Motorsport Update Sliding sideways through the world of motorsport.

Rossi casts doubts over shoulder

Valentino Rossi has cast doubts over his fitness after testing a Ducati 1198SP Superbike at Misano yesterday. He believes that the shoulder which he injured last year in a motocross event and had an operation on over the Christmas period, is still causing him problems.

According to the Ducati press release, the nine times world champion said that "...the shoulder is painful - especially under braking, when the front hurts, where they stitched the tendon." Rossi wasn't all downbeat however:  "Movement is stable enough, and we're also doing not so bad with endurance, but apart from that, it hurts a lot and isn't very strong."

So what can we gain from this when trying to guess what threat Rossi poses to reigning champ Jorge Lorenzo? Probably not much as like that other great champion, Barry Sheene, the Italian has always been superb at manipulating the media and getting in the heads of their rivals. Both riders have reputations for utterly destroying team mates and rivals both on and off  the track, meaning that this could be a ruse to lure his rivals into a false sense of security. As always, you can debate this and other issues surrounding the coming season all day, but questions will only be answered at the first Grand Prix in Qatar.

Dutch Road Racing (Nederlandse Wegracen) 1967-1981 Part 1

Being a small country, Holland only has two permanent race tracks in Zandvoort and Assen. So how do you go about having national championships when you only have two circuits to race on? For motorcycle racing in the 70's and 80's, there was a simple remedy to this problem: public road racing.

A bit of history (Een beetje geschiedenis)

The Dutch TT was first held in 1925 on roads around the town of Assen and became an international event two years later. However despite the TT, a national championship failed to become firmly established, despite several attempts. In fact, for many years, the TT was the only motorcycle race held in Holland. A championship centred around Zandvoort, Assen, Tubbergen and Etten was held in the 50's but soon died out.

The Koninklijke Nederlandse Motorrijders Vereniging (translated as the Royal Dutch Motorcycle Riders Association) was the main organising body in the country, yet was reluctant to set up a championship in the late 60's.  So under the stewardship of  the Nederlandse Motorrijders Bond (translated as the Dutch Motorcycle Riders Association) a Dutch road-racing championship was set up in 1967, using public road circuits around the country (plus the odd sojourn into Belgium). This proved to be immediately popular and in the early days an enthusiastic rider could take part in an NMB meeting with a stock machine if he was quick enough.

The first NMB road race was held was held at Reusel on the 2nd April 1967 and was the first of fifteen races held by the club that year. The KNMV carried on holding the TT at Assen and several races at Hengelo, Oldebroek and Zandvoort, plus international meetings at Tubbergen and the Zandvoort 6 hours. However, it was the NMB that had a championship and it attracted a lot of competitors, despite its underdog status. However, the KNMV then decided to start a championship of their own, giving more choice for competitors and racing fans.

Gathering pace

With two competing organisations running two different championships, there seemed to be a meeting or two every weekend. However, the trump card of FIM recognition was held in the hands of the KNMV, a factor that would become more important as the 1970's wore on. The KNMV did not recognise the KNB and was referred to as "De Zwarte Bond" (The Black Club), leading to a rivalry between the organisations. The venues for both championships were primarily public road circuits; these were usually  narrow, single lane roads that were lined with trees and lamp posts. To get a better idea, take a look at this 1974 meeting at Oldenbroek:

Many layouts came and went, but the mainstays of Dutch road racing were Tubbergen, Hengelo, Oss, Tolbert, Helmond and Ammerzoden. The KNMV also ran the odd race on the Flemish Belgian circuits of Nivelles and St Joris ten Distel. In addition to the standard meetings for all classes, the KNB put on special events such as the Helmond 200 miles race and the special 24 hours of Oss. Take a look at the preparations for the 1972 race below.

Health and Safety would have a fit! Watch out for the trees!

Moving up

It was at events such as these up and down the country that top KNB racers such as Jack Middelburg and Boet Van Dulman cut their teeth. However if their careers were to progress onto the international stage then they would have to cross the line and join the Dutch number one rider, Wil Hartog, at the KNMV.

Part 2 on it's way.

Who, where and why for 2011 – MotoGP

Yes, the year is almost over and now we find ourselves looking back at the year gone by, while also looking forward to another year of racing in 2011. I've been sifting around the magazines and websites to try and get a picture of how the big racing series will look next year, starting with MotoGP.

