Saturday, October 31, 2009
Lorenzo seeks help to beat Rossi
MILAN: Jorge Lorenzo hopes Ducati’s Casey Stoner will do him a favour as he bids to beat Yamaha teammate and defending champion Valentino Rossi to the MotoGP title.
Rossi: Raikkonen is not fast enough burning rubber
Valentino Rossi's voice was familiarly squeaky and high-pitched with the usual rushed eccentric delivery that suggests he wants to stress his opinion before he forgets what he is talking about.
This time the biker, who is fast becoming a legend on two wheels, was opining not about his beloved
MotoGp but about Formula One, Ferrari and the Prancing Horse outfit's puzzlingly faded force, Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn, as gloomy a personality as you would hope never to find yourself alone with if you were trapped in an elevator, has been turfed out by Ferrari after hitting a series of low spots following his 2007 season.
One win in Belgium in August was not enough to save the 29 year old who has fallen short of any justification for a £30m-a-year salary — and he has been hoofed out to make way for double-champ Fernando Alonso on the same wage.
Rossi, who rumour has it has been earmarked to link up with Ferrari when he eventually quits motorbike racing, though in what capacity is not clear, reckons Raikkonen is simply not quick enough.
Coming from a daredevil biker whose blistering speed, ability and bravery at 200-plus mph on two wheels, that is indeed conditioned criticism.
It is not as if Rossi doesn't know what he is talking about: He has been tested by Ferrari and earned plaudits from the team for his performance in the unfamiliar surroundings of a 220-mph flyer of an F1 missile.
Ferrari kingpin Luca Montezemolo would dearly love to have Rossi in his team's red livery — and I am told that could happen, but as a test driver with only an outside chance of his being frontline in Formula One.
Whatever… he certainly would not have the long-gone Raikkonen as his teammate and he said: "After Michael Schumacher left, Ferrari put everything on Kimi — but he is not very fast."
Rossi, hunting down his seventh premier classs championship as MotoGp's top-paid rider on £15 million, pondering seriously on Montezemolo's keeness to have him and bolstered by F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone's pleas to do it, reveals: "I really enjoyed the test runs I had. And they gave me a good feeling for Ferrari and Formula One — but at the moment I am happy in MotoGp. Who knows what the future holds?"
I don't know him personally — but maybe I'll get the chance in the future.
SOURCE:
This time the biker, who is fast becoming a legend on two wheels, was opining not about his beloved
MotoGp but about Formula One, Ferrari and the Prancing Horse outfit's puzzlingly faded force, Kimi Raikkonen.
The Finn, as gloomy a personality as you would hope never to find yourself alone with if you were trapped in an elevator, has been turfed out by Ferrari after hitting a series of low spots following his 2007 season.
One win in Belgium in August was not enough to save the 29 year old who has fallen short of any justification for a £30m-a-year salary — and he has been hoofed out to make way for double-champ Fernando Alonso on the same wage.
Rossi, who rumour has it has been earmarked to link up with Ferrari when he eventually quits motorbike racing, though in what capacity is not clear, reckons Raikkonen is simply not quick enough.
Coming from a daredevil biker whose blistering speed, ability and bravery at 200-plus mph on two wheels, that is indeed conditioned criticism.
It is not as if Rossi doesn't know what he is talking about: He has been tested by Ferrari and earned plaudits from the team for his performance in the unfamiliar surroundings of a 220-mph flyer of an F1 missile.
Ferrari kingpin Luca Montezemolo would dearly love to have Rossi in his team's red livery — and I am told that could happen, but as a test driver with only an outside chance of his being frontline in Formula One.
Whatever… he certainly would not have the long-gone Raikkonen as his teammate and he said: "After Michael Schumacher left, Ferrari put everything on Kimi — but he is not very fast."
Rossi, hunting down his seventh premier classs championship as MotoGp's top-paid rider on £15 million, pondering seriously on Montezemolo's keeness to have him and bolstered by F1 ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone's pleas to do it, reveals: "I really enjoyed the test runs I had. And they gave me a good feeling for Ferrari and Formula One — but at the moment I am happy in MotoGp. Who knows what the future holds?"
I don't know him personally — but maybe I'll get the chance in the future.
SOURCE:
Rossi: An Inside Look
Valentino Rossi’s ability to co-develop his Yamaha YZR-M1 closely with his Chief Mechanic at Fiat Yamaha, Jeremy Burgess, has formed the basis of the pair’s success at the Japanese manufacturer, says the Australian. Ahead of the Iveco Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island on the weekend of October 16th-18th in his homeland, Burgess has spoken of the importance of Rossi’s input in turning his bike into a three-time world title winning machine to date.
