MotoGP followers know that Valentino Rossi, Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci, Lukas Pesek and Stefan Bradl all wear AGV’s ultra modern Pista GP.

The AGV Pista GP was born on the racetrack and designed according to AGV’s own ‘Extreme Standards Helmets‘ and these above MotoGP riders talk about the improved features and virtues of using this helmet, from its lightness, the ventilation air takes that radically improves cooling, the visor that has been enlarged and extended upwards, which allows them to see better when they are tucked in behind the fairing or heading towards a turn.

Check out what four of the riders had to say about this helmet.

Continue reading: MotoGP riders preach the features and virtues of the AGV Pista GP helmet

Danilo Petrucci caused a sensation yesterday evening in Rome when he rode his 2012 Ioda TR003 CRT machine throught the busy streets of the eternal city as part of the team’s launch of Ioda Your Project initiative, that we reported yesterday.

The Italian rode his MotoGP bike from Piazza Venezia (where the monument to Vittorio Emanuele II is located) down the Via Del Corso (main shopping street in Rome) to arrive at Piazza San Silvestro as curious onlookers gathered to see a CRT bike up close for the first time.

“It was really very exciting ride a MotoGP bike in the center of Rome,” said Petrucci. “It will be something to tell my grandchild in the future, I was the first rider to take their MotoGP bike through the center of Rome.”

Continue reading: Danilo Petrucci rides the streets of Rome with his MotoGP CRT

In 2010 Yamaha debuted at one-off livery for the Laguna Seca GP featuring the faces of 500 fans, and the number “500” painted in stars and stripes celebrating the launch of the Fiat 500 in the U.S. market.

During the final GP of last season at Valencia, Gresini Racing had the names of fans on the fairings of Alvaro Bautista’s Honda RC213V that was part of the San Carlo ‘Super Message to Sic’ initiative to help the Marco Simoncelli Foundation where fans donated 2 euros for the message, but Came IodaRacing who is fielding Danilo Petrucci and Lukas Pesek in MotoGP and Johann Zarco in Moto2, has decided that fans are important all season long and not just one weekend, and have launched the IodaYourProject.

The new project was illustrated yesterday during the Moto Days motorcycle show in Rome by team owner Giampiero Sacchi and Petrucci and Zarco, and basically it consists of being part of first MotoGP ‘racing community’ that will allow fans to have their name on the fairings of the team’s Suters for the entire 2013 season at a cost of €10, but the cost isn’t just limited to a name, but will also include exclusive prizes and suprises during the season for those who sign up and follow the IodaRacing Teams.

Click here for Ioda Your Project mini website.

Day 1 of the second official Sepang test was marred first by a greasy and slippery track that didn’t allow lap times to drop and then it was further hampered by the appearance of the usual afternoon tropical downpour but a few riders did go out in the wet.

Here’s what some of the other riders had to say following day 1:

Stefan Bradl - 4th

“Actually the track conditions were worse than the first test so today’s lap time is not as good as my first outing here. Due to the slippery surface it took me a while to get a proper confidence and a proper speed but we were able to put in many laps trying out some braking system components and geometry settings. Around 3pm it started to rain so I had a couple of laps in the wet aboard the 2013 machine for the first time and the verdict was quite positive”.

Cal Crutchlow - 6th

“I’m happy enough with today because all you could do was ride around to the grip that was available. This morning the track condition wasn’t good at all. It was greasy and the heat was just making it worse and you can see the lap times are a fair way off what we were doing here only recently. I was 1.5s off my best time from the first test and Pedrosa was about the same. Once I got to my best lap time today I pretty much stayed at that pace for the rest of the day because the grip wasn’t there. There were a few crashes and it was obvious that we’d got used to the grip that we had at the last test but it wasn’t there and when people started to push they crashed.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Sepang 2 test - more from the riders on day 1

In 2012 MotoGP saw rain at some point during 14 out of 18 race weekends, and the 2013 season looks to be starting off in the same manner, as the second and final day of ECU testing at Sepang for the three CRT teams who will be using the Magneti Marelli spec ECU was ruined by rain and continuing technical issues.

Danilo Petrucci who put in the most laps yesterday with Came IodaRacing’s Suter- BMW managed only four laps running again completely without electronic aids before suffering a technical glitch, and he also had to share his bike with team mate Lukas Pesek. Apparently the team only brought two machines for the five day test, but not enough spare parts to run both bikes that still have the 2012 chassis. Despite the numerous setbacks Pesek was able to put in 19 laps today.

Avintia Blusens’ Hiroshi Aoyama rested his injured left wrist today, deciding not to risk riding in the rain, while Hector Barbera again suffered electric issues with his bike’s wiring loom that cut power, although he managed 20 laps.

Continue reading: Second day of CRT testing at Sepang hampered by rain and problems

The first day of testing at the Sepang International circuit for the three CRT teams that will be using the spec Magneti Marelli ECU was hindered by a myraid of different problems that limited track action.

Only two riders actually set lap times, one was Ioda Racing’s Danilo Petrucci who managed to put in 27 laps with a best time of 2.06.841 on his 2012 version of the Suter- BMW with the new ECU, while his new team mate Lukas Pesek did none.

Recovering Hiroshi Aoyama was the second rider to record any lap times as he did nine laps, testing more the fitness of his recently broken wrist, than actually working on the development on the Avintia Blusens FTR-Kawasaki, and his time was 2.12.062, but he complained of pain and will decide tomorrow whether to continue.

Aoyama’s team mate Hector Barbera managed in the 8-hour test only four laps with both wiring and electronic issues curtailing his test and no lap times were recorded as the Spaniard did not complete one single recordable full lap.

