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MotoGP: Donington Park Does Not Go Gently into the Night – Brings Surprise Finishes & Crashes

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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?

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MotoGP: Close Qualifying at Donington Park

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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.

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Aspar Closing in on Ducati Satellite Team Deal

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Jorge “Aspar” Martinez is closing in on finally becoming a player in MotoGP. Aspar has had his eye on MotoGP for some time now, hoping to move out of the ranks of 250GP, where he has been making quite the showing with Alvaro Bautista at the helm. Despite his ambition, the right deal has never been able to materialize for Martine. But that now seems to be changing as Aspar could announce before Donington, his plans to enter MotoGP as Ducati Satellite team. Bautista, however, is still a question mark.

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MotoGP: Slip n’ Slide Qualifying in Germany

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Weather at the Sachsenring for MotoGP’s qualifying was rainy to put it mildly. As such, the water soaked track feasted upon the unsuspecting riders as they left pit-lane wearing full sets of rains. In total, six riders touched the asphalt with more than a knee puck or elbow, with Turn 6 responsible for the majority of that action.

MotoGP this season has been plauged with changing conidtions on race weekends, and Germany will be no different. With Saturday’s rain, comes Sunday’s sunshine (or at least more sunshine than Saturday’s). This will likely cause a bobble in the qualifying order, which has already seen some surprise this weekend. Continue reading to find out all about it.

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Banter

Carmelo Ezpeleta Wanted Dead or Alive

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Take a walk around the MotoGP paddock at the Sachsenring this weekend, and you might see some interesting posters being hung up through out the race track.

Wanted dead or alive is Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna Sports CEO, for his crimes against the 250cc class. Someone has put up as a joke (we hope) a $1,000,000 bounty on the race promoter’s head, with a caption that reads, “Wanted for crimes against the 250 cc bikes. He is a 2-stroke killer. Outlaw is known to be extremely dangerous and should be approached with caution.”

The poster is an obvious reference to Dorna’s demise of the 250GP class, in favor of the upcoming Moto2 class, which will replace the 2-stroke 250cc bikes, with 4-stroke 600cc prototypes.

Ezpeleta has been responsible for a number of changes in premiere motorcycle racing, starting with Moto2, which will launch at the beginning of the 2010 season, and serve as a feeder into the MotoGP series. Additionally, any rider coming into MotoGP, including from Moto2, will have to first start in a MotoGP satellite team, with some exceptions.

It’s only rumor right now, but expect the bounty to be increased if plans to replace the 125GP class are put into motion.

Source: GPone via Two Wheels Blog

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Bridgestone Blames History for Laguna Seca

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Convinced they had cracked the code of the cork screw, Bridgestone arrived at the US GP with a single compound tire. Relying on data from last year’s GP, the tire manufacturer was only expecting a marginal variance in tire temperature between the left and right sides of their racing slicks. As such, they did not develop an asymetrical tire compound like they did for the Catalan GP.

As we now well know from the high-sides of Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, as well as the plethora of riders that ended up in the gravel that week, this single-compound design wasn’t up to the task of handling the track that many riders described as “one big turn”.

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Rumors

Lorenzo to Telefonica Honda for 2010?

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With Jorge Lorenzo’s contract up at the end of this season, rumors are beginning to make their way through the MotoGP paddock about where the Spaniard will be racing next season. While Lorenzo has stated he would prefer to stay at Yamaha, he has also stated that he “knows what he’s worth.” For anyone playing MotoGP silly season, that’s an open invitation to assume that offers from Honda could have potential of becoming true.

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Racing

Hungarian GP Back on For 2010

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After being cancelled as a stop for this year’s World Championship, the Hungarian GP is back on for 2010 at the Balatonring. The new track has been plagued with development problems in acquiring the land and necessary permits for its construction, leaving its planned September debut to be scrapped.

Hungary will be MotoGP’s second stop in Eastern Europe once the Balatonring is finished. When completed the new course will be 2.8 miles long, have 16 turns, and a straightaway where riders can expect speeds of 195 mph.

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