Today’s Friday practice sessions at Sachsenring were pretty eventful, not only because it miraculously stayed dry for both practices, but due to the four riders that all crashed at the now infamous turn 11 right-hander, this morning.

Luckily those riders (Stoner, Elias, Rossi and Pedrosa) that crashed, came off with just some cuts, bruises and a dent in confidence, but no broken collarbones or tibias and fibulas.

Bridgestone will be getting the brunt again; instead of the usual rear tire not coming up to temperature, this time it was the front tire, and the Japanese tire manufacturer will no doubt have its ears ringing when the situation is discussed during the Safety Commission meeting, with Valentino Rossi already voicing his opinion that the riders need more tires and at least another even softer option when track temperatures are as low as they have been this year.

Here’s what all the riders had to say:

Marco Simoncelli - 1st

“Everything is going well although I am not totally happy because we have some rear traction problems on the left side that we are struggling to resolve. It seems everybody is in the same boat but we will be working mainly on this area tomorrow to try and improve the situation. Our other main aim is to get a clear idea about tyre choice for Sunday’s race. Thirty laps is a lot here, especially because there is barely a single straight for you to relax on.”

Continue reading: Rider quotes roundup from Friday's Sachsenring GP practices

....

1 comment

After this morning’s crash strewn free practice at Sachsenring, this afternoon’s FP2 was carried out with higher track temperatures (36°C) and less wind, so lap times improved and only two riders crashed, but it had nothing to do with the cold tire syndrome.

Finishing on the top of the charts was again Marco Simoncelli, the Gresini rider grabbed the quickest time after pipping Jorge Lorenzo with his final last lap lunge and by just 0.095s. Following Simoncelli and Lorenzo were Honda Repsol’s complete line-up, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner and Andrea Dovizioso.

Nicky Hayden took sixth, while team-mate Valentino Rossi’s bad luck continued, his Ducati GP11.1 died again, just like it did at the Mugello (twice) with some sort of electronic issue, and he could only finish in a lowly 12th spot, with only Hector Barbera, who was one of the riders who crashed late in the session, and Pramac Ducati’s stand in for Loris Capirossi, Sylvain Guintoli bringing up the rear.

Ben Spies was seventh, followed by Randy de Puniet, Alvaro Bautista and rookie Karel Abraham closed out the top ten. The other rider to crash was Cal Crutchlow, both he and Hector Barbera seemed not to have pick up any injuries.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring: Marco Simoncelli quickest in FP2

....

0 comments

Loris Capirossi attempted a return to action during this morning’s free practice at Sachsenring after sustaining rib and shoulder injuries during qualifying at the Assen GP, and after testing his physical condition and finishing last and 3.5 seconds off pace, has decided to pull out the German GP.

The Pramac rider, who is expected to make an announcement regarding whether he’ll retire or not at the Brno round in mid-August, will be substituted by Sylvain Guintoli, who was already on standby in the event that Capirex couldn’t ride, despite the Italian’s “only I ride my Desmosedici” words.

Guintoli, who was a Pramac rider back in 2008 before turning to Superbikes, has already tested the Ducati GP11 during the official MotoGP tests at Mugello on July 4th, where he refreshed his knowledge of MotoGP machine and finished five seconds from Casey Stoner during the test.

....

0 comments

This morning’s MotoGP first free practice at Sachsenring will go down not for Marco Simoncelli being the fastest in the opening session which has been the norm lately, but for the number of crashes at turn 11, which will no doubt cause some concern and once again bring Bridgestone in the firing line.

In the first twenty minutes of the practice, five riders crashed at the downhill right-hander at turn 11, which is the first right hander after a series of left handers The first to go down was Casey Stoner, and he was on his first out lap. The Repsol Honda rider lost the rear of his RC212V and suffered an ugly highside, but he was able to rejoin the field and finish the session in 2nd and a little less than two tenths from Simoncelli

Toni Elias low sided at the same spot, as did Valentino Rossi, who got the worst as he tumbled heavily through the gravel and had to spend the better part of the practice in the Clinica Mobile with some cuts to his right arm, he was able to return to his garage with only five minutes left on the clock and finishing 14th and 1″969 off pace.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring: Marco Simoncelli leads in a crash fest FP1

....

0 comments

Round 9 of the MotoGP championship will officially kick off tomorrow at Sachsenring and the championship has now reached its halfway point and it will be two tough weekends for the teams who’ll have to face the German GP and immediately after that U.S. Grand Prix, before the summer break.

Yamaha will be looking to win a third consecutive race after Assen with Ben Spies and Jorge Lorenzo at Mugello, Loris Capirossi is returning after missing Assen and Mugello, Valentino Rossi will have to do without Jeremy Burgess again, who is still at home with his recovering wife and the weather forecast says sunny and humid for the German GP weekend.

Here’s what the teams, except for LCR Honda (Toni Elias has to step up his game) and Cardion AB (Karel Abraham will probably be getting a lecture from Casey Stoner on towing etiquette) say about the track and their expections.

Continue reading: MotoGP teams preview Sachsenring GP

....

