November

Year: 2006

Month: November

MotoGP Blog: Confused in Jerez

30 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

MCN MotoGP reporter Matt Birt exclusively shares hs views post Valencia.. Matt has spent years living out of a suitcase to follow the MotoGP circus around the world, to get the inside scoops for MCN…...

Pedrosa finishes fastest at Jerez MotoGP test

30 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

With MotoGP testing over for the year, Dani Pedrosa goes into the enforced winter break with his tail up after setting the fastest time overall at the Jerez test ending this afternoon. Pedrosa slapped...

Rossi in charge in Jerez

30 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi may have found himself criticised for taking a few days off at the Sepang test earlier this month to go rally driving, but he:s making up for it in Spain this week. Some fans...

McWilliams in hospital

30 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Jeremy McWilliams crashed heavily this afternoon at Jerez, and reports from hospital suggest that the veteran star has badly broken his left leg. McWilliams lost the front of the Ilmor X3 800 at the...

Kawasaki dig at Eckl

29 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Kawasaki has broken its silence over the reason for its hurried split with former MotoGP team boss Harald Eckl, blaming his close involvement with the Ilmor team for the shock move to take the whole...

Toseland shares sponsors with Melandri

29 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Marco Melandri and Toni Elias will share the same sponsors as James Toseland’s World Superbike team for 2007. The pair’s Gresini Honda MotoGP team signed a sponsorship deal with electronics firm...

Jerez MotoGP timesheet

28 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi ended the first day of the final major MotoGP test of the year at the top of the timesheets. Rain brought the decrease in lap times to a temporary halt after lunch, at which point...

Jerez MotoGP testing update

28 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

The last MotoGP test of the year has had a slow start, with cold temperatures and rain curtailing meaningful evaluation of the next generation 800s. Ex-champ Valentino Rossi was quickest this morning...

MotoGP testing starts in Jerez

28 November 2006 by MCN

MotoGP’s top men and teams are back out riding today, at the start of the last major test of the year. A two-month testing ban follows this week’s action, which will keep them off track until...

Davies' dream ride

28 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Teenage star Chaz Davies will be handed the chance any young rider dreams about tomorrow, with a test of the new Ilmor X3 800cc MotoGP bike in Spain. Despite agreeing to ride in the USA next year he...

Ellison makes switch to U.S. Superbikes

27 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

James Ellison began the process of rebuilding his career in AMA Superbikes when he rode a Corona Honda FireBlade this weekend. The 26-year-old will use the bike to race in 2007 and made the most of...

Valentino Rossi's World Rally success

27 November 2006 by MCN

Valentino Rossi won his first car racing title on Sunday – before going on to say that we can probably expect to see more. The Italian MotoGP star won the glitzy Italian Monza Rally, and went a step...

MCN reader grabs Rossi for a picture at Valencia

24 November 2006 by Lorraine Burleigh

This is a photograph I had taken with Valentino Rossi in the paddocks at the Valencia Moto GP. It was taken the night before the big race at about 10 30pm,Vale’ was just about to go to dinner after...

Enjoying Valencia with the Rossi fan club

24 November 2006 by Gemma Stead and Ali Vollans

Sat with the Offical Rossi fanclub at the final round at Valencia with a little light reading!

Bumping into Rossi at Le Mans airport

24 November 2006 by Jon Betts

A picture of me meeting Valentino off the plane at Le Mans airport.

Rossi to race in the Rally of Monza

24 November 2006 by MCN

Valentino Rossi is back behind four-wheels again this weekend competing in the Rally of Monza. Seven-time World Champion Rossi will drive a factory-spec Subaru and his co-driver will once again be...

Honda pair to test 800s in Jerez

24 November 2006 by MCN

Honda has confirmed Marco Melandri and Shinya Nakano will make their 800cc debuts next week in Jerez. Melandri missed the recent three-day session in Sepang while he recovered from an operation on his...

Tamada's Dunlop hopes

24 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Tech-3 Yamaha newboy Makoto Tamada has revealed that the Dunlop front tyre on his Yamaha M1 is already inspiring him with more confidence than he ever had in his time with Michelin at Honda in...

