Ducati
Barrier new leader after Portimao win
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Sunday, 9th June 2013, 10:35 GMTSylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) has won today's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race at Portimao to become the new leader in the standings with an only one-point margin over Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Ducati). The reigning Champion led the race for the most part and successfully started to pull away from the chasing pack on Lap 5, as soon as Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini Kawasaki), who was running second at that time, lost the front of his ZX-10R at Turn 14. While Barrier managed to keep a comfortable gap to cross the line a lonely first, the remaining positions on the podium were contested by Eddi La Marra and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), as the Frenchman got side by side to edge the Italian on the final straight and eventually finish 3rd for a matter of 0.027 seconds. Team Pedercini's Leandro Mercado was 4th with Niccolò Canepa (Barni Racing Ducati) and team mate Alessandro Andreozzi to follow. South Africa's David McFadden scored his best result of the season by finishing eight at his first race with newly joined Garnier Racing Team BMW after a close battle with Marco Bussolotti (Rider Promotion by T. Trasimeno BMW). France's Romain Lanusse (MRS Kawasaki) wasted an opportunity for a top-4 finish due to a crash on the ninth lap out of twelve. Read article
Ducati Test Cut Short By Rain, Biaggi Posts 1′52.1
Source: MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks - Friday, 7th June 2013, 21:38 GMTMax Biaggi's brief return to MotoGP is over. After two days of testing Ducati's MotoGP bike at Mugello, filling in for the injured Ben Spies, Biaggi returns to his day job, as TV commentator for the Italian coverage of World Superbikes. Two short days were not really enough time for Biaggi to get back to grips with a MotoGP bike, especially given that testing stopped early on both days after rain started to fall in the afternoon. Biaggi faced two problems, returning to riding at speed for the first time in eight months, and returning to a MotoGP bike for the first time in over seven years. Given those difficulties, the times he set in the end were respectable. According to GPOne.com, who had reporter Luca Semprini on location, Biaggi's best time was a lap of 1'52.1, which would have seen him qualify in 23rd position for last Sunday's MotoGP race, just ahead of Hiroshi Aoyama on the FTR Kawasaki CRT machine. Source: Read article
Pirro to sub for Spies again
Source: MOTOGP news - AUTOSPORT.com - Wednesday, 5th June 2013, 9:48 GMTDucati's MotoGP test rider Michele Pirro will again stand-in for the injured Ben Spies at the forthcoming race at Barcelona. Read article
Portimao – The Pre-round statistics
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Tuesday, 4th June 2013, 16:15 GMTWorldSBK.com provides you with some interesting statistics ahead of the Portuguese Round of eni FIM Superbike World Championhip. Two podium out of eight races for Sylvain Guintoli in Portimao: second in race one in 2011, overtook by Checa three laps to the end, and third last year in race one, again overtook by Checa, who stole second from him on the twelfth lap. Sylvain debuted in WSBK here in 2009. Tom Sykes won from pole race one last year, while in race two his engine failed when he was running third. These are the only races where Tom hit the headlights in Portimao so far. Eugene Laverty climbed on the podium last year and two years ago in Portimao: he was second in race two in 2011, overtook by Melandri, his team mate at the time, three laps to the end and won last year in race two. In both race weekends run here Eugene started from third in grid. Marco Melandri was able to win here in 2011 in race two, overtaking his team-mate Laverty three laps to the end. A weekend to forget last year: he fell in race one and had to withdraw from race two due to the injuries sustained. An extremely disappointing weekend for Chaz Davies in Algarve last year: in race one he was unable to avoid Melandri's bike, right in front of him, while in race two he fell while he was second. In 2011 he won the Supersport race from Salom and Ellison, leading from lights to flag. Six podiums out of ten races run here for Jonathan Rea in Algarve: third and second in 2009, third in race two in 2010 and in both races in 2011 and again second in race two last year. He is the rider with most podiums in this track, followed by Biaggi (Rea debuted in the Championship here in 2008, qualifying third and finishing fourth in race one). Michel Fabrizio won race two in 2009 and was second in race two in 2008. Davide Giugliano debuted in the World Superbike championship here two years ago, scoring his maiden points in race two with a twelfth. Jules Cluzel was last year's winner in the Supersport class: he was able to beat by a small margin the two Kawasakis of Kenan Sofuoglu and Fabien Foret. The best results for Leon Camier in Portimao came in 2010 when he was twice fifth, but his best race performance came last year, when he fought all the way with Biaggi for third up to the last lap of race two, when he suffered a mechanical failure. Carlos Checa won here in 2011 and was second in race one in 2008, fighting with Corser and Haga, and in race one last year, when he surrendered only to Tom Sykes. Apart from a retirement (2009 Race 2) he never finished lower than seventh. In the last three years, with Ducati, he has always started from the front row here. Three podiums out of ten races run for Leon Haslam: third in race two in 2008, he was second in both races in 2010 behind future world champion Max Biaggi. Read article