2 comments

With Loris Capirossi out of action after breaking a couple of ribs and picking up a distorted shoulder after his highside crash during qualifying at Assen and is expected to miss at least the upcoming Sachsenring GP, Pramac Ducati will need a replacement rider and the choice seems to have fallen on Sylvain Guintoli, who will be getting a private test on the GP11 before the Sachsenring GP, July 17th.

Guintoli is former MotoGP rider who raced for the Pramac team back in 2008 and currently rides in the World Superbike championship with the Effenbert Liberty Ducati squad, and took a third place podium during race 1 at Miller Motorsports Park at the end of May.

The two French riders were once team mates in d’Equipe de France Vitesse, and Randy de Puniet when he heard that his fellow country man will be fielded next to him said: “It’ll be fun to get together after 10 years when we were in the SCRAB team, and it will be quite nice for him, although he’ll have 4 races between GP and Superbikes. He’ll also give a look and a new opinion on this bike.”

Source | motosblog.fr

....

0 comments

The Italian press is reporting that in exchange for a delayed announcement this season of Valentino Rossi’s move to Ducati, the Italian rider would get to test the Ducati GP10 bike at the Valencia MotoGP round, despite this not being in his contract. The announcement of Rossi to Ducati is expected to take place on August 16, the day after the Brno MotoGP race, leaving the Italians to at least enjoy their Ferragosto holiday in peace. Sort of.

The Yamaha-Rossi-Ducati discussion has become a national passtime in Italy, but this time reports come from Italy’s daily (and respected) Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. Italians are beyond excited about the possibility (fast becoming probability) that their beloved Vale will move to Ducati. While not always a particularly loyal nation to concepts of patriotism, the success of Valentino Rossi was always at the expense of another Italian icon - the Ducati Desmosedici.

Some of the details of the Rossi-Ducati contract that have already been rumoured include a 12 million euro contract a year for two years with Vale spearheading most of Ducati’s promotional activities and efforts. According to the Gazzetta, Yamaha didn’t want a Rossi to Ducati announcement at Laguna Seca because the US is one of its key markets. Therefore the deal to let Rossi try out the GP10.

In the meantime Rossi has said he wants a podium spot at Laguna Seca and frankly, after the Sachsenring MotoGP, he’s proved he’s more than capable of it.

Source | La Gazzetta

....

4 comments

During Saturday’s qualifying session at the Sachsenring circuit, Randy de Puniet crashed his Honda on the oil left on track by Jorge Lorenzo’s M1 blown engine, and was taken immediately to the Clinica Mobile to be checked over and he had a very special nurse holding his hand and keeping him company.

Watch the video taken by Sportmediaset inside Dr. Claudio Costa’s domain and find out who was comforting the unlucky French rider who had another unfortunate crash on Sunday, this time breaking his tibia and fibula.

....

0 comments

Here’s part 2 of our gallery of pics from the weekend’s MotoGP Sachsenring race that we hope that you’ll enjoy as much as the first part.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring Gallery of Pics - Part 2

....

0 comments

Here’s our first gallery of pics from the MotoGP racing at Sachensring. Check back with us tomorrow for part 2 and to see the paddock girls. Enjoy.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring Gallery of Pics - Part 1

....

0 comments

With Dorna patrolling Youtube, we haven’t found a video showing yesterday’s horrific accident that Randy de Puniet had at the Sachsenring GP, but we do have a photo sequence which may just be more explicit of how everything went down.

Check out pic number three and you’ll see Mika Kallio, who couldn’t avoid de Puniet, run over the French rider’s left leg and then Aleix Espargaro and Alvaro Bautista flipping over the Honda.

Gruesome.

Source | motoblog.it

....

0 comments

Dani Pedrosa’s win today at the German GP slightly closed the championship gap to Jorge Lorenzo, The Fiat Yamaha rider leads the standings with 185 points, while his closest rival Pedrosa is at 138 heading into next weekend’s Laguna Seca round

You can read what all the riders had to say after this two part race.

Dani Pedrosa - 1st

“I’m very happy because we are back winning races and it’s a great feeling. It wasn’t easy today because when the race is stopped and restarted like that, sometimes you don’t have the same feeling on the machine in the second part. Also you get nervous again on the grid and it’s possible you won’t have the same pace after the restart. But it went very well for us in both races. In the first one I was very close to Lorenzo and the pace was good, but then they stopped the race and we looked at each other saying, “Why?”. It was even better in the second part. We just made one small change with the rear suspension to get a bit more traction, but we didn’t change the tyre because we didn’t have any new tyres left - we went with the same ones. I made another good start and in the first laps after Lorenzo had passed me I was pushing very to try to take him back. I couldn’t do it with my first attempt, but when I got a second chance I just went for it. Then it was a great feeling to stretch ahead and get the victory - the team deserve it. This victory is even better than the one in Italy because at Mugello I just went away in front and there was no battle with anybody, but here I was battling with Lorenzo in the first and second race, and finally beat him, so this is even more important. Also before the race we were not 100 per cent sure about what the weather would do, but it stayed clear and finally the weekend has ended perfectly. I was really looking forward to wear the Spain shirt on the podium. It was difficult to get it because it wasn’t in the shops and I really wanted to celebrate a win like that. I also want to thank the team because they worked really well this weekend, the bike was very good from Friday onwards and this is the form we need so we can to keep this consistency going from now on.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Sachsenring: After the Race Rider Quotes

....

0 comments