THE 2012 MOTOGP SEASON IS ON!!!

[Dust]

Hayden happy with FP1 as Rossi targets improvement

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship kicked off this evening (Thursday) at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, where the first free practice session of the new season took place under the lights.

On a dirty track surface, Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi spent the single 45 minute session working on finding a race set-up, as well as continuing to familiarise themselves with the still-new Desmosedici GP12. Toward the end, the American managed to post the third-fastest time of the session, while Rossi, who used just a single hard tyre, finished the night tenth quickest.

Tomorrow evening (Friday) will find the MotoGP riders participating in two more free practice sessions, with qualifying to take place on Saturday night and the first race of the year on Sunday evening.

Nicky Hayden:

"The first session went well. This track is a lot different than what we experienced in Jerez, more open and a lot wider. It was quite dirty and not very grippy, which helped us a bit. We started off on the hard tyre and then switched to the soft for the last exit, and I was able to do a nice lap. In general we were pretty fast and consistent, and I’ve certainly had worse sessions here, but we’ll just stay calm, keep trying to improve and try to get a good grid spot on Saturday night. It’s just one session, and there’s a long way to go. Sunday night is what counts, and it would be nice to get this team a result it deserves."

Valentino Rossi:

"It’s the first practice and I used the hard tyre the whole session, trying to do a lot of laps in order to understand it. The new tyre is much better for warming up, so good for safety, but it started to slide a lot after some laps and made some of the understeer worse. We have to work with the setting and also the electronics. The soft will be important for Saturday, but the hard will be the tyre for the race. Tomorrow we’ll try to do better."

Ducati Team press release

Source : http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2012/ducati+review+fp1+qatar

[Dust]

friday 2nd day of test, here are the results

Pos. Num. Rider Nation Team Bike Km/h Time Gap 1st/Prev. 1 99

Jorge LORENZO SPA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 329.7 1'55.302 2 35

Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 329.6 1'55.456 0.154 / 0.154 3 1

Casey STONER AUS Repsol Honda Team Honda 336.3 1'55.674 0.372 / 0.218 4 4

Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 333.4 1'55.905 0.603 / 0.231 5 26

Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 334.9 1'56.114 0.812 / 0.209 6 8

Hector BARBERA SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati 338.3 1'56.163 0.861 / 0.049 7 69

Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team Ducati 338.8 1'56.402 1.100 / 0.239 8 46

Valentino ROSSI ITA Ducati Team Ducati 337.4 1'56.535 1.233 / 0.133 9 6

Stefan BRADL GER LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 335.1 1'56.751 1.449 / 0.216 10 19

Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 334.0 1'56.771 1.469 / 0.020 11 11

Ben SPIES USA Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha 327.0 1'57.030 1.728 / 0.259 12 17

Karel ABRAHAM CZE Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati 335.8 1'57.223 1.921 / 0.193 13 14

Randy DE PUNIET FRA Power Electronics Aspar ART 312.3 1'58.261 2.959 / 1.038 14 5

Colin EDWARDS USA NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 316.8 1'58.310 3.008 / 0.049 15 51

Michele PIRRO ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini FTR 313.5 1'58.800 3.498 / 0.490 16 68

Yonny HERNANDEZ COL Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 306.6 1'59.087 3.785 / 0.287 17 41

Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Power Electronics Aspar ART 313.1 1'59.169 3.867 / 0.082 18 9

Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Came IodaRacing Project Ioda 292.2 1'59.517 4.215 / 0.348 19 22

Ivan SILVA SPA Avintia Blusens BQR-FTR 311.4 2'00.035 4.733 / 0.518 20 54

Mattia PASINI ITA Speed Master ART 314.5 2'00.226 4.924 / 0.191 21 77

James ELLISON GBR Paul Bird Motorsport ART 312.2 2'00.563 5.261 / 0.337

[Dust]

Damn damn damn!!

Wasn't a good race for us, but it was the first let's give them some time and be patient Hope things will get better

Here a little article on ducati team

Hayden sixth in Qatar Grand Prix, Rossi tenth

Having started from the twelfth spot on the grid after a difficult qualifying session, Valentino Rossi dealt with a number of problems but worked hard the entire race, eventually turning decent lap times.<./p>

The racing department in Bologna and the Ducati Team engineers will continue to develop the GP12 in an effort to make progress for the next Grand Prix, which will take place in Jerez, Spain, on April 27-29.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 6th

“I felt we had the potential to run with Dovizioso and Crutchlow, but considering my injuries and limited testing over the winter, I guess sixth is pretty good. I lost some positions at the beginning because I got hung up behind Spies and wasn’t very good on the brakes, but as the race went on, I managed my tyre well and got stronger. That group I was in was fighting hard, and I was happy to bring Bradl back and come out on top of that battle. We put some good points on the board, got some data and learned a lot from riding with other people. I’m excited for the season. I think if we improve some things, we have the potential to put up some good results. I’d like to thank the team, the sponsors and everybody back at Ducati for all their work, because we’ve clearly taken a step forward since last year.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th

“Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in the beginning because when I had new tyres with good grip, the rear pushed a lot, making it very difficult under braking. Then Barbera pushed me off the track and I lost five or six seconds. Otherwise, I could have stayed with that group. As the tyre became used and began to slide, I started to ride a bit better and to do better times, to the point that I matched my best time on the last lap. By that point though, it didn’t count for much.”