Burgess joined Rossi in his switch from Honda to Yamaha for the 2004 season, as they continued their winning formula, and Burgess maintains the six-time MotoGP champion’s input has been just as crucial as his own technical expertise.
“I think Motorcycling will never be the same because Valentino Rossi showed that he could win on a Honda that other riders could win on, and he could then take the Yamaha machine that no other riders could consistently win on and win on it,” said Burgess.
“I couldn’t go into Yamaha and scream and yell and change the way they did things, it was necessary to work together with Valentino and the Yamaha Engineers to solve the problems they had. We had to take a step back and analyse why we at that time, or they at that time, had not been as competitive as their opposition. We had to diplomatically change the direction without making anybody look as if they had been making mistakes.”
Burgess continued, “Certainly, my objective from an engineering perspective is to make a bike that all riders can ride. It’s a very well tuned bike which has been developed by Valentino Rossi, and any rider coming in to ride this bike doesn’t have to worry about development. They have the ability and the information that we have put together over many years, combined with the settings we have from the last two especially – and particularly with the Bridgestone tires – so it’s not as easy to develop the bike as it is to ride the bike. We have a rider in Valentino who develops the bike and we have on the other side of the garage one guy who just has to ride.”
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Burgess joined Rossi in his switch from Honda to Yamaha for the 2004 season, as they continued their winning formula, and Burgess maintains the six-time MotoGP champion’s input has been just as crucial as his own technical expertise.
“I think Motorcycling will never be the same because Valentino Rossi showed that he could win on a Honda that other riders could win on, and he could then take the Yamaha machine that no other riders could consistently win on and win on it,” said Burgess.
“I couldn’t go into Yamaha and scream and yell and change the way they did things, it was necessary to work together with Valentino and the Yamaha Engineers to solve the problems they had. We had to take a step back and analyse why we at that time, or they at that time, had not been as competitive as their opposition. We had to diplomatically change the direction without making anybody look as if they had been making mistakes.”
Burgess continued, “Certainly, my objective from an engineering perspective is to make a bike that all riders can ride. It’s a very well tuned bike which has been developed by Valentino Rossi, and any rider coming in to ride this bike doesn’t have to worry about development. They have the ability and the information that we have put together over many years, combined with the settings we have from the last two especially – and particularly with the Bridgestone tires – so it’s not as easy to develop the bike as it is to ride the bike. We have a rider in Valentino who develops the bike and we have on the other side of the garage one guy who just has to ride.”
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Lorenzo: "Rossi copies my settings"
PORTUGUESE GRAND PRIX victor Jorge Lorenzo has claimed reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi often copies the Spaniard's race settings. In an interview with Italian magazine 'Riders' Lorenzo states: “My truth is that Valentino has developed the Yamaha from 2004, but if we’re talking about setting up the bike during race weekends, it’s absolutely not true that I copy his settings.”
“I have my crewchief, he sets my bike up. To tell the truth in some races, it’s Valentino’s team that copies my settings. It’s normal. I can see Valentino’s telemetry data and he can see mine; we can look at his settings and he looks at ours.”
With just three races remaining on the 2009 calendar and just 18 separating Lorenzo and arch rival Rossi, it's easy to see why the Spaniard is keen to stand his ground:
“I’d like to say that from one race to another, I change very few things, and I’m almost sure that in some races, Valentino’s team has changed his set-up to follow our indications. Each weekend I’m fast from Friday. If I copy his, I’d be fast only on Saturday or Sunday.”
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“I have my crewchief, he sets my bike up. To tell the truth in some races, it’s Valentino’s team that copies my settings. It’s normal. I can see Valentino’s telemetry data and he can see mine; we can look at his settings and he looks at ours.”
With just three races remaining on the 2009 calendar and just 18 separating Lorenzo and arch rival Rossi, it's easy to see why the Spaniard is keen to stand his ground:
“I’d like to say that from one race to another, I change very few things, and I’m almost sure that in some races, Valentino’s team has changed his set-up to follow our indications. Each weekend I’m fast from Friday. If I copy his, I’d be fast only on Saturday or Sunday.”
SOURCE:
Rossi wary of refreshed Stoner
The immediate return to form of Australian MotoGP star Casey Stoner has reinforced series leader Valentino Rossi's fear of being overtaken by the sports young guns before he can achieve his ultimate goal.
Rossi is headed towards his seventh world title in the elite class and at the age of 30 has given himself just two more years to break the record of eight held by fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini.
Stoner, 23, stunned his rivals by finishing second in the recent Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril on his return from a 10-week break from the sport to try to resolve a mystery illness.
