Rossi: "The fire inside was never out"

His 18th season is meant to be his “rebirth”, as he lines up one again with his beloved Yamaha M1 after a challenging time with the Ducati Desmosedici. 2013 has already awoken some emotions in fans, as Rossi showed that he was quick from the off in the first test in Sepang.

In an exclusive interview with Motosprint, the Italian talked in-depth about his frustration these last two years, the joys of returning to a team to “have fun”, friends, enemies, certainties and hopes. Speaking on leaving the Italian outfit he said: “My past speaks for me, as with the Aprilia, Honda and Yamaha I have always been lucky enough to be on the right bike. I know how to win, but maybe in Ducati it was only me who knew how to.”

Now it's time to go big - not to prove it to just anyone - but to himself. "I'm riding for fun, like I’ve always done, but it is obvious that I’m back at Yamaha with the idea of ​​beating the Hondas as I did years ago. I found the bike much easier to ride than in 2009, the grip and electronics are incredible: the M1 is definitely a bike to put at full lean!"

His return to the Iwata factory implies a challenge to the current MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo, however, for him Rossi has only good words: "Lorenzo, through those tough years has been very polite with me. He, like Pedrosa, has shown me respect, not raging about me. Something that Stoner, and in part Dovizioso, didn’t do. With me, Lorenzo has always been very fair."

Rossi then moves on to discuss the opposition: "Last year Pedrosa had an incredible second half of the season and maybe this could be his year. He's ready. On the other hand, he has a strange destiny, because every time he is on the verge of winning the title, something always happens (see Misano 2012). Talking of Dani, I must admit that Márquez is the only rider in which I see really see myself, and that's why even if he is my opponent, I see a lot of me in him."

His minimum target is to win a race, but one knows Rossi won’t be satisfied: "The fire inside was never out. Now I feel competitive, but to beat Lorenzo and Pedrosa there is still much to do, especially on race-pace. Many think I should stop, but I know the truth!"

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Race simulations the focus as Pedrosa leads final Sepang outing

Following heavy downpours over night, riders were not able to take to the track immediately at 10am local time, however gradually filtered out around 11:30am. And by the 2pm mid-point it was Pedrosa who was the man to beat with a 2’00.866, albeit with times slower than yesterday. The Spaniard’s aim for the day is to put in a race-distance run, whilst his teammate Marc Márquez, who ended the morning in third, is continuing to adapt to the tyres and suspension.

Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo, lying narrowly in second, is continuing his methodical approach by looking to complete long runs on both the medium and harder option tyre, as teammate Valentino Rossi lies in seventh as he keeps working on rear tyre grip.

The satellite RC213V of GO&FUN Honda Gresini’s Álvaro Bautista was going well this morning, with the Spaniard placing it fourth as he seeks faster corner entry, just ahead of LCR Honda MotoGP’s Stefan Bradl. Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Cal Crutchlow, who yesterday scorched to third in the table, could not repeat that feat, as he placed his M1 sixth whilst working further on set-up.

Eighth spot went to Ducati Team’s Nicky Hayden followed by his teammate Andrea Dovizioso and the Pramac Racing Ducati of Andrea Iannone. Ducati has cited it is pleased with the results yielded from the new fuel tank, and believes it is heading in the right path set-up wise. Splitting Iannone’s teammate Ben Spies from the Ducati trio is Tech 3’s Bradley Smith, whose riding-style learning curve continues, with Ducati test rider Michele Pirro in tow. Pirro crashed just before the mid-day point, though walked away unscathed.

Power Electronics Aspar duo Aleix Espargaró and Randy de Puniet led the CRTs in 14th and 15th place respectively, ahead of Yamaha test rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga and Avintia Blusens’ Héctor Barberá. Cardion AB Motoracing’s Karel Abraham finished ahead of an improving Colin Edwards on his NGM Mobile Forward Racing machine, Avintia’s Hiroshi Aoyama, NGM’s Claudio Corti, Yamaha test rider Wataru Yoshikawa and HRC test rider Takumi Takahashi.

