Thread: MOTOGP

what a contrast a week apart, MotoGP site says air temp is 10 degrees - it was 34 last Sunday, with a ground temp of 43.

313 LORENZO
228 PEDROSA
181 ROSSI
180 STONER
179 DOVIZIOSO

Good to see Pedrosa back - one week earlier than predicted, to stay in front of the next three, even if one of them won every race (eg Rossi would go to 256 points) he needs 28 from three, so three tops six placings (9 points) would do it.

At least we know there won't be any 'team orders' for Lorenzo to let his team-mate Rossi through (F1, anyone?) I think after Rossi's win last week he proved a point, still lots of motivation in the old man!

Saturday, 16 October 2010

The Ducati Team rider settled into his rhythm in FP2 at the Iveco Australian Grand Prix on Saturday morning, setting the fastest lap ahead of Monster Yamaha Tech 3 pair Colin Edwards and Ben Spies. Jorge Lorenzo was fourth, with Valentino Rossi eighth.

There were still some patches of damp on the track, which measured at 11ºC, and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) appeared to catch some standing water on the edge of the asphalt when he went down at turn 11. Stoner and Dovizioso both ran on at points in the session as they negotiated some tricky conditions.

Continuing his return to action was Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa who finished the session just over 3.5s off Stoner's pace, but with his focus being on improving his comfort on his RC212V.

Go Casey

Ratthapark hopes a new Honda deal will propel him to a podium finish

17/10/2010

Motorcycle racer Ratthapark Wilairot has received backing from his major sponsor Honda despite less-than-impressive performances this season.

The Thai was 22nd in Moto2 qualifying and finished 24th at the Japanese Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi near Tokyo two weeks ago. The race was witnessed by AP Honda president Chiaki Kato.

It was feared that Ratthapark may lose his Honda sponsorship as it is renewed on a year-by-year basis and unconvincing results this year have done little to boost his case.

In his fourth year in the World Motorcycle Championships, Ratthapark was 19th overall in the championship after the Motegi race. In his first three years, he finished 17th, 13th and 13th.

Fortunately, Kato believes Ratthapark still has a future in the sport. He announced after the Japanese Grand Prix that his firm will continue its financial support for him.

"We will continue supporting Ratthapark. Although his result today was not good, we see his determination," said Kato.

Ratthapark, 22, said he had gained more experience but admitted that he must become physically stronger to cope with the rigorous competition.

"My target next year is to secure my first podium finish and end the season in the top 10," said the son of veteran racer Christmas.

AP Honda director Alaksh Phornprapha said the 600cc Moto2 competition, which replaced the 250cc class this season, is much tougher.

For a start, there are about 40 riders this year compared to 20 last year. Alaskh oversees the firm's motor sport activities.

He said Moto2 may be the toughest of the three categories as it comprises up-and-coming riders who have risen from the 125cc class and veteran racers who have moved down from MotoGP.

For example, Elias is a former MotoGP rider who finished seventh in the premier class last season. With three races to go, Elias has been crowned Moto2 world champion following his fourth-place finish at Sepang in Malaysia last week.

Alaskh was optimistic that Ratthapark would do well in the remaining races. Ratthapark did improve in the next race at Sepang finishing 16th. However, with only the top 15 getting ranking points, Ratthapark's overall position dropped to 19th.

"In fact, our aim is for him to finish in the top 20. It is the first season of Moto2 which features a large number of good racers, so a top 20 finish will be satisfactory," Alaksh said.

"We hope he will be able to be in the top 15 next year. It will be a huge success if he finishes in the top 10."

Originally Posted by genghis61

He said Moto2 may be the toughest of the three categories as it comprises up-and-coming riders who have risen from the 125cc class and veteran racers who have moved down from MotoGP.

he has a point there, look through the field and it's full of 'name' riders from 125, 250 and the likes of Elias who dropped back from M GP. There are a lot of riders with top 3 world championship placings to their names.

In the other support races at Sepang, there are some Thai riders doing well in the Malaysian Chamionships.

Ratthapark's brother Rathapong Wilairot leads their Junior Supersports champs, with another Thai in second. Suthathai Chaemsip is third in the Senior Champs.
What I did like last week at Sepang was the big field of riders - 40 heading into the first corner is great to see.

