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Friday, June 12, 2009
Casey Stoner joins a Spanish quartet to preview weekend The highest placed Spanish rider in the current overall standings is Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo and he was in good company
at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya pre-event press conference on Thursday, Lorenzo was flanked by 2008 Barcelona race-winner
Dani Pedrosa, championship leader and 2007 Montmeló victor Casey Stoner, as well as home riders Sete Gibernau and Toni
Elías. Lorenzo was asked by journalists whether he felt extra responsibility this weekend on home soil, as he prepares
to make his premier class Barcelona race debut, a confident Jorge Lorenzo replied, “I don’t feel any extra pressure.
For me riding here is just as important in terms of the championship as riding in Australia or Malaysia. Of course it would
be great to get a good result because I have my friends and family here, but all the races in MotoGP are important.”
Australian Stoner in his own calm and collected fashion previewed the weekend’s action, on the back of his historic
Mugello home victory for Ducati saying, “Although I’ve had some ups and downs here I’ve always enjoyed this
track. Mugello worked out very well for us even though we’ve had some problems this year, lucked out in a couple of
races and made some bad decisions. We have always had reasonably good pace at races where we weren’t normally fast and
I think we’ve got a better chance here than last year.”
The all important question asked of Repsol Honda
rider Dani Pedrosa was all about the crucial issue of his hip/femur injury. Pedrosa explained “Well I was in a lot of
pain on the bike in Mugello but things have improved in the last two weeks. In every day activities it has got much better
but I won’t know how well I can ride until I actually get on the bike on Friday and test it out.”
After pressing questions on whether rumours that he had signed a new contract with Honda for 2010 were true Dani Pedrosa
said, “We have not even had that conversation yet.”
Toni Elías who has had a tough
start to the 2009 campaign and now certainly is under pressure to deliver a positive result at his own home race, but the
Spaniard explained the reasons behind his slow progress so far in 2009. “I’ve had some injuries and more problems
than I expected,” the Catalan rider admitted, “After the Motegi crash I decided to have the arm operation after
Jerez, but that meant things were difficult in Le Mans. We saw some improvements in Mugello, but now is the chance to do well
in front of my fans.”
To read more click here
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Isle of Man TT Michael Dunlop wins first TT victory Michael Dunlop has won the heavily delayed second Relentless Supersport race on his privately entered Yamaha, Dunlop
lead the race from start to finish, following in the footsteps of his father Robert and his Uncle Joey as a TT winner.
The 21-year old Dunlop stole an early advantage in the damp conditions and from then looked in total control,
Dunlop finished 31 seconds ahead of Bruce Anstey and Conor Cummins.
Michael Dunlop was clearly overjoyed,
and emotional, with the victory at this historic road race “It was really hard at the beginning as it was really slippy
but my Dad had passed on all his track knowledge and I know he and Joey were with me all the way today. The week had been
a disaster with two blown engines and 3 DNF’s so we had to use the number two bike but I went as quickly as I could
in the damp and the bike never missed a beat. I’ve always wanted to win a TT and for it to happen so early in my career
is brilliant. The Dunlops are back on the road again!”
Courtesy of Rain, and hail, that hit the west
side of the circuit in the morning resulting in a three and a quarter hour delay, the race was delayed for a 2pm start,
even at 2pm the course was still very damp, with most of the leading riders admitting that caution would very much be exercised
in the early stages.
To read more click here
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Rossi and Agostini visit the Isle of Man TT The two Italian MotoGP greats took a trip down to the world famous Isle of Man TT road circuit. The Italian superstar duo
watched on as the event’s Superbike race took place at the ‘Ago’s Leap’ section of the historic road
circuit named after Giacomo Agostini, and then headed onto the podium to present awards to the top trio of John McGuinness,
Steve Plater and Guy Martin.
An historic first took place on Monday, as World Champion Valentino Rossi went
on his first ever lap of the circuit. Rossi was accompanied by Agostini and safety marshalls, he jumped on a standard issue
Yamaha R1 decorated with his typical cartoonish decals in order for him to experience first hand the feeling of road track
riding. The lap had been originally scheduled for Saturday, but due to ba weather the lap was postponed.
“I
give big respect to the riders who are competing today. I have always followed the TT and have watched a mountain of DVDs,
but watching it live is another thing altogether!” said Valentino Rossi from the Fiat Yamaha team in conversation with
protective gear suppliers Dainese, who organised his attendance at the event.
“The way that these
guys pass each other at a high speed is incredible!” Rossi added.
Dainese held a press conference
on riding safety at the Isle of Man TT, during which World Champion Valentino Rossi talked about the D-Tec airbag system that
is being developed in safety gear with his input.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Harley-Davidson joins forces with Vanity Fair Harley-Davidson joins forces with magazine
Vanity Fair.
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