In the Reuters interview Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said regarding the number of Spanish riders that are now dominating in all three classes, “In the history of Dorna, we never helped any Spanish people to race and we help a lot of non-Spanish people…obviously we prefer as organisers more nationalities but we can’t kill anybody.”

He was also asked if their was a possibility of introducing a quota system and he said “Maybe, if things continue like that, we can consider it in the future. But this is not the problem. If we have more bikes, there will be more people. In Moto2 and Moto3 there are people from many nationalities and they are doing well.”

However, in a interview that will be broadcasted on Radio Rai tonight during the Sabato Sport, Speciale Moto Gran Prix programme, the Spanish manager reconfirmed that no Spanish rider has received any financial help to race, but he also added that he has no intention of limiting the teams on their choice of riders of the same nationality, but he could put in place a quota system and restricting the number of riders from each country in all three classes, because the numerous presence of riders from the same country, according to Ezpeleta limits media interest.

Who could pay for this choice are obviously Spanish riders. Dorna holds the rights of Spanish CEV and Repsol sponsors it this year. The series is a huge breeding ground for riders and even talented youngsters that have families who can afford it, come from other countries to compete in the championship and try to follow in the footsteps of Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Maverick Vinales and Pol Espargaro.

Continue reading: Carmelo Ezpeleta thinking of limiting the number of Spanish riders in each category

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After yesterday’s MotoGP’s two very tight practice sessions, this morning’s third free practice at Le Mans, the situation was very different, and the weather had nothing to do with it as it was sunny and dry.

Marc Marquez took the top of the timesheets in a dominating manner. The MotoGP rookie in the finale posted two stunning laps under the 1.34 mark - and the only rider to do so - and stopped the clock in 1.33.600, breaking the 2011 circuit record by 0.017s. The record had been held by his team mate Dani Pedrosa, who ended up third fastest in the session, but almost six tenths adrift.

Jorge Lorenzo was the only rider able to barely contain the gap to the enthusiastic rookie to less than half a second, as he was 0.499s adrift. Team mate Valentino Rossi took a huge step backwards after yesterday’s so called ‘breakthrough’. The Italian fell back to 9th and accumulating a gap of more than 1.214.

Continue reading: Marc Marquez dominates FP3 at Le Mans

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The weekend of the French GP has already begun - with Repsol Honda duo Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez taking first and second position in the first day of practice and Yamaha Factory Racing dream team Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo within 2 tenths of a second from Pedrosa’s fastest lap of the day - but while waiting for today’s qualifying session, we thought it would be a good idea to put out an appetizer of the paddock girls photo gallery we use to release right after every major racing event.

The thing is that, apparently, there are quite a few Monster Girls hanging around in Le Mans these days as the famous energy drink is also the main sponsor of the French GP, so we thought we better take immediate advantage of such abundance and unleash some pic found here and there right away. This doesn’t mean we won’t treat you we the usual gallery later on, that’s a given.

Continue reading: Monster Girls take the spotlight in Le Mans

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Today’s MotoGP free practice at Le Mans showed that Dani Pedrosa not only topped both practice sessions, even if the sessions were tightly contested, but the most important thing was he had a very good race pace with a string of fast laps in the low 1.34s, with a third sector that is 2 to 3 tenths faster than the rest of the field, but Jorge Lorenzo is also lapping very close to the Repsol Honda rider.

Valentino Rossi found a breakthrough set-up which allowed him to closed his gap to the front and his final run also put him very close to his team mate’s pace and that of Pedrosa, while Marc Marquez put in a do or die final lap that put him in second, but he still hasn’t the pace that the other three have.

All the riders made the most of the two dry session because tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for rain all day.

Check out what the riders had to say:

Dani Pedrosa - 1st

“In today’s practice sessions it was important to test the tyres and make the most of the dry track time, because here you usually don’t have that opportunity. So I tried to stay out on track for as long as possible and gather the best information, because maybe tomorrow it will rain -and you don’t have that chance again. Luckily the weather held up and we were able to make some positive steps, which we hope to capitalise on for the race on Sunday”.

Continue reading: 2013 MotoGP Le Mans: rider quotes after Friday's two practice sessions

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It now seems confirmed that the much rumored MV Agusta F3 800, powered by the same ‘Tre Pistoni’ engine of the Brutale 800 and the recently unveiled Rivale 800
(which will finally be available for order in the second half of the current year), is really just around the corner by now, so much so that the official presentation of the model will take actually place as early as the beginning of June in view of a possible arrival on the market in late 2013/early 2014.

The new sportsbike from the legendary Italian manufacturer will therefore join the F3 675 pretty soon, though - unlike its ‘little sister’ - it won’t be homologated to compete in any of the current FIM classes. Nonetheless, it will surely turn out to be an interesting toy for the track, and will go on to challenge such competitors as the Suzuki GSX-R 750 and Ducati 848. With this background, it would seem reasonable to expect the F3 800 to deliver something like 145 horsepower (versus the 128 hp of F3 675) as well as a higher torque. The advanced MVICS electronics (Motor & Vehicle Integrated Control System) which debuted on the F3 675 will also be part of the package, meaning that ABS, traction control and ride-by-wire technology will be the same of the 675.

