Everyone knows that former 500cc World champion Marco Lucchinelli had a big drug problem in the past and also spent five years in prison for possession and drug trafficking, and now his son Cristiano has been arrested on the same charges after the Guardia di Finanza found 2 kg of cocaine hidden in his suitcase.

The 32-year old Lucchinelli was already being investigated by the police in connection with international drug trafficking ring from South America to Italy and was stopped after being followed leaving the airport of Malpensa and heading to the city of Ravenna.

The arrest was kept secret for a few days and the news leaked out after he had already been appeared in court for a preliminary hearing and is now being held on custody as a precautionary measure due to the amount of drugs found in his possession and the risk of repeating the felony act.

This isn’t the first time that Cristiano has been in trouble with the law. In July of 2003 in the city of Imola the police stopped him after high speed chase where they found cocaine and two thousand euros in the car.

Source | ilrestodelcarlino via motoblog.it

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On Monday morning Nicky Hayden underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on the right shoulder that he had injured in late December in a pre-season training accident. The 40 minute procedure was carried out in Fremont, California by Dr Arthur Ting who discovered and repaired a tear in the labrum.

Yesterday’s post-operation appointment confirmed that the surgery was successful, and the Ducati Team rider could return home to begin his recovery.

“It’s a setback, but all things considered, I’m pretty happy with how things went,” Hayden said. “It’s good that it was possible to do everything by ’scope, and the pain’s not too bad. The problem should be fixed now, and I look forward to being able to help out the team as soon as possible.”

If the convalescence proceeds as hoped, Hayden should be able to take part in the next winter test at Sepang, February 28-March 1.

Ducati team mate Valentino Rossi also underwent surgery on Monday to have a rod removed from the leg he broke at Mugello in 2010, and buddy ‘Uccio’ tweeted an update on Rossi’s conditions saying that his friend has a little pain where the stitches are but everything is okay and in a couple of days he’ll be able to put some weight on the leg.

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Spanish petroleum giant Repsol has decided to back the 2011 125cc Rookie of the Year, Maverick Viñales in this season’s new Moto3 class.

The announcement was made ahead of the official Moto2 and Moto3 three day test that kicked off today at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, and the Spanish teenager will be joining other Repsol sponsored riders like Miguel Oliveira and Alex Rins (who is currently injured) in Moto3, Marc Marquez in Moto2, Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa in MotoGP.

Viñales finished third in his debut season winning four races (Le Mans, Assen, Sepang and Valencia) and five other podiums while he was riding for the Blusens by Paris Hilton Team.

This season he’ll will be riding a Honda FTR M312 under the Avintia Competición (BQR) Racing banner, and it is almost certain that he’ll switch to Moto2 in 2013.

“I am very excited to be riding for a sponsor like Repsol this season, as Repsol have been a force behind a great number of victories in the World Championship,” said Vinales. “Many great riders have received their support and I am honoured to be joining this elite group. The big three current Repsol riders - Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Marc Márquez - have won titles, and this is my aim for 2012. I can only hope to follow the path that other Repsol riders have established in the World Championship and take many wins this year. Now it is time for me to test in Valencia and we will be trying out many of the improvements that have been made over the winter”.

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Yamaha Factory Racing has entered into partnership with sportswear manufacturer Saucony as a Premium Supplier of shoes to the Team for the 2012 season. The premium level training shoes will form part of the Factory Team’s 2012 uniform.

Saucony is an American manufacturer of high-end athletic shoes and sports apparel. The company specialises in shoes for running, trail running, racing and walking. Specific technology is incorporated into the footwear relevant to the sporting discipline.

“We are very pleased to have Saucony join us for 2012,” said Team Director Massimo Meregalli. “It’s fantastic to have a top brand on board with us whose reputation for excellence in their field mirrors that of Yamaha. We are always on the move during the season so good footwear is essential for the team, we couldn’t ask for better!”.

