Daily Update MotoGP

Casey Stoner took his ninth pole position of the season ahead of tomorrow's MotoGP season finale at Valencia.
With a time of 1:31.502 set with eight minutes remaining in the one-hour session, the Ducati Marlboro beat the Repsol Honda pair of Dani Pedrosa, second only half a tenth behind the Australian, and Nicky Hayden, two tenths behind in third.
The American, who is racing for the final time with the Japanese manufacturer before moving to Ducati, set the pace for most of the session after having dominated proceedings in free practice, until Stoner took top spot with 14 minutes to go.
Yamaha had an odd qualifying session, with the customer-entered Tech 3 bikes of Colin Edwards and James Toseland leading the second row of the grid and beating the Fiat-sponsored factory entries.

Jorge Lorenzo qualified only in seventh, while newly-crowned champion Valentino Rossi was down in a lowly tenth place, almost 1.5 seconds behind Stoner.
Randy de Puniet, who after the first quarter of the session was gone crashed his LCR Honda and had to run back to the pits, will start the race from the sixth slot.
The Frenchman's crash happened ten minutes after Marco Melandri escaped unscathed after throwing his works Ducati against the barriers, and five minutes before the flag signalling rain on track was shown.
This prompted several riders to make early qualifying tyre runs, but ultimately the shower was extremely brief and light, and the session was not disrupted.
Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi qualified eighth and JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso ninth.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:31.502
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 1:31.555 + 0.053
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:31.703 + 0.201
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:32.212 + 0.710
5. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:32.518 + 1.016
6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:32.572 + 1.070
7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:32.594 + 1.092
8. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:32.614 + 1.112
9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:32.734 + 1.232
10. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:32.962 + 1.460
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:32.983 + 1.481
12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:33.017 + 1.515
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:33.352 + 1.850
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:33.681 + 2.179
15. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:33.767 + 2.265
16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:33.848 + 2.346
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:33.879 + 2.377
18. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:34.174 + 2.672
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Dani Pedrosa's manager Alberto Puig has launched a scathing attack on the Spaniard's Repsol Honda teammate Nicky Hayden.
The relationship between the pair has been strained since Pedrosa collided with Hayden at Estoril in 2006 in an incident that looked set to destroy the American's title hopes until Valentino Rossi's crash in the Valencia finale allowed Hayden to claim the crown after all.

When a wall was erected down the centre of the Honda garage at Indianapolis following Pedrosa's controversial mid-season switch to Bridgestone tyres, Hayden hinted that it would make little difference because there had been no exchange between the two riders' crews anyway.

But in an outspoken interview with the official MotoGP website, Puig has accused Hayden of relying on Pedrosa's set-ups and of harbouring jealousy towards the Spaniard.

"All I can say is that Hayden may be bothered because now he can't access information and telemetry data from Dani's bike," Puig told motogp.com.

"With this information he was able to improve his riding, as he had all of Dani's references and now he can't use that any longer. He was simply copying as he never knew how to set-up a bike.

"A professional rider can't be complaining because he can't get access to the other rider's data, because finding what works best is his job, not the other rider's.

"Everybody knows that a racing team doesn't work like a football team. It involves two riders, but each is working for himself and the factory will support the rider who has the best chance. Because when it comes to winning, only one rider wins. It has always been like this and it always will be like this - anybody who says the opposite is just lying to look good."

Puig claimed that Hayden had never been an equal rival to Pedrosa.

"Honestly, and without trying to offend anyone, there was never a rivalry in the garage," he said.
"Nicky won the title when Dani was in his first MotoGP season, and since then there was no rivalry because he (Hayden) didn't get the results. On his own, Dani gained experience in this class and Nicky was always behind him, so Nicky has never been a serious rival."
Hayden will leave the Honda team for Ducati at the end of the season, with Andrea Dovizioso taking the place.
The Italian has already intimated that he expects a difficult relationship with Pedrosa and Puig, who said Pedrosa will regard Dovizioso as just another rival.
"He has shown loyalty to the factory, and now he gets a perfect move for him," said Puig of Dovizioso.
"As for how it will affect us? It really won't change much and won't affect our way of working. He will be another rival on the track."
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Valentino Rossi clinched his sixth MotoGP world championship with victory in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi.
The Fiat Yamaha rider led home the 2007 world champion Casey Stoner after taking the lead from the Ducati rider on lap 14, Stoner just not quite able to keep up with Rossi in the second half of the race, the duo involved in a tight battle in the opening laps with Dani Pedrosa.
The win was Rossi's fifth in a row, and has taken him to eight victories in fifteen races so far this season with three rounds remaining, his championship lead now an insurmountable 92 points over Stoner.

A couple of seconds further back at the finish was Pedrosa on his Honda, who led from lap two until passed by Stoner on lap six, just managing to hold off Jorge Lorenzo in the closing laps.
Lorenzo had recovered from a poor start from pole to move back up to fourth, but any hopes of stealing third on the final lap disappeared when he nearly clipped Pedrosa at the hairpin, just avoiding taking both riders down and ending his hopes of taking the place.
Twenty seconds behind them in fifth place was Pedrosa's teammate Nicky Hayden, who spent the end of the race fending off a group of riders, with Hayden, Loris Capirossi, Colin Edwards, Shinya Nakano and Alex Dovizioso crossing the line covered by just over 1.6 seconds.
Two of the three Suzukis failed to make it to the finish, Chris Vermeulen retiring after brake problems sent him off track, while wildcard Kosuke Akiyoshi crashed out of the race on lap one.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 43:09.599
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 1.943
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) + 4.866
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 6.165
5. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 24.593
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 25.685
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 25.918
8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 26.003
9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 26.219
10. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 37.131
11. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 37.574
12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 38.020
13. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 39.768
14. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 45.846
15. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 55.748
16. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 59.320
17. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) +1:12.398
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 16
Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki (B) 0
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Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo has taken pole position for tomorrow's Japanese round of the MotoGP world championship as he set a new qualifying record, scoring his first pole in five months and Michelin's first since May.
Casey Stoner led the early running on race tyres, before Randy de Puniet became the first to set a time on qualifiers just after halfway through the session.

Over the next fifteen minutes the times steadily fell, before with sixteen minutes remaining, Stoner took seven-tenths of a second off to put in a 1:45.831.
Two minutes later Lorenzo went less than a tenth faster with a 1:45.750, and despite two more attempts Stoner failed to improve. No-one else could match Lorenzo either.
However, it didn't stop Lorenzo going out and beating his own time after the chequered flag had fallen, lowering his own mark by two-tenths to 1:45.543.
Stoner's effort was good enough to stay in second, with a late lap by Nicky Hayden bumping himself onto the front row in third. This pushed Valentino Rossi down to fourth, alongside Dani Pedrosa and Loris Capirossi who continued with his strong Motegi form.
After running fast in practice and signing for Honda for next season yesterday, Andrea Dovizioso didn't have a great qualifying, and will start from fourteenth, nearly 1.4 seconds off the pace.
A crash in the last minute of the session hurt any hopes Alex de Angelis had of improving, ending the session in eighteenth, but still almost a second clear of Suzuki's Kosuke Akiyoshi who qualified last, over three seconds off Lorenzo's pole position.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:45.543
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:45.831 + 0.288
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:45.971 + 0.428
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:46.060 + 0.517
5. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 1:46.303 + 0.760
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:46.450 + 0.907
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:46.496 + 0.953
8. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:46.574 + 1.011
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:46.616 + 1.073
10. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:46.863 + 1.320
11. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:46.888 + 1.345
12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:46.904 + 1.361
13. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:46.907 + 1.364
14. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:46.958 + 1.415
15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:47.400 + 1.857
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:47.475 + 1.932
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:47.669 + 2.126
18. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:47.680 + 2.137
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki (B) 1:48.671 + 3.128
ref[SOver the next fifteen minutes the times steadily fell, before with sixteen minutes remaining, Stoner took seven-tenths of a second off to put in a 1:45.831.

