Champion set the fastest time in FP1 at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix on a wet Phillip Island track, with Ducati duo Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden in the top three.


After a delayed start due to wet weather conditions the MotoGP class completed the opening practice of the Iveco Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Friday, and newly-crowned World Champion Jorge Lorenzo was the quickest rider around the circuit. Setting the standard with a time of 1’41.146 the Fiat Yamaha rider underlined his pre-stated determination to round off his title-winning 2010 campaign in winning style.
Casey Stoner was next up at 0.334s down on Lorenzo’s time as the Australian, who has won at his home circuit for the past three seasons, brought his factory Desmosedici GP10 home ahead of Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden. The American was 0.151s off Stoner as the riders began to see a dry line forming towards the end of the hour-long session..
Marco Simoncelli was fourth in the order as the San Carlo Honda Gresini rookie battled rear grip to set a best time of 1’41.881, with his team-mate Marco Melandri fifth and the final rider to get within a second of Lorenzo. Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) completed the top six.
Coming in seventh fastest was Valentino Rossi on his Fiat Yamaha M1, with Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) all in the top ten.
Back on track for the first time since he fractured his collarbone in Japan exactly two weeks ago Dani Pedrosa completed seven laps, before concluding his session just before the half-hour mark having posted a best time of 1’51.210.
Completing just three laps in the session and opting to avoid any unnecessary risks on a track on which he won a WSBK race last season was Ben Spies (Monster Yamaha Tech 3)