125cc

World champion Marc Marquez's departure for Moto2 has meant that there will be new riders at Ajo Motorsport, the Spaniards old team. Elfren Vasquez and Johann Zarco will be hoping that they will be able to enjoy the same bike performance that helped Marquez to his championship this year. Bradley Smith has also left the Aspar 125cc team to move up to the Moto2 class, with Hector Faubel returning to the lightest class to take the Englishman's seat. Nico Terol will remain as an Aspar rider in the 125cc class and is surely the bookies favourite for the championship.

Despite 'Our Bradley' leaving to tackle the bigger bikes, we still have a British rider to look out for in the 125's. Danny Webb performed well last year for the Andalucia Cajasol Aprillia team,  finishing in the top 10 in nearly every race and should hopefully be able to do well again next season.

Moto2

The second Moto2 season looks to be just as competitive as the inaugural 2010 campaign. Reigning champion Toni Elias will not be defending his title, as he will be riding for LCR Honda in the MotoGP class. His Team Gresini Moriwaki ride will be taken by Yuki Takahashi and the second seat will be warmed by Michele Pirro. World Supersport champion Kenan Sofuoglu, after his impressive showing in Portugal and Spain, will be riding full time for the Technomag CIP team in the Moto2 championship.

The Tech 3 team will be fielding Mike Di Meglio and Bradley Smith on their home made chassis for 2011. It will be interesting to see if Smith takes to the class in the same impressive way that Scott Redding did. Di Meglio has been in a bit of a rut performance-wise since moving up to the then 250's in 2009. The 2008 125cc World Champion hasn't set the world alight since then, so it may be sink or swim for him this year.

Scott Redding continues with Marc VDS Racing, with whom he has a new two year contract. The seventeen year old was superb last year, putting in great performances including second in Australia and cutting through the field in Portugal to finish fourth. 2010 125cc World Champion Marc Marquez will move up to Moto2 with his Monlau Competicion team, a team built around him with a Suter chassis and Repsol sponsorship.

It goes without saying that this years top dogs will probably figure prominently in the class again in 2011. Expect to see Andrea Iannone, Julian Simon, Gabor Talmasci and Jules Cluzel right in contention at the front.

MotoGP

2011 looks set to be one of the most exciting seasons in the premier class for quite a while. This is simply because the pieces of the jigsaw have been thrown up in the air. Honda are fielding a three pronged works assault with Casey Stoner, Andrea Dovisioso and Dani Pedrosa. Stoner seemed to take to the Honda like a duck to water in the Valencia end of season test. There are rumours already of a team management split, which means we may see a falling out or two between riders and/or management before long!

2010 MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo will start the season as outright team leader of the factory Yamaha team. The Spaniard was Mr Precision and Consistency during 2010, ruthlessly churning out the wins and podiums, making himself THE man Valentino Rossi has to beat, more so than Stoner or Pedrosa could. Lorenzo is joined by Ben Spies, 2009 World Superbike Champion and 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the year. The 26 year old Texan was massively impressive on the Tech 3 Yamaha during 2010, including a third at Silverstone and a second at Indianapolis.  Will he join the 'aliens'?

Valentino Rossi is now embarking on the Italian bike fan's ultimate dream: An Italian racing god on THE Italian race bike. His initial outing on the bike during the Valencia test was disappointingly slow, but as we've seen before, you never know with the nine times world champion. He could have been working on something specific or maybe he was just sandbagging. Or maybe the bike is just dire.

Moto2 champ Tony Elias is back with LCR Honda, moving Randy De Puniet onto a Pramac Ducati. Marco Simoncelli (admittedly one of my favourites) continues with San Carlo Gresini Honda, keep an eye out for him in 2011. Colin Edwards will have another Superbike rider to look after this year, as Britain's Cal Crutchlow is making the switch. Good to see another Brit in the top class!

Classic Confrontations: Sheene vs Roberts Part 2

As we saw in the first part of this article, Kenny Roberts was blazing a trail in his first season in motorcycle Grand Prix racing during 1978. Reigning world champion Barry Sheene was playing catch-up and needed to put in some strong performances in order to reel in the American.

Out on the open road

The MotoGP  World Championship is officially known as the FIM Road Racing World Championship, however the modern calendar consists now exclusively of purpose-built racetracks. Of the current venues, Assen is the only track left with any public road roots. Yet back in 1978, the calendar was a mix of permanent tracks and real road circuits.

