Moto GP

[Rev004]

Hey Gassick are you just hungry for some info so just for you mate some general stuff..

Schwantz keeps sharp with New Zealand race victories
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

MotoGP Legend turns weekend warrior at motorcycle festival.


A MotoGP Legend was back in the saddle this past weekend, as former World Champion Kevin Schwantz took a star turn at the 30th Pukekohe Classic Festival in New Zealand.

The American, best known for his title win onboard a Suzuki in 1993, swung his leg over a Manx Norton bike at the Pukehohe Raceway circuit, both track and machine firsts in Schwantz†decorated career.

One thing did remain true to the script, however; Schwantz, using the number 34 plate permanently on his bike throughout his time in the World Championship, took a clean sweep of the six races that he entered over the weekend.

Previous famous faces from MotoGP history to make appearances at the festival include Giacomo Agostini, Umberto Masetti, John Surtees and Geoff Duke, but Guest of Honour Schwantz is the first former titlist to actually compete as part of proceedings.


Poncharal typically enthusiastic about first findings of 2009
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Tech 3 Yamaha boss Herve Poncharal was his usual happy self after a satisfactory first test for his team with the new Yamaha M1 last weekend.


Having finished fourth in the Teams†World Championship standings last season, as the top performing independent outfit in MotoGP, Tech 3 Yamaha manager Herve Poncharal is looking for more success this year and was pleased with the initial findings with the new M1 prototype in Malaysia.

Colin Edwards and James Toseland tried the updated machine for the first time at Sepang, Edwards registering some highly competitive lap times right from the word go. Toseland was slowed down by the physical after-effects of a heavy crash on the first morning, but can be expected to pick up the pace next time out at Qatar under the floodlights from 1st-3rd March.

Reflecting on his teamâ€s first steps with the new machine Poncharal commented, “Already in 2008 we were very happy with the bike that we had. My main worry was ‘how can Yamaha make a better bike?â€, because it was already very competitive. The first test that we have had here in Sepang shows us that in a lot of areas the bike has improved. We have a stronger engine, the chassis feels really good. It is definitely an improvement on last year.”

The Frenchman was also happy at the way his staff interacted with new suppliers Bridgestone and believes his riders are adapting quickly to the Japanese companyâ€s new aterial. “We are also very happy with the tyres,” Poncharal explained. “We did some race simulations and the riders couldnâ€t believe how stable and confident they were on the tyres.”

He added, “Some other riders have had more problems to understand the new Bridgestone tyres compared to the specifications they had last year. But for us we are really happy and the switch has been really easy. I think the decision was the best one and we think the new tyre rule will help all of us, especially independent teams like us to be closer to the factory teams and to make the show better. So far Iâ€m a happy man.”


Romagnoli basing Yamaha M1 potential on Rossi & Edwards†Sepang times
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Jorge Lorenzoâ€s Team Manager sees times from Italian and American as positive sign.


Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo was lower down the timesheet than might have been expected at last weekâ€s test in Sepang, but results from two other Yamaha stars have convinced his Team Manager that the Japanese factoryâ€s 2009 bike is a potential title-winning machine.

Daniele Romagnoli has been one of the key men behind Lorenzoâ€s adaptation to 800cc riding, and was supervising his chargeâ€s first encounter with the full factory M1 over the course of the three-day stay in Malaysia. Lorenzo finished seventh in the combined standings from the trio of sessions, but the times clocked by his teammate Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards proved convincing for Romagnoli.

“Valentino and Colin showed that the bike is good and that it can do very good times,” said the Italian. “I think that this is positive, and that the machine can be competitive this year.”

As for Lorenzoâ€s being eight-tenths of a second down on Rossi and half a second on Edwards, Romagnoli was pragmatic in his analysis.

“Jorge had a little problem getting a good lap time from the beginning of the test. He just needs more time to adapt.”

Lorenzoâ€s fastest time of 2â€01.917 came on the last lap of his Saturday race simulation.


Melandri to race at Losail… in Speedcar
Wednesday, 11 February 2009

Italian keeps busy with participation in four-wheel Qatari night race.


A man currently in professional limbo, former MotoGP World Championship runner-up Marco Melandri has guaranteed that his latest on-track participation will come in an evening race at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. However, rather than the MotoGP season-opening Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, the Italianâ€s appearance will be part of the 2009 Speedcar Series on February 12th-14th.

Melandri will form part of the Team Lavaggi squad for his first car race since 2006, accompanying erstwhile Formula 1 star Heinz Harald Frentzen. The two will compete against each other and a further twelve drivers in the Speedcar Series†first ever night event.

Household names taking to the track this week will be ex-Formula 1 drivers Jacques Villeneuve -World Champion in 1997-, Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi, whilst Melandri will be the only two-wheel star turning his hand to car racing for the event.

Melandri is still waiting on news of possible participation in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship following Kawasakiâ€s announcing their intention to withdraw from the series.


Oh and the last piece of info for you is the next official round of testing is at Losail, Qatar and there will also be some official night testing so that could be interesting.

So til next time Rev004