Stoner Czechs out at Brno, Simoncelli podium

MotoGP title leader Casey Stoner cruised to a dominant victory in Sunday's Czech Republic Grand Prix, which saw Dani Pedrosa crash from the lead, Marco Simoncelli claim a first ever podium and Jorge Lorenzo fade to fourth. 

Unlike his rivals, world champion Lorenzo chose the soften option front tyre - which helped the Yamaha rider take the lead ahead of Repsol Honda riders Pedrosa, Andrea Dovizioso and Stoner on the opening lap. 

But by lap three Lorenzo was starting to have front-end moments, which allowed both Pedrosa and Stoner back past. Moments later poel-sitter Pedrosa lowsided out of the lead, handing the advantage to Stoner. 

The Australian then rode steadily into the distance, building an advantage of over eight-seconds on his way to his sixth win of the year - extending his title lead over Lorenzo from 20 to32 points. 

Despite a stubborn resistance, world champion Lorenzo was caught and passed by Italians Dovizioso and Simoncelli, with Dovizioso gaining breathing room over his compatriot in the closing stages. 

Former 250cc world champion Simoncelli, who has crashed in five races this year and been penalised in another, finally claimed his debut MotoGP rostrum after withstanding late-race pressure from Lorenzo. 

Ben Spies - struggling with a pinched nerve in his neck this weekend - brought the second factory M1 home in fifth, 1.6sec from Lorenzo. 

Valentino Rossi lost places from his best Ducati qualifying of sixth, but - aided by Pedrosa's exit - recovered the ground lost and crossed the line 2.4sec from Yamaha replacement Spies and 12.6sec from victory. 

Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista - the only rider other than Lorenzo to choose the soft front - pressured Rossi for much of the race, before lowsiding from seventh place with six laps to go. 

That allowed Rossi's team-mate Nicky Hayden to inherit the position, having spent much of the race just ahead of fellow American Colin Edwards. 

Edwards' Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team-mate Cal Crutchlow joined Pedrosa and Bautista on the DNF list, as did fellow rookie Karel Abraham. 

Abraham, whose father and team manager owns the Brno team, was unable to finish his home race after an off-track moment was followed by an engine failure. 

Bautista's wild-card team-mate John Hopkins was forced to withdraw from the event after fracturing fingers in his right hand during Saturday morning practice. 

A test session will be held at the circuit on Monday, which will feature next year's 1000cc bikes from Honda and Yamaha. 

Czech Republic Grand Prix: 

1. Stoner 

2. Dovizioso 

3. Simoncelli 

4. Lorenzo 

5. Spies 

6. Rossi 

7. Hayden 

8. Edwards 

9. Aoyama 

10. Barbera 

11. Elias 

12. de Puniet 

13. Capirossi 

source: crash.net

Stoner needs more feedback - less chatter

Qualifying third on the grid was only of partial consolation to MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner, who concluded day two of the Czech Republic Grand Prix still needing more feedback - and less chatter - from his Repsol Honda.

"We hoped after yesterday that we could improve the feeling in the bike this morning but unfortunately it was a wet session, so we couldn't use it as we would have liked to," explained the Australian. "Also, the session didn't start too well with a fast crash in turn three which lost us some time and obviously dented my confidence a little. 

"Then this afternoon we started to get a little more feedback from the bike, but all in all we didn't really make a big step forward or improve it significantly from yesterday's first session. We seem to be getting more and more chatter as the weekend progresses and the more I push the more it increases and the slower I get, so it's a little frustrating. 

"I felt qualifying could have been better, we almost lapped with the same time on old and new tyres but in general we have a lot of work to do. 

"We're obviously happy with front row, but we're not really where we want to be with t he bike and there is still a lot of work to do. We're looking forward to tomorrow and I'm sure we can find some improvements in time for the race".

Stoner will start behind team-mate and pole sitter Dani Pedrosa, plus title rival Jorge Lorenzo, who trails Stoner by 20 points.

source: crash.net

Barberá confident ahead of Brno race

Héctor Barberá was focused and determined throughout the second day of the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceské republiky weekend, although the MAPFRE Aspar rider was left to reflect on personal errors at the crucial point of the session that leave him thirteenth on the starting grid. Despite that setback, the Spanish rider remains confident in the set up of his bike and optimistic about his chances of a strong fight back tomorrow.

