Regis Laconi wants to return to racing and his testing during the World Ducati Week at Misano wasn’t just a courtesy ride by DFX Corse, but a full blown personal fitness test for the French rider.

During the Monza round, Laconi had announced that he couldn’t risk returning to racing because of the vertebrae fractures he suffered during last year’s Kayalami round, but after testing at Misano he changed his mind and in this interview with French website moto.cardisiaz.com explains why.

“I’m not gonna lie, yes, I want to race again. At Misano, during the WDW there was a huge crowd and it made me warm inside that I was the second rider after Troy Bayliss to have been the most applauded by the public. Then on short notice, I got to ride DFX’s bike and I could feel the bike, I had a good feeling.”

Continue reading: Regis Laconi: "I'm Fit and Want to Return"

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Regis Laconi made a surprise return at the Misano race track as part of the World Ducati Week event that kicked off today with his old DFX Corse team.

Laconi, who during his visit at the Superbike paddock at the Monza round, had said that he was retiring due to the cracked vertebrae he sustained during last year’s practice session at Kyalami, reported that his doctors advised that it would be dangerous to return to racing, did try some testing with DFX at Portimao last October.

There is no word on whether this test could lead to a potential return for Laconi in racing or it’s just the rider having some fun at the Ducati event.

Source | motosblog.fr

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DFX Corse has announced that due to force majeure they will be skipping the next two upcoming rounds of the World Superbike Championship that take place May 16th at Kyalami (South Africa ) and May 31st at Miller Motorsports Park (USA).

The team and Lorenzo Lanzi will be back for the European round at Misano Adriatico scheduled for June 27th.

According to rumors from yesterday’s races at Monza, DFX Corse will probably not be the only team that will miss the two overseas rounds.

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With the upcoming opening round of World Superbikes Championship, that is shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons ever, with highly talented and big named riding stars, we caught up with Lorenzo Lanzi before he left for Phillip Island.

After a difficult past season, Lorenzo has been signed up to ride for DFX Corse, for whom he raced for last year (replacing the injured Regis Laconi) and the bike could not be anything less than an awesome Ducati 1198, a highly professional team, for an all Italian duo and with six Italian riders on the WSBK starting grid, great racing will be a guarantee.

Here’s some questions that we asked the rider from San Piero in Bagno, including his expectations for the upcoming season.

Q: Finally you’re going to be back riding a Ducati, how do you feel physically and mentally?

A: “I’m really happy to have found a place in the DFX team. I’m finally back in the series and for the entire season and really want to do well from the start. I have to say that I’ve always believed that I’d be back, so I’ve always been in training to prepare for the double races. I knew that if I raced in other championships in the end it would have paid off. I’ve always believed in my talent, but being a rider without personal sponsors, it wasn’t easy finding a place, and today I’m here and I’m grateful to the team and believe that I can hold my own in the championship.”

Continue reading: WSBK: Interview with Lorenzo Lanzi

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According to Italian website Motosprint, Italian rider Lorenzo Lanzi will be returning to Superbike team DFX Corse to subsitute Regis Laconi once again.

Lanzi subbed for Laconi for five rounds before being axed for Fonzie Nieto. Both Anthony West e 125 cc rider Andrea Iannone were linked to the team, however DFX’s team manager Daniele Carli picked Lanzi again, because according to the latest news Regis Laconi is still not physically fit to compete.

Laconi, suffered a horrific accident during free practice at the Kyalami circuit in South Africa and successfully recovered from two fractured vertebrae that kept him in a hospital for over a month and then continued physical therapy in France.

The French rider got back on his Ducati just five months after his crash and did three honour laps at his home race at Magny-Cours and later got some track time with his team at the Portimao tests last October.

Lanzi will be back on track for the official Infront tests that take place at Phillip Island the week before the opening round of the season.

Source | crash.net and motosprint

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Fonsie Nieto, who took part in three rounds of this year’s 2009 World Superbike Championship for Alstare Suzuki subbing for Max Neukirchner and then was called by DFX Corse to ride alongside Lorenzo Lanzi replaced injured Regis Laconi, will sporting this one off Arai helmet at the Magny-Cours round this weekend.

The coloured handprint called “Corle” is the official logo designed by Joaquin Malle, that the city of Madrid has chosen to promote it’s candidacy for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Dani Pedrosa and Repsol riders have already publicly supported Madrid’s candidacy.

Photo Source : masmoto

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The WSBK Championship will be back this weekend at the Nurburgring circuit in Germany after the long summer break.

Noriyuki Haga, the championship points leader is back to full fitness after his horrific highside at Donington and ready to take on rival Ben Spies, who is just seven points behind the Xerox Ducati rider in the standings.

General news on the upcoming Nurburgring round:

Due to financial difficulties the Verona based team DFX Corse will be putting only one of their Ducati 1098RS bikes on the German track. The bike will be ridden by Fonsi Nieto while Lorenzo Lanzi who has been subbing for injured Regis Laconi, will sit this one out. Lanzi will be back for his home race at Imola at the end of September.

Celani Suzuki is another team who has economic troubles and have decided to completely skip this upcoming round at Nurburgring. They plan to be back for final three rounds with Alex Polita as their rider.