Marquez leads muddled first Mugello practice
Source: news RSS on motogp.com - The Official MotoGP Website - Friday, 31st May 2013, 8:50 GMTRepsol Honda Team’s Marc Marquez set the pace in a mixed-up opening practice period for the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM. With tricky conditions at Mugello, there were numerous changes in the running order as the Spaniard eventually led Ducati Test Team’s Michele Pirro and LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl. Read article
Effenbert Liberty Racing quit WSBK
Source: Visordown - Thursday, 23rd May 2013, 7:47 GMTTHE Effenbert Liberty Racing Team have quit World Superbikes.The team, who were running rider Mark Aitchison on a Ducati 1098R, competed in the opening three rounds of the 2013 season but have withdrawn, citing difficulties in pursuing the target of promotion for their main sponsor.The team have had a short, yet controversial time in WSBK. They made their debut in 2010, quickly establishing themselves as front-runners. In 2012 the team slammed WSBK organisers after the Monza round where Effenbert Liberty had a disasterous outing and blamed the organisers for only listening to select teams.Also in 2012, Effenbert Liberty sacked rider Sylvain Guintoli, citing poor results, despite the fact he was the team's most successful rider, scoring a win at Assen.Aitchison sits joint bottom of the WSBK standings on two points, while Guintoli leads with 137. Related Content Fag sponsorship back on bikes. Sort of. Smrz and Guintoli: when team mates collide WSB 2011: Championship standings after R8 In our modern world is there any place for real-road racing? WSB: Assen Race Results (1) Read article
Le Mans MotoGP Dashboard
Source: | Motorcycle Sport | MotoGP - Tuesday, 21st May 2013, 11:28 GMTIt was all chance this weekend in Le Mans, with the satellite bike of Cal Crutchlow beating the factories, the Ducatis running at the front, and Jorge Lorenzo slumping to a measly seventh. Here's all the info you need from... Read article
Le Mans MotoGP Dashboard
Source: | Motorcycle Sport | MotoGP - Tuesday, 21st May 2013, 11:28 GMTIt was all chance this weekend in Le Mans, with the satellite bike of Cal Crutchlow beating the factories, the Ducatis running at the front, and Jorge Lorenzo slumping to a measly seventh. Here's all the info you need from... Read article
2013 Le Mans MotoGP FP4 Result: Lorenzo Responds In Red-Flagged Session
Source: MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks - Saturday, 18th May 2013, 12:17 GMTJorge Lorenzo responded to Marc Marquez's early domination on Saturday by heading the fourth MotoGP free practice session. In doing so he went about setting the fastest lap of the weekend, which was faster than Dani Pedrosa's race lap record from last year and a tenth quicker than last year's pole position lap time. Marquez finished the session in second place despite a crash on the approach to the Dunlop chicane while Dani Pedrosa finished third ahead of Valentino Rossi, Stefan Bradl and Andrea Dovizioso. The session was red-flagged for seven minutes in the early stages after Cal Crutchlow, who finished the session in seventh place, had a big high-side whilst pushing on cold tyres. He landed hard on his right side and looked very sore, lying prone on the side of the circuit. He eventually got to his feet and walked away gingerly, perhaps having been seriously winded. There were comical scenes following as Crutchlow rode a push-bike to the medical centre from the pits, after his initial ride on the back of a scooter. The top ten was completed by Alvaro Bautista, Bradley Smith and American Nicky Hayden aboard the second factory Ducati. Results: Race Details Round Number: Read article
2013 Le Mans MotoGP Friday Round Up: Of Four Fast Men, Improved Ducatis, Redding’s Reign, And A Quota On Spaniards
Source: MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks - Friday, 17th May 2013, 22:01 GMTSo far, so good. That seems to be the story from the first day of practice at Le Mans. A full day of dry weather - except for the last few minutes of FP2 for the Moto3 class, where the rain turned briefly to hail, only to blow out again as quickly as it came - means that everyone had a chance to work on their race set up. With the top four separated by just 0.166 seconds, the top five are within a quarter of a second, and Alvaro Bautista, the man in ninth, is just over seven tenths from the fastest man Dani Pedrosa. A good day too for the Hondas. Dani Pedrosa was immediately up to speed, as expected. Marc Marquez was also quick in the afternoon, which was less expected. Unlike Jerez and Austin, this was the first time he rode a MotoGP machine at Le Mans, and getting used to hauling a 260 hp, 160kg bike around the tight layout of the French track is a different proposition to riding a Moto2 bike with half the horsepower here. He took a morning to get used to the track, asked for a few changes to the base set up inherited from Casey Stoner, and then went and blitzed to second in the afternoon, 0.134 seconds off his teammate. More important than Marquez' speed is his consistency, however. In the afternoon, he posted seven laps of 1'34, which looks to be the pace to expect for a dry race. Only two men did more, Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo having posted nine laps at that pace, with both men also consistently a tenth or two quicker than the Spanish rookie. Source: Read article