IVECO AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX
MotoGP Race Classification 2010

1 25 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati 175.1 41'09.128
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 174.5 +8.598
3 16 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 173.8 +17.997
4 13 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 173.8 +18.035
5 11 11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 173.5 +22.211
6 10 58 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 173.3 +25.017
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 172.6 +35.168
8 8 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 171.9 +46.194
9 7 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 171.9 +46.294
10 6 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 171.0 +59.635


Stoner and Rossi have opened a bit of a gap, depending on whether Pedrosa makes it back, one of them could possibly overtake him for second spot, and if he doesn't race again maybe end up 4th . . . maybe

Points - 2 races/50 points still on offer
1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 333
2 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 228
3 Casey STONER Ducati AUS 205
4 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 197
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Honda ITA 179
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 163
7 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati USA 152

Stoner continues home dominance with victory in Australia


Casey Stoner’s authority on his home Phillip Island track continued in style on Sunday as the Ducati rider won at the circuit for the fourth year in a row. Starting from pole position – his third of the season – the 25 year-old led the Iveco Australian Grand Prix from start to finish as he made it a third win of 2010 in front of a partisan crowd.
Eventually crossing the finish line 8.598s ahead of 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo it was the perfect end to a strong weekend from Stoner, who had demonstrated his pace throughout the practice and qualifying sessions.
Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) rode a lonely race in second position as he finished almost ten seconds ahead of third-placed Valentino Rossi. For the Spaniard it was a 14th podium finish in his title-winning campaign – his 32nd top-three result in the MotoGP category in what was his 50th premier class start.
The fight for third place went right down to the final lap and Fiat Yamaha man Rossi edged out Nicky Hayden in what was a fantastically close battle. The Ducati rider appeared to have got one over on his Italian rival with three laps to go when he overtook at Honda Corner, but Rossi returned the move at the same place on the final lap to beat the American to the final podium spot by a margin of just 0.038s.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies achieved his eighth top-five finish of his maiden MotoGP campaign and with it secured Rookie of the Year, with fellow premier class debutant Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) just under three seconds further back in sixth position.
There were top-ten finishes also for Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing), Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) was the only rider who failed to finish the race after he experienced technical problems early on.
Absent due to injuries were Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) – who rode in qualifying but opted not to race as he continues his recovery from a broken collarbone – and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki), who sustained a groin injury in a qualifying session crash. The pair both expect to be fit to return at Estoril in a fortnight.
The result lifted Stoner into third in the Championship standings ahead of Rossi, and with the Italian and his Spanish team-mate’s podium finishes Fiat Yamaha also secured the Team Championship for 2010 with two rounds remaining.

dominated all weekend once he jumped at the start there was no catching him good performance the race wasn't one of the best except the dice between rossi & hayden for third.

29 - 31 October 2010
Moto Grand Prix of Portugal
Autodromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, Estoril

Originally Posted by genghis61

He said Moto2 may be the toughest of the three categories as it comprises up-and-coming riders who have risen from the 125cc class and veteran racers who have moved down from MotoGP.

Read that Mikka Kallio (Finland) is leaving Moto GP to join Moto 2 next year, just as this year's Moto 2 champion Elias did.
I'd almost say 'not fair' it' takes a spot from someone moving up from 125s

^ have to agree if they can't make it moto gp bye bye !!!!!

CIRCUIT INFO
Pole Position: Left
Length: 4 182 m / 2.599 miles
Width: 14 m
Right corners: 9
Left corners: 4
Longest straight: 986 m / 0.613 miles

CIRCUIT RECORD:
MotoGP 1’36.937 – D. Pedrosa (SPA) ’09, Honda
250cc 1'40. 521 – A. Bautista (SPA), ’07, Aprilia
125cc 1'45.027 – G. Talmacsi (HUN), ‚07, Aprilia

2009 winners:
MotoGP J. Lorenzo (SPA), Yamaha
250cc M. Simoncelli (ITA), Gilera
125cc P. Espargaro (SPA), Derbi

Lorenzo looking for wins as the battle rages behind
Thursday, 28 October 2010

The 2010 MotoGP World Champion was joined by Valentino Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner – all battling for second position in the standings – along with rookie Marco Simoncelli in the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal press conference on Thursday.