Paul Bird Motorsport’s Yonny Hernandez ended the morning 24th, with his teammate Michael Laverty garage-bound as the team continues to work on the in-house PBM bike’s electronics. Gresini’s Bryan Staring was up next, whilst Came IodaRacing Project’s Danilo Petrucci, who had a small crash in the morning, and his teammate Lucas Pesek round out the field. Both Ioda riders are running with the old 2012 engine.

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Filippo Preziosi leaves Ducati for health reasons

The departure currently means that the role of Ducati Motor Holding Director of R&D remains vacant.

‘Declaring reasons of poor health related to his particular physical condition, Preziosi’s resignation was accepted by Ducati, saddened and disappointed to lose such an accomplished and strategic member of staff,’ a statement reads.

‘The company respectfully acknowledges the 45-year old Italian’s decision and thanks him for his significant contribution during his 19 years with Ducati, 12 of which were within Ducati Corse.’

An announcement regarding Preziosi’s successor will be published in due course.

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LCR Honda MotoGP assessing Asian riders

At present LCR is competing with a sole machine for Stefan Bradl, with whom team manager Lucio Cecchinello hopes to achieve regular top five finishes. From next year, though, the German will enjoy full ‘factory supported’ technology.

When asked by motogp.com if a second bike will be possible next season, Cecchinello replied:

“For sure this is something we are looking for. If we are going to do it, of course we need to make a plan; not just to put another rider in the team, but to put together a plan to come up with a young, talented rider who deserves our support and hopefully the support of our sponsors.

“We are slowly discussing that with them because Honda is also particular interested in developing young and talented riders, especially those coming from south Asia. Of course, the reality is that the motorsport culture in south Asia is growing a lot, so we need to be open-minded and give opportunities to local talented riders.”

Going on to discuss whether the second rider could appear by as early as 2014, Cecchinello confirms the target but is staying realistic.

“It’s a possibility but, again, if we do something it needs to be with the right rider and the right sponsor behind him,” the Italian continues. “So for now let’s continue to do our best with Stefan Bradl while keeping our eyes on what can be done for 2014. If it doesn’t turn out to be possible to run a second bike in 2014, then it doesn’t matter; we would just keep looking forward to the future.”

In 2012 LCR and Bradl enjoyed four top five race finishes, the best of which was fourth at Mugello in the Italian Grand Prix.

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Sony Xperia ZL

Specifications
Sony Xperia ZL
Network2G
3G
4G		GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100
LTE
SizeDimensions
Weight
Display		131.6 x 69.3 x 9.8 mm (5.18 x 2.73 x 0.39 in)
151 gram
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
1080 x 1920 pixels (~441 ppi pixel density)
MemoryPhonebook
Call records
Internal
Card slot		Yes
Yes
16 GB, 2 GB RAM
microSD, up to 64 GB
DataGPRS
EDGE
3G/4G
WLAN
Bluetooth
Infrared port
USB		Yes
Yes
HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat3 100/50 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot
v4.0 with A2DP
Yes
microUSB v2.0
FeaturesOS
CPU
Messaging
Ringtones
Browser
Radio
GPS
Games
Camera
Video
Colors
Java		Android OS, v4.1.2 (Jelly Bean), upgradable to v5.1.1 (Lollipop)
Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait; Adreno 320
SMS, MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
HTML5
Stereo FM radio, RDS
A-GPS, GLONASS
Yes
13 MP, autofocus, LED flash
1080p@30fps, HDR
White, red, black

- Loudspeaker
- Micro-SIM
- Multitouch up to 10 fingers
- 3.5mm jack
- Shatter proof glass (protection)
- Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, HDR, sweep panorama
- Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer (sensors)
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- MP4/H.264/WMV player
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV/Flac player
- Document viewer
- Photo viewer/editor
- Clock
- Calendar
- Alarm
Battery
Stand-by
Talk time		Non-removable Li-Ion 2370 mAh battery
Up to 500 h (2G)/500 h (3G)
Up to 10 h (2G)/13 h (3G)

