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Stoner Waivers on Motegi – Announces Baby is on the Way

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The MotoGP World Championship resumed in full-force on Thursday in Brno, as the summer break concluded and the Czech GP began. The first gathering of the MotoGP riders since the official independent report on the safety concerning the Motegi circuit, all eyes were on Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo to see if their stance had changed regarding the postponed Japanese GP. With both riders softening their stance on boycotting the Japanese MotoGP round, it was Stoner who dropped the bigger bombshell, announcing that he and wife Adriana were expecting their first child. Saying that he would further consider racing at Motegi, Stoner admitted that the news he was about to become a family man influenced his decision to race at Motegi.

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Opinion/Editorial

An Analysis of the Troubles with the Ducati Desmosedici

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The obvious point to make in the 2011 MotoGP Championship is that Ducati Corse is struggling to compete with Yamaha and Honda, despite having the G.O.A.T. himself, Valentino Rossi, riding for the Italian squad. The recent history of the Desmosedici is fraught with bullet points of issues, most of which coming back to the bike’s notoriously vague front-end. Though showing moments of promise, even brilliance, including a World Championship with Casey Stoner at the helm, the Ducati Desmosedici has earned the reputation as a career-ender and a confidence destroyer among its less fortunate pilots.

When the dream team of development came to Ducati, in the guise of Valentino Rossi and Jeremy Burgess et al, the talk before the 2011 season was that the nine-time World Champion and his perhaps even more impressive garage crew could have the Desmosedici figured out in no-time at all. With the now infamous quote from Burgess that the GP10 could be sorted out in about 20 seconds still resonating in the MotoGP paddock, we stand now well over half of the way through the current MotoGP season, and the Championship standings hide what’s been apparent from day one: the Desmoproblema requires more than a quick-fix.

The solution to fixing the Ducati Desmosedici can be broken down into three camps, and depending whose opinion you solicit, you’ll get one of the following causes for Ducati’s uncompetitive season: the motor, the chassis, or the rider. Walking us through that analysis is our good friend David Emmett (bookmark his site MotoMatters.com right now), who may not be the most astute automatic transmission driver we’ve ever seen, but when it comes to comprehensive MotoGP analysis, the man is second to none.

Putting together an exhaustive digest on the issues that are surrounding Valentino Rossi, Ducati Corse, and the Desmosedici, Emmett weighs and measures the different dynamics of the problem at hand. Head on over to MotoMatters with your beverage of choice in-hand, and hear what MotoGP’s most-enlightened journalist has to say on the biggest subject in MotoGP.

Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved

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Racing

MotoGP: Second Half of the Season Kicks off with US GP

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The Golden State played host to MotoGP this weekend, with the premier class racing under perfect California weather (despite a typically dreary coastal morning). With riders having to contend with the cold mornings and hot afternoons, the record gate-atteneded Laguna Seca circuit, with its roller-coaster Cork Screw turn, threw every trick it had at the GP racers.

Despite its best efforts, Seca could not get the better of Jorge Lorenzo, who had been strong all weekend and sat on pole for Sunday’s race. Despite being joined by Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner on the front row, Lorenzo looked ready to take on the Repsol Honda squad single-handedly, though teammate Ben Spies sat right behind the reigning World Champion in the fourth grid spot.

With Spies seemingly finding the extra half second he needed during the warm-up session, all eyes were on the Texan to see if he could win in front of a home crowd, find out how he and the other MotoGP riders lapped after the jumped.

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Racing

MotoGP: Yamahas vs. Hondas During Qualifying at MotoGP

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MotoGP comes to America this weekend, as Laguna Seca played a sunny host to the premier class of motorcycle racing today. Showing cold mornings, and hot afternoons, riders and teams have had to contend with a variety of conditions while preparing for the US GP. With Ducati continuing to struggle with front-end woes, eyes turned towards Yamaha to see if Iwata’s riders could find luck with their 50th Anniversary livery and put some pressure on the Factory Honda riders.

Answering the call was a very fast Jorge Lorenzo on Friday, and the Spaniard continued his front-running pace through-out all of the sessions, never letting Stoner, Dovi, and Pedrosa out of his sights. Lorenzo’s teammate Ben Spies struggled however, consistently half a second behind the leading group of riders. Knowing that his bike had another five tenths in it, Spies was confident going into qualifying that he could put the M1 on the front-row, and put on a show for the American crowd.

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Racing

MotoGP Riders to Boycott Motegi Round

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News out of Germany this weekend is that 15 of the 17 riders racing in the MotoGP Championship have threatened to boycott the Japanese GP at Motegi later this year because of safety concerns. Lead by Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, who publicly announced Saturday at the post-qualifying debriefing that they would not race in Japan, the riders are worried about radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, despite Motegi officials (essentially HRC) declaring the Twin Rings circuit safe. The planned boycott also comes ahead of an independent study being conducted on behalf of MotoGP, which is supposed to be an objective assessment of the track’s safety for host MotoGP (the results of the study are due to go public on July 31st).

