 |
|
| Kropotkin Thinks | ... that brains, not brawn, win races |
Submitted by David Emmett on
With the announcement that Xavier Simeon will be signing for the Avintia Ducati team, the 2018 MotoGP rider line up is complete.
The full rider line up, complete with contract duration, appears below:
Submitted by Press Release on
The Pons racing team today issued the following press release, announcing that Hector Barbera and Lorenzo Baldassarri will be racing for them in Moto2 in 2018:
Héctor Barberá and Lorenzo Baldassarri are the new Pons HP 40 team riders
Youth and experience are the common denominators for the 2018 season. One clear goal: becoming World Champions.
Pons HP 40 will welcome Héctor Barberá y Lorenzo Baldassarri as the team’s new official riders.
Submitted by David Emmett on
Andrea Iannone has been something of an enigma since joining Suzuki. The Italian was blisteringly quick last year on the Ducati, which is one of the reasons Ducati took so long to choose between him and Andrea Dovizioso after they signed Jorge Lorenzo to the factory team. He was fast when he jumped on the Suzuki GSX-RR for the first time at the Valencia test, then carried that speed to Sepang, where he finished as second quickest overall.
Things have gone downhill since then. The Italian slipped down the order at the Phillip Island, then trailed further behind at the Qatar test. His season has gone from bad to worse since racing started: he has five DNFs from 13 races, and when he finishes, he usually ends up around tenth. His best result so far has been a seventh place in Texas, but that was the exception, not the rule.
He currently sits in sixteenth in the championship, with a paltry 33 points. Iannone, race winner in Austria last year, sits behind both Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rookies, and behind a total of seven riders on satellite bikes. His rookie teammate, who has spent most of the season banged up with injury, is threatening to beat him more and more regularly. How to solve an issue like Andrea Iannone?
Submitted by David Emmett on
Ducati, Honda and Yamaha all have a chance of lifting the MotoGP crown – so which factory has the technical advantage?
Five races to go, the top three riders on three different machines separated by 16 points, the top two equal. So what’s going to happen, who’s going to win?
MotoGP isn’t only about riders, it’s also about motorcycles, so it’s worth looking at where Ducati, Honda and Yamaha are by comparing their records since MotoGP changed so dramatically at the start of last season.
Since the arrival of control software and Michelin tyres, Yamaha has suffered worst. The brand has won 10 of the 31 races since the start of 2016, compared to the 15 victories it took in the preceding 31 races. That’s a disastrous drop of 33 per cent.
Submitted by Press Release on
The Sky VR46 Racing Team today announced their 2018 rider line up. Pecco Bagnaia and Luca Marini will race for the team in Moto2, while Nicolo Bulega and Dennis Foggia will be competing in Moto3. The press release appears below:
THE SKY RACING TEAM VR46 COMPLETES ITS LINEUP FOR THE 2018 SEASON
DENNIS FOGGIA WILL BE ALONGSIDE NICOLÒ BULEGA IN MOTO3 ON KTM
LUCA MARINI WITH FRANCESCO BAGNAIA IN MOTO2 ON KALEX
Submitted by David Emmett on
Valentino Rossi is to travel to Aragon and attempt to race in the fourteenth round of MotoGP at the Motorland Aragon circuit. After evaluating his fitness on a Yamaha R1M at Misano on Monday and Tuesday, the Italian had his leg assessed by Dr Pascarella, who performed the surgery on his broken tibia and fibula. After that examination, Rossi decided he was fit enough to travel to Aragon and attempt to race.
Submitted by David Emmett on
20 days ago today, Valentino Rossi fell off an enduro bike at slow speed, breaking his tibia and fibula in the crash. That night, he had pins fitted to fix the bones, and went home the next day to recover. It looked like his championship was over. He would have to miss both Misano and Aragon, and that would put him too far behind to ever catch up.
