Just yesterday we mentioned that Moto2 team Stop and Go (SAG) had yet to complete their line-up and today the team has announced that next to Angel Rodriguez they will be fielding Marco Colandrea.

The 17-year old youngster who has typical Italian name is actually Swiss, and has signed a two year deal with the team run by Eduardo Perales. Last season Colandrea took part in three races as a wildcard in the 125cc class, but has already experience riding a 600cc motorcycle as he’s already competed in the Italian CIV and the German IDM.

“I am very excited about this opportunity. I’m young but I know that it will be necessary to take the maximum advantage of this period and be smart on the track not to lose sight of my goal which is simply to learn from the stronger riders and do better race after race. I want to thank my family, my manager Paolo Mora of All Sports Consulting and Edu Perales for this great opportunity,” said Colandrea.

Edu Perales: “Marco may be young rider, but has a lot of talent and determination to ride in Moto2 and has to realizethat the team will give him the maximum to put him in the condition to do well. I hope that that this will be lasting and fruitful union.”

Source | motogp.com and infomoto2.com

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Moto2 is still playing musical chairs and the season hasn’t even started yet. The latest news coming out of Spain is that Ricky Cardus (Jorge Lorenzo’s BFF) has lost his ride with QMMF Moto2 team and will be replaced by Damian Cudlin.

Cardus made the jump to Moto2 GP after a few replacement rides and spent the full 2011 season with the Qatari team finishing 31st overall and was to be fielded with the newly signed Elena Rosell this 2012 season, however the Spanish rider got the bad news just a week ago. At the moment it isn’t known if Cardus lost his ride due to the ‘usual’ sponsorship problems.

Damian Cudlin made his appearance on the GP racing scene last season when he substituted for injured Loris Capirossi at Motegi and Hector Barbera at Phillip Island but had to withdraw from the Australian GP following a hip injury sustained during practice.

Cardus’ last chance in finding a ride could be with the Stop & Go Team who has yet to announce their second rider, but according to the latest rumors, the rider will not be of Spanish nationality.

Source | motociclismo.es via motocuatro.com

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Italy’s members of parliment have barely anything to do these days since the unelected Monti government came into power, so it isn’t surprising to hear of some hairbrained proposals these days from congressmen who want to get their names in the papers.

The lastest is from Paolo Grimoldi from the Northern League (they lively advocate secession of the North from a ‘parasitic’ South) who wants the Autodromo di Monza declared a national monument in order to “defend the temple of excellence for Formula 1 and motorcyle racing” as it “houses the history and future of motor racing.”

The bill if passed, would give the Monza circuit € 500,000 a year until 2014. Sias (the company that runs the circuit) would use the money to renovate and perserve the historical part of the track including the Old Parabolica which was partly used during the 2011 Monza Rally Show .

Grimoldi calls his proposal “an act of love for my city, but it would be to recognize the millions of sports fans around the world who look at the Monza circuit as a living monument. We hope to have the support of the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Lorenzo Ornaghi, who has been too busy with the chronic scandals regarding Pompeii and the Colisseum and so far has paid very little attention to the North. The Villa Reale requires attention. ”

As if Italian taxpayers aren’t already pulling out enough money from their pockets to pay for the already bad and often useless spending habits that the government has.

Source | ilgiorno.it via motoblog.it

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While most journos and fans are trying to follow what’s happening in Sepang, at sunny Valencia a couple of CRT and Moto3 teams for a total of six rider are already on track for a two day test; Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro with Aspar’s ART (Aprilia has brought a new chassis) and newly signed Mattia Pasini who took Anthony West’s place in MotoGP’s CRT Speed Master team after the Australian couldn’t find the funding.

We’ll follow up if they release statements or lap times, so check back with us later.

Update:

Lap times via Circuit Valencia Twitter feed: @RandydePuniet14 leads #MotoGP (CRT) test in Valencia, 1.35.3 (38 laps) @AleixEspargaro 2nd 1.36.7 and @MattiaPasini 3rd 1.37.8

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While the World Superbike testing ban was in place, newly signed Kawaski Pedercini rider Leandro Mercado was out taking his first victory of the 2012 season during the 15th edition of the 500 Milhas Interlagos endurance race that took place two weeks ago.

