Spies judges things to perfection in race 1

Ben Spies (Yamaha World Superbike) scored his eighth win of the season in the first Superbike race of the day, held in flag-to-flag conditions, which meant the riders started on a wet track but took the flag in the dry. Half-way through the 24-lap race, which at that point had been totally dominated by Shane Byrne (Sterilgarda Ducati), the entire field started to pit to change bikes and tyres. Spies was the rider who judged things to perfection. the Texan immediately finding the right pace in the dry and going on to win by almost 8 seconds from Byrne. Third place produced a fantastic scrap, with Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) making his 1098 machine as wide as possible on the final lap to hold off the rapidly catching poleman Jakub Smrz (Guandalini Ducati). Fifth place went to championship leader Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox), who limited the damage on a track that is not one of his favourites, the Japanese rider passing his compatriot Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki Alstare) in the final stages. Jonathan Rea (Hannspree Ten Kate) was the first Honda to the flag in a race that saw him start from the back of the grid and pick up a ride-through penalty. Tenth place went to Superbike rookie Matthieu Lagrive (Honda Althea), behind Shinya Nakano (Aprilia), while team-mate Max Biaggi was in difficulty in these conditions and could only finish 13th.

Source: http://www.worldsbk.com

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Ducati Desmosedici GP8

Technical Specifications

Engine Engine type Bore x Stroke Displacement Valves Compression ratio Max Power Max Torque Carburetor Lubrication system Transmission Final drive Clutch Ignition type Starting system Air cleaner Battery	liquid-cooled, 90 degree V4 four-stroke, desmodromic - 799cc DOHC, four valves per cylinder - more than 200hp - Indirect Magneti Marelli electronic injection, four throttle bodies with injectors above butterfly valves Shell Advance Ultra 4 Six-speed cassette-type gearbox, with alternative gear ratios available. Dry multiplate slipper clutch. Chain - Magneti Marelli - - -
Dimensions Frame type Overall length Overall width Overall height Seat height Wheelbase Ground clearance Weight Fuel capacity Suspension (front) Suspension (rear) Tyre (front) Tyre (rear) Brake (front) Brake (rear)	Tubular steel trellis-style chassis, pressed aluminium swing-arm - - - - - - - - Ohlins upside-down 42mm front forks absorber, adjustable for preload, compression and rebound damping - - Double carbon disc (Brembo) Single steel disc (Brembo)

Source: http://www.highrevs.net

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Suzuki GSV-R (2008)

Technical Specifications

Engine Engine type Bore x Stroke Displacement Valves Compression ratio Max Power Max Torque Carburetor Lubrication system Transmission Clutch Ignition type Starting system Air cleaner Battery	4 stroke water cooled V4 - 800cc Pneumatic (air control), DOHC four-valve - 225+ ps / 18,000rpm - Fuel injection Wet sump (Motul Lubricants) Six speed low friction constant mesh Dry multi plates (back torque reduction type) - - - -
Dimensions Frame type Overall length Overall width Overall height Seat height Wheelbase Ground clearance Weight Fuel capacity Suspension (front) Suspension (rear) Tyre (front) Tyre (rear) Brake (front) Brake (rear)	Twin spar aluminum alloy frame 2080mm 660mm 1150mm - 1450mm - 148+kg 21L Inverted type telescopic (Ohlins) Link type (Ohlins) - - Double carbon disc (Brembo) Single steel disc (Brembo)

Source: http://www.highrevs.net

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Jorge Lorenzo dethrones Rossi in Mugello

Jorge Lorenzo took another pole position, this time on the territory of his team-mate, Valentino Rossi. Not only that Rossi lost pole position in qualifying session in which he spent most of the time on the first position, but he also ended it in 4th place, which may be deciding factor about his potential 8th consecutive Mugello victory. Casey Stoner struggled most of the session to find right race set-up, but at least for qualifying he got it right, finishing session in 2nd position, just 0.027 seconds behind Lorenzo. Loris Capirossi was best Italian rider in 3rd position, just in front of Italian favorite, Valenitno Rossi. Randy De Puniet recovered from off-track excursion to grab solid 5th place on the grid. Colin Edwards took attention in first part of the qualifying, but second part of the session saw American fading to 6th place.

Andrea Dovizioso was unable to perform better than 7th, but he definitely had less problems than his team-mate, Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa spent most of the session on the back of the time sheets, having big problems to find right race set-up. Pedrosa eventually qualified 8th, but race-pace still remains to be solved for Spanish rider. Toni Elias took 9th position on the grid, while Yuki Takahashi completed top 10 qualifiers on Italian circuit.

Source: http://www.highrevs.net

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Tiger already tested as US Open begins in downpour

Tiger Woods salvaged par from a greenside bunker after a horrendous tee shot on the first hole Thursday as the 109th US Open began in a rainy downpour at soggy Bethpage Black.

World number one Woods seeks his 15th major title, which would put him three shy of the career record 18 won by Jack Nicklaus, and a fourth US Open crown to match the record held by Nicklaus, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and Willie Anderson.

Hearty supporters braved intense showers to surround the first tee as a super group of reigning major champions teed off just after 8 in the morning, all three clad in black rain gear that matched the dreary skies above them.

