With the announcement that Colin Edwards would be unable to attend and race the Valencian GP because of injuries he sustained during the tragic incident that killed Marco Simoncelli, Monster Yamaha Tech 3 said earlier today that it was looking into a replacement rider for the last MotoGP round. With speculation swirling after Tech 3’s announcement, Asphalt & Rubber has now been able to confirm that AMA Superbike Champion Josh Hayes will be the Texas Tornardo’s replacement at Valencia.
Yamaha Racing just can’t seem to get a break these last few rounds of the 2011 MotoGP season. With Jorge Lorenzo already sidelined from the Malaysian GP because of the finger injury he sustained at Philip Island, factory Yamaha rider Ben Spies has also withdrawn from the Malaysian round. Sitting out the Australian GP last weekend, Spies had been struggling with the injuries he received while crashing at 167 mph at Phillip Island. Sore and in pain, Spies’s injuries have caused the American rider to visit the gravel traps this weekend, which have concussed the Yamaha rider, and torn further the soft tissue around his ribs.
With its two main racing sponsors being Malaysian oil Company Petronas and Yamaha Motor Kenkana Indonesia, Sepang is an important market for Yamaha Racing, and Jorge Lorenzo is a popular rider with Malaysian fans. This puts Yamaha in a quandary this weekend at the Malaysian GP, as the Spanish rider will be unable to compete in the penultimate GP round as he is still recovering from the finger injury he sustained at Phillip Island.
Needing a rider to fill-in for Lorenzo, Yamaha Racing has tapped factory test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga to ride the factory Yamaha YZR-M1 at Sepang. The 30-year-old Nakasuga comes with a resume that includes not only testing the M1 with its Bridgestone tires (familiarity with the Japanese tire being paramount, just ask Toni Elias), but also competing in the 2011 All Japan Road Racing Championship, where he currently sits third in the JSB1000 class.
Yamaha has released a statement saying that factory MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo underwent successful surgery to his left ring finger in Melbourne after Sunday’s Australian GP. Lorenzo injured his hand during a violent tankslapper coming out of Turn 12 during the race warm-up session at Phillip Island. The tragic incident caused the Spanish rider to miss racing in Australia, effectively handing the 2011 MotoGP Championship to Casey Stoner. Thankfully however, early reports indicate the injury will not be career-threatening, and Yamaha is reporting that as a result of the surgery, no functionality will be lost in either Lorenzo’s finger or his hand.
Within an hour of the news that Jorge Lorenzo had been medically ruled out of competing at Phillip Island, Ben Spies has also said he won’t compete because of his injuries from his crash on Saturday. Going off the track at 167 mph, Spies suffered injuries to his chest and head in the high-speed off. Likely bruising and possibly cracking his ribs, Spies valiantly took part in the Australian GP’s warm-up session this morning, though lapped at a considerable slower pace and complained of concentration problems. In too much pain to ride in this afternoon’s race, Spies’ retirement for the weekend means that Yamaha Racing is out for the GP down under.
UPDATE: MotoGP.com.au has some photos of the crash (see above). Check them out here.
Jorge Lorenzo has been deemed unfit to compete in the Australian GP, after injuring his finger during the Warm-Up session at Phillip Island. Encounter a major headshake, Lorenzo hit the ground hard as his Yamaha YZR-M1 rounded the corner onto the front straight. Grasping his left hand afterwards, it has become apparent that Lorenzo has injured his ring finger in the crash.
Early reports state Lorenzo severed the tip of his finger, while reporters outside the Phillip Island Medical Center were briefed that the tip of his finger had been lacerated and split open. Regardless of the extent of Lorenzo’s unfortunate injury, the impact for this weekend is that the still reigning-World Champion will not compete in the Australian GP this week, effectively handing Casey Stoner the 2011 MotoGP Championship if the Australian can finish 6th or better in this afternoon’s race.