Karl Muggeridge will be replacing Max Neukirchner who fractured several vertebrae during the Imola test in July, in Alstare Suzuki. Muggeridge was Celani Suzuki’s rider until he too suffered vertebrae damage during the US round at Millers Sportspark and later was dropped by Celani.

Richard Cooper will be standing in for Ruben Xaus, who broke his femur during the Brno round. Cooper has ridden in the BMW HP2 Sport in the World Endurance Championship last year and has also been a regular competitor in the BMW Boxer Cup. He has also tested the S 1000 RR racebike at the Eurospeedway Lausitz recently.

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After subbing for injured Max Neukirchner in Alstare Suzuki for three rounds, Fonsi Nieto will be back in the WSBK championship, this time with the DFX Corse.

Nieto, who didn’t find a team for the 2009 season has been picked up by Daniele Carli, DFX Corse team manager, and the Spanish rider will be at Imola for the official Superbike tests, this Wednesday and Thursday.

Nieto’s best result in six races with Alstare Suzuki team was a 12th place in race 2 at Misano, was replaced at the Donington round, when Kevin Schwantz backed american rider Blake Young with the Belgium manager.

Matteo Baiocco, after his PSG-1 team pulled out of the championship due to economic woes and his excellent second place in the CIV race at Mugello was on the short list of riders available to DFX, but Carli preferred Nieto and in an extremely blunt and honest way said why, also hinting that Lorenzo Lanzi, Regis Laconi’s replacement rider is in danger of losing his place in the team if he doesn’t get a decent result.

“We simply prefered Nieto because he brings us money. Let’s hope that Lorenzo has a good result a Brno, because if he doesn’t, its useless to continue, each round costs us 20,000 euros and we can’t waste them to bring home DNF’s”.

Source | motosprint

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Regis Laconi returned home last Thursday and after a medical check at the hospital, the French rider was given the all clear and will not have to undergo in-clinic rehabilitation and will be able to continue his recovery directly at home.

Physically he has fully recovered and is already back in training on an exercise bike and swimming, however his full recovery will include a lengthy convalescence to ensure that the hematoma he suffered in the crash has been completely absorbed.

Laconi’s speech is back to normal as his friend Paul-Louis Collignon reported last week and his medium to long-term memory is gradually returning.

Laconi has expressed a desire to return to racing, while he was still in the hospital in Johannesburg, but the rider will have to undergo after his full recovery, medical and sporting authorities evaluation and approval. The French rider is reported to have not lost any of his humour and has been visited by his crewchief and friends.

If you understand French, you can listen to French website Motorevue telephone interview with Laconi on their audio player here.

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According to French website Motorevue, Regis Laconi ‘s health is steadily getting better. His friend and lawyer Paul-Louis Collignon was on hand when Laconi landed in a Paris for a rest stop before being flown the next day to Marseilles, where he will be taken to an Aix en Provence clinic for rehabilitation, reported that Laconi got out of his wheelchair and embraced him.

Paul Louis Collignon:

“He looks drawn and tired, but that’s what you’d expect for someone who has spent 20 days in hospital, going through what he has. But it’s great, it’s like a dream to see him so well. It will still take a long time for him to be fully fit again, but he has already made huge progress already.”

The lawyer also reported that the French rider is able to move his head up and down, left and right the and has acquired total mobility of all four limbs. His speech is almost normal, even if he has the tendency to mix up French, Italian and the English languages and is occasionally out of touch with reality, but his latest scans shows that the cerebral hematoma is slowly being absorbed.

Collignon also said that Laconi demanded the car keys because he was insisting on driving so they could arrive sooner and that one of the female medics that accompanied the injured rider on the Europ Assistance long flight from Johannesburg, got her back side pinched and a marriage proposal from Laconi.

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Good news about Regis Laconi, the French rider who rides for DFX Corse and was seriously injured during free practic at the Kyalami circuit on May 25th is slowly getting better. According to several Italian websites, Laconi is now able to move about in his room in Sunninghill Hospital. The Clinica Mobile is also reporting that Laconi will be flying home today on an EuropAssistance flight accompanied by a French doctor and will be taken to a neuro rehabilitation clinic in Aix-en-Provence to continue his therapy.

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WSBK rider Régis Laconi who crashed during last Friday’s free practice at Kyalami, underwent surgery today. Dr. Maurizio Zorio and his team carried out the surgery and inserted a metal plate to stabilize the two cervical vertebrae fractured in the crash. In addition a fragment of bone that had lodged close to the spinal cord was also removed and plastic surgery was carried out on the relevant area with a skin graft from the hip.

According to Mandy Toubkin, spokesperson for Sunninghill Hospital in Johannesburg, “the operation went well and the neuro-surgeons are satisfied by Laconi’s progress and that the French rider’s health is stable.”

Paul Louis Coulignon, lawyer and Laconi’s friend however has said: “that the doctors have found that his left leg is paralyzed, but it’s early to say if the paralysis is temporary or permanent and that he comunicates only by hand squeezing.”

If all goes according to plans, but not before May 30th, Laconi will be flown to Paris where he will continue his recovery.

Source | terra.com and worldsbk

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