Héctor Barberá:

"We did a good job today because this morning I was struggling to improve my lap times - I just kept hitting a ceiling. In the afternoon we made some set up changes to my Ducati and things improved considerably. We dropped the ride height and change the front and rear shock settings, which instantly gave us more confidence and pace. We still need another six or seven tenths to be where we want but tomorrow we will look to find this by working on power delivery and handling. Overall it has been a positive first day and the team has done a great job."

MAPFRE Aspar press release.

Day to forget for Rizla Suzuki at Brno

Rizla Suzuki had its promising start to the weekend shattered at Brno today as firstly John Hopkins had to withdraw from the event and then Álvaro Bautista had a difficult qualifying session to leave him with a mountain to climb in tomorrow’s race.

Bautista will start from the fifth row of the grid after he failed to make a competitive lap-time and will need one of his great starts to be able to challenge with the front-runners in tomorrow’s race. He has a consistent race pace and was able to stay with other riders in the earlier part of the qualifying session, but was unable to put together a fast lap to move him up the grid as the session came to its climax.

Hopkins was forced to withdraw from the weekend’s event following a crash in this morning’s wet practice session. It has now been confirmed that he has broken three fingers on his right hand, but he will remain at Brno to support the team, before returning to America on Monday to have surgery to repair the damage.

Today’s qualifying was held in dry, but overcast conditions with track temperatures reaching 30ºC. Dani Pedrosa took pole position on his Honda, with reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo second and current championship leader Casey Stoner third.

Tomorrow’s race is round 11 of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship and the excitement gets underway at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT).

Álvaro Bautista:

“I am not happy with the qualifying because we just didn’t get our best level today and we will have to start tomorrow near the back of the grid. My rhythm was not too bad when I followed other riders and I could stay with them, but to be able to do that in the race I have to make a good start again tomorrow and fight my way through. I can’t say much more because I am just not happy with how things went today.

“It was not a good day for the whole team with John crashing this morning and breaking his fingers. I feel very sorry for him because he did well yesterday and it looked like he’d have a good race. MotoGP racing is not always what you want it to be and these things happen, but I wish him a speedy recovery and hope he’s back soon.”

John Hopkins:

“I guess disappointed is the only word that can sum up how I feel! I must apologise to the whole team for making such a stupid mistake out there this morning. It was the smallest crash under braking in the wet conditions and as I slid along I kept my hand on the ground to try and slow me down, but as soon as I hit the gravel it went in and mangled my hand right up. I’ve fractured three fingers on my right hand. The index and middle finger are just normal fractures that probably wouldn’t have kept me off the bike, but the third finger has separated and split down the middle from the knuckle. It’s not a case of pain, strength or anything like that, it’s simply that I can’t bend the finger or both bones could come through the skin, so it would have been impossible to hold on to the bike.

“I think things went very well yesterday and I had every intention of being able to make another step forward today. I believe that the GSV-R is every bit capable of a consistent top-six finish and I think it’s a great machine. With the lack of seat time I’ve had, I don’t think that I could have matched the potential of what the bike is capable of doing. I know I didn’t yesterday and I think it still has another second a lap in it. I wish I could have gone out and achieved a good result for all involved and mainly to show Suzuki that they have a really good machine which has great potential.

“This is just another small setback in my journey to get back to full time MotoGP. I’ll stay here the rest of the weekend and give my full support to the team and do whatever I can to express my gratitude to them for giving me this opportunity. This is not the last time you’ll see me at a Grand Prix, I’m still destined to be back here, whether it’s this year or next I don’t know, but I will be back here!”

Paul Denning – Team Manger:

“Grand Prix racing isn’t easy and today showed that! Yesterday we were looking very strong with lap-times in the 57s and both riders in the top-10. Today John is in a cast and Álvaro’s qualified 14th and almost half-of-a-second slower than yesterday afternoon. We did have an issue with a vibration at the end of the qualifying, but frankly speaking, we expected a much better time than that earlier in the session when he had a brand new set of tyres. We all know how well he can race, but if we don’t qualify better we won’t be able to improve the race result.”

