Going into Sunday’s race, it seemed for certain that a Spaniard would once again be on the podium at Jerez. Then The Doctor showed up with a lightning fast warm up time, that just eeked out Jorge Lorenzo’s. With the Italian interjecting himself on this previously Spanish only affair, the Spanish GP was shaping up to be a a blood sport exhibition for the 123,000 Spanish fans filling the grandstand. Continue reading on for a full race report from Jerez.
Editor’s note: The colored rims are only for non-competetive sessions such as the Free Practice sessions, and for Qualifying or Racing.
Bridgestone, the now sole provider of tires for the MotoGP series, is taking a cue from from Formula 1 and coloring the rims of MotoGP bikes to indicate the tire compound the rider has selected. Like in Formula 1, green will be used for riders using the soft compound, and red for riders using the hard compound.
For now, this is purely for the enjoyment of TV viewers, but there is speculation that color codes could lead to abuse by teams looking to inject a little disinformation into their rival teams. We imagine safeguards similar to those in Formula 1 will be put in place, and that the coloring scheme will play into MotoGP racing as it has in the pinnacle of auto racing.
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Ducati is recalling 1,755 units their 2009 Monster 696 motorcycle for problems with its main wiring harness. The harness may come in contact with the vertical cylinder head and exhaust pipe. This poor placement could possibly result in the harness being damaged, and the rider not looking nearly as cool on the cheapest bike Ducati has to offer. Also, the rider could die. For a Ducati rider, its hard to say which fate is worse.
It took Jorge Lorenzo just 1’38.933 to lap around the circuit at Jerez, and put himself at the front of the grid on Sunday for the MotoGP Spanish Gran Prix. The Spainard didn’t disappoint his home crowd, as he staved off the other local favorite, Dani Pedrosa.
The two riders have been in top form all week, and Pedrosa again demonstrated his improving form and fitness on the Repsol Honda RC212V , lapping just 0.051 seconds behind Lorenzo to take the second place spot on the starting line tomorrow. Completing out the front row is Casey Stoner, who was half a second behind Lorenzo at what he describes as his least favorite track.
A lot of talk has gone on about who will be providing the single spec motor to the new Moto2 series. First, it was rumored that (read, not Kawasaki). And now, all this talk can finally be put to rest as the GP Commission has announced that Honda will provide the motors for the Moto2 season, which is slated to start in 2010, and replace the 250cc GP class.
John Hopkins last week at Assen. While initial reports suggested that no bones had been broken, Hopkins, upon his return back to California, found that in addition to the muscle and tendon damage suffered in the dislocation, he also had a fractured femur. The renowned surgeon and motorcycle crash specialist, Dr. Ting operated on Hopkins on Monday, inserting screws to fix the fracture. Hopper has already left the hospital to start his recovery at his California home, and hopes to return to competitive action at the US round of WSBK at the Miller Motorsport Park on May 31st.
Yes…we just wanted an excuse to post these pictures of the Hayden/Takahashi collision. While Nicky Hayden hasn’t had the best of luck in the first two races of MotoGP, on a positive note though the Kentuckian rider recently stated, “At Motegi I felt as though the communication within the team had improved, the work we’re doing together as a group is becoming more smooth.” Hayden concluded by saying he didn’t “even want to think about the possibility of it raining again.”
Hayden is currently 15th in the MotoGP standings, 37 points behind leader Jorge Lorenzo.
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In what will be his first visit to the Isle of Man, six-time MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will do an exhibition lap at the start of this year’s IoM TT. Rossi will ride a 2009 Yamaha R1 alongside multi-time motorcycle GP racing world champion, Giacomo Agostini. Don’t expect any hot laps though. The pair will be parading around the course behind a safety car, and followed by a crew of as many as eight race marshals. A team of PR reps will be on hand to freak out in case Rossi crashes on the , and unable to compete in the following weekend’s GP race in Barcelona.
Ktm is recalling 237 2009 690 Duke and SMC motorcycles in the United States. The cause of the recall is that during use, the front forks could develop cracks, resulting in the possibility of the front fork inner tube separating from the axle clamp. This is due to an improper heat treatment of the front fork inner tubes from the factory. If untreated, this defect could lead to a loss of control and possibly a crash, which could cause injury or death to the rider or others.
Afflicted owners can take their bikes to their local KTM dealership where dealers will inspect and replace the front fork tubes free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during april 2009. Owners may contact KTM customer relations at 440-985-3553. Owners may also contact the national highway traffic safety administration’s vehicle safety hotline at 1-888-327-4236, or go to .
Source: NHTSA
Motorcycle couriers in Mexico City are doing booming business with the recent outbreak of Swine Flu. With over 20 million residents in the Mexico City metropolitan area, many of whom too afraid to venture outside with the outbreak, there has been an increased demand of residents turning to motorcycle couriers to fetch for them their daily necessities. One firm is doing so well that they’re advertising for ‘brave and willing’ riders to keep up with demand. It just goes to show you that the end of the world will be a little bit more like Resident Evil 3, with motorcycles being the preferred mode of transportation, than Mad Max. We will miss the Thunderdome though.
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Bridgestone race tire manager Tohru Ubukata has issued an official apology to Dani Pedrosa and the Repsol Honda Team for the condition of Pedrosa’s front tire during the Japanese GP at Motegi. As you can see in the photo, Pedrosa came back into the pits after the race with chunks of rubber missing from the tire carcass. Bridgestone has promised to carry out a full investigation to find out why the tire was missing pieces at the the end of the Motegi GP.
According to Ubukata, no other riders or tires were affected with a similar malfunction, which makes this an unfortunate incident for Pedrosa:
“We did see some problems with Dani Pedrosa’s medium compound front Bridgestone tire after the race. All the other tires that were used during the weekend, and this season, performed well so we can say this is a problem isolated to just this one tire, but of course we have already taken the tire to our technical center in Tokyo where we are investigating the problem in detail.”
Pedrosa could very well owe his 3rd place finish to that tire malfunction, being unable to pass Rossi after several opportunities. Its a good thing the official track car of MotoGP isn’t a Ford Explorer.
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