Asked when he would announce his move to Ducati his future plans during the pre-race press conference today, Valentino Rossi confirmed that he would make an announcement after Sunday’s Czech GP race. The next few days will probably be the longest ever to occur in Italy, but we all must wait a little longer for the the arrival of V-Day, and to know what we already know.
Two-stroke GP racing is expected to die next year, and the announcement of the Moto3 class is expected to occur during the GP Commission’s meeting at the Czech GP in a couple days. Scheduled to meet on Friday, the GP Commission has been hammering out the details on the 250cc single-cylinder four-stroke racing class that will replace 125GP in 2012, and will likely make an announcement after Sunday’s race.
Similar in concept to the Moto2 class, the most notable difference is the rumor that the Moto3 class will not be a spec-motor series, meaning any manufacturer can build a thumper and compete in the series. Considering the large number of manufacturers that already have experience racing 250cc singles, we can expect an array of bikes to be on the grid in 2012.
Only , Randy de Puniet is back on two wheels with his fractured tibia and fibula. Taking some laps at Circuit d’Ales on a Honda CBR1000RR, de Puniet’s track time is presumably to see if the Frenchman will be ready for the Czech GP this weekend.
After first that Rossi would make an announcement after his testing session today, Fiat-Yamaha has issued another statement saying that Rossi won’t make a decision on this weekend’s race until he arrives at Sachsenring on Wednesday. Heightening the anticipation of his return, Rossi has seemingly delayed making a decision to race, and wants to wait another two days before making it public what his intentions are for the weekend.
We assume this also means that we won’t hear an announcement from Rossi or Ducati about the 2011 season until the German GP as well. As such, Sachsenring will be an interesting round as both Rossi and Wataru Yoshikawa will have to prepare to race on Sunday, but also there will be the added fervor of the impending Rossi/Ducati announcement.
UPDATE: According to Brivio, Rossi just finished 46 laps with a best time of 1’59.135. He reports Rossi as being tired, but his leg and shoulder are feeling better.
Fiat-Yamaha Team Manager Davide Brivio snapped this photo of Valentino Rossi as he left the team box at Brno this afternoon in the Czech Republic. So far Rossi has completed 18 laps around Brno, and will hold a press conference after this last session.
According to GPone.com, Rossi’s best lap on his first run was in 2?01.200, while on the second run his best lap was 2?00.600 with the same track temperatures as yesterday’s WSBK races. Compare that to Cal Crutchlow’s Superpole time of 1?58.018 just a few days ago in similar conditions.
Source: Twitter
UPDATE: Fiat-Yamaha has confirmed that Rossi will test at Brno on Monday, with a press conference following the day’s testing sessions.
TwoWheelsBlog has gotten word that Rossi will be testing yet again, this time on James Toseland’s YZF-R1 at Brno tomorrow (Monday), as the Italian continues to gauge his progress to physical recovery. Keen to get back to racing,and save MotoGP from its plummeting ratings since his departure, Rossi has called for a press conference immediately following that day’s testing session. At the press conference Rossi is expected to announce his thoughts on racing next weekend at the German GP. A&R also expects Rossi to make the biggest announcement in MotoGP history on Monday as well.
Mika Kallio filled in for the absent Casey Stoner this weekend, and finally got his shot riding with the factory Ducati team. Kallio’s big break would be cut short though, as he had an “incident” with Marco Melandri on the second to last lap, which took both riders out of the race.
In a classic he said, she said, Kallio and Melandri have very different views on what exactly went down. Read the quotes below, watch the video above, and decide for yourself what you saw happen.
Big announcements came out of Brno this week, with the 2010 season starting to shape up with riders solidify positions for next year. With plenty of silly season ahead of us, we can at least reflect on the racing from the Czech Republic, which has once again shaped the MotoGP Championship standings.
After a two week hiatus, MotoGP is back to racing with a stop in the Czech Repubilc. Amongst the press conferences, and positioning for next year, the riders actually made it out to the track to qualify for Sunday’s race. The masters of two-wheels clearly used their break to hone their game, and for the first time a pole position record was broken since the introduction of the one-tire rule.
Continuing on our Eastern European tour, Race 2 had a number of riders with something to prove on two wheels. With teams on a more level playing field after the recent test at the Brno venue, Race 2 proved to be an opportunity for the diamonds in the rough to shine, and for old rivals to get some payback.