MotoGP News| MotoGP Sepang Test, Malaysia | Last session Results
| Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap | Prev. Gap | Lead. Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Casey Stoner | Repsol Honda Team | 1:59.607 | - | - | 21 |
| 2 | Jorge Lorenzo | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:00.198 | +0.591 | +0.591 | 35 |
| 3 | Dani Pedrosa | Repsol Honda Team | 2:00.256 | +0.058 | +0.649 | 26 |
| 4 | Ben Spies | Yamaha Factory Racing | 2:00.495 | +0.239 | +0.888 | 16 |
| 5 | Valentino Rossi | Ducati Team | 2:00.824 | +0.329 | +1.217 | 42 |
| 6 | Hector Barbera | Pramac Racing Team | 2:00.929 | +0.105 | +1.322 | 40 |
| 7 | Cal Crutchlow | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.108 | +0.179 | +1.501 | 26 |
| 8 | Andrea Dovizioso | Monster Yamaha Tech 3 | 2:01.257 | +0.149 | +1.650 | 40 |
| 9 | Alvaro Bautista | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 2:01.384 | +0.127 | +1.777 | 34 |
| 10 | Nicky Hayden | Ducati Team | 2:01.729 | +0.345 | +2.122 | 19 |
| 11 | Stefan Bradl | LCR Honda | 2:01.894 | +0.165 | +2.287 | 38 |
| 12 | Karel Abraham | Cardion AB Motoracing | 2:02.218 | +0.324 | +2.611 | 38 |
| 13 | Katsuyuki Nakasuga | Yamaha Factory | 2:02.334 | +0.116 | +2.727 | 27 |
| 14 | Franco Battaini | Ducati Team | 2:03.033 | +0.699 | +3.426 | 35 |
| 15 | Colin Edwards | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | 2:04.722 | +1.689 | +5.115 | 36 |
| 16 | Ivan Silva | Avintia Racing | 2:08.225 | +3.503 | +8.618 | 41 |
| 17 | Robertino Pietri | Avintia Racing | 2:09.640 | +1.415 | +10.033 | 16 |
| 18 | Jordi Torres | Avintia Racing | 2:10.184 | +0.544 | +10.577 | 29 |
MotoGp News | Casey Stoner on TOp at Sepang test.
| After missing a day of testing on Tuesday due to a strained muscle, Casey Stoner gradually worked his way back into his leadership pace and topped the second day’s times at the Official MotoGP™ Test at Sepang. The Austrailian’s19th lap on Wednesday aboard his 1000cc RC213V stood firm as the fastest of the day at 2’00.895, with Spies following 0.157 seconds behind and Lorenzo a further 0.016s off the Repsol Honda rider. With the geometry and chassis set up adjusted to their ridings styles the previous day, the Yamaha Factory pair spent Wednesday smoothing out the YZR-M1’s electronics and power delivery which had Spies topping the timesheet at the midday point. A second to the last of 35 laps put Dani Pedrosa fourth for the day, his time of 2’01.508 set as the Spaniard focused on the chassis of the new Repsol Honda. Cal Crutchlow again completed the top five, doing well to reacquaint himself with riding a motorcycle having spent the off-season largely away from two wheels. The British rider’s best time of 2’01.565 at the controls of his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine was just over two tenths quicker than Pramac Racing’s Hector Barbara, who worked on solving a chatter issue and testing new parts for his GP12 Ducati. |
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| Valentino Rossi was the final rider within one second of Stoner, as he and the Ducati Team spent the majority of the day testing new parts for the GP12. Still recovering team-mate Nicky Hayden reported the new Desmosedici is producing a better feeling in the front, although lack of strength from his recently injured shoulder gave him some trouble and the American passed the reins of his Ducati to test rider Franco Battaini for part of the day. Another rider recovering from injury, Andrea Dovizioso (Monster Yamaha Tech 3), produced a time while getting to know his Yamaha that ranked him 9th for the day, two tenths behind Alvaro Bautista aboard his San Carlo Honda Gresini bike. MotoGP rookie Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) followed in 11th with Karel Abraham taking the 12th spot as the Czech rider tested a new chassis on his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati today. Colin Edwards improved his time on the Suter-BMW by over a second from his time set in the morning, as he and the NGM Mobile Forward Racing team worked on setting up a different electronics package from yesterday. Avintia Racing was not able to complete the day of testing due to issues with the engines in their BQR-FTR machine. Rider Ivan Silva completed just 16 laps with test riders Robertino Pietri and Jordi Torres making a handful of round each. |
SOURCE: www.motogp.com
MotoGP News| Edwards talks Fitness and the new Bike
| Colin Edwards is busy preparing for the 2012 MotoGP™ season which will see him aboard the new NGM Mobile Forward Racing team CRT bike. The Texan spoke with motogp.com ahead of the first test of the season at Sepang (January 31 through February 2) regarding his new ride. How is the shoulder recuperation going? “It’s good, it’s not 100 percent, but I woke up the other morning and my right shoulder hurt more than my left and that’s the one I didn’t have surgery on! Obviously I tweaked both of them, the right one needed surgery and the left one is a little bit loose, but it’s good, I am out riding here at Boot Camp and training and getting everything in order.” Based on feedback you gave your team at the first test in Jerez, what changes do you expect to see on the Suter-BMW bike at the Sepang test next week? |
