Because nothing is ever predictable in MotoGP, the sunshine appeared after soaking the Championship riders all week in Germany. With a dry track ahead of them, teams had to gamble, guess, and pray on bike setups for Sunday’s race. With that, we got to see some new riders near the top of the pack, but it was the usual suspects+1 who were the real show stoppers.
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.
Despite being the media-magnet that he is, Valentino Rossi has always lacked an official website of his own. Web going motorcycle racing fans have had to suffice themselves with the plethora of fan sites out there, including the Official Valentino Rossi Fan Club site. But, all these sites missed one thing, Rossi himself.
That’s all about to change. Rossi has teased the web with his upcoming site. Call it: The Doctor 2.0, valentinorossi.com. The site has been under development for the last 3 months, but just from the look of the splash screen, it would seem we can expect that usual antics from the outgoing Italian rider once it has officially opened its doors.
This weekend was a double-wammy for American motorcycle enthusiasts as we celebrated our Independence Day on Saturday, and the coming of MotoGP to Laguna Seca on Sunday. Despite the weather being cooler than in previous years, Seca proved once again to be a hot track that would be no open book to race teams.
Teams and riders had problems keeping both sides of the tires in the sticky, and suspension proved to be an issue on the bumpy and rough Seca tarmac. That didn’t stop a few riders from breaking away from the group though, and giving the American fans some fine laps of racing. Continue through to read more.
Chuck Della Sala, Mayor of Monterey City, visited Laguna Seca today, and proclaimed July 5th to be Valentino Rossi Day.
Valentino was also awarded a key to the Laguna Seca circuity by Ken Lofink, President of SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula).
Thankful for his dual-honors, Rossi commented, “I want to thank the people of Monterey and the Laguna Seca track for these great honours! I love racing here and I have enjoyed it ever since we first came in 2005 so I am very proud to have this day named after me. I hope I can put up a good performance this afternoon to thank everyone for this.”
A reminder: today’s race will not be on SpeedTV here in the US, but on FOX instead. Coverage there starts at 2pm.
Source: MotoGP
Working at the Yamaha North American office must have paid off for Fiat-Yamaha riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, as they take the first two spots on the grid for tomorrow’s start of the US GP.
“George” will start from the pole position, at Seca while he looks to gain the 5 points that Rossi holds over him in the MotoGP Championship standings. With Rossi in the second spot on the grid, they will be joined by the lone Ducati of Casey Stoner.
While in Laguna Seca for the US GP, Fiat Yamaha riders, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, along with Monster Yamaha Tech3 riders, Colin Edwards and James Toseland, stopped by the Yamaha North America corporate offices for a little press stop and corporate tour.
Wanting to make the most out of the trip, Yamaha put together a video that reveals the secret to their riders’ success.
If you didn’t know it by now, let us spoil the surprise from this last weekend’s Dutch GP for you: Rossi has claimed his 100th victory. With a century of wins under his belt, Rossi is only the second rider to achieve such a feat, and along that journey, an impressive array of statistics can be compiled.
Dorna Sports has compiled a list of Valentino’s accomplishments, which really showcases what a monumental rider the Italian is, and begs the question, will a rider every be able to fill the shoes he’ll leave behind? Continue reading for a comprehensive breakdown.
Somewhere between the tulips and windmills, MotoGP riders assembled in Assen, Netherlands this Saturday for the Dutch GP. Loyal Dutch fans were treated to a race that saw the front-runner break away from the rest of the group, a series of sketchy passes, some key crashes, and a hair-raising battle for 6th place. Continue after the jump for some sizable spoilers.
With the Dutch GP a day ahead of the other racing events, today’s Friday qualifying session was not only special because of its weekday time slot, but also because of the close clustering of riders for the top 3 spots. Valentino Rossi had a squeaker of a run, just beating out Dani Pedrosa by under a tenth of a second. Rossi is looking for his 100th win at the Dutch track, and seems to be on-track to achieving that goal.
