The official 2012 MotoGP calendar has yet to be published, but according to the German press the MotoGP round hosted at Sachsenring is expected to be dropped at the end of the year.

Back in April, there were rumors that the Sachsenring circuit organizers were still up in the air with their contract extension with Dorna, despite the enormous attendance that the German GP generates (230,000 spectators this year) but in a press conference held today by ADAC (the organizers) they reported that losses from this year’s round ran to 600,000 Euros, despite a 10% increase in ticket costs.

And Dorna who is looking into other venues outside Europe, asked the Germans that the current sanctioning fee be raised from 2 million euros to 4 million which ADAC calculated would leave them 2.1 million in the red and unable to continue to financially host the popular event.

Lausitzring or Nurburgring tracks have been tipped as being one of the other German circuits to replace Sachsenring. More news when we get it.

Source | freiepresse.de

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The Sachsenring circuit may not be a favourite circuit amongst the riders (too tight, too twisty and too many left-handers) even if they wax positive about it, but yesterday it offered up the best and tightest racing we’ve seen so far this season and no one even binned it, and considering all the crashes we’ve seen leading up to the race, is a miracle per se.

To add to our gossip post from Saturday, it seems that LCR Honda may field a second rider for the Laguna Seca GP, Ben Bostrom. Last year Cecchinello had Roger Lee Hayden on one of his Honda’s and he finished 11th. Both Roger Lee and Bostrom ride for Michael Jordan’s Motorsports on Suzuki’s and are competing in this weekend’s upcoming AMA Superbike round which is also featured at the Mazda Speedway venue.

Here’s what the rest of the MotoGP riders had to say about the Sachsenring GP.

Continue reading: More rider comments from Sachsenring

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Jorge Lorenzo may have finished second today at the Sachsenring GP, but it was his roaring pass on Casey Stoner on the last corner that satisfied the Yamaha rider the most and everyone else watching the daring move.

I’m very happy! It has been a fantastic race today,” said Lorenzo. “From the middle of the race I got very tired in my left hand so I didn’t know where I could find the force to push and keep pushing to the end. Then Casey stopped the bike a lot two corners from the end so I took profit from it, opened full throttle and in the last corner I went for it. It was a miracle pass! This race is very important so we are very proud and happy with the result. I have to thank my Yamaha crew who worked very hard to give me a fast bike all weekend, they have been fantastic.”

Continue reading: Jorge Lorenzo: "It was a miracle pass," Ben Spies: "We ran out of laps"

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Clearly today’s race for Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi didn’t end up like the photo above, because Alvaro Bautista stuck it to the two Ducatisti, taking the seventh spot after an entertaining three-way battle, but the big question will be come at Laguna Seca; which Ducati GP11 will they be using?

Will Hayden stick to the GP11 step 2 or try his luck with GP11.1 at his home race, even if team mate Rossi has now second thoughts on the bike? Ducati will be bringing both versions to the States for both riders to try out and they’ll have to decide which they prefer, even if they know they won’t even be near the factory Honda’s and Yamaha’s.

“I tried to go with that group in front of me off the start, but about the second or third lap I had a pretty big moment over the bumps in Turn 1 and they took off,” said Hayden. “From there I had a big battle with Bautista and Vale. It was fun, with a lot of overtaking, but battling for seventh place, 27 seconds back is hard for me to take at a track that I love and where I’ve been on the podium several times. I got to seventh toward the end and did my best lap, but they came with me. Bautista got me on my last lap, at the bottom of the hill. I re-passed him in the last corner, but he squared it up and nipped me to the line. It’s easy to say now, but I wish I raced the soft tyre. Thanks to the team and everybody that worked hard, but we had better hopes for today, going into Laguna.”

Continue reading: Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi talk about their 8th and 9th positions at Sachsenring

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If Dani Pedrosa didn’t expect to take the victory today at the Sachsenring circuit due to his recovering shoulder, you can imagine what his rivals, Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo thought, when halfway through the race he passed his Australian team mate and then turned on the afterburners on his RC212V for a couple of laps (he broke his own circuit record with a 1.21.846 on lap 20) to latch on to Jorge Lorenzo and then power pass him on the straight at the end of lap 21.

Pedrosa’s 2nd win of the season took him from seventh (he missed four races) in the championship to fifth and just four points behind Valentino Rossi.