Having wrapped up his first MotoGP World Championship title in Sepang three weeks ago, and with the pressure well and truly off, Jorge Lorenzo is going for wins to cap off his momentous year.

Lorenzo has won the Portuguese Grand Prix from pole position the last two years and the newly crowned World Champion is keen to make it a hat-trick of victories at the Estoril circuit this weekend.

"I have good memories of the Estoril circuit, especially in MotoGP," declared Lorenzo during the pre-event press conference. "In the past I've been fast here, but this is a new season, a new year, so let's see what happens in the first practice.”
"I really pushed at the maximum in Phillip Island and I think I made a great race, but the problem was how quick Casey was, meaning I could only finish second. I hope that here at Estoril I'll have more opportunity to fight for the win," concluded the new World Champion.

While Lorenzo has only race wins on his mind, the same is not true of his closest rivals. Second place in the Championship is still very much up for grabs, as Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi both look to depose Dani Pedrosa from the runner-up position.

Hoping for a more successful return to action than in the previous round at Australia, Repsol Honda rider Pedrosa has had an extra 12 days in which to recover from the fractured collarbone he sustained at Motegi. The 25 year-old has stood on the podium at Estoril for the past three years but this weekend is likely to be more about damage limitation than fighting for a podium, as he seeks to defend his second position in the Championship standings.

After the qualifying sessions for the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal were cancelled due to the weather and based on the combined practice times, the front row starters gave their reactions to a disrupted day at Estoril.

Relentless rain and high winds at Estoril on Saturday made it another difficult day for the MotoGP World Championship riders, and after careful consideration from Race Direction the decision to cancel qualifying in the afternoon meant the starting grid was decided on the combined times of the practice sessions.

Thanks to his best effort of 1’48.522 in the second session on Friday afternoon Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo gained his seventh pole position of the season, the 42nd of his World Championship career which equalled Jorge Martínez Aspar’s record as the Spanish rider with the best qualification record.

At just 0.135s off Lorenzo, Ducati rider Nicky Hayden will start from the front row for the third time this season, and the American acknowledged the decision to cancel the session was the correct one given the treacherous conditions.

Valentino Rossi will complete the front row after taking his factory M1 round in the third fastest time in the practice sessions, 0.361s off Lorenzo’s marker, and the Italian was in confident mood that he can put in a good race on Sunday.

Lorenzo, Hayden and Rossi react to Estoril front row positions | The Official MotoGP Website

Lorenzo strong in victory at Estoril

1 Jorge LORENZO Fiat Yamaha Team
2 Valentino ROSSI Fiat Yamaha Team
3 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Repsol Honda Team
4 Marco SIMONCELLI San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda
5 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati Team

Stoner crashed out on lap 5 while in third position.

Sunday, 31 October 2010

The 2010 MotoGP World Champion won from pole for the third consecutive year at the circuit as he took his eighth victory of the campaign at the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal, ahead of Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso.

The Fiat Yamaha rider, for whom this was an eighth win in his title-winning 2010 campaign, got the better of his rival and team-mate Rossi as they battled early on and when he took the lead on the 17th of 28 laps he did not look back, eventually taking the chequered flag 8.629s clear of the Italian. It was Lorenzo’s first win since the Brno round, and leaves him on course to still be able to beat Rossi’s 2008 record points haul (373) in a single season in MotoGP with one round to go.

The Italian brought home his factory M1 in a lonely second position for his tenth podium at Estoril in 11 visits as he finished almost 18 seconds ahead of Dovizioso, who had engaged in a thrilling battle to the very finish with Marco Simoncelli for the final podium position.

125 class in action at Estoril. Only one more race ever in this class at world level.

Points with one race to go

1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 358
2 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 236
3 Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 217
4 Casey STONER Ducati AUS 205
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Honda ITA 195
6 Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 163
7 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati USA 163
8 Marco SIMONCELLI Honda ITA 115
9 Randy DE PUNIET Honda FRA 110
10 Marco MELANDRI Honda ITA 100

The battle for the runner-up spot in the Championship will now be determined next weekend, with Pedrosa on 236 points and Rossi on 217 and the only two who can now possibly end the campaign in second.