Two minutes later Lorenzo went less than a tenth faster with a 1:45.750, and despite two more attempts Stoner failed to improve. No-one else could match Lorenzo either.

However, it didn't stop Lorenzo going out and beating his own time after the chequered flag had fallen, lowering his own mark by two-tenths to 1:45.543.

Stoner's effort was good enough to stay in second, with a late lap by Nicky Hayden bumping himself onto the front row in third. This pushed Valentino Rossi down to fourth, alongside Dani Pedrosa and Loris Capirossi who continued with his strong Motegi form.

After running fast in practice and signing for Honda for next season yesterday, Andrea Dovizioso didn't have a great qualifying, and will start from fourteenth, nearly 1.4 seconds off the pace.

A crash in the last minute of the session hurt any hopes Alex de Angelis had of improving, ending the session in eighteenth, but still almost a second clear of Suzuki's Kosuke Akiyoshi who qualified last, over three seconds off Lorenzo's pole position.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:45.543
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:45.831 + 0.288
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:45.971 + 0.428
4. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:46.060 + 0.517
5. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) 1:46.303 + 0.760
6. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:46.450 + 0.907
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:46.496 + 0.953
8. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:46.574 + 1.011
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:46.616 + 1.073
10. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:46.863 + 1.320
11. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:46.888 + 1.345
12. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:46.904 + 1.361
13. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:46.907 + 1.364
14. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:46.958 + 1.415
15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:47.400 + 1.857
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:47.475 + 1.932
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:47.669 + 2.126
18. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:47.680 + 2.137
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi Suzuki (B) 1:48.671 + 3.128
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MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi beat crowd favourite Nicky Hayden to win the inaugural, rain-shortened Indianapolis Grand Prix.
The rain that shortened the 125cc race, and forced a rescheduling of the 250cc round, came back with 16 laps of the 28-lap MotoGP race gone, and caused the red flag to be shown on lap 22.
By then Rossi, who had a major moment with his Fiat Yamaha on lap 17 but managed to save it, had already overtaken Hayden's Repsol Honda on lap 14 and kept edging away from him, after the Kentucky rider took the lead at the end of lap two.

Rossi didn't have the best of starts from pole as he dropped to fourth, with title rival Casey Stoner taking the lead immediately with his Ducati Marlboro and followed by Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.
In the space of a few corners the JiR Honda rider, who started in seventh, overtook both men ahead, but Hayden was soon back on his tail and from the beginning of third lap he was ahead and chased by Rossi.
Rossi and Hayden exchanged fastest laps for ten consecutive laps, while the rest of the field, led by the Italian's teammate Jorge Lorenzo, dropped back. The Spaniard, however, opened up a wide gap over a fighting trio composed of Stoner, Dovizioso, and Rizla Suzuki wild card Ben Spies.
In the end, the top six positions were classified exactly in that order, which was taken at the end of lap 20.
Sylvain Guintoli finished seventh with his Alice Ducati, ahead of Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, eighth in his racing debut with Bridgestone tyres, Chris Vermeulen's Rizla Suzuki, and Alex de Angelis's Honda Gresini.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 37:20.095
2. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 5.972
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 7.858
4. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 28.162
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 28.824
6. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 29.645
7. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 36.223
8. Dani Pedrosa Honda (B) + 37.258
9. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 38.442
10. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 42.437
11. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 47.179
12. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 55.962
13. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 57.366
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 58.353
15. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) +1:00.613
16. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) +1:05.620
17. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) +1:05.854
18. James Toseland Yamaha (M) +1:07.968
19. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:21.023
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Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner is keeping his expectations in check for tomorrow's Indianapolis Grand Prix, despite qualifying second behind title rival Valentino Rossi.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, who had been on a run of seven consecutive pole positions but crashed in the last three races, was in fact surprised to qualify as high as second after suffering an engine failure in the morning's session.
"We don't expect so much this weekend: we've had not so much track time," Stoner told Italia1 television. "We've had a few problems, and we're just trying to get the confidence back.

"It was close, but we've struggled a little bit today. We broke an engine in this morning's session, and when the track was starting to become a little bit drier you could actually get a bit of a feel for it.
"(Instead) we had to spend the last 20 minutes in the box because we broke the engine. So it's a little bit disappointing."
He added: "Coming into this afternoon's session we were trying to do a lot of things in a short period of time, and we just couldn't get done all we needed before we put the qualifying tyres on. I was struggling with the front to get feeling from it, been having quite a lot of chatter.
"But to end up second I was actually quite impressed, I didn't think I was even going to get on the front two rows. I've been struggling a little bit this weekend and it's nice to come away with second anyway."
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Five-time 500cc champion Mick Doohan has supported Honda's decision to switch Dani Pedrosa from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres for the rest of 2008.
The news that Pedrosa would make a mid-season change of tyre brand stunned the MotoGP paddock, especially given Honda's long relationship with Michelin.
But Doohan - who spent his whole top level career with Honda - said he understood the move given the team's current situation.
"I think that's the way it should be," Doohan said. "He's their main hope and I think that's maybe what Honda need to do."
He praised Pedrosa for providing the impetus behind the change.
"They need some direction as at the moment they don't seem to have any direction," he said.
"At least someone's leading the show and trying to produce some results; that's got to be a positive in my mind.

"They've lost too many key players. First of all Nicky (Hayden), although he's a great rider, he didn't have a lot of depth of experience when he joined the team so through no fault of his own he inherited a team that was departing, so it's not a really good position to be in. And then Dani came in from a 250 so he's also in the same thing.
"The team, although they're a bunch of really nice guys but I don't think there's any leaders amongst them and I think that Pedrosa got to basically be as strong as he possibly can and then drive the team the way it needs to be driven.
"The rider generally is the key component of the team. If the rider can't make a decision for then nobody else is going to be able to make a decision for him."
He believes the decision reflects positively on Honda.
"I think it's a good sign really," Doohan continued. "At least Honda have decided they need to get some good results. They need to get some podiums and they need to get back up the front.
"At the end of the day they are a racing team as much as Honda is a business, it's also HRC as the Honda Racing Corporation. They are there to win races; at the end of the day they got to win races.
"It's a shame that Michelin right at this point in time aren't particularly good. They have such a depth of experience behind them that it must only be a minor problem that's stopping them producing a tyre that's capable of them competing on the same level as the other manufacturer, but for some reason they haven't got it together, but saying that if your handlebars aren't at the same level then you've got to get them right."
Doohan thinks Pedrosa will need time to acclimatise to the Bridgestones, but believes Honda's decision to give Bridgestone runner Shinya Nakano and Gresini Racing a 2008 specification bike earlier in the summer will ease the transition.
"You're going to have to adjust the bike to work with the tyres because the construction is completely different than what they are with the Michelins," he said.
"I'm sure that with Nakano's team being on Bridgestone they've probably got a little bit of understanding of how they work, but I'd be amazed if he's up the front next weekend. It would be great if he was, but you need a bit of testing before the team can get their head around the tyres."
The Australian legend thinks the tyre change will revive Pedrosa's 2009 title prospects.
"He was a strong favourite for this year so you'd hope he was a strong favourite for next year," said Doohan.
"He was going good up until Germany up until that problem, but then those problems have compounded since then with tyre issues at Laguna so whether Michelin have fallen off or Bridgestone have made it two completely different playing fields... But saying that (Jorge) Lorenzo finished second on Michelins at Misano so they're obviously not completely out of the picture.
"I guess if his mind's not into what he's riding then he's not going to do what he's got to do so hopefully it'll put his mind to rest and on the Bridgestones he'll hopefully get some results, get some confidence going into next year and hopefully put Honda back on top."
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Casey Stoner said his second consecutive race-ending crash was caused by a lack of grip from his Ducati's front tyre.

