Sepang Warmup session

Ducati Team continue work on GP11.1 in Malaysia

After a difficult weekend in Phillip Island, the Ducati Team has arrived in Sepang, eager to continue work on the GP11.1 for the Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

 

The Ducati Team left Australia on Monday, and after a 24 hour break, the team is ready to get back to work on the GP11.1 for the Malaysian GP. Sepang is one of the widest tracks on the calendar, reaching a width of 16 metres in parts and the asphalt temperature is often very high due to the tropical climate. The layout is varied, with a little of everything: two spots where riders reach sixth gear, but others that are technical and taken in first.

Since its MotoGP debut, the Ducati Team has achieved three wins and one podium at Sepang. Valentino Rossi, who counts the track among his favourites, has six wins and three podiums, while Nicky Hayden has never finished in the top three but has always been very consistent, with five fourth-place finishes in his career, along with one fifth and a sixth.

Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

“I like the Sepang circuit a lot, although the weather conditions are always extreme. We didn’t have much good luck in Australia, and we also had to work harder than expected on the bike’s setup. We hope to do better here in Malaysia starting on Friday. Anyway, we’ll also be able to verify where we are compared to the tests that we did here last year, it will be interesting to compare things now, with what we had then.”

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

“The conditions in Malaysia are typically hot and steamy, very different from what we had at Phillip Island on Sunday. The Sepang circuit has a good mix of everything, so you need the bike to do everything well. There are some long straightaways where you need a fast bike that brakes well, along with some fast corners, like Turns 5 and 6 and a section in the back. On the other hand, there are also some slow little hairpins, so it’s a good mix of everything that really challenges a rider and bike. It will be interesting to get back on this track after spending a lot of time here in February. The bike has changed a lot, so we’ll see what kind of progress we’ve actually made.”

Lorenzo’s surgery a success

Following successful plastic surgery in Australia, Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo has now flown home to Barcelona for a period of recovery. 

 

As already confirmed, the Mallorcan rider will miss this weekend’s Grand Prix of Malaysia. A decision on his participation in the final race of the season at Valencia will be made within the next two weeks dependent on the progress of his recovery.
“Casey has had an incredible season with very few mistakes,” commented Lorenzo. “He has always been very strong and consistent so it has been very difficult to beat him. Congratulations to him, he has been the best this year and deserves his second title, a huge achievement as it comes with a different manufacturer. I would have liked to have fought until the end, maybe until Valencia but the accident on Sunday made it impossible. I am very proud of my team for all the hard work they have put in to take second place in the championship. Now we have to think about next year and work as hard as possible to win again. After the crash I was very worried that I would not have full feeling in my finger again, after the excellent treatment I received, I have been assured that I will have complete feeling in my nerves and tendons. This gives me good confidence; I can’t wait to get back on my M1 again!”

Phillip Island Warm Up Action

 

 

 

 

Lorenzo and Spies ruled out of Australian Grand Prix

Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will not ride in today’s Grand Prix of Australia following separate on track incidents by both.

Reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo has been forced to withdraw from Sunday’s Iveco Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix after sustaining a left hand injury in Sunday morning warm-up at the Phillip Island circuit.

The Yamaha rider crashed at the exit of Turn 12 on his final lap of the 20-minute session, high-siding off the bike and coming to rest on the edge of the circuit.

The Spaniard walked away shaking his left hand, and was declared unfit for the race after a visit to the medical centre following the session.

Lorenzo trails world championship leader Casey Stoner by 40 points with three races remaining, meaning the Australian only needs to finish in the top six in the 27-lap race to secure his second world title. Stoner has topped every on-track session this weekend at the Island, and has won in Australia for the past four years.

Lorenzo’s team mate Spies received a hit to the head yesterday during the qualifying session after a high speed crash. After attempting to ride some laps in this morning’s warm up, the rider reached an agreement with team members that with reduced concentration attempting the race would be considered too dangerous for himself and other competitors.

 

Valentino Rossi’s crash in the Japanese Grand Prix

Valentino Rossi’s crash in the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday aggravated an old injury in his left hand, team mate Hayden will take his place in testing the GP12.

 Although the initial examination suggested otherwise, Rossi’s first lap crash produced a hairline fracture at the site of an injury from a fall at Assen in 1995. The severity of the pain and swelling in the little finger of his left hand has ruled out the Italian’s participation in testing the Ducati Desmosedici GP12, therefore Nicky Hayden will take his place in Thursday’s test of the machine at Jerez.

This will be the last of an extra eight days the team has been allowed to test the 2012 machine, the next testing for Ducati will be at the Official Test following the Valencia GP.

Stoner dominates FP3 in Japan

Casey Stoner led the Repsol Honda trio to the top three spots in the third MotoGP practice session at the Grand Prix of Japan.

 

Casey Stoner posted the fastest lap of the weekend thus far on his third lap in the Saturday morning practice at Motegi, then went on to better that provisional pole setting time with a 1’46.162 despite running off the track shortly beforehand. The Australian’s best time was six-tenths quicker than the leading lap of team mate Dani Pedrosa that put the Spaniard in the top slot on Friday. An impressive penultimate lap by Andrea Dovizioso ranked the Italian second, 0.139s behind Stoner and 0.128s ahead of Pedrosa.


The fourth Factory Honda of Marco Simoncelli ranked fourth in the outing, the Italian taking his San Carlo Honda Gresini machine around to post a best time of 1’46.592, ahead of the Yamaha Factory Racing duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, both of whom managed to keep within a second of Stoner’s time. The last man to ride within that one second mark however, was Ducati Team’s Valentino Rossi, whose time of 1’47.161 was an improvement of eight-tenths on his previous day’s time to put him seventh in the field.

Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) made significant progress to post the eighth quickest time, ahead of Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Randy de Puniet (Pramac Racing) who completed the top ten.

Wild card entry Shinichi Ito (Honda Racing Team) crashed while entering turn 3, the Japanese rider was unhurt though the incident hindered his progress and left him the only rider in the field that was not able to improve upon his previous day’s time.