To be second overall Rossi would need to finish 1st (25 points) and Pedrosa 10th or worse. If Rossi is second he needs Pedrosa to be 14th or worse.

Stoner could still finish third but would need to win/2nd and for Rossi to finish out of the points altogether.

It's been a good year of races I think, and Rossi/Pedrosa for second makes the last race more interesting, particularly as both of them missed three races through injury.

05 - 07 November 2010
Moto Grand Prix of Valencia
Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Valencia

2010 season finale in Valencia

Wednesday, 03 November 2010
The 18th and final round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship this weekend will see the runner-up spot decided, with the following Official Test offering an immediate taste of what is to come in 2011.

.................................................. .................................................. ..........

Spanish rider to be crowned 125cc Champion on home soil

Wednesday, 03 November 2010
Either Marc Márquez or Nico Terol will be confirmed as the 125cc World Champion at Valencia this weekend, with the former of the two holding a 17-point lead over his rival going into the final round of the 2010 season.

.................................................. .................................................. ...........

Valencia to cap off debut Moto2 campaign

Wednesday, 03 November 2010
The inaugural season of the new intermediate category will close with the 17th and final round of 2010, the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, where runner-up to maiden World Champion Toni Elías will be decided.

Valencia racing numbers
Thursday, 4 November 2010
All the statistics and facts ahead of this weekend’s Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana, the 18th and final round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

1000 – Jorge Lorenzo’s victory at the Portuguese Grand Prix was the 1000th podium finish by Spanish riders across all solo classes of Grand Prix racing since the World Championship series started in 1949.

142 – Alex Baldolini had competed in 142 Grand Prix races before the Portuguese Grand Prix, when he finished on the podium for the first time. Never before in the history of Grand Prix racing has a rider finished on the podium after making so many starts without a top three finish.

100 – At the Valencia GP, Tomoyoshi Koyama is scheduled to make his 100th Grand Prix start. Koyama finished 16th in his debut as a wild-card rider in the 125cc race at Motegi in 2000 riding a Yamaha. He made a four more wild-card appearances over the next few years, two in the 250cc class and two in the 125cc class. Since becoming a full-time GP rider in 2005 he has competed on Honda, Malaguti, KTM, Loncin and Aprilia machinery. His single GP win came in Catalunya in 2007 when riding a KTM.

100 – Raffaele de Rosa is scheduled to make his 100th Grand Prix start at the Valencia GP. De Rosa made his GP debut as a replacement rider in the 125cc class at the British Grand Prix in 2004, before becoming a full-time GP rider in the 125cc class in 2005. After making a total of 67 GP starts in the 125cc class, he moved up to the 250cc category for 2009 and then onto the Moto2 class this year.

50 – Scott Redding is due to make his 50th Grand Prix start at the Valencia GP. Redding will become the youngest ever rider to reach the milestone of 50 Grand Prix starts, taking the record from new MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.

35 – Thirty five GP victories for Spain so far this year is the highest number of wins that Spanish riders have taken in a single season of racing. By winning all three races in Valencia, Spanish riders could set a new record for most wins by a single nation in one season. The record is currently held by Great Britain with 37 victories achieved, in the 1967 season.

26 – Spanish riders have won the last twenty-six 125cc Grand Prix races. The last non-Spanish winner in the 125cc class was Andrea Iannone at the Catalan Grand Prix last year. This is the longest sequence of successive 125cc GP wins by one nation in the 62 years history of Grand Prix racing.

19 – Norwegian 125cc rider, Sturla Fagerhaug will celebrate his 19th birthday on qualifying day at the Valencia GP.

19 – Bradley Smith’s third place finish at the Portuguese GP was the 19th time he has been on the podium in the 125cc class. Only two British riders have had more GP podium finishes in the 125cc class: Bill Ivy with 22 and Phil Read with 21.

13 – The victory by Marc Márquez at the Portuguese GP was the thirteenth victory of the year in the 125cc class by Derbi riders. A victory for a Derbi rider in Valencia will equal the record for most wins by a manufacturer in the 125cc class in a single season, which Aprilia achieved in both 2007 and 2009.

