April

Year: 2011

Month: April

Estoril MotoGP: Turning issue slows Casey Stoner

30 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner’s perfect qualifying record for Honda ended in Estoril today as the Australian was left off the front row in fourth position on the grid. Having been on pole position in Qatar and Jerez,...

Estoril MotoGP: Valentino Rossi upset with ninth

30 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi didn’t hide his frustration after the Italian could only qualify his factory Ducati in ninth position for tomorrow’s Portuguese MotoGP race. Bouyed by his fourth position in...

Estoril MotoGP: Simoncelli and Lorenzo in public bust-up

30 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Reigning MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo became embroiled in an incredible war of words with Italian rival Marco Simoncelli earlier today during the post qualifying press conference in...

Estoril MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow narrowly misses top six

30 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow was less than two-tenths-of-a-second away from claiming a stunning maiden top six grid position for tomorrow’s Portuguese MotoGP race at the Estoril circuit. A lap of 1.38.190 elevated...

Estoril MotoGP: Stefan Bradl snatches Moto2 pole

30 April 2011 by Tom Cambio

German rider Stefan Bradl (Viessman Kiefer Racing) snatched his third pole in a row in the last lap of qualifying at Estoril from Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) who was 0.163s behind.

Estoril MotoGP: Lorenzo takes pole position

30 April 2011 by Tom Cambio

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position of the season in the last five minutes of qualifying at Estoril, ahead of Marco Simoncelli who had been consistently fast...

Estoril MotoGP: Terol takes 125GP pole

30 April 2011 by Tom Cambio

Spaniard Nicolas Terol (Bankia Aspar Team) will start from pole position for tomorrow’s 125GP race at Estoril after beating Sandro Cortese who qualified second and Portugese rider Miguel Oliveira who...

Estoril MotoGP: Capirossi on top in FP3

30 April 2011 by Tom Cambio

Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing Team) set the fastest time in the final practice session this morning on the drying track at Estoril. The Italian finished ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge...

Estoril MotoGP: Rossi and Stoner clash again

29 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

The on-going intense rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner continued on and off the track today in Portugal. Back on track for the first time since Rossi caused a controversial collision...

Rossi/Stoner marshals acted correctly in Jerez

29 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

The action of marshals in the immediate aftermath of Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner’s collision in the recent Jerez MotoGP race has been deemed safe and appropriate after a review in Estoril...

Estoril MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow baffled by arm issue

29 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow told MCN he is struggling to understand why he was struck by a chronic arm pump issue during his first appearance at the Estoril circuit in Portugal today. Crutchlow underwent surgery to...

Glen Richards flying at Brands Hatch

29 April 2011 by Anonymous

Glen Richards at Brands Hatch, Friday practice.

Estoril MotoGP: Simoncelli consistently fastest in FP2

29 April 2011 by Tom Cambio

San Carlo Honda Gresini rider Marco Simoncelli was consistently fastest in the second practice session at Estoril, despite finding the limit of the front end of his Honda and crashing at turn...

Estoril MotoGP: HRC modify clutch after Jerez controversy

28 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner has confirmed that Honda has modified the clutch on its factory Honda RC212V machine after he was unable to re-join the recent Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. Stoner battled in vain to...

Rossi and Hayden boosted by Ducati GP12 shakedown

28 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden have both spoken of their excitement and anticipation for 2012 having recently completed a shakedown test on Ducati’s new 1000cc machine in Jerez. Rossi and Hayden...

Estoril MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa anxious to check shoulder recovery

28 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa says he’s anxious to understand whether surgery on his left shoulder during the recent MotoGP break has completely cured a numbness issue that plagued him in the opening two races of the...

Ducati unlikely to show true potential until mid-season

28 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Jerry Burgess believes it is unrealistic to expect the Italian legend to be consistently challenging for MotoGP race wins until the second half of the season. A chronic...

Hill overtaking Byrne!

28 April 2011 by goat46

Great days racing on Monday. I managed to capture the move when Tommy shoved it up the inside of Shakey.

Alvaro Bautista passes medical in Estoril

28 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Factory Suzuki rider Alvaro Bautista has passed a medical examination this morning giving him the all-clear to ride in this weekend’s Estoril MotoGP race. The Spaniard will be back on board his...

