2011 Grand Prix motorcycle racing

[Jay Adgie]

Stoner maintains pace in FP2

By Tom Cambio -MCN
MotoGP
13 May 2011 14:08

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner maintained the pace he set in this morning's practice session to finish the second free practice session fastest at Le Mans, setting a 1m 33.782s lap.
Stoner was 0.404s faster than Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) was unable to improve on the time he set this morning, finishing third at the French circuit.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was the fastest Ducati rider finishing the session in fourth, ahead of Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing), who was fifth fastest, and Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) who claimed sixth. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) was ninth fastest.
Brit Cal Crutchlow crashed in the last few minutes of FP2 but was able to complete the session in twelfth.

1 Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 33.782s
2 Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 34.186s
3 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1m 34.478s
4 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team 1m 34.652s
5 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 34.659s
6 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 34.705s
7 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 34.939s
8 Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 34.959s
9 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team 1m 34.966s
10 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 34.976s
11 Randy De Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 34.998s
12 Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 35.158s
13 Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 35.383s
14 Hector Barbera SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1m 35.902s
15 Alvaro Ba SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 35.992s
16 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 36.304s
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 36.327s

 

[Jay Adgie]

Stoner takes pole position

By Tom Cambio -MCN
MotoGP
14 May 2011 14:00

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda Team) continued his run of consistently fast laps at Le Mans to take pole position in qualifying, finishing the session 0.059s ahead of Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) who secured second with a flying lap in the last two minutes of the session. Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso completes the all-Honda front row, taking third in the last lap to start from the front row.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) qualified fourth and fifth respectively; both riders will start tomorrow's race from behind the front row for the first time this season.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) completes the second row in sixth place, with the British rider putting in a very strong performance in the hotly contested qualifying session. Having never ridden the French circuit before, Crutchlow lapped 0.259s faster than Texan team mate Colin Edwards who will start from seventh.
Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) and Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) qualified in eighth and ninth place with identical lap times. Spies was awarded eighth position as his second fastest lap was quicker than Rossi's.
French rider Randy De Puniet crashed his Pramac Racing Ducati early in the session, with a highside at turn twelve, but was able to qualify in eleventh place, just behind factory Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden who will start from tenth.

1 Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 33.153s
2 Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 33.212s
3 Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 33.621s
4 Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1m 33.683s
5 Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 33.706s
6 Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 33.804s
7 Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 34.063s
8 Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 34.206s
9 Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team 1m 34.206s
10 Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team 1m 34.277s
11 Randy De Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 34.351s
12 Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 34.513s
13 Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 34.612s
14 Hector Barbera SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP 1m 34.650s
15 Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 34.866s
16 Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 35.010s
17 Toni Elias SPA LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 35.433s

 

[Reggie Blain]

It looks like the Honda is the bike to be on for this track, looking forward to the race

 

[Ross Balfour]

First time neither Pedrosa or Lorenzo have been on the front row since 2008!

 

[Jay Adgie]

Stoner secures second victory of the season

By Tom Cambio -MCN
MotoGP
15 May 2011 14:02

Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) secured his second victory of the season at Le Mans. After starting from pole Stoner reclaimed first from team mate Dani Pedrosa in the second lap, where he then stayed for the remainder of the race building a margin of over 14 seconds.
Pedrosa kept pace with Stoner until losing second place to Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini), which led to a controversial clash when Pedrosa went to re-take second and the Honda riders collided. Pedrosa fell, resulting in the Spaniard breaking his right collarbone and Simoncelli was given a ride through penalty.

Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) fought with Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) for second place, trading places several times, but Dovizioso managed to hold off the nine time World Champion. Rossi took third, his first podium finish of the season on the Ducati.
Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) climbed to third before falling down the timesheets, being re-passed by Dovizioso and Rossi to finish in fourth place.
Simoncelli managed to take fifth place in the last moments of the race despite the ride through penalty, passing Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) who ended the race in sixth. Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) was seventh, finishing ahead of San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Hiroshi Aoyama in eighth.
Cal Crutchlow crashed out of ninth place early in the race and had to retire, whilst Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team mate Colin Edwards also fell at the French circuit, but was able to return to the track to finish in thirteenth place.