Maybe the most famous (and feared) of these was Spa-Francorchamps, an eight mile circuit made up entirely of public roads in Belgium. A superb track whose appalling safety record saw it abandoned by Formula after the 1970 race, it nevertheless carried on hosting premier motorcycle and sports car events throughout the 70's. Take a look at the film below where you will see bikes racing in1977 at high speed on stretches of dangerously unprotected highway (The film intercut with racing at Imola as well; so if the track has road markings, then it is filmed at Spa and Imola if not).

The 1978 event was a damp affair, a typical situation for Spa where it could be sunny and dry at the start finish line, and playing host to a downpour at the Masta Kink. Despite not having encountered a track such as Spa before, Roberts was on the pace, but it was Sheene who shot off into the lead on the first lap with Hartog following. Sheene had dominated at Spa the previous year, setting a lap record with an average lap speed that is still the fastest of all time. However this year, he had to settle for third as team mate Wil Hartog took the win with Roberts second.

Champion fight-back

The Swedish Grand Prix at Karlskoga saw the defending champion well and truly back in the saddle, taking a dominant win with only Hartog able to keep in contention. Karlskoga could have actually been built for Sheene, as he took seven Grand Prix wins there in the 125cc and 500cc classes. Roberts had a troubled weekend, picking up an injury during qualifying and could only manage seventh in the race. Sheene's win put in back in the lead of the championship by two points, having 82 points to Robert's 80. The end of the season was approaching, but there were still some stiff challenges ahead.

The next race would be the Finnish Grand Prix on the street circuit of Imatra. It was a circuit that was feared by the riders, due to it's fast and brutal nature, laid out in a way that would be inconceivable today. Using a roughly rectangular layout on roads in and around the town, the circuit was lined with trees, houses and lamp-posts with little protection for riders who lose control of their 'Cheval de fer'. In fact, a railway ran alongside one section of the track and riders had to race at speed over a railway crossing once a lap!

In the event, both Sheene and Roberts retired from the event due to mechanical failure, leaving street circuit specialist Wil Hartog to take the spoils of victory ahead of Takazumi Katayama and Johnny Cecotto. Britain's Steve Parrish finished a well deserved fifth behind local favourite Teppi Lansivuori. With both main protagonists failing to put points on the board, the next round at Silverstone would be even more tense. Sheene was particularly disappointed as his qualifying pace between the lamp posts and trees was much faster than anyone else, and despite his poor start, he got straight back into contention before the Suzuki let him down.

Head to head

Silverstone was hosting the British Grand Prix for the second time since the British round was moved from the Isle of Man to the Northamptonshire circuit in 1977. Tensions were coming to a head as the championship was still winnable for both protagonists, as Murray Walker takes up the story:

1978 : Courses Motos Silverstone
Uploaded by froadster. - Car, truck, and motorcycle videos.

In the end, Roberts won first time out on a track that he'd not raced on before, with privateer Steve Manship riding the race of his life to beat Sheene to second place. This left the championship on a knife edge going into the last round with Roberts on 95 points and Sheene on 92. If the American won, then he would become the first US 500cc World Champion. If Sheene won and Roberts finished lower than second, then the Englishman would claim his third World Championship in a row. If Roberts managed second to a Sheene victory, then there would be a draw, unfortunately I cannot find out what would have been done in that case!

Green Hell

The last round for the 500cc class was at the feared Nurburgring, 14 miles of every conceivable corner and gradient, surrounded by trees, unforgiving barriers and sheer drops behind said barriers. Kenny Roberts would not have encountered anything similar in his US racing career, but fortunately he was able to learn the track in both 250cc and 500cc practice sessions. The 250cc championship was being sewn up by the South African Kork Ballington on the Kawasaki, so Roberts had not taken part in the 250cc race at Silverstone, preferring to concentrate on the 500c title.

Here is a film of the event, unfortunately unless you speak German, you may be at a loss to work out what is going on!

In the event, Italian Virginio Ferrari won his first Grand Prix on the daunting circuit despite being dogged lap after lap by Johnny Cecotto and Kenny Roberts. Ferrari took the chequered flag with Cecotto breathing down his neck. Roberts  eased off in the last lap or so due to Sheene being unable to keep up with the lead group in fourth, in fact giving the championship to the American. Some sources say that Roberts deliberately slowed down for the Englishman to see him cross the line ahead, just to rub it in. However, the good natured hand-shaking of the top riders at the end of the race is a stark contrast to the pathetic posturing in the Park Fermé after this year's Malaysian Grand Prix.

