Jerez, winter test - December 11th, 2008: Sebastien Buemi ends testing on top

Young Swiss driver Sebastien Buemi ended on top of the timesheets for the third consecutive (and final) day of testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain. Buemi clocked a 1:17.258 (139 laps) beating by 0.262 seconds his rival for the yet-to-fill seat for 2009 season at Scuderia Toro Rosso, Takuma Sato.

Third time for McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen (1:18.049, 96 laps) who took over today the MP4-23A (2009-spec front wing and 2008-like rear) ahead of fourth fastest Kimi Raikkonen (1:18.782, 82 laps).

Fifth time for Felipe Massa (1:19.050, 72 laps), sixth for Renault’s Fernando Alonso (1:19.319, 124 laps), seventh for Williams’ Nico Rosberg (1:19.388, 130 laps), eighth for McLaren’s Pedro de la Rosa (1:19.499, 47 laps), ninth for BMW’s Robert Kubica (1:19.559, 134 laps) and tenth for BMW’s test driver Christian Klien (1:19.738. 101 laps).

(Pos - Driver - Team - Lap Time - Laps)

1. Buemi - Toro Rosso - 1:17.258 - 139
2. Sato - Toro Rosso - 1:17.520 - 119
3. Kovalainen - McLaren-Mercedes - 1:18.049 - 96
4. Raikkonen - Ferrari - 1:18.782 - 82
5. Massa - Ferrari - 1:19.050 - 72
6. Alonso - Renault - 1:19.319 - 124
7. Rosberg - Williams - 1:19.388 - 130
8. de la Rosa - McLaren-Mercedes - 1:19.499 - 47
9. Kubica - BMW-Sauber - 1:19.559 - 134
10. Klien - BMW-Sauber - 1:19.738 - 101

Source:
http://www.formula1news.net

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Kawasaki complete Phillip Island test

By Pablo Elizalde
The Kawasaki team on Friday completed their three-day test at the Phillip Island circuit, where the Japanese squad were again welcomed by poor weather.

The circuit was again hit by rain at night and so it was damp in the morning, with track temperatures lower than expected, something that caught test rider Olivier Jacque out.

The Frenchman suffered a big crash late in the afternoon, although luckily he escaped injury.

Despite the accident, Jacque was happy with the work done during the test.

"These three days at Phillip Island have been positive, because we now know how much work we need to do to improve the bike before we return here to continue testing in the New Year," he said.

"We tried a slightly different engine today, which had some positive points, but we're still struggling a little bit with the front-end feeling.

"I had a big crash late on in the day after the rear came round on me through the right-hander at Hayshed. It takes some time to warm up the right-hand side of the tyre here, and although I'd been really careful up to this point, I must have just given it a bit too much gas on cold tarmac and down I went.

"It was a big impact, but apart from a few bruises, I walked away uninjured. It was scary though!"

Teammates John Hopkins and Marco Melandri had a more positive day, the Italian covering 79 laps as he continued acclimatising to the team.

Hopkins, meanwhile, managed to complete long runs despite having to adapt his riding style to compensate for the injuries he is suffering.

The Anglo-American rider will fly to the United States, where he'll undergo surgery on Wednesday to remove the metal plates from his left foot, ankle and hand.

"Today was more positive for me," he said. "The injuries weren't such a big problem, although I had to adapt my riding style because I still can't put any pressure on the left footpeg.

"We found a pretty good set-up on the bike and my lap times were pretty consistent over the long runs we did for Bridgestone, and it's this consistency that's important to our development programme right now. It's been good working with Marco; we work well together and I'm sure we'll be pushing each other all the way once we start testing and racing again next year.

"Now I'm off straight back to America, where I'll have surgery on Wednesday to remove all the metal from my various injuries. As well as taking the plates out of my left foot and ankle, Doctor Ting will also remove the plate I've had in my left hand for the past three years. I'll be about two kilograms lighter!

"My plan is to take it easy after the surgery, to make sure I'm fully recovered, and then train my butt off ready for the new season."

Source:
http://www.autosport.com

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Hopkins 'hardware free' after surgery

John Hopkins underwent successful surgery at the Fremont Surgery Centre in California on Thursday.

The 25-year-old Anglo-American underwent a surgical procedure to remove the metal plates from his left ankle and left foot, inserted following his high-speed crash during practice for this year's Dutch TT at Assen in June.

Surgeons, led by the world renowned Doctor Arthur Ting, also performed keyhole surgery to clean up scar tissue and cartilage damage in Hopkins' left knee, which he injured in the same Assen crash.

Doctor Ting also took the opportunity to remove a metal plate from the Kawasaki pilot's left hand, the result of a previous injury, to leave Hopkins 'hardware free' for the first time in three years.

"It's unbelievable; it's great to be hardware free again after all this time," said John. "I have had several injuries in the past and have had to go through a few surgical ordeals since I was 13-years-of-age, but you never really get used to it.

"Now all the metal is out of my body I'm looking forward to some rest and recuperation, and spending time with my wife Ashleigh and our two families during the Christmas holiday period."

Hopkins remained in the Fremont Surgery Centre overnight following the operation, but will return home to San Diego following a 24-hour post surgical evaluation today, Friday 5th December.

Hopper will now require four weeks of rest and recuperation, with only mild rehabilitation exercise, before resuming his full training and conditioning programme ahead of the 2009 MotoGP season.

"Doctor Ting reckons it will be four weeks before I can start training properly again, but that should give me time to be fighting fit, ready for the start of pre-season testing at the end of January," confirmed Hopkins.

"John has been either injured, or handicapped by his injuries, for almost the entire season, so the removal of all the metal from his body is an important step in the recovery process for him," stated Kawasaki competition manager Michael Bartholemy.