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| Did you have any other requests for changes to the bike? “Anytime we made even a little change to the electronics, it made the bike better as an overall package, even though we never changed any geometry settings. Anytime you make the electronics better you make the bike better. I wasn’t even at a point where I could say, OK the chassis needs this, the swingarm needs that, because we couldn’t get there. Until you can ride the bike at 100 percent, you are going to go in circles if you start changing things. You first need to fix the electronics, that is the main thing.” Sepang is a long and demanding circuit, what would an acceptable gap between a previous good lap time of yours there and the best time on the Forward Racing bike at this test? You are the only rider aboard a Suter and the only rider with a BMW engine in the paddock, does that help or hinder you? The key thing is the turnaround time – can we fix it in two weeks or is it going to take three months to go through the pipeline to get something fixed? With BMW and Suter I’m anticipating our turnaround time is going to be a little quicker rather than having to go through the process a factory bike requires. You said at the announcement of your move to NGM mobile Forward Racing that you believe there will be tracks where the CRT is going to surprise some people. Do you still think that holds true? What do you think about that move if it were to happen? |
Ducati Desmosedici GP12 details released by Karel Abraham
| After testing for three days at Jerez with Carlos Checa and Franco Battaini, Ducati Corse may not be saying much about the new Ducati Desmosedici GP12, but that hasn’t stop Karel Abraham from releasing some details about the new Italian steed today. The “official” technical specifications of MotoGP race bikes are always a bit vague, and Ducati Corse has unsurprisingly stuck to that trend with the GP12. Stating horsepower in the 250hp range, 15hp more than what was quoted for the GP11, Ducati also lists a top speed of over 360 km/h, up from the GP11′s 340+ km/h quoted figure. Perhaps more interesting than the power and top speed figures is the quoted displacement for Abraham’s GP12. With fuel restrictions not increasing with the maximum displacement allotment for 2012, and the maximum bore size set at 81mm for the new MotoGP era, Ducati in particular was rumored to be exploring a displacement figure in the 900cc range, but interestingly enough appears to be taking the GP12 up to the maximum cylinder volume. There is also of course some speculation thatDucati Corse could use a narrower V° angle, a change from the standard 90° V4 we’ve seen from the Italian brand. Fortunately for Abraham, the return of the 1,000cc format means that his satellite team will start 2012 with more up-to-date equipment. | |
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| Using the winged-Desmo last season, it was rumored that aside from Ducati’s persistence that all the bikes on the 2011 grid were designated as GP11 machines, the young Czech rider was in fact racing on a leftover GP10 (the GP10 had winglets attached to the fairings that most members in the paddock agree were used for aiding engine cooling, and not for extra downforce to prevent wheelies). With MotoGP changing its format this season, most of the satellite teams will start the Championship with bikes that are closer in spec to the factory units, though factory teams will surely be updating their designs throughout the season, while the satellite teams will not. However, there is reason to believe that the satellite Ducatis will run bikes similar in spec to the GP0 that was ridden in the post-season test at Valencia. If this is the case, the information we’re seeing here from Abraham could very well apply only to the satellite Ducati teams, while the factory GP12 could be an entirely new creature. “I tried the new bike during the post-season test in Valencia, but the first real test will be held at Sepang in Malaysia at the end of January,” Karel Abraham. ”We need to be well prepared for the first test because we want to try a lot of things. We also must work on the set-up of the bike because the 2012 MotoGP season kicks off in Qatar on April 8th.” | |
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Comparison of Ducati Desmosedici GP12 and GP11:
| Ducati Desmosedici GP12 | Ducati Desmosedici GP11 |
| Weight: dry 155 kg | Weight: dry 150 kg |
| Max. speed: >360 km/h | Max. speed: >340 km/h |
| From 0 to 100 km/h: 2,6 s | From 0 to 100 km/h: 2,7 s |
| Power: 250 HP | Power: 235 HP |
Technical data of Ducati Desmosedici GP12
| Engine | |
| Water-cooled four-stroke engine with four cylinders and four valves per cylinder which are controlled by desmodromic valve system. The cylinders are formed in an angle of 90 degrees. | |
| Capacity: | 999 ccm |