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Racing

Video: Casey Stoner at 1,000 Frames per Second

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Stand at any corner during a MotoGP session and in real time you’ll witness a variety of riding styles and lines, not to mention see plenty of body-english that tells you how a rider is coping with his machine. Slow all that down by about 50x speed, and you’ve got something. You’ve got art, and that’s what Red Bull has done here with its Red Bull Moments.

Shooting Casey stoner in 1,000 fps slow-motion video at the Catalan GP, Red Bull brings us every body panel flex, every exhaust pipe wag, and every wheel and dry clutch rotation…and oh, Casey also talks about racing in MotoGP. Bonus points to Red Bull for including the Karel Abraham “look back” shot as well (a personal pet-peev of Stoner’s).

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Racing

Casey Stoner on Developing the Honda RC213V

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Sitting down with Casey Stoner after the Italian GP at Mugello, the HRC media department asked a bevy of questions to the Australian rider. In the interview, Stoner primarily talks about about the upcoming 1,000cc 2012 Honda RC213V and its differences to the current batch of 800cc motorcycles. Stoner also sheds light on his riding style, how he operates during the race weekend to setup his race package, and what he looks for from a motorcycle to fit his riding strengths.

Perhaps the most interesting thing to come from Stoner’s statements is how similar the RC213V is to the RC212V, and his thoughts on over-taking and passing in MotoGP. While the insight is an important one, one should always consider the source, and it doesn’t surprise us that a GP rider would suggest that its an increase in caliber of rider that’s responsible for less passing and overtaking in GP racing. Engineers, for example, might suggest that it’s the electronics packages that have changed the racing. Read the interview after the jump, and leave your thoughts on that subject (or any other) in the comments.

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Racing

MotoGP: Rain-Soaked British GP Shakes-up Championship

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The nice British weather could only hold-out for so long at Silverstone this race weekend, as MotoGP came to the English track for the British GP. Accordingly, Sunday’s MotoGP race was soaked to the bone with rain, as Casey Stoner took his pole position for the day’s start.

Followed by Marco Simoncelli and Jorge Lorenzo respectively on the front row, the weather showed the potential to make it anyone’s race…that is of course as long as “anyone” doesn’t include Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow, both of whom could not compete because of broken collarbones.

Speaking of broken collarbones, Colin Edwards was set to race, just a week after breaking his at Catalunya, though his teammate was gutted about being unable to race in front of his home crowd after crashing in practice.

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Racing

MotoGP: Lap Record Smashed in Qualifying at Silverstone

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With rainy weather looming for Sunday’s race, Saturday’s qualifying at Silverstone took place under otherwise favorable conditions with only a patchwork of clouds in the sky. This made conditions ripe for some record setting lap times, and several MotoGP riders were up to that very task.

With the MotoGP grid still without Dani Pedrosa, the ranks did swell with one more rider, as Colin Edwards returned to race after breaking his collarbone at the Catalan GP. The increase in numbers for the starting grid would not stay raised for long though, find out why after the jump.

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Racing

MotoGP: Rain Threatens Racing at the Catalan GP

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When the Catalan fans’ eyes weren’t on polesitter Marco Simoncelli, they were looking up at the clouds in Barcelona, to see if they would rain on the Spanish track during today’s MotoGP racing action. With the Catalan track damp in some sections, riders started out on slick Bridgestone tires, hoping for the best in what would fall from the heavens in the coming laps.

Disappointing for American fans, was the news that Colin Edwards had broken his collarbone on Friday, and unfortunately MotoGP medical would not let the Texan start today’s race, thus making the 2011 Catalan GP the first time the Texan Tornado has missed a race since 2003. Edwards seemed confident he’d be back for Silverstone though.

Also absent from the grid was the injured Dani Pedrosa, who broke his shoulder in an incident at the French GP with Simoncelli, making the Italian persona non grata in Spain this weekend. Luckily for Spanish fans, Jorge Lorenzo was on the front row for the start and appeased the masses, but he was behind Casey Stoner who had been consistently quick all week long.

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MotoGP: Qualifying from the Catalan GP

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MotoGP comes to us this weekend from Catalunya country, just outside of Barcelona, Spain for the Catalan GP. One of the centers of GP racing, local favorite Dani Pedrosa decided to sit out his home GP, and instead try and recover from his broken collarbone, which he broke two weeks ago at the French GP. The man many blame for Pedrosa’s injuries, Marco Simoncelli, was also under close scrutinty, as the Italian had to go to the principal’s office in the form of a chat with MotoGP Race Direction.

With the weather constantly variable throughout the week, yesterday’s sessions saw a mix of rain and sunshine, which caught-out Monster Yamaha Tech 3 ride Colin Edwards. The American crashed on cold slick tires on the semi-damp track, also breaking his collarbone. His participation in the Catalan GP is out, and question marks hang over his return by the time of the British GP. With qualifying action underway, we saw a few surprises in the results. Read on after the jump.

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