"John will need approximately four weeks to recover fully from the surgery, but he will then be able to resume his pre-season training programme at full intensity, which should see him fully fit again prior to the first test of the new season at the end of January.

"It's been hard watching John ride injured this year, so I'm looking forward to seeing him back on the bike fully fit once again. Having John back at 100 percent is important to us now, as we will have the all-new Ninja ZX-RR at the first test of 2009, and we need both our riders on top form if we are to have the bike ready for the first race in April."

Hopkins will ride alongside Marco Melandri at Kawasaki next season.

Source:
http://www.crash.net

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Rossi begins Rally GB with number 46

Valentino Rossi may be in the confines of a Ford Focus car at this weekend´s WRC Rally GB event, but the 2008 MotoGP World Champion will be recognisable to motorcycle fans due to his customary number 46´s adorning the four wheeled machine.

Rossi began his latest guest rally appearance in a shakedown test on Thursday, placing 17th out of 21 riders in the Penllergaer Forest stage. The Italian today (Friday) begins the Rally GB proper, with the first stage taking place at Hafren. A further seven stages will follow, racking up a total of around 124 kilometres.

Rossi is using the number 46, which he has run throughout his racing career, after a charitable donation from Finnish driver Jari Ketomaa (the regular owner of the number in the WRC season). Ketomaa will instead use 146 this weekend.

`It was very important for me to get number 46 - Jari was very fair to give me the number,´ said Rossi on the Finn´s generosity. `I was car 46 on the two rallies I have done previously and I´ve never ridden a motorbike or driven a car in an official race without it.´

The Fiat Yamaha rider tested the Stobart-backed car before the recent Jerez test, although he does not feel totally prepared for the event in Wales. `We have only done one day of testing in the UK, about three weeks ago, and that´s not a lot, so our testing will continue in the race. We need to make a few kilometres to understand the car, and then we´ll see,´ he analyses.

`My goal is to have fun and finish. At the end of New Zealand (his previous rally runout, in 2006) in some stages I was about two seconds per kilometre off (WRC star) Marcus Gronholm´s pace. My target is to try and get as close to the leaders again here.´

Rossi recently finished runner-up in the annual Monza Rally event in his native Italy.

Source:
http://www.motogp.com

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Italian World Champions´ achievements recognised in homeland

The 2008 World Championship action may be over, but the riders have not been too far away from each other in recent weeks. Aside from meetings on the testing tracks, the multitude of prize-giving ceremonies rewarding the competitors for their efforts over the past year have brought them back into contact during the winter break.

Italy´s most successful riders of the season were on-hand to collect end-of-year honours at this week´s Bologna Motorshow, and naturally the star of the event was MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi. He was presented with a `Golden Helmet´ to add to his accolades for regaining the title.

Also receiving that particular award were 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli, MotoGP´s Italian rookie sensation Andrea Dovizioso, 125cc runner-up Simone Corsi and 250cc racewinner Mattia Pasini, all in attendance at the motorshow.

Rossi and Simoncelli will have to make further space in their trophy cabinets before the end of the year. In one week´s time the Italian World Champions will be awarded the Diploma of Honour (Rossi) and Chain of Honour (Simoncelli), typically given to the best Sportsmen of the calendar year. The pair will receive their honours from Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday, December 17th.

Source:
http://www.motogp.com

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LG KP270

Specifications
LG KP270

Network	2G 3G	GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 UMTS 2100
Size	Dimensions Weight Display	98 x 48 x 16.9 mm (3.86 x 1.89 x 0.67 in) 99 gram TFT, 256K colors 176 x 220 pixels, 2.0 inches (~141 ppi pixel density)
Memory	Phonebook Call records Internal Card slot	1000 entries x 12 fields, Photocall Yes 32 MB microSD, up to 2 GB
Data	GPRS EDGE 3G WLAN Bluetooth Infrared port USB	Class 12 (4+1/3+2/2+3/1+4 slots), 32 - 48 kbps Class 12 384 kbps v2.0 with A2DP 2.0
Features	OS CPU Messaging Alert Browser Radio GPS Games Camera Video Colors Java	SMS, EMS, MMS, Email Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic, MP3 ringtones WAP 2.0/xHTML Yes 1.3 MP QCIF@15fps Black Rose MIDP 2.0 - Loudspeaker - Mini-SIM - MP4/3gp player - MP3/AAC/AAC+/WMA player - Voice recorder - Organizer - Predictive text input - Clock - Calendar - Alarm
Battery	Stand-by Talk time	Standard battery, Li-Ion 900 mAh Up to 100 h Up to 4 h

Image: http://www.welectronics.com/g

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LG G1600

Specifications
LG G1600

Network	2G 3G	GSM 900 / 1800
Size	Dimensions Weight Display	104 x 44 x 17 mm (4.09 x 1.73 x 0.67 in) 83 gram STN, 65K colors 128 x 128 pixels, 8 lines, 1:1 ratio
Memory	Phonebook Call records Internal Card slot	200 x 6 fields 15 dialed, 15 received, 15 missed calls 1.1 MB
Data	GPRS EDGE 3G WLAN Bluetooth Infrared port USB	Class 10
Features	OS CPU Messaging Alert Browser Radio GPS Games Camera Video Colors Java	SMS, EMS, MMS Vibration; Downloadable polyphonic ringtones, composer WAP 1.2.1 Space Ball, Submarine Silver Yes - Mini-SIM - Downloadable wallpapers - 20 calendar items - Predictive text input - Organizer - World clock - Voice memo (20sec each) - Clock - Calendar - Alarm
Battery	Stand-by Talk time	Standard battery, Li-Ion 950 mAh Up to 250 h Up to 4 h

Image: http://www.welectronics.com/gsm/lg/

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