20 days later, and Rossi has already ridden a motorcycle on track. Twice. On Monday and Tuesday, he rode a Yamaha R1M around a damp Misano. A few laps on Monday, a total of 20 laps on Tuesday. The press release Yamaha issued said that he finished the second day "with an improved feeling and a more positive impression compared to yesterday." Translation? He's going to try to ride at Aragon.
Submitted by Press Release on
The Movistar Yamaha team sent out the following press release after Valentino Rossi rode at Misano once again today:
ROSSI SUCCESSFULLY WRAPS UP SECOND RIDING SESSION
Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Valentino Rossi improved his feeling on the YZF-R1M during the second day of testing. He will make a final decision on his attempt to compete in the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragón after a further medical examination.
Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 19th September 2017
Submitted by David Emmett on
Inspiration comes from strange places. I was arguing – sorry, "discussing" – with the ridiculously talented MotoGP photographer Cormac Ryan Meenan about the relative value of various Social Media outlets. I am, as you may know, a big Twitter fan, and a fairly prolific tweeter. Twitter allows me to quickly post updates and respond to questions from racing fans. As I have little affinity with the graphic arts (a euphemism for saying I take rubbish pictures), I have no real time for Instagram. My primary method of communication is words, not pictures.
Cormac disagreed. He strongly believes in the value of Instagram as a means of communication, and especially in the power of Instagram Stories. Cormac, together with others like top photographer Tony Goldsmith and On Track Off Road kingpin Adam Wheeler, persuaded me that plenty of people would be interested in an Instagram story telling the tale of what an ordinary race weekend looks like for a MotoGP journalist. When I asked people on Twitter if they would be interested in such a thing, the response was overwhelmingly positive.
Submitted by Press Release on
The Movistar Yamaha team issued the following press release after Valentino Rossi rode a bike for the first time since his accident on August 31st:
ROSSI COMPLETES FIRST LAPS AS HE RETURNS TO RIDING FORM
Valentino Rossi rode his first couple of laps around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today since sustaining a leg injury on Thursday, August 31st.
Gerno di Lesmo (Italy), 18th September 2017
Submitted by David Emmett on
Valentino Rossi's test to see if he is fit enough to compete at Aragon was brought forward a day. The poor weather expected for Tuesday and Wednesday forced Rossi to take to the track at Misano on Monday afternoon, according to reports from well-informed local paper Rimini Today.
Submitted by David Emmett on
It has been a busy day test on the Iberian peninsula. A day after the Portuguese round of WorldSBK, a large part of the Superbike grid stayed on for a day of testing. After an indomitable performance during the weekend, Jonathan Rea ended the day as fastest, the Kawasaki man finishing nearly four tenths ahead of the Ducati of Chaz Davies, while Marco Melandri was third quickest.
With Tom Sykes absent due to injury, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Superstock 1000 rider and protégé of Kenan Sofuoglu, took over the reigns of the Yorkshireman's Kawasaki ZX-10RR. Razgatlioglu was as impressive on a Superbike as he has been on a Superstock machine, posting a string of fast laps and ending the day in fourth, just under a second slower than reigning world champion Jonathan Rea.
Submitted by David Emmett on
Michael van der Mark may be flying to Aragon to replace Valentino Rossi at the fourth Spanish round, but it is still not 100% certain that the Dutch Yamaha WorldSBK rider will get to make his MotoGP debut aboard Rossi's Movistar Yamaha M1.
According to reports in various Italian media, Valentino Rossi is to test his fitness on a Yamaha R6 at Misano this week. Just 18 days after breaking the tibia and fibula of his right leg and having surgery to insert titanium pins into the bones to fix them, Rossi will attempt to ride an R6 to gauge whether it will be worth his while flying to Spain for the Aragon round of MotoGP.
Submitted by Kent Brockman on
Notes from Portimao from our man on the ground:
Submitted by David Emmett on
WorldSBK standings after race 2 in Portugal:
