All posts tagged motogp
MotoGP to race at new F1 Texas venue?
When Dorna renewed an one year extension with the Indianapolis Motors Speedway, rumors immediately started up that the Grand Prix circus was keeping the Indy track on the calendar while the new F1 circuit in Austin, Texas is being built.
The 900 acre, $200m track that will be designed by circuit designer Hermann Tilke and financed by private investors, also sees motorycle legend Kevin Schwantz acting as a consultant to the USGPF1 organization.
With the Texan on board and advising on the requirements that are needed for motorcycle racing, we could actually see MotoGP races deep in the heart of Texas someday soon.
Source | crash.net and asphaltandrubber.com
Motorland Aragon Promo for MotoGP Round
Check out this promo video by the Motorland Aragon circuit to promote the 13th round of this year’s MotoGP championship.
The Spanish track located near Alcañiz, has a five-year deal with Dorna as a reserve circuit and is replacing Balatonring after the Hungarian track suffered financial set backs. Aragon will also host a round of the FIM Superbike World Championship for the next three years.
Inmotec delays MotoGP debut again
Spanish Inmotec has withdrawn its idea of debuting their GPI10 prototype during the Aragon GP in September due to to sponsorship problems, but is still hoping to be present at the final round of the season at Valencia.
Managing Director of Inmotec, Oscar Gorria, said “It’s a question of economic resources, because of budget problems with our sponsor. The development of the bike is 60-70% complete, but not as far as we expected it to be. We’d like to carry out a test at Alcañiz and then decide if whether we will be in Valencia. We want to work with humility and without making big announcements, and only confirm when we are ready to race.”
The Spanish engineering firm has confirmed that will keep developing their own engine based on the new MotoGP 2012 rules: “We will continue with the development of our own V4 engine, but not a 1000cc. displacement and we are well underway in making changes to adapt the engine to the new regulations,” said Gorria, who also confirmed that they have dropped the option of working on another marques engine.
Source | motoworld.es
Norton in MotoGP in 2012?
Double take. While we thought Norton wanted to return to racing through the BSB and/or WSBK championships with their 210hp rotary engine, it now seems that they are looking to make a much bigger step by entering MotoGP when the series returns to the 1000cc displacement in 2012.
According to Gunther Wiesinger of the German language Speedweek who leaked the news, Norton’s CEO Stuart Garner has already signed an agreement with Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta to field a two man team on the 2012 grid.
Returning to racing through MotoGP is part of a long-term and ambitious marketing plan by Garner, (who bought the legendary Norton marque in 2008 which is now based at Donington Park) who wants to introduce a brand new range of high-tech road bikes in the future and MotoGP Championship is the high profile platform which to do it from.
Whether Norton will be entering a full fledged factory prototype team or a CRT team will be up to the Grand Prix Commission to decide under the new FIM rules issued at Brno and we could see two more bikes on the grid and English made ones at that and hopefully they won’t be a chimera like FB Corse.
Source | speedweek.ch via motomatters.com
Elena Myers to Ride Suzuki MotoGP at Valencia Test
If you don’t follow AMA Pro Racing the name Elena Myers may not mean anything to you, but this pretty and very spunky 16 year girl is currently second in the SuperSport West Division (Joey Pascarella has already won the division title) made history earlier this year by being the first female rider to win a AMA Pro motorcycle race with her Suzuki GSX-R 600 during the Infineon round.
Myers was at Laguna Seca during the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix and took a fourth spot in her race and during the weekend she was invited to visit the Rizla Suzuki garage, where she met Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista and the rest of the Suzuki crew and got to sit on the GSV-R and rev the throttle during the warm-up procedure.
Her enthusiasm caught the attention of team manager Paul Denning who has offered Myers the opportunity to do some laps on one of the bikes at the end of the MotoGP season at Valencia on November 8th. Denning explained that it wouldn’t be a test, but just a chance for Myers to experience riding a MotoGP racebike.
Continue reading: Elena Myers to Ride Suzuki MotoGP at Valencia Test
Karel Abraham Confirms MotoGP Ride in 2011
Just last week we reported the rumor that Karel Abraham and his father were negotiating with Ducati about fielding another bike in MotoGP in 2011, well people the deal has gone through and we’ll be seeing the 20-year-old in the premier class next year.
Through his personal website Abraham has confirmed that last Wednesday he signed a contract with Ducati and that all the details will be disclosed in a press conference to be held Thursday or Friday at the Brno circuit (which his father conveniently owns) ahead the the August 15th race.
Even if we have nothing against the Moto2 Cardion AB Motoracing rider, who despite never winning a race or even podiuming in his five year GP racing career, we admit that it is going to be tough for Carmelo Ezpeleta proudly stating next year that MotoGP has the crème de la crème of top riders.
Source | bikeracing.it
Moto2 at Laguna Seca in 2011?
Dorna Sports S.L. and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca have a contract that ensures that the World Championship will continue at the American circuit till 2014 (renewed in 2008 for six years) and last weekend Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S. executives announced that they have agreed to renew their sponsorship as the Official Motorcycle of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
MotoGP is the sole Grand Prix series that races at Laguna Seca, while the 125 and Moto2 classes have never raced at the world famous circuit since the championship returned the world famous circuit back in 2005, but the big rumor is that Dorna is hard at work in trying to bring Moto2 to the Californian track for the 2011 season.