With suspicious skies, qualifying for MotoGP’s Australian GP got underway today. With the weather always variable at Phillip Island, riders saw sun, clouds, and a light spitting of rain before taking to the qualifying session. Normally a favorite track with the GP riders, Phillip Island has been plagued with a bumpy and torn-up surface, which dominated the discussion after Friday’s debriefings. With the Australian track announcing that the GP circuit would be resurfaced before the 2013 season, there is at least a remedy on the way, though it doesn’t bode well for the 2012 Australian GP.
Despite the surface conditions, Casey Stoner primarily lead the charge through the Free Practice sessions, though not in as dominant of a fashion as one would have expected. Finishing FP3 just over half a second quicker than Lorenzo, Stoner is still the paddock favorite to win tomorrow’s race, though his chances of clinching the Championship here at home seem slim. Able to keep the Australian within their reach, Jorge Lorenzo and Marco Simoncelli have given Stoner chase, though none of them have been able to take the top position on the timesheet from the Aussie.
Another seat in the silly season game of musical chairs has been snatched, as Andrea Dovizioso has signed a contract with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha squad for the 2012 season. Shit out of luck, in more common vernacular, Dovizioso found himself the odd-man out after Honda announced that it would only have three factory riders for the upcoming season. With Stoner and Pedrosa still under contract through that term, this news meant a tough choice between Dovi and rival Marco Simoncelli. Though consistently placing higher than his fellow Italian, Dovizioso lost out to SuperSic’s bold track moves and likable off-track demeanor.
While bad news for Dovi, the falling-out from Honda meant good news for the rest of the MotoGP teams who were anxious to retain the services of the potently quick Repsol Honda rider. Hervé Poncharal’s Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team seemingly won the battle of the offers, as it’s being reported that the French team has signed Andrea Dovizioso for the 2012 season, beating out the many other offers Dovi had on the table, including a reportedly factory-spec Honda at LCR Honda.
The past recession, and its possible double-dipping nature, still has the motorcycle industry on its heels. This fact can be no better exemplified than by the latest move from Yamaha, whose board of directors recently voted to merge its North American operations under one roof. In an effort to restructure itself more appropriately, Yamaha Motor Canada will become a subsidiary of Yamaha Motor USA, which would in turn take responsibility for the entire North American market.
AMA Pro Racing Champion Josh Hayes will get a chance to swing a leg over some MotoGP machinery later this year, as the American rider will get to ride with the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha squad at the post-season test in Valencia. Taking place immediately after the final 2011 MotoGP round in Valencia, Hayes will ride Colin Edwards’ 800cc Yamaha YZR-M1, as the Texan Tornado will presumably be released from his Tech 3 duties so that he can begin testing his CRT bike at the first 2012 season test. The ride is joint-promotion by both Monster and Yamaha USA, and it also sees Josh Hayes’ better half, Melissa Paris, riding Bradley Smith’s Tech 3 Tech 3 Mistral 610 Moto2 race bike at the Spanish test.
A less well-known MotoGP factoid is that Honda owns the Twin Ring Motegi circuit, though to the casual observer HRC clearly had a dominate presence at Motegi this weekend, with eight bikes on the grid throughout the race weekend. As the Yamahas struggled throughout the week, and with Ducati still hunting for a setup that will allow them to compete near the front, Honda continued to make a point of national unity at the Japanese GP going into Sunday’s race, a fact that has been further underlined by the company’s continued dominance in the 2011 season.
After a dominant finish in Aragon, Casey Stoner had all but won the 2011 MotoGP Championship, though few expected the Australian to take things easy in Japan this weekend. No longer nipping on Stoner’s Championship heals, Lorenzo came to Japan with a tall order to defend his #1 plate, though mathematically the reigning-World Champion hasn’t been ruled out of the Championship. Expected to push hard for the rest of the season, Lorenzo’s fate this season rested on the hopes for a mistake from the seemingly unstoppable Stoner.