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MotoGP: Rain-Soaked British GP Shakes-up Championship

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The nice British weather could only hold-out for so long at Silverstone this race weekend, as MotoGP came to the English track for the British GP. Accordingly, Sunday’s MotoGP race was soaked to the bone with rain, as Casey Stoner took his pole position for the day’s start.

Followed by Marco Simoncelli and Jorge Lorenzo respectively on the front row, the weather showed the potential to make it anyone’s race…that is of course as long as “anyone” doesn’t include Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow, both of whom could not compete because of broken collarbones.

Speaking of broken collarbones, Colin Edwards was set to race, just a week after breaking his at Catalunya, though his teammate was gutted about being unable to race in front of his home crowd after crashing in practice.

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Catalunya Ends Colin Edwards’ 141 MotoGP Starting Streak

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If there’s a Cal Ripken Jr. of MotoGP, it would have to be the Texan Tornado himself, Colin Edwards III. For the past 141 MotoGP races, the American has been on the starting line come Sunday morning (and Saturday morning if it’s for the Dutch TT).

This weekend’s race at Catalunya would have been Edwards’ 142nd GP start, but medical officials were not too keen on Colin’s idea of gridding-up with the MotoGP field, and doing a single lap to maintain his streak (CEIII broke his collarbone on Friday). Thus, Edwards’ record for consecutive GP starts will have to stand at 141 races.

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MotoGP: Rain Threatens Racing at the Catalan GP

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When the Catalan fans’ eyes weren’t on polesitter Marco Simoncelli, they were looking up at the clouds in Barcelona, to see if they would rain on the Spanish track during today’s MotoGP racing action. With the Catalan track damp in some sections, riders started out on slick Bridgestone tires, hoping for the best in what would fall from the heavens in the coming laps.

Disappointing for American fans, was the news that Colin Edwards had broken his collarbone on Friday, and unfortunately MotoGP medical would not let the Texan start today’s race, thus making the 2011 Catalan GP the first time the Texan Tornado has missed a race since 2003. Edwards seemed confident he’d be back for Silverstone though.

Also absent from the grid was the injured Dani Pedrosa, who broke his shoulder in an incident at the French GP with Simoncelli, making the Italian persona non grata in Spain this weekend. Luckily for Spanish fans, Jorge Lorenzo was on the front row for the start and appeased the masses, but he was behind Casey Stoner who had been consistently quick all week long.

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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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WSBK: Penalties & Last Lap Pass Decide Race 2 at Monza

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Reigning World Champion Max Biaggi started his home round of the 2011 World Superbike season at Monza on pole after publicly declaring that this was a weekend to make up points after mistakes at earlier rounds. He started his quest to do so with aplomb, breaking the WSBK speed record and spending extra time on track while doing so. Eugene Laverty, Jonathan Rea, and Tory Corser joined Biaggi on the front row for the start of the second race, leaving Carlos Checa surprisingly down in eleventh after a poor set of Superole sessions on Saturday for the points leader. Most riders had multiple, possibly crucial, laps deleted after running across the chicane.

Meanwhile, injuries continued to plague men already suffering from them. Chris Vermeulen added to his set of scars by tearing the skin on his elbow during a practice crash. That injury, only able to be partially closed, left him unable to race on Sunday. Meanwhile James Toseland also sat out Sunday’s races, despite some vigorous autograph signing, on his predicted return to the WSBK paddock after a testing crash left him with wires in his wrist. Later, Haslam returned to the top of the timesheets in the morning sunshine at Monza, with Biaggi, Laverty, Corser, and Camier the fastest five in Sunday morning’s warmup.

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WSBK: Duel Ends in Decisive Victory for Monza Race 1

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Max Biaggi proved a point to start the first 2011 World Superbike race at home at Monza by being on the pole, breaking speed records and blowing away his own times along the way. The reigning Champion dominated Saturday’s Superpole sessions, going so far as to flog his Aprilia around the circuit whilst the rest of the riders sat in the garages, comfortable with Biaggi’s position. Eugene Laverty, Jonathan Rea, and Troy Corser joined him in starting on the front row, with Laverty’s lap time more than six tenths slower than Biaggi’s.

