June 30th, 2008 by R.J.
This year’s MotoGP races will be aired on network television across the United States once again this summer after an agreement was reached with MotoGP’s rights-holder Dorna Sports and both CBS Sports and NBC.
June 30th, 2008 by R.J.
Following his crash during the qualifying for the Dutch TT at Assen, Kawasaki’s John Hopkins boarded a flight to Los Angeles where he will undergo further medical evaluations by Dr. Art Ting.
The crash happened near the end of the hour long qualifying session at 230km/h, with Hopkins losing the front of his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR in the Ramshoek corner, the ultra-fast left-hander just before the finale chicane.
June 29th, 2008 by R.J.
As I said on Friday, Assen could turn out to be a huge shake-up in the points. That turned out to be the case on Saturday as Casey Stoner, aboard his Marlboro Ducati, achieved a commanding victory that ended with over an 11 second gap between him and the rest of the field.
The race was exciting from the very start with Valentino Rossi losing his rear on the very first lap of the race and careering into Randy de Puniet. Rossi got back on track, but only managed to pass Marco Melandri (13th) and Toni Elias (12th) to finish in 11th place. De Puniet was done for the day after the collision.
Dani Pedrosa finished in second place behind Stoner, regaining the points lead from Valentino Rossi. Pedrosa now leads the championship with 171 points compared to Rossi’s 167. Stoner, who has been inching closer to the top for the past 3 races, is not far behind with 142.
Repsol’s Nicky Hayden had managed to hold on to a 3rd place podium spot until the very last corner of the very last lap where his bike inexplicably shut down. He managed to coast the bike across the finish line, but not before being passed by his compatriot Colin Edwards on his Tech-3 Yamaha.
Here’s the official results:
1 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 42:12.337
2 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 42:23.647
3 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 42:29.462
4 - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 42:32.814
5 - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - 42:39.683
6 - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 42:40.945
7 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 42:44.667
8 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 42:47.229
9 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 42:50.903
10 - Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Ducati - 42:51.154
11 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 42:58.362
12 - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 43:00.550
13 - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - 43:11.931
DNF - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR
DNF - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo
DNF - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki
June 28th, 2008 by R.J.
Fayetteville’s The Citizen ran an article on Chad Clifton this afternoon. It has a lot of very nice sentiment from R1-Forum members and shows what a great guy we lost on Wednesday.
June 27th, 2008 by R.J.
WINNEBAGO COUNTY, IL - Police are investing two separate cases where motorcyclists have been the target of a gunman in Winnebago County.
The first incident happened when a 21-year old from Machesney Park was riding near Alpine and Spring Creek. The victim was shot in the helmet and did not know he was injured until he got home. His family took him to OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center where he is being treated for non life-threatening injuries.
A second victim contacted the Winnebago County Sheriff’s department reporting being shot at in the same area. His motorcycle was hit in the gas tank near the intersection of Alpine and Brookview around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Anyone with information is asked to call Rockford Police at 987-5824 or the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Department at 319-6311.
June 27th, 2008 by R.J.
Stoner set the fastest lap on a motorcycle ever at Assen on Friday winning his third consecutive pole this season in preparation for Round Nine of the MotoGP World Championship. His lap, a 1:35.520, was nearly a full second faster than the previous pole record.
Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa secured his spot on the front of the grid with a 1:35.552, a tenth of a second faster than current World Championship points leader Valentino Rossi with a 1:35.659.
Looks to be an exciting race this weekend as the top three in Championship points have also scored the top three starting positions. There could be a huge shake-up.
Here are the official results:
1 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 1:35.520
2 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 1:35.552
3 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 1:35.659
4 - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 1:35.975
5 - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR - 1:35.985
6 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 1:36.278
7 - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 1:36.532
8 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 1:36.768
9 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 1:36.804
10 - Sylvain Guintoli - Alice Ducati - 1:36.823
11 - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - 1:36.899
12 - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo - 1:36.948
13 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 1:36.978
14 - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 1:37.287
15 - John Hopkins - Team Kawasaki - 1:37.643
16 - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki - 1:37.793
17 - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - 1:38.726
June 26th, 2008 by R.J.
Casey Stoner seems to have found his groove. After last weekend’s victory at Donington, he dominated everyone else on the field at the Assen TT’s Thursday practice sessions.
Stoner led the field with a 1:37.087 - a full three tenths of a second faster than Jon Hopkins’ pole position record from 2006.
Valentino Ross, who said he is “curious” to see how his Bridgestone tires performed at Assen, had the second fastest time, although even that was seven tenths of a second slower than Casey Stoner.
Colin Edwards, aboard his Tech3 Yamaha M1, managed to stay within a second of Stoner’s time in third place. Nicky Hayden followed close behind in fourth place.
June 25th, 2008 by R.J.
If anybody has been to R1-Forum.com in the last few years you’d be bound to come across a great poster there by the screenname of Gawarrior. His real name is Chad Clifton and today he passed due to complications after a motocross collision at this year’s forum convention.
http://www.r1-forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236772
Shane has set up a donation link for the family to arrange for funeral expenses. I hope everyone that’s ever been touched by Chad donates.
June 24th, 2008 by R.J.
Loris Capirossi will be back this weekend to join Rizla Suzuki at the Dutch TT Assen in The Netherlands.
Capirossi’s injury, a broken hand he sustained at Catalunya earlier this year, is not completely healed, but the Italian is determined to get back on his Suzuki GSV-R this weekend.
Loris Capirossi’s replacement at Donington last weekend, Ben Spies, will accompany the team to Assen and may fill in due to any unforeseen complications. Spies will return to the GSV-R later this year as a wildcard in both rounds of the U.S. MotoGPs.
Capirossi had this to say: “I’m 100% certain that I am able to ride and I just can’t wait to get back on my bike again. It was really difficult watching at the last race, but I want to say well done to Ben as he did a good job in his first GP. It certainly felt very strange seeing him working with my crew and sitting in my chair in the garage! I missed the test in Catalunya because of the injury, but I know Chris made some improvements to the bike so I will be looking at those and seeing if they will help me. I need to carry on from where I left off and continue to make the bike better and I know that top result is just around the corner.”
June 23rd, 2008 by R.J.
NORTH RICHMOND, CA - A 37-year old Pinole man died late Thursday night when he lost control of his 2000 Harley Davidson motorcycle and crashed on Richmond Parkway, the California Highway Patrol said.
The CHP said Paul Benter was riding his motorcycle in the fast lane, traveling northbound, speeding and passing cars when, for unknown reasons, he lost control of the bike just past Parr Boulevard.
Benter collided with the center divider and the impact threw him from the motorcycle and into two trees. CHP said Benter was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash is still under investigation. Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is urged to contact CHP investigators at 510-450-3821.