First pole of the season for Pedrosa

Dani Pedrosa followed up his superb Friday display in qualifying on Saturday, as the Spaniard secured his first pole position of 2011 for Sunday’s Cardion ab Grand Prix České republiky race in Brno.

Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa took the front position on the grid with a time of 1’56.591 in qualifying on Saturday, a time fast enough to put him on pole but still not a fast as the crushing lap he dealt Friday by a margin of 0.268s.

The premier class took to a dry track after the morning wet practice session, with reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) taking an early provisional pole and Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) leading in second half of qualifying. But Pedrosa retaliated, grabbing back the top spot and keeping it until the end of the outing.

Lorenzo pushed hard, bettering his previous best time by four tenths with a time of 1'56.704, giving him a front row start in the second spot, followed by Stoner with lap of 1'56.860 to put him in the final front row spot.

Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) who started from the front row least year in his MotoGP rookie season, qualified four with a 1'57.178. The Texan is joined on the second row by Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team), who finished just outside the top ten on his premier class debut at Brno last season, whose time of 1'57.351 placed him in fifth to start. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) joins the second row after posting a time of 1'57.367, giving him his best qualifying of the season so far.

Andrea Dovizioso will start from the third row, his time of 1'57.442 placing him seventh fastest. American duo Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) take the final two spots on the third row, while Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini), riding for the first time in the MotoGP class at Brno after missing last year’s race through injury, completed the top ten.

Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) crashed out of eighth position with 12 minutes remaining, running back to the pits to mount his second bike, finally concluding the qualifying in eleventh.

Cardion ab Motoracing’s Karel Abraham crashed out of the qualifying session, the 21 year old from Brno will start his home race from last on the grid. John Hopkins did not participate in the qualifying session due to injuries sustained in his FP3 crash pronouncing him unfit for racing.

source: MotoGP Official Website

Hopkins out of Brno Grand Prix

John Hopkins crashed at turn three on his sixth lap in the very wet and slippery conditions, and as he slid into the gravel his right hand sustained an impact causing a break and dislocation of his third finger and fracture of his second finger. He was immediately taken to the medical centre to have x-rays, where the injury was diagnosed and set in traction Hopkins will now return to America to have an operation to repair the injury as he aims to ensure he is fit for the next round of the British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park later this month.

Rizla Suzuki wishes him a speedy recovery and will update on his progress as more information becomes known.

Paul Denning – Team Manager:

“This morning’s injury is a huge disappointment to all of us at Rizla Suzuki and of course mostly to John. He is completely devastated that he is not able to compete in the Grand Prix tomorrow, especially as his form yesterday was extremely promising. He was just building up to speed very gradually in the wet conditions and, on the first lap that he tried to push a little bit harder, he made a simple mistake and folded the front. It was on exactly the same corner that Casey had done the same thing at the start of the session, but John was just less lucky and as he entered the gravel trap the angle of his hand meant that the impact folded his fingers. This caused a substantial break to one finger and further damage to another. If the injury had been his left hand he would be on the GSV-R this afternoon, but to control a MotoGP bike and expect to be competitive with that injury to his throttle and braking hand is completely unrealistic. “From the team, thanks to John for being so professional and a pleasure to work with this weekend. It was also great to have a two-rider team again and all the clear advantages that it brings. Despite what happened this morning I believe everybody in MotoGP was impressed with the potential shown here in Brno by John. I have no doubt that we will see him on a Grand Prix bike again in the near future.”

Press release courtesy of Rizla Suzuki

Strong start from Rizla Suzuki boys at Brno

Bautista completed 32 laps at Brno circuit, recording a best time of 1’57.857 and grabbing eighth place on the leader board. Bautista was regularly in touch with the top six throughout both of Friday’s practices and is confident that with a few more adjustments to his GSV-R he can make further steps forward on Saturday.

Hopkins is appearing as a wild card at Brno and proved himself capable in both practice sessions. In the morning he signaled his intentions by finishing in seventh place and followed that up in the afternoon with an equally impressive 10th. His best time of 1’57.880 was only .023 seconds behind his team mate and just over three tenths of a second away from a top five finish. Hopkins knows he still has a lot of work to do, but is convinced there is still more to come from him and his machine.

