The guys over at Motoblog.it were able catch up with Noriyuki Haga after the Pata Racing Team Aprilia presentation at the Motor Bike Expo in Verona, and the Japanese rider kindly gave them a couple of minutes of his time to chat about his first impressions of the Aprilia RSV4, the work that he and his team will be doing.

Here’s a translation of the interview:

MB: What was your impression of the RSV4:

NH: “The Aprilia is a great bike, and I was immediately at ease in the saddle. The tests that we’ve already carried out haven’t allowed us to interpret all the numerous adjustments, and we still have so much to learn about this new bike. Next week (tomorrow) we’ll be testing at Portimao and we’ll have to do well to get a good start to the season.

Continue reading: A chat with Noriyuki Haga during the 2011 Motor Bike Expo

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Simone Corsi currently rides in Team JiR Moto2 and has taken the Motobi chassis to two third place finishes and is sixth in the world championship with 65 points The 22 year old Italian who debuted full time in GP racing in 2003, answered some questions about the new Moto2 class and his season so far.

What’s your impression on the new category Moto2?

It is very interesting, for a rider, being aware that all competitors have the same engine. In terms of performance all the bikes are level, but the frame and suspension every rider must make his own interpretation of his machine. What is concerning me is that I try to tighten my cornering which is pretty important with how our bike performs.

We have seen several riders that have been competitive and then not so competitive at different tracks, what’s your interpretation of this?

The combination of frame and track is determinant on performance. This I believe is the main reason of the ‘up and down’ results. A good set up and efficient interpretations of the lines around the track can help you be fast.

Continue reading: Moto2: Simone Corsi Interview

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While the media made a very big deal about Valentino Rossi breaking his leg and his comeback forty odd days after his injury, Motogp rider Randy de Puniet also shattered his left shinbone during the Sachsenring GP just two weeks ago and just inches above his ankle that he broke in a motocross accident two weeks before the Brno race last year.

The LCR Honda rider is hoping to return for the Brno GP just 27 days after his injury and talking to French website Sport-Bikes fills us on how he’s feeling and how his rehabilitation is going.

I wish I could say okay, but it’s not really the case.” said de Puniet. “For 10 days I’ll be doing physio in the morning to reduce the hematoma and then the hyperbaric chamber in the afternoon. Being locked up for an hour and half in a box doing nothing, is a bit painful, but it accelerates the healing, though it does not help the bone calcification. In a week, they’ ll take away the stitches and I hope to go swimming. The problem is they didn’t plate the fibula so I can’t do much and I have to be careful so it won’t crack.”

Continue reading: Randy de Puniet: "This injury is less severe compared to the one last year"

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Over the weekend live at the Assen MotoGP we spoke to Daniele Romagnoli, former team-manager of Jorge Lorenzo and current crew chief for the Tech 3 Moto2 team. As part of our behind the scenes look at the MotoGP, we talked about how he’s finding life in what he describes as the ‘difficult’ world of Moto2.

We discussed the technical aspects of Moto2 and what it’s like to have an image in this class. Tech 3 is a team that enjoys more financial backing than other’s in Moto2; it has its own box and doesn’t have to deal with the campervan land of the paddock. They even have umbrella girls to which Romagnoli replied by saying that a brolly girl doesn’t even cost him half a tyre and that he could hardly send out a hairy legged mechanic onto the grid. Read our interesting interview below.

You’ve said that Moto2 is difficult, what’s the main difference between Moto2 and MotoGP?

Here it’s another world. It’s especially difficult from a financial and economic aspect. The resources are inferior to the MotoGP and so you have to manage with the resources you’ve got. And then it’s obvious that with the MotoGP you have a company behind you that builds the bike, whether it be Yamaha or Honda or whoever. There are other bike builders but some teams, like ours, have to build their own bikes: designing it, building it, following a philosophy. But then it’s a challenge and I like playing.

Tech 3 box Moto2

Continue reading: Daniele Romagnoli talks to TwoWheels: no regrets but Lorenzo needs to win again in 2011

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Off the back of his own talent and on the strength of the Fiat Yamaha team, Jorge Lorenzo is the undisputed number one rider in MotoGP at the moment and we had a chance to talk to his team manager, Wilco Zeelenberg after today’s qualifying at the MotoGP Assen. It’s hard not to like Zeelenberg, with his twinkly blue eyes and enthusiastic manner.

While it’s clear he’s good natured, we think this probably belies his efficiency and professionalism in the box itself. With Lorenzo’s recent success, the team dynamic and the bike set-up has found its sweet spot for the moment, and the team is riding high right now. Zeelenberg still brings a down-to-earth attitude to the management as he knows they’ve got a long way to go yet.

Our conversation starts just as Zeelenberg gets a message about his old protégé, Cal Crutchlow, and Crutchlow’s start at the Misano SBK.

Given that you won with Crutchlow last year, would you have liked to see him on the Yamaha Tech 3 bike and how do you think he would have done?

Yes, of course. I think he deserved a seat on the superbike first of all. Ok, so he was planning on going to Moto2 but I’m happy he’s staying with Yamaha. Yamaha had an option on him, and I pushed for him to stay with Yamaha. I said “let him go and he will run against you the next three, four years”. I’m very positive about him, he has a strong mind, and he’s talented and fit. He has space for speed. Supersport was nice for him but has space to go faster and that’s what I saw last year, and what was already proven in superbike as well.