So there we have it, Kenny Roberts became the first American 500c Motorcycle World Champion, beating his arch-rival to take the title at the first time of trying. He would go on to claim the championship the following two seasons as well. As for Sheene, there would be plenty more victories ahead, but he would never again claim the world championship. However, there were several other battles between the two including the phenomenal fight at the 1979 British Grand Prix, a story that shall be saved for another time.

Classic confrontations: Sheene vs Roberts Part 1

Sporting history is full of classic confrontations: Foreman v Ali; Hunt v Lauda; England v West Germany in 1966 and McEnroe v Borg are all well remembered and documented. For motor-sport fans in particular, one of the biggest rivalries was that of Barry Sheene and Kenny Roberts, the two giants of motorcycle road racing in the late 1970's. Their fight for the 1978 500cc world championship was a true clash of the titans that we will attempt to relive in this article with the help of some sparkling prose, pictures and archive footage.

Setting the scene

Britain's Barry Sheene had been 500cc world champion for the last two years riding for Team Heron Suzuki and went into the 1978 season looking to defend his title. He would be partnered by Dutch Champion Wil Hartog and the American Pat Hennen on the factory Suzuki RGA500, the successor to the RG500, the bike that had taken Sheene to his two previous titles. The Englishman was seen as the new king of premier-class motorcycle road-racing with a fast and flashy style that had taken on and beaten the established stars of the era such as Agostini and Read.  Equally at home on the technical, twisty challenges of Jarama or the fearlessly tackling the flat-out open roads of Spa-Franchorchamps, Sheene was a formidable opponent.

Barry Sheene and team mate, Pat Hennen.

Kenny Roberts, a double AMA Grand National champion and winner of the 1975 Indy Mile, was coming to race in the world championship for the first time with a factory supported Yamaha team headed by former 250cc world champion, Kel Carruthers. The American was entered in both the 500cc and 250cc classes in order to get used to European style road racing in a short period of time.

Despite his huge reputation in the American domestic series and superb showings in the Transatlantic Trophy, Roberts was a relatively unknown quantity. However he had appeared in the 250cc race at the Dutch TT four years previously, cutting an unusual sight as he cornered with his knee right down on the asphalt and spinning the rear wheel on his way to a superb second place. His then unusual riding style was an important ingredient in his performance during 1978 and would soon be copied many riders that came after him.

However, this was by no means seen as a two horse race in the build-up to the new season. Sheene and Roberts would be facing tough competition from Johnny Cecotto, Wil Hartog, Marco 'Crazy horse' Luccinelli, Virginio Ferrari, 350cc world champion Takazumi Katayama, Teppi Lansivouri, TT winner Tom Herron and the aforementioned Pat Hennen amongst others.

Turning up the heat in San Carlos

The first race of the season was the Venezuelan Grand Prix in San Carlos. Despite the hopes of a home win for pole-sitter Johnny Cecotto, the Venezuelan crowd would see their man retire from the race as Barry Sheene overcame the oppressive heat to win the first Grand Prix of the season. The race saw the first four places filled out by Suzuki machinery with team mate Hennen in second, American Steve Baker in third and Britain's Steve Parrish in fourth. Roberts, who had started from an impressive 2nd on the grid, retired with mechanical failure. However, his qualifying performance and the win in the 250cc race, made for a superb début.

For an idea of the atmosphere at that first Grand Prix of the season take a look at this film of the race:

Scorchio!

Roberts hits the ground running

The Continental Circus returned to Europe for the second round of the Championship at Spanish Jarama circuit, near Madrid. Once again the Heron Suzuki's were on the pace, but it was Kenny Roberts who topped the time sheets in qualifying, taking pole position for both the 250cc and 500cc races. While not familiar with most of the tracks, the Yamaha rider was fast finding his feet.

Sheene's Chief Mechanic Martyn Osbourne, talking to Suzuki Magazine in 2005, said that the arrival of Roberts had a huge impact and forced the field to push harder:

"What Kenny did was lift the speeds up, like Spencer did later, or Rossi now. Riders like that come in and lift the lap speeds by half a second. The Yam wasn't that good, but Kenny could ride it bloody hard. Barry had to go with him."

Despite Kenny setting the pace at Jarama, he didn't have it his own way, his countryman Pat Hennen took the 500cc victory and Australian Gregg Hansford won for Kawasaki in the 250cc class. Roberts finished second in both races and Sheene, complaining of illness, finished fifth.