Álvaro Bautista: 

“Today was my first full MotoGP day at Brno when fully fit, so I am pleased to have done that. Last year I crashed in the second free practice and the rest of the weekend was quite hard for me. The first thing today was to get a good feeling with the bike, but this morning I felt the bike slide a bit in the corners, this might have been because the track was a bit dirty, but we made a change that also helped to improve the problem. I can do a long run with used tyres and after 26 laps my rhythm was good and I could do low 58s. We then put in a new front and rear tyre and I was able to push a bit more, but I found some traffic on the last laps and I couldn’t improve my time. I am happy with today because I have done the fastest lap I’ve ever done at Brno, my previous best was 59.1 and today I did 57.8 so that is a good improvement. I have a good feeling with the bike and I’m sure we can improve the rhythm and the lap-time, so on Saturday we will work on a couple of things to do that. I am really looking forward to tomorrow because I think we can make a good position in qualifying to get a good start in Sunday’s race.”

John Hopkins: 

“First of all, I want to give a massive thanks to Suzuki, Paul Denning, Rizla, Fixi and all the other sponsors that have made this possible. The have all helped to ensure that the team has two bikes here at Brno, so once again thanks to all concerned. It’s been a big culture shock today, the most elite riders in the world are all packed in the MotoGP field, but it has still been a good day for us. When I rode in Jerez my mindset was still with prototype racing, because I hadn’t quite got into Superbike riding, but all this year I’ve got very comfortable with a Superbike and so coming into this weekend I was a bit afraid it would all feel totally different and I couldn’t ride a GP bike anymore – luckily that wasn’t the case! I tried to get comfortable this morning and follow as many people as possible, because to be honest I need as much help as I can get at the moment! I was well within the top 10 this morning and I managed to follow Álvaro and he showed me some lines – which was really cool – I was very happy with that, and the fact that he didn’t get upset and just let me follow. This afternoon we tried a few things with the bike to see where we could improve, but we never really went too far away from the set up we had this morning. We used a couple of tyre variations to see how they worked and that gives us something to go on for the rest of the weekend. I did a quicker lap today than my best lap here before, which was in the race in 2007, so that was a good thing. I’ll now sleep with the track on my mind and come back a lot better tomorrow morning, I’m sure if I can get more comfortable on the bike and find a rhythm, then I can get at least half a second of my time from today.”

Rizla Suzuki press release.

De Puniet thirteenth, Capirossi improving

Using the new frame provided by the Ducati factory, the Frenchman used the afternoon session to lower his time by nearly five tenths compared to that of the morning. Loris Capirossi, still dealing with a painful shoulder, finished the day with the fifteenth best time, just behind factory Ducati rider Nicky Hayden.

Loris Capirossi:

“Compared to this morning, we’re more satisfied because we were able to solve some problems with the front. I’m able to ride better, but now we must concentrate on our work on the rear of the bike. I’m a realist. We have some ideas that we’ll try out tomorrow. We could take a nice step forward. We’re very close to the others, and although I’m not in my top form, I can improve upon today.”

Randy De Puniet:

“In the end, it was a bad day if I consider that my physical condition isn’t allowing me to be at 100%. We didn’t change many things between this morning and this afternoon. However, we did decide to see which of the two frames we have available to us could better reward our work. The new one gave us a somewhat better impression considering that with the other one, the one we used for the first part of the season, I lost the front and fell. I think and I hope that with the small changes we’ll try tomorrow, I’ll be able to reduce the gap to the riders who tend to be in the top ten.”

Pramac Racing Team press release

Elías finds small afternoon improvements

LCR Honda rider Toni Elías is hopeful that his previous form of winning in Moto2 at Brno in 2010 and premier class podiums in 2008 and 2009 can inspire him this weekend, and prove the turning point of his 2011 season. On Friday the Spaniard registered a best lap time of 1’59.157 across both practice sessions, leaving him 18th on the timesheet.

