Motourage

Another Entertaining Day at the Office for MSS Colchester

MSS Colchester Kawasaki proved pulling together as a team means pulling together a strong points haul despite tough luck once again playing a role in their weekend’s work at their home meeting.

With a three-race format in order for their home race meeting at Snetterton Circuit in Norfolk, England, it was always going to be a busy weekend for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki squad this weekend. In the end though, even vastly experienced team manager Nick Morgan couldn’t believe quite how it all panned out.

With an additional race to fit into an already busy Saturday schedule (the re-scheduled race two from the previous round at Knockhill) the Snetterton meeting was held up further when some classic “British summer” weather and an issue with the track surface needed repairing. With both riders looking set to make it through to the final ‘Q3’ session in the Swan Combi Role for Pole strong grid positions looked on the cards. But it was only Gary Mason who got the chance to challenge for a top ten grid slot, where he eventually finished ninth, with Simon Andrews’ Kawasaki ZX-10R ruled him out at the ‘Q2’ stage due to an electrical problem with his bike. That left Simon down in 12th with some work to do for the races.

With the track surface repaired an additional 15 minute session was arranged to test the new surface and it was here Simon gave his crew an even tougher afternoon’s work by, in his words, “launching” his Kawasaki ZX-10R at the Bombhole.

That left the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team with just an hour and a half to rebuild his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R before the start of race 1 on Saturday afternoon. But with all hands on deck the team built Simon’s bike with just seconds to spare before the pit-lane closed. Race one’s results of eight and ninth for Simon and Gary respectively showed both riders clearly had the pace and the team went to bed exhausted but happy to have finished the day with strong points scores.

Sadly the troubles didn’t end when a sunny Sunday arrived. In fact they got a good deal more testing when first a fuel leak problem was spotted on Gary’s ZX-10R with just twenty minutes to go and then Simon’s bike was found to have a slight misfire, due to an O-ring failing on one of the fuel injectors, when they started it up to go out and form on the grid. Once again both mechanical issues were the trigger for some fast work from the MSS Colchester Kawasaki squad who proved themselves to be real professionals and worked with precision to get the bikes out and racing. With Gary’s bike fixed he was able to make it out on time but Simon was unlucky again, just missing the cut-off point for exiting the pits and had to start from the back of the grid.

Simon made up ground rapidly in the opening laps and was quickly battling with a pack of eight riders, headed by Gary at that point, for a top ten place. Gary’s race took a turn for the worse as a fuel problem caused his bike to lose power and he slipped down the order. Simon, despite working his tires hard in the early laps, eventually snuck inside the top ten and brought his ZX-10R home as the leading Kawasaki and a hard fought ninth.

Race three (race two on Sunday) was a similar story for Gary who again had to do battle with slight machine issues. With an overheating engine keeping his feet just a little too warm he was happy to get the bike nursed home for a decent points finish inside the top ten and ninth overall. For Simon it was also a story of what might have been when his second row start, showing the strong race pace of the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R superbike, helped him push through into fifth on the opening lap only for a missed gear to knock him right back down the order again. Simon was battling hard to make the places up but even the intervention of the safety car mid-race couldn’t repair the hard work his tires had been put through. Despite that his sixth place finish was a strong result and certainly helped the team look back on a tough weekend with some pride.

Simon Andrews was relieved to make it through the eventful weekend and take his MSS Colchester Kawasaki to three hard-fought but healthy points scoring finishes at Snetterton, “Where do I start?! After I launched the bike during qualifying, with so little time before the first race I gave the boys a hard job to get the bike back together and it was amazing that they did such a good job and I could go out and get a top ten finish in that race.
I’m really glad we found the issue with the engine before we went out on the grid for the first Sunday race, it could so easily have been a DNF. I did well to get up from last on the grid to finish 8th. I then had high hopes for race three but the bike missed a gear and I went from fifth to 14th. From there I had to fight through and by the time the pace car came out I’d used the tires.”

Gary Mason was counting his blessings after all three of his races were hampered by issues with his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R, “I’ve got to say I’m happy with that because I got three race results with good points when it could have been a lot worse. But it’s frustrating because in every race we had problems; race one the tire spun on the wheel, race two we had fuelling problems and I lost power and race three it was overheating and burning my feet. I’m just glad I got it home each race but it’s frustrating for everybody after working so hard and you can’t fault the effort all the boys have put in this weekend.”

