FIM President Vito Ippolito has written an open letter this week that delivers a message of fair play to riders and teams. The letter comes as MotoGP heads to Estoril, Portugal and WSBK braces for its penultimate weekend at Magny-Cours, France.
Presumably, Ippolito’s letter comes as a response to unsportsmanlike conduct that’s been occurring in all the Championship series, and making its way onto television sets and computer screens. Mr. Ippolito’s letter after the jump.
First it was baseball, then the witch-hunt progressed through the other professional sports, going as far as NASCAR and Formula1. So, it makes logic sense to say that it was only a matter of time before the issues of athletic doping entered into the motorcycle racing world.
While the issue of doping in motorsports seems almost absurd, considering the benefits of athletic doping are deminimus when machinery takes center-stage, it would seem our beloved sport is not immune from athletes looking for that extra edge during competition.
UPDATE: David Emmett of has revealed in the comments below that Rodríguez, while testing positive during a doping screening, in fact had recreation drugs in his system, not performance enhancing drugs as we had thought earlier. Thanks for the tip David.
After the excitement of the TTXGP we were left wondering… What’s next for ? How can you beat electrics racing around the Isle Of Man in the legendary TT? Our answer comes from FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) who in 2010 begins it’s electric motorcycle race series.
The FIM is working with Azhar Hussain, founder of the TTXGP to plan the series which will exist inside Azhar’s Road Racing Grand Prix Commission. Travis Gintz, a consultant to the series informed us there will be multiple laps and all bikes will be required to have hot-swapable batteries similar to what we saw on the MotoCzysz E1PC.
After taking entries for the 2010 Moto2 season, 47 teams, with 91 riders, filed to join the new series. After reviewing the bids, the Selection Committee, which is comprised of Dorna, the FIM, and the IRTA, whittled the list down to 27 teams, with 41 riders.
Friday, Donington Park announced two major developments. The first announcement is that Donington Park has passed FIM inspection, just ahead of this month’s WSBK stop, and next month’s MotoGP stop at the historic British track.
The second announcement is that DVLL, the track operator which leases the premises from landowner Tom Wheatcroft, has settled on , thus insuring the continued use of the track for motoring events.
The FIM has announced that MotoGP riders will have added choice for their front slick tire allocation from the end of next month. Although the total number of front slick tires permitted for a race weekend will remain unchanged at eight, three different distribution options will be made available. However, new rules on when the tires can be ordered may make the tire situation much more difficult for teams.
At Jerez this weekend, the Permanent Bureau (FIM & Dorna) was light on the details when it . However after the announcement, Shuhei Nakamoto, VP of HRC, revealed more information about the engine that will be used in Moto2.
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.
In a press conference held today during the IRTA tests at Jerez, Vito Ippolito, the president of the FIM, and Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna, announced a series of measures aimed at cutting costs in MotoGP. More details to follow, but here are the rule changes:
The FIM has released the official roster for the 2009 season. Notably absent is John Hopkins, who has yet to declare where he will be racing this season.
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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