Toni Elías:

“After the summer break I am happy to ride here in Brno. It’s one of my favourite tracks and in 2008 and 2009 I experienced the podium in the premier class. Unfortunately we have started the weekend with the same issues but we had some small improvements in the afternoon session. Now we must work on that to take another step forward ahead of the qualifying session. Despite this difficult situation I am very motivated and the team is doing a good job to help me.”

Simoncelli sets front row pace on Friday

The Italian is satisfied with his performance and confident that he and the team know how to improve the handling of his RC212V still further. Hiroshi Aoyama rode the Czech circuit for the first time on a MotoGP bike, and although his position is not the best, his feeling is good and everything is in place for improved performance tomorrow.

Marco Simoncelli: 

“I’m happy with the two sessions today because we have come back from the holidays immediately on the pace. Pedrosa's speed is impressive, but right now the priority for me is to improve my confidence with the bike and not think about him. We are working on my position on the bike and the general set-up and I’m sure we can have a great weekend. We need to improve on corner entry to give me more confidence on the brakes and try to create a bike that allows me to hold my line through the corner. Overall, I’m feeling confident and with this small adjustment we can only improve.”

Hiroshi Aoyama: 

“I am happy to be back on track here at Brno after the summer break. I found a good feeling on the bike, even though this is the first time I have ridden it at this circuit. The team is working well and I’m sure we can improve our position tomorrow. My confidence with the bike is good and I think we should easily move up the order with more time on track.”

San Carlo Honda Gresini press release.

Yamaha Factory Racing get back to business in Brno

World Champion Lorenzo and his crew were focused on improving the stopping ability and turning ability going into corners over the two sessions. He finished the morning session in fourth, 1.259 seconds from first and improved in the afternoon, remaining fourth but reducing the gap to first to 0.720 seconds.

Spies performance echoed his fellow Factory Yamaha team mate, finishing the morning session in sixth 1.575 seconds from first and improving in the afternoon. He retained sixth position but reduced the gap to first to 1.177 seconds. The Texan rider’s performance was hampered by numbness in his left arm caused by a trapped nerve in his neck which is being treated by Clinica Mobile after each session.

Jorge Lorenzo: 

“Today’s sessions have not been exactly as we expected. We are struggling a bit on braking and we lose too much time over the lap. Tomorrow we will work hard to improve the bike in the morning to be ready for qualifying because at this moment we are pretty far from the front.”

Ben Spies: 

“It was an ok day for us, I’m actually pretty happy with the results. I’ve got a little bit of a pinched nerve in my neck and I’m struggling a little bit on the bike but I’m still giving it 100%. Lap times aren’t too bad I’m just not able to put too many laps together in a row. We’re going to do a lot of physio over the next couple of days to get it where it’s comfortable for the race and I’m pretty optimistic about how we can turn things around for Sunday.”

Yamaha Factory Racing press release

Pedrosa dominates Brno day one

The 25 year old Repsol Honda rider set off into the second practice session at a blazing pace after crushing the field in the first outing of the day, though was unable to better his time of 1'56.328 that he achieved in the earlier session.

The rest of the field responded, with team mate Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) moving into second in the later half of the session with a time of 1'56.831, an improvement of 0.436s over his FP1 time and the only other rider to break the 1’57” barrier.

Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Team) was unshaken by a crash at the end of FP1 and improved his time by three tenths with a lap of 1'57.136, keeping him third fastest of the day, while reigning MotoGP Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) improved his time by four tenths with a time set on lap 15 of 1'57.136 to place him in fourth.

Andrea Dovizioso was again fifth quickest in FP2 and remained fifth fastest of the day with a best time of 1'57.535, ahead of Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) in sixth position by 0.096s.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team), who placed fifth last year at Brno, improved on his FP1 time by over a second, moving him into seventh, while team mate Nicky Hayden was down in 14th. Álvaro Bautista rode his Rizla Suzuki into eighth fastest of the day, ahead of Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow and wild card John Hopkins aboard the Rizla Suzuki.

MotoGP rookie Karel Abraham (Cardion ab Motoracing) was down in 17th at his home race, while Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing), who is already riding with injuries from a crash at Laguna Seca, had a fall in the last minutes of the session.

