Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Catalan GP

Browsing
Racing

MotoGP’s Guerrilla Marketing on the Streets of Barcelona

By 7 Comments

Jorge Lorenzo might not be the most charismatic MotoGP racer in the paddock, but he has some very smart people helping him with his marketing. Pitching a MotoGP grid in front of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, the Yamaha Racing team put on a show for the unsuspecting people milling about the famous church.

With a bike, rider, team, and yes, even a grid girl, all coming out of nowhere and setting up shop in the middle of the street, it looks like the marketing stunt certainly caught passersby off-guard. Honestly, we could prattle on more about it, but Yamaha’s description is pretty vivid. Check it and the video after the jump, and let’s collectively hope that MotoGP keeps up these creative marketing efforts.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Dani Pedrosa to Miss the Catalan GP

By 1 Comment

More bad luck for Dani Pedrosa, as Repsol Honda has announced that the Spanish rider will indeed miss the Catalan GP this weekend, electing instead to heal further his broken collarbone. Pedrosa injured his shoulder at the French GP two weeks ago, clipping the curb after he crashed in an incident that involved Marco Simoncelli. For his part, Simoncelli had to do a ride-through penalty, and will be meeting with the MotoGP Race Direction during this race weekend to further explain his actions on and off the race circuit.

For Pedrosa, it was hoped that he could recuperate in-time for his home GP outside of Barcelona; however, due the bone healing slower than anticipated he has been forced to follow a more conservative treatment. Now the question is which race Pedrosa will return back to MotoGP at, as the MotoGP calendar is now hitting six races in the next eight weeks. Pedrosa’s injury comes at the worst time of the season, and hopefully he can be back on the saddle of the Honda RC212V by the Silverstone round.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

HRC NSF250R Moto3 Race Bike to Debut at Catalan GP

By 11 Comments

Honda has done a pretty good job of teasing out its HRC NSF250R, which is set to race in the Moto3 Championship in 2012. Replacing the 125GP, Moto3 class is based around four-stroke 250cc race bikes, and should be a more affordable and leveling playing field for new riders to enter into GP racing. HRC has teased us with images and videos of the new NSF250R, which takes its core cues from the its RS125R predecessor (both current factory Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso won their lower Championships on the Honda RS125R).

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Dani Pedrosa Goes in for Shoulder Surgery – Questionable for Catalan GP Participation

By 3 Comments

Dani Pedrosa seems fated to ride forever injured, having broken his right collarbone at the French GP during an incident with Marco Simoncelli. Coming off serious issues with his left shoulder, breaking that collarbone at the Motegi round last year, Pedrosa has to contend again with a performance limiting ailment, during what otherwise seemed to be a promising season. After contemplating his options for a few days and talking further with his doctors, Pedrosa decided to undergo surgery for his broken shoulder, having a titanium plate inserted to hold the fracture together.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Our Test Rider is Faster than Your Test Rider

By 1 Comment

After the collective groan that emanated from MotoGP fans around the world when Wataru Yoshikawa was announced as Valentino Rossi’s replacement, Interwetten Honda is feeling a bit frisky about MotoGP’s next stop at Barcelona for the Catalan GP.

As such the team has challenged the Fiat-Yamaha substitute rider to battle with their own replacement for Hiroshi Aoyama: Kousuke Akiyoshi. With neither rider likely to make much of a showing against the MotoGP usuals, Interwetten Honda boss Daniel Epp sees a battle of the backmarkers as a way to spice up the race.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya

By 3 Comments

Fiat-Yamaha-Rossi-Lorenzo-Catalunya-motogp

With a tenth of a second separating Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in yesterday’s qualifying, the Catalan GP was shaping up to be a MotoGP race worth watching. Adding to the intrigue was a course that is especially demanding on tires, and a heat wave that was sure to make the rubber selection ever more critical. Bridgestone brought to the track an asymmetrical tire compound that was expected to help teams, but with so many factors going on, race day was bound to get interesting.

The fans at the Circuit de Catalunya were given a treat of a race, that saw two riders battling it out until the very last turn. The end result is a three-way tie in the MotoGP Championship standings, and a season that is really starting to brim with excitement.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Qualifying Heats Up Under the Catalan Sun

By 1 Comment

jorge-lorenzo-qualifying-catalunya

It was a close qualify session in the outskirts of Barcelona today, but at the end of the day Jorge Lorenzo pulled a squeaker of a session on Valentino Rossi to take the pole in front of his home crowd.

Wearing special livery for the day, which paid homage to Barcelona FC (the local soccer team), Lorenzo lapped a 1’41.974 on the Catalan track, just .013 seconds quicker than Rossi’s best effort. This news surely pleased Team Fiat-Yamaha, as once again they’ll have a 1-2 start on the grid for tomorrow’s race.

Keep Reading
By
News

Bridgestone to Provide Asymmetric Tires at Catalunya

By 3 Comments

bridgestone-catalan-gp-assymetric-tire

With eight right-hand corners, most of which are long and fast, and only five left-handers, most of which are much slower, the Circuit de Catalunya provides a worthy puzzle for all the tire manufacturers, but this weekend Bridgestone has a secret weapon up its sleeve. For the Catalan GP, Bridgestone has made a special asymmetrical tire that will be composed of different compounds on each side of the tire in order to meet the demanding conditions of the Spanish track.

Keep Reading
By