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Melandri cracks hand at Catalunya test

Marco Melandri cracked a bone in his right hand during a big accident at the end of Monday's Catalunya MotoGP test.

The Hayate rider, 14th in Sunday's grand prix and eleventh out of 15 riders at the test, was thrown from his ZX-RR at Turn Six and sustained “a partial break of the 5th metacarpal in his right hand”, according to the Clinica Mobile.

The Italian also suffered a heavy hit to the head and some leg damage, but is expected to be fit for Assen on June 27.

Melandri currently holds seventh in the world championship standings, after six of 17 rounds.

Source: http://www.crash.net

Short testing stint productive for Stoner

Casey Stoner was the fifth fastest rider at the post-race Barcelona test on Monday, working in small doses on development of the Ducati Desmosedici GP9 after an exhausting Sunday race. The Australian posted a fastest lap of 1’42.763, slightly quicker than his best race lap, as he performed a reduced testing schedule.

“I had a bit of work on my arms and legs when I got out of bed this morning, because I was cramping up,” said Stoner, who had been suffering from illness all weekend before the tough podium fight. “We seem to be able to do a couple of laps on the bike at least, so we could get a few things done.”

The Ducati Marlboro rider left the extensive work to teammate Nicky Hayden, but still used the test constructively to confirm settings and further examine the usage of a carbon swingarm.

“We’ve been trying the carbon swingarm again with a few more settings, and we found a few positive things. We haven’t done a lot of laps today, but the bike was feeling good. We still need to improve the rear traction. We worked a little on the new engine management system to try to find out how to make it work a little better. Everything seems to be working well, but today was just to make sure that everything was ok. I cut the test short because I was still sore and too tired after a couple of laps,” continued the 2007 World Champion, who went on to explain the differences between the carbon fibre version and its aluminium equivalent.

“The carbon fibre swingarm is more stable, but sometimes it is too stiff. I’ve been using the aluminium one recently because I find that it can conserve the tyres towards the end of the race –it has got a lot more grip, but you just lose some of the stability. We can do roughly the same lap times on both of them.”

Source: http://www.motogp.com

Dovizioso so close to rostrum yet again

Having been beaten to the line by a tight margin by team-mate Dani Pedrosa at Le Mans and by Valentino Rossi at Mugello, it was Casey Stoner who thwarted Andrea Dovizioso at the Circuit de Catalunya, as the Italian youngster crossed the line just 0.052s behind the former MotoGP World Champion.

Dovizioso got his move into the factory Repsol Honda team for this season courtesy of a highly consistent debut campaign on satellite machinery in 2008, with his only podium finish in the premier class to date coming towards the end of last year in the form of his third place finish in Malaysia.

The 2009 campaign has commenced with six solid results, two fifth places in the opening two rounds, eighth in Jerez and now three consecutive fourths, as he makes obvious but steady progress.

Such is Dovizioso’s competitive nature - and the expectation in the Repsol Honda team, who have now gone a year without a race victory - the 23 year-old will want to start turning those fourth places into podium results sooner rather than later, even if he is regularly battling against the three current best riders in the World Championship in races, namely Rossi, Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo.

Taking the positives from the sixth round of the season Dovizioso commented, “I pushed all the race, overtaking Randy de Puniet and Dani and then to try and close the gap with Casey. In the last six laps I tried to reserve some power because it was so hot in the race and the spinning of the tyres was unbelievable. I couldn’t try to overtake Casey on the last lap because he was pushing at 100%, so it was a shame I couldn’t get the podium, but I’m very satisfied about this weekend.”

“I’m really happy about the race in general as we finished only nine seconds behind the winner and this is really important. Unfortunately I didn’t make a good start because I have a different clutch to the rest of the Honda riders, which is good for me when I am braking but it is much worse for starting, so that made it a difficult race.”

Source: http://www.motogp.com

Fabrizio Earns Front Row Spot on Tomorrows's Grid at Miller

Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga (Ducati Xerox) this afternoon took part in an entertaining Superpole session at Miller Motorsport park, with the onset of rain mid-way through the session causing extra excitement. Michel remained strong in each of the three mini-Superpole sessions, to snatch a valuable place on tomorrow’s front row, in fourth position. Noriyuki, in pain after a heavy fall this morning, concluded the day in ninth place. Rain started to fall on parts of the track mid-way through the second phase of the Superpole but thankfully was not heavy enough to disrupt the final phase too much.

In the morning’s qualifying both Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga were losing valuable time in the first split. The two riders and their teams made modifications to enable them to improve over that section and in the final minutes of the session, Michel made a big improvement over the first split which allowed him to register the fastest time of the session just a couple of minutes from the end. At exactly the same time Noriyuki was also picking up his pace but pushed perhaps a little too hard and was victim of a high-side. Noriyuki visited the medical centre but was fortunately found to be unhurt apart from a bad bruising to his back; Haga qualified for the subsequent Superpole in eighth position.

Michel Fabrizio 1m49.4s
“In the qualifying this morning I was losing time in the first split, the part of the track I like least and on which we’ve been working since yesterday, but I put this to rights with a fast time in the second phase of the Superpole. It’s just a shame that I then made a small mistake exiting a corner on a fast lap in the third phase which cost me a higher position on the grid, as I’m sure I could have finished second had I not made that error. Anyway starting from the front row is of course not bad and I hope to be able to make two good races as I did here last year.”