| Electronics: | Magneti Marelli |
| Gearbox | |
| Six-speed, with the possibility to adjust the ratio of degrees. | |
| Clutch: | Dry, multi-plate |
| Chain: | Regina |
| Chassis | |
| Ducati aluminium frame | |
| Fronf fork: | Öhlins with a diameter of 48 mm |
| Rear suspension: | Öhlins |
| Brakes: | front four-piston Brembo calipers, 2x disc Brembo with a diameter of 320 mm, rear two-piston Brembo caliper, Brembo steel disc |
| Discs: | 16,5″ magnesium Marchesini |
| Tyres: | Bridgestone |
| Fuel tank: | 21 litres |
| Fuel: | Eni |
SOURCE: www.asphaltandrubber.com
MotoGp News | Ducati kicks off 2012 with annual ‘Wrooom’ event
| The 2012 ‘Wrooom’ event officially opens today, where the stunning slopes of Madonna di Campiglio in the magnificent Dolomites play host to a week of full of skiing, exhibitions and meetings with the press.Riders, guests and media arrive Monday evening, after which a busy schedule kicks off the following day. Tuesday morning, team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi will field questions from the attending media in a joint press conference, after which the riders will meet with fans. Also answering press enquiries will be Ducati Corse General Manager Filippo Preziosi in a meeting that takes place on Wednesday morning. The high point of the week traditionally occurs on Friday, where an exhibition race between Ducati’s MotoGP riders and Ferrari’s F1 drivers face off in a kart race on ice to wrap up the 22nd edition of Wrooom. This year however, Hayden’s participation in the activities is likely to be limited due to his recent shoulder injury. SOURCE: www.motogp.com |
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MotoGP Legends | a Trip down Memory lane | Wayne Gardner
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| Australian Wayne Gardner plied his trade when the 500cc factory bikes were arguably at their hardest to ride and in which the competition in the class involved legendary peers such as Wayne Rainey, Randy Mamola, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Mick Doohan. His 52 podiums, 18 victories and 1987 premier class title win came during one of the toughest decades of competition in the sport. Following his 500cc debut in 1983, Gardner remained loyal to Honda in his eight seasons of World Championship participation – earning a breakthrough thanks to his results for Honda Britain. His first full-time campaign was in 1985 and he won his first Grand Prix in 1986, before successfully battling with Lawson and Mamola to become 1987 World Champion on the NSR500. An ill-handling 1988 version of the NSR often offered sensational images of Gardner wrestling the phenomenally fast machine and he again tussled with Lawson that year but their close duel eventually swung in the favour of the American. The subsequent seasons were wrecked by injury; broken legs, ribs and feet – hindering his riding in 1989, ‘90 and ‘91. Highlights in that period, however, included breath-taking victories at the first Phillip Island GP in 1989 and an even better re-run in 1990; both of which feature amongst the finest races ever seen in the premier class. Gardner retired in 1992, taking an emotional final win at the British Grand Prix that year. As the first ever Australian 500cc World Champion he opened motorcycle racing up to a much wider audience in Australia and is cherished by a generation of fans. Australian Wayne Gardner plied his trade when the 500cc factory bikes were arguably at their hardest to ride and in which the competition in the class involved legendary peers such as Wayne Rainey, Randy Mamola, Kevin Schwantz, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer and Mick Doohan. His 52 podiums, 18 victories and 1987 premier class title win came during one of the toughest decades of competition in the sport.Following his 500cc debut in 1983, Gardner remained loyal to Honda in his eight seasons of World Championship participation – earning a breakthrough thanks to his results for Honda Britain.His first full-time campaign was in 1985 and he won his first Grand Prix in 1986, before successfully battling with Lawson and Mamola to become 1987 World Champion on the NSR500.An ill-handling 1988 version of the NSR often offered sensational images of Gardner wrestling the phenomenally fast machine and he again tussled with Lawson that year but their close duel eventually swung in the favour of the American. The subsequent seasons were wrecked by injury; broken legs, ribs and feet – hindering his riding in 1989, ‘90 and ‘91.Highlights in that period, however, included breath-taking victories at the first Phillip Island GP in 1989 and an even better re-run in 1990; both of which feature amongst the finest races ever seen in the premier class.Gardner retired in 1992, taking an emotional final win at the British Grand Prix that year. As the first ever Australian 500cc World Champion he opened motorcycle racing up to a much wider audience in Australia and is cherished by a generation of fans |
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