Stoner and Pedrosa break into all-time podium top ten

First and third places for Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa at the previous US MotoGP marked the 52nd time that each had stood on the premier-class podium.

As shown in the following table, this places them in the top ten of riders with most podiums in the premier-class, and equal with 1987 world champion Wayne Gardner.

However, the pair remain 87 podiums behind Valentino Rossi...

Premier-class podiums:

1. Valentino Rossi 139 

2. Mick Doohan 95 

3. Giacomo Agostini 88 

4. Eddie Lawson 78 

5. Wayne Rainey 64 

6. Max Biaggi 58 

7. Randy Mamola 54 

= 8. Casey Stoner 52 

= 8. Wayne Gardner 52 

= 8. Dani Pedrosa 52

Barbera targets MotoGP top five

Hector Barbera enters the second half of his second MotoGP season believing he can beat his best finish of sixth, as he seeks to secure his Aspar Ducati ride for 2012.

The Aspar outfit, which fields teams in all three grand prix classes, looks certain to remain in MotoGP next year - and may even expand to two bikes.

Barbera has been the team's lone rider since its 2010 premier-class debut and is keen to prove his credentials, starting this weekend at Brno, a 'special' circuit for the 

#8.

"Brno is a special circuit for me - I managed to finish fourth here in my first season riding in the 125cc World Championship after qualifying in ninth, which is still one of my best ever races and one I will always remember," said Barbera.

"We were riding on standard kit and managed to fight with the factory riders. I love Brno and I am perfectly prepared for this one. I have done a lot of physical training over the break and I am looking forward to giving 200% on track. 

"There are a lot of fast corners which are good for me and the goal is to improve on my best finish this season, which was sixth at Jerez, and continue the good form we have shown at Mugello, Sachsenring and Laguna Seca".

After ten rounds Barbera holds eleventh in the championship and is the highest satellite Ducati rider.

source: crash.net

Edwards targeting first Brno top six

A first top-six finish at Brno is the main target for Colin Edwards this weekend, as the Texan seeks to consolidate is position as the top satellite rider in the 2011 MotoGP World Championship.

The Tech 3 rider arrives at round ten holding eighth in the championship, four points clear of Gresini Honda's Hiroshi Aoyama and having been the only non-factory rider to stand on the podium so far this year.

"I am really excited about going to Brno, even though it has never been a great track for me for some reason. But it is the start of the second half of the season and I can't wait to get back on my Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine," said Edwards, who made his Brno MotoGP debut in 2003.

"I've had some decent results at Brno but nothing really great. I've never scored a top six there so I'll be aiming to put that right on Sunday. We've struggled with set-up issues since Sachsenring and nothing has gone fantastic since then. 

"But I'm confident we can make the bike better at Brno and a good result will set us up nicely for the last seven races, starting with another trip home to Indianapolis later this month, which I'm really excited about."

During the summer break Edwards welcomed the Tech 3 crew to his Texas Tornado Boot Camp.

"I had some decent time off with the family and spent some days in the Boot Camp. All the guys from the Team came straight after Laguna Seca and we all had a great time, and it is clear that I'm not the only one fast on two wheels in our squad!" said Edwards.

Crutchlow buoyant for second-half of season

Cal Crutchlow is confident he can turn his maiden MotoGP World Championship season around during the second-half of the year as he approaches circuits that are more familiar to him.

The British rider has shown flashes of speed aboard the Tech 3 Yamaha this season, particularly in qualifying, but his form has dipped since injuring himself in a fall at Silverstone, Crutchlow scoring just four points in the last four races.

Down to 15th in the overall standings, Crutchlow nonetheless has higher hopes for the upcoming races around circuits that bear a greater resemblance to those on the World Superbike calendar, starting with this weekend's event at Brno.

"I am looking forward to the second half of the season as some of the tracks that are coming up I know and I've done well on before, including Brno. Almost all the circuits in the first half of the season were new for me and I always had to learn from zero. But that's all part of the learning experience and I'm concentrating solely on getting a good result this weekend and putting the bad luck behind me. 

