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casey-stoner-motogp-qatar-test-ducati

After the torrential rain on Sunday evening, riders were not taking any chances with cool temperatures and a dirty track surface from high winds earlier last night. Without little surprise, lap times were well off record pace, and most riders were not taking any extra chances after seeing Chris Vermeulen, Dani Pedrosa and Mikka Kallio all crash out, and the track red flagged twice. Despite the carnage, Casey Stoner found himself on the top of the stack as the fastest rider of the day in the second round of testing at Qatar.

 

nicky-hayden-qatar-test-motogp-ducati

Testing was cut short for the first day at Qatar as a rare rainstorm put a hold to the first session under the lights of the MotoGP Official Night Test. At 6pm there were ambient temperatures of 68ºF and track temperatures of 75ºF, but an hour later heavy rain drove the riders off track and back into the shelter of their pit-boxes. Almost half the MotoGP field had not left their garages before the rain arrived, including Valentino Rossi,  Casey Stoner, and  Dani Pedrosa.

 

haga-phillip-island

There’s a lot of talk this year about how WSBK will be more entertaining than MotoGP, and while we here at A&R do love us some MotoGP, one thing that WSBK will always have that’s better is TWO races on Sunday. Just like Race 1, Race 2 was action packed, and saw some familiar names taking shots at each other on the tarmac. Click ahead for spoilers and a full breakdown of Race 2 at Phillip Island.

 

haga-neukirchner-phillip-island

The first stop of the World Superbike tour occurred this past Sunday, and the results are in. This season marks the return of Aprilia to WSBK racing, and welcomed newcomer BMW to the paddock as well. With seven manufacturers on the grid, racing was expected to be heated, close, and exciting, and Phillip Island delivered. Click ahead for spoilers and a full breakdown of Race 1 at Phillip Island.

 

kers

Harald Bartol, who heads the KTM 125cc & 250cc GP teams, has revealed that the Austrian company was the first to use a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) on Tommy Koyama’s racebike last year. KERS was first fitted to Koyama’s bike during the 125cc GP in Valencia last year, and KTM is looking to explore how KERS could be applied in other racing applications and production motorcycles.

motogp-paddock-trailers

The Grand Prix Commission has announced a slew of new rules for MotoGP, supposedly aimed at cutting costs in MotoGP, and thus allowing the manufacturers and teams to compete despite the world’s economic situation. 

The new measures include the following:

  • Race weekends will be rescheduled with Friday’s practice dropped completely, and Saturday’s sessions shortend.
  • From the Czech GP onward, a maximum of 5 engines can be used in 8 races. No changing of parts will be permitted except daily maintenance.
  • Only 2 post race tests will be allowed at the Catalunya and Czech GP’s for development purposes, and only using test riders will be permitted.
  • Ceramic composite materials are not permitted for brake discs or pads.
  • Electronic controlled suspension is not permitted.
  • Launch control systems are not permitted.

 

ben-spies-wsbk-phillip-island-qualifying

Ben Spies sits on top of the leader board at today’s qualifying at Phillip Island, and is the first winner of World Superbike’s new Superpole system. Quashing any comments from naysayers who still harbored considerable doubts about Yamaha’s recruit from the AMA, Spies showed that he is the real deal in WSBK and could be one of the riders to watch in the series. Tomorrow, he gets two chances to show what he can do it in the race. Max Biaggi follows the American rookie with a strong showing for Aprilia’s WSBK comeback, which has on exactly how similar it is to the production version of the RSV4. Continue reading for times from qualifying.

 

aprilia-rsv4-production

Controversy has hit Aprilia after Max Biaggi took second place in the Superpole shoot out. Alstare Suzuki owner and team manager, Jean Francois Batta told Italian network La7 that: “Everyone knows that the RSV4 is a prototype and shouldn’t be racing here in SBK. After the race I’m going to the technical commission and lodge a complaint.” According to paddock gossip the Alstare techs seem to have had a tiny peek at Aprilia’s fuel system and saw something that did not convince them. Fuel systems according to Superbike regulations have to be identical to the road bike version. Since Aprilia’s return to the series, several teams have quietly expressed concern regarding Aprilia’s new superbike, deeming it not yet a true production bike.

 

bulgarian-gp-motogp

The FIM MotoGP World Championship will arrive in Bulgaria as of 2012, following a preliminary agreement reached between the Bulgarian Motorcycle Federation and Dorna Sports, the commercial rights holder for MotoGP. The new five year deal, which will take MotoGP to Bulgaria from 2012 to 2016, marks another step into Eastern Europe for MotoGP, and who recently signed a similar deal for a Hungarian GP.

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melandri-kawasaki-pits

It is now official, Marco Melandri will be on the grid at Qatar for the start of the 2009 season with a factory supported Kawasaki. Kawasaki issued a statement earlier today, stating that the agreement to provide support for the team had come because of “the necessity to come to constructive solutions for all related parties.” Kawasaki throughout the entire saga has had tremendous pressure from Dorna to stay in the racing series, and Dorna was under considerable pressure from FIM to field enough bikes to keep its “Championship” status. Both of these issues seem now solved with Kawasaki’s announcement as the minimum quota of 18 riders is now met.

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