1 – Reaching the end of the fourth year of the 800cc capacity limit in MotoGP, Colin Edwards is the only rider to have competed in all 70 races since the regulation was introduced at the start of the 2007 season.

The Fiat Yamaha rider capped an incredible season in which he was crowned 2010 MotoGP World Champion with a ninth win of the year at Valencia.


Jorge Lorenzo’s ninth victory of the season at Valencia on Sunday was “one of the happiest moments” of his life he said, after ending his title-winning season in style on home soil.
The 23 year-old Fiat Yamaha rider, who prior to the race had never won at the track in any class, recovered from dropping to fifth after a front-row start to slowly work his way through the field. Lorenzo avoided a crash with a spectacular save early in the race and then picked off his rivals one by one, finally overtaking Casey Stoner at the front on lap 23 of 30 and not looking back on his way to victory.
"Coming here to Valencia I really wanted to win one more time in this fantastic season, in front of my home fans,” he said. “In the practices I was fast all weekend, but it seemed like Casey was even faster. I made a good start today but in the second corner trying to pass Casey I got overtaken by three or four riders, then I had a hard fight with Simoncelli when I nearly fell! I kept calm after that and concentrated and then lap-by-lap I recovered. I had a wonderful fight with Casey at the end.”
Celebrating his title with a win in front of the Spanish crowd was the perfect end to 2010 Lorenzo said.
“Winning here in front of my home crowd at this special track is one of the happiest moments of my life,” he continued. “We are proud to have got the record for the most number of points with 383, I used to be known as a crazy rider who crashed too much so to demonstrate consistency in this way makes me proud. Thanks to Yamaha and everyone involved for a fantastic season - now we have time to celebrate tonight before we start working for 2011 on Tuesday. Finally I want to say goodbye and good luck to Valentino - I am looking forward to racing him next year!"

Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 383

Dani PEDROSA HondaSPA 245
Valentino ROSSI Yamaha ITA 233
Casey STONER Ducati AUS 225
Andrea DOVIZIOSO Honda ITA 206
Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 176
Nicky HAYDEN Ducat iUSA 163
Marco SIMONCELLI Honda ITA 125
Randy DE PUNIET Honda FRA 116
Marco MELANDRI Honda ITA 103
Colin EDWARDS Yamaha USA 103
Hector BARBERA Ducati SPA 90
Alvaro BAUTISTA Suzuki SPA 85
Aleix ESPARGARO Ducati SPA 65
Hiroshi AOYAMA Honda JPN 53
Loris CAPIROSSI Suzuki ITA 44
Mika KALLIO Ducati FIN 43
Alex DE ANGELIS Honda RSM 11
Roger Lee HAYDEN Honda USA 5
Kousuke AKIYOSHI Honda JPN 4
Carlos CHECA Ducati SPA 1
Wataru YOSHIKAWA Yamaha JPN

thats it boys another season done.looking foward to next year.

MOTO 2 - final points

Pos. Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Toni ELIAS Moriwaki SPA 271
2 Julian SIMON Suter SPA 201
3 Andrea IANNONE Speed Up ITA 199
4 Thomas LUTHI Moriwaki SWI 156
5 Simone CORSI Motobi ITA 138

and back in 22nd, the man from Thailand
22 Ratthapark WILAIROT Bimota THA 30

125cc - final points
Pos. Rider Bike Nation Points
1 Marc MARQUEZ Derbi SPA 310
2 Nicolas TEROL Aprilia SPA 296
3 Pol ESPARGARO Derbi SPA 281
4 Bradley SMITH Aprilia GBR 223
5 Efren VAZQUEZ Derbi SPA 152

and that's the end of two-strokes on the world circuit

Originally Posted by bobo746

thats it boys another season done.looking foward to next year.

cheers - this has been a good thread.
Been a good year and more interesting with the crashes to Pedrosa and Rossi - but their class showed through in that even missing 3 races each they could still finish 2nd and 3rd. And Lorenzo a world champ at 23.
Of course Stoner started every race . . . maybe he should try drag racing - no corners!

Big year next year with Stoner at Honda, Rossi on Ducati and Lorenzo will be keen to win again for Yamaha.

The Macau Grand Prix is on in 2 weeks, don't know much about it, looks like an insane short version of Isle of Man but with more walls. I'll find some info.