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MotoGP TV Ratings Continue to Drop Without Rossi

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TV ratings for the Dutch TT at Assen are in for the Italian TV market (one of the largest markets for MotoGP), and once again they show a decline in MotoGP’s allure without Valentino Rossi. With 2,579,000 viewers, making up 16.79% of the total television audience, MotoGP in Holland attracted only half the audience from last year’s event (5,249,000 viewers, 31.69% of the total television audience). With a similar trend in 125GP and Moto2, some in the Italian press are calling for Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta’s resignation, as these ratings are surely a sign of the sport’s demise.

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MotoGP: Hat-Trick Win at Dutch TT

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From the land of windmills, awkward late night television commercials, and mayonnaise covered French fries, comes MotoGP action at Assen. The only MotoGP race to start on Saturday instead of Sunday, Holland played host to its 80th Dutch TT this weekend. Assen saw a few riders making progress on their season, despite only 15 bikes taking to the grid. Check after the jump for race spoilers.

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MotoGP: Lorenzo on Poll at Assen – Spies Continues to Impress with 4th Place Qualifying Finish

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Jorge Lorenzo continues to dominate in a Rossi-less MotoGP, taking his second pole this season while at Assen for the Dutch TT. Also making waves was American Ben Spies, who after taking a third place finish at Silverstone, finds himself fourth on the starting grid tomorrow for the Dutch TT’s Saturday race day start. Lastly, a big shirt-less high five goes to Randy de Puniet for taking his second second-place qualifying in a row. The Frenchman continues to make the Repsol Honda team look bad with his impressive season, and apparently hasn’t gotten the memo that satellite riders are supposed to be slow.

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Melandri Dislocates Shoulder – Out for Dutch TT

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Injuries continue to plague MotoGP, and the starting grid at Assen will feature only 15 riders as Marco Melandri dislocated his shoulder during today’s early morning practice session (FP2). Melandri was going through the revised Ruskenhoek corner, and found himself overshooting the corner, as he negotiated the narrow run-off, his rear tire went from the slippery grass surface to the tarmac. Catching immediate traction, the Gresini Honda catapulted Melandri, who landed on his shoulder, which became dislocated.

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Ben Spies Talks About His Podium at Silverstone

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After taking his first GP podium at Silverstone during the British GP, OnTheThrottle TV caught up with Ben Spies to talk to the American rider about what it was like to achieve the next milestone in his young career. Talking about his highside leading up to Sunday’s race, Spies gives a tremendous amount of insight into heating up the Bridgestone tires, which helps to further explain Rossi’s highside at Mugello. Spies also gives us a perspective on the on-track communication riders have when it comes to catching up to other riders and fighting for position. Check out the full skype interview after the jump, and hang on through the technical issues.

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Official: Yamaha Test Rider Wataru Yoshikawa Will Replace Valentino Rossi at Fiat-Yamaha

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Yamaha has officially announced that factory test rider Wataru Yoshikawa will be replacing Valentino Rossi at the next rounds of the MotoGP series, starting at the Catalan GP in Barcelona. The move comes after much speculation was created about whom would take the place of the Italian GP Champion, after his crash at Mugello. Yoshikawa is a former Japanese SBK Champion (1994 & 1999), and his ridden as a GP wild card numerous times for Yamaha.

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Hiroshi Aoyama Out for 2-3 Months, Kousuke Akiyoshi in for Interwetten Honda at Assen

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After getting another examination in Barcelona by a specialist, Hiroshi Aoyama has been ruled out from racing for at least two months, after the Japanese ride fractured his T12 vertabra. Taking Aoyama’s place will be Honda test rider Kousuke Akiyoshi, which will keep MotoGP from fielding only 15 bikes on the Dutch grid this weekend. Akiyoshi will race for Interwetten Honda at Assen, and also at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.

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Get Ready for Miller Motorsports Park – Re-Watch All the World Superbike Races Here

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The countdown to Memorial Day weekend is alive and well in the Asphalt & Rubber office this week (in fact our web designer already took off for Amsterdam…no good can come from that). As we Americans get ready for a three-day weekend (four-days if you played your vacation/sick days right), one of the highlights that we can look forward to is World Superbike’s sole stop in the US at the Miller Motorsports Park.

Helping get us ready for the only WSBK race to occur on a Monday, we’ve gotten ahold of all the past WSBK races, and put them into one post so you can re-cap the 2010 season to-date. Ok, ok, World Superbike put them up on YouTube, and we copy/pasted the clips into this post…but still, it’s a great way to re-live the WSBK season before it hits MMP, or to just catch a race you missed. Kyalami above, Monza, Assen, Valencia, Portimao, and Phillip Island after the jump. Enjoy!

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WSBK: Close Group Vies for Win in Race 1 at Assen

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The results of Race 1 at Assen may not be a huge surprise for race fans, but the racing that took place to get those results surely was. The first race of World Superbike’s stop in mayonnaise country saw some strong showings from hometown favorites, and some disappointments from WSBK greats. This trend in the 2010 season seems to be the norm this year, which means great racing for WSBK fans. With five racers vying for the win and only a handful of laps to go, you’ll be disappointed if you didn’t catch this race and its conclusion.

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WSBK: Assen Superpole Sees Surprise Front Row

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World Superbike action came to Assen this weekend, and it didn’t take long for the Dutch track to claim it’s first victim. Seeing a rider crash in the first round, and a number of big names lost in the second round shuffle, the Superpole format clearly is still a quagmire for many teams. This didn’t stop a couple familiar names from making it onto the front row, but going into the WSBK round in Holland, you never would have guessed who these riders would have been.

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