Howie Mainwaring can call himself lucky to have escaped injury but unlucky to have fallen foul to such an easy mistake after clipping the back wheel of another rider in the Metzeler National Superstock 1000 race. Howie was making up places each lap from his tenth place grid spot when the slight error saw him clip the back wheel of James Hillier and his race was brought to a premature end for the second meeting in a row. “I’m really disappointed because the bike felt really good and I had high hopes for the race.” Said Howie after the race. “I’d done exactly the same move the lap before and pulled it off but the next lap round James just braked a little bit later and I clipped him. I’m gutted but we just have to forget about it and move onwards and upwards.”

As in previous meetings it was youngster Danny Buchan who grabbed the podium glory for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team in the two National Superstock 600 races. A flying first place in the Saturday race was the result of a daring “lunge” on the penultimate lap which Danny held until the line for a well-deserved victory. The second outing for Danny and his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R, in front of the large Sunday crowd, showed he had the right temperament to battle and bag third spot after a relative poor start.

“I’m really, really pleased with my results this weekend,” said Danny after the Sunday race. “The team have worked hard to get a little bit more from the bike since the last round and I’ve helped repay all their hard work here with two good results.”

Nick Morgan reflected on hard weekend for the MSS Colchester Kawasaki team, “The biggest thing to say about this weekend is how much of a team effort it has been. We were a couple of key members down but from the start there was a great feeling across the board. Then when it mattered, which at times it really did, everyone pulled in together and we showed what it means to bang out a result.
As for the race results there’s no doubt Danny set us up well again with his win and third place in the Superstock 600 races. He such a star for a 17 year old to get those race results and then be helping pack up the truck at the end of the meeting, it says a lot about the lad.
Howie’s weekend was tough for him because realistically we knew it was going to be hard for our bike at this track. He was just unlucky and has to pick himself up, dust himself off and come back strong at the next race.
The Superbike races were where the team showed its mettle though. What it showed is that this team can work hard under pressure to do a brilliant and precise professional job when it matters most and get a result when things are against them. I can’t say enough about them.
We know we can run better than that and with a bit of luck, we’ll be up where we should be.”

Lorenzo Keeps Podium Record Intact While Rossi Seals Remarkable Fourth Place

Valentino Rossi came back from injury to capture fourth place after a battle with Casey Stoner reminiscent of 2008

The German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring today provided a thrilling afternoon’s racing, with Jorge Lorenzo finishing second and his resurgent Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi rounding off a remarkable return from injury to finish fourth by a mere whisker. A red flag after nine laps meant the race was restarted, with Dani Pedrosa eventually taking the win after a 21-lap ‘second’ race.

Starting from pole for the fourth race in a row, Lorenzo lost ground to Pedrosa at the start but retook the lead on the first lap and led the way by a couple of tenths for the first nine laps. Rossi meanwhile, back racing just six weeks after breaking his leg, had dropped two places on his grid position to seventh. On the second lap he passed Hector Barbera and then loomed up behind Marco Simoncelli, passing his fellow Italian to take fifth on lap four. The World Champion had more than a second’s gap to Andrea Dovizioso but he quickly started to close down on him and was in range on the ninth lap, passing him on the tenth. By then however an incident involving three riders had caused the race to be red-flagged and, with positions then taken from the end of the ninth lap, that left the top five in almost their original grid order of Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Stoner, Dovizioso and Rossi.

Thirteen riders restarted the race and it was the same story all over again, with Pedrosa passing Lorenzo into turn one but the championship-leader getting back through before the end of the first lap. The next few laps saw the two Spanish riders in some superb wheel-to-wheel action as Lorenzo tried and failed to shake Pedrosa off, the pair maintaining a nail-biting distance of about a tenth for several laps. After three wins in a row however Lorenzo finally succumbed today and on lap nine he was unable to hold his compatriot off any longer, sensibly deciding to bring his M1 home in second place for 20 points. The 23-year-old has now finished in first or second place at every one of the eight rounds this season.