“The last few races have been quite difficult, but I showed at the start of the season my potential with some strong performances, and that's the form I need to rediscover, starting in Brno this weekend. The track is a good one for me and I've got good memories from last season when I got on the podium and also took pole position in World Superbikes. 

“So it is a track I know I am fast on and I am looking forward to seeing how it feels on a MotoGP bike. I had a good summer break and stayed on in America for a holiday, but now I'm ready to get back working hard with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team and having a good final part of the season.”

source: crash.net

Rossi laughs at Honda rumours, Ducati in 2012

Valentino Rossi has confirmed he will remain with Ducati for the second year of his existing MotoGP contract, in 2012.

Highly-unlikely rumours of an early Ducati split in order to switch back to Honda, the manufacturer Rossi left under something of a cloud at the end of 2003, emerged during the MotoGP summer break.

Those rumours, which seem to have been fuelled by comments from former MotoGP rider Marco Melandri, were rejected by nine-time world champion Rossi at Brno on Thursday.

"I read about something from my new manager, the Superbike rider Marco Melandri, who knows everything about my decision for next year!" laughed Rossi.

"Joking aside, I will race for Ducati next year for sure. It is not in doubt. The contract is signed and the situation is 100 percent fixed. 

"So for sure I will race with Ducati - if Melandri agrees!"

Melandri meanwhile claims he was only joking: 

"Kidding I said Rossi was looking for a Honda and everyone write it all over… Why I have to always [look] like a bad boy? Let me just race," the factory Yamaha WSBK rider wrote on Twitter.

Rossi has taken just one podium from his first ten races as a Ducati rider and is currently fifth in the world championship heading into this weekend's Czech Republic round.

Rossi's team-mate Nicky Hayden also has a Ducati contract for 2012.

Pramac pair taking injuries to Brno

Loris Capirossi and Randy de Puniet insist they will race in the Czech Republic Grand Prix at Brno, despite each suffering with persistent injuries sustained over the last few rounds.

Capirossi is still incurring problems from the shoulder injury he sustained back at Assen, an ailment that ruled him out of races at Misano and the Sachsenring, though he did return last time out at Laguna Seca.

Undergoing therapy every day, Capirossi admits surgery on the shoulder is probable, but only when the season has concluded.

“Unfortunately, the shoulder problem is persisting. The doctor said I should undergo surgery, but I'll only consider that after the championship. For now I'm undergoing therapy every day. For Brno I hope to continue improving my physical condition. 

“I've rested during this two-week break, which I really needed. I want to ride well and to finally have a good result. The Czech track is one of my favorites, so hopefully I'll manage that.”

Frenchman de Puniet, meanwhile, is still feeling pain from the pelvis injury he picked up in the United States, even if further examination revealed he hasn't fractured it.

“Missing the race at Laguna Seca was very difficult for me to accept, especially after the hard work carried out during practice and qualifying. During the past couple of weeks, I visited the doctor to better understand the situation with my pelvis. Fortunately, there are no fractures, but the pain still hasn't gone away. 

“I underwent, and am still undergoing, daily therapy in order to be ready for Brno. The bike had responded well to input in recent races, and it would be a shame not to take full advantage of this positive moment for us with the bike.”

source: crash.net

Stoner to be a father, softens Motegi stance

On Thursday in the Czech Republic, MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner announced that he is to become a father for the first time.

The 25-year-old Repsol Honda rider, married to Adriana, won the 2007 world championship for Ducati and starts this weekend's Brno round with a 20 point lead over Yamaha's reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Stoner also explained that his wife's pregnancy was a major factor in his reluctance to attend the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi.

At the Sachsenring in mid-July Stoner had stated "I will not go", due to radiation fears, but he has softened his stance during the summer break.

“There was a period after Silverstone that I felt very strongly that I wasn't going to go there. After things I'd seen and heard,” commented the Australian. “But that came from a very strong emotion after we found out that Adriana was pregnant. 

"We've discussed it a lot since then and that's a huge thing that's happened in my life and now the most important. I felt that the best thing I could do at that time was to make my mind up. There was no way I was going to risk my wife or my family and it was very tough.