Building up speed

The Austrian Grand Prix was the next stop on the calendar. The Salzburgring was, and still is, a flat-out blast around the base of a mountainous valley. A series of fast curves linked by long straights with next to no run-off was a stiff challenge for those taking part in the third round of the world championship (this track was nothing compared to what awaited the riders later in the season, but would probably still terrify some of today's GP stars). There was no 250cc race at this round, so Roberts was able to concentrate on the 500cc class, posting second fastest time behind Johnny Cecotto. He managed to go one better in the race, winning his first 500cc Grand Prix with a healthy lead ahead of the Venezuelan and Sheene.

'King Kenny' in action: note the 'knee-down' cornering style.

Now on a roll, Roberts took the victory in the French Grand Prix 500cc race held at the nondescript Nogaro circuit and finished second in the 250cc class. Sheene finished third behind team mate Hennen, who at this point was looking just as big a threat to the Englishman as Roberts. The Nations Grand Prix held at Mugello saw Roberts winning the 500c once more and Sheene (continuing to suffer from illness) only managing fifth. Pat Hennen picked up another podium, continuing his hot streak of form. However, this was to be the American's last Grand Prix, as injuries suffered from a subsequent crash at the Isle of Man TT would finish his career.

Pressure builds

Robert's 500cc winning streak came to an end at Assen, home of the Dutch TT. It was around this time that the reigning world champion started to recover from the strange illness that had dogged his season since Spain. Roberts beat the Kawasaki's of Kork Ballington and Gregg Hansford to claim the 250cc TT, but both he and Sheene had to take a second and third respectively to Johnny Cecotto in the 500cc race. The previous years winner Wil Hartog took fifth and won the trophy for best Dutch rider (nice idea that you don't see any more).

At the halfway point in the season, Sheene was trailing Roberts with 57 points to the American's 64. The Suzuki rider would have to put in some great performances to overturn his rivals advantage. He would have his work cut out. Two of the remaining rounds (the Czechoslovakian and Yugoslavian Grand Prix) would not be hosting a 500cc race that year and several of the next Grand Prix would held on tracks that well and truly separated the men from the boys (Spa, Imatra and the Nurburgring). Fortunately, our heroes were definitely in the former camp.

Lorenzo and Elias victorious for Spain!

The Malaysian Grand Prix last weekend was the scene of a dual triumph for Spain, with Jorge Lorenzo and Tony Elias taking the MotoGP and Moto2 championships respectively. We only now need to know who will win the 125cc world championship, which is now a fight between Spaniards (surprise, surprise) Marc Marquez and Nico Terol. Phillip Island should prove be another top race this weekend. If one of them wins, it will top off what has been an amazing sporting year for Spain, after their successes with the World Cup, Tour De France and in Tennis.

Sweeping the board back in '75

We are now about to see Spain make a clean sweep of the board, something that hasn't been seen since 1975 when Italy took most of the prizes on offer that year. In the 125cc category that year, Paolo Pileri won the title for Morbidelli, beating  team mate Pier-Paolo Bianchi and reigning world champion Kent Andersson. Walter Villa, a highly underrated world class rider, took the second of his three 250cc world championships for Harley Davidson. In the premier class, the great Giacomo Agostini won the final 500cc title of his career, beating nail-hard competition from Phil Read, Barry Sheene, Teppi Lansivouri and Hideo Kanaya. To top it off, 'Ago' came second in the 350cc championship too!

Some would argue that these feats were more impressive in the days of men risking life and limb on terrifying road track such as Spa and Imatra, or facing their opponents down on the daunting Nurburgring, but beating the best of the best in any era is a superb achievement.

Tony takes all

Tony Elias and Team Gresini took the first Moto2 title with a fighting fourth place in a place that saw Robbie Rolfo win his first Grand Prix since returning from World Superbikes. Although initially in the hunt for the win with a pack consisting of Rolfo, Andrea Iannone and Alex De Angelis; however Elias eventually chose to hold back and get that fourth place to secure his championship.

The oppressive heat of Sepang hit riders in all the classes and several fell by the wayside. Britain's Scott Redding had to retire due to exhaustion, nearly collapsing after getting off his bike. Elias's big rival for the title, Julian Simon, dropped out of the fight after crashing on lap 7. In the latter stages of the race, Tony Elias pressured a flagging Iannone to the line, with experience staying his hand from trying anything daft to gain a position when the championship title was waiting.

Once across the line, the new world champion was engulfed in his team and a huge wraparound flag, from which Elias emerged in a silver set of leathers and special helmet in which he undertook his victory lap. I can't see that happening in F1, can you?

