March

Year: 2012

Month: March

Ducati: Lease price limit means lower spec machinery

09 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

A 1m Euro (£830,000) cap on the cost of leasing a MotoGP bike in the future will make it impossible for Ducati to deliver the same high level of technology featured on its existing customer bikes. To...

Yamaha not worried by Casey Stoner’s testing dominance

09 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha has said the impressive speed shown by reigning MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner in winter testing is not an early cause for concern ahead of the start of the 2012 campaign in Qatar next...

Hill crashes in Cartagena

09 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Tommy Hill was lucky to escape unhurt after a big fourth-gear crash at Cartagena this afternoon. He fell in the fast left turn six and, while he walked away unscathed apart from a sore hip, the bike...

Positive first impressions for Haga

09 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Noriyuki Haga rolled into the pit lane this afternoon, dismounted from the Swan Yamaha and walked over to put his arm around his crew chief Simon Green. Haga had been in and out of the pit box every...

Hill’s first impressions of 2012 Swan Yamaha

09 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

The Swan Yamaha team might be spending time fine-tuning the fuelling with the new Motec spec ecu but Tommy Hill was happy enough with his first morning back in the office at Cartagena. “Considering...

Laverty and Kirkham get taste of Honda power at Cadwell Park

09 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

Michael Laverty and Jon Kirkham shared the track at Cadwell Park yesterday (Thursday) with their Padgetts Honda rivals as the pair got their first experience of the Honda UK Fireblades ahead of the...

Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki kick off testing at Aragon

09 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

In a busy week of pre-season testing for the MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship teams, returning former championship winners Rapid Solicitors Kawasaki made their on track debut in Aragon,...

Lowry and Scassa debut Padgetts Honda at Cadwell Park

09 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

Padgetts Honda’s Ian Lowry and Luca Scassa have completed their initial shakedown of the new specification Fireblades at Cadwell Park as the team got their pre-season testing schedule underway ahead...

Haga and Hill on track in Spain

09 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

These are the first pictures of Swan Yamaha duo Noriyuki Haga and BSB champion Tommy Hill on track at Cartagena this morning. Right up to leaving for Spain, the team worked with Motec back at the...

Barbera and Abraham to get new Ducati at fifth race?

09 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Hector Barbera and Karel Abraham could have to wait until the fifth race of the 2012 MotoGP world championship in Catalunya before they get chance to ride the latest GP12 Desmosedici machine. The...

Chris Burns returns to Dutch Superbike championship

08 March 2012 by MCN Sportsdesk

Chris Burns will return to the ONK Dutch Superbike Championship this season after signing a deal to remain with the GS Racing Team with official support from Ten Kate Racing. The Newcastle rider finished third in his rookie season of The Netherland’s leading motorcycle series in 2011 on board the team’s Honda, but this year has unfinished business as he returns with his eyes firmly on the title.

Team WFR complete six days of testing

08 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

The WFR Honda team completed their final day on track at Alcarras yesterday (Wednesday) as Alex Lowes, Graeme Gowland and James Westmoreland wrapped up six days of Spanish testing. The team had...

Positive MSS Kawasaki test in Spain

08 March 2012 by MCN Sportsdesk

MSS Bathams Kawasaki boss Nick Morgan summed up their three day Alcarras test as “one of the most positive experiences we’ve had as a team.” The team took a full range of bikes, equipment and staff...

Michael Dunlop’s TT programme: Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki machines

07 March 2012 by MCN sportsdesk

Michael Dunlop has concluded his plans to race at the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races and the popular Northern Ireland based rider has announced will be competing in all of the solo classes at this year’s...

William Dunlop confirmed for Lightweight TT

07 March 2012 by MCN Sports Desk

William Dunlop is the latest TT star to commit to the new Twins race on the Island. He will be riding the ex-Wayne Hamilton Kawasaki ER6 in the newly introduced Lightweight TT, scheduled for Friday...

TAS Tyco Suzuki testing ended by rain

07 March 2012 by MCN

TAS Tyco Suzuki’s second day of testing at Kirkistown, County Down was hit by rain just after midday but all three riders clocked laps in the morning sunny, but cold conditions. Alastair Seeley tried...

WFR Honda and MSS Kawasaki Alcarras test

07 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

Pre-season testing continued yesterday (Tuesday) at Alcarras for the WFR Honda and MSS Bathams Kawasaki MCE BSB teams as the riders ended their penultimate day on track. The WFR Honda trio have now...