Just as he had at Brno a fortnight ago, Stoner fell while leading from Valentino Rossi in today's race. With Rossi going on to take a comfortable win, Stoner is now 75 points adrift in the championship.

He had shown dominant form until the race, having topped all the practice sessions and taken his seventh successive pole position.

"It is very disappointing for the weekend to end like this after showing such a high level of performance in practice," said Stoner.

"Basically we took the decision to put one lap on the race tyre in warm-up this morning to get it scrubbed in: we've done it before and not had a problem but today I could feel from the first lap that the grip wasn't right.

"After a few laps it started to feel better and I was gaining confidence but it let go."

The Australian is confident that he can bounce back from this string of errors.

"It's a real shame but, anyway, we tried hard here and once again I think we've shown we are very fast, we have a great bike and tyres that work fantastically," Stoner said. "This gives me confidence for next year and I'm looking forward to it already."

His Misano weekend was complicated when he aggravated a previous wrist fracture before practice - a problem that he won't be able to fully resolve until after the championship is over.

"It's huge disappointment this problem came out but I'll have to wait until the end of the season for an operation," Stoner said
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hampionship leader Valentino Rossi delighted his home crowd by taking victory at Misano as reigning champion Casey Stoner crashed out once more from the race lead.

It was a perfect day for the Italian as he matched Giacomo Agostini's legendary record of 68 victories in the top class. His Fiat Yamaha team had also plenty to celebrate thanks to rookie Jorge Lorenzo finishing in second place.

Ducati Marlboro's Stoner, who also crashed from the lead in Brno, looked set to storm through the race after leading every session this weekend, making the perfect start from pole position and taking advantage of Dani Pedrosa's Repsol Honda slotting between himself and Rossi at the first corner.

Rossi managed to take second place back from the Spaniard on lap two, but by the beginning of the third lap the gap to Stoner was already three seconds.

That gap remained steady as the two exchanged fastest laps, but on lap eight the Australian crashed and allowed Rossi to take the a comfortable lead, as the Italian was already three seconds ahead of Lorenzo.

The works Yamaha riders carried on unchallenged for the rest of the race, while behind them Alice Ducati's Toni Elias overtook Pedrosa and went on to score his second consecutive podium of what had until recently been a difficult year for him.

Pedrosa finished the race in fourth place, ahead of the Rizla Suzukis of Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi, which sandwiched in between James Toseland's Tech 3 Yamaha.

JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso classified eighth, followed by the works Ducati of Marco Melandri and Colin Edwards's other customer Yamaha.

Randy de Puniet crashed his LCR Honda at the last corner of the first lap, while Alex de Angelis retired his Honda Gresini two laps later.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:41.884
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 3.163
3. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 11.705
4. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 17.470
5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 23.409
6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 26.208
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 26.824
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 27.591
9. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 33.169
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 36.529
11. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 42.081
12. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 43.808
13. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 54.874
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 55.154
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Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner clinched his seventh pole position on the trot in dominant fashion ahead of tomorrow's San Marino MotoGP at Misano.

Despite Stoner's gap of over half a second over Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, it was an exciting one-hour session, with the Australian - who is battling a recurring wrist injury - exchanging top spot several times with the two Fiat Yamahas.

In the end, the reigning champion set an outstanding 1:33.378 with just two minutes of the session to go, which pushed Lorenzo down to second after the Spaniard had just managed to beat Rossi's provisional pole position time.

With the time expiring, Rossi was looking able to snatch pole back after setting the fastest time in the first sectors of his home track, but he ultimately dropped back and had to settle for second, 0.510 seconds behind his title rival.

With an impressive return to form, Lorenzo completes the front row, less than a tenth behind his championship-leading teammate.

Honda LCR's Randy de Puniet leads the second row of the grid, ahead of Toni Elias's Alice Ducati and Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

Chris Vermeulen put his Rizla Suzuki on the seventh spot, followed by Shinya Nakano's Honda Gresini and the two Tech 3 Yamahas of James Toseland and Colin Edwards.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:33.378
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:33.888 + 0.510
3. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:33.964 + 0.586
4. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:34.236 + 0.858
5. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:34.322 + 0.944
6. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:34.398 + 1.020
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:34.461 + 1.083
8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:34.494 + 1.116
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:34.652 + 1.274
10. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:34.795 + 1.417
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:34.926 + 1.548
12. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:34.961 + 1.583
13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:35.153 + 1.775
14. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:35.381 + 2.003
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:35.418 + 2.040
16. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:35.584 + 2.206
17. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:35.980 + 2.602
18. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:37.047 + 3.669
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MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner says it will be nearly impossible to retain his crown now that Valentino Rossi has such a big lead in the championship.

Stoner had fought back after a difficult start to the season, winning four consecutive races and finishing second to Rossi at the United States Grand Prix.

But the Ducati rider made a rare mistake in the last race in Brno and crashed, handing Rossi a 50-point lead with six races remaining.

Stoner reckons catching the Italian will be almost impossible.

"We have six races to go and these are the ones we have to look at now," Stoner told a news conference at Misano. "It has been a disappointing couple of races, mainly the last one.

"It's given Valentino a huge gap in the championship and it's just time for us to keep our heads down and try to do the best we can in these last races. We have nothing more to do other than this.

"I think chasing a championship down with this points gap is maybe possible with other riders, but with Valentino is nearly impossible."

He added: "We have to do the best job we can. We found some positive points in the Brno test. We have a little more confidence with the bike and hopefully we won't make a mistake like last week.

"But considering we've done 30 races with Ducati and this was my first crash in a race, so I think it's acceptable."

Despite the pessimism about his championship chances, Stoner is expecting to enjoy a strong race at Misano this weekend.

"Last year was a good race for us and we'll see what happens this year. But we seem to perform well here, so we'll just have to see."
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Valentino Rossi extended his points lead and ended Casey Stoner's run of three victories by winning a ferocious battle with the Australian at Laguna Seca.
The pair swapped the lead several times in the first part of the race, running absolutely together and producing the most exciting racing of the year so far.
Rossi never allowed Stoner to stay ahead for long, and their tussle was decided with just over eight laps to go, when Stoner ran wide avoiding Rossi at the final corner and fell in the gravel. Their advantage was so great, however, that the reigning champion was able to rejoin still in second.
Today's win increases the Fiat Yamaha rider's championship advantage over his Ducati Marlboro rival to 25 points, while Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who had to withdraw from the event, now lags 41 points behind the Italian.