“It’s an incredible feeling to be back and win a race so early; I didn’t expect it, but this circuit has been always very good for me and I made it happen,” said and ecstatic, but tired Pedrosa. “I was already surprised yesterday with second position in qualifying and to finish the weekend in this way is amazing, a huge relief for me after a very hard time with injuries. Here I suffered less than in Mugello because of the layout, but in the race today I had a strange feeling, something I’ve never had before. At the beginning of the race I wasn’t feeling great on the bike, I was fourth but I didn’t get nervous or worried because I’m still not mathematically out of the Championship battle, but I know it’s almost impossible. So, I just let the laps pass and in the middle of the race, with less fuel in the tank and when the tyres started sliding, I decided to step it up a little and it worked perfectly. I’m very happy with this victory, I’ve been suffering a lot even though this race track is not physically demanding, because I’m still weak. So a big thanks to my family and doctors that helped me to be back here because they all know how hard it has been. Also to my team and to all my fans that never gave up, they deserve it also”.

Continue reading: Honda Repsol riders review their Sachsenring race

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If we were to say who impressed us more after Dani Pedrosa coming back after a difficult injury to win the Sachsenring GP and Jorge Lorenzo’s gutsy pass at the final turn on the last lap, it would have to be Alvaro Bautista. The Spaniard who rides what is considered a lowly and uncompetitive Suzuki finished seventh after a race long battle with two tough opponents like Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi.

“I am happy with today’s result because it was a fun race and I am quite pleased with where we finished,” said Bautista. “At the beginning I had to try and get a good start, because in the first corner you have to be very careful with other riders. I got a decent start and was in a good position just behind the top riders, but I was a bit too far away from them, and my rhythm wasn’t quite as quick, so I couldn’t quite stay with them. I got involved with the two Ducati guys and really enjoyed the race with them. At the end it was very difficult to overtake Valentino and Nicky because they brake very hard and very late, making it tough to get past. On the last lap I overtook Valentino at the end of the main straight. I then followed Nicky and waited for the last two corners because I knew I had an opportunity there to get him. I had to brake with everything I had to get past him on corner 12, but I ran a bit wide and lost some speed, Nicky overtook me on the last corner, but he entered too quickly and he went out, so I got past him on the exit of the corner. I am very happy that we are the first finisher after the top six because they are on a different level at the moment. For the next race I hope to continue with this way of working and get closer to the top.”

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If the Mugello race was considered very good by most fans, the Sachsering GP will satisfy everyone. It had more overtaking passes in this single race than we’ve seen all season and watching five-six riders open up in a fan at the bottom of the waterfall fighting for positions was as spectacular as was Dani Pedrosa’s victory.

The Repsol Honda rider came back after missing three races, undergoing two surgeries taking his second victory of the year in a race where he didn’t expect to last for the full 30 laps, instead he won the race with a 1.477 margin.

The Spaniard in a class of his own, showing, as if anyone had any doubts, that if he wasn’t involved in the highly controversial crash at Le Mans would have been fighting for the championship title, powered past race leader Jorge Lorenzo on the straight with nine laps to go, moving so fast that he looked like he ripped off the decals from Lorenzo’s M1 leaving Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo to fight over the remaining two podium spots.

Continue reading: Dani Pedrosa against the odds wins at the 'Ring

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This morning’s warm-up practice at Sachsering confirmed that Casey Stoner is fast, that Jorge Lorenzo has a hammering pace to stay with him and Dani Pedrosa’s only problem will be if his shoulder can hold up for the 30 lap race.

Alvaro Bautista was fourth and bettering his yesterday’s qualifying before taking a big crash at turn 8. Marco Simoncelli took 5th ahead of Ben Spies, Andrea Dovizioso, Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards and Randy De Puniet who rounded out the top ten.

Valentino Rossi who yesterday qualified in 16th managed to shave off some very scanty tenths of second and finish 11th following his team mate Hayden in the final minutes of the session, but it will definitely be an uphill race for the Italian.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring: Casey Stoner leads the field in warm-up practice

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If Jorge Lorenzo was already adamant about not going to the Japanese GP in October, not giving a hoot about facts, findings and other things he doesn’t believe or trust, he’s now found a super big ally in points leader Casey Stoner, who publically took a stand during today’s post qualifying press conference; confirming that he’s not going to Motegi.

The Motegi race which was postponed to October 2nd, following the earthquake and tsunami disaster and despite Dorna, FIM and the leading bodies saying that the race is on, but the riders can’t get over the perceived danger of radiation coming from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant which is located just 75 miles from the Twin Ring circuit.

“I will not go,” said the Australian. “That’s my opinion and I’ve had it for some time. Not as long as Jorge. I took more time to make my decision, but I will not go there. I’m sure most riders are of the same opinion. That’s my decision. I guess it’s up to the organisers to figure out what’s going to happen.” He also added, “We have already discussed it (with the Honda team), but not thoroughly because people are waiting on different things. They know my position now and whether they think I am going to change my mind, I don’t know. It’s something we have to make very clear very soon. If there is no race there, there can’t be a penalty but I’m not going regardless of anything, I have already made up my mind. This doesn’t mean we aren’t supporting Japan.”