British Open and PGA Championship king Padraig Harrington of Ireland smacked his ball into the fairway. Masters champion Angel Cabrera of Argentina blasted his first tee shot long and into the dense rough on the dogleg right hole.

Woods followed by hooking his tee shot way left into a concession stand area and stared in stunned disbelief for several moments before gathering himself and starting a sloshy trek around the public course where he won the 2002 Open.

Woods blasted to a bunker but rescued a par while Cabrera and Harrington opened with bogeys, the Irishman three-putting.

Maintenance crews were frantically squeegeeing holes and trying to keep the course from becoming unplayable due to the showers, which are expected to last throughout the tournament and worsen into thunderstorms this weekend.

Woods also could become the first player to defend all four major titles - a "Back-to-Back Slam". He won the PGA Championship in 1999 and 2000, the Masters in 2001 and 2002 and the British Open in 2005 and 2006.

Not since Curtis Strange in 1989 has a player won consecutive US Opens. Woods limped to victory in last year's US Open at Torrey Pines, defeating Rocco Mediate on the first sudden-death hole following an 18-hole playoff.

Left knee surgery and an eight-month layoff followed but Woods has won twice since his return in February, including two weeks ago at the Memorial in his final US Open tuneup, where he hit every fairway in the final round.

Phil Mickelson, a three-time major winner but a four-time US Open runner-up who has never won this event, tees off in the afternoon as he tries to set aside his concern for wife Amy, who faces breast cancer surgery in a few weeks.

Mickelson, a fan favorite at Bethpage, will try to fulfil his wife's wish of having the championship trophy in her hospital room.

Japan's Ryuji Imada shared the early lead at one-under after four holes as birdied on the 10th hole, their first of the day, pulled New Zealand's Michael Campbell and Argentina's Anders Romero level. Campbell won the 2005 US Open.

Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

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Positive test for Stoner

After the well deserved podium earned at the Catalunya GP, allowing him to maintain his joint lead in the classification, Casey Stoner yesterday returned to the same track, despite his weariness, to participate in a post-race test session.

The Australian rider was still feeling weak and under the weather, so much so as to have to terminate the testing two hours early, having completed just 38 laps, but he was nonetheless satisfied with the work that was completed with the GP9.

“This morning, when I woke up, I had some cramp in my legs and a backache so I did some physiotherapy con Freddy (Dente, the team's physiotherapist) and then got on the bike. I was not in perfect shape and I couldn't make more than a couple of runs at a time”, he explained. “Despite this, we managed to test what we needed to test, the set-up of the bike, the carbon fork and a new rear shock. I'm fairly happy because the test has confirmed what we thought and I think we are improving bit by bit. We are still lacking some rear grip but we we've found a few ways to improve the bike and I am optimistic. Now I'm looking forward to resting and to getting back to 100% fitness in time for Assen.”

Nicky Hayden barely got off his bike but was still unable to get the maximum from the latest updates for his machine. Nevertheless, his team were able to collect a great amount of data and this will be analysed in order to give Nicky the best possible chance at Assen so that he can develop on the progress made over the Catalunya race weekend.

“It wasn't the day I had hoped for, seeing the progress we had made over the weekend”, he said. “In Saturday morning's practice, when it was a little cooler and the conditions were similar to those of today, I lapped in 1m43.6 while here today I haven't gone under 1m44 and right from the start I didn't have the same feeling as I had over the weekend. I don't know why, also because we worked so hard, but I hope that the data collected is of use to the engineers so we can prepare well for Assen.”

Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

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Rossi happy with Catalunya test

After Sunday's breathtaking conclusion to the Grand Prix of Catalunya, race winner Valentino Rossi returned to the scene of his last turn triumph over Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo for one of only two days of testing available during the race season.

Understanding perhaps, the reigning six time MotoGP world champion made a later start than most - only the sick Casey Stoner completed less laps - but the Italian found time to test electronics, tyres and a 'long life' version of the YZR-M1 engine during his 58 laps.

The 'long life' engine will be needed from Brno (round eleven of 17) onwards, when new rules will limit each rider to five engines until the end of the season. The penalty for any additional changes will be 10 points and - with Rossi, Lorenzo and Stoner now tied at the top on 106 points - such a penalty could prove disastrous.

Rossi finished the test second fastest, 0.204 seconds behind Repsol Honda's Andrea Dovizioso and just 0.012s ahead of Lorenzo.

"It was hard to test after yesterday but it was a good day and we found out some important things," said Rossi. "We worked on electronics to try to find a better power delivery and we also checked a different version of the engine for the second half of the season. Finally we also tried a new tyre with Bridgestone.

"We got good feedback and hopefully today should mean I can feel even better on my M1 than I did at the weekend, which was already pretty good. At the end we also tried to set some fast qualifying' laps and I made a good time, so we're happy. Now I am going home to Italy to have some rest."

"Of course it wasn't easy to go back to work after such an intense day yesterday and to ask Valentino to get back on the bike, but we tested all afternoon and it was well worth the effort, added team manager Davide Brivio. We did some good work and collected important information that will help us through the next busy stage of the championship."

Rossi will fight for his 100th grand prix victory next time out at the Dutch TT, held at Assen.

Crash.net / Eurosport

Source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

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