Rossi, who had never won at the California track before, edged ahead of Stoner for the lead on the first lap at the entry of the circuit's legendary Corkscrew.
At the start of lap four Stoner overtook Rossi on front straight, but the latter took it back on the second corner. Stoner got ahead again just before the Corkscrew, but Rossi would have none of it, and grabbed the lead back by putting both wheels in the gravel at the inside of the famous corner and just managing to stay on the bike.
Meanwhile, their lead over the rest of the pack started increasing by about one second every lap. The two exchanged the lead again on lap five, 13, 14, and 24, just before Stoner fell at the last corner of the lap.
Stoner lost almost 14 seconds to Rossi with that fall, but at the beginning of that lap the lead was more than 22 seconds over third-placed Chris Vermeulen.
JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who ended up fourth eight seconds behind the Rizla Suzuki, beat the factory Honda of Nicky Hayden and the LCR Honda of Randy de Puniet.
Toni Elias got his best result of the year by finishing seventh with his Alice Ducati. The Spaniard finished just ahead of Suzuki's wild card Ben Spies and Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland.
American Jamie Hacking, standing in for injured John Hopkins at Kawasaki, ended his MotoGP debut at 37 years of age in eleventh place, soundly beating Anthony West who finished 17th and last with the same machinery.
Marco Melandri had an encouraging early part of the race with his factory Ducati that saw him getting up to ninth place, before having a long run through the gravel that dropped him dead last on lap 10. The Italian eventually classified 16th.
Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo had a major high-side on the first lap right after passing Dovizioso for fifth, with the Spaniard flying high and crashing hard on the asphalt.
The MotoGP rookie was reportedly left with two fractures in his foot that should not require surgery.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:04.311
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 13.001
3. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 26.609
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 34.901
5. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 35.663
6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 37.668
7. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 41.629
8. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 41.927
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 43.019
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 44.391
11. Jamie Hacking Kawasaki (B) + 46.258
12. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 55.273
13. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 55.521
14. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) +1:02.380
15. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) +1:08.207
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:10.962
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 1 lap
Retirements:
Rider Bike Laps
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 0
ref[AS]
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Valentino Rossi´s best efforts in Laguna Seca were not enough to deny Casey Stoner a fifth consecutive pole position, although the Italian will start the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix from the front row.

At times the performances of MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner have left his rivals with little option but to laugh so as not to cry, with a recent run of three victories and five pole positions on the bounce showing the Australian´s quality for all to see. A rider more used to dishing out the punishment than receiving it, Valentino Rossi was tasked with seeing the funny side of his nemesis´ dominance in qualifying for the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.
`To stop Stoner, you´d have to shoot him,´ said Rossi when asked by Spanish television channel TVE as to how he could beat the Ducati Marlboro man in Sunday´s race.
Rossi did, however place on the front row for the Laguna Seca showdown, having identified a top grid position as a must in the run-up to this weekend´s race. His pace may have been consistent mid-1´22 laps rather than the daunting mid-1´21´s recorded by Stoner, but he remained confident of at the very least a positive result to take him into the summer break as the World Championship leader.
`Second is a good position to start from tomorrow. We have had one or two small problems that perhaps it will be possible to fix when we do a few small modifications. Our race pace isn´t so bad,´ noted the Fiat Yamaha rider.
Whilst Rossi would probably not be permitted by the FIM to take weaponry onto the grid, he did have another tongue-in-cheek scheme up his sleeve in order to be the quickest on the draw on Sunday; when questioned in the immediate live international press feed as to whether he had a plan for victory over Stoner, the five-time MotoGP World Champion quickly replied:
`Yes. Start 30 seconds earlier than him.´
ref[motogp.com]
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Casey Stoner on course for US Grand Prix victory after converting perfect free practice performance into his fifth consecutive pole position.
Casey Stoner's average advantage over his nearest rival, during the four track sessions held so far this weekend at Laguna Seca, has been 0.6815secs.
Multiply that by the 32-lap US Grand Prix race distance and the Australian should win Sunday's race by 21.808secs.
Taking just the three free practice sessions, when only race tyres are used, and Stoner's projected victory margin becomes 24.309secs.

No one is more aware of those figures than world championship leader Valentino Rossi, who joked that his plan to stop Stoner winning his fourth race in a row involves "starting 30 seconds earlier!"

Indeed, should Stoner convert pole into an early race lead it will be a major shock if he doesn't win his fifth race of the season. But it's not Stoner's fault that his rivals are so comparatively weak and the young Australian needs to do all he can to erase the current points gap Rossi.
Stoner had been languishing 50 points from the top at the start of June, but is now just four points behind the absent Dani Pedrosa and 20 from Rossi - numbers that look set change even further in Stoner's favour after round eleven of 18.
"I'm happy with how we're looking in race trim and with the fact we're on pole again," said Casey of his fifth pole in a row. "I didn't manage to get the most out of the first two qualifiers because the front tyre, which is working perfectly with the race rear, was a bit too soft for the qualifying and I wasn't confident enough push it 100%. With the third one I gave it my best shot and we've come out with another pole. Congratulations to the team, who are working as hard as always, and Bridgestone for another fantastic job."
Rossi will start alongside Stoner, with Honda's home hero Nicky Hayden completing the front row.
Stoner's Ducati Marlboro team-mate Marco Melandri was unable to carry his good morning from into qualifying and will line-up just 15th for what might be his last race as a Desmosedici rider.
ref[crash]
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Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:20.700
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:21.147 + 0.447
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:21.430 + 0.730
4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:21.864 + 0.936
5. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:21.848 + 1.148
6. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:21.921 + 1.221
7. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:21.947 + 1.247
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:21.971 + 1.271
9. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:21.974 + 1.274
10. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:21.999 + 1.299
11. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:22.039 + 1.339
12. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:22.092 + 1.392
13. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) 1:22.147 + 1.427
14. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:22.719 + 2.019
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:22.957 + 2.257
16. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:23.035 + 2.335
17. Jamie Hacking Kawasaki (B) 1:23.309 + 2.609
18. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:24.525 + 3.825

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A crash suffered whilst leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland could have left Dani Pedrosa with a broken finger and fractured ankle.
Whilst some of his MotoGP World Championship rivals will be making a direct journey to Laguna Seca for next weekend´s Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix, Dani Pedrosa will be making a brief stopover in Barcelona to undergo examination on a suspected broken index finger and ankle injury.
The Repsol Honda rider was leading the Alice Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland when he crashed out of the race, taking a big impact as he was flung from his RC212V. The fall dealt a double blow to the Spaniard, who not only conceded the lead in the World Championship but also could be affected by the latest in a string of injuries.
Pedrosa was examined in the Clinica Mobile immediately after the crash, with MotoGP Medical Director Dr. Claudio Macchiagodena giving an initial diagnosis of a fractured left digit. Further examination at the Clinica Dexeus in Pedrosa´s home city will reveal the full extent of the damage caused by the Sunday afternoon spill, the cause of which he was at a loss to explain.
`It was a little strange. I had only just touched the brake and I crashed. It was a real pity because I´d got a great start and was going well. I had a good feeling. The front felt perfect, the rear was sliding just a little, but the general feeling was good considering the track conditions. It is a real pity, ´ said the rider himself.
Finger fractures are notoriously fickle for riders, as their effects can vary wildly depending on the exact location of the break and how this corresponds to the demands of gripping and operating levers. With this in mind, Pedrosa´s participation in the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix could be in doubt.
Exclusive footage of the crash is available on motogp.com.

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Reigning champion Casey Stoner took a strong victory in appalling conditions in the German MotoGP, on his way to his fourth win - the third consecutive one - this season.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, who qualified on pole yesterday, was pipped at the start by Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa and JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso.
Pedrosa immediately opened up a gap - almost two seconds in the first lap - and set a blistering pace to be 7.4 seconds ahead of everyone else after the first five laps.
But it all came to an end for the Spaniard at the beginning of lap six, when he crashed out of the race at high speed while braking for turn one.

