Posted by Administrator on 10-29-2007 at 05:10 am
Spaniard Toni Elias has signed on to be the second rider on the d’Antin Ducati satellite team for the 2008 MotoGP World Championship, according to reports out of Europe. The 24-year-old will ride Bridgestone-shod Ducati Desmosedici GP08s alongside Sylvain Guintoli, who was previously announced to the team for the 2008 season.
Elias won a MotoGP race at Portugal last season, but his 2007 campaign was interrupted by a broken femur, which he suffered in a crash at Assen. Elias returned from the injury quickly but has had troubles regaining his race-winning form, and Gresini Honda, Elias’ current team, chose not to exercise the option it held on his contract.
Posted by Administrator on 10-21-2007 at 04:10 pm
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Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino rounded off a difficult weekend with a strong ride in today’s Malaysian Grand Prix, bringing his Yamaha M1 home in fifth position from ninth on the grid. His team-mate Colin Edwards, who started from 13th, finished 11th.
The usual hot and steamy Sepang conditions ensured that the 21-lap race would be a test of stamina for all 20 riders on the grid and, after being hampered by grip issues throughout practice, the Yamaha pair were not expecting an easy race. However some last-minute alterations worked wonders and Rossi especially was able to lap consistently at the same pace as the leaders throughout, recording the second fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap.
The Italian dropped two places at the start but quickly found his rhythm and pegged back Nicky Hayden, marking the start of a spirited ride which saw him pass four riders in as many laps. Soon finding himself in fifth with a gap of more than three seconds to Randy de Puniet, Rossi put his head down and kept pushing, trying to close the gap to the Frenchman. Despite steadily gaining ground on him to the flag, it was not quite enough and he had to settle for fifth. Edwards too made up some places early on and looked to have ninth place secure with two laps to go. However Hayden, who had earlier dropped behind Edwards when running off the track, passed him in the closing stages and Texan was relegated to tenth place.
Today’s race was won by Casey Stoner, with Marco Melandri and Dani Pedrosa taking second and third. Rossi now lies 24 points clear of Pedrosa in the championship standings, meaning he has to take just a single point during the final race to secure second place, whilst Edwards’ six-point haul sees him hold on to eighth position. The final Grand Prix of the season takes place in Valencia, Spain, in a fortnight’s time.
Valentino Rossi - Position: 5th Time: +4.733
“Of course I’m disappointed with fifth place, but I am very happy with my race today. It’s a pity because we had great potential this afternoon and, if we had been able to start from the front row, I think we could have fought for the victory. We made some modifications today and luckily everything worked much better during the race than it had during practice. We were fast this afternoon, we had a great rhythm but unfortunately we really lost the race yesterday in qualifying! I took some time to find my rhythm at the start of the race but once I did I realised I had a great pace and that my bike and tyres were working very well. I tried to catch de Puniet but, even though I was a tiny bit faster than him, the difference was only one or two tenths and so it wasn’t enough to be able to make up three seconds. My Michelin tyre worked very well to the end today so this is encouraging for Valencia, where we will be trying one more time to win before the end of the season.
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Colin Edwards - Position: 10th Time: +29.746
“I got a bad start and had a bad few corners, but once I’d got settled I managed to get past a couple of guys and push on a bit. After a while I got Vermeulen and Hopkins in my sights and I was trying pretty hard to close the gap to them, but I couldn’t get closer than about 0.8 seconds. Towards the end I started to feel pretty light-headed – I was feeling the remnants of when I was sick earlier in the week – and everything was really a bit of a blur for the last few laps. I had a terrible headache and in this heat it’s hard to concentrate if you’re not at 100%, and unfortunately I couldn’t hold Hayden off at the end. It’s been another tough weekend for us but once again it could have been worse and I want to say thanks again to everyone for working so hard and keeping morale going during a difficult couple of races.”
