Motogp 2012 on.....

[FTe217]

also good luck to Ant West getting a late ride into Moto2........

West in for QMMF team
West in for QMMF team
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Australian rider Anthony West has been signed up for the QMMF Moto2™ Racing Team to contest the 2012 World Championship.

In a late line-up change for the 2012 World Championship, Anthony West has been signed up to ride a Moriwaki for the QMMF Racing Team in Moto2™.

The 30-year-old, who has ridden in the intermediate category for the past two seasons in the MZ Racing set-up, will use his vast World Championship experience alongside Spanish rider Elena Rosell in the Qatari Federation team.

"It’s great to be back in Grand Prix racing, with a team that operates on such a highly professional level and with the support of Moriwaki, one of the most experienced and highly regarded manufacturers," said West in a press release from the team, which also confirmed he will replace fellow Australian Damian Cudlin.

"We haven’t had the chance to go through the pre-season preparations together, so we can’t expect miracles at the team’s home Grand Prix of Qatar next week. But I’m really excited about this opportunity and I’ll push to the maximum to get the best possible result!"

[FTe217]

Well its do or die for Ducati.....alot of $$$$$ spent and I really hope they are up there but I doubt till maybe mid season, the bike is improved to suit Rossi's style especially to get more heat in the front tyre but it will be ongoing improvements through Race conditions.
They are still around 1sec behind a lifetime in motogp !

Rossi and Hayden eager to get going
ducati preview qatar
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
The Ducati Team riders will get to measure the progress of the Desmosedici GP12 against its competitors in a Grand Prix setting when the first round gets underway in Qatar this Thursday.

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship starts on Thursday at Losail International Circuit, where it will be a long weekend. Riders will take to the track a day early and the race is held at night, as has been the custom at this venue, but those are not the only unique characteristics of the season-opening Grand Prix. This year is also marked by MotoGP’s return to the 1,000cc maximum-displacement limit and the debut of the CRT bikes.

During the three winter tests, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden started their work on the Ducati GP12, which debuted two months ago. While their focus during the Qatar practice sessions will be on preparing for the race, the two riders and their respective teams will also continue to work on finding their harmony with the new bike.

Valentino Rossi:
“We worked hard over the winter, and although we went the wrong direction at one point, we once again managed to find the good feeling with the GP12 that we’d had in the first test. With those settings, which we’ll start with in Qatar, I was able to get good feedback from the bike. At Losail it will be very important to work well during the sessions leading up to qualifying so that we can increase our confidence step by step as we approach Saturday, always trying to maximise our potential. I’m a realist, and I know well that our times are still a long way off and that there are still some things to fix. We won’t be able to address some of them right away, but it’s also true that both we at the track and the guys back home now have a direction to work in, and we must try to do as well as we can. We won’t completely re-do the bike during the season, but we’ll try to progress little by little.”

Nicky Hayden:
“This is my tenth season in MotoGP, and I’m looking forward to it. I have a really solid team and I think we have a good bike this year. With all the injuries from Valencia and my training incident, preparation obviously hasn’t gone exactly how you’d like it to, but Jerez was a good test for me to do a lot of laps at very close to 100 per cent. Qatar is pretty unique because we’re racing at night, but the truth is, after you get rolling, you don’t notice it by about the third of fourth corner. It really doesn’t change too much with things like lines and bike set-up, but as it gets later, you have to be careful with the condensation on the track, especially in Turn 2. I’d like to be going into the first race closer to the front, but hopefully we can do some steps. I’ve basically only ridden around by myself on this bike, so it will be nice to get in the race and really see how it stacks up against the others.”

[FTe217]

Stoner and Pedrosa prepared for Qatar
repsol honda preview Qatar
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
The Repol Honda riders are raring to go as the first round of the 2012 season beckons.

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship officially starts this weekend in Qatar, the small Peninsula off the Persian Gulf, noted for hosting the only race of the calendar under floodlights. The Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar is, without any doubt, one of the most spectacular races of the season.

Months of development, testing and hard work have gone into the preparation for this season which sees a switch to 1000cc bikes. In addition to this change the Repsol Honda Team faces another challenge; defending the Triple Crown they achieved in 2011 when they won the rider, team and constructor titles.

Casey Stoner, the current MotoGP World Champion, has also been the man to beat in pre-season, dominating both tests in Malaysia and Jerez, where his team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, also confirmed himself as one of the fastest riders in the top class.

Stoner’s record at the Losail circuit is impressive: he is the main reference with four pole positions and four wins out of six in the MotoGP class. Pedrosa has visited the podium three times in MotoGP and will be fighting, like the Australian, for a strong start to the season.

Casey Stoner:
“After good pre-season Tests in both Sepang and Jerez, we head to Qatar feeling positive, but still have some work to do. This will be the first time with the new bike on this circuit so we will need to spend some time on the set-up to put ourselves in the best position. We've always enjoyed good results at the Losail circuit but this is a new season and there are more competitors contesting for victory this year. I'm excited to get the season started and fight for another World Championship.”

Dani Pedrosa:
“Each year is different and there are always various obstacles to go through during a season. I’ve had good and bad races in the past, but a big part of these results are determined by how you have prepared yourself in the winter. I’ve worked very well this year, I had a good pre-season with the bike and with my physical training; I hope that luck is on my side this time, so we can have a good championship. Qatar is important because it’s the first race of the season, but you have to minimise risks. If you don't win this race you can still win the championship, but on the other side, a mistake can complicate the year. I’m ready. Let’s see how everything goes and where everyone is.

[FTe217]

Lorenzo and Spies ready for Losail
yamaha preview qatar
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
The Yamaha Factory Racing riders are confident as they head to Qatar for the first race of the 2012 season.

This Sunday sees the long awaited and hugely anticipated season opening race of the 2012 MotoGP™ Championship at the Losail circuit in Qatar. Yamaha Factory Racing riders Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will line up on the grid under the spectacular floodlights alongside their rivals for the first true test of the 1000cc era. A strong winter testing period with very competitive times means both riders arrive in Qatar confident in the abilities of their all-new 1000cc YZR-M1 as they set their sights on the podium.

2011 Championship runner up Lorenzo has a strong record at Qatar, starting every MotoGP race there from the front row and always finishing on the podium. An outright Losail victory has so far eluded him, something he aims to put right this weekend. Team-mate Spies has yet to score a podium finish in Qatar, taking fifth in 2010 and sixth in 2011. The Texan is looking very comfortable on the new 1000cc machine and is aiming for nothing less than a podium finish on Sunday.

Jorge Lorenzo:
"I’m very excited to finally race and see how we are compared to our rivals. Qatar was a good race for us last year but I think this season we have a slightly more competitive bike so I am hoping for good things to happen. Because of my hand injury it has been a long time since I was in a race so I am really excited for Sunday. I have been training a lot for this season; I’m feeling very good and very happy with the bike as well."

Ben Spies:
"Finally! I think testing can get a bit dull after a while so I’m happy we now get to go and do some racing at last. We’ve worked really hard over the winter; the Yamaha Engineers have done a great job so we’ve got a pretty good bike to race with at the weekend. Let’s get out there on Thursday and start finding a set up and see how it feels. It’s always special to race at night under the lights, we’re going to give it 100% and put on a good show."

Wilco Zeelenberg, Team Manager:
"I’m really excited to go to Qatar, it’s been a longer off season than usual. We had a great winter test season and we solved a lot of problems from 2011 so I’m curious to see how our package behaves under race conditions. Testing is one thing but finishing on a podium is the real test. Jorge is very fit and the M1 is ready to go. Let’s clean the track for the first couple of days and then go racing!"

Massimo Meregalli, Team Director:
"We are going to Qatar in good spirits. After the three winter tests our performance was consistently good which is important. We’re starting this Grand Prix with good expectations, knowing that we can achieve a good result. Last year Jorge had a really good race and the bike was less competitive than it is now, and Ben has always been strong at Qatar, also in World Superbike. The Losail circuit layout is very suitable for our bike characteristics so we should do well!"

[FTe217]

Barring injury our Casey should defend his title and be crowned 2012 Champ !

Horgay is no push over infact a real threat and I admire his tradesmen riding race in race out at his young age as well as Stoner, 2nd I predict.

Dani Pedbot - Stoners team mate and Honda Factory rider for his 7th year ! at times can be Faster than all of them but always has an "off" broken limb or whatever puts him out for a month hence killing his Title chance, IF he stayed up right could challenge both the above for the Title but it seems when under pressure to keep being faster he finds the edge over his capability predict 3rd !

Going to 1000cc's puts them back into some serious mid torque Grunt - top speeds will be on 360k's some straights, Faaaaaark !

I love watching this show and have for years though like all motorsports its in its first phase of dumbing down from this season with the intro of a controlled some say Div2 bike or a glorified Superbike.
Factory bike your in the hopes to challenging for the title the rest just making up numbers as Dorna the governing body wish's for to get more manufacturers into the sport and more bum's on seats just as Cochrane has done.

Regardless I encourage watching at least 1 race this season and see our own rider who is being judged as one of the best ever handle a 2wheeled weapon at 10tenths - sheer balls on stuff go CS !

[FTe217]

Early days - first race, interesting results.
Horgay is a warrior at his young age and came back from 3rd the last laps to take the win.

COMMERCIALBANK GRAND PRIX OF QATAR

MotoGP Race Classification 2012

Doha, Sunday, April 08, 2012
Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time/Gap
1 25 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 166.2 42'44.214
2 20 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.1 +0.852
3 16 1 Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.0 +2.908
4 13 35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.1 +17.114
5 11 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 165.0 +17.420
6 10 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 164.3 +28.413
7 9 19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 164.3 +28.446
8 8 6 Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 164.3 +29.464
9 7 8 Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 164.2 +31.384
10 6 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 164.0 +33.665
11 5 11 Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 162.6 +56.907
12 4 5 Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 162.5 +58.088
13 3 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 161.7 +1'10.650
14 2 68 Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 161.4 +1'15.943
15 1 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 160.7 +1'26.733
16 22 Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 159.7 +1'43.327
17 54 Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 159.5 +1'47.419
18 77 James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 159.2 +1'51.882
51 Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 110.6 7 Laps

[FTe217]

Its very concerning the outcome from the 1st race for Rossi and Ducati, check out below......

Valentino Rossi lashes out after Qatar nightmare
“It's unrideable, and it doesn't make much difference what track we are on” – Valentino Rossi.

“Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in the beginning because when I had new tyres with good grip, the rear pushed a lot, making it very difficult under braking,” explained Rossi.

“Then Barbera pushed me off the track and I lost five or six seconds. Otherwise, I could have stayed with that group.

“As the tyre became used and began to slide, I started to ride a bit better and to do better times, to the point that I matched my best time on the last lap. By that point though, it didn't count for much.”

Rossi, a 79 time premier-class race winner, has celebrated only a single podium since leaving Yamaha at the end of 2010. And after such a demoralising start to 2012, it seems Rossi's patience is starting to wear thin.

GPone.com quotes Rossi as saying: "Ducati didn't follow the direction that I indicated, but I'm not an engineer and I can't solve every problem.

"...The problems with the bike haven't changed, and neither have my requests. It's unrideable, and it doesn't make much difference what track we are on.

"I'm not able to enter the corners hard on the brakes, and we can't hope the situation will change completely with the new Bridgestone tires. These aren't problems you can solve with set-up alone.”

Team manager Vittoriano Guareschi emphasised that the aluminum-frame GP12 project is still in its very early stages of development.

“It was a challenging weekend for our team, but we can also look at some positive aspects as we continue to focus on working with the still-young GP12,” said Guareschi.

“Valentino had a difficult qualifying session, and he had problems in the race, particularly in the early laps with fresh tyres. We must learn how to solve this, because in the end he posted some good times.”

Top Ducati rider Hayden was 28 seconds from victory, one-second further back than he had been in 2011. The American finished eleven seconds behind fifth place Andrea Dovizioso (Yamaha).

Rossi's best race lap was the slowest set by a manufacturer rider.

During winter testing, Ducati Corse boss Filippo Preziosi said that technical upgrades for the GP12 were not expected to be ready for several races.


Taxi For Rossi Divorce
Give Nicky his Due he tries very hard indeed but ITS A PIG and They haven't got endless pockets ££$$ to fix it either or aint got a clue how to fix

[HSE2]

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...-boiling-point

[HSE2]

It doesn't take em long and I know its been done to death but

[FTe217]

yer its a Hoot eh Ian the vid - so well done, the Hitler actor takes him off spot on.
As for Ducati its a pressure cooker thats for sure - the Yanks are hailing Hayden's performance and I suppose good on him.
They dislike that most of his carreer he is playing second fiddle to team mates - 1st being Pedrosa,then Stoner and now Rossi, TBH he isn't a front runner imo but a close podium finisher due to attrition. Honda and Ducati jumped on him purely to boost US sales more than anything else but he may just get up the pecking order IF he keeps out performing his Legend team mate.