The race was won by 22-year-old Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who, with Stoner, is one of the new force of young riders Rossi is trying to keep at bay.
"If I am not strong, I know that Casey and Jorge will eat me in one bite," Rossi said.
"Earlier this season I was not very strong, not fast enough, so it was like when you start to lose blood in front of a shark.
"In this case, Stoner and Lorenzo are the sharks and they look at me with a little bit of blood flowing and maybe they thought, 'OK, now is the time'.
"They both finished ahead of me in Mugello (in Italy) in May and they thought now we have beaten Valentino in Italy we can beat him everywhere.
"But fortunately I became stronger."
After treading water early in the season, Rossi has now won six times from 13 races. Combined his main rivals Lorenzo (4), Stoner (2) and Dani Pedrosa (1) have won seven.
"This is very important because I now have more wins than Stoner and Lorenzo combined so I have to continue like this," Rossi said.
"But even with six wins from 13 races it is a very tough championship.
"I have strong rivals who give everything to try and beat me so I have to give more than 100 per cent to stay at the top."
Both Stoner and Lorenzo had each won two early-season races to get a jump on Rossi before Stoner was slowed by an unknown virus which sapped his energy at the Barcelona GP.
To try to recover he took a mid-season break and was been missing from racing since finishing 14th in the British GP in late July.
Because of his absence on sick leave Stoner has slipped to fourth in the standings with the championship now out of reach.
Rossi holds an 18-point lead over Lorenzo with three races remaining, including next week's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
SOURCE:
Rossi is headed towards his seventh world title in the elite class and at the age of 30 has given himself just two more years to break the record of eight held by fellow Italian Giacomo Agostini.
Stoner, 23, stunned his rivals by finishing second in the recent Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril on his return from a 10-week break from the sport to try to resolve a mystery illness.
The race was won by 22-year-old Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo, who, with Stoner, is one of the new force of young riders Rossi is trying to keep at bay.
"If I am not strong, I know that Casey and Jorge will eat me in one bite," Rossi said.
"Earlier this season I was not very strong, not fast enough, so it was like when you start to lose blood in front of a shark.
"In this case, Stoner and Lorenzo are the sharks and they look at me with a little bit of blood flowing and maybe they thought, 'OK, now is the time'.
"They both finished ahead of me in Mugello (in Italy) in May and they thought now we have beaten Valentino in Italy we can beat him everywhere.
"But fortunately I became stronger."
After treading water early in the season, Rossi has now won six times from 13 races. Combined his main rivals Lorenzo (4), Stoner (2) and Dani Pedrosa (1) have won seven.
"This is very important because I now have more wins than Stoner and Lorenzo combined so I have to continue like this," Rossi said.
"But even with six wins from 13 races it is a very tough championship.
"I have strong rivals who give everything to try and beat me so I have to give more than 100 per cent to stay at the top."
Both Stoner and Lorenzo had each won two early-season races to get a jump on Rossi before Stoner was slowed by an unknown virus which sapped his energy at the Barcelona GP.
To try to recover he took a mid-season break and was been missing from racing since finishing 14th in the British GP in late July.
Because of his absence on sick leave Stoner has slipped to fourth in the standings with the championship now out of reach.
Rossi holds an 18-point lead over Lorenzo with three races remaining, including next week's Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
SOURCE:
Rossi not happy with set-up yet
Rossi not happy with set-up yet
Valentino Rossi complained of braking issues with his Yamaha following today's first practice for the Portuguese MotoGP.
The reigning world champion was third fastest in the session but nearly half a second slower than team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
He puts some of that time down to not yet having found a good brake balance and is confident he can close the gap in Saturday morning's sessions.
"The first practice was not so bad but we had some problems, especially in the braking," said Rossi. "We are not strong enough and suffer quite a lot with stopping the bike.
"This track is difficult for braking so we have to find the right balance. But we have some ideas for tomorrow and we hope to be more competitive.
"My laptime is not so bad for the first practice but we have some disadvantage and we have to improve the base. The work we do in practice will make the difference so the first target is to arrive on Sunday with a good setting."
SOURCE:
Valentino Rossi complained of braking issues with his Yamaha following today's first practice for the Portuguese MotoGP.
The reigning world champion was third fastest in the session but nearly half a second slower than team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
He puts some of that time down to not yet having found a good brake balance and is confident he can close the gap in Saturday morning's sessions.
"The first practice was not so bad but we had some problems, especially in the braking," said Rossi. "We are not strong enough and suffer quite a lot with stopping the bike.
