Dani Pedrosa on his blog today announced that he would not compete in the British GP at Silverstone next weekend, instead opting to heal his collarbone further, which he broke a the French GP several weeks ago. Though Pedrosa was on the fence about competing in the Catalan GP, it comes as no surprise that the Spanish rider will sit out Silverstone, now having missed his home race in Barcelona.
What does come as surprising though is the very credible rumors that Pedrosa has re-injured his shoulder while doing some Supermoto training, and because of this incident, may sit out the rest of the season (which may have prompted the blog post itself). Boom goes the dynamite.
After taking his first GP podium at Silverstone during the British GP, OnTheThrottle TV caught up with Ben Spies to talk to the American rider about what it was like to achieve the next milestone in his young career. Talking about his highside leading up to Sunday’s race, Spies gives a tremendous amount of insight into heating up the Bridgestone tires, which helps to further explain Rossi’s highside at Mugello. Spies also gives us a perspective on the on-track communication riders have when it comes to catching up to other riders and fighting for position. Check out the full skype interview after the jump, and hang on through the technical issues.
The British GP was the first full GP weekend without The Doctor present to charm the television with his media moxie (did we mention his crash was “worth” $8 million?), and as such we get our first glimpse into what the repercussions are for MotoGP with Rossi out of commission. Checking TV viewership, MotoGP’s stop at Silverstone saw a 20% decline in total viewership when compared to the last two GP’s at Jerez and Le Mans. The result is that advertisers in some markets are asking the local stations that cover MotoGP to readjust there viewership claims and media rates to account for the loss of audience.
Photo: Monster Tech3 Yamaha
At Silverstone this weekend, the infamous highside crash has claimed another rider: Hiroshi Aoyama. After crashing during the warm-up session, Aoyama was eventually taken to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, where it was confirmed that the Japanese rider had fractured his T12 vertebra. Aoyama will be moved to Barcelona, Spain tomorrow, where he’ll see another specialist and get a second opinion on how to treat his condition.
One of the special things we’ve been working on here at Asphalt & Rubber is bringing our dear readers better race coverage, especially from MotoGP. As a part of this efforts, we’ll be featuring some of the best shots photographer Scott Jones takes while galavanting around at some of the finest tracks in the world.
He’s got game, he’s got moxy, and once we even saw Scott take a little girl’s ice cream so he could truly capture “disappointment” on film. In essence, he’s the photographer we wish we could be. Check out his photos from the British GP after the jump.
If you haven’t seen today’s British GP at Silverstone, stop reading this article, and go watch your Tivo right now. We can hardly contain ourselves after watching the race, so we’ll keep this intro short. While the race winner is not going to surprise too many GP race fans, it’s the rest of the finishes that had us jumping up and down on our chairs. Spoilers after the jump.
MotoGP was in Donington Park this weekend for the British GP, and what will be the MotoGP Championship’s last stop at the Midlands track for the foreseeable future. Donington proved that not only would this be a finale GP, but also a memorable one. Weather forecasts for the day proved to be accurate with drizzles occurring during racing. Teams gambled on tires, and early ride reports indicated that the British track was very slippery when wet (shocking, we know). The end result was crashes, cold tires, and a podium line-up we’re guessing no one expected. Bangers and mash anyone?
With this being MotoGP’s last stop at Donington for the foreseeable future, the British venue seems to be putting its best foot forward. Agreeable weather, rabid fans, and close qualifying makes Sunday’s race and send off that much more enjoyable. It won’t be all clear skies though, Sunday’s weather forecast is showing some rain, and undoubtedly riders are practicing their bike swapping out in their minds.
British based Visordown is reporting that an inside source has revealed that Silverstone will host the 2010 British GP instead of Donington Park. All is not lost for Donington fans, as it looks like they will be hosting Formula 1 instead.
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