Josh Brookes at Paddock Hill

27 April 2011 by stephen dennis

Josh Brookes getting it a little bit wrong at Paddock Hill bend.

Biaggi and Camier test ‘special’ Monza engine

27 April 2011 by Michael Guy

Max Biaggi and Leon Camier are mid way through a two day test at Mugello in Italy in preparation for next weeks fourth round of the World Superbike Championship at Monza. The Alitalia Aprilia team are...

MotoGP needs wider global appeal, says Yamaha boss

26 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

MotoGP needs a wider global appeal to help attract vital new sponsorship and investment to safeguard the future of the sport. The premier class is now too heavily biased towards Spain and Italy,...

Suzuki: John Hopkins not considered for Estoril

26 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

John Hopkins was never considered as possible injury cover for Alvaro Bautista at this weekend’s Portuguese MotoGP race in Estoril. Bautista plans to race his factory Suzuki GSV-R machine in Estoril...

Up and down Brands for Laverty

26 April 2011 by Austin Lindberg

Michael Laverty settled for a fourth place in yesterday’s second British Superbike race after a spectacular highside ended his first race. Laverty’s massive highside came while leading the race and...

Highside knocks Brookes out of both BSB races

26 April 2011 by Austin Lindberg

Josh Brookes endured a spectacular highside in the first of yesterday’s British Superbike races, leaving doctors to rule him out of the second. Brookes said: “I’m surprised after the accident I had...

Mixed results for Hopkins’ BSB debut

26 April 2011 by Austin Lindberg

John Hopkins had a relatively quiet start to his British Superbikes career with a 17th and a fifth in yesterday’s races from Brands Hatch. Hopkins crashed in the first race while attempting to pass...

Brands Hatch BSB: Tommy Hill takes race two win

25 April 2011 by Liam Marsden

Swan Yamaha rider Tommy Hill has taken victory in the second race of the 2011 championship at Brands Hatch today to go to the top of the championship standings. It looked as though race one winner...

Brands Hatch BSB: Shane Byrne takes race one win

25 April 2011 by Liam Marsden

HM Plant Honda rider Shane Byrne has continued his dominance of the first race weekend of 2011 at the Brands Hatch Indy circuit with victory in the first race. Byrne got the holeshot from the start...

Faulty front tyre hampers Brookes’ qualifying

25 April 2011 by Austin Lindberg

Josh Brookes rebounded from a forgettable qualifying session to score the second fastest time of morning warm up with a 45.586. Brookes missed out on the final knockout session of qualifying yesterday...

Brands Hatch BSB: Shane Byrne takes round one pole

24 April 2011 by MCN

HM Plant Honda new boy Shane Byrne will start the first British Superbike race of 2011 from pole position at Brands Hatch tomorrow (Monday) after smashing the lap record during qualifying. It looked...

Casey Stoner supports Dani Pedrosa in weight debate

21 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner has thrown his support behind Dani Pedrosa in the combined bike and rider weight debate currently raging in MotoGP. Pedrosa has strongly opposed plans to introduce a combined bike and...

Ducati GP11 won’t become a Yamaha M1, vows Valentino Rossi

21 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has denied that imminent changes to his factory Ducati GP11 machine suggest he’s trying to make the Desmosedici more like the Yamaha YZR-M1 he rode last season. Rossi will try a...

Guy Martin to race Cookstown

21 April 2011 by MCN Sports Desk

Guy Martin will make his debut on the roads in Relentless Suzuki by TAS Racing livery at the Cookstown 100, Northern Ireland’s opening road race of the season on April 29 & 30. The event will be used...

TT Monster party on the prom

21 April 2011 by MCN Sports Desk

One of the great sights of the Isle of Man TT Races is a packed Douglas promenade with spectacular stunt shows, flashing lights, gravity defying rides, colour, music, noise, bikes, food stalls and...

Alvaro Bautista back in training for Estoril return

21 April 2011 by Matthew Birt

Alvaro Bautista has resumed training and told Suzuki he intends to ride in next weekend’s Estoril clash in Portugal. The Spanish rider has been able to cycle and swim as part of his recovery from the...

Triumph Young Guns gets backing from Frankie Chili

20 April 2011 by Ped Baker

Triumph Young Guns, the talent scout scheme, launched earlier this month, has confirmed racing legend Pierfrancesco ‘Frankie’ Chili as one of its judges and mentors. Chili made 276 World Superbike...