MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi powered from fourth on the starting grid to take his first victory of the season in Spain on Sunday and open an 11-point lead at the top of the overall standings.
The Yamaha rider slipped past early leader Dani Pedrosa with 10 laps left in front of the 120,000 crowd at the Jerez circuit and pulled away to finish the 27-lap race 2.7 seconds clear of the Spaniard’s Honda.
Australian Casey Stoner was third for Ducati, his first appearance on the podium in Spain.
Victory for Rossi sent the Italian top of the championship standings with 65 points after three rounds. Stoner is second on 54 and Pedrosa tied for third with compatriot and Rossi’s team mate Jorge Lorenzo on 41.
continue reading »
This is the Doctor’s shows..
continue reading »
MotoGP championship leader Jorge Lorenzo claimed pole position in Spain as title holder and Yamaha teammate Valentino Rossi could only manage fourth on the grid.
Lorenzo, fresh from his victory at Motegi in Japan last week, delighted his home crowd in Jerez with the best time of one minute 38.93 seconds.
continue reading »
Valentino Rossi will need to work hard if he is to extinguish team-mate Jorge Lorenzo’s fast growing momentum after the Spaniard followed up his first win of the season with his first pole position of ‘09, in front of his home fans at Jerez on Saturday.
Lorenzo raised eyebrows by catching and passing his fellow Fiat Yamaha rider for victory last weekend in Motegi, a result that also gave him the championship lead by one point over Rossi.
Rossi is still searching for his first win of the season after also finishing runner-up to Casey Stoner in Qatar, but managed just fourth place in Saturday’s qualifying session with a best lap time 0.709sec slower than the #99 - and The Doctor isn’t happy with his race set-up either.
continue reading »
Jorge Lorenzo has taken the MotoGP title lead by claiming his and Yamaha’s first victory of the 2009 season at Motegi on Sunday - the young Spaniard beating team-mate Valentino Rossi in only his second race on Bridgestone tyres.
Lorenzo had finished a distant third in Qatar two weeks’ ago, but emerged strongest during a 24 lap race that marked only the second dry track session of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend.
The first had been during Friday free practice, with every session thereafter either wet or cancelled due to the rain.
continue reading »
Defending world champion Valentino Rossi will start on pole for Sunday’s MotoGP in Japan after Saturday’s qualifying session was called off due to torrential rain.
Rossi had been fastest in Friday’s free practice on the Motegi circuit and will start on the front row with championship leader and arch-rival Casey Stoner and Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo of Spain.
The Italian superstar was critical of the decision to bring the second round of this year’s title race to Japan.
“It is not a great idea to come to Motegi in April because the weather is always quite bad,” he told the official MotoGP Web site www.motogp.com.
continue reading »
Fiat Yamaha rider sees ‘two riders a step above the rest’ after Qatar podium. Satisfied but not elated by a podium finish in Qatar, Jorge Lorenzo was analytical in his response to events on Monday evening.
Fiat Yamaha’s Spanish star was back on the rostrum at the scene of his first MotoGP top three finish, but felt that the gap between himself and racewinner Casey Stoner was more than the nine point difference suggested.
“It is a very good result, and the position is fine,” said Lorenzo. “However, the gap between myself and Stoner was too much. We have to work and work, because these problems need to be solved so that we get to Motegi
Having finished fifth at the Losail International Circuit last year Valentino Rossi was pleased to have started the 2009 season - and his MotoGP title defence - with an improved second place in Qatar.
World Champion Valentino Rossi was unable to prevent Casey Stoner running away with a third consecutive season-opening victory at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar, but the brilliant Italian typically took the positives from his second place finish in the Arabian desert in Monday’s re-scheduled MotoGP race.
Rossi was amongst those who had stated after Sunday night’s rainfall that it was important to stay on at the floodlit Losail track to put on a show for the fans on Monday evening, and whilst he was unable to catch Stoner at the front of the race he did his level best at trying to hunt down the Ducati Marlboro poleman.
continue reading »
