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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: Who Didn’t Crash in the Spanish GP?

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The sunny Spanish weather gave way to rain this Sunday, as the Spanish GP got underway with 123,750 rain soaked MotoGP fans in attendance. While the practice sessions and qualifying showed the usual suspects at the top of the time sheets, the slippery conditions in the rain saw some new faces posting up strong times in the Sunday morning warm-up session.

Clearly the change in weather meant all bets were off for the MotoGP racing at Jerez, but the racing that took place certainly wasn’t what fans were expecting — as the rain relented, so did the tires. Add into the mix that this was the 2011 MotoGP Championship’s first wet race, and you’ve got a recipe that means more than just a few riders (nine total) ended up in Jerez’s gravel traps by the day’s conclusion. Find out all about it after the jump.

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MotoGP: The Spanish GP Could Get Interesting – Valentino Rossi Second Fastest in Warm Up as Rain Hits Jerez

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We knew as the rain hit Jerez this weeks that the weather would be a significant factor at the Spanish GP, and the added moisture on the track has already affted the MotoGP riders as they took to the track for their warm-up session this morning. If you placed your money on Casey Stoner to win the Spanish GP, your money might be safe, as the Australian is still eclipsing the field with his lap times.

However with Valentino Rossi slotting in as second quickest this morning, and Nicky Hayden a not-so-distant fourth, it would appear that the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 favors the wet weather a bit more than their counterparts (check out Ben Spies down in the fourteenth position).

As for the other Repsol Honda front-man Dani Pedrosa, you’ll find him down in the timesheets somewhere around the seventh position. There’s of course a whole race still to be run before we’ll see the results of the Spanish GP, but Rossi/Ducati fans have at least some glimmer of sunshine in an otherwise rainy day at Jerez.

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Torrential Rain Cancels MotoGP Qualifying at Estoril

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The S.S. MotoGP set sail this weekend, as the Estoril GP looked more like a regatta than a GP race with all the water on the track. A monsoon storm has hit Portugal, causing two for the four practice sessions, including Saturday’s qualifying session, to be canceled because of the inclement weather.

As such Sunday’s GP race grid, for all the racing classes, will be comprised from each rider’s best practice time, which for Jorge Lorenzo is good news, as the Spanish rider ties Jorge “Aspar” Martinez for having the most pole positions from a Spaniard. Also benefitting from cancelled qualifier is American Nicky Hayden, who will start from the second position on Sunday’s grid.

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Rain Cancels TT Zero for Wednesday [UPDATED]

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UPDATE: TT organizers have released the schedule for tomorrow, find it added after the jump.

Racing action at the Isle of Man TT was delayed and finally cancelled because of inclement weather today, and as such the second Monster Energy Supersport race, the second Sure Sidecar race, and the TT Zero race have been pushed back to Thursday.

At first the TT was merely postponed because of low-hanging clouds on the course that limited visibility; but as the morning wore on, rain began falling on the Mountain Course, and race officials sacked the days events.

TT Zero and the rest of the races are expected to take place tomorrow, but the Isle of Man has not released the new schedule yet. Check back to this article for an update on race times for Thursday when we get them.

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MotoGP: Slip n’ Slide Qualifying in Germany

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Weather at the Sachsenring for MotoGP’s qualifying was rainy to put it mildly. As such, the water soaked track feasted upon the unsuspecting riders as they left pit-lane wearing full sets of rains. In total, six riders touched the asphalt with more than a knee puck or elbow, with Turn 6 responsible for the majority of that action.

MotoGP this season has been plauged with changing conidtions on race weekends, and Germany will be no different. With Saturday’s rain, comes Sunday’s sunshine (or at least more sunshine than Saturday’s). This will likely cause a bobble in the qualifying order, which has already seen some surprise this weekend. Continue reading to find out all about it.

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WSBK: Results from Race 2 at Misano, Italy

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World Superbike would see sunnier skies off the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and a Misano track almost completely devoid of any sign of prior rain for Race 2. Slicks would now be the order of the day, which probably came as a relief to a few riders who were less than graceful in their bike swapping in Race 1. With the change in conditions came a complete change in the racing order. Continue reading to see how Race 2 went down under the Italian sun.

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WSBK: Results from Race 1 at Misano, Italy

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World Superbike riders at Misano, Italy today were greated to a damp track, courtesy of the on-and-off rain showers that have been plaguing the race course the whole weekend. With the track wet, but the sun out, tire selection would again be key.

Would the track dry out enough to run intermediates? Would some teams dry and run rains? Could there possibly be a chance to run slicks? Who would make the right choice by the start of the race? With WSBK adopting the flag-to-flag rules of MotoGP, riders would have a chance to come into the pits and swap for a new bike as the track conditions changed, making the racing all the more interesting, as many riders in the field had never performed such a swap before. Continue reading to see who got it right.

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MotoGP: Weather Plays a Factor at Mugello

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Just like LeMans two weeks ago, the starting of today’s GP at Mugello was a mixture of both wet and then dry, which meant that once again tire choice and pit strategy would decide the winner. With Valentino Rossi clearly being the biggest loser in Le Mans when this situation last presented itself, would he be able to make the right choices and win his eighth victory at his home track? Continue reading for the spoilers and find out.

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