1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 159.6 44'03.955
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 158.7 +14.214
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 158.7 +14.564
4 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 158.3 +21.075
5 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 157.7 +31.245
6 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 157.7 +31.609
7 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 157.4 +35.566
8 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 156.5 +51.502
9 Hector BARBERA SPA Mapfre Aspar Team MotoGP Ducati 155.8 +1'03.731
10 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 155.8 +1'03.885
11 Toni ELIAS SPA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 155.8 +1'04.068
12 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 155.8 +1'04.192
13 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 144.9 2 Laps

Not Classified

Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 155.5 7 Laps
Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 159.3 11 Laps
Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 144.1 22 Laps
Randy DE PUNIET FRA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 144.9 27 Laps

 

[Lee Palmer]

Was a good race I thought. Don't watch moto gp too often but did today enjoyed it .

 

[Ross Balfour]

Highly dramatic race, don't think Simoncelli deserved his ride-through though. Great to see Rossi on the podium though!

And in the 125cc, 16 year old Maverick Vinalez winning, this guy is a superstar in the making!

 

[Koray Can]

I'm not sure if Simoncelli technically deserved a penalty. Other riders seem to be split 50/50 on the topic. He definitely deserves a fierce lashing by Honda Racing for taking an already fragile factory rider out. He would have passed Dani anyway easily the very next lap.

Speaking of Dani:

(from http://www.marca.com/2011/05/15/mot...033f1bafcf407b4689df32a&t=1305526892Marca.com)

 

[Gary Lennon]

Going on what we have seen down the years in GP bike racing then Marco certainly doesnt deserve any kind of penalty,from the brief bits of footage and angles i have watched i also find myself split by the decision a bit,one camera it looks like Marco leans on Dan a bit when it appears Dan has no more braking left in him,then another angle it could be argued Dan rolls off the brakes a bit,misses the apex and then has to try and avoid Marco's back wheel,the outcome was very unfortunate,but ultimately i think a racing incident,the drive thru was way way over the top really and smelled a little bit of F1....
Agree with Ross about young Maverick,thank god for him this year and now showing that kind of pace and pure skill,it was all starting to look a bit ominous in the 125cc class with Terol threatning a 100% clean win streak!? :o,thats been fixed now,go Mav go!!.

 

[Jay Adgie]

2011 marks a very special moment in two wheeled motorsport as the 50th Anniversary of World Championship Grand Prix racing for Yamaha. Here are some pics of yamaha's over the years....

1961

 

[Jay Adgie]

1965

1966

1968

1972

1974

1977

1978

1979

1981

 

[Jay Adgie]

1982

1987

1989

 

[Jay Adgie]

1991

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

 

[Jay Adgie]

2003

2005

2007

2008

2010

 

[Jay Adgie]

Memorial Poster

 

[Jay Adgie]

Simoncelli takes first MotoGP pole

By MCN -MCN
MotoGP
04 June 2011 14:58

San Carlo Honda rider Marco Simoncelli has taken his first pole position in MotoGP at Catalunya.
Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner had to settle for second on the grid, just 0.016 seconds behind Simoncelli. World Champion Jorge Lorenzo gave the Spanish crowd something to cheer about by securing the final spot on the front row for tomorrow's 25 lap race.
Lorenzo's team-mate Ben Spies heads the second row, ahead of Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso and Brit Cal Crutchlow in sixth position. Valentino Rossi starts from seventh on the grid, directly ahead of team-mate Nicky Hayden, with Alvaro Bautista in ninth.
Colin Edwards will not take part in the Catalan MotoGP after breaking his collarbone in free practice yesterday (Friday).

1. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 42.413s
2. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 1m 42.429s
3. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 42.728s
4. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 1m 42.742s
5. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1m 42.749s
6. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1m 43.202s
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 43.223s
8. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1m 43.228s
9. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1m 43.447s
10. Hector Barbera ESP Mapfre Aspar Team 1m 43.656s
11. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 1m 43.734s
12. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 1m 43.764s
13. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 1m 44.068s
14. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 1m 44.510s
15. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 1m 45.661s

 

[Jay Adgie]

John McGuinness takes Superbike win

By Liam Marsden -MCN
TT & road races
04 June 2011 13:51


Honda TT Legends rider John McGuinness has won the Dainese Superbike TT race to record his 16th win at the Isle of Man TT.
The race got underway right on time under excellent weather. Ryan Farquhar didn't start the race due to a mechanical problem.

