Casey Stoner is basking in the limelight of being the 2011 World champion and the official MotoGP website got together with the Australian champion while he’s at his second home in Switzerland for an interview that was published last Friday and now have posted a follow up video with Stoner also answering a number of questions from fans via Twitter.

You’ll find out a little more about his time in Ducati, like when he asked for the 2009 carbon chassis to be implemented into the second half of the 2008 season, but didn’t get it and while he did receive new parts he always got got them six to eight months later. His excitment about becoming a father, the bikes he owns, tips on riding, how he relaxes, why he is taking the #1 plate and much more.

To see the video just follow this link.

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Casey Stoner is the most successful rider of the 800cc MotoGP era, he was won two titles, the first and last one and has more victories than Valentino Rossi who also took two championship titles during this period.

It’s commonly known that Stoner has little use for the media especially the Euro ones (who are more biased and often defend their countries riders even beyond belief) and detests all the PR that surrounds MotoGP and it’s no secret that he doesn’t like Rossi (which is an understatement) and European riders in general.

So it won’t come as a surprise that after a nice and rather bland interview with the official MotoGP website that an interview with Italy’s Motosprint magazine would be more revealing and much more biting.

On the media: “Everything has changed very quickly. Previously I’d get nothing but mistrust from the media, and generally very little consideration for what I was doing and all the effort I was putting in and then Valentino and I switched bikes. He was on the one that I used for four years, and I was on the bike of my dreams to show the world what I’m capable of doing. This allowed me to let everyone understand that I could have also fought for the title and that I could have won at least another one.”

Continue reading: Casey Stoner sets the record straight

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You’ve seen the pic of Marco Melandri motocross training on the Husqvarna TC 250 and read why he believes that this type of training is essential for him, and now you get to see the Italian rider in action at the Pomposa circuit (located at San Giuseppe di Comacchio near Ferrara).

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Former three time World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss returned to his roots last Saturday when he competed at the Old Bar Roadside Circuit during the Taree Motorcycle Club’s twilight meeting.

It was the first time in 27 years that he returned to the same circuit where he started competitive racing. Bayliss contested in several flat track events including the MX open, pro and solo unlimited and the legendary Superbike rider admitted he had fun, but ended up with slight knee injury.

Back home on the Gold Coast, had fun day yesterday at Old Bar, apart from hurting my knee, not crash, foot in rut, foot stays, knee goes side ways, but was great to hang out with the club, there were plenty of good riders and some young juniors flying , wrote Bayliss on his Facebook page.

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Early last December you saw the pics of Valentino Rossi and his friends having fun (they call it winter training) at the Biscia, his new motocross and flat track ranch near Tavullia, now you get to see the video.

Former Superbike rider, now turned superbike commentator for La7, Mauro Sanchini was in charge of the filming and you also get to see Mattia Pasini and Andrea Iannone in action.

Luckily for Rossi, the Regional Administrative Court recently ruled against several of his neighbours that wanted to stop construction of the track, because of the noise and the ecological impact that the track is having on the area.

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January 20th Marco Simoncelli would have turned 25, if that fateful and tragic October 23rd at Sepang hadn’t taken him away from racing and his fans.

A large show called Buon Compleanno Sic! was organized by his family last Friday with the help of numerous Italian comics to thank fans for the warmth and comfort that they given them in these last three months and to gather funds for the foundation that the Simoncelli family set up after his untimely death.

Over six thousand people showed up at the 105 Stadium in Rimini, with fans coming from Spain, Portugal, France and Holland to take part in the three hour long show to laugh and cry and celebrate Marco.

On the same day the town of Coriano officially dedicated their sports arena to the late rider which is now named “Palazzetto dello Sport Marco Simoncelli”and the local bus that goes from Coriano to the Aquafan park and Riccione will now be permanently indicated as the #58.

Simoncelli’s parents were also presented with a song dedicated to their son by Stefano Picchi called “Marco piega a mille all’ora” (Marco leans at 1000 an hour - included in one of the videos after the jump) and all proceeds from the song will go the the Simoncelli foundation.

Since not everyone could be at the Sic’s birthday, we’d like to share the videos that we’ve found on Youtube and the words that an emotional Paolo Simoncelli who said at the end of the show, “If it’s true that angels exist, then Marco from up there would be having a ball.”

