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

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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.

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Bikes

Yamaha YZR-M1 WGP 50th Anniversary Edition

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Helping commemorate its 50th Anniversary of World Championship Grand Prix racing, Yamaha has unveiled special race livery for its factory-backed MotoGP squad, which the team will run at the Assen TT and Laguna Seca Grand Prix. Set to be unveiled Wednesday, June 22nd at the Assen circuit by Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, the Yamaha YZR-M1 WGP 50th Anniversary Edition motorcycles with their red color schemes are described by the Japanese company as paying “homage to the iconic Yamaha Factory Racing liveries of the past with a modern twist.”

Take that as you will, but the new race livery for the two races is a welcomed detraction from the reminder that the Yamaha squad has been unable to field a title sponsor for the 2011 MotoGP Championship season, despite having the 2010 Rookie of the Year Ben Spies and reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo on-board the squad’s Yamaha YZR-M1 race bikes. Nonetheless, Yamaha has been celebrating its racing heritage with a special 50th Anniversary website, which is well-stocked with images of racing lore for the tuning fork brand.

Be sure to check out the full gallery of images on the Yamaha YZR-M1 WGP 50th Anniversary Edition motorcycle after the jump. We think it’s a looker.

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Racing

MotoGP: Sacré Bleu During Racing at the French GP

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To say that the French GP got off on the wrong foot might be the understatement of the season. Between the statements between riders about each other, and the Casey Stoner/Randy de Puniet punch incident, the pre-race antics were at a fever pitch in Le Mans. The off-track drama in MotoGP is clearly seeping into the on-track racing action, and accordingly the French GP was filled with several incidents that should give the pundits something to talk about for the coming three weeks before the Catalan GP.

Meanwhile qualifying showed that the Hondas ruled the roost, with the firm’s four factory supported bikes sitting in the top four spots on the starting grid. With Casey Stoner commencing from the pole position, Marco Simoncelli qualified just barely second to the Australian, while Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the front row.

Directly behind Stoner was Dani Pedrosa, who has had some tremendous starts from the second row in the past, and surely couldn’t be counted out of today’s race. Eyes were also on Randy de Puniet, who counted Le Mans as one of his least favorite circuits, despite it being in front of his home crowd.

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MotoGP: Casey Stoner Fined €5,000 for Punching Randy de Puniet in Warm-Up Session

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The tenor of temper tantrums and drama in the MotoGP paddock seemingly escalates with each passing day, as the Warm-Up session at Le Mans saw further scuffles from MotoGP riders. Punching Randy de Puniet in the arm, Casey Stoner has been levied a €5,000 fine by Race Direction for the contact with the French rider. With such a physical act is clearly out of order and unsportsmanlike in any sort of motorcycle race, but the issue about slower riders on the racing line has also surfaced, with many in the MotoGP paddock looking for some intervention from Race Direction on that issue as well.

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Racing

MotoGP: Factory Hondas Make Like Napoleon Bonaparte – Divide & Conquer Qualifying at Le Mans

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Le Mans proved to be a Honda-friendly track today, as all four true-blooded factory Honda machines took the four top spots on the grid for tomorrow’s French GP. With the Hondas bunched up at the front, the groupings didn’t stop there as the next four spots were occupied by the Yamaha contingency, with Jorge Lorenzo leading Crutchlow, Edwards, and Spies respectively.

Ninth and tenth on the grid belong to Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, while Randy de Puniet on the satellite Pramac Ducati will start 11th for his home GP. Both Hayden and Spies cited mistakes on their fast laps as being the cause for their poor qualifying, while Rossi’s squad was unable to capitalize on its softer-compound tire for an ultimate qualifying time.

Starting on pole will be Casey Stoner, as the Australian continues his superb form this season. Though the Repsol Honda rider has been the one to watch so far this season, he only beat out sophmore Marco Simoncelli by a margin of 0.059 seconds.

Simoncelli has seemingly found his stride this season, though his riding has prompted concerns in the MotoGP paddock, as many of the top riders went to the Safety Commission meeting to complain about the Italian’s riding. Rounding out the front row is Andrea Dovizioso, who bested teammate Dani Pedrosa by six-hundreths of a second. Full qualifying results after the jump.

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Bikes

The Yamaha MotoGP Replicas You Can’t Buy

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If you’re reading this post, then you are already too late to own a Yamaha YZF-R1 with MotoGP replica bodywork. For starters, the bikes were offered by Yamaha France, making local delivery here in the US a little challenging, even if you could pony up the €15,999 ($22,750) asking price. Second, race replica R1’s were gone almost immediately after being offered on the French website. If the price seems a bit steep, consider the fact that the machine would be delivered in person at the French GP by its appropriate MotoGP rider (there’s also a bit of Yamaha and team swag involved in the purchase price).

