MotoGP - Articles - Zimbio

Edwards signs new Tech3 deal

Fri, 19 Jul 2008 00:25:00 GMT

posted by suraniku
American veteran Colin Edwards has shelved plans to retire from MotoGP, signing a new contract with Tech3 Yamaha for 2009 after an impressive season.

The 34-year-old had said 2008 would be his last season in motorcycling's premier class, and he would then return to race for Yamaha in the United States.

The announcement comes ahead of Edwards's home race at Laguna Seca in California, and means Tech3 will remain unchanged next season, with Edwards partnering Briton James Toseland who has already signed a contract extension.

Edwards fifth in the standings thanks to a run of eight consecutive points finishes, including two podiums at Le Mans and Assen. His streak came to an end when he crashed out in the rain at the Sachsenring last Sunday.

"It is no secret that I had agreed with Yamaha to finish my MotoGP career at the end of 2008 and continue my racing career with them in America," Edwards said.

"But as soon as I began working with the Tech 3 team I instantly formed a great relationship with my guys. A big part of me wanting to stay is down to them, particularly Herve Poncharal and my crew chief Gary Reynders, but it has been a real team effort.

"With the amazing amount of work and dedication shown by Yamaha staff throughout last winter, I knew I wasn't ready to leave MotoGP before the season had even started.

"The fact that I have been able to produce the best form of my MotoGP career this season speaks volumes for the effort and commitment the Tech 3 team has put in."

Team manager Herve Poncharal added: "I am happy that [Colin] has been able to produce the best results of his MotoGP career so far with Tech 3, which is also testament to the hard work and effort Yamaha made in the last few months.

"Although he has only been with us for 10 races, the relationship is so great that it feels like he has been part of the team for many years. He has been a great asset to the team and Yamaha both on and off the track, and he was an incredibly important figure during last winter to develop the bike and Michelin tyres to a highly competitive level."

Source : uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

The Hacker gets the job done at Laguna

Sun, 21 Jul 2008 15:29:08 GMT

posted by motorcyclethai

Kawasaki's substitute MotoGP rider, Jamie Hacking, brought his borrowed Ninja ZX-RR home in an impressive eleventh place on his premier class debut at Laguna Seca this afternoon.

The 37-year-old AMA Superbike star, deputising this weekend for injured compatriot John Hopkins, started today's 33-lap USGP from the last row of the grid, but was quick to make up places in the early stages of the race.

Hacking fought his way past Colin Edwards and Loris Capirossi on lap 12, then put in a pass on Toni Elias on the next lap to move into tenth place behind AMA Superbike rival, and good friend, Ben Spies.

The Hacker spent a number of laps looking for a way past his fellow countryman, until the Suzuki pilot looked back and realised just who it was putting him under pressure.

To hold off Hacking, Spies was forced to set his fastest laps of the race, which was just enough to keep Kawasaki's newest MotoGP rider at bay.

Hacking looked all set to take a top ten finish in his debut MotoGP appearance, but a resurgent Toni Elias managed to squeeze past the three-time AMA champion in the closing stages of the race, to relegate him back to a still impressive 11th at the chequered flag.

Anthony West has struggled with a lack of feeling from the front of his Ninja ZX-RR all weekend, and despite set-up changes made ahead of this morning's warm-up session, West still lacked the confidence in the front grip to push hard in the race. The 27-year-old Kawasaki pilot eventually finished in 17th place, one lap down on race winner Valentino Rossi, bitterly disappointed with his whole Laguna weekend.