Lorenzo had very little to add about the matter except for, “I took this decision a long time ago, so I am not active in the ongoing discussions about going to Japan, because I have already made my decision.

And for the first time Dani Pedrosa voiced his opinion, “The situation is not clear, but most riders do not want to go so we are considering what possibilities we can do.” With the two top MotoGP riders having nixed the 2011 Motegi round for good, we’ll have to wait to see Dorna’s reaction if the boycott should spread to the other riders.

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With lap times so close tomorrow’s German GP could prove to be one very interesting race. Six riders, Stoner, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Simoncelli, Spies and Dovizioso all have the race pace to fight for the win or at least podium spot, if everyone keeps their cool for the first couple of laps and don’t try to win it from the first corner.

If Valentino Rossi continues his struggles, he’ll probably be lapped by one or more of the above riders, unless the weather throws a spanner into the field, because the forecast says it could rain right about the time the race starts at 2 pm CET.

Casey Stoner - 1st

“After the crash on Friday my confidence was dented a little and we struggled to get enough data, so we’ve been playing catch up all day today. This morning we made a few small steps forward but not really enough, the guys in front of us were just consistently that little bit faster and we were finding it hard to match their pace. We completed a lot of laps on one tyre this morning, in fact over race distance on a tyre I did one of my fastest laps on so this was certainly positive. Then this afternoon we kept trying different directions on both bikes and every step we made on each bike, we took big steps forward so we’re pretty happy with the set up we have now. The lap times are very close here so it will be a tough race and hard to take any real advantage. However, I’m very happy and positive we can still slightly improve tomorrow morning so thanks to all my team for a great job.”

Continue reading: MotoGP riders talk about qualifying at Sachsenring

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Casey Stoner took his sixth pole position of the season this afternoon at Sachsenring with all the confidence that he has in whipping his Repsol Honda around the tight and short German track in a qualifying thriller, that was all about thousanths of seconds, until the Australian dropped the hammer leaving team mate Dani Pedrosa in second and 0.252s adrift.

Jorge Lorenzo pipped Marco Simoncelli for a front row start in his final fast lap which ended the Italian’s run of six consecutive front row starts, while Assen winner Ben Spies who is suffering from a cold took the fifth spot, and had a couple of crazy moments on his way to grabbing the position, when his M1 gave him a couple of warning shakes, which the Texas Terror managed to contain. Andrea Dovizioso was sixth and Colin Edwards, on the track where he doesn’t have fond memories of, bagged seventh.

Nicky Hayden qualified eighth and 7 tenths off pace, after having gotten some angry head shakes and the finger from Hector Barbera. Hayden’s team mate Valentino Rossi had another and even more disastrous and dramatic qualifying session. Rossi, who will start his 250th race tomorrow in his worst ever starting position with Ducati. He finished only 16th and 1″639 adrift from the top of the chart, with only Sylvain Guintoli, who is subbing for ailing Loris Capirossi behind him. No doubt Ducati will be burning the midnight oil this evening in their garage and one of the rumors floating (we’ll get back to that later) around might become true.

Continue reading: Casey Stoner on pole at Sachsenring, Rossi only 16th

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Dry and warm track temperatures and a pretty static FP3 at Sachsenring, except for the last minute, which saw a very tight timesheet with all the usual suspects leading, only that it was Jorge Lorenzo who took the top spot with 1.22.122 lap that was done after a very long 20 lap run. Coming in a very, very close second and third were Dani Pedrosa and Marco Simoncelli who were adrift from Lorenzo by just 0.041s and 0.047s, respectively.

Simoncelli lost some time in the practice when the front of his Gresini Honda folded at turn 11, crashing at the exactly same spot as Rossi, Stoner, Pedrosa and Elias yesterday. The curly headed Italian didn’t hurt himself, but had to change his ripped leathers after the tumble.

Casey Stoner was fourth, 0.274s off the pace, and just ahead of team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. Nicky Hayden took sixth and was the top Ducati just 0.388s adrift, while team mate Valentino Rossi struggled down in 12th, a massive 1.167s adrift with the GP11.1. An impressive Alvaro Bautista brought his Suzuki into 7th and was less than 5 tenths from Lorenzo.

Closing out the top ten were Ben Spies (who has got the flu), Randy de Puniet and Colin Edwards, who also lost the front of his satellite Yamaha M1 and crashed, but he did it at turn 1 and didn’t suffer any injuries. Karel Abraham also crashed.

Continue reading: Jorge Lorenzo takes over FP3 at Sachsenring

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