2012

Year: 2012

Month: ALL

British MotoGP: Bautista takes surprise pole

16 June 2012 by Liam Marsden

Gresini Honda rider Alvaro Bautista will start tomorrow’s British GP from pole position after setting his fastest lap just before rain started to fall. Bautista set his fastest lap of 2’03.303 with 10...

British MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo experiences rare off-day

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

In a season in which Jorge Lorenzo has only dropped 10-points in the opening five races, his seventh place on the practice timesheets at Silverstone today represented a bad day at the office for the...

British MotoGP: Valentino Rossi struggling with fast Silverstone

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi blamed his own failure to gel quickly with the fast and technical Silverstone layout for his lowly 11th place in today’s weather-hit practice. Rossi had demonstrated once again just...

British MotoGP: Ben Spies second after early crash

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Ben Spies bounced back from a crash in this morning’s wet practice session to clock the second quickest time on a dry track at Silverstone today. The Texan high-sided at Stowe Corner while he was...

British MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow ‘I’d be faster on an R1”

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Cal Crutchlow reckons he could have lapped the Silverstone track today faster on a production Yamaha R1 machine than his prototype YZR-M1 MotoGP bike after the British rider experienced a tough start...

British MotoGP: Casey Stoner fastest in Silverstone practice

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner ended the first day of practice for his final British Grand Prix appearance on top of the timesheets at a windswept Silverstone circuit this afternoon. Fourth quickest in wet and windy...

British MotoGP: Valentino Rossi quickest in wet opening practice

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi took full advantage of the Ducati Desmosedici’s liking for rain conditions this morning to top the timesheets at a wet and windy Silverstone. The Italian set a best time of 2.19.328 on...

British MotoGP: Danny Kent leads wet first practice

15 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Danny Kent splashed his way to the fastest Moto3 time at a wet and cold Silverstone this morning to make the perfect start to his home race. The Red Bull KTM rider clocked a best lap of 2.37.401 to...

Jorge Lorenzo admits rejecting Honda offer

14 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo rejected a multi-million pound offer to join Honda as Casey Stoner’s replacement before opting to sign a new two-year deal with Yamaha. The Spaniard will remain on board a factory YZR-M1...

Valentino Rossi cagey on 2013 plans

14 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Valentino Rossi has denied his own future in MotoGP is close to being sorted out after Jorge Lorenzo penned a new two-year deal with Yamaha’s factory squad earlier this week. Rossi is keeping his...

Cal Crutchlow: Lorenzo signing changes nothing

14 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

British rider Cal Crutchlow says Jorge Lorenzo’s decision to sign a new two-year contract with Yamaha’s factory MotoGP squad has little impact on his own future. Lorenzo has penned a deal for 2013 and...

British MotoGP: Colin Edwards gaining confidence

14 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Colin Edwards might be a rank outsider to repeat his brilliant 2011 British Grand Prix podium at Silverstone this weekend, but the popular American believes he will be more competitive on the new...

Bemsee Premier 1000 racing blog: Jubilee celebrations at Oulton

13 June 2012 by Michael Neeves

Bemsee celebrated the Queen’s Jubilee in style by hosting the fourth round of the Team Respro Premier 1000 championship on the double bank holiday at Oulton Park. We practiced and qualified on the...

Hutchinson out for the season?

13 June 2012 by Gary Pinchin

Ian Hutchinson’s season may have come to an abrupt end. He requires further surgery on the leg he smashed so badly in a crash at Silverstone in 2010 and re-broke at the start of this year. Hutchy made...

Mason quits PR Kawasaki BSB team

13 June 2012 by MCN Sportsdesk

Gary Mason has just issued the following statement announcing his decision to quit the Quattro Plant PR Racing Kawasaki BSB team: “Following a desperately disappointing start to the 2012 BSB season...

British MotoGP: Ben Spies looking to transform fortunes

13 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Ben Spies has admitted it is essential for him to transform his disappointing form round at the forthcoming Silverstone and Assen MotoGP rounds. The Texan heads to Silverstone this weekend for round...

British MotoGP: Nicky Hayden expects tough weekend

13 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Nicky Hayden is anticipating a tough British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend as he goes in search of his first top five finish of the season. Ducati’s new factory GP12 is still not capable of...

British MotoGP: Stefan Bradl exceeding early expectations

13 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

German Stefan Bradl says he has exceeded his own expectations with a series of impressive performances in his rookie MotoGP campaign heading to this weekend’s British round at Silverstone. The...