Image: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_zl-pictures-5203.php
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Sony Xperia E

Specifications
Sony Xperia E
Network2G
3G		GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
HSDPA 900 / 2100
SizeDimensions
Weight
Display		113.5 x 61.8 x 11 mm (4.47 x 2.43 x 0.43 in)
115.7 gram
TFT capacitive touchscreen, 256K colors
320 x 480 pixels (~165 ppi pixel density)
MemoryPhonebook
Call records
Internal
Card slot		Yes
Yes
4 GB (2 GB user available), 512 MB RAM
microSD, up to 32 GB
DataGPRS
EDGE
3G
WLAN
Bluetooth
Infrared port
USB		Yes
Yes
HSPA 7.2/5.76 Mbps
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, DLNA, hotspot
v2.1 with EDR

microUSB v2.0
FeaturesOS
CPU
Messaging
Ringtones
Browser
Radio
GPS
Games
Camera
Video
Colors
Java		Android OS, v4.1 (Jelly Bean)
1.0 GHz Cortex-A5; Adreno 200
SMS, MMS, Email, IM, Push Email
Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
HTML5
Stereo FM radio, RDS
Yes
Yes
3.15 MP
480p@30fps
Black, white, pink

- Loudspeaker
- Mini-SIM
- 3.5mm jack
- Multitouch up to 2 fingers
- Scratch-resistant glass (protection)
- Timescape UI
- Geo-tagging
- Accelerometer, proximity (sensors)
- Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
- MP4/H.264/WMV player
- MP3/eAAC+/WMA/WAV player
- Document viewer
- Photo viewer/editor
- Calendar
- Alarm
Battery
Stand-by
Talk time		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1530 mAh
Up to 530 h (2G)/530 h (3G)
Up to 6 h 12 min (2G)/6 h 18 min (3G)

Image: http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_e-pictures-5149.php
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Shoei RF-1100 Elektro Helmet

Brash and cocky, the Shoei RF-1100 Elektro turns the volume up to 11 and drowns the competition out with an intimidating wall of quality and refinement. Wind tunnel tested to perfection, Shoei has ensured that the shell, venting and foam work together to give a fit that cancels out sound while holding the head snug and safe. For any type of use, the Shoei RF-1100 is a best seller for a reason; it is the finest street motorcycle helmet available today.

Shell-Integrated Spoiler
Incorporates the aerodynamic advantages of a spoiler into the shell
Consistent shell thickness guarantees proper strength and weight
Reduces lift and drag during high speed riding
Dual layer EPS liner provides enhanced impact absorption while not impeding cooling air flow
Fully removable, washable and replaceable liner
Liner is three dimensionally shaped to match the contours of a rider’s head
5 Shell sizes for custom fit
SNELL M2010/DOT
Variable Ventilation System
Three intake and six exhaust vents allow perfect balance between airflow and silence
Larger lower vent port and streamlined vent shutter increase airflow while reducing whistling and road noise
Ease of use with riding gloves
CW-1 Shield & QRSA Base Plate System
Protects form 99% of the sun’s damaging UV rays
3D injection molding ensures a distortion free view throughout entire field of vision
Works in conjunction with optional Pinlock® Fog-Resistant System
Optional CWF-1 Racing Shield accommodates tearoffs
QRSA Base Plate System allows smooth and easy shield changes
Patented spring loaded technology ensures a wind and waterproof seal
AIM+ Shell Construction
Proprietary technology integrates a six-ply matrix
Hand laid interwoven layers of fiberglass with organic fibers and resin
Strongest, lightest and most elastic shell
Dual layer EPS liner provides enhanced impact absorption while not impeding cooling air flow

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