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.
MotoGP action is finally back and the 2010 season was underway at Qatar this weekend. With three-time Qatar GP winner Casey Stoner sitting on the pole position, and all eyes were on the Australian for a fourpeat. But with the Fiat-Yamaha contingency on front row with Stoner, the Ducati was sure to have some competition. Stoner would find pressure from all corners though, as riders from the second and third row would shine under the Losail circuit lights during this season opener. Click through for a full race report.
The 2010 MotoGP season is officially underway as riders took to he track tonight to qualify for tomorrow’s race. Under the lights, riders enjoyed weather that had noticeably less humidity than at the track’s pre-season testing just three weeks ago. With a bevy of new riders, many were curious to see how these MotoGP rookies would fare in the big show, but it was the usual suspects who took all the spotlight.
Oberdan Bezzi has inked another motorcycle sketch, and this time the Italian designer has a modern take on an old school favorite with an Italian twist. Re-imgaging the Martini Ducati design, Obiboi takes the Martini racing theme and has modernized it on a Ducati Desmosedici. True to his roots, Bezzi sees this as being the ideal pairing of brands for the 2011 MotoGP season, and of course only Valentino Rossi himself could be at the helm. The 2011 MotoGP silly season rumor fest is still a ways out; but make no mistake, Italians have some big hopes for next season…despite the fact we still have the entire 2010 season of MotoGP ahead of us first.
Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner have lobbied Dorna to start the season opener at Qatar at least an hour earlier than was previously scheduled. Scheduled to start at 11pm local time, MotoGP’s night race at Qatar benefits from hitting the European market during prime time television hours, and hits American shores during reasonable daylight hours.
The evening start also means that riders don’t have to compete during the hot daytime desert weather, but the downside with that is the evening temperatures rapidly change as the night progresses and evening dew forms on the Losail track. With riders crashing later in the Qatar testing times this past week, Rossi and Stoner think the MotoGP race would be better served starting earlier in the evening.
MotoGP testing has concluded at the Losail International Circuit just outside of Doha, Qatar, and sees Casey Stoner making a late push to take the top spot at what has become one of his top tracks in the past years. There was some doubt with Stoner though, as Rossi lead almost all of Thursday’s sessions, and was biting on Stoner’s heels today. Surprise appearances from the test come in the form of Ben Spies, Andrea Dovizioso, and Randy de Puniet. Spies finished Thursday third quickest, and was the fourth quickest rider overall. Dovi took the honors as the fastest Honda, but was challenged by de Puniet on Thursday for that spot. Thursday the French rider was 5th quickest, and managed to keep his shirt on despite the hot weather in Doha.
Friday saw Nicky Hayden make progress with the Ducati Desmosedici, while Colin Edwards slipped down the overall grid Friday, despite his strong numbers Thursday and consistent runs during both test days. Lorenzo and Pedrosa were both present for the track test, but not in spirit. Both riders were suffering from injuries, and it showed in their performance under the hot desert lights. Check past the jump for a full timing sheet.
The crew over at On The Throttle TV have been doing a multi-part interview with AMA legend Mat Mladin. OTT asked Mladin what he thought about former rival Ben Spies as a racer. Mat’s response: the best rider of our time, or not far behind Rossi himself. That’s high praise a from a six time AMA Champion, and even higher praise from the Aussie rider. You can find the whole interview here, and the clip after the jump.
The subject as to where Valentino Rossi will race in the future and finish his career has been a subject of much speculation, and seems to endure through the seasons. As usual we’ve already seen the speculation that Rossi may drive a Formula 1 car for Ferrari, or join Ducati for a perfect storm of corse italiano. Rossi usually likes to fan the rumors by staying non-committal, but in a recent interview with Motosprint Magazine, the nine time World Champion Valentino Rossi revealed that he would like to stay in racing for another three years, likely ending his career with Yamaha.
After debuting the 2010 Fiat-Yamaha MotoGP team and the new(ish) YZR-M1, news came out that the Fiat-Yamaha team, like many other teams before them, will not be sharing data between its two riders, effectively erecting a wall in the Fiat-Yamaha garage. The news was confirmed by Masahiko Nakajima, MotoGP Group Leader and Fiat Yamaha Team Director, that there will be no sharing of data between the two riders this year as they battle for the MotoGP Championship once again. The issue has already made its first divide, as Lorenzo and Rossi have expressed very different sentiments on the topic.
In conjunction with the unveiling of the 2010 Fiat-Yamaha MotoGP team, a series of interviews with Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, and Lin Jarvis have been released for public consumption. Despite being released from the team’s PR firm, with cooperation from Fiat, the questions strike at the heart of many the issues that surround the Lorenzo/Rossi battle for supremacy. They’re quite long, but worth a watch, check them out after the jump.
MotoGP teams have flocked to Sepang this week to test their bikes on the Malaysian track in preparation for the 2010 season. Fiat-Yamaha was on hand to unveil their 2010 YZR-M1, along with riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Despite Yamaha’s shuddering sales figures, there doesn’t seem to be too many drastic changes in the factory team’s camp, but perhaps the lack of change is indicative of Yamaha’s financial position.
Speaking at the unveiling, Managing Director for Yamaha Racing, Lin Jarvis said, “The MotoGP program is a very important brand image promotion activity and the racing requires us to demonstrate all of our company’s power in engineering, organizational and passion if we are to be successful at the top level. He continued with, “we are extremely fortunate to have retained all of our existing loyal sponsors and even to have added a few more to the team.” Enough of that, video and photos after the jump.