July

Year: 2012

Month: July

Illness rules Ben Spies out of Mugello test

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

A virus that ruined yesterday’s Italian MotoGP race for Ben Spies also ruled the Texan out of today’s test session at the Mugello circuit. Spies had a disastrous Mugello race after he was struck by a...

Mugello MotoGP: Bradl praises Dovizioso after podium fight

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Stefan Bradl praised Andrea Dovizioso’s composure and smooth riding style after the German came within 0.046s of claiming a sensational debut MotoGP rostrum in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix. The LCR...

Mugello MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow punished for sluggish start

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow says he must improve his performance in the opening laps in MotoGP after he returned to the top six in Mugello yesterday. The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider bemoaned his pace on a full fuel...

Mugello MotoGP: Valentino Rossi reflects on missed podium chance

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

A stunning charge in the second half of yesterday’s Italian MotoGP race came close to securing Valentino Rossi a brilliant home podium for Ducati at Mugello. The 33-year-old ended the first lap in...

Mugello MotoGP: Casey Stoner loses more ground in title race

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner’s hopes of walking away from MotoGP at the end of the season as world champion suffered another major blow in Mugello yesterday. The Australian ended a difficult weekend in a...

Mugello MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo tightens grip on title chase

16 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo strengthened his grip on the 2012 MotoGP world title chase with an emphatic victory in yesterday’s Italian Grand Prix. The Spaniard started the 23-lap as an overwhelming favourite after...

Mugello MotoGP: Lorenzo eases to victory

15 July 2012 by Liam Marsden

Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo extended his championship lead today, dominating at Mugello to win by over five seconds. Lorenzo took advantage of Dani Pedrosa running slightly wide at the first corner to...

Mugello MotoGP: Iannone takes home victory

15 July 2012 by Liam Marsden

Italian rider Andrea Iannone has taken his second victory in three years at the Mugello circuit in front of his home crowd. Iannone took the lead for the first time on the first corner of the final...

Mugello MotoGP: Vinales takes hard fought Moto3 victory

15 July 2012 by Liam Marsden

FTR Honda rider Maverick Vinales took his fourth Moto3 victory of the season at Mugello after a hard race long battle. Despite running wide in the latter half of the final lap, Vinales managed to hold...

Dean Harrison - Team RC Express Racing

15 July 2012 by Ben Constable

Dean Harrison rides for the newly formed RC Express Racing Kawasaki Team. Dean had an awesome Southern 100 on his first outing on the Superstock ZX-10R as a newcomer to the Billown circuit. A 7th, 5th...

Colin Edwards to test three CRT bikes in Mugello

14 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Colin Edwards seems certain to be on the brink of ditching the struggling Suter-BMW project after confirming to MCN he will test three different CRT bikes at Mugello on Monday. The Texan has been...

Mugello MotoGP: Valentino Rossi too slow on soft tyre

14 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi conceded he simply didn’t have the same pace as Ducati rivals Hector Barbera and Nicky Hayden on soft tyres after he slumped to a lowly 10th on the grid for his home race in...

Mugello MotoGP: Late crash costs Cal Crutchlow pole bid

14 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

British rider Cal Crutchlow was left to rue a late crash in qualifying at a scorching hot Mugello this afternoon that he believes denied him the chance to score his first ever MotoGP pole...

Mugello MotoGP: Espargaro takes Moto2 pole position

14 July 2012 by Liam Marsden

Kalex rider Pol Espargaro will start tomorrow’s 21 lap race from pole position after stealing the top spot from title rival Marc Marquez in the dying moments of qualifying. Despite setting the third...

Mugello MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa storms to pole position

14 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa ended fellow Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo’s domination of the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello this afternoon after putting his Repsol Honda on pole position for the second time in 2012. Pedrosa,...

HRC presents RC212V to Marco Simoncelli’s family

14 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

The parents of late Italian rider Marco Simoncelli were presented with one of his factory RC212V MotoGP machines during an emotional ceremony at the Mugello circuit earlier today. HRC Vice-President...

Mugello MotoGP: Vinales steals Moto3 pole

14 July 2012 by Liam Marsden

Spaniard Maverick Vinales will start tomorrow’s Moto3 race from pole position after a final lap which knocked Sandro Cortese off the top spot. KTM rider Cortese looked set to take pole position, but...

Valentino Rossi denies influencing Ducati on rider choice

13 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has denied he is trying to influence Ducati to re-sign current factory team-mate Nicky Hayden over British rider Cal Crutchlow for next year’s MotoGP world championship. The...