"This track is difficult for braking so we have to find the right balance. But we have some ideas for tomorrow and we hope to be more competitive.
"My laptime is not so bad for the first practice but we have some disadvantage and we have to improve the base. The work we do in practice will make the difference so the first target is to arrive on Sunday with a good setting."
SOURCE:
Friday, October 2, 2009
MotoGP Friday Practice
MotoGP Friday Practice
In good conditions at Estoril, on the opening day of the round 14 weekend, it was Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who set the pace in the first MotoGP free practice with a best time of 1’37.185s in the closing stages, after heading the timesheet for most of the session.
Lorenzo needs to pile as much pressure as possible on his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi this weekend to stay in the title hunt and the Spanish star will be happy to have started practice in first place, at a venue where he took his first Moto GP win last year.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was the second quickest participant, demonstrating his pace once again with a 1’37.544 time which was 0.359s down on Lorenzo’s hot lap.
Rossi will not be too disappointed to have commenced the Estoril weekend in third place, with a similar time to Pedrosa’s best, 0.421s behind his championship rival Lorenzo - at a circuit where he has scored five premier class wins.
Casey Stoner was back on track after a three round break, taking his beloved Desmosedici GP9 machine round in a best time of 1’37.966 as the fastest Ducati rider on Friday.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards was fifth once again, a position he has found himself in on several occasions in 2009, going round in just over 1’38 on the satellite Yamaha M1 which he will ride again next year.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) were sixth and seventh respectively, whilst James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) made a late surge from lower down the order into eighth place. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis and Pramac Racing’s Mika Kallio completed the top ten.
The MotoGP riders will be back on track at 9.55 a.m. local time at Estoril on Saturday morning for Free Practice 2.
SOURCE:
In good conditions at Estoril, on the opening day of the round 14 weekend, it was Fiat Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who set the pace in the first MotoGP free practice with a best time of 1’37.185s in the closing stages, after heading the timesheet for most of the session.
Lorenzo needs to pile as much pressure as possible on his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi this weekend to stay in the title hunt and the Spanish star will be happy to have started practice in first place, at a venue where he took his first Moto GP win last year.
Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was the second quickest participant, demonstrating his pace once again with a 1’37.544 time which was 0.359s down on Lorenzo’s hot lap.
Rossi will not be too disappointed to have commenced the Estoril weekend in third place, with a similar time to Pedrosa’s best, 0.421s behind his championship rival Lorenzo - at a circuit where he has scored five premier class wins.
Casey Stoner was back on track after a three round break, taking his beloved Desmosedici GP9 machine round in a best time of 1’37.966 as the fastest Ducati rider on Friday.
Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards was fifth once again, a position he has found himself in on several occasions in 2009, going round in just over 1’38 on the satellite Yamaha M1 which he will ride again next year.
Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) were sixth and seventh respectively, whilst James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) made a late surge from lower down the order into eighth place. San Carlo Honda Gresini’s Alex de Angelis and Pramac Racing’s Mika Kallio completed the top ten.
The MotoGP riders will be back on track at 9.55 a.m. local time at Estoril on Saturday morning for Free Practice 2.
SOURCE:
MOTOGP Ten years of MotoGP at Estoril
MOTOGP Ten years of MotoGP at Estoril
MOTOGP Ten years of MotoGP at Estoril
2009 will be the tenth year that the Portuguese Grand Prix has been held at the Estoril circuit.
Prior to moving to Estoril there had been two previous Portuguese Grand Prix events, both hosted in Spain; at Jarama in 1987 and Jerez in 1988.
The first Grand Prix event at Estoril was in 2000 and it has been on the calendar every year since.
Below are the highlights of the previous nine Grand Prix events held at Estoril:
2000 Garry McCoy had the honour of winning the first 500cc race at Estoril riding a Yamaha, after qualifying on pole for the only time in the premier-class. In the 250cc class Daijiro Kato took his first GP victory outside of Japan from Olivier Jacque, with Marco Melandri finishing third to become the youngest ever rider to finish on a 250cc podium.
2001 Each of the races were won by riders on their way to winning their respective world titles: 500cc Valentino Rossi, 250cc- Daijiro Kato and 125cc Manuel Poggiali.
2002 Valentino Rossi won a race that was run in very wet conditions, after Sete Gibernau had led for most of the race only to crash out with four laps to go. Fonsi Nieto had an incredible win in the 250cc race after crashing on lap 13 and re-joining the race down in seventh place.
2003 Valentino Rossi won in the premier-class for the third successive year at Estoril. Spanish riders were successful in the smaller classes, with Toni Elias winning the 250cc race and Pablo Nieto taking his one and only GP victory in the 125cc class.