The weight should not be too dissimilar to that of the 675 (167 kg dry weight) while the price may be slightly less than € 14,000. In light of the imminent launch date, more news and technical details on the new MV Agusta F3 800 should not take long to arrive, as well as the first official images and videos of the model. We will be waiting impatiently.

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Despite the brief rain shower during the last five minutes of Moto3’s second free practice that left a slightly damp Le Mans surface that quickly dried out as the sun broke through the cloud cover.

MotoGP’s last free practice of the day saw lap times drop but it was another tight session with nine riders were again in less than one second, but this time they were separated by just a little more than seven tenths.

Dani Pedrosa once again topped the timesheets and he posted a best lap of 1:34.035, six tenths faster than this morning, while his rookie team mate Marc Marquez was second fastest, that he managed with his last final flying lap and he was +0.134s from Pedrosa and he demoted Valentino Rossi to third by just 0.004s

Rossi is having issues with his brakes overheating, but he was able to post his best time on used tires and after his team raised the front end of his Yamaha M1. Team mate Jorge Lorenzo was fourth fastest and just 0.166s from Pedrosa.

Continue reading: Dani Pedrosa tops the timesheets in another tight free practice at Le Mans

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Niccolò Canepa, who currently leads the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup championship standings will be racing in next weekend’s World Superbike Donington Park round as a wildcard entry.

The Italian will be racing a 1199 Panigale R in SBK trim and will joining Team Ducati Alstare Carlos Checa and Ayrton
Badovini at Donington thanks to a collaboration between Alstare and Barni Racing Team and Ducati, and Canepa has already tested the Superbike during the Ducati SBK test last week at Mugello.

For Canepa it will be return to World Superbikes after spending 2012 with Team Red Devils Roma team last year who fielded a Ducati before switching to Aprilia in 2013.

Niccolò Canepa said, “I enjoyed testing at Mugello and got on very well with the bike and so I’m really pleased to have this opportunity to ride the 1199 Panigale with Team Ducati Alstare at Donington. I want to thank Francis Batta of Ducati Alstare, Ernesto Marinelli and Ducati and of course my own team, Barni Racing and manager Marco Barnabò for coming together and arranging this. I hope to be able to pay them back by scoring some solid results during these important races.”

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It was sunny, but very cold this morning for the first MotoGP free practice at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans. The fastest rider of the session was Dani Pedrosa who was immediately set the pace in what turned out to be a tight practice with nine riders in less than nine tenths of a second.

The Repsol Honda rider is on a high after his first victory of the season at Jerez stopped the clock in 1.34.645, but Jorge Lorenzo was right on his tail and just 0.040s adrift.

Valentino Rossi was third fastest followed by Ducati duo Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso, who were 4th and 5th respectively, and just 0.327 and 0.427 from the top of the timesheets and effectively Le Mans seems to work for the Desmosedici, even in the dry.

Continue reading: Dani Pedrosa fastest in tight FP1 at Le Mans

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Jorge Lorenzo and Marc Marquez may have shook hands during the flight home from Jerez - they were seated next to each other - while after the race Lorenzo took the politically correct route refusing more or less to talk about the last corner incident, but apparently the reigning World Champion has been brooding over the incident for the last two weeks, and at Le Mans, the Yamaha rider decided to talk about it during the usual riders’ briefing with the Race Direction also present, according to Italian website GPone.com

It wasn’t exactly handbags against Marquez, nothing like what happened with the late Marco Simoncelli, but more against the Race Direction for not taking action, with Lorenzo saying that Marquez should have been punished for the pass, under the new penalty points system.

Lorenzo believes that Race Direction should have given Marquez a penalty for Jerez incident citing that, “In football, you just take off your shirt you get a yellow card, in Formula 1 every manoeuvre is under a microscope while here no one does anything.”

Lorenzo also stated that he couldn’t find anyone of the Race Direction to talk following the race, upset that the pass wasn’t even investigated (but apparently it was). He also said Marquez would have never closed the corner and that he would have ended up running off track if he didn’t use him as a berm.

Continue reading: Jorge Lorenzo still upset about Marquez clash

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Aprilia has decided to lodge an appeal with the International Disciplinary Court following Tom Sykes reinstatement to third place late Sunday evening following race 2 at Monza.

Sykes had just conquered the third position by overtaking Sylvain Guintoli during the last lap when he overcooked the Roggia and ran onto the paved run off area, but he returned to track taking back his original position ahead of the Aprilia rider to finish third.

After the race, Aprilia filed an appeal sustaining that Sykes outbraked himself and cut the chicane, gaining an unfair advantage by not conceding the position. The Race Direction after several hours ruled to drop Sykes to fourth and awarded third to Guintioli (who celebrated the ruling with a private ceremony, posting the above picture on Twitter).

Kawasaki later appealed to the FIM Stewards’ Panel stating that Sykes was already ahead of Guintoli and that he ran off track to avoid rear ending Marco Melandri, who apparently braked a litte earlier. The FIM Stewards re-analyzed the race footage and decided to reinstate Sykes to third.

Aprilia had five days to lodge another appeal, and have now sent their appeal to International Disciplinary Court who will have six weeks to make a decision on who between Sykes and Guintoli will get those precious extra three points.

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