While the other news is that the contract between Dorna and Indianapolis Speedway is up and that it may not be renewed, and this could mean that the Red Bull Indianapolis GP at the end of August may be the last time we’ll see racing at the famed Brickyard.
Source | motosprint.it
MotoGP: Rizla Suzuki to Get Extra Engines
What are rules and regulations worth in MotoGP? Apparently nothing, because British website MCN has revealed that the Rizla Suzuki team will be getting a dispensation to use an extra three engines this season.
Loris Capirossi is already on his fourth engine and rookie Alvaro Bautista is on his fifth and with another nine rounds to be raced, they simply won’t make it through the rest of the season without being penalized with the 10 second pitlane start penalty and apparently there was an unwritten agreement that if Suzuki couldn’t hack the six engine rule they would get an exemption.
Why will Alvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi be getting this special treatment in face of what the six engine rule clearly states and agreed on by all the manufacturers, including Suzuki as a cost saving measure and not withstanding the unwritten agreement? According to the excellent motomatter.com the dispensation for Suzuki is simply an attempt to keep Suzuki alive and running in MotoGP.
Karel Abraham in MotoGP with a 6th Ducati in 2011?
Czech rider Karel Abraham who currently races in Moto2 with the Cardion AB Motoracing team may be making the big jump to MotoGP next year with a brand new team and riding a Ducati.
The all new team will be financed by Abraham’s father, one of the richest men in the Czech Repubblic, and are presently deep in negotiations with Ducati management about fielding a sixth Desmosedici. As this may sound like the usual summer gossip, we can confirm that 20 year old rider has even had the measure of the red bike after having tested it at the Mugello race track, just before the Sachsenring GP last weekend, with an unofficial best lap of 1′50″1.
With Ducati willing to supply an extra bike to the scrawny grid, we’ve got this odd picture popping into our minds of Carmelo Ezpeleta literally kissing Abraham’s father and Filippo Preziosi.
Italy's MotoGP TV Audience Soars with Rossi Return
If you had betted that with Valentino Rossi returning to racing after his leg injury would also bring back TV audiences in Italy, you would have won some easy money, because that was exactly what happened yesterday for the German GP.
According to the Auditel ratings 5.517.000 viewers (43,50% share) tuned in to watch the MotoGP race, with a peak of 6.139.000 (49,26% share) watching the last lap battle between Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, that saw the Ducati rider pass Rossi at the last turn and take third place on the podium.
If you compare these ratings to the Catalunya GP just two weeks ago, where Rossi was still at home nursing his leg, the viewers were only 3.706.000, and now you come to grips with just how Rossi dependent MotoGP is in Italy.
Even Moto2 saw an increase in TV ratings with 1.891.000 viewers watching Toni Elias slice throught the field and ride to victory and the 125cc class ruled by Marc Marquez was watched by 795,000 viewers, not bad for hot and lazy Sunday morning.
After the jump watch the 9 lap battle royale between Stoner and Rossi that inflamed TV audiences around the world.
Continue reading: Italy's MotoGP TV Audience Soars with Rossi Return
MotoGP: Alex de Angelis Confirmed as Aoyama Replacement
Interwetten Racing has now officially confirmed that Alex de Angelis will be replacing injured Hiroshi Aoyama for the next rounds of the championship. The Sammarinese will take the place of HRC test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi, who has filled in for Aoyama at Assen and this weekend’s Catalunya round.
De Angelis spent two seasons in the premier class with Fausto Gresini’s satellite Honda team and with the help of HRC the deal between Moto2 Scot Racing and Interwetten Racing went through, however De Angelis will still be wearing the colors of his current sponsors, and the colors of San Marino while riding for the Swiss team.
Daniel M. Epp, Team Owner:
“This replacement solution is satisfying for everybody. I want to underline that of course I look forward to welcome back Hiroshi fully recovered latest in Aragón in September, but as the team’s work has to go on, I am also happy that with Alex we have an experienced and powerful Honda rider, who already showed for example in Indianapolis last year what he is capable of achieving. He knows all the tracks that are coming now and I expect a lot from him.”
Alex de Angelis:
“This is a very good chance for me and I am very happy. It is a very nice team with a Honda bike. I can come back to MotoGP through this opportunity. I will compete four or five races and have enough time to improve the settings and my feeling for the bike. So it is possible to have some good results, even though it is very difficult. I will do my best not to disappoint the team. I like all the tracks that are coming now and had success on each of them and I am looking forward for this new challenge.”
Wayne Gardner Does Not Approve
Former World Champion Wayne Gardner likes to keep in touch with the MotoGP racing scene and does it on his website Wayne Gardner Approved writing up his thoughts and opinions on the races.
The Wollongong Whiz after the Assen race, joining in with the general fan consensus that the race was dull, if not downright boring, does it by first writing about the Assen circuit.
Assen, which was once known as the University of motorcycle racing (the older riders now call it high school) before all the track modifications calling it a “pale, soulless version of its former self” going on to say that the less than 100,000 crowd ( a little more that 97,000 were the numbers given) that turned out at the weekend, pales in comparison to the 200,000 spectators that used to turn out during his times.
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