Pedrosa, who went from leading the championship to trailing Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi by 16 points and being ahead of Stoner by just four, was left with a broken left index finger.
After getting by Dovizioso on lap two, the crash opened the way for Stoner. But he had Rossi to keep under control.
The Italian, from seventh on the grid, had an ordinary start that didn't see him making up any places. But he quickly started making up ground and was up to second by lap nine, 3.4 seconds behind Stoner.
From then on, the two began exchanging fastest laps, but it was last year's champion doing it more often, with the gap slowly increasing to reach a maximum of 6.7 with four laps to go.
Mid-way through the race, Rossi's second place looked to be at risk, with wet-weather specialist Chris Vermeulen reaching an impressive third place and getting closer with his Rizla Suzuki after starting from the 14th spot.
But that didn't last long, with Rossi able to increase the gap again to finish over ten seconds in front of the Australian, who had to fend off the attack of Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis, just 0.122 seconds behind at the flag.
Dovizioso classified in a distant fifth place, ahead of the ALice Ducati of Sylvain Guintoli and a jubilant Loris Capirossi, who on his return from injury just beat LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet for seventh.
Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo crashed once again on lap three from sixth place, while Marco Melandri crashed his factory Ducati on lap ten shortly after setting the fastest lap of the race up to that point. Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards also crashed out from fifth place on lap 21.
Works Honda rider Nicky Hayden dropped to last place during the first lap and was never able to recover. He visited the pits at the end of lap seven and then rejoined the track, eventually finishing last, two laps down from Stoner.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 47:30.057
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 3.708
3. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 14.002
4. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 14.124
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 42.022
6. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 46.648
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) +1:04.483
8. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) +1:04.588
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) +1:16.773
10. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:29.275
11. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 1 lap
12. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 1 lap
13. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 2 laps

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 20
Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 9
Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 5
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 2

ref[AS]
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Ducati team boss Livio Suppo says it's 99 percent certain that Marco Melandri will stay at the team at least until the US Grand Prix.

The Italian's future in the team is in doubt after a dismal season, in which he has been completely overshadowed by teammate Casey Stoner.

Melandri's position has led to speculation about his immediate future, with former GP winner Sete Gibernau linked to the ride already for this season.

Gibernau tested for Ducati last month and is testing again this week, in what it is rumoured to be his preparation to return to MotoGP racing action following his retirement in 2006.

Suppo said, however, that no announcement will be made at the end of the test and that Melandri is likely to ride at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca, the two races before the Czech Grand Prix at Brno.

"It's 99% certain that Melandri will race at Sachsenring and in the USA," Suppo told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Do not expect announcements at the end of testing."

Melandri has been linked with a switch to the Kawasaki team, who could be looking for a replacement for the injured John Hopkins, likely to miss at least two races following his heavy crash at Assen.

The Japanese squad, who had failed to make an impression so far this year, have been rumoured to be considering fielding a third bike for Melandri if the Italian leaves Ducati.
ref[AS]

Tulisan yang di penggal/di sembunyikan
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Valentino Rossi accepted responsibility for his first lap crash at Assen and does not think it will prove too costly for his championship bid.
The Italian fell and then collected Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda at the start of today's Dutch TT, before rejoining to take 11th.
The result saw Rossi lose the championship lead to Dani Pedrosa, whose second place puts him four points ahead in the standings.
"It's a shame. I also want to apologise to de Puniet because it was my mistake," Rossi told Italia1 television.
"When I turned left the tyre was still cold and I lost it and I caught him with me. I made a mistake. Unfortunately we have this chronic problem at the start when I never manage to have a good getaway, after which I made a mistake.
"A mistake after seven consecutive podiums is acceptable. We lost the lead in the standings but we are still close to Pedrosa."

Rossi also took comfort from his race pace, as he regularly matched the leaders' lap times despite his Yamaha being damaged in the accident, with much of the gear-pedal destroyed.
"I was so pissed off that I was changing gears with my nervousness," he said.
"I don't know, I didn't even look at it, but I managed somehow. On top of that my handlebar was completely bent, giving me trouble when changing direction.
"Despite that I did the third best lap of the race, we weren't far off. This morning we made a modification that allowed me to ride a lot better, with the front much more under control. So it's a double shame, because my pace was good, I could do 1:36s too, so I was the only one who could threaten (Casey) Stoner.
"It's a shame because we had the potential, we were up there, I was quicker than at Donington and I felt better with the bike. In fact at the end I was going quick even with a bent bike.
"For sure today I would have been able to go quicker than Dani, so it's positive that our closest rival can't go as quick as us."
Stoner's dominant win today closed him to within 25 points of Rossi, and the multiple champion believes the Assen result has set up a three-way head-to-head for the second half of the season.
"We'll see in Germany, with a track where Pedrosa has always gone very quick," Rossi said. "Stoner is in shape, he's found out how to use his bike at its best, and they've solved the
"As for the standings, Pedrosa is the one leading with the most points. These two races Stoner has gone really really quick so it's hard to say.
"We are halfway through the championship, so we must work well in this second part of the season, where last year we had some problems. But with the Bridgestones I think we can be quick at all times.
"When Stoner is well sorted he can be faster than Pedrosa, he's going very quick. I don't want to say more about one compared to the other because usually when you do that the opposite thing happens. So it's 50-50."
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Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner confirmed that he and his Ducati Marlboro are back with a vengeance after completely dominating the Dutch TT at Assen.
After his Donington Park victory, this was the second win in six days for the Australian, and his third of the season, enabling him to reduce the gap to the top of the standings from 45 to 29 points.
But the championship lead has changed hands from Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi to Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, with the former classified eleventh after a first-lap crash and now languishing four points behind the latter, who finished today's race in second.
The start saw Pedrosa making a perfect getaway from second on the grid to pip pole-setter Stoner at the first corner, but before the end of the lap Stoner was back in front and never looked back, with his gap to Pedrosa increasing throughout the race to be over eleven seconds by the end.

Meanwhile, Rossi had a bad start from third and dropped to seventh behind LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet. As the Italian tried to recover he lost the rear at the second corner and crashed into the Frenchman, taking both out in the gravel.
But while de Puniet retired with an injury on his left thigh, Rossi rejoined the track dead last and ended the first lap half a minute behind Stoner and 25 seconds behind the next man up the road, Marco Melandri in 13th place.
The Ducati rider, who was 12th by then thanks to Kawasaki's Anthony West crashing on lap eight, was caught and overtaken by Rossi on lap 20. The seven-time champion then went on to overtake Toni Elias's Alice Ducati three laps later.
Before the first lap was over Alex de Angelis also crashed his Honda Gresini and broke his left little finger.
While Stoner was opening a gap to the factory Hondas of Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards began to make up places after being delayed by the de Puniet-Rossi crash.
The Tech 3 Yamaha rider was tenth after lap two and fourth by lap 15, seven seconds behind Hayden. The Texan within six laps managed to reduce the gap to the Kentucky man to just over four seconds, a gap that stayed about the same until the end.
But just when Hayden was about to score the maiden podium for HRC's new pneumatic-valve engine, he appeared to run out of fuel while on the finish straight and had to concede third position to Edwards.
JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso classified fifth after resisting a late surge by the works Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo, who finished just over a second behind the Italian.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 42:12.337
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 11.310
3. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 17.125
4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 20.477
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 27.346
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 28.608
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 32.330
8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 34.892
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 38.566
10. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 38.817
11. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 46.025
12. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 48.213
13. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 59.594
ref [AS]
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Casey Stoner beat Dani Pedrosa and Valentino Rossi to pole position for the Dutch TT after a stunning battle between the trio in qualifying at Assen.
World champion Stoner had dominated the majority of the session, setting an early 1:36.623 lap that was a full second clear of the rest of the field at the time.
Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards briefly held provisional pole after an early qualifying tyre run, but when Stoner improved to a qualifying record 1:35.995 on his first qualifying tyre with 15 minutes remaining, it looked like he would prove unbeatable.
Rossi took the fight to the Ducati rider however, producing a 1:35.659 lap in the closing minutes to take the provisional top spot by three tenths of a second.

But Stoner wasn't finished yet, and with his last lap of the hour he regained pole position by lapping in 1:35.520.
Despite Rossi's best efforts, the championship leader was unable to beat Stoner's time, and he then lost second place when his title rival Dani Pedrosa (Honda) threw in a 1:35.552 lap in the final seconds.
Pedrosa had been up on Stoner's benchmark for three quarters of the lap, only to lose time in the final sector.
Nicky Hayden will start fourth on the second works Honda, alongside LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet and Edwards.
John Hopkins, who had already crashed at the chicane in the early part of the session, suffered a violent accident at the De Bult corner near the end of the hour.
The Kawasaki rider hit the barriers at high speed and received immediately medical attention. No information has yet been released about his condition.
Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo qualified seventh, with Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen eighth ahead of Shinya Nakano's Gresini Honda.
Sylvain Guintoli completed the top ten after a very impressive effort on the hitherto uncompetitive Alice Ducati.
Pos Rider Team Time Laps
1. Casey Stoner Ducati Marlboro Team 1:35.520 23
2. Dani Pedrosa Repsol Honda Team 1:35.552 + 0.032 28
3. Valentino Rossi Fiat Yamaha Team 1:35.659 + 0.139 29
4. Nicky Hayden Repsol Honda Team 1:35.975 + 0.455 25
5. Randy de Puniet LCR Honda MotoGP 1:35.985 + 0.465 28
6. Colin Edwards Tech 3 Yamaha 1:36.278 + 0.758 23
7. Jorge Lorenzo Fiat Yamaha Team 1:36.532 + 1.012 26
8. Chris Vermeulen Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1:36.768 + 1.248 25
9. Shinya Nakano San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:36.804 + 1.284 25
10. Sylvain Guintoli Alice Team 1:36.823 + 1.303 26
11. Andrea Dovizioso JiR Team Scot MotoGP 1:36.899 + 1.379 22
12. Alex de Angelis San Carlo Honda Gresini 1:36.948 + 1.428 24
13. James Toseland Tech 3 Yamaha 1:36.978 + 1.458 26
14. Toni Elias Alice Team 1:37.287 + 1.767 25
15. John Hopkins Kawasaki Racing Team 1:37.643 + 2.123 20
16. Anthony West Kawasaki Racing Team 1:37.793 + 2.273 26
17. Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team 1:38.726 + 3.206 25
ref[AS]
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Reigning champion Casey Stoner took a dominant victory over rivals Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa in the British MotoGP at Donington Park.

This is the Ducati Marlboro rider's second victory of what has turned out to be a difficult season. Today's win allows him to take third in the points table ahead of Fiat Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, but still 45 points behind Rossi.

Stoner made a perfect start from pole position and after four laps he already had a one-second gap over Rossi, which doubled five laps later and steadily increased to over six by lap 25 of the 30-lap race.

Starting from the second slot of the grid, Fiat Yamaha's Rossi immediately fought and defended his second place with JiR Honda's Andrea Dovizioso, who had a fine start from sixth.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 44:44.982
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 5.789
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 8.347
4. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 12.678
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 14.801
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 15.690
7. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 18.196
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.666
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 29.354
10. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 41.030
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 44.426
12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 46.199
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 48.731
14. Ben Spies Suzuki (B) + 49.591
15. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) +1:22.186
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) +1:30.021
17. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 1 lap

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16

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Andrea Dovizioso put himself in the driving seat for this afternoon´s MotoGP qualifying run, recording the fastest wet time of the weekend in the final free practice.

A frantic finale to the third MotoGP free practice session saw Andrea Dovizioso walk away with the fastest time of the Saturday morning run. The JiR Team Scot rider was the only participant unable make improvements in yesterday´s afternoon outing, but was back on form as the soaked Donington track threw up a new challenge for the riders.

Dovizioso´s quickest time was a 1´43.957 lap of the British circuit, ahead of another rider whose ability to compete to the fullest was in doubt. Repsol Honda´s Dani Pedrosa had taken a heavy bump in Friday´s second session, but continued unabated on the spring valve engine-supported Repsol Honda RC212V at just 0.038 slower than Dovizioso.
Second factory Honda rider Nicky Hayden once again showed himself to be more suited to the pneumatic valve version of the Japanese factory´s motor, half a second down on his teammate in third and with reason to be optimistic ahead of qualifying.
MotoGP´s `Rain Man´, Anthony West had no complaints about the typically British showers as he gave his best practice performance of the year. The Kawasaki rider has spent the gap between Catalunya and Donington testing in Japan, and seems to have gone some way to addressing his previous rear-grip problems.
After the indignity of finishing below debuting replacement Ben Spies in yesterday´s combined timesheet, Sylvain Guintoli bounced back as the fastest Ducati rider in fifth, ahead of 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner who led the way for most of the session.
Alex de Angelis was once again at the sharp end of the standings, ahead of the Fiat Yamaha duo of Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi and Spies himself.
Whilst no rider in the top ten took a tumble, there were crashes for five participants as they fell foul of the slippery track. Randy de Puniet, Chris Vermeulen, John Hopkins, Shinya Nakano and home rider James Toseland all had inconsequential falls.
ref[motogp.com]
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Returning after a race out on the sidelines, Jorge Lorenzo is pioneering a more cautious approach to riding at Donington Park.
Whilst it can rarely be said that fearless rookie Jorge Lorenzo is a rider lacking in confidence, a concussion-inducing crash in Catalunya means that the Fiat Yamaha rider will be looking to regain self belief and World Championship points at Donington Park.
According to his team, results will not be the main focus of the Spaniard´s weekend, with physical and mental recovery top of the list of priorities. Visible signs of the former will be apparent through Lorenzo´s use of special silk glove, protecting the fourth and fifth fingers of his right hand recently treated with a skin graft.
`It has been a tough couple of weeks for me and watching the Barcelona race from my hospital bed wasn´t much fun,´ admits Lorenzo, who is contemplating modifying his racing approach in order to avoid the spate of crashes that have plagued his rookie MotoGP season.
`I´m looking forward to getting back on the bike, although I think I have to ride a little more cautiously this weekend! It is like starting again from scratch so I have to change my approach. What I can say about Donington is that I have got great memories from there – I took 250cc victory in 2006 and last year I was riding really well in the wet. It is a fast circuit, other than the final section, and it will be interesting to ride there on a MotoGP bike for the first time.´
ref[motogp.com]

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Kawasaki rider John Hopkins is aiming to put on a strong result at the British Grand Prix despite being sore following his injury in Barcelona.
The Anglo-American rider is still recovering from the fractured vertebrae he suffered in a crash during practice for the Catalan Grand Prix.
Despite the injury, he raced in the Spanish event and finished in 10th place.
Hopkins admits he is still not feeling 100 percent, but the Kawasaki rider is fired up ahead of what he considers his second home race.
"Following the Catalunya race we had a one day test where I rode as many laps as I could with the back injury I sustained in practice," said Hopkins in a team preview.

"In the lead-up to the last two races I had been training very hard so thankfully I haven't lost any fitness, which is always a problem when carrying injuries, and I've had the chance to rest to help the healing process.
"I'm still very stiff and sore, but Donington Park is like a home away from home, and it's a track I definitely enjoy.
"For me the British Grand Prix is one of the biggest races of the season, with many members of my family coming to support me, and regardless of my injury I'll be looking to gain a strong result aboard the Kawasaki."
ref[AS]
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Dani Pedrosa dominated the motorcycling Grand Prix of Catalunya in front of his Barcelona home crowd to reduce the gap in the championship to Valentino Rossi.
The Repsol Honda rider, thanks to this second victory of the season, now lies seven points behind the Fiat Yamaha rival, who finished second in today's race.
Starting from second on the grid behind Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner, Pedrosa made a perfect getaway to lead at the first corner and never looked back. Within five laps he was over three seconds ahead of everyone else, a gap which opened to almost eight seconds with around two thirds of the race through.