Mugello MotoGP: CRT speed too slow, says Casey Stoner

13 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Reigning world champion Casey Stoner has expressed concerns about the speed of the CRT machinery on fast tracks like Mugello after he tangled with Italian rookie Danilo Petrucci in practice earlier...

Mugello MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo leads practice timesheets

13 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo’s bid for a second successive victory in the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday got off to a flying start at a hot and sunny Mugello today. The Spaniard dominated the opening practice session...

Samsung Honda test at Assen

13 July 2012 by MCN Sports Desk

The Samsung Honda team completed a successful day of testing at Assen ahead of the British Superbike Championship debut at the circuit later in the season as Michael Laverty and Jon Kirkham now...

Dunlop makes it five wins at Southern 100

13 July 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Michael Dunlop added two more wins yesterday to make it a five-win unbeaten streak at this year’s Southern 100. Dunlop was in blistering form all week and kicked off Thursday’s day of racing with a...

Valentino Rossi: Marquez can be MotoGP world champion

12 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi believes rising Spanish star Marc Marquez has the potential to become MotoGP world champion in the future. And factory Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo reckons the former 125GP world...

Cal Crutchlow waiting on Ducati contract

12 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow admits he is unlikely to sign a two-year deal to join Ducati’s factory MotoGP squad in 2013 during this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. The British rider was expected to agree a...

Honda to roll-out brand new factory RC213V at Mugello test

12 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa will test a ‘completely new’ factory Honda RC213V machine during a one-day test session at the Mugello circuit in Italy on Monday, MCN can reveal. One bike for each will...

Hickman stays with Buildbase BMW

12 July 2012 by MCN Sports Desk

Peter Hickman has signed to remain with Buildbase BMW for the second half of the MCE British Superbike championship season. He joined the team at Knockhill in June, filling in for an injured Dan...

Dunlop wins two more at Southern 100

12 July 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Michael Dunlop racked up two more victories in the Steam-Packet.com Southern 100 yesterday to add to the 1000cc race win on Tuesday evening. Dunlop smashed the outright Billown lap record and set a...

Marc Marquez confirms Repsol Honda switch

12 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Marc Marquez will take the place of reigning world champion Casey Stoner in Honda’s official factory next season. As has been widely predicted since Aussie Stoner announced he will retire at the end...

Dani Pedrosa signs new Repsol Honda contract

12 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa has signed a new two-year deal to remain with Honda’s official factory MotoGP squad until the end of 2014. As MCN reported two weeks ago, HRC announced Pedrosa’s new deal during...

Colin Edwards to test FTR-Honda in Mugello

11 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Colin Edwards will test the FTR-Honda MotoGP machine during a one-day test session at the Mugello circuit in Italy on Monday. Although the experienced American’s 12th place finish equalled his best...

Bemsee Premier 1000 racing blog: Brotherly battles

11 July 2012 by Michael Neeves

I guess it had to happen at some point: my little brother is gunning for me on-track. No doubt fuelled by revenge for me balancing him on top of the lounge door when he was five – and leaving him...

Poll: Who was the most exciting GP rider to watch?

11 July 2012 by MCN

1993 world champion Kevin Schwantz is editing MCN this week – out on Wednesday July 18 – and his presence sparked a discussion about why he remains so popular despite ‘only’ winning one world...

Splitlath announce split with Marino

11 July 2012 by MCN Sports Desk

An official Splitlath Redmond team press statement has announced that the Aprilia BSB team has parted company with Florian Marino. The statement reads: “The Splitlath Redmond team has parted company...

Dunlop wins opening Southern 100 race

11 July 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Michael Dunlop opened the 2012 Steam-Packet.com Southern 100 races with a blistering win in the Corlett’s Trophies 1000cc race last night (Tuesday). The MD Racing Honda rider quickly dispensed with...

Ducati deal hard to refuse, says Cal Crutchlow’s boss

10 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow’s Tech 3 Yamaha boss Herve Poncharal believes the British rider can’t knock back the opportunity to join Ducati’s factory squad in 2013. With the chance of a factory Yamaha ride not...

Jerry Burgess: Cal Crutchlow an asset to any factory

10 July 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi’s crew chief Jerry Burgess believes Cal Crutchlow would be a valuable asset to any factory in MotoGP as the British rider contemplates a two-year offer to join Ducati. MCN understands...