Noriyuki Haga 1m49.5s
"Well I’m not a great fan of Saturday mornings at Miller! Last year I broke my collarbone and today I crashed again, perhaps my fault for pushing a little too hard while doing a long-run but fortunately the only consequence is a very sore back, that I hope doesn’t cause me too many problems tomorrow. Anyway, I did my best in Superpole this afternoon; I could have been on the second row but I found traffic on track in the first two sessions and when I was about to go out again at the end of the second phase it started to rain. Tomorrow’s races will be really hard and if Ben, as I’m sure he will, takes off, then I don’t know whether I’ll be able to stick with him but I’ll try my best to take as many points as possible.”

TIMES (Superpole)
1. Spies (Yamaha) 1m48.3s
2. Checa (Honda) 1m48.9s
3. Kiyonari (Honda) 1m49.2s
4. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1m49.4s
5. Smrz (Ducati) 1m49.6s
6. Byrne (Ducati) 1m49.9s
7. Parkes (Kawasaki) 1m51.3s
8. Hacking (Kawasaki) 1m51.4s
9. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 1m49.5s

Source: http://www.ducati.com

Lanzi satisfied with WSBK return

Lorenzo Lanzi is confident of a better showing at Misano after describing his return to the World Superbike Championship with DFX Corse in the United States as 'difficult but positive'.

The Italian made his debut with the team at Miller Motorsports Park as the replacement for the injured Regis Laconi, Lanzi proceeding to make a respectable showing off himself having been out of international action for several months.

Reaching Superpole at his first attempt, although his rustiness would hurt his chances at the start of the first race, Lanzi pushed on in the second to record two points in 14th position.

Although Lanzi wasn't delighted with the result, he was content that he and the team were able to make improvements throughout the weekend.

“It was a very difficult but positive weekend. I knew that it would be hard for us, but thanks to the hard work of all the team, we were able to consistently improve. I had to practically start again from zero, which explains why I made a mistake in Superpole and again at the start of race one. At the restart I didn't make any mistakes, but from there it was impossible to do any more.

“In race two things went better, and I got into a very fast rhythm which enabled me to fight in the group chasing the leaders. I made a few overtaking moves, but above all I was quicker than in the same race last season.

“I like the bike and there are ample margins to improve it, and there's a nice, calm atmosphere within the team which allows me to look to the future with confidence. They're the first two points of 2009, a small but significant haul to build upon, right from the next test at Misano.”

Source: http://www.crash.net

Max Neukirchner targets Brno

Team Suzuki Alstare Brux rider Max Neukirchner is working hard at his rehabilitation programme and is on course to race in Brno on 26th July. Despite a small problem with his right ankle, which has necessitated a change in the rehabilitation plan, Max is keeping to schedule and is feeling very positive about his return to the track. Currently Max is working at the ATR centre in Chemnitz, doing a lot of exercise on his upper body and his left leg and feels his upper body is now trained more than it has ever been!

Fortunately, Max has excellent support from his family and friends these days and they are keeping his spirits up and preventing him from getting depressed. It's not all rehab and gym though, for there is a good bar and restaurant across the road from the rehab centre and Max has become a regular, enjoying good steaks and the occasional cocktail. He has also gone to the Lausitzring to watch a DTM race and was scheduled to go to the Rock in the Park in Nurnberg, but bad weather ruined his plans.

"I am working as hard as I can to get back to the track as soon as I can and my upper body is now getting very well toned - better than it has ever been. I get a bit frustrated sometimes because I want to do work on my right leg, but I know I have to patient and do it at the right time. It's going to be a bit funny when all the plaster comes off because the right leg is going to look so puny compared to my left leg. Maybe I will overbalance!!!

My family and friends have been a great support these past few weeks and also all my fans and I would like to say a big thank you for everybody's good wishes. I will be coming to Misano, as a spectator, but it'll be good to be back at the track and see my team and all the regulars again."

Sumber: http://www.worldsbk.com

Bayliss gets to grips with V8 Supercars

Three times Superbike World Champion Troy Bayliss took the first major step in his new four-wheel racing career this week as he test drove Craig Lowndes' 2009 TeamVodafone V8 Supercar at Queensland Raceway in Australia.

he former Ducati Xerox man put in over 80 laps of the circuit, impressing team engineers with his precise control and split-second concentration in the 600hp plus V8 Ford Falcon machine.

fter a sighting lap with championship regular Lowndes in the passenger seat, Troy's natural competitive instinct took over and he eventually got down to within half a second of the mark set by his fellow Australian.

ayliss said the experience had been immensely rewarding and said that the world-class touring car category was a logical progression as he pursued a career on four wheels.

That was a dream come true," Bayliss admitted. "I have been a huge fan of V8 Supercars for a long time and to finally get some laps in one felt amazing. A lot of the on-track principals transfer between the bike and the car and once the excitement of the first few laps wore off I felt like I was back at the office trying to perfect my corners and reduce my lap times. I can honestly say I have the bug, I definitely want to do more laps and try and get out there in either the Development Series or the endurance races."

Source: http://www.worldsbk.com