Continue reading: Assen interview with Wilco Zeelenberg: Lorenzo team manager talks to TwoWheels

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At a brief press conference at the MotoGP Assen, current number one in the rankings Jorge Lorenzo has stated that he’s not worried about next year. Commenting on the silly season contract rumours, Lorenzo has stated that he’s focusing on finishing number one this year. From his serious expression, we know that this is his big aim and there’s no reason at this stage to say he won’t achieve it.

We know Lorenzo was pleased with his performance last weekend and just how pleased has buoyed him for the coming races at Assen. He says: “I was not happy with Mugello but I was happy with Silverstone. Being at the front at the start creates less work for me on the track and we’ve been working to our best for each track.” He’s looking forward to racing at Assen, and we know he’s already said it’s one of his favourite tracks.

With other technical information discussed, including improving tyre choice at the MotoGP to make them less unpredictable and the move to extra testing for rider safety, the journalists present really want to know about the Fiat Yamaha team dynamic. Lorenzo says: “I’m not worried about next year. It really doesn’t concern me at all. I want to get to the end of this year and be in that number one spot at the end.”

On reaching the top spot in the rankings, Lorenzo is clearly proud about his achievement: “I’ve been given this opportunity and I intend to take advantage of it.” But the key question on the Rossi-Lorenzo relationship comes from an English journalist: “If you could choose between Valentino Rossi staying in Yamaha or going to another team, which would you choose?” And Lorenzo, with a slight smile simply answers: “Rossi with me.”

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If you thought being an umbrella girl was a glam job, you can think again. How does a 5am start sound? And heels that don’t fit properly? We spoke to Zoe and Alexandra, the Yamaha umbrella girls at the MotoGP Silverstone, to see what a day in the life of a paddock girl is like.

For them it started at 5am when Zoe went to pick up Alexandra, a girl she’s never met before, at a hotel because Alexandra had to be a bridesmaid the day before the MotoGP Silverstone final. They came to the track, and got dressed here. It’s not a job where you get pampered by others, but a job where you do your own makeup and hair, grab an umbrella and troop down to the box to have your ears blasted out by motorcycle exhaust systems.

Zoe and Alexandra are both local British girls who found their brolly girl job via a local agency. They do have day jobs - Alexandra is a make-up artist and Zoe is, in fact, a special needs teacher who is on a gap year from university. Both have been motivated differently to come to Silverstone as brolly girls.

Umbrella girls live pics silverstone motogp

Continue reading: A day in the life of a brolly girl: Zoe and Alexandra

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World famous mechanic and Valentino Rossi’s crew chief has left a long interview with SuperBikePlanet in which he reveals many aspects of his long and rich career with riders like Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan and Freddie Spencer. Jeremy Burgess discusses some fascinating moments of MotoGP history and the riders themselves. Some quotes from the interview, on being chief mechanic at Honda for Wayne Gardner:

“Honda, as a company, if they saw that you could offer more to them, or you had the potential to do more, if you didn’t do that, you weren’t doing the best for Honda. So it basically came down, when he explained it to me, “you don’t have a choice. You’re either going to be the chief mechanic for Wayne Gardner, or you’re shirking your issues.”

On the difference between Gardner and Doohan, Burgess says:

“To draw the parallel of him [Gardner] and Mick (Doohan), Wayne you would have to go and tell him that “you can beat those guys. You beat them last week. You can do it. You can do it. You can do it.”

Continue reading: Jeremy Burgess on everything: after working with Doohan, anyone's easy

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On the classic Australian circuit of Phillip Island where the official Infront tests took place last weekend before the season opener, one of the newest additions to the World Supersport grid is Paola Cazzola, who rides the #33 Honda for Kuja Racing.

Dave Contini got a chance to talk to Paola and asked her a few questions about her newest racing adventure.

Q: You’re one of the fastest women riders on the planet, you’ve shown that you deserve to ride and compete at an international level. How was the first impact with testing at Phillip Island?

A: Firstly, I’d like to thank you for the compliments, I want to say that I know a lot of riders who deserve to ride at world level, but in our field as everyone knows, money talks and maybe being the first women to take part full season in the series has helped me.

My first impression was that for the first three laps at Phillip Island I seemed to be inside a video game, the track is very fast, with turns that you do in full fourth and fifth gear that make you hold your breath! The track is much tighter than I expected and at certain speeds if you miss your marks even by a little …it’s not pretty!

Continue reading: WSS: Interview with Paola Cazzola

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We’ve got another interview today with Italian superbike rider Luca Scassa who will be racing in the World Superbike Championship for Supersonic Racing, the team from Parma will be debuting this year after moving up from the Italian Superstock 1000 series.

The team will be receiving their Ducati’s at the beginning of March and won’t be taking part in the official tests this Sunday and Monday at Phillip Island and will miss the first round, but #99 will be starting from second round in Portimao with his new Ducati.

Dave Contini interviewed Scassa for us and here’s what he had to say.

Q: You’re ready for the 2010 championship, what are your feelings regarding this season?

A: I’m delighted to be able to ride in this championship on a Ducati and with Supersonic Racing. The 1198 R is a fantastic bike and I’m sure I can do well. Potentially we can aim for the top, but since we’ll be receiving the bike only in March, I’ll have to first ride it and after we can judge our true potential.

Continue reading: WSBK: Interview with Luca Scassa

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