Colin Edwards and Claudio Corti wasted the entire day sitting on the sidelines watching their NGM Forward Racing team building their bikes, as they received several parts late. Only Edwards did one lap with his new FTR-Kawasaki before the track closed at 6pm.

Missing from the ECU test is Michael Laverty as his PBMUK squad decided to delay the debut of their own PBM-01 CRT machine (GPMS/Aprilia) until the second Sepang test scheduled from February 26-28.

With track time hindered none of the riders had real chance to test the new CRT-specific softer compound rear tires that Bridgestone will supply to all CRT teams.

All six riders will have another day of private testing tomorrow, before being joined by the rest of the MotoGP and CRT teams (running Aprilia electronics) on Tuesday for another three days of official testing.

Giampiero Sacchi’s IodaRacing Project teams are continuing in 2013 their collaboration with Came (leader in automation systems and access controls) and yesterday at Came’s headquarters in Treviso presented their 2013 line-up with Danilo Petrucci and Lukas Pesek on the Ioda-Suter BMW in MotoGP, and Johann Zarco in Moto2.

For Petrucci it will be his second season riding the Italian team’s CRT - who abandoned their own TR003 machine which had about 80hp less than other CRT bikes and was about 40km slower - and switched to the Suter-BMW during the 2012 Misano GP.

New addition to the MotoGP team - who has expanded from one to two riders this season - is Lukas Pesek. The Czech rider is returning to the GP paddock after spending almost two seasons in the IDM German Superbike and Supersport series.

Continue reading: Came IodaRacing presents 2013 MotoGP and Moto2 squads

Just three days ago we reported the rumor that Czech rider Lukas Pesek was in negotiations with IodaRacing to ride their CRT machine in 2013 after the passed up on Chris Vermeulen.

The Italian team run by Giampiero Sacchi has today officiall confirmed that Pesek will be indeed be in MotoGP in 2013 and completing his team line-up along with Danilo Petrucci on a second Suter-BMW and it will be welcome return for Pesek who rode for the ex-Aprilia boss with the official Derbi team in the 125cc class from 2005 to 2007 where he took two victories (Shanghai and Phillip Island).

“I’m very happy to get this opportunity,” said Pesek. “I have to thank Giampiero Sacchi, with whom I share some great memories of my 125cc years. Racing in MotoGP is definitely not an easy task, I’ll be up against the best riders in the world - it’s a big step for sure but I’ll give my best!”

IodaRacing Project boss Sacchi commented: “Lukas’s return is very welcome - he wrote some great pages of Derbi’s history in 125cc working alongside some of our current team members. It’s a tough challenge lying ahead of him but I’m sure he can do well in the premier class.”

the 27-year old Pesek has also ridden in 250cc, Moto2, Supersport, CEV and part of this past season in the IDM Superbike championship.

Roberto Rolfo’s gig with IodaRacing lasted five days - from announcement on Saturday after the final qualifying session of the season to the day after the Valencia tests - which meant that Giampiero Sacchi’s CRT team, who will be expanding to two riders in 2013 needs to find a new rider to pair up with Danilo Petrucci and that rider may turn out to be Chris Vermeulen.

Vermeulen’s last official ride was with Kawasaki’s factory team in World Superbikes, but he spent more time of the 2010 season sidelined with numerous knee issues following a crash in the season opener at Phillip Island that would later force him to pull out of the championship to undergo knee reconstructive surgery. While in 2011 he was hindered by stil another array of injuries, from his back to his elbow forcing him to skip several rounds.

Despite having dropped hints that other teams were interested in him, the Australian spent 2012 away from racing except for replacing injured Colin Edwards (fractured collarbone) at the LeMans GP - where he finished 17th on NGM Forward’s Suter-BMW.

Despite not being overly enthusiastic about CRT machines, Vermeulen wants to race again and have another shot in MotoGP and IodaRacing could be his gateway back to a full-time ride in the premier class and the Italian squad would get an experienced development rider.

Source | speedweek.de

The Misano Adriatico circuit was very damp, cold and highly slippery (it was a crash fest in Moto3 where Zulfahmi Khairuddin was the fastest rider) for this morning’s MotoGP’s first free practice and today will be a useless day for the majority of riders as the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday on the Italian Riviera is supposed to take a definite turn for the better.

Only nine riders decided to risk the treacherous conditions and record official times and they started out on rain tires and in the finale switched to slicks.

Nicky Hayden who is returning to action after breaking his hand during qualifying at Indianapolis which forced him out of his home race and Brno, decided to test the strength of his hand and he is was trying to ride without any painkillers

David Salom debuted on the Avintia Blusens CRT bike replacing Ivan Silva. The Spaniard had to miss last weekend’s Superbike round at Nurburgring after crashing out during Superpole and sustaining a slight concussion.

Ioda Racing has decided to drop their Aprilia-Ioda CRT and Danilo Petrucci debuted the BMW-Suter machine after testing the bike at Vairano last week and he was the fastest rider of the practice. The rumors that Mattia Pasini wouldn’t be present at his home race were false, as the Italian was on track - but his Speed Master team may not be able to continue next season due to budget problems. Pasini had to sell his car to continue to race.

MotoGP Misano FP1 results:

1 PETRUCCI D.Came IodaRacing Project 1′43.178
2 PIRRO M.San Carlo Honda Gresini +0.149
3 ELLISON J.Paul Bird Motorsport +2.552
4 SALOM D.Avintia Blusens +3.708
5 SPIES B.Yamaha Factory Racing +5.120
6 HAYDEN N.Ducati Team +5.231
7 HERNANDEZ Y.Avintia Blusens +5.375
8 PASINI M.Speed Master +7.304
9 EDWARDS C.NGM Mobile Forward Racing +9.886