I read Asphalt & Rubber as a part of my Motorcycle news rss feeds (p.s. Asphalt is an annoying word) it’s a great blog. they had a few great posts in a row the other day that I thought I would share.

Click the links for the full story, the images and vids I’m posting are just a part of the article.

Retro GSX-R750

What a cool looking bike, I love the old paint style on the sharp new bike, the exhaust looks awesome too, very MotoGP.

Polini Pocket Drag Bike

Little 2 stroke beast that looks like fun (for 5 minutes anyway) I wonder what it would run down the 1/4 ?

Tech3 Moto2 Bike

The bike sounds sooooo good and the pit limiters make them sound hard !! I want to hear these Honda 600cc engines at full noise

Got this in an e-mail, so I thought it would be cool to do it here. You can use it if you like, of course you have to replace all the answers though. Lol

1.  What is your occupation right now? Psychologist for private practice
2.  What color are your socks right now?    to hot for socks lol
3.  What are you listening to right now?   Lil Wayne – No Ceilings
4.  What was the last thing that you ate? beef pot roast
5.  Can you drive a stick shift?  DUH, all my rides are stick, except for one lol
6.  Last person you spoke to on the phone?  one of my best friends
7.  Do you like the person who sent this to you?  shes cool I guess :-p
8.  How old are you today?  HA, wouldn’t you like to know
9.  What is your favorite sport to watch on TV?  Moto GP
10.  What is your favorite drink?  Mojito
11.  Have you ever dyed your hair?  Yup
12.  Favorite food?  pizza
13.  What is the last movie you watched?  StarTrek 2009
14.  Favorite day of the year?   my b-day DUH
15.  How do you vent anger?  kill people of course….on ps3 LOL
16.  What was your favorite toy as a child?  my 4ft bugs bunny stuffed animal…which I still have lol
17.  What is your favorite season?  toss up, winter and spring
18.  Cherries or Blueberries?  is both an option? but blueberries
19.  Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? sure
20.  Who is the most likely to respond?   hell if i know
21.  Who is most likely not to respond?  same as above lol
22.  Living arrangements? me, myself, and i. few dogs, and a cat lol nuff said :p
23.  When was the last time you cried?  march
24.  What is on the floor of your closet?  heels, heels and more heels LOL. plus clothes and other crap
25.  Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending to?  hmmm
26.  What did you do last night?  played Borderlands on ps3
27.  What are you most afraid of?  rejection
28.  Plain, cheese, or spicy hamburgers?  spicy!
29.  Favorite dog breed?  pitbull
30.  Favorite day of the week?  mondays, cuz everyone else hates monday lol
31.  How many states have you lived in? 15
32.  Diamonds or pearls?  well diamonds are a girls best friend, i guess lol. plus ive never owned any pearls
33.  What is your favorite flower?  dragon lily

After an impressive two seasons in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, the soon to be seventeen-year-old was given the dream opportunity to enter the 125cc World Championship with the Red Bull KTM factory team. Pairing up alongside young rising star Marc Marquez, Cameron had a challenging road ahead of him. On top of all the new pressures of racing in the premier championship against the best riders in the world, Cameron also had the added pressure of being the only American in the sub categories of MotoGP. Despite his share of bad luck, a broken wrist, and a handful of crashes, Cameron managed to score his first World Championship points and managed to make his way up to twelfth place in the final round at Valencia, before crashing out on the last lap. We got the opportunity speak with the talented sixteen-year-old about his first season in the World Championship.

After a few DNF’s but also your first World Championship points and some impressive opening lap performances, how would you sum up your first season in the 125cc Grand Prix World Championship?

I feel that i had a few good showings but nothing like i wanted to have. But over all this season was a good experience for me, racing the fastest guys and learning all the tracks.

You grew up racing mini’s on Kart tracks with SMRRC. How important was your background in mini-racing to getting you onto the world stage? How much did racing on kart tracks prepare you for racing on world class race tracks?

Racing minis out at Stockton and doing supermoto and things like that is what made me so competitive. Especially supermoto, racing guys like Joey Pascarella and Garrett Willis and other fast guys like that really helped me push myself.

GPB:

Being the number 2 rider on the factory Red Bull KTM team, how different is your bike from your teammate Marc Marquez? Why do you think KTM has struggled against the Aprilias?

My bike was pretty similar to Marc’s. He has a different front end than me but thats pretty much it. Our riding styles are way different too so the bike setup was always different. The Aprilias have so many years of experience behind them. There bike is more rigid than the KTM that makes it a little better in the corners. But my engine has been pretty fast all year so i cant really complain too much. KTM is a good bike.

Everyone always talks about how important setup is in Moto GP. How vital is setup for the 125cc Grand Prix bikes? Is it impossible to be competitive if you’re bike is not constantly developing throughout the season?

Setup definitely plays a big part in the race weekends. You always have to pay attention to what the bike is doing in the practices so you can get the best out of it in qualifying and the race.

What are your plans for next season?

I want to get on an Aprilia in the world championship again. Ive been talking to a few teams over there to see whats going to happen. If not I want to come home and race 600’s.

Coming from the relatively small National scene in the US, then competing in the European Rookies Cup, how much greater is the competition you are facing in Grand Prix’s and what are the most important things that you have learned during your first season in Grand Prix?

Just racing the Rookies Cup two years ago was a wake up call for me. Everyone is really fast and has a lot of experience. A lot more experience at least on a roadracer than someone in the US. Racing over there for three years i learned a lot more about racing in general. Motorcycles are a way bigger deal over in Europe.

Everyone is saying that the Moto2 class will be the great equalizer where regardless of equipment, the true talent will rise to the top. Do you think that the new Moto2 class will be as equal as people are saying or do you think that there will still be a big difference between the factory riders and the privateer teams?

Im pretty curious to see how it all plays out too. Some of the bikes look really trick. Im not really sure how equal they will be really. Walking around the paddock they have some on display and some of the chassis look completely different from each other.

Do you think it’s possible for a rider to succeed in GP’s without having the major factory support like the teams Aspar and Derbi?

Ya for sure. Look at Marc he is in the top 3 almost every race he just crashes a lot lol. But also Mika Kallio in the past. He won a few races on the KTM.

How important are results toward receiving new parts for the development of the bike? If the results don’t come, does development of the bike stop?

Not necessarily, Your team wants you to do the best you possibly can. So they’re going to do the most they can for you.

Where can we expect to see you in the next 5 years?

Hopefully still in the World Championship!

Hi! This post is for all the guys who dream of R1..The top notch in quality and power. This machine is marvelous, designed and manufactured by amazing YAMAHA(my fav) team.

R1

But I can only give you my designed wallpaper that might accelerate your desktop. . This is a small version, I may give you this on request.

Well, not really! He has arranged a motocross charityevent for kids with lukaemia and the turnout was great! Over 10000 spectators came to watch some of the Motogp riders switch to motocross. Kevin Schawnts also came to compete!

Andrea Dovizioso ended up winning the event

A video made by MotoGP.com can be found here!

VALENCIA.- