Ducati Team duo hopeful for sunshine in Portugal

MotoGP series proceeds to action at a track that is very demanding and full of contrasts. Despite it having the lowly average speed of the tracks on the calendar, the Estoril circuit also includes very fast sections, counting one of the longest straight aways of the year.

Valentino Rossi has won five times in his eleven premier-class visits to the track, and he has ended on the podium on five other occasions, whilst the best result of his team-mate Nicky Hayden is a fourth place in 2007. The American will be looking to erect on his rostrum finish last time out in Jerez.

Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

“We’ve had three weekends without a race so I was clever to unwind for a while following the GP12 test at Jerez, although I sustained training to help my physical recovery. Now we go to Estoril, a track I quite like, where we’ll carry on working on the GP11’s setup, particularly during the test on Monday. The conditions are often changeable at Estoril because the area is very windy and close to the ocean, making for variable weather. We saw at Jerez that we’re already spirited in the wet, however we’re hoping for sun in Portugal, so that we can make the most of our time on the track. We still have to understand the bike better and to work on the setup, with the goal of being faster in the dry in time for the mainly intense phase of the season, when we’ll have six races in eight weeks initial in June.”

MotoGP action back on at Estoril

After an comprehensive break in the MotoGP calendar the premier class returns to action at the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal this weekend, and there is bounty to watch out for at Estoril in Round 3.

Almost four weeks after the Jerez round – the extensive break being due to the postponement of the Japanese GP until October – the MotoGP World Championship returns to action at Estoril this weekend, where the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal hosts Round 3 of the 2011 season. This will be the 14th time that there has been a Portuguese GP.

There was no lack of talking points following Round 2 in southern Spain, where defensive World Champion Jorge Lorenzo took his first win of 2011 in the wet, and was followed onto the podium by a Dani Pedrosa struggling with his recovering left arm and Nicky Hayden. Casey Stoner’s incapability to finish the race after being taken down in an incident involving Valentino Rossi, the latter of whom managed to remount his bike and finish fifth, merely added to what was a extremely eventful race at Jerez.

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Lorenzo has a frightening recent record at the Estoril track, having won for the past three consecutive seasons from pole position. The Spaniard has now finished within the top four for 22 straight races, and leads the early Championship standings by nine points in front of rival Dani Pedrosa. The Repsol Honda man arrives in Portugal hopeful that surgery right away after Jerez will have eased the discomfort caused in his left arm, and in spite of that he secured a 90th GP podium in the last round making him only the tenth rider to arrive at the milestone in the World Championship’s 63-year history. .

Edwards and Crutchlow make optimistic start in Qatar

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team made a bright start to the 2011 MotoGP World Championship in Qatar, Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow both concluding with points in the season opening night race.

Edwards made a sweltering start from the 10th position on the grid and was looking to force his way into the fight for the top six when he lost time by organization slightly off line at the second corner. Dropping back into 10th behind team-mate Crutchlow, he rapidly moved up to ninth to launch a pursuit of 2010 team-mate Ben Spies.

He closely followed his compatriot for the opening five laps, the 37 year-old setting a time and again fast pace in the mid-1'56" bracket. He shadowed the fast starting Hector Barbera until lap nine when he moved into eighth position. But he had lost too much time trying to pass the Spaniard to maintain the pressure on Spies and he finished eighth.

Crutchlow made an imposing MotoGP debut at the Losail International Circuit having started in front of Valentino Rossi and Edwards on the grid. Hampered again by the nasty left little finger wound he suffered during the pre-race test in Qatar less than a week ago, Crutchlow rose to the occasion brilliantly, fighting for the top ten for most of the 22-lap race.

He was right on the back of a group battling for ninth that was headed by Nicky Hayden, Hiroshi Aoyama and Barbera. But like Edwards previous in the race, Barbera proved tough to overtake and Crutchlow lost contact with Hayden and Aoyama with three laps remaining. He was satisfied for his determined performance when he swept by Barbera on the final lap to finish a enormously encouraging debut in 11th.

Ducati don’t need a Yamaha copy

Ducati may be aiming to help Valentino Rossi duplicate his Yamaha success with its Desmosedici, but the Italian factory insists it doesn't need to construct a copy of the M1.

After a 15th place on Rossi's Ducati first appearance during testing at Valencia, Ducati confessed changes will be wanted to allow the seven time MotoGP champion to ride as he would like.

But in spite of so many team members moving with Rossi from Yamaha, team manager Vittoriano Guareschi insists that there is no force to change the Ducati plan philosophy.

"The [new team members from Yamaha] are settling in well. After so many years at Yamaha they be grateful for the soul of our brand," Guareschi told Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Jerry [Rossi's crew chief] is reassuring. In universal there is peace of mind: we just need to get better the bike, not make a copy of the Yamaha.

"We're going in the way indicated by Valentino for 2011.

"The times [during testing at Valencia] were not very hopeful, it must be said, but after seeing the condition of his shoulder, we felt reassured. Our bike requires strong bodily input and Valentino wasn't fit sufficient in Valencia.”

Rossi has since undergone surgery for the shoulder wound and will be present for the presentation of the 2011 Ducati at the upcoming Wrooom press ski meeting. Rossi's first ride in Ducati red will then take place at Sepang, Malaysia, from February 1-3.

Rossi and Yamaha: From start to finish

2010 brought a seven-year collaboration between the Italian rider and Japanese factory to a close, one which shaped four World Championship titles and wrote another chapter into the MotoGP history books you can revive the best moments of the partnership between the two, starting at Welkom in 2004.

Valentino Rossi’s entrance at Yamaha in 2004 was the start of a new era, both in the Italian rider’s career and the Japanese factory’s MotoGP history. Charming his first race on board the M1 at Welkom, Rossi confounded the critics who doubted his ability to transfer his success across from Honda and went on to safe the World Championship title that year.

Three further titles followed – in 2005, 2008 and 2009 – as Rossi underlined his status as one of the sport’s modern greats, and a stream of highlights were delivered along the way as a formidable force in MotoGP sustained to enjoy great success amassing 46 race victories along the way.

With the end of the 2010 season came the beginning of a change as Rossi prepared to make the switch to Ducati for 2011, and in the fond of motogp the 31 year-old’s finest moments on the M1 are compiled, from his first kiss subsequent victory at Welkom in 2004 to his farewell to the bike at Valencia in the final round of the 2010 campaign.

Appraisal the highlights of the Rossi-Yamaha years and enjoy the most recent chapter in the nine-time World Champion’s memorable career, before a new episode gets happening with Ducati…

Jorge Lorenzo documentary premieres in Madrid

Televisión Española and Dorna Sports obtainable the documentary 'Jorge' in a particular premiere of the 80-minute film at the Cine Capitol in Madrid on Thursday evening.

The red carpet occasion in the Spanish capital was attended by 2010 MotoGP World Champion and subject Jorge Lorenzo. shaped by Dorna and presented by TVE the feature film documents the 23 year-old's journey from talented young talent to MotoGP World Champion, following Lorenzo in his chase of the title and getting up close and individual with only the second ever Spanish rider in history to claim the premier class crown.

Shot in high meaning 'Jorge' gives a detailed insight into the life of the man from Mallorca, both on a professional and personal level. An in-depth and sincere interview with Lorenzo himself, his parents, friends and professional associates provides viewers with a total profile of the World Champion, as does family video footage and images of the key moments of the 2010 campaign which comprise the hours before and after the Yamaha rider clinched the MotoGP World Championship title in Malaysia in October.