250

The debut of the FB Corse bike at Valencia this week is perhaps best described as a moderate success. The three cylinder bike built by Oral Engineering demonstrated that it was reliable and had plenty of potential, though it was still at a very early stage of development. Garry McCoy lapped Valencia at around 1'40, well off the pace but not bad for a shakedown test run without any electronics. So far, the FB Corse has not been admitted to the MotoGP entry list, but a couple more tests should help get the bike ready to be examined again in time for the Jerez round of MotoGP at the beginning of May.

The FIM today released the latest - though still officially provisional - entry lists for all three classes of the MotoGP series. Though largely unchanged, there have been one or two minor modifications to the 125 and Moto2 field.

The MotoGP class remains officially unchanged, though that in itself is news. The FB Corse team had earlier announced that they had been accepted on to the official entry list, but were later forced to retract that statement and announce they will attempt to qualify for entry again prior to the Jerez round on May 2nd. This means that the MotoGP field remains just 17 riders, with hopes that the field could be expanded to 18 by Jerez, and with wildcards from the Spanish Inmotec project later in the year.

The enormous success of MotoMatters.com has seen our traffic grow tenfold over the past three years, and we are starting to become the victims of our own success. We have completely outgrown our current hosting situation, and after DNS problems made MotoMatters.com unreachable for a small part of our readers earlier this year, it was clear we had to act.

The time has now come for us to switch to a bigger, better and faster server. Unfortunately, this means some inconvenience for our readers for the next week or so, as the internet gets used to the idea that http://www.motomatters.com is located on a different server. Consequently, the website could become unreachable for a short length of time, and mail may not be delivered correctly.

Fortunately, this situation should not last too long. We're hoping everything should be back to normal by next Monday at the very latest, though the inconvenience should only last for a couple of days.

Ask some of the veterans of the MotoGP paddock who the greatest racer of all time was, and you'll get a fairly short list of names, usually including Valentino Rossi, Giacomo Agostini, Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson and Kevin Schwantz. But the answer to that question is almost always followed up by the words "And then there's Freddie Spencer, of course..." Spencer's career was cut short by a wrist injury, but before he was forced to retire, the young American shocked the world by being the only man to win both the 500cc and 250cc World Championships in the same year. Fast Freddie was precocious, sensitive and blindingly, mind-bogglingly fast.

Since retiring from racing, Spencer's fortunes have been very mixed. The Louisiana native ran a successful riding school and was the motorcycle racing commentator for the US SpeedTV channel, but both of those ventures have gone sour. Spencer's riding school was forced to shut down at the end of 2008, after financial problems saw the instructors go unpaid and the bikes repossessed. Spencer's commentary work also dried up, with Daytona legend Scott Russell taking his place in the commentary booth.

Trouble continues to brew in the Aprilia camp. The Italian company's decision to pull out of Moto2 at the end of November last year looks set to have even more serious repercussions, as the authoritative Italian site GPOne.com is reporting rumors that Aprilia's racing boss Giampiero Sacchi could leave his role as head of the factory's racing program altogether. Sacchi's departure would be a body blow to the Noale factory, as Sacchi has been with Aprilia since the 80s and has worked with all of the great stars that the company has produced, from Max Biaggi to Tetsuya Harada, Valentino Rossi to Jorge Lorenzo.

The root of the problem, according to GPOne.com, is the long-standing rivalry between Sacchi and Aprilia's General Director Leo Mercanti. The high-profile CEO of the Piaggio Group Roberto Colaninno is reportedly tired of the bickering between Sacchi and Mercanti, and has been taking steps to sort the situation out.

As the New Year begins, we approach the final instalments of our trip down memory lane, and what a memory it was! The first lot of photos from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a truly remarkable facility, steeped in history unlike almost any other racetrack I have visited. Only Monza comes close, both places being haunted by racing's rich past. More to come tomorrow.

Maybe not the quickest bike, but still the best looking

One fast Texan will be joined by another next year

The rule is to look through the corner. Here is the exception to the rule

After two previous chapters, we come to an end of Scott Jones' beautiful photos from Donington Park. Despite the rain, it was a fantastic weekend, which threw up a fair number of surprises. Tragically, and as a result of gross incompetence, Donington Park has been vandalized in a desperate and ultimately failed attempt to attract Formula 1, and now the track is all but unusable. Next year, we go to Silverstone, and with your help, Scott and I will be there to try and capture the moment in words and pictures.

Unlike his teammate, Jorge Lorenzo's luck ran out at the British Grand Prix

Waiting

Donington Park still provides a stunning setting for motorcycle racing

After yesterday's trip down the pit lane at Donington, today we turn our attention to the track. Scott Jones captured some of the crucial moments from July's British Grand Prix at Donington, including the protagonists from the race and the highlights from practice. The final set of photos go up on Sunday, and they are well worth the wait.

In the doghouse

Forza Marco!

Captain Scarlet

The fourth part of our trip down memory lane brings us to one of the most memorable parts of the season: The last ever trip MotoGP would make to Donington Park. Scott Jones' wonderful images bring a tear to the eye of anyone who loves the sweep of Craner Curves or the glory of Schwantz and McLeans. So rich is the bounty that we have had to split the photos over three sessions, all of them worth poring over and savoring. And remember, if you see anything that you like, you can contact Scott and get a poster-sized image for your wall.

Casey Stoner found his Waterloo at Donington

Thomas Luthi was pencilled in for MotoGP, but his very mediocre 2009 torpedoed that option

And did the Countenance Divine shine forth upon our clouded hills?

Scott Jones took too many fantastic photographs at the Sachsenring, so many that we've had to split our review of them over two days. Double the quantity, double the pleasure, and what better way to get 2010 started?

Wheelies whatever the weather

Colin Edwards takes the art of looking through the corner to the extreme

Best helmet of the year for Niccolo Canepa

The weather at the Sachsenring was best described as changeable