Smith prepares for 2007 125GP season

24 November 2006 by Matthew Birt

Fresh from winning the coveted world 125 championship Rookie of the Year award, British teenager Bradley Smith has begun his 2007 preparations in Jerez. The Oxfordshire rider took part in a three-day...

Aoayam shatters Kato's Jerez 250GP lap record

23 November 2006 by MCN

KTM’s Hiroshi Aoyama has smashed 1.6s off Daijiro Kato’s long-standing 250 lap record at Jerez. The Japanese rider, who rejected a move to Kawasaki’s MotoGP squad at the end of last season, set an...

Hopper's take on Honda

18 November 2006

After comprehensively outpacing the much-heralded new Honda RCV 800 at last week’s Sepang MotoGP test in Malaysia, Suzuki star John Hopkins has said he feels Honda have been too ambitious with their...

Tamada's Dunlop hopes

18 November 2006

Tech-3 Yamaha newboy Makoto Tamada has revealed that the Dunlop front tyre on his Yamaha M1 is already inspiring him with more confidence than he ever had in his time with Michelin at Honda in 20096. ...

Rossi impresses WRC

18 November 2006

While his rivals laboured in the searing Malaysian heat to get their new 800cc MotoGP bikes up to speed, Valentino Rossi chose four-wheels to draw a line under the 2006 season and give himself a break...

"Casey has best chance"

18 November 2006

Shock Valencia GP winner Troy Bayliss reckons Ducati has given fellow Aussie Casey Stoner the chance of a lifetime to be a big success in the MotoGP world championship. “I think it is the best...

Kawasaki's secrets

18 November 2006

Kawasaki’s race boss Ichiro Yoda says he is not surprised that the new 800s can lap faster than the more powerful 990s they replace – despite giving away around 40bhp. Yoda revealed that in some...

Suzuki's other frame

18 November 2006

Insight into the development of the new impressive 800cc GSV-R Suzuki came after John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen revealed how their different riding styles are fundamentally affecting machine...

Capirossi offers advice

18 November 2006

Loris Capirossi has warned new factory Ducati team-mate Casey Stoner to cut out the crashing and risk-taking. Speaking for the first time about the Australian’s appointment, Capirossi admitted he’d...

Tommy Hayden falls

11 November 2006

US Superbike star Tommy Hayden made a debut he’d probably like to forget on the Yoshimura Suzuki he will race next year, after a mammoth highside at the Sepang test in Malaysia. The works Suzuki AMA...

Guintoli's crocked debut

11 November 2006

French MotoGP new boy Sylvain Guintoli had a painful graduation from 250s to the big bikes, after he broke his collar bone in his first ride on a MotoGP bike. Guintoli, riding for Tech-3 Yamaha as...

Video: Sepang monsoon

11 November 2006

Torrential rain has flooded parts of the track at Sepang, putting a halt to the MotoGP test – see our exclusive video report. MCN MotoGP reporter Matthew Birt is in Malaysia to follow the test and he...

Hayden's injury secret

11 November 2006

Nicky Hayden has sensationally revealed he won the MotoGP world championship with a fractured right shoulder, picked up in the controversial Estoril clash with team-mate Dani Pedrosa. The American...

Edwards ready for 800s

11 November 2006

Yamaha star Colin Edwards gets his first taste tomorrow (Wednesday Nov 15, 2006) of the all-new 800cc M1 he and team-mate Valentino Rossi will campaign in MotoGP next year. So far Rossi is the only...

Jacque ready for GPs

11 November 2006

Olivier Jacque claims he wasn’t bothered about being well down Kawasaki’s shopping list as the French rider clinched a shock return to MotoGP. The former world 250 champion was plucked out of the...

Pedrosa testing setback

11 November 2006

Dani Pedrosa’s winter testing schedule has taken a knock after he was forced to abandon plans to join a major three-day MotoGP test in Malaysia this week. Pedrosa has had an operation on his left...

Hopkins leads again

11 November 2006

Suzuki once again topped the timesheets in Sepang on day three of their 800cc testing. John Hopkins took more than a second off yesterday’s time to record a 2:01.64 lap ahead of team-mate Chris...

Rain halts testing

11 November 2006

Colin Edwards’ first chance to try out Yamaha’s 800cc MotoGP bike was cut short by rain on Wednesday. The American was testing the new bike for the first time at Sepang before torrential rain ended...