2004 Both Valentino Rossi and Toni Elias repeated the victories of the previous year. The 125cc race was won by Hector Barbera ahead of current MotoGP riders Mika Kallio and Jorge Lorenzo.
2005 Alex Barros dominated proceedings by winning the race from pole position and setting the fastest lap as well as being fastest in every practice session. This was the last time that Barros stood on the top step of the podium in grand prix racing. Casey Stoner won for the first time in the 250cc class, while Mika Kallio took his first ever Grand Prix win in the 125cc class.
2006 After qualifying 11th on the grid, Toni Elias scored his one and only MotoGP victory to date by just 0.002 seconds from Valentino Rossi to equal the closest ever recorded finish in the premier-class since the introduction of electronic timing. Alvaro Bautista's win in the 125cc race was his 14th podium of the year - a new record for most podium finishes in a single season in the 125cc class.
2007 Valentino Rossi won for the fifth time at Estoril after a great battle with Pedrosa. Alvaro Bautista took the 250cc victory after finishing lap one down in twelfth place. Hector Faubel won the 125cc race from championship rival Gabor Talmacsi, with Pol Espargaro taking his first ever GP podium in third.
2008 Last year the Portuguese Grand Prix was the third event of the year and gave Jorge Lorenzo his first MotoGP win after he had qualified on pole for the third successive race. With his victory, Lorenzo became the 100th different rider to win a premier-class grand prix. Alvaro Bautista took his first win of the year in the 250cc class while Simone Corsi took back-to-back wins to extend his lead in the 125cc championship chase.
SOURCE:
MOTOGP Ten years of MotoGP at Estoril
2009 will be the tenth year that the Portuguese Grand Prix has been held at the Estoril circuit.
Prior to moving to Estoril there had been two previous Portuguese Grand Prix events, both hosted in Spain; at Jarama in 1987 and Jerez in 1988.
The first Grand Prix event at Estoril was in 2000 and it has been on the calendar every year since.
Below are the highlights of the previous nine Grand Prix events held at Estoril:
2000 Garry McCoy had the honour of winning the first 500cc race at Estoril riding a Yamaha, after qualifying on pole for the only time in the premier-class. In the 250cc class Daijiro Kato took his first GP victory outside of Japan from Olivier Jacque, with Marco Melandri finishing third to become the youngest ever rider to finish on a 250cc podium.
2001 Each of the races were won by riders on their way to winning their respective world titles: 500cc Valentino Rossi, 250cc- Daijiro Kato and 125cc Manuel Poggiali.
2002 Valentino Rossi won a race that was run in very wet conditions, after Sete Gibernau had led for most of the race only to crash out with four laps to go. Fonsi Nieto had an incredible win in the 250cc race after crashing on lap 13 and re-joining the race down in seventh place.
2003 Valentino Rossi won in the premier-class for the third successive year at Estoril. Spanish riders were successful in the smaller classes, with Toni Elias winning the 250cc race and Pablo Nieto taking his one and only GP victory in the 125cc class.
2004 Both Valentino Rossi and Toni Elias repeated the victories of the previous year. The 125cc race was won by Hector Barbera ahead of current MotoGP riders Mika Kallio and Jorge Lorenzo.
2005 Alex Barros dominated proceedings by winning the race from pole position and setting the fastest lap as well as being fastest in every practice session. This was the last time that Barros stood on the top step of the podium in grand prix racing. Casey Stoner won for the first time in the 250cc class, while Mika Kallio took his first ever Grand Prix win in the 125cc class.
2006 After qualifying 11th on the grid, Toni Elias scored his one and only MotoGP victory to date by just 0.002 seconds from Valentino Rossi to equal the closest ever recorded finish in the premier-class since the introduction of electronic timing. Alvaro Bautista's win in the 125cc race was his 14th podium of the year - a new record for most podium finishes in a single season in the 125cc class.
2007 Valentino Rossi won for the fifth time at Estoril after a great battle with Pedrosa. Alvaro Bautista took the 250cc victory after finishing lap one down in twelfth place. Hector Faubel won the 125cc race from championship rival Gabor Talmacsi, with Pol Espargaro taking his first ever GP podium in third.
2008 Last year the Portuguese Grand Prix was the third event of the year and gave Jorge Lorenzo his first MotoGP win after he had qualified on pole for the third successive race. With his victory, Lorenzo became the 100th different rider to win a premier-class grand prix. Alvaro Bautista took his first win of the year in the 250cc class while Simone Corsi took back-to-back wins to extend his lead in the 125cc championship chase.
SOURCE:
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