The restart saw Rossi again lose some ground but he passed Hayden second time around to retake fifth and set off in pursuit of the leaders. On the sixth lap he got by Dovizioso but with a near two-second gap to Stoner it looked unlikely that the Italian would make much headway on the Australian. Rossi is always one to amaze however and he was soon lapping at the same pace as the leaders to bring himself within striking distance of Stoner with a third of the race remaining. The final six laps saw some superb action between the two rivals, with Rossi looking as if he had never been away and several brilliant overtaking maneuvers from both riders. On the penultimate lap Rossi took the lead in what looked like a decisive move but on the final corner Stoner somehow found a way back through and the nine-time Champion was forced to settle for fourth, albeit probably the most impressive fourth position of his career.

Lorenzo’s championship lead now stands at 47 points from Pedrosa, whilst Rossi moves up one place to sixth. The paddock now heads directly to Laguna Seca in California for the US Grand Prix in one weeks time.

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2ndTime: +3.355
“It’s always difficult when a race is split like this and I think I didn’t ride quite as well in the second race as I felt I had been doing in the first. Dani was very, very strong and I was on the limit trying to stay ahead. When he passed me I tried briefly to stay with him but he was much faster than me today and I was going to have to take a lot of risks to stay with him; the safest thing for me to do was finish second and take 20 points for the championship. I am happy because I never really liked this track and now I’ve been second here two years in a row. Now we go to Laguna and I am very excited about racing there again.”

Valentino Rossi – Position: 4thTime: +5.623
“I didn’t expect this! I thought it was maybe possible to make fourth or fifth place but I thought it would be very difficult. In the end I was fourth but I had a great battle with Casey and I was so close to the podium, so this is a fantastic result after missing four races. I need some more kilometers to really recover the feeling and feel completely okay with the bike again, but I think I did a great job and this was a very good comeback, better than we could wish for. I felt a bit of pain in my shoulder but more in the leg when changing direction, but at the end the battle with Casey was such fun that I didn’t think about it. Unfortunately though he just got the better of me on the last corner! Thanks to all my team for helping me come back and be competitive like this, we will try to do even better in Laguna.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – Team Manager
“I said before this weekend that we can’t win them all and today Jorge rode another very sensible race to finish second and bring home 20 valuable points for the championship. It’s a pity about the restart because the final third of the race is generally Jorge’s strongest and with the shortened race he didn’t have that bonus, but he rode a great race nonetheless and tried his best to stay with Pedrosa, who was a bit faster than us today. This hasn’t been one of his best tracks in the past and he had some problems the first day so this is a good result for us all.”

Davide Brivio – Team Manager
“In the end this race was something completely unexpected; one week ago we didn’t know if we’d be able to ride here at all and then day by day our targets changed. We would have been happy whatever with a top five today but finally we were really competitive and so close to the podium. It’s unbelievable and even more so because we were lapping at the same pace as the leaders. We’ve never been so excited by a battle for third position! It was very positive; Valentino worked so hard to be here and he made it in style, so now we will continue our plan in Laguna next weekend.”

Spies Storms to Battling Eighth in Sachsenring

Ben Spies continued his fantastic charge towards the top five in the MotoGP world championship standings this afternoon after a richly deserved eighth place in a restarted German MotoGP race.

Facing a difficult challenge after starting in a lowly 13th position following an incident-packed qualifying session, Spies was in hot pursuit of a top eight finish when the scheduled 30-lap race was red flagged on lap ten after a three-rider incident. The race was restarted over 21-laps and Spies lost contact with the group in front of him when Mika Kallio crashed at the first corner.

The 26-year-old sat in tenth position for the opening seven laps before he managed to expertly guide his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine by Marco Melandri on lap nine having already disposed of Hector Barbera.

At that stage Spies was over five seconds behind compatriot Nicky Hayden, but the reigning World Superbike champion was able to embark on a stunning charge in front of 98,477 fans.

His lap times were only bettered by the leading quartet at one stage and Spies was able to lap over a second faster than the group contending fifth spot in front of him. By the end he’d closed to within two seconds of Hayden and Spies was delighted with his pace, confident had he not started so far down the field that he would been able to seriously threaten for a place in the top five.

A difficult weekend for Colin Edwards ended in disappointing fashion. Despite numerous changes to the set-up of his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 machine throughout the weekend, Edwards was unable to discover a setting that allowed him to push at the fast pace he is capable of. And his hopes of maintaining his proud record of scoring points in every race were ended when he crashed out of 16th position shortly before the race was red flagged.

Spies and Edwards now turn their attention to the all-important American MotoGP race at Laguna Seca. It is the eagerly anticipated home race for the Texan duo and both are determined to deliver strong results for an expectant and partisan crowd.

Ben Spies – Position: 8thTime: +20.957
“Eighth place does not reflect what happened on track today and it was quite clear that I could have been much higher. I had the misfortune in qualifying yesterday that was nobody’s fault, but starting that far back hurt me today. It wasn’t easy to pass Melandri because his bike accelerates really well but once I got by and could run my own race, I was really happy with how I performed. Dovizioso, Simoncelli and Nicky were five seconds clear at that point but I got to just over a second away from them. I was pretty much the fifth fastest guy on the track and I definitely had a fifth place result in me today, but I just had bad luck with the qualifying crash. But I leave with a top eight result and I’m not that far away from fourth in the championship now. Now I’m really looking forward to going home and racing at Laguna Seca. I love the circuit and I will have a lot of support and I genuinely believe I can run in the top five.”

Colin Edwards – Position: DNF
“I got pushed around a bit at the start and lost a bit of time and I was just pushing because what I would lose on acceleration I would try and catch it all up on the brakes. It was my mistake. I ran into the last corner wide and was probably a meter off line and when I tried to pull it back I lost the front. This wasn’t the result I wanted going into my home race next week at Laguna Seca but I’m more motivated than ever to get back on track and recover from a pretty difficult period in the season for me. I love Laguna and the atmosphere created by the fans and rest assured I’ll be aiming to get myself much closer to the front where I know I belong in front of my home crowd.”

Herve Poncharal – Team Manager
“Ben was once again very impressive this weekend and he showed that he is an expert at learning new tracks. Unfortunately his race was dictated by his qualifying position and being so far down through no fault of his own was difficult. It was a pity because we saw that he had the pace to run in t he group battling for fifth. He was catching them a lot and as always he was very fast at the end of the race. He finished the weekend on a high note and he is really fired up for Laguna Seca next week now. It was a shame that Colin crashed in the first part of the race and unfortunately he has not been able to reach the level of performance we know he can this weekend. He’s never given up and worked really hard with his crew but thankfully he wasn’t hurt in the crash and I know he is incredibly motivated to perform better at Laguna Seca. The whole Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team is looking forward to Laguna Seca because the support for Ben and Colin will be incredible.”

Circuit Length: 3671
Temp: 21
Weather: Dry

Lap Record: 1’23.082 (Daniel Pedrosa, 01/01/2007)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1’21.067 (Casey Stoner, 13/07/2008)
Last Years Winner: Valentino Rossi

Johann Zarco

Today is the last Friday of free practice before the summer break for the 125cc and Moto2, and as has been the case several times so far in the season, Thursday’s sessions brought rain, while today brings sunshine and hot temperatures.

125cc class rider Johann Zarco, riding today on his 20th birthday, had some trouble with his bike at the beginning of the session and lost twenty minutes trying to find a better setup. The team was quick to set up the motorcycle, and Zarco immediately started to improve.  However, due to his problems with the bike, he closed this session in only 17th position. His team is confident for tomorrow though, now that the young rider can focus his attention in riding and not on the setting of the bike.

Valentin Debise

Today’s practice sessions were also unlucky for Moto2’s Valentin Debise who went down while in 25th position. He came away uninjured, but damage to the bike made it impossible for him to return to the track for the final session.  He finished in 38th position without any real chance to improve his lap times.

JOHANN ZARCO – 17th position (1’30.102 – 19 laps):
“Today we were a bit unluckily. At the beginning of the session, we had a problem with the bike that didn’t switch on and we lost 20 minutes. Then I was quiet when I started and I only took my landmarks. We didn’t change my bike setting because our objective was to take the faster riders like models and try to follow them. Unluckily, I was unable to follow them, because every time someone stopped or eased himself, and for this reason I lost time and I didn’t improve my lap time.  Anyway, I well understood my errors and I gave important information at my chief mechanic. For sure tomorrow will be better.”

VALENTIN DEBISE – 38th position (1’28.859 – 9 laps):
“I started well, I was riding alone, I had a perfect rhythm and I was 25th. Then we changed the tires with new ones and probably I pushed too much. I made an error at the corner entrance, I lost the front and regretfully I fell down.”

Australia’s three-time World Speedway Champion, Jason Crump has announced from his English base today that he has regrettably withdrawn himself from Australia’s 2010 Speedway World Cup team.

Photo Credit: Jarek Pabijan

Despite being comfortable in the chase for the 2010 Speedway Grand Prix title, the current World No 1 has confirmed that he will undergo further surgery on his left arm in an attempt to regain strength and movement.

Crump, who has been a member of the Australian team since its inception in 2001 said he was bitterly disappointed to have to withdraw but conceded that at this point in time his well being must take priority.

“It was a tough call for me to make as I have been in the team every year since it started and representing my country means a lot to me,” Crump explained. “On top of that, with Leigh retiring from international competition, the last thing I wanted to do was destabilize the team, but it was imperative that we try to get this arm right.

“The reality is that my arm should have been a little further along in its recovery process by now. My preference was to wait until the end of the season but my doctors would prefer to check and see if there is an issue sooner rather than later.”

“The support from the Australian team and our team manager Craig Boyce has been humbling. I really hope they can go one better than we did last year and bring the cup home for Australia.”

Crump suffered severe damage to his bicep in a racing incident in September 2009 and despite the injury, claimed his third world title a month later.

Although having endured a number of surgeries and skin grafts in the later part of 2009 the injury still left Crump in doubt of making the 2010 season opening European Speedway Grand Prix in April.

The Australian’s never-say-die attitude has helped him carry the injury through this season to date scoring a win at the opening round and positioning himself in the title chase as the series enters the second half.

Crump is aiming to be back on the grid to continue his world title defense at the Scandinavian Speedway Grand Prix on Saturday August 18.

Gary Mason works in some off-road training

With a triple-header round and seve75 points up for grabs, the MSS Colchester Kawasaki Superbike riders Simon Andrews and Gary Mason have everything to play for this weekend at the team’s local Snetterton round of the British Superbike Championship. Meanwhile second placed Superstock rider Howie Mainwaring has the bit between his teeth after a DNF at Knockhill.

With atrocious weather curtailing the action at Knockhill, the second Superbike leg will now be held at Snetterton on Saturday before the usual double header on Sunday.

Simon appears back to full fitness after a long recuperation from his World Superbike-sustained injury, and Mason battled with series leader Tommy Hill throughout the Knockhill round. Mainwaring had an awful time with a gambled tire choice from his team before sliding out of the Knockhill action.

The fast Snetterton circuit is the closest round to the MSS Colchester Kawasaki base, and the team feels that a break in luck is long overdue. All the three riders have spent time motocrossing on their Kawasaki KX250F and 450F machines in the recent good weather, building up stamina and staying bike fit and focused.

Simon Andrews
“I’ve finally started motocrossing after a year off which has really excited me. I’ve also been to the Formula 1, spent some time cycling and completing my physio. I like Snetterton, I went well there last year and hopefully the weather will be kinder to us than Knockhill. The bike is going well and I’ll be fitter, really looking forward to it. I’m really enjoying being back with the team and on the Kawasaki.”

Gary Mason
“I’m really looking forward to Snetterton. It’s a fast track which I think will really suit the bike.  Hopefully we can start turning our season around and I feel I know which way to go with the setup.  Since Knockhill I have been getting out on my Kawasaki KX450F motocross bike which has been mega fun and is also really good training.  I’m really fired up for this weekend and happy we have three races due to the weather at Knockhill.  It’s the team’s local round so let’s hope we can walk away with some good results.”

Howie Mainwaring
“I’m feeling good for the weekend and have got a lot to prove after Knockhill. I need to catch up on points, Kirkham is slowly creeping away. Over the small break I’ve done more motocross and I’m feeling good this year. I feel so much better in myself and am so much more committed. The team have been fantastic and its time to repay them again with another good result.”

MSS Colchester Kawasaki team boss Nick Morgan
“We have a large amount of sponsors and supporters at Snetterton and we are desperate to put on a good show in terms of teamwork and results. Knockhill was by no means a disaster but we were lucky the race was stopped when it was, as Simon was lying on the floor at the time. It’s great he’s back and fit while Gary was battling throughout so I feel we’re good to go at Snetterton. We need to help Howie get the best set-up we can and I’m confident the Kawasaki has good top end in Superstock trim. All three lads have been pounding the MX track in the heat so there should be no fitness worries.”


Due to new ownership at Beulah Park, the AMA Pro K&N Filters Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-Superstore.com mile motorcycle race scheduled for August 14th to be held at Beulah Park in Grove City, OH has officially been canceled.

“Beulah Park has been sold and new ownership officially took over on July 1st. Due to the timing of the acquisition and the event, I am sorry to say that we have had to cancel this year’s race,” said Michael Weiss, Executive V.P. of Beulah Park.  “My sincere apologies to all; however, I truly hope this great race can be back on next year’s schedule.”

The AMA Pro K&N Filters Grand National Championship presented by Motorcycle-superstore.com now moves west with Calistoga, CA the destination on July 31.

Australian Superbike Championship front runner Bryan Staring is heading to the UK for what he has described as the “chance of a lifetime” – a one-off ride with the HM Plant Honda Team in the Superstock 1000 class of the British Superbike Championship.

The 22-year-old Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing pilot has excelled in 2010, taking debut race and round wins in the national series and catching the eye of Honda counterparts in the UK who were searching for a replacement for their injured regular rider, Steve Plater.

Already familiar with the CBR1000, the Gold Coast-based rider is hoping to quickly adapt to what the new bike asks of him when he hits the Snetterton circuit this Friday through Sunday. He will race as teammate to fellow Aussie Josh Brookes who leads the championship.

“I am absolutely rapt with this chance and can’t thank Honda enough for looking after me and providing this opportunity,” said Staring. “I’ve set my sights on racing in the BSB (British Superbike Championship) in the past and this is a good chance to see how it all works and how competitive I can be. I’m not overly worried about the results, I’m more focused on learning the characteristics of the bike and the nature of the tires and the grip they provide.”

“The Superstock machine will be quite close to the specs of our Aussie Superbikes so I’m hoping to adapt quickly. Josh (Waters) and Wayne (Maxwell) have shown they can match it with some of the best overseas so I’m hoping I can come up to speed pretty quickly.

“I’ve never been to Snetterton before, the only UK race I have competed in was at Donington and that was in the pouring rain – this will be a clean slate, the weather looks set to be fine and I’m really looking forward to meeting the team and learning the ins and outs of the circuit.”

“We are always looking to develop and foster Australian talent at an international level, and Bryan certainly deserves this opportunity with a first rate team, added Honda Australia’s General Manager, Motorcycles, Tony Hinton.  “We are confident he will do very well in the UK and wish him success this weekend.”

The 2009 national Supersport champion, Staring  currently leads the ASBK championship by 4.5 points over Wayne Maxwell and 9.5 points over Josh Waters.

Rizla Suzuki racers Álvaro Bautista and Loris Capirossi head to the next round of the MotoGP World Championship at Sachsenring in Germany buoyed by the performance of the Suzuki GSV-R last time out at Barcelona.

Alvaro Bautista's fifth place at Barcelona gave Suzuki its best finish so far this season

Bautista has a good record at the German circuit over the past couple of seasons in the 250cc class. In 2008 and 2009 he qualified on the second row and raced to the third step of the podium in both races. He is hoping to carry some of the home form he showed at the last race in Spain – where he finished an excellent fifth – to Sachsenring and continue to improve on a MotoGP machine as his strength and confidence grows following his early season injury.

Capirossi will be looking to build on what he described as “the first real result” of 2010 last time out in Spain. He finished seventh in Barcelona and is certain that the huge steps the team took there will benefit them at the 3,671m East German circuit.

Sachsenring is traditionally one of the biggest events of the season with more than 200,000 fans turning up over the weekend. It is also the shortest race of the year with only slightly more than 110kms covered during the 30 laps. The first part of the track is as tight and twisty as any MotoGP circuit, followed by a sequence of six successive left-handers that really give the tires a hard workout before a blind right-hander leads to an epic downhill straight. It’s a track that’s all about grip rather than out-and-out speed and always a circuit that brings plenty of excitement.

Rizla Suzuki begins its preparations on Friday with an hour of free practice followed by a further hour on Saturday morning with qualifying in the afternoon. Sunday’s 30-lap race is round eight of the season, and the event gets going at 14.00hrs local time (12.00hrs GMT, 8AM EDT).

Álvaro Bautista:
“The last race was the first time I have felt like I could ride the bike how I wanted to. I feel stronger now and I’m sure I will be 100% when we get to Germany. It is a quite a difficult track, but I have had a couple of good results there on a 250 so I hope that will help me on the MotoGP bike. We know we still have a lot of work to do, but as usual we will be working as hard as possible to get the bike right and trying for a good result.”

Loris Capirossi:
“We must continue to work how we did at Barcelona and find the best solution for the bike. We know that the bike can perform well and we need to keep the positions we got at Barcelona, this is where we should be and at some races we can be even higher. The team is still so focused and we know what we have to do. I think we can go well in Germany and the GSV-R will work there and we’ll get a good result.”

Team Joe Darcey Monlau’s Kev Coghlan won Sunday’s fourth round of the CEV Buckler Spanish Moto2 Championship at the Motorland Aragon Circuit after a dominant display on the Honda-engined FTR Moto M210.

Coghlan qualified fourth and lead from the start of the 15-lap race. He set a new lap record on the third lap – 0.2s faster than his qualifying time – and eventually ran out a 2.2-second gap on the second-place finisher, Spain’s Ivan Moreno.

Coghlan added to his second-round race victory at Albacete and now sits just five points off the lead of the series with three rounds remaining. Round five is at Albacete on September 12.

FTR’s Steve Bones:
“We’re over the moon with the performance of Team Joe Darcey Monlau and Kev. The Spanish program is really progressing well, and the Team Joe Darcey Monlau performances have put FTR to the forefront of the new Moto2 series almost immediately. The next round at Albacete is one we would hope Kev could win again but the final two rounds – at Valencia and Jerez in November – may be a different proposition as some of the World Championship teams will be competing. But Kev has shown a maturity beyond his years to win last year’s European and Spanish Supersport titles so we’re sure he’s more than capable of challenging for and winning the title.”

On Saturday night, Joe Kopp overcame two restarts to take his #3 Harley-Davidson to a win during round eight of the AMA Pro Flat Track K&N Filters Grand National Championship at the I-96 Speedway Half Mile. The race was stopped after two laps by oil on the track, and again after lap 11 when Bryan Smith fell in turn two.

Zanotti Racing’s Jake Johnson won the hole shot in the first start, but could not duplicate the second time around. “I knew I had to get out front and not make any mistakes,” said Kopp. “I was the veteran, I should be able to keep the kids behind me.”

The single file restart saw Johnson take a look inside going into turn one, but he was unable to alongside Kopp. Coolbeth was all over Johnson for second, but had no better luck. Late in the race, Sammy Halbert, defending champ Jared Mees and the veteran Chris Carr tried to make it a six-way race, but after Mees passed Carr on lap twenty two the top positions were set.

Johnny Lewis gave his Kawasaki its best finish with a seventh after falling victim to the oil on the first start. Matt Weidman, Henry Wiles and Jethro Halbert rounded out the top ten.

AMA Pro Racing has implemented a new program for three of this year’s races. The top ten riders in last year’s Pro Singles class can have a provisional ride in the Expert class if they can secure a twins ride for the event. Tonight four riders took advantage of that.

#24P Jeff Carver, #71B James Rispoli, #25A Shayna Texter and Brad Baker, who switched his #1 Pro Singles number for a #17M Harley-Davidson, were the only riders to take advantage.

Baker really took advantage, winning the second Expert Twins Semi. Then, after finishing second to Carver in the Pro Singles main, he got off his Honda, put in 25 more laps on the H-D, and home a very respectful 13th. The finish did not earn him any GNC National points, just the experience and the $775 that went with it.

James Rispoli filled out the Pro Singles Podium after the race was stopped on lap eleven when Zakk Palmer fell in turn four.

The K&N Filters Grand National Championship now moves west to Calistoga, CA on July 31.