Dorna and the MotoGP rider’s Safety Commission met in Sepang this past Friday before the Malaysian GP to talk about the upcoming 2010 season, and in particular the addition of the Hungarian Balatonring to the schedule. While Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta believes the track will be completed on-time for its MotoGP debute, Satefy Comission Founding Member, Loris Capirossi, disagrees. Putting his money where his mouth is, Capirossi has bet Ezpeleta on the Hungarian tracks completion.
After providing three days of sunshine for the Sepang race track, the heavens opened up today with a downpour of rain 30 minutes before the commencement of the Malaysian GP. The change in weather caused the penultimate MotoGP race to be delayed by 45 minutes as everyone waited for the monsoon to abate to a drizzle. With riders having no reference for the wet Malaysian course, it seemed like all bets were off. Click past the jump for spoilers and more.
On its second to last stop of the season, MotoGP heads to Sepang, Malaysia for the 2009 running of the Malaysian GP. Looking to clinch the MotoGP Championship is Valentino Rossi, who really only needs to finish in the top 10 of the next two races to keep his Championship status alive. The situation is more dire for Jorge Lorenzo, who needs to grab as many points as he can this weekend, and hope that Rossi makes a mistake along the way. More on this, after the jump.
New race teams seem to be flocking to the 2010 MotoGP season. First it was Italian hopeful FB Corse, and now Spanish Inmotec has joined the fray with their own MotoGP bid. With their official launch to come at the Valencian GP, Inmotec hopes to enter their 800cc prototype racer, the the Inmotec GPI 10, with success against not only the other privateer teams, but against the factory squads as well. More after Inmotec after the jump.
Reports are coming in that Alex de Angelis will be headed to Scot Honda (thus ending any rumor that Toni Elias would be joining the satellite Honda team), and that Elias will be headed to Moto2 with the Sito Pons team. Kalex Engineering is expected to be providing Sito Pons with one of their Moto2 chassis solutions. You may remember Kalex from their gorgeous liter-bike track weapon we ran a couple months ago. While many are reporting these moves as fact, their appears to be some margin of uncertainty in the plan.
Daniele Romagnoli, Team Manager on the Lorenzo side of the Fiat-Yamaha garage, has announced that he will be leaving the factory Yamaha team at the end of the 2009 season. A born engineer, Romagnoli is looking to return to his crew-chief roots, and Honda HRC may have that answer.
Gary McCoy will always be near and dear to our hearts for his exhibitions of manual traction control, but Casey Stoner made a strong showing for second place in this category while at Phillip Island this weekend.
Sliding his way around the Australian track, Stoner put on not only a show for his home crowd, but also did it with champion Valentino Rossi in tow. We’ll let you decide who is the reigning King of Swerve and Sultan of Slide. Videos of both Stoner and McCoy after the jump.
With good race action distracting specators from the looming wet weather at Phillip Island, the Australian GP proved to be another decisive step in the MotoGP Championship. An early “rubbing is racing” moment, could very well have shaped the the way this season will finish, but with racing still to occur at Sepang, Malaysia and Valencia, Spain, no one is declaring victory just yet. Click past the jump for spoilers and a full race report.
MotoGP action comes from the land down under this weekend, taking to the Australian track of Phillip Island. Treading on the home turf of Casey Stoner, fans will surely be treated to some good racing from the come-back kid. Stoner will have to show his strength has returned though, as both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are looking for as many Championship points now that the MotoGP is getting closer to its conclusion.
After Casey Stoner chastised the press, and called out Kevin Schwantz for his opinion on Stoner’s illness, Wayne Gardner, the 1987 500GP Champion, has weighed in his thoughts on Stoner’s absence from MotoGP racing. Saying what everyone already felt, Gardner calls Stoner’s absence “very suspicious” but still considers the Australian rider the favorite at the Australian GP this weekend.
John Hopkins, in a recent video posted on his personal website (not for the weak-stomached), has declared that he is uncertain where he will land for the 2010 racing season. With things at Stiggy Honda beginning to look bleak, it seems clear that the team will be unable to afford both Leon Haslam and John Hopkins next year. Haslam is rumored to be headed fro Alstate Suzuki, while Hopper has been keen on getting back into MotoGP.