Source : http://www.motogp.co...view+qatar+race

1 Jorge LORENZO Yamaha SPA 25

2 Dani PEDROSA Honda SPA 20

3 Casey STONER Honda AUS 16

4 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha GBR 13

5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Yamaha ITA 11

6 Nicky HAYDEN Ducati USA 10

7 Alvaro BAUTISTA Honda SPA 9

8 Stefan BRADL Honda GER 8

9 Hector BARBERA Ducati SPA 7

10 Valentino ROSSI Ducati ITA 6

11 Ben SPIES Yamaha USA 5

12 Colin EDWARDS Suter USA 4

13 Randy DE PUNIET ART FRA 3

14 Yonny HERNANDEZ BQR-FTR COL 2

15 Aleix ESPARGARO ART SPA 1

[Canabisland]

Hi guys finally this biendo good races in moto gp drisfrute looked like when run "Angel grandson" 12 +1 as a child,

Moto3 not lost the thrill of 125cc. Moto2 and now is again a very exciting race, with stoner gp amount ahead of Lorenzo finally changed her luck with the tires. exciting for the Spanish.

They won all three races, and won many more luck rossi have to greatly improve the ducati

[SexySativa]

Awesome race wasnt it! Shame about Rossi Hayden really made that bike work on sunday. I wouda rather stoner win tho.. Ive got a phobia of Lorenzo, come on ducati get ur arse into gear!

[Dust]

yeah beside the fact that ducati fuck*d that race, hayden was not that bad, but not that good neither , it was a pretty cool race to watch

Glad that the spanish side of the moon made you happy cannabisland

but gooo ducatiiiiii

[Canabisland]

hello I have a passion for motorcycles, I would like to see a Ducati and Rossi better

giving war a stoner, and other guys on end.

Ducati is not the way to make a bike handle and the show is that Rossi can not make anything better.

I always like to take little time Ducati MotoGP bike only rider to balance, as in stoner ducati.

I am not, of a company I like all bikes, but I race drivers and their way of being.

if ducati racing will improve much more exciting and that's what I want to see before long careers with the 500cc.

[Dr. Who]

My passion is here too did some racing myself .... still do some track days but what is going on with Rossi ? In the Italian interviews i read he is blaming everything on Ducati ...

But my hope is on Spies now ... and my head says %#!±(#±*#±# Lorentzo .......

[Skritos]

I love the Ducatti, was raised in asia and saw the Ducatti all over the streets, was overwhelmed with it , as an obvious superb machine.

This is the sport that just watching, scares the chitola out of me. Ill never know the rush from it, thats for sure because I wouldnt even attempt to try a Bike track , amen.

The Dudes Rossi and Hayden are sure in their glory days with it!

Cheers

[Dust]

well well well... it hasn't been a great great start for the ducati team, but last week was already a little better than first race

And i saw on first test days Both ducatis are on the top of the time lines Let's hope it will continue like that

!here a little article while we are waiting ^^

Good feelings for Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden on Day 1 in Portugal

Nonetheless, Ducati Team riders Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi were able to gather valuable information that should be useful over the weekend and in the future.

Both riders opted to spend much of the morning session in the garage, but when they ventured out near the end, Hayden and Rossi set the second- and third-best times, respectively. Although they were seventh and ninth in the afternoon, both riders were able to ride near their limits, and their gap to the front was reduced compared to most of the previous dry sessions this season.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th (1:39.029)

"Conditions weren’t perfect this morning, but since they were calling for a good chance of rain in the afternoon, we thought it was worth having a look toward the end. The track was patchy, but I’ve got to say that Bridgestone’s new tyre is much better and safer in those conditions. This afternoon, the track was completely dry except for water seeping up in the last corner, which made it tough to see the line. We made a couple of gains during the session, but I felt like the time went by really quickly. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, especially in the side-to-side sections, where I’m having some difficulty changing direction. Hopefully we can do a good job with the data tonight and be more consistent tomorrow."

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 9th (1:39.357)

"We had a decent start to the weekend because I was able to ride the bike pretty well, I didn’t finish so far from the front in terms of lap times and, most importantly, I was fast in several sections of the track. I’m only losing a lot in the last split, T4, so along with the technicians, I’m trying to understand why I’m having such a hard time in the last corner, where there’s very limited grip and the back of the bike slides a lot. Still, I can brake hard and enter the corners pretty quickly, and if we’re able to fix the rear, we can get closer. Our goal is to try to be competitive around the entire track. We’ll see what the weather is like, because this morning’s mixed conditions were difficult, and then they were better in the afternoon. Although we went well in the wet, we hope the weather stays nice and that it will be completely dry on Sunday."

Press release courtesy of Ducati Team.

[Dust]

OOOH BOY that was a great race in Lemans today!

After the announcement of the retirement of stoner (haha) The doctor did 2nd place welly deserved i would say!!

Let's hope it will continue like that on the next races too.

GO VALEEEEEE

[SexySativa]

Spread 'em Stoner The Doctor is back in the surgery

Hey Dusty do you watch the Isle of Man TT? If not you are seriously missing out on some Petrol!!! The bikes are amazing, and if Guy Martin doesnt smoke weed then neither do i? He thought a spatchcock was a massage parlour

[Dust]

haha sexy sativa you're my girl ^^

Yeah of course the TT is legendary and a crazy race!! the most spectacular without doubt, i haven't watched live the races tho, and i'm not sure it is difused on free tv channels here, but have seen a lots of videos, and hopefully will go there one day, even just to ride, no speed limitation and mountain roads everywhere, is this heaven??

Here for the ones that don't know it

Cheers