Davide Brivio - Team Dorector
“Valentino ran a great race today but unfortunately he was penalised by his starting position and the first lap, when he had to take some time to find his rhythm. We saw today that the pace he had could have allowed him to fight at the front, but we lost a lot of ground during practice and qualifying and this afternoon we suffered for that. Colin also made some big improvements today but at the end of the day he, too, could only do the best he could from a bad grid position. Today everything worked well, especially for Valentino, and it’s a great pity we weren’t in a position to make the most of it. We will try once more in Valencia and let’s hope we can finish the season on a high note.”
Malaysian malaise for Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3
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The Malaysian Grand Prix held in stifling conditions at the Sepang circuit near Kuala Lumpur did not provide the results the team was expecting. After travelling from the cold climes of southern Australia in early spring to the humidity of the tropics, Casey Stoner continued his dominant form in 2007 with another victory. As has been the case many times this year, variable weather conditions in practice combined with problems associated with a newly laid surface guaranteed that the weekend would be far from plain sailing. For the first time this season neither of the Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team riders, Sylvain Guintoli and Makoto Tamada were able to score any championship points. Makoto Tamada - Position: 18th Time: +59.596
That was a very hard race and it has been a very hard weekend to find something but we never could get there. Friday and Saturday were very difficult but we seemed to find something this morning that we thought would work but again we were wrong. During the race the grip level was very low and didn’t seem to improve during the race.
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Sylvain Guintoli - Position: 19th Time: +1′23.119
I’m really disappointed in myself as the entire package worked really well for me today with the bike and tyres. I had a bad start and then on the second lap I had a coming together with Kurtis Roberts and I never really recovered. I knew if I got a good start I would be able to battle with Checa, Nakano and a few others but I blew it from the very beginning. I pushed really hard but I was making too many mistakes as on this track you have to be very smooth. I just didn’t ride well today and the more I pushed the more mistakes I made.
Herve Poncharal - Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3 Team Manager
This was a weekend to forget. We never had the right pace in race configuration all weekend but after a fairly good qualifying session we expected better than what happened in the race. Now we have to forget about this weekend and look ahead to the final round at Valencia where hopefully we can finish the season on a high note.
Posted by Administrator on 10-20-2007 at 02:10 am
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The Malaysian Grand Prix, the penultimate round of the 2007 season, got off to a poor start for Fiat Yamaha Team riders Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi today, the pair finishing the day a lowly 14th and 16th in the standings. The combined timesheets were topped by Randy de Puniet after a best lap of 2’02.917.
With the track having been completely resurfaced since preseason testing the riders spent this morning’s session getting a feel for the new surface, with Rossi and Edwards 7th and 15th fastest at the close of the hour. Rain at lunchtime meant this afternoon’s session began on a wet track, with the asphalt drying steadily in patches throughout the practice. Rossi and Edwards worked hard on set-up and tyres but lacked grip throughout and neither rider was able to come up with a magic formula, leaving the team with work to do overnight if they are to be in a position to challenge during tomorrow’s qualifying.
Colin Edwards - Position: 14th Time: 2′05.162 Laps: 39
“Today was pretty embarrassing to be honest! Michelin have brought me a rear tyre that I know works for me here and there’s no problem with that, but unfortunately I’ve got no grip or confidence in the front. It’s not for lack of trying, I’m riding pretty hard out there, but we haven’t been able to fix it yet. The new surface doesn’t feel good at all, it seems very inconsistent to me, and this is just making things harder. Hopefully it’ll improve as more rubber gets laid down tomorrow. We need to have a good look at things tonight and start over again tomorrow.”
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Valentino Rossi - Position: 16th Time: 2′05.421 Laps: 38
“Today has been very hard work for us and it’s very disappointing for me to be here, at one of my favourite tracks where we know our bike goes well, in 16th position! We don’t have any grip, especially in front, and we were very slow today. We’ve tried a lot of tyres and different settings but so far we haven’t been able to make much progress. The new asphalt is not so good but we can’t blame this because other riders don’t seem to have the same problems as we do. We need to find some way to improve things and make the difference for tomorrow, so now we will have a meeting tonight and try to come up with some ideas. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow because the rain makes it even harder!”