Having ridden the perfect 25-lap race, Pedrosa administered his advantage towards the end to cross the line less than three seconds before Rossi, who however had his hands full in defending his position from Stoner.

Rossi, coming from three consecutive victories this season, made a great recovery from his lowly ninth slot on the grid. He didn't have the best of starts, however, as he didn't really gain any positions.

By the end of the first lap the seven-time champion was only eight, but started to make up positions on lap three when he overtook Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland for seventh, after which he took sixth from Nicky Hayden's factory Honda on lap five, and fifth from Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda two laps later.

Next up the road was Colin Edwards's Tech 3 Yamaha, which Rossi overtook for fourth place on lap eight. On that same lap he caught up with Stoner and with a hard-fighting Andrea Dovizioso, whose JiR Honda managed to take second from the Australian thanks to a mistake by the latter.

On lap nine Stoner managed to take the position back from the Italian rookie, but Rossi was unstoppable and overtook them both before the end of the same lap.

While Dovizioso struggled to keep up the pace with the two riders ahead of him, Stoner would not let Rossi run away from him, and in fact overtook the Italian on lap 17 when Rossi did not seem to try to defend the position.

At the beginning of the penultimate lap Rossi outbraked Stoner on the straight and opened a bit of a gap that the Australian was unable to bridge, finishing the race half a second behind the Italian.

Dovizioso, who started the race from seventh on the grid, ended up in an impressive fourth position, over seven seconds behind Stoner but five seconds ahead of Edwards and ten over Toseland.

Rizla Suzuki's Chris Vermeulen finished in seventh, while Hayden, who started from the front row, could do no better than eighth, over 20 seconds behind teammate Pedrosa.

On lap 11 Suzuki's Loris Capirossi and Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis crashed out while fighting for tenth place, leaving the veteran rider with a fracture in his right hand. On the following lap de Puniet also retired from sixth position after a crash.

Alice Ducati's Toni Elias was black flagged on lap nine after ignoring a ride-through penalty for having jumped the start.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 43:02.175
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 2.806
3. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 3.343
4. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 10.893
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 16.426
6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 21.482
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.548
8. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 22.280
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 22.375
10. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) + 46.835
11. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 57.991
12. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) + 59.168
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) +1:00.779

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 11
Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 10
Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 10
Toni Elias Ducati (B) 7
ref[AS]


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Casey Stoner took his first pole position of the year at Barcelona ahead of tomorrow's MotoGP of Catalunya.
The Ducati Marlboro rider, who has won only one race this season after dominating the championship in 2007, was the only Bridgestone rider in the top seven positions.
The Australian set his blistering lap of 1:41.186 just after the time in the 60-minute session expired. That came a handful of seconds after Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa took provisional pole away from teammate Nicky Hayden.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:41.186
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:41.269 + 0.083
3. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:41.437 + 0.251
4. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:41.571 + 0.385
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:41.609 + 0.423
6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:41.820 + 0.634
7. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:42.053 + 0.867
8. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:42.365 + 1.179
9. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:42.427 + 1.241
10. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:42.580 + 1.394
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:42.622 + 1.457
12. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:42.643 + 1.462
13. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:42.648 + 1.622
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:42.819 + 1.633
15. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:43.204 + 2.018
16. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:43.719 + 2.533
17. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:44.558 + 3.372
ref:[AS]

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Dani Pedrosa was once again the fastest rider on track on Friday afternoon in Barcelona.
The fastest rider in the opening practice session, Dani Pedrosa made it a clean sweep from the two Friday MotoGP runs at the Circuit de Catalunya by further improving his times in the afternoon. The Spaniard began the preparations for his home race with a 1´43.017 lap of the tricky Barcelona track, which caught out half of the 18-rider field in one form or another.
Pedrosa was among the participants to take a fall, crashing his standard engine-powered Repsol Honda RC212V with just over ten minutes to go in the second session, immediately after clocking the fastest time of the day. He was unhurt in the crash.
Second fastest in the combined standings was Loris Capirossi, continuing his upturn in form onboard the Rizla Suzuki GSV-R. He trailed Pedrosa by just 0.006, with the top four covered by less than a tenth of a second. Capirossi ran off track twice in the afternoon run.

The remainder of the aforementioned top four were Fiat Yamaha´s Valentino Rossi and Ducati Marlboro´s Casey Stoner, after an eventful day for both riders. Rossi attracted attention for his special `Azzurri´ themed livery and leathers, whilst Stoner had early problems with the track that led to his crashing and running-off in the morning.
Alex de Angelis maintained his Mugello momentum with the fifth fastest time, ahead of Rizla Suzuki man Chris Vermeulen and his own San Carlo Honda Gresini teammate Shinya Nakano.
Learning the Catalunya circuit, James Toseland was eighth fastest, whilst the top ten was completed by American duo Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards.
The biggest crash of the afternoon befell Jorge Lorenzo, local rider and World Championship contender. He hit the ground from a highside at a lower altitude than that of his Shanghai spill, but his momentum made for a bumpy journey through the gravel trap. The Fiat Yamaha man was taken to the Clinica Mobile and took no further part in the afternoon session, with the latest news on his condition indicating a fractured right ring finger and an ankle contusion.
Another rider stopping early was John Hopkins, who completed just a handful of laps before a highside on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR, whilst Randy de Puniet had his second crash of the day in the afternoon outing.
ref[motogp.com]
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Valentino Rossi and fellow podium finishers Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa gave their thoughts on a tough Mugello race, immediately after stepping off the rostrum.

Valentino Rossi – Race Winner
`It's a great feeling, like always. A lot of my family and close friends have come to see me. I tried to push hard and my Yamaha and Brigestone worked very well, right to the end. During part of the race I was faster than Stoner, but he came back and made me work hard. It´s wonderful to be on the podium with two very strong riders.´

Casey Stoner – Second Place
`This season´s been a bit disappointing, but we were a lot more confident with the setup today. It was an awesome race. On one part of the circuit I was losing a lot of time, and we knew today that the bike would be lot better at the end of the race. I´m very happy with the race and want to give thanks to all at Ducati.´

Dani Pedrosa – Third Place
`It was tough race, all the time I was pushing. The race pace was quite high; I tried to follow but Casey and Valentino were making it quite hard. I made a mistake and Casey pulled away, and at the end I had to push hard because De Angelis was coming from behind.
ref[motogp.com]
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Valentino Rossi took a dominant victory in his home Italian Grand Prix for the seventh time in seven years at Mugello, to add to his two additional wins in the lower classes.
This is Rossi's third consecutive victory this year, enabling him to further extend his lead in the MotoGP championship over Repsol Honda rival Dani Pedrosa.
The Italian, who didn't have the best of starts from pole with his Fiat Yamaha when he dropped back to fourth, took the lead from Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner on lap four and started opening a gap a few laps later, to extend it to as much as 3.5 seconds with two laps to go.

