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Motorland Aragon to Host World Superbike

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You may remember Motorland Aragon as the fourth Spanish-based track that was added to the MotoGP schedule after the Hungarian GP was canceled for a second time in two years. Set to play host to MotoGP on September 19th of this year, the Spanish track has also just gotten the nod to host World Superbike with its premiere facilities. However WSBK is taking a different tack from MotoGP, and instead of running two Spanish stops, Motorland Aragon will replace Valencia on the World Superbike calendar for 2011 (and on through 2013).

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Racing

MotoCzysz Confirmed For e-Power Race at Seca

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While attending the Skip Barber Superbike School, A&R Editor Jensen Beeler overheard a conversation between Lead Instructor Michael Czysz and a couple of students. As the students asked Czysz if he’d be at Seca to watch the Red Bull US GP, Czysz lamented that he would not be able to watch MotoGP at Laguna Seca because MotoCzysz would be racing that weekend. As some may remember the FIM’s e-Power Championship series has a round that is occurring at Laguna Seca in coordination with Dorna and the AMA. Czysz went on to pique out ears, confirming that MotoCzysz would be racing that weekend in the FIM e-Power Championship, with the rider yet to be determined.

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Bikes

2010 Yamaha YZF-R1 Ben Spies Race Replica – For French Eyes Only?

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In order to get ready for MotoGP’s stop at Le Mans in two weeks, Yamaha France has released a special promotional package and four (both in variety and total production) race replica motorcycles on its website. We’ve already seen the American Fiat-Yamaha R1 LE, with its race livery and fake Rossi signature, but the new race rep’s from Yamaha France will feature paint schemes from both the Fiat-Yamaha and Monster Tech3 Yamaha teams. For the added €1,000 price tag the race replica’s demand, they’re actually a pretty good value, especially when compared to the American YZF-R1 LE. More on that after the jump.

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Racing

Silly Season: Italian Press Says Stoner Signed with Honda – Rossi Offered Deal by Ducati

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UPDATE: GPOne.com (probably the most reliable source in the Italian Media) has gotten word from Livio Suppo that “no one has signed anything yet”, which probably confirms that Stoner is talking to HRC, but obviously hasn’t made his mind up about anything.

Silly season is officially underway starting today as the Italian press is full of accounts (all penning their source as being from Sportmediaset) that Casey Stoner has signed with the Repsol Honda MotoGP team, with a sub-headline that Valentino Rossi has been offered a two-year contract with Ducati. Sportmediaset cites the deciding reason for Stoner jumping ship as being the Australian rider’s disappointment in how Ducati backed him during his mysterious illness last year.

Despite headlining Stoner’s move, the bulk of their article concerns Rossi’s switch to Ducati, which may be a tip-off on the validity of the news, as the Italian press loves to pair the two marquee names together. We wade through the silly season possibilities further after the jump.

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Banter

Somewhere in Italy, A Publicist Just Killed Himself

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Himself or herself, whatever the case may be, publicists and PR agents are hired basically to save their clients from themselves. They are the filter between companies/celebraties and the media, and as such try and prevent their clients from saying anything too unsavory. When Spanish radio station Marca called up Lorenzo on Tuesday to celebrate the Fiat-Yamaha rider’s birthday, they reminded Spanish rider that he shares his special day with another, slightly less famous, celebrity: porn star Rocco Siffredi. It gets worse after the jump.

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Racing

A Graphical Representation of a Win at Jerez

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Did you ever wonder what a MotoGP win looks like on paper? Take away the close-passes, the high-speed wobbles, and on-air commentary, and all that’s left behind is the truth in the lap times. No excuses, no almosts, the above is a graphical represenation of what coming back from a 3.75 second deficite looks like at the storied Spanish track of Jerez, which saw Jorge Lorenzo win by over half a second when it was all said and done. Click here for a higher-res version.

Source: E_Bland

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Racing

Silverstone Launches New ‘Arena’ Circuit – Could be Fastest Track for MotoGP Riders

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Silverstone has taken the wraps off its modified Grand Prix circuit, dubbed the “Arena”. The British track has poured in €4 million and spent the past five months renovating itself with an addition 2,500 feet of racing distance. With the modified circuit, engineers expect the Arena to have some of the fastest speeds in Formula One and MotoGP. Helping launch the new circuit was the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who cut the ceremonial ribbon.

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Banter

The Definitive Guide on How to Pronounce ‘Lorenzo’

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It doesn’t seem like a topic that really needs that much explaining, but after suffering through this weekend’s MotoGP race coverage here in the United States, it would seem there is some confusion on how to properly pronounce “Lorenzo”, as in Jorge Lorenzo’s last name. Continue reading if you want to see a leviathan description of Spanish language and how it relates to motorcycle racing in an admittedly over-the-top and pretentious sort of way.

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Racing

Top Rider Fake Quotes from TwitGP

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If you haven’t already heard about the TwitGP that took place on Twiegi twitter this weekend, then you missed out on one of the best crowdsourced virtual online racing events ever to take place on the interwebernets. A bit silly, yes. But TwitGP, which came about as a result of the cancelled Japanese GP, was a clever use of modern media and user interactivity that created a humored and enthusiastic approach to twitter and MotoGP. One of the best parts about the TwitGP was the ongoing puns, and fictitious rider quotes that came from people all over the world. We’ve reproduced some of the best after the jump, enjoy.

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Racing

Fiat Boss Fuels Ferrari/Rossi Rumors

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Fiat Chairman Luca di Montezemolo has thrown some more fuel on the never-ending fires about a Valentino Rossi’s rumored switch to Formula One racing. Fiat as you might remember is the title sponsor of the factory Yamaha MotoGP team, and also the parent company to Ferrari. In what he calls a “great idea”, di Montezemolo made it clear that he would like to see the seven-time World Champion driving for Corse Rosa.

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Racing

Twitegi Circuit Gets Ready for the TwitGP

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By now you’ve surely heard the news that the Japanese GP at Motegi has been cancelled because of the volcanic ash the continues to spew out of an unpronounceable mountain in Iceland. With teams unable to fly out of Europe and into Japan, Dorna had no choice but to postpone the event until much later in the season.

Leaving MotoGP fans with nothing to do this weekend except watch the confirmed WSBK stop at Assen, some clever individuals have turned to the internet to get their GP fix. Enter TwitGP, the first virtual sporting event, that’s being hosted on twitter. With a bevy of twitter-based wordplay, TwitGP has seen a number of tweeps get on-board with the concept, which hopes to bring racing action straight to 4,000 or twitter followers come Sunday.

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