Morgan Guizzo, Sales & Marketing Manager at Sportlab Srl, added “We are proud and honoured to team up with such a successful, dynamic and technologically innovative group as Yamaha. Both brands share the same focus for outstanding products and winning performance. We are sure that this cooperation will bring excellent results”.

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Crescent Suzuki has pulled off the wraps on the livery of the 2012 GSX-R1000s that John Hopkins and Leon Camier will be using in this season’s 2012 World Superbike Championship.

The team also revealed that Foreign Exchange Solutions company Fixi will be their co-title sponsor and the Dorset based team will be racing under the name Crescent Fixi Suzuki.

Paul Denning - Team Principal:
“The team has done a stunning job to prepare the new GSX-Rs for this level of competition; the attention to detail is faultless and I think that this will be the most-advanced GSX-R ever to grace a racetrack! Yoshimura’s hard work and proactive attitude to engine development has also enabled us to be as well prepared for Phillip Island as we can be. John and Leon are ready, the team is very motivated; and we will put everything into competing at the best level we possibly can!

“I would like to thank Richard Wynn and his co-directors at Fixi for their continued and expanded support. I would also like to thank Ronald Kabella and the team at Motorex and all our partners for their commitment to Crescent Fixi Suzuki’s assault on the World Superbike Championship. Finally, thanks to everyone at new team partner Sign Language for completing the graphic-wrapped livery so expertly and quickly.”

Richard Wynn - CEO, Fixi Plc:

“Fixi provides bespoke, state of the art foreign exchange services to the institutional and professional marketplace and we are no strangers to Crescent, having supported them in the British Superbike Championship last year. Having our brand exposed globally is extremely good timing for us - we have offices in London, Chicago and more recently Singapore and, through our innovative technology, we are able to reach out to clients and partnerships in all the leading global financial centres.

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Motorcycling isn’t one of the specialities of the Olympics, but that hasn’t stopped nine time World Champion Valentino Rossi from adding his name to the roster of 60 high profile Italian athletes who signed a letter - that will be published today in eight major newspapers - to ask Prime Minister Monti to sustain the candidacy of Rome to host the 2020 Olympics.

Besides Rossi, other signers include Francesco Totti, Gianluigi Buffon, Federica Pellegrini, Yuri Chechi, Josefa Idem, Valentina Vezzali, Antonio Rossi, Deborah Compagnoni, Igor Cassina, Alex Zanardi and Fiona May.

Since the new and non elected Monti government has been busy trying to solve other much more pressing problems (sovereign debt and put in place wide sweeping reforms) the candidacy of Rome hasn’t been their top priority, hence the ‘Dear Monti, Sign’ letter.

The government has less than a week to inform the International Olympic Committee whether Italy will be able to financially support hosting the 2020 Olympics.

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The rumors launched by our French colleagues last week regarding Jules Cluzel having found a Supersport ride with PTR Honda have now been confirmed.

Cluzel, after being dumped by WTR Tent 10 Racing Team when they merged with Bike Service Team, will be now riding a Honda CBR600R in the one of PTR’s three Supersport teams along with Sam Lowes, Pawel Szkopek, Ronan Quarmby, Martin Jessopp, PJ Jacobsen and Mathew Scholtz.

“I am very happy to have secured a seat with PTR Honda, one of the front running teams in the World Supersport Championship – there are not many bikes that can win the Championship but I have one of them. I cannot wait to get to know the team and bike better in the Australia test and then see what we can achieve in the first race. I cannot wait to get started,” said Cluzel.

Simon Buckmaster, PTR Honda Team Manager: “It is very late in the day but we are delighted to welcome Jules to the team and are sure with his pedigree and proven speed that he will be an addition to an already strong squad. We look forward to seeing what he can achieve in this Championship with the experience at the top level he has already had, it will be exciting.”

Cluzel will be now joining the team for a two-day test at Phillip Island in Australia before the opening round of the Championship at the same track on February 26th.