“But in these weeks I've taken a lot of data from Australia, people we feel we can trust on the matter, and I'm now slightly more open to it than I was before. I think people can understand I was taken a little bit with my safety and that of my family in this matter. 

"We'll see in these next weeks, we'll continue talking and try and find out as much information as we can. I'm not saying that I am going, but I'm not saying that I'm not now. So we'll just have to see what happens in the near future.”

Lorenzo had also said he will not attend the Motegi event and the majority of MotoGP riders signed a petition against holding the race. 

However, an independent study recently declared that "the radiation risk during the [Motegi] event is negligible" and the Japanese MotoGP is thus expected to go ahead as planned on October 2.

The four other riders present at the Brno press conference on Thursday - Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Alvaro Bautista and Karel Abraham - said that they would also wait further before making a firm decision, with a riders' Safety Commission meeting planned for Friday.

Motegi is around 110 km from the damaged Fukushima power plant.

source: crash.net

Racing numbers for the Cardion ab Grand Prix Ceské republiky

100 - Yuki Takahashi will be making his 100th GP start at the Czech Grand Prix. Takahashi made his GP debut at the age of seventeen as a wildcard rider in the 125cc class at Motegi in 2001. After several more wildcard appearances, he became a full time GP rider in the 250cc class in 2005. His entire subsequent GP career has been spent in the intermediate class with the exception of 2009 when he competed for a half a season in the MotoGP class.

66 - Casey Stoner’s victory at Laguna Seca was the 66th win for Honda since the introduction of the four stroke Moto¬GP formula at the start of 2002. This is only one more win in MotoGP than rival Yamaha has taken over the same period.

42 - This will be the 42nd occasion that a Grand Prix event will have been staged at Brno. The first Grand Prix to be held at Brno was back in 1965 on the old road circuit which measured 13.94 km. The circuit remained essentially the same until 1975, when it was shortened to the 10.92 km circuit that was used up until 1982, at which time it was deemed no longer up to the safety standards required for Grand Prix racing. The current circuit was first used for a Grand Prix in 1987 and has been visited every year since with the exception of 1992. Originally, the event held at Brno was the Grand Prix of Czechoslovakia, until 1991 when the country was divided and the Czech Republic was formed.

37 - The three Spanish riders Jorge Martinez, Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa have all stood on the top step of the podium in Grand Prix racing on 37 occasions. The only Spanish rider with more GP wins than these three is Angel Nieto with 90 GP victories to his name.

32 - On the first day of practice at the Czech Grand Prix it will be exactly 32 years ago to the day that Kenny Roberts and Barry Sheene had a great battle at the 1979 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Just 0.03 seconds covered the two riders at the end of the race - one of the closest finishes of all time in the premier class.

26 - Mattia Pasini will celebrate his 26th birthday on the day of qualifying at the Czech Grand Prix. p>

24 - This will be the 24th time that the current circuit has hosted a Grand Prix event.

18 - Jonas Folger will celebrate his 18th birthday on the day of qualifying at the Czech Grand Prix.

8 years - Lucio Cecchinello’s 125cc lap record that he set in 2003 at Brno still stands. This is the longest standing lap record across all three classes on the current Grand Prix calendar.

5 - Since the introduction of the four-stroke MotoGP class in 2002, Yamaha have been the most successful manufactu¬rer at the Brno circuit with five wins, followed by Honda and Ducati each with two victories.

5 - Casey Stoner’s win at Laguna Seca was his 5th win of this year. This is the greatest number of MotoGP victories in a single season by a Honda rider since Valentino Rossi won nine MotoGP races in 2003 when riding for Honda.

5 - Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil finished fifth last year at his home Grand Prix - his best ever result in Grand Prix racing and the best result by a Czech rider at Brno in any class since 2007.

1 - There has only been one podium finish by a Czech rider on the current Brno circuit layout: Lukas Pesek’s third place in the 125cc race in 2007 riding a Derbi.

1 - Of the current circuits, the only one that has hosted more Grand Prix events than Brno is Assen, which has been on the Grand Prix calendar every year since 1949.

0 - The number of victories for Honda at Brno during the 800cc era of MotoGP. Sete Gibernau’s victory in 2004 was the last time that a Honda rider won the MotoGP race at Brno.