Echo CRS Honda’s Broc Parkes, who missed the first round at Phillip Island after breaking his right tibia in a pre-season training accident, will also have to sit out the second round of the World Superbike championship at Portimao.

The Aussie rider is expected to return to full fitness for Valencia or at the latest the Assen round of the championship, which are scheduled for April 11th and 25th.

The team is currently looking for another replacement rider for to ride the CBR 1000RR at Portimao. Josh Brookes, HM Plant Honda rider who subbed for Parkes at Phillip Island took 19th in race 1 and 14th in race 2.

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Rizla Suzuki has unveiled their new livery designed by Troy Lee Designs and if you were expecting something more dramatic than a slightly darker shade of Rizla blue on the bike you’ll certainly be left wanting.

The new 2010 800cc GSV-R that will be used by veteran Motogp rider Loris Capirossi and by rookie Alvaro Bautista has been developed with the intention of improving both acceleration and durability to coincide with the new engine restrictions that have been implemented this year (6 engines for 18 races).

According to Suzuki their have been improvements in aerodynamics, chassis performance and electronic system and the Japanese manufacturer labels the 2010 machine as its “most advanced machine yet.”

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While Valentino Rossi may have lost out to Usain Bolt as Sportsman of the Year that the prestigious Laureus World Sports assigns every year, but this afternoon the 9 times World Champion was honoured anyway when he was presented with the “Winning Italy” Award by the Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini at Palazzo Madama in Rome.

The award is given to those Italians who promote the image of Italy in the world, be it economics, research or sports and in the case of Rossi it’s because the World Champion has become an icon who represents the marvellous virtues of Italy on a foreign front, making all his compatriots proud to be Italian and with his 103 wins has sounded the Italian national anthem in the five continents.

After the awards ceremony there was the usual round of questions by journalists and as always the topics were: Ducati - “Going to Ducati would be a sort of betrayal, with Yamaha I share a beautiful story, though I have to admit that with Borgo Panigale it would be a perfect Made in Italy partnership” but also added “never say never.” The never ending story about switching to Formula1 with Ferrari : “I don’t think so, it would be very difficult, I’m going to stay in motorcycle racing for a couple more years.”

Rossi also promised that he’ll try to have the national anthem sounded at least another twenty times to try to beat Giacomo Agostini’s record of a 122 race wins (123 races according to Agostini).

Source | gazzetta.it

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We thought we’d see the new Rizla Suzuki livery designed by Troy Lee Designs during the Qatar tests, instead Rizla Suzuki will be unveiling the new livery of the 2010 Rizla Suzuki GSV-R that Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista will be using this season on Friday March 12th.

So check back with us tomorrow to see the official pics, but we guess you guys will have to wait until the first race or maybe even the second, since Qatar has religious problems with scantily clad grid and paddock girls to see what kind of outfits Troy Lee has thought up for the Rizla girls .

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When you see Freddie Spencer trying to sell pieces of his personal racing history like his championship 1983 Honda NSR500 and his 1985 championship NSR250, you just know things can’t be going that well for one of the greatest racers of all times.

Fast Freddie who is the only rider in history to won both the 250cc and 500cc World championship in the same year, has decided to sell off these championship bikes. The bikes are so rare, that they’re the only ones in exsistence outside the Honda museum in Japan and are being sold off as a pair.

Source | rmdmotors.com via motomatters.com

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New from Italy indicates that the two big Italian manufacturers of Ducati and Piaggio could merge. Ducati needs no introduction, while Piaggio is the parent company of Vespa and Moto Guzzi, as well as it manufacturing scooters under its own name. The news of a possible merger comes just a week after rumours of a Piaggio sale; rumours that were subsequently denied by Piaggio, although the frequency of them now would suggest some substance. A Ducati-Piaggio merger would create a large Italian motorcycling consortium, of sorts, and could see some serious competition for the Japanese on many fronts - from scooters to superbikes. We wait further news!

Source | Motoblog.it

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Harley Davidson after facing third quarter profit drops, announced back in October, that they were killing off the production of Buell motorcycles and were going divest itself of the MV Agusta Group that they bought in 2008 for $109 million and many wondered what would happen to one of Italy’s most historic marques, especially in a down trodden economic market.

According to the well informed motociclismo.it HD may have found someone to buy out their stake in the MV Agusta and one of the companies could be BMW, who so far has neither confirmed or denied their interest and the second could be a consortium of Italian entrepreneurs led by Mario Moretti Polegato, founder and president of the Geox Group, who is best know in the footwear and apparel market.

The announcement of the sale of MV Agusta could come as early as the end of March.

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More rain and cold temperatures affected most of the final day of Moto2 testing at Jerez, but saw Alex De Angelis rise once again to the top of the timesheet for the second time in this official three day test.

De Angelis put in a best lap of 1’55.280 in the wet, improving on his Saturday times by more than a half a second and the only rider to break into the 1.55 mark. Toni Elias was in second, more than seven tenths of second behind his former MotoGP team mate. Tech3 riders Raffaele DeRosa and Yuki Takahashi, were third and fourth respectively.

Missing were Kenny Noyes and Joan Olivé from Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas team who packed up early and didn’t test. Mapfre Aspar rider Julian Simon who topped during the Valencia tests didn’t even complete a full lap today.

The third and final pre-season Moto2 test will again take place at Jerez March 27-29 before heading to Qatar for the championship opener.

Overall test times here.

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MotoGP is hot item for track organizers and after Qatar whose night race now traditionally opens the championship season, Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE and largest of the seven Emirates Gulf Coast countries is also vying to host a MotoGP round.

Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management who wants to make Abu Dhabi a motorsport capital and runs the Yas Marina Circuit where they already have international events like Formula 1, GP2 Asia Series, Australian V8 Supercars, FIA World GT1, an International Drag Racing Festival and would like to add premier motorcycle racing to their calendar and have already talked with Dorna, as confirmed by AMM CEO Richard Cregan:

“MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta was here last year and the track designer Hermann Tilke will be coming up with a proposal in the next couple of weeks. But it will take time. We are looking at a time-frame of maybe two to three years when Abu Dhabi will be able to hold a MotoGP round.”

Ultra modern circuit, but will they able to fill the stands like they do at Mugello or Jerez de la Frontera?

Source | khaleejtimes.com via bikeracing.it

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Mixed weather conditions at Jerez saw Gresini’s Toni Elias set the best time with a lap of 1’45.024 leaving Yonny Hernandez (Blusens STX) in second and more than half a second behind him and American Kenny Noyes in third.

Alex De Angelis (Scot Racing) was fourth on the chart, but was 0.708s from his former team mate Elias. The Forward Racing duo Jules Cluzel and Claudio Corti were fifth and sixth.

Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Racing) was seventh and Roberto Rolfo made a big jump forward from Saturday, taking the eighth position after returning from the shoulder injury he picked up in Barcellona and missing the Valencia tests. Shoya Tomizawa was in 9th and closing the top ten was Julian Simon.

Continue reading: Moto2 Jerez Day 2 - Toni Elias on top on Sunday

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