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Sooner or later, it was bound to happen anyway. For once, Pepo Rosell and Reyes Ramon of renowned aftermarket company Radical Ducati put their love for the Italian desmo machines aside and turned their attention to a Japanese motorcycle from the 80s, and the result is the awesome bike you can admire in these pictures. The model is called Dirt-Rad and is based on a pretty famous motorcycle, a 1989 Yamaha XT 600.

The original frame was cut, modified and connected to the fork of a FZR600, the engine was re-built with new ported heads and the exhaust system is made of Wolfman ‘2-in-1′ connecting pipes and terminates with a captivating Spark GP megaphone. The Dirt-RAD comes with 18″ wheels with aluminum Akront rims and stainless steal spoke fitted with Pirelli Skorpion tyres, whereas the braking system was lifted from a Ducati S4RS. The fuel tank comes from 1970’s Ducati 250, while the saddle is borrowed from a Pursang Bultaco.

This Dirt-RAD by Radical Ducati uses in-house hand-built mudguards, the front one made in aluminum and the rear one in carbon fibre. Other remarkable features of the model include Hagoon rear shock, Rizoma handlebar, Puch head light and an aluminum road racing chain guard taken from a Ducati 916. The Madrid-based company will soon show off its Dirt-RAD at the second edition of the “Metamorfosis Masiva“, a style contest open to single cylinder bikes only.

View the full Dirt-RAD by Radical Ducati photo gallery

via | Radical Ducati

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Both Ducati riders underwent surgery today, Nicky Hayden on his injured left shoulder and Valentino Rossi to remove a pin from his right leg, the same leg he fractured during practice at Mugello in 2010.

Rossi’s surgery which was already programmed took place at the Cervesi Hospital in Cattolica and he was operated on by Dr. Giannicola Lucidi, and Dr. Marco Trono surgeons from the Rimini Hospital and also present was Dr. Giuseppe Porcellini, who performed Rossi’s shoulder surgery last season.

“The surgery went well, and he’s all right, I saw him this morning - surgery started at 10am and and was completed by 11am and Valentino woke up well. Valentino chose Cattolica because he feels comfortable here and it’s near his home,” said Dr. Lucidi.

Rossi will leave the hospital later this evening and will have to observe a rest period of four to five days before beginning rehabilitation, and should not have any problems taking part in the upcoming Sepang II tests at the end of this month.

Source | ilrestodelcarlino.it

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During the usual Dealer Meeting that took place in Montecarlo a few days ago - also attended by Aprilia’s WSB rider Max Biaggi - the Piaggio Group introduced two brand new models of its subsidiaries Aprilia and Moto Guzzi. It was not an official presentation as the press was not allowed in and both models are expected to hit the showrooms in the not-so-near future - which also explains the lack of info and specs - but nonetheless it was the first time that both these models were spotted around in their definitive form: meet the Aprilia Caponord 1200 and the Moto Guzzi California 1400.

The Caponord 1200 is not too different from the one we had spotted about a year ago. The chassis looks is similar to the one of the Dorsoduro model, if not exactly the same. Same goes for the engine - which should be a 130 hp twin - while the suspension is probably tweaked to make it more suitable for off-road use. 19″ rims and a front end that adopts the design language introduced by the RSV4 and then adopted by the whole Aprilia’s range complete the profile of the bike, for now. As for now there’s no word as for when the Caponord will eventually hit the market, but will be waiting for more info about this model.

As for the Moto Guzzi California 1400, the images of this model were collected by renowned Italian magazine Motociclismo, which got them from a dealer that was at the event. The model is equipped by a 1,400 cc engine that should deliver more power and torque of the current version. We also notice an oil-radiator, which would make us belief that the cooling system will be an oil-mixed-air one. The new Guzzi should be officially unveiled next fall, and more accurate info about it are expected to surface way before that: we will keep you posted.

pics | VisorDown

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