Jamie Hacking, "I'm thrilled! I didn't get the best of starts from the back of the grid, but if I'm honest I was little relieved to see everyone pulling away and leaving me to ride my own race early on. With a fairly clear track I was able to find a good rhythm on the bike, and I was soon lapping in the low 1'23s bracket. I fought my way up to Ben Spies, and I was just thinking to have a bit of a breather when he looked back and saw who was behind him. As soon as he saw it was me he upped the pace and managed to pull enough of a gap that I couldn't quite stay with him. The bike was working great, and the lap times were pretty consistent throughout the race, but then Toni Elias managed to work his way past me towards the end, which meant I just missed out on matching Roger Lee's tenth place finish from last year. Even so, I've really enjoyed my weekend as a MotoGP racer and I'd like to thank Kawasaki for giving me the opportunity. Everyone made me feel really welcome, and they are a great team to work with."

Pedrosa crash lets in Stoner

Sat, 13 Jul 2008 13:48:00 GMT

posted by suraniku
Casey Stoner took full advantage of a slip from Dani Pedrosa to win a rain-soaked German Grand Prix as Valentino Rossi claimed top spot in the overall standings with a second place finish.

Having set the pace in the dry during Saturday's qualifying in Germany, Stoner proved he is just as adept in the wet, crossing the line 3.7 seconds ahead of Rossi.

Rossi now leads the championship by 16 points, while Pedrosa's failure to score in Germany sees him slip to second. Stoner's win propels him to within four points of the Spaniard.

In appalling conditions at the Sachsenring, Pedrosa's luck deserted him early on as he skidded off a slippery track and flew into the crash barriers after having led the race for the first five laps.

Stoner took full advantage - and the lead - and went on to hold his concentration for the remainder of the race to register his fourth win of the season and his third consecutive victory following successful weekends at Donnington and Assen.

Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen also put in a sterling performance, storming from a 14th place start on the grid to clinch third place - his first podium finish of the season.

But the Australian was pushed all the way by rookie Alex De Angelis, who came close to claiming his first podium at MotGP level with an impressive ride.

Briton James Toseland, on his Tech 3 Yamaha, could not better his starting position on the grid and came home in 11th place out of the 13 finishers, after Colin Edwards, Marco Melandri and Jorge Lorenzo all succumbed to the slippery track and joined Pedrosa back in the garages before the race was completed.

Source : uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

West and Hacking ready for Laguna showdown

Thu, 18 Jul 2008 00:48:39 GMT

posted by motorcyclethai

The US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca will mark the MotoGP debut of AMA Superbike contender Jamie Hacking, who will deputise for the injured John Hopkins aboard Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR this weekend.

Hacking, who received the call-up to MotoGP during his 37th birthday celebrations two weeks ago, has already impressed aboard the Ninja ZX-RR during a two-day, pre-race test at the Autopolis circuit in Japan, where he broke the lap record.

The three-time AMA champion arrives in Laguna determined to match, or even exceed, the performance of his Kawasaki teammate, Roger Lee Hayden, who finished tenth as a wild card rider in this race twelve months ago.

Hacking will make his MotoGP debut off the back of six consecutive podium finishes in the AMA Superbike class, which he will also contest at Laguna Seca, making for a very busy weekend for the British born rider.

Like his temporary teammate, Anthony West also heads for Laguna Seca with high hopes for the weekend. The Australian celebrated his 27th birthday on 17th July, and is looking to give himself the best birthday present possible with a strong performance ahead of the summer break.

A seventh place in the USGP last year was West's best result of the 2007 season and, despite the fact that he's carrying injuries from two big crashes last time out at Sachsenring, the plucky Australian is determined to improve on last year's result this time around.

The Laguna Seca circuit is the shortest on the MotoGP calendar, but one that is regarded as being the most physically demanding on the riders. The 3.61km track also features possibly the most famous corner in MotoGP; the infamous corkscrew at turn eight.

Anthony West, "I'm looking forward to racing at Laguna Seca again, as I like the track and I really enjoy the whole lifestyle thing in California. I had my best result of the season at this track in 2007 with seventh place, and I hope this year's race will prove as successful after a difficult first half of the season for me. As well as being one of the most exciting circuits on the MotoGP calendar, Laguna Seca is also very physically demanding. With fractured vertebrae from my practice crash at Sachsenring, I'm not in the best condition going into the USGP weekend. I just hope the injury won't cause too many problems on the bike, although it's sure to be quite painful. As always, I'll be out there to do my best this weekend, and I hope we'll be rewarded with a good result on Sunday."