Swan Yamaha prepare for testing

07 March 2012 by MCN Sports Desk

Swan Yamaha get their 2012 MCE Insurance British Superbike Championship underway this week as the team travel to Spain to begin their pre-season testing campaign with a shakedown test at Cartagena.

Laverty makes track return alongside Marino

07 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

Splitlath Redmond Racing have completed their first pre-season test on track yesterday (Tuesday) at Oulton Park as John Laverty rode again for the first time since recovering from injury alongside his...

WFR Honda: Cartagena complete, on to Alcarras

07 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

WFR Honda completed three days on track at Cartagena as Alex Lowes, Graeme Gowland and James Westmoreland attempted to make up for time lost during the second day with the trio feeling positive at the...

Tyco TAS testing at Kirkistown

07 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

The Tyco TAS Suzuki team braved a cold windswept Kirkistown, County Down yesterday (Tuesday) for their first shakedown test of the 2012 season. Aussie Josh Brookes and local hero Alastair Seeley were...

Yamaha satisfied new 1000 is competitive

06 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha is confident its new factory YZR-M1 1000cc machine is competitive to challenge Casey Stoner and Honda for the 2012 MotoGP world championship crown. Stoner and Honda have dominated this year’s...

LCR Honda confident in Stefan Bradl’s MotoGP potential

06 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

LCR Honda boss Lucio Cecchinello believes Stefan Bradl is destined for a big future in MotoGP after the German impressed during the latest pre-season test in Sepang last week. The reigning Moto2 world...

McAdoo Racing join forces with Michael Dunlop

06 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

McAdoo Racing have issued a press release, announcing that they have signed up with Michael Dunlop for the new road racing season. The team are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2012 and say that...

Rutter and Hickman testing in Spain

06 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

The newly renamed MSS Bathams Kawasaki squad are now in Spain undergoing three days of intensive training at the Alcarras circuit with all four of their Superbike and Superstock riders. With an all...

Honda’s first BSB test wiped out by rain

06 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Honda Racing’s first shakedown test at Snetterton, today, was wiped out by freezing temperatures, gusting winds and rain. New signings Michael Laverty, Jon Kirkham and the rest of the crew spent most...

First round of Thundersports

05 March 2012 by rodderstrotter

Images from the Thundersports meeting at Brands Hatch, March 3. Great racing in variable conditions – misty and wet in the morning to dry and sunny in the afternoon. Organisation was fantastic,...

Yamaha denies switch to seamless shift gearbox in MotoGP

05 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha has denied its new factory YZR-M1 1000cc machine is equipped with a seamless shift gearbox similar to the systems used by Honda and Ducati in MotoGP. Rumours emerged during last week’s rain-hit...

MotoGP weight increase angers Honda and Yamaha

05 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Honda and Yamaha have both condemned the late decision to increase the minimum weight limit for the new generation1000ccc MotoGP machines from 153kg to 157kg. Honda and Yamaha had both invested huge...

John McGuinness to ride Mugen in TT Zero

04 March 2012 by Gary Pinchin

John McGuinness has been chosen to race the new Mugen Shinden in the TT Zero Challenge race at this year’s TT. Mr Shin Nagaosa, President of M-TEC Company Ltd today, at Suzuka circuit, Japan, publicly...

Chatter fails to end Casey Stoner’s winter dominance

02 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

It is going to take a lot more than a persistent chatter issue to end Casey Stoner’s domination of the MotoGP world championship after he topped the timesheets in Sepang this week. The 2011 world...

Tyre wear concerns Andrea Dovizioso

02 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Andrea Dovizioso said Bridgestone’s new soft construction tyres lose grip too quickly after he tried his first distance run on Yamaha’s YZR-M1 machine in Sepang yesterday. The Italian completed...

Lee Johnston to make TT debut

02 March 2012 by MCN Sportsdesk

Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston will make his Mountain circuit debut in June when he competes in the 2012 Isle of Man TT Races. The former National Superstock 600cc Champion will contest the...

Polita tests Panigale in Italy

01 March 2012 by Laura Stevens

Jentin Doodson Motorsport’s Alex Polita tested the Ducati Panigale at the Italian circuit of Vallelunga yesterday (Wednesday) as the preparation continues for their respective debuts in the...

Valentino Rossi deflated after Sepang test

01 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi struggled to hide his disappointment after he slipped to a bitterly disappointing 10th place on the timesheets at the conclusion of the second Sepang MotoGP test in Malaysia today. The...

Tyre management key in 2012, says Jorge Lorenzo

01 March 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo believes the rider who can save his tyres the longest in the inaugural 1000cc campaign will have the best chance of success after he completed an eye-opening race simulation on Yamaha’s...