STONER & HAYDEN UPBEAT

MARLBORO Ducati men Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were satisfied after the opening practice session at Jerez, praising the performance of their Desmosedici GP10 machines.Stoner is naturally keen to get some points on the board after his crash from the lead in Qatar, and as he seeks a first win at Jerez, the Australian was brimming with positivity after his time of 1m 39.731s in FP1 topped the timesheet.“I’m feeling a lot more confident than I ever...

DEBON TOPS MOTO2 PRACTICE

SPANIARD Alex Debon, runner-up in the inaugural Moto2 grand prix at Qatar on April 11 has topped the practice time sheet in the new four-stroke class's first practice session at Jerez de la Frontera, with a best lap almost half a second better than Hungarian Gabor Talmacsi. Talmacsi was second, ahead of Spanish domiciled American Kenny Noyes while Qatar winner Shoya Tomizawa was 14th fastest, sandwiched between the vastly more experieinced Toni Elias...

STONER UNDER RECORD IN FIRST PRACTICE!

IN THE first hour long free practice session at Spain's Jerez circuit, Australian Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner blasted around under Valentino Rossi's one year old lap record!The Ducati Marlboro rider set the pace in the first practice of the Gran Premio bwin de España, ahead of Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo and Ducati team-mate Nicky Hayden.Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa was fourth fastest, trying a new chassis, while multi winner at Jerez, Valentino...

JEREZ: 125 FIRST SESSION

Already, after just the first free practice session, the fastest 125 riders are down close to the lap record!1 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Tuenti Racing DERBI 1m 47.327s2 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Red Bull Ajo Motorsport DERBI 1:47.4483 Efren VAZQUEZ SPA Tuenti Racing DERBI 1:47.5744 Sandro CORTESE GER Avant Mitsubishi Ajo DERBI 1:48.4185 Nicolas TEROL SPA Bancaja Aspar Team APRILIA 1:48.5926 Esteve RABAT SPA Blusens-STX APRILIA 1:49.0507 Bradley SMITH GBR Bancaja...

MOTOGP SITUATION REPORT

AS the first free practice session was set to get underway, it is time to take stock of the likely top four riders.First the Fiat Yamaha men, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. The postponment of the Japanese GP at Motegi has given Lorenzo an extra week to let his injured hand heal. Given his late charge at Losail to runner-up, you'd have to say he will be looking good at Jerez. He was in pain for two days after Qatar but the break should mean he'll...

BMW CHANGES

THERE have ben a few changes at BMW Group Australia recently, which will also have an effect in the New Zealand market.BMW Group Australia has appointed Tony Sesto to the position of BMW Motorrad Manager. Effective May 3, 2010, Sesto will head up BMW Motorrad overseeing the Australia...

ENFIELD GOES UPMARKET...

IN INDIA, Royal Enfield's marketing initiative to woo potential customers through its `Log Out" campaign targeted at corporates is paying dividends. The Chennai-based manufacturer (an Eicher Motors subsidiary) aims to pitch the riding experience as a team-building exercise over weekends....

FACTORY DUCATIS ON THE PACE!

Test - MisanoThursday Apr 29 2010Test - Misano THE DUCATI XEROX TEAM LEAVES MISANO IN A POSITIVE STATE OF MIND Misano (Italy), Thursday 28th April: Warm conditions at the Misano World Circuit allowed the Ducati Xerox squad to carry out two day’s worth of work on track, with positive...

YAMAHA R1 HAS SUCCESSFUL MISANO TEST

Latest from the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team The Yamaha Sterilgarda world Superbike Team wrapped up a successful two day test in Misano this afternoon, fresh from James Toseland’s two podiums in Assen. Riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland spent the two days testing...

NEW SILVERSTONE LAYOUT FOR MOTOGP

Silverstone launches new Grand Prix circuit Thursday, 29 April 2010, from MotoGP.comThe track will host the fifth round of the 2010 MotoGP calendar, the AirAsia British Grand Prix, and on Thursday, Silverstone Circuits Limited unveiled the new circuit, showing off the new section...

ROSSI BRUISED, BUT READY

Bruised Rossi faces Spanish Armada at Jerez from MotoGP.comThe traditional pre-event press conference was attended by Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa and Héctor Barberá on Thursday, ahead of the Gran Premio bwin de España.Jerez Pre-event press conferenceThe 2010 MotoGP World Championship resumes this weekend at Jerez, with the Gran Premio bwin de España now the second race of the season following the postponement of last...

STONER & HAYDEN READY

Stoner and Hayden more than ready for Jerez from MotoGP.comThe Ducati Marlboro riders have similar agendas for this weekend’s Gran Premio bt win de España. Stoner’s aim is to secure some points after round one, whilst Hayden wants to build on his impressive opening race.The second...