Pedrosa took the lead at the start but lost it to Stoner on lap two. The two riders stayed together throughout the race except at the end, when the Spaniard eased off after figuring he couldn't catch the Australian in second place.
In fact Pedrosa slowing down gave Honda Gresini's Alex de Angelis hope of getting on the podium, but it wasn't to be, with the former 250cc champion finishing 1.6 seconds ahead.
The rider from San Marino, however, must be the man of the race. After having an abysmal start from the tenth spot on the grid that dropped him back to last at the first corner, de Angelis fought back and was the only rider able to run at the same rhythm as the pace setters.
Fifth and sixth place went to the Tech 3 Yamahas of Colin Edwards and James Toseland, with Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi finishing in a disappointing seventh place after starting from the front row.
Andrea Dovizioso took his JiR Honda to eighth place ahead of Shinya Nakano's Honda Gresini and Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki.
Rossi's teammate Jorge Lorenzo crashed out while trying to overtake Dovizioso from sixth place on lap seven, the same lap when John Hopkins had his race-ending fall from 13th spot.
On the previous lap it was LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet turn to slide off the track, but this also forced Ducati Marlboro's Marco Melandri to go off as he had nowhere else to go, resulting in both riders retiring.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 42:31.153
2. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 2.201
3. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 4.867
4. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 6.313
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 12.530
6. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 13.806
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 14.447
8. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 15.319
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 15.327
10. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 30.785
11. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 39.621
12. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 50.021
13. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 50.440
14. Tadayuki Okada Honda (M) + 58.849
15. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:00.736

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 6
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 6
Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 5
Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 5
ref [AS]
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MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi took his first pole position of the year in front of his home crowd at Mugello today, ahead of Italian Grand Prix.
The Fiat Yamaha rider, who tomorrow will try to win for the seventh consecutive time on the Tuscan track, set a time of 1:48.130 with eight minutes of the one-hour session remaining.
Catching the draft of the Yamaha on that same lap was Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi, who took full advantage by following Rossi and set the second fastest time, less than two tenths away.

Capirossi's time, however, was beaten in the closing moments by Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, who pipped the veteran Italian by 16 thousands of a second. This is still Capirossi's best qualifying result since joining Suzuki, however.
Like Pedrosa, reigning champion Casey Stoner put in his fastest time of the session right at the end. The Ducati Marlboro rider's time, a quarter of a second slower than Rossi, was good enough for fourth on the grid.
Fifth fastest was Tech 3 Yamaha's Colin Edwards, who had held the fastest time for some 20 minutes before Rossi beat it with 15 minutes of the session remaining.
Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden was sixth fastest, ahead the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and James Toseland.
The two Honda Gresinis took the last top ten grid places, respectively with Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 1:48.130
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) 1:48.297 + 0.167
3. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) 1:48.313 + 0.183
4. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 1:48.375 + 0.245
5. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) 1:48.383 + 0.253
6. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) 1:48.666 + 0.536
7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) 1:48.905 + 0.775
8. James Toseland Yamaha (M) 1:49.025 + 0.895
9. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) 1:49.095 + 0.965
10. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) 1:49.145 + 1.015
11. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) 1:49.220 + 1.090
12. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) 1:49.246 + 1.116
13. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) 1:49.435 + 1.435
14. John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 1:49.601 + 1.471
15. Tadayuki Okada Honda (B) 1:49.829 + 1.699
16. Toni Elias Ducati (B) 1:49.851 + 1.721
17. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) 1:50.275 + 2.145
18. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) 1:50.465 + 2.335
19. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) 1:50.889 + 2.759



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Yamaha's racing department boss Masao Furusawa says the Japanese squad will renew Valentino Rossi's contract this year.
"Yes, because Valentino will be a winner for at least another couple of seasons," Furusawa told Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if they were renewing Rossi's deal.
He added: "Valentino can ride a Yamaha for as long as he wants to, while he manages to stay at the front."
The Italian rider's contract expires at the end of this year, but the he has made it clear he will be happy to stay at Yamaha now that he has a competitive bike.
Rossi has won the last two races to take the championship lead for the first time since the start of last year, where the seven-time champion finished in third place.
Furusawa said Rossi's frustrating season was down to Yamaha not giving him a good enough bike.
"It was Yamaha at fault, not Rossi's," he added. "The credit for our improvements must go to our technicians, who have found what we needed in a fair way, through calculating data.
"They've worked both on the track, and by getting up to date in the research facilities and on technical documentation.
"The M1 that will repeat last Sunday's triumphs is the result of this huge technical and organizational effort. We've taken some of Ducati's power, but not all, and rideability from Honda. And we're already working towards 2009."
Yamaha scored a 1-2-3 at last weekend's French Grand Prix, with Rossi leading Jorge Lorenzo and Colin Edwards.
Furusawa praised the Italian rider, whom he believes will take the title this year.
"That was a good result, well done to Lorenzo and Edwards," Furusawa said. "But most of all I love Valentino, at this moment more than Jorge, I'm sorry to say. Because what counted most at Le Mans was that Rossi was on the top step of the podium.
"He has demonstrated to be the strongest rider at the moment. Rossi will win his eighth title. Lorenzo and Pedrosa will be able to beat him in some races but in the end he will win."
ref[AS] Read More......

Valentino Rossi took a dominating victory in the French MotoGP leading a Yamaha 1-2-3, with the still-recovering Jorge Lorenzo finishing second and Colin Edwards in third.
This is the Italian's 90th Grand Prix victory, slotting him in second on the all-time winners list, tied with Spaniard Angel Nieto.

Rossi and 61-year-old Nieto celebrated this historic victory with the former stopping on his parade lap, and the latter, who wore overalls saying 'Bravo Valentino 90', jumping on Rossi's M1 bike and taking them both back to the pits, with Rossi waving a flag saying '90+90'.

Rossi, who now tops the championship table, took the lead with his Fiat Yamaha on lap seven of the 28-lap race from Ducati Marlboro's Casey Stoner and never relinquished it, opening a gap as wide as ten seconds over man-of-the-day Lorenzo.
The Spanish rookie, who dropped down to tenth at the start from fifth on the grid, began to really make an impression in the race on lap nine, when in a single lap he overtook John Hopkins's Kawasaki, Loris Capirossi's Suzuki and Nicky Hayden's Repsol Honda to slot into sixth.
The works Yamaha rider then made up a gap to Chris Vermeulen's Suzuki to overtake him for fifth place on lap 15, five laps before passing Edwards in fourth place and challenging Stoner for third.
When Lorenzo made a move on the Australian on the Le Mans front straight, the reigning champion's Ducati suffered a mechanical problem that dropped him down the order on lap 21. On the same lap the Spaniard overtook arch-rival and compatriot Dani Pedrosa's Repsol Honda for second place.
After his injury in China Lorenzo had to walk to the podium on crutches and sat on a chair during the celebrations.
Today's race was affected by the weather, with rain drops prompting the stewards to show the white flag on lap 16, thus allowing the riders to switch to bikes fitted with wet-weather tyres.
The rain increased for a couple of laps, with Rossi notably slowing down, but in the end only two riders switched bikes.
These were the two works Ducatis, with Stoner taking advantage of this rule to rejoin the track after his mechanical gremlins, and Melandri taking a gamble after his engine switched off at the start forcing him to be push-started by a mechanic.
In the end the two teammates finished the race in a disappointing 15th and 16th position for the Italian and the Australian respectively.
Three seconds behind Tech 3 Yamaha's Edwards came Pedrosa in fourth, followed a further eleven seconds back by Vermeulen, with JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso in close pursuit.
Capirossi finished in seventh place, ahead of Hayden in eighth and the two customer Hondas of Randy de Puniet (LCR) and Shinya Nakano (Gresini).
Hopkins retired from seventh place on lap 17 after losing his Suzuki's chain, which almost went in the way of Dovizioso who was following.
Tech 3 Yamaha's James Toseland crashed out of the race from ninth place on lap 3.
Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) 44:30.799
2. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 4.997
3. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 6.805
4. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 10.157
5. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 21.762
6. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 22.395
7. Loris Capirossi Suzuki (B) + 27.806
8. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 27.995
9. Randy de Puniet Honda (M) + 29.344
10. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 30.822
11. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 35.154
12. Alex de Angelis Honda (B) + 36.216
13. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 52.038
14. Anthony West Kawasaki (B) +1:29.307
15. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 1 lap
16. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) + 2 laps

Retirements:

Rider Bike Laps
John Hopkins Kawasaki (B) 16
James Toseland Yamaha (M) 2

ref[AS]
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