Davide Brivio - Team Director
“We definitely have a lot of work to do with both of our riders. This is a track which we know very well and at which we have a great record, but the new surface means the conditions are quite different and we are suffering from a lack of grip. We need to look at what we’ve found out today and come up with some ideas tonight in order to find a combination of settings and tyres which works on this surface and in these conditions. It’s only Friday and hopefully we can make a big step forward with both Valentino and Colin tomorrow morning.”
Posted by Administrator on 10-19-2007 at 09:10 am
Valentino Rossi will use Bridgestone tyres on his Yamaha next year, according to Michelin’s Moto GP tyre chief.
Jean-Philippe Weber, the French manufacturer’s competitions director said that pressure from the five-time world champion to switch to Bridgestone rubber next season in a bid to close the performance gap to Casey Stoner and Ducati, had finally paid off.
“He [Rossi] has said he must switch to Bridgestones and you can’t go against the desire of the riders, so we cannot remain with him,” said Weber.
Rossi, and Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, Moto GP’s biggest stars, have been campaigning since mid-season to get their teams to switch to Bridgestones for 2008.
Although Bridgestone initially issued a firm “no” to both squads following requests for a switch, it is believed that pressure from championship bosses Dorna to switch to a single-tyre rule in 2008 unless they gave way, has led to the move.
Officially, nothing has been confirmed, but Dorna have said that a decision on whether or not a single-tyre formula will be adopted next season, will be announced next week.
With only Bridgestone even willing to consider bidding for the contract, should one come up, Rossi’s move will not affect what rubber he uses.
Rossi was only 16th fastest in practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix, and knew instantly where the blame lay.
It’s very disappointing for me to be here, at one of my favourite tracks where we know our bike goes well, in 16th position! We don’t have any grip, especially in front, and we were very slow today.
“We’ve tried a lot of tyres and different settings but so far we haven’t been able to make much progress.”
Rossi’s switch will create a unique situation within the Yamaha squad as his new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will use Michelin rubber, a move which will almost certainly upset the development of their 2008 motorcycle.
The Tech-3 Yamahas of James Toseland and Colin Edwards will also use the French rubber, switching from the current British-made Dunlops.
Whether or not Pedrosa will also switch is yet to be decided.
[Source: Eurosport]
Posted by Administrator on 10-17-2007 at 08:10 am
The Fiat Yamaha Team head straight from Australia to Malaysia this week as they contest the second Grand Prix in just seven days, with the penultimate race of the season set to take place at the Sepang International Circuit in Kuala Lumpur. Yamaha have been the most successful manufacturer in MotoGP at the ultra modern circuit, taking three victories from eight visits, and their strong record in Malaysia stretches back to the first ever race in the country back in 1991, when John Kocinski took 500cc honours at Shah Alam.
The most recent Malaysian Grand Prix was also won by Yamaha, with Valentino Rossi taking his fourth premier-class win at Sepang following a stunning battle with Loris Capirossi last season. Rossi is keen to repeat that performance this weekend as he aims to become the first MotoGP rider ever to score 100 career podiums in the class - his third place finish at Phillip Island last Sunday having taken his tally to an unsurpassed 99. Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards is also targeting a return to the podium after a dry spell of eight races since his last top-three finish at Donington Park.
Sepang is one of the widest tracks on the calendar, measuring 16 metres across in some areas, and high track temperatures are always a factor in the tropical climate. With four major hairpins, and some fast and frequent changes of direction in its 5,542m layout, Sepang provides a stern workout for the entire bike set-up and its largely consistent, if demanding, climate makes it the ideal winter testing venue. However, after being completely resurfaced since preseason testing back in February, the teams will have to wait until first free practice on Friday morning to see how useful previous data will be for set-up this weekend.