British MotoGP: Chatter fear for Casey Stoner

13 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

The severe chatter issue that has plagued the defence of Casey Stoner’s MotoGP title defence in 2012 is almost certain to play a major factor in the Australian’s bid to claim victory in his final...

British MotoGP: Karel Abraham plans to race at Silverstone

13 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Karel Abraham has confirmed his intention to compete in this weekend’s British Grand Prix, having initially been a serious doubt with a hand injury. The Czech Republic rider suffered heavy falls in...

Poll: Rossi or Agostini?

13 June 2012 by MCN

Giacomo Agostini is 70 this weekend and MCN will feature an exclusive interview with the 15-times world champion next Wednesday. In the meantime, it seems like the perfect time to revisit that racing...

Jorge Lorenzo signs new two-year deal with Yamaha

12 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo has crushed intense speculation that he would switch to Honda next season to replace Casey Stoner by signing a new two-year deal to remain with Yamaha’s factory squad. The Spaniard has...

Casey Stoner plays down wild card return in 2013

11 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Casey Stoner has played down the prospect of making special wild card appearances in the future after deciding to retire from full-time racing in MotoGP at the end of 2012. Although the Aussie hasn’t...

Dani Pedrosa: Future speculation no distraction

11 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Dani Pedrosa has denied intense speculation about his MotoGP future will impact on his chances of capturing the premier class world title for the first time this season. The Spaniard’s future at...

Alvaro Bautista aims for Tech 3 battle

11 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista has set his sights on challenging Monster Yamaha Tech 3 duo Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow in forthcoming MotoGP races. The Gresini Honda rider enjoyed his best ride...

Chad's first TT

10 June 2012 by Neil Shimmin

I got some pics of Chad yesterday in the Lightweight TT – four at his Pit Stop and eight after the podium presentation. Chad was obviously full of emotion, completely elated at doing something most...

WSB Misano Race 2: Biaggi secures emphatic double

10 June 2012 by Michael Guy

Max Biaggi stormed to his second race win of the day with a dominant performance in race two at Misano. The factory Aprilia rider was clearly buoyed by his race one win wasted no time getting to the...

WSB Misano Race 1: Biaggi wins thrilling race to extend championship lead

10 June 2012 by Michael Guy

Max Biaggi secured a brilliant win in the opening WSB race of the day after an epic battle with Carlos Checa and his Davide Giugliano. The Factory Aprilia rider who’d only qualified in tenth place...

Isle of Man TT: Farquhar takes third TT win

09 June 2012 by Phil Wain

Ryan Farquhar took his third TT win on Saturday evening when he took the re-introduced Lightweight TT on the KMR Kawasaki. Farquhar, overcame an early challenge from James Hillier and once the pit...

Riders applaud bold decision to cancel Senior TT

09 June 2012 by MCN

John McGuinness and his rivals were ruing the loss of the Senior TT, which succumbed to bad weather for the first time since the event started back in 1907. After a race week hammered by difficult...

WSB Misano Superpole: Sykes claims Superpole number five

09 June 2012 by Michael Guy

Tom Sykes secured a brilliant Superpole win at Misano after dominating the second twenty minute session this afternoon. The factory Kawasaki rider cruised through Superpole 1 after making big changes...

WSB Misano: Sykes steps up in second qualifying

09 June 2012 by Michael Guy

After a difficult opening day at Misano yesterday, Tom Sykes scorched to the top of the time sheets during second qualifying this morning. The Kawasaki man overcame front grip issues on his ZX-10R to...

WSB Misano: Checa leads the way in first qualifying, One second separates top 16

08 June 2012 by Michael Guy

World Champion Carlos Checa set the fastest time of the day during the opening qualifying session at Misano today. The Althea Ducati rider posted a 1.36.521s best and will be determined to bounce back...

WSS Misano: Lowes in control after taking provisional pole

08 June 2012 by Michael Guy

Sam Lowes picked up where he left off after winning at Donington Park last time out to secure provisional pole position at Misano today. The 21-year-old overcame a crash at the end of this mornings...

Rookie rule set to be axed in MotoGP?

08 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Honda could be on the brink of winning its fight to get the rookie rule abolished in MotoGP, paving the way for Spanish starlet Marc Marquez to move straight into its official factory team in...

Jorge Lorenzo: Front tyre switch is right choice

08 June 2012 by Matthew Birt

Jorge Lorenzo believes it is the right decision to introduce a new standard front tyre from next weekend’s British Grand Prix onwards. From the Silverstone round, the entire field will have to use a...