REITWAGEN TEAM IN TROUBLE

Resch and the S1000RR at Phillip IslandTHOSE watching the Sky television broadcasts from round four of the HANNspress Superbike World Championship at Assen in the Netherlands last night may have noticed the grid was a little thinner than usual - not that it hurt the action any!Missing...

HONDA'S DOUBLE WIN AT ASSEN

ULSTERMAN Jonathan Rea gave the HANNspree-backed Ten Kate Honda team a much needed boost at round four of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship at Assen on Sunday, starting from pole, winning both races and establishing a new class lap record into the bargain.As a result of...

NEW HUSKY MX 450 PICS

"These pictures were taken during a test at Crossodromo Malpensa (VA - Italy) where tester Andrea Bartolini and official Husqvarna Rider, Alex Salvini under Engineer Pierluigi Zampieri (Racing Department Manager) have developed the motorcycle before the official debut that will come soon." Martino Bianchi, Coordinator PR and Racing Activities....

TRIUMPH'S WSS ASSEN REPORT

UPDATE 2: WSS '10 Round 4 | Assen, race dayChaz Davies will leave Assen fourth in the overall standings of World Supersport after today's race. The Brit got a good start, gaining a few positions to reach seventh place. After one lap only he managed to pass Dane Robbin Harms...

CRUMP WINS EURO SPEEDWAY GP

Australian speedway specialist Jason Crump has opened his Speedway World Championship title defence in emphatic style, winning the European Grand Prix  at Alfred Smoczyk Stadium in Leszno, Poland today.Crump won three of his five heat races before switching bikes for his semi-final...

REA PUTS HONDA ON POLE

HANNspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea grabbed pole position for round four of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship at Assen after emerging from Superpole with the only sub-1m 35s lap of the weekend.Rea's time, 1m 34.944s, was well under the old lap record, and faster...

DUCATI LAUNCHES THE MONSTER 796

The 'Urban Icon'The Monster family introduces the 796, an exciting addition to the line-up that combines the user-friendliness of the 696 with the sports character of the 1100. Delivering 87hp (64kW)and a dry weight of just 167kg, the stylish new Monster 796 returns the magic of mid-range to the Monster family.The Monster 796 is fitted with the micro-bikini fairing and single seat cover as standard and features a new seat designed with a ...

CZECH DUCATI FASTEST AT ASSEN

Czech Pata B&G Racing Ducati privateer Jakub Smrz was the fastest man around the Assen circuit in Holland in the first qualifying session for round four of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship this weekend.Of the fastest 15 riders in the first qualifying session, seven...

BMW SALES JUMP IN USA

S1000RR Auckland LaunchIN February 2010, BMW sales jumped 52 percent in the USA compared with the month of February 2009. The sales increase is attributed to sales of the new four cylinder S1000 super sport machine, which hit US BMW dealers in February.The BMW sales increase came...

HARLEY POSTS LOSS

HARLEY Davidson posted a loss of $US218.7 million in the final quarter of 2009, its first quarterly loss in 16 years.Meantime, Harley Davidson chief executive officer Keith Wandell banked a pay package of $US6.4 million for his first eight months on the job, according to an Associated Press (AP) report which quoted "regulatory filings."According to the AP report, Wandell was paid a base salary of $US650,025, plus a bonus of $US780,000, as well as...

NEW HYOSUNG DEALER

AUCKLAND’s North Shore has a new Hyosung dealer. Determined to give the brand a higher profile, importer Hyosung New Zealand has opened its own retail store at 72 Barry’s Point Road, Takapuna.“We just were not getting the profile the brand deserves,” says Hyosung New Zealand Managing...

SUZUKI WINS SUPERSTOCK

WHILE BMW's new limited production S1000RR has won the first two rounds of the FIM Superstock Championship, in endurance racing it is Suzuki's GSX-R1000 that has emerged victorious.At the 33rd running of the Le Mans 24-Hour, the GSX-R1000s finished 1-2 with BMW third in the Superstock class. The class winner was the Suzuki of Qatar Endurance Racing Team pilotted by Australian Alex Cudlin along with Anthony Delhalle and Rashid Al Mannai. They had...

KAWASAKI WINS LE MANS

KAWASAKI's ZX-10R won the Le Mans 24-Hour race on April 18, the first round of the 2010 Qtel FIM Endurance World Endurance Championship. The winning Pirelli-shod GSR Kawasaki of Julien da Costa, Olivier Four and Grégory Leblanc covered 828 laps of the 4.185 km Bugatti circuit, a...

VIKINGS STOP MOTOGP

By REVSdaile.Icelandic Volcano Claims Japanese Victim!THE plume of volcanic ash spewing into the stratosphere from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland has claimed a victim in Japan – the MotoGP world championship round scheduled for the Motegi circuit north of Tokyo this weekend (April 25).The Motegi race has been re-scheduled to October 3, a week before the Malaysian round of the championship.  This means the Asia-Pacific area will now...