Valentino Rossi - “Our target is unchanged”
Valentino Rossi’s impressive career podium tally in MotoGP includes six from the past six seasons at Sepang, including those four victories. After extending his advantage over Dani Pedrosa in the battle for the important runner-up spot in the championship at the last round, the Italian is again targetting the top step of the podium as he aims to finish a difficult season on a high note.
“I did everything I could in Australia but we couldn’t challenge Stoner so our target for the final two races is unchanged - to fight for the win,” says Rossi. “Sepang is another of my favourite tracks and I’ve had some great races there. Last year’s battle with Loris was especially memorable, and I would really like to have the chance to fight like that with my rivals again this year.
“We know that our bike generally goes well there and we have a lot of data from so much testing there, even if our bike has changed quite a bit from the start of the year when we were last there and the track has also, but hopefully we will be able to find a good package and be competitive. We have two races left and we are going to be doing everything we can to win them both so we can end the season in a good way.”
Colin Edwards - “Still determined”
After another disappointing weekend in Australia, Colin Edwards prefers to focus on the positive preseason tests the team enjoyed at Sepang back in February, when both riders dipped under 990cc lap record pace during an extensive tyre workout. Edwards has not enjoyed the best of luck at Sepang in the past and has yet to finish above tenth place but he is confident of turning that around this weekend.
“Despite only finishing ninth I did leave Phillip Island feeling like we salvaged something from the weekend because at times it was looking like it was going to be a lot worse and I think we learnt something,” reflects Edwards. “For Malaysia, Michelin are bringing some stuff that I know from testing works for me on this bike at this track – we just have to hope it works just as well with the new surface. Hopefully if we put it together with what we learnt about the bike in Australia then we’ll be in good shape.
“The YZR-M1 went brilliantly at Sepang in preseason testing – now we will have to see how much better our rivals are there after a full season of development. Anyway, I’m glad to be going straight there from Australia because there’s no time to sit about feeling disappointed about what happened Phillip Island. I’m still determined to get a good result before the end of the season and Sepang is a good place to do it.”
Davide Brivio - “A few question marks”
It promises to be a busy weekend for Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio, who arrived in Malaysia early this week to check out the newly resurfaced Sepang circuit. With weather forecasts predicting rain and the Grand Prix Commission set to announce a decision over tyre regulations for next season, there is plenty for the Italian to think about both off and on the track in Malaysia.
“We had a great test here in February but it looks like the resurfacing has changed the track a lot so we don’t know what the grip will be like,” says Brivio. “It means we go there in pretty much the same shape as everybody else, with some doubts about what we tested here. The weather forecast we have is predicting rain each afternoon so there are question marks over the track and the conditions.
“Apart from that, this is a circuit we have enjoyed a lot of success at in the past and Valentino has won here many times so we have to be confident. It will also be an important weekend because of the decision over a possible single-tyre rule for next year. Once it is made we can decide our exact development strategy for next season so we are all looking forward to hearing how it will work out. Then we can look ahead to making a stronger challenge next year.”
Valentino Rossi : Information
Age: 28
Lives: London, UK
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
GP victories: 88 (61 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 189 (129 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 49
World Championships: 7 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 4 x MotoGP)
Colin Edwards: Information
Age: 33
Lives: Conroe, Texas
Bike: Yamaha YZR-M1
First GP: Japan, 2003 (MotoGP)
GP starts: 81 x MotoGP
World Championships: 2 World Superbike
Sepang: Lap Record
L. Capirossi (Ducati) 2006, 2′02.127
Sepang: Best Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2006, 2.00.605
Grand Prix Results: Sepang 2006
1. V. Rossi (Yamaha) 43′07.829
2. L. Capirossi (Ducati) +0.849
3. N. Hayden (Honda) +3.863
10. C. Edwards (USA) Yamaha +19.909