If you’re a die hard Lorenzo, Spies, Edwards, or Crutchlow fan, this opportunity by Yamaha France would probably be a once in a lifetime moment, but what we think is really special is that Yamaha left the Japanese support stickers on the bikes’ livery, not only drawing further ties to the MotoGP machines, but also noting a point in time that changed Japan, the world, and the motorcycle community…good stuff. More photos after the jump, but be forewarned that the yellow and black Tech3 paint scheme is extra drool-worthy on the R1.

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Gresini Says No to Marco Simoncelli in WSBK, for 2011

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In an effort to get out ahead of rumors suggesting Marco Simoncelli would be participating in World Superbike racing in 2011, his Gresini Honda MotoGP team has definitively stated that he will not be doing so. Though he appeared at the WSBK Monza round just this past weekend, Simoncelli will not be repeating his 2009 wild card performance at Imola or any other rounds this season. There, he placed third in the second race on an Aprilia, after not finishing the first race.

Simply put, there will be no extra racing for Simoncelli in a MotoGP field already marred by riders suffering health problems from extracurricular racing. However, Gresini Honda will be providing their star rider with a Honda CBR1000RR that he may test at his and the FIM’s discretion.

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Photo of the Week: The Passing Scent of Two-Strokes

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I love the smell of two-strokes in the morning…or the evening, or the afternoon. But just as Hiroshi Aoyama became the final 250cc two-stroke champion in 2009, at the end of this season we’ll have one last 125cc world champion. Most money is on Spaniard Nicol Terol, who without last season’s rival Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro to get in his way, has dominated the 125cc season so far.

Rumors that his current competitors let him get far ahead so they don’t have to look at the color scheme of his livery are untrue: Terol is just that fast on a tiny 125cc machine. Next season, the kids and odd grown-up who don’t move on to Moto2 will be on the replacement Moto3 class bikes. In a nutshell these are 250cc 4-strokes, but for all the details look here.

MotoGP will of course be leaving the 800cc engines behind to return to liter engines, so many changes are in store for 2012. One of the most notable will certainly be the absence of the approaching bee swarm sound as the little bikes and little riders approach on their out lap, the 2-stroke whine growing louder as the wind carries it across the track, and the pleasant odor of the oil and gas mix as the crowd goes by for the first time. Another chapter in the history of Grand Prix motorbike racing is coming to a close in 2011.

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MotoGP: Testing Concludes at Estoril with Simoncelli Fastest

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Testing concluded today in Estoril, with MotoGP teams getting another day to sort out their 2011 race motorcycles on the Portuguese track. The day was perhaps most anxiously awaited by the Ducati Corse squad, who brought out new chassis parts to address the issues with the Ducati Desmosedici GP11. Feedback from both Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi was positive about the changes, and the Ducati Corse team seems to be heading down the right course of softening up the GP11.

“It was a positive test because the new updates were immediately better. The bike was more sensitive to changes made to the front, which makes it easier to work on a setup that works better for me,” said an upbeat Valentino Rossi. “I realized that as soon as I got on the bike and then, over the course of the following hours, we constantly progressed. We also had an engine with a slightly smoother power delivery that I liked a lot.”

“We’ll start using it when the rotation plan allows it. I liked the tyres that Bridgestone had us try, they seemed very good. Of course the other riders also made great progress, and the less positive about today is the gap to the front on my best lap. Anyway, everything that the Ducati technicians brought worked, and that means that we’re on the right path. We have to continue working, but today’s test gives us confidence.”

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Photo of the Week: Physician, Heal Thyself

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Valentino Rossi managed a fifth place at Estoril this weekend, barely missing fourth as Andrea Dovizioso nipped him at the line after tailgating most of the race. The Doctor continues to have his hands full with the GP11, despite a nearly recovered shoulder and the ability to ride closer to his own personal potential. As graceful as Lorenzo looks on the Yamaha that Rossi and Jeremy Burgess developed, Rossi looks just as awkward at times on Casey Stoner’s old ride.

In response to Rossi’s complaints about all that is wrong with the Ducati, Stoner was quick to point out that the bike was good enough to win three of 2010’s final six races, suggesting that Rossi simply needed to adjust his riding style in order to go faster. The Doctor would rather heal the patient than himself however, and he and his team will continue to work on major changes to the GP11.

In the mean time, from images like the one above, we can see how Rossi struggles with his body position as he tries to get the Ducati to keep up with the Hondas and Yamahas. The switch to Ducati is looking like perhaps the greatest challenge of his career.

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