Jamie Hacking, "I'm really excited about riding Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR in the USGP at Laguna Seca this weekend. We had a successful test with the bike in Japan two weeks ago, and now I'm looking forward to riding the Ninja ZX-RR again under race conditions. Roger Lee set the benchmark at this race last year with an outstanding tenth place finish, so that's certainly given me something to aim for. Laguna is one of my best tracks, but I'm under no illusions about how hard it's going to be. I'll be up against some of the best riders in the world on a bike on which I've only had limited testing time. If I come away from the weekend with a top ten finish, then I'll be happy."

Capirossi out as Stoner sets Assen pace

Wed, 26 Jun 2008 20:27:00 GMT

posted by suraniku
Loris Capirossi was ruled out of Saturday's Dutch MotoGP race after crashing and suffering a deep gash to his right forearm in practice.

Suzuki's Italian rider had missed the previous British round with a broken hand. The team said he would not be replaced for the TT race at Assen.

"The crash was nothing to do with his recent hand injury and it was just one of those things that happens in racing," team manager Paul Denning said.

"He was lucky that he didn´t break anything or cause more damage to the original injury because it is a really fast place to crash.

"Unfortunately the bike got on top of him and ripped a sizeable piece of flesh from his right forearm."

MotoGP doctors operated on the wound at the circuit and Denning was confident Capirossi would be back for the next round in Germany in two weeks time.

World champion Casey Stoner took his dominant Donington Park form to Assen as he led both opening free practice sessions.

Stoner, who returned to the top step of the podium for the first time since the Qatar season opener at Donington Park, took a 0.6secs advantage over nearest rival Nicky Hayden in morning practice - then lowered his pace substantially en route to hold a huge 0.732secs lead over world championship leader Valentino Rossi in the afternoon.

Fiat Yamaha star Rossi claimed a memorable victory over Stoner last season at Assen, but the young Australian - who credits new software as having helped to stabilise his Desmosedici - looks determined to claim revenge, whilst chipping away at the current 45 point deficit to Rossi.

Dani Pedrosa, between Rossi and Stoner in the title chase, was only ninth fastest with Repsol Honda team-mate Hayden once again the quickest RCV on track, claiming fourth in FP2.

Third fastest was the rider Hayden beat during a dramatic 2006 final-turn Assen showdown - Colin Edwards. That race remains the closest Edwards has got to a grand prix victory, but the Texan put his Tech 3 Yamaha just 0.112secs from Rossi and was the leading Michelin rider during day one of the 2008 event.

The leading rookie was Alex de Angelis, in a promising fifth position, with San Carlo Gresini Honda team-mate Shinya Nakano one place behind him on a strong showing by the Bridgestone-backed satellite team.

Randy de Puniet was seventh for LCR Honda, with John Hopkins the lead Kawasaki in eighth.

The top Suzuki was 2007 pole sitter Chris Vermeulen while after a disastrous home grand prix, rookie James Toseland began steadily rebuilding his confidence with 13th position - at a circuit he won at in WSBK last season. The Tech 3 Yamaha rider lapped 1.8secs from the top, but was just in front of race-winning factory Yamaha rookie Jorge Lorenzo.

Alice Team's Toni Elias, who has missed the last three Dutch TTs due to injuries before or during the race weekend, is on target to make his first premier-class Assen start after finishing Friday injury-free and holding 16th position. Team-mate Sylvain Guintoli underlined his increasing confidence with twelfth.

But there was no sign of progress for Stoner's team-mate Marco Melandri. The Italian - rumoured to be facing imminent replacement - was left 18th and last, having lapped 4.5secs behind Stoner's best time.

Source : uk.eurosport.yahoo.com