September

Year: 2011

Month: September

Aragon MotoGP: Marquez secures Moto2 pole

17 September 2011 by Liam Marsden

Reigning 125GP champion Marc Marquez will start from pole position for the sixth time this season tomorrow at his home Grand Prix at Aragaon. Marquez set a new pole record and was over half a second...

Aragon MotoGP: Stoner storms to pole despite crash

17 September 2011 by Liam Marsden

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner starts from pole for tomorrow’s race at the Motorland Aragon circuit despite crashing his number one bike. Stoner had just set his best lap of the session with 15...

Aragon MotoGP: Faubel steals pole position in final moments

17 September 2011 by Liam Marsden

Aspar Aprilia rider Hector Faubel will start tomorrow’s 19-lap race from pole position after taking pole in thie final moments of today’s qualifying by nine thousandths of a second. 16-year-old...

Aragon MotoGP: Aluminium frame only “small improvement’ says Valentino Rossi

16 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi admitted the new aluminium chassis fitted on his factory Ducati at the Motorland Aragon today was only a small improvement after he ended a disrupted day of opening practice in eighth...

Power cut disrupts Motorland Aragon practice

16 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

A major power outage at the Motorland Aragon track this afternoon forced the cancellation of the second MotoGP and Moto2 practice sessions. The second MotoGP session was just about to start when a...

Paul Bird holds MotoGP talks at Motorland Aragon

16 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Paul Bird has held ‘positive’ talks with MotoGP chief executive Carmelo Ezpeleta at the Motorland Aragon track in Spain today (Friday), with the high profile British team owner contemplating a premier...

Aragon MotoGP: Dani Pedrosa heads first practice

16 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa kicked off preparations for the Motorland Aragon MotoGP race in impressive fashion this morning, the Repsol Honda rider ending first free practice on top of the timesheets in hot and...

Aragon MotoGP: Valentino Rossi to race aluminium chassis in Aragon

15 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has confirmed his factory Ducati machine will use an aluminium frame at this weekend’s Motorland Aragon race in Spain after a successful one-day test in Mugello last week. The...

Dovizioso and Laverty head Tech 3 shortlist for 2012

15 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Andrea Dovizioso and Eugene Laverty are the leading candidates to join Cal Crutchlow in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 squad next season. Dovizioso’s manager Simone Batistella has been locked in talks with...

Provisional 2012 MotoGP calendar released

14 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

The first 1000cc MotoGP clash will take place under the Losail International Circuit floodlights in Qatar on April 15 after a provisional 2012 calendar was released today. Next year’s world...

Tech 3 to offer Bradley Smith 2013 MotoGP deal

14 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal is hoping the offer of a Yamaha MotoGP ride in 2013 will entice British rider Bradley Smith to sign a new Moto2 contract with the French squad. Smith turned down the...

Phillip Island back on winter testing schedule?

14 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Phillip Island could make a surprise return to the MotoGP winter testing schedule in 2012. Plans are under discussion to let factory teams like Marlboro Ducati, Repsol Honda and Yamaha test at the...

Dani Pedrosa shrugs off HRC criticism

14 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa has dismissed shock criticism from senior Honda management, who believe the Spaniard played a major role in the incident that destroyed his 2011 MotoGP world title hopes. Pedrosa broke...

Argentina back on MotoGP calendar in 2013

14 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Argentina is set to make a return to the MotoGP world championship calendar for the first time since 1999 after Dorna signed a new deal to race in the South American nation from 2013. A three-year...

Gresini to enter Honda CBR1000RR in MotoGP?

13 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Marco Simoncelli’s 2012 MotoGP team-mate could be riding a tuned Honda CBR1000RR-powered bike. Fausto Gresini is struggling to raise the budget required to lease a pair of RC213V 1000cc bikes for next...

No pressure to race in Japan, says Dorna boss

13 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

MotoGP bosses have denied putting Valentino Rossi and a host of other top MotoGP riders under immense pressure to travel to the forthcoming Twin Ring Motegi race in Japan. Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta...

Bradley Smith looking for rear grip boost

13 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Bradley Smith is confident he can be a consistent podium finisher in the ultra-competitive Moto2 class if his Tech 3 Racing Team can create more rear grip. Smith has started and finished the last two...