The talented Argentian rider onboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R prepared by Studio Motors and running under the Extreme Speed ​​# 17 banner with team mates Leonardo Bagnis and Pablos Martins not only grabbed the pole postion but also dominated the entire race despite the difficult weather conditions.
team

Fifteen year old Eric Granado who will be joining Moto2 JiR Racing team as soon as he turns 16, also won in the Supersport category with team mates Nico Ferreira, Sergio Laurentys and Eduardo Costa Neto onboard a Honda CBR 600 R with Mobil Rusch Racing Team.

Source | mundomoto.esp.br and bikeracing.it

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When we announced that Elena Rosell would be riding the 2012 Moto2 championship with QMFF, we also mentioned that the Qatari Motorcycle Federation has promoted an all female team during the 2011 Losail round of the QTEL FIM Endurance championship, the 8 Hours of Doha.

Paola Cazzola, Nina Prinz and Nikolett Kovacs raced in the Superstock category with a Suzuki GSX-R run by Qatar Endurance Racing Team (QERT) and finished 6th in their category and a respectable 17th overall, which isn’t bad as Cazzola earlier in the year had to undergo emergency surgery for a very large abdominal tumor.

The FIM has added this video of the three females riders talking about how they got into racing on their website as part of their admirable promotion Women Ride.

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World Supersport Power Team by Suriano has added another Italian to their 2012 line-up after Vittorio Iannuzzo, Moto2 rider Alex Baldolini.

The 27 year old Baldolini is a veteran of the GP paddock with nine years of experience between the 125cc, 250cc and Moto2 classes and this season will be riding team Suriano’s Triumph Daytona 675.

“My goal is to change around my career and I know I can get some important results and do it riding a SuperSport. Of course I shall have to get use to this new class, but compared to Moto2 here there is much more room for electronics and the engines are more powerful, but the chassis are production based. I’m convinced that it will be growing season and I’d like to thank the whole team for giving me the chance of a life-time,” said Baldolini.

Technical director Antonio Suriano: “I’m really happy having the chance to line up an experienced and talented rider such as Alex. I personally think he still has room for improvement and I’m sure that after an adjustment period he’s going to be one of the protagonists. On our side, we’ll do our best to give him everything he needs to fight for the first places in what is going to be a highly challenging and battled out championship, but we’re ready for that challenge”.

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It’s still in the experimental stage, but Ivan Capelli’s company Motivegeeks Labs (an ICT company) in collaboration with the Italian Motorcycle Federation has decided that this year’s CIV riders will be using a medical safety bracelet in order to improve response by track side first aid personnel.

The bracelet dubbed Sa.Me.Da.® L.I.F.E.®, the acronym for Safety Medical Data - Local Infomed For Emergency” and has two basic functions; one is solely adminstrative, which allows riders to manage calendars, race registrations and engineering controls aimed to simplify the work for them and the Federation, while the second function probably the most important, will contain the medical history and records of the rider in order to have the data immediately available and help provide emergency personnel with better information in case of an accident. The data will be accessible via web, from any place in the world.

Source | motoblog.it

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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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Pata Racing officially presented their 2012 World Superbike line-up and livery to the public during this weekend’s Motor Bike Expo in Verona.

Team owner Daniele Carli (who has split with Marco Borciani) has decided to field 24-year old Lorenzo Zanetti who will be riding a Ducati 1198 for the team who has switched back Ducati after completing a season with Noriyuki Haga riding an Aprilia RSV4.

Marco Gobbi, CEO of Pata snack foods, who is also sponsoring the World Supersport and European 600 Stock teams under the Team Pata by Martini banner said: “Pata’s aim in 2012 is to invest in talented young Italian riders. I would say that having Zanetti in the team and an icon such as the Ducati 1198, is already a big success. Knowing that we can race with the current world championship winning bike gives us a major stimulus. For our part, we are still aiming to be successful in a championship in which we want to play a major role. Thanks to everyone who was involved in the negotiations and who made this agreement possible.”

While Zanetti said, “It’s a great responsibility to be Haga’s heir. After having raced with a Ducati in 2010 and then with a BMW last year. It was an experience that made ​​me grow, allowing me to get on the podium six times. It’s important for me to hear that there are people believe me even if I know it will be a difficult challenge. I’ll have to do what I do best and go fast. I’ll have to learn to fit in with the team, but they have a lot of year’s of experience and this will certainly help me to grow. ”

Continue reading: Pata Racing presents team and livery during Verona Motor Bike Expo

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