Even after dominating qualifying through the first three rounds, Carlos Checa had to settle for an eleventh starting position. Meanwhile, those who have not had such good fortune through the early season continued with their bad luck. James Toseland, set to make his return after a testing injury kept him from Donington Park and Assen, participated in Friday’s sessions, but not the final qualifying practice. Nor did he race, though he was busy signing autographs with that injured wrist through the weekend.

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Banter

Video: BMW S1000R vs. BMW M3

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Ah, the age old question of which is faster: a car or a motorcycle? We’ve seen the answer debated countless times on internet forums to no avail, and it seems at some point every publication in both the two-wheeled and four-wheeled realms tackles this issue in their own way. BMW recently took up the challenge to see which was faster, and the answer was painfully simple: the BMW…we jest.

Here’s the setup though, two of BMW’s fastest machines, a BMW M3 & BMW S1000RR, start at opposite ends of an unknown course. Unleashing their beasts at the same time, they lap until one catches the other, thus definitively faster. Sounds simple enough, right? There is a kicker though: part-way through, it starts raining. Make your guesses now as to whom won the race, and watch it unfold after the jump. Thanks for the tip Craig!

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Álvaro Bautista Will Race in Sunday’s Portuguese GP

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In the press release announcing Álvaro Bautista’s intent to race in the Portuguese GP, the heading describes the Spaniard as having “true grit” during today’s Free Practice sessions at Estoril. Now normally with MotoGP press releases, these headings are a bit of hyperbole, but considering just over a month ago Bautista’s femur, the largest bone in the human body, was in two pieces, we’re inclined to agree that the Spanish rider has shown remarkable determination in getting back onto the saddle of the Suzuki GSV-R.

Initial estimates pegged Bautista’s return to be at Le Mans for the French GP, but hard work at his physical therapy sessions, and an obscene amount of time in a hyperbaric chamber have accelerated Bautista’s healing process. With today’s work in the Rizla Suzuki garage showing that he has the ability to ride on his leg just a mere 42 days after he broke it, the young GP rider has earned a lot of street cred in the MotoGP paddock.

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News

Vyrus 986 M2 Gets Race Partnership from MIVV Exhaust

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The Vyrus 986 M2 has to be one of the most gorgeous motorcycles we’ve ever seen grace our pages here at Asphalt & Rubber. It’s edgy and doesn’t conform to many of the elements we’d expect from a motorcycle design, and best of all Vyrus intends to race the hub-center steering bike (well maybe the fact you can buy one/build your own is the best thing of all).

With the Moto2 World Championship perhaps out of reach for the small Italian company, we instead see the Vyrus 986 M2 making an entry in the Spanish CEV Moto2 Championship, a national-level series that uses the same rules as the World Championship. Helping Vyrus enter that series is exhaust manufacturer MIVV, which has some experience in the CEV series, having partnered with FTR in past years.

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MotoGP: Who Didn’t Crash in the Spanish GP?

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The sunny Spanish weather gave way to rain this Sunday, as the Spanish GP got underway with 123,750 rain soaked MotoGP fans in attendance. While the practice sessions and qualifying showed the usual suspects at the top of the time sheets, the slippery conditions in the rain saw some new faces posting up strong times in the Sunday morning warm-up session.

Clearly the change in weather meant all bets were off for the MotoGP racing at Jerez, but the racing that took place certainly wasn’t what fans were expecting — as the rain relented, so did the tires. Add into the mix that this was the 2011 MotoGP Championship’s first wet race, and you’ve got a recipe that means more than just a few riders (nine total) ended up in Jerez’s gravel traps by the day’s conclusion. Find out all about it after the jump.

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UPDATE: Jonathan Rea to Race at Phillip Island

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Jonathan Rea has been cleared to race by doctors at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne after a test crash on Tuesday left his race weekend in question. Rea crashed at Turn 3 on the Phillip Island circuit after his Honda caught fire. Though he said he felt “a bit like a FMXer that just f**ked up a record attempt at the longest distance double backflip. Pretty much look like that guy too!” Rea’s doctors have discharged him with clearance to race. “He’s on his way back to Phillip Island with an all-clear from the hospital docs,” Castrol Honda announced, adding a picture of Rea eating dinner for good measure.

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