Valentino Rossi slams testing restrictions

13 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has slammed the cost-saving testing restrictions in MotoGP because it handicaps a factory from trying to develop a better bike too severely. The winter testing schedule has been...

John Hopkins hopes for another Suzuki chance in 2011

12 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

John Hopkins is trying to secure at least one more wild card with Suzuki’s factory MotoGP squad before the end of the 2011 campaign. The American was due to race in last month’s Brno clash in the...

Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies to race in Japan

12 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies have confirmed they will attend the forthcoming Japanese MotoGP round at the Twin Ring Motegi. A short statement released this morning by Yamaha’s factory MotoGP squad...

New Ducati chassis spied in Mugello

08 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Ducati have been spotted testing the new British-built aluminium frame that they hope will transform Valentino Rossi’s woeful MotoGP performance this season. The frame, built by Buckingham-based FTR,...

Valentino Rossi unlikely to accept Carlos Checa’s WSB challenge

08 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has virtually ruled out making a shock World Superbike wild card appearance for Ducati later this year. The nine-times world champion was challenged to a duel by WSB championship...

Jerry Burgess: ‘We need some more help’

07 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi’s legendary crew chief Jerry Burgess said it is time for Ducati to start making radical changes to its struggling Desmosedici MotoGP project. Rossi finished seventh in his home race in...

Ducati not consistent enough, admits technical boss

07 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Ducati technical guru Filippo Preziosi has admitted one of his main future targets is to deliver a bike capable of running a more consistent pace to Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. Rossi will...

Title chase no influence on Motegi decision, says Jorge Lorenzo

07 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo has brushed off suggestions he will have to race at the Twin Ring Motegi in Japan next month to have any hope of retaining the MotoGP world title. Lorenzo’s brilliant victory in Misano...

New Yamaha potential thrills Lorenzo and Spies

06 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies both expressed their delight at the early potential of Yamaha’s new 1000cc MotoGP machine after they completed a second successful test on next year’s bike in Misano...

New MCN September 7: All-new Triumph Adventurer 1200 spied

06 September 2011 by MCN

In this week’s issue of MCN, on sale September 7, we have world exclusive spy shots of the all-new Triumph Adventurer 1200, along with details of Ducati’s high spec Diavel AMG SE. Plus, MCN tests MV’s...

Aragon win impossible, says Valentino Rossi

06 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi says it is unrealistic to consider emulating Casey Stoner’s 2010 victory at the Motorland Aragon next week. The Motorland Aragon race was the weekend last season when Aussie Stoner...

Ducati boss: Rossi is a ‘lion in a cage’

06 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Ducati’s engineering expert Filippo Preziosi reckons Valentino Rossi is like a lion trapped in a cage and he warned the Italian’s rivals to expect a much more competitive threat once the Bologna...

Nicky Hayden hoping for Aragon boost

06 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Nicky Hayden is hoping a return to the Motorland Aragon track in Spain next week will spark a major revival in fortunes for the American. Hayden enjoyed his best race of 2010 at the impressive new...

Casey Stoner defends Indy criticism

06 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner said he stands by his recent criticism of the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The Aussie, who dominated the Indy race last month, has never been a big fan of the circuit, which...

Video: Yamaha kicks off Misano 1000cc test

05 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo has had little time for his brilliant Misano MotoGP victory to sink in, with the Spaniard back out on track this morning to start his second test on Yamaha’s factory 1000cc prototype...

Wayne Rainey returns to Misano

05 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Yamaha legend and triple 500GP world champion Wayne Rainey returned to the Misano circuit last weekend for the first time since his career was ended in a horrific accident at the San Marino venue in...

Misano MotoGP: Casey Stoner fades to third with fatigue

05 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner blamed chronic fatigue for preventing him from challenging for an eighth victory of 2011 in yesterday’s Misano MotoGP race. The Repsol Honda rider was hounding factory Yamaha rider Jorge...

Misano MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo savours 'big' victory

05 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo breathed new life into his 2011 MotoGP world championship challenge in Misano yesterday with a stunning surge to his third victory of the season. Lorenzo made his intentions clear right...

Misano MotoGP: ‘Seventh best I can do’, says Valentino Rossi

05 September 2011 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi enjoyed one of his better races in a tough debut season for Ducati in Misano yesterday, but the Italian was still nowhere near battling for a podium in front of his passionate home...