Continue reading: Happy Birthday Sic! - videos from the event

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Which MotoGP rider is the most popular and has the largest fan base around the world? If we were to judge by the sea of yellow and #46 flags waved during any Grand Prix event and the number of times his name is mentioned and the attention and feedback that he garners (good and bad) we’d have to say almost without a doubt that it would have to be Valentino Rossi.

Even in his lousiest season ever, with no wins and only one podium, the number of fans that continue to stay true and loyal and defend their champion is still impressive. So what makes a Rossi fan tick?

Febbre Gialla or Yellow Fever is an Italian documentary that tries to delve into this fan base who even make pilgrimages to the ‘Holy Land’ of Tavullia to see a town that is dedicated and lives for their most famous citizen, while interviewed fans talk and reveal interesting aspects about their idol with curiosities, and anecdotes.

The film, written and directed by Gianni del Corral and produced by The Emotion Film is to help Baby Xitter, a non profit association that collects funds for the construction of a recreational area for children with and without disabilities in the city of Turin.

The project involved Valentino Rossi’s Official Fan Club, the town of Tavullia, Ducati, Dorna, which granted rights to the images and footage that Mediaset provided and some of the original soundtrack is by Mauro Tononi, Rossi’s official imitator.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

Continue reading: Yellow Fever - Valentino Rossi's fans become the subject of a documentary

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Our Italian cousins at Motoblog.it are at the Motor Bike Expo in Verona this weekend and at the Bimota stand found former Superbike rider Ruben Xaus who is now officially working with Bimota as their sporting director and was able to interview him.

MB: Bimota has several new things in store for their fans, so how did this partnership with them come around?

RX: By chance. I was talking to some very passionate friends from the Romagna region and was introduced to the Bimota world. I was at a crossroads, not knowing whether to continue racing or to dedicate myself to something else. On the one hand, there were the last season with many injuries and no replies, so I decided to take matters into hand and this collaboration was born. I wanted to take control of my destiny and decide what to do and when to do it.”

MB: What do you do for them?

RX: “I was only supposed to do some small things, instead I’m doing a lot. In the beginning my role was to be their image man, because I have riding schools in Spain, France and Russia, so we thought I’d use their bikes and my name for marketing, but as time went on and with my experience in asset management and finances (something that I’ve personally always worked in) we decided to expand my role and now I’m the sporting director, with the objective of outsourcing and expand the business with targeted marketing strategies. “

Continue reading: Ruben Xaus: "Bimota to wildcard World Superbikes in 2013"

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It really seems like a piece of news/gossip more up TMZs or Perez Hilton’s alley than ours, but former two time Superbike champion James Toseland has announced his engagement to singer-songwriter Katie Melua via his Facebook page.

Hey everyone, I’ve got some happy news to share with you, I asked Katie to marry me and she said Yes! As you can imagine, I am a very happy man right now :)

Melua and Toseland started dating last April, but revealed their relationship to the public last July and she saw him race for the first time during the Silverstone round.

“Giacomino” (little James) as he’s be fondly nicknamed by his Italian fans, announced his retirement from racing last September following his career stopping wrist injury that he sustained at Aragon while testing for BMW Italia.

Toseland seems to have picked up a singing contract by a record company and in his spare time is helping World Superstock rider Sylvain Barrier prepare for the 2012 season.

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After Alex Crivillé and before Jorge Lorenzo, Sete Gibernau was Spain’s hope to bring home the MotoGP World Championship title and for almost three years he was considered one of the ‘aliens’ even before the term was coined.

Gibernau riding for Gresini’s Telefonica Movistar-Honda team pushed Valentino Rossi hard for the title during the 2003 and 2004 seasons with the rivalry becoming something that would fill newspapers as much as that between Rossi and Max Biaggi. Rossi’s infamous 2004 Qatar curse and his aggressive final lap overtaking manouever during the 2005 Spanish GP would plague the Spanish rider for the rest of his racing career and he would never win a race again.

In 2006 he switched to Ducati only to be plagued by injuries following the horrific crash during the Barcelona GP and at the end of the season decided to retire. In 2009 Gibernau decided to make a comeback with the Onde 2000 Grupo Francisco Hernando satellite team run by Angel Nieto, but broke his collarbone during a practice session at Le Mans and two months later the team folded due to financial difficulties.

Gibernau decided that he had enough of racing and retired definitely and now has posted this fantastic book on his website that contains some magnificent public and private photos and even dedicates several pages to his grandfather and his motorcycle company Bultaco.

The book also has an English version and we recommend you check it out, just click on this link.

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