Lorenzo hits the jackpot

23 year old Jorge Lorenzo claimed the MotoGP World Championship with a fine third place, keeping his nose clean while everyone else gunned for glory. Casey Stoner managed to sling his bike into the weeds on the opening lap, echoing his warm-up lap mistake at Valencia last year. Valentino Rossi had a bad start and dropped to 17th on the first lap. This left Andrea Dovisioso and Lorenzo fighting it out at the front, with 'Dovi' giving it his all to keep with the champion-elect.

However, Rossi had worked his way up to fourth by the third lap and was soon in third, homing in on Dovisioso. The Honda rider took Lorenzo at the midway point, but was then taken by Rossi, who went on to win (which no doubt pleased Ducati as they watched their new financial investment) . Throughout all this, Jorge Lorenzo kept his head, knowing that a third was all he needed to claim the championship.

What wasn't so mature was the childish posturing of Rossi and Lorenzo in Park Fermé. The Spaniard tried to park his bike in the No1 spot reserved for the race winner and Rossi ran around waving a '46 wins for Yamaha' placard. Grow up, boys.

Stoner storms to Aragon victory

Casey Stoner won the inaugural Aragon Grand Prix yesterday in a pole-to-chequered flag show of dominance that harked back to his championship winning year of 2007.  Dani Pedrosa continued his hot streak with a strong second place and Nicky Hayden made a superb last-lap overtaking manoeuvre to deprive Jorge Lorenzo of a podium place. Ben Spies continued filling out his application form to join the MotoGP aliens club with an excellent fifth. Valentino Rossi, struggling with that shoulder injury, came home in sixth.

Jorge Lorenzo still leads the championship by 56 points, but Dani Pedrosa is coming on very strong. The Honda has increased massively in competitiveness, especially compared with the start of the season. How Lorenzo will respond in Motegi, we have yet to see.

Moto2

Andrea Iannone took his third win of the season in front of Júlian Simone and Galbor Talmasci. The Italian celebrated riding his victory lap holding a flag emblazoned with Shoya Tomizawa's image and number 48. Championship leader Toni Elias finished in fourth.

125cc

Pol Espargaro took a thrilling win in the 125cc class, beating Nicol Terol. Championship leader Marc Marquez was taken out by the gloriously named Randy Krummenacher at the first corner. Before the start of the race, the Spaniard was nine points in the lead, but his DNF and Terol's second place puts him behind the Aspar rider. Bradley Smith came home in third.

Spain host yet another MotoGP round (and it’s a Tilkedrome)!

Spain hosts another round of the MotoGP championship this weekend, due to the failure of Hungary's Balatonring to be completed on time. Instead, the race will be held at a new track, called Motorland Aragon situated in the Spanish region of er..Aragon. If you were wondering who designed the track (no prizes for guessing though), it was penned by Mr Hermann Tilke, as his influence appears to also be seeping into MotoGP.

Before condemning the track to hell simply because of its creator's previous form, I shall reserve my judgement until after Sunday's races. David Emmett's excellent blog MotoMatters has this photo tour of the circuit for you to get a feel of it. This collection of photo's give a far better idea of Motorland that the stiff and tedious press release on the MotoGP website.

However, I do find it amusing at the contrasts between the choice of venues in the Motorcycle World Championship and that of the Formula 1 World Championship. Whereas Bernie and his boys will go to any country where the government will cough up millions to satisfy his demands, Dorna don't seem to want to leave the house. Despite the fact that motorcycle racing is massively popular in Spain (with much financial investment in teams such as Apsar), the championship currently has four rounds there and I feel this is too much.

I don't know about you, but there are plenty of decent tracks in Europe and South America where extra Grand Prix could be held. Who else? Well, just off the top of my head: Interlagos, Salzburgring, Monza, Brands Hatch, Donington, Paul Ricard, Portimao,  Istanbul circuit and Zandvoort are all capable of hosting a round.

That's it, mild rant over.

Tragedy hits MotoGP

The San Marino Grand Prix at Misano was marred by the death of nineteen year old Shoya Tomizawa in the Moto2 class.  The Japanese rider was thrown off his Seuter and instantly hit by Alex De Angelis and Scot Redding. He suffered massive injuries and died later in a hospital in Riccone. Both De Angelis and Redding were injured, but should make a full recovery for the next race. Neither rider could have avoided the collision.

Daniel Pedrosa won the MotoGP race, Toni Elias took the Moto2 race and Mark Marquez was the victor in the 125cc race.

My condolences to the Tomizawa family.