Lap 1
McGuinness leads through Glen Helen for the first time, just one second ahead of Gary Johnson, with Padgett's Honda rider Bruce Anstey just a fifth of a second behind Johnson in third. Guy Martin is close behind in fourth on the Relentless TAS Suzuki.
Sixth place man at Glen Helen, Michael Dunlop goes through the Sulby speed trap at 190.6mph. John McGuinness still leads at Ramsey, but Anstey has started to get his head down and moves in to second spot, just 1.31 seconds behind McGuinness.
At the end of the lap McGuinness leads Anstey with Gary Johnson in third ahead of Guy Martin.

Lap 2
There's a new leader at Glen Helen as Anstey continues his charge, opening up a gap of half a second ahead of McGuinness who is now four seconds ahed of Johnson. Guy Martin stays in fourth place by three seconds with Michael Dunlop a further two seconds behind. Cameron Donald is in sixth, nine seconds behind Dunlop.
At Ramsey hairpin Anstey shows no sign of slowing, increasing his lead over McGuinness to 2.4 seconds as they head up on to the mountain.
Going into the first pit stop Anstey still leads by 0.91secs ahead of McGuinness. Martin has moved up to third, 0.7secs ahead of Gary Johnson.
A super-slick pit stop for McGuinness sees him lead Anstey by 12 seconds coming out of the pits with Johnson retaking third spot from Martin. Michael Dunlop has some trouble in the pits, taking much longer than expected.

Lap 3
Into Glen Helen McGuinness holds his lead of 12 seconds over Anstey, with Martin back up to third, three tenths ahead of Johnson. Cameron Donald remains in fifth.
Bruce Anstey retires at Quarry Bends and at Ramsey McGuinness has an 18 second lead over Johnson, who has once again traded places with Martin.
At the end of lap three McGuinness leads by 19 seconds, ahead of Martin who has re-taken second spot. Johnson is only 0.79secs behind.

Lap 4
Rounding Glen Helen for the fourth time and McGuinness remains comfortably in the lead 21 seconds ahead of Johnson, with Martin 0.4secs further back in third. Cameron Donald stays in fourth, ahead of Keith Amor, William Dunlop, James Hillier and Conor Cummins.
McGuinness still leads at Ramsey, with Martin now back in second spot, five seconds ahead of Johnson. Cameron Donald is a further 28 seconds back. Cummins retires at Sign Post corner.
Going into the second and final pit stop McGuinness has a lead of 19.8secs over Martin after recording an average speed of 129.843mph on lap 4. Johnson is a further 10 seconds back, having possibly been slowed down by yellow flags on the mountain. All stays the same as the riders leave the pits.

Lap 5
McGuinness still leads at Glen Helen, 17.99secs ahead of Martin, with Donald now up in to third place, five seconds ahead of Johnson who has received a 30 second penalty for breaking the speed limit in pit lane.
McGuinness continues to control the race, leading at Ramsey ahead of Martin, then Donald. Guy Martin retires at Hillberry.
Down Glencrutchery road for the final time at full throttle, McGuinness now has a lead of just over a minute from Australian Donald, with Johnson back on course for a podium. Amor is in fourth, Dan Stewart fifth, then William Dunlop ahead of brother Michael, Hillier, Archibald and Ian Mackman rounding out the top 10.
Lap 6
Through Glen Helen for the final time and McGuinness remains comfortably in the lead, with over one minute between himself and second place man Donald. Johnson remains in third. Round Ramsey hairpin the positions remain the same.
A superb race from McGuinness sees him blast over the finish line with a 128.870mph average speed. Cameron Donald takes second, with Gary Johnson in third.

 

[Rupe Wilson]

Makes me feel like buying a ps2 and tt superbikes or legends. I wish there was beter tv coveridge in europe...

 

[David Jundt]

I have the feeling that since last year, there isn't a season(even races) where a rider hasn't a big crash breaking something in his body:S

All the best to Colin Edwards.

 

[Yann Laprevotte]

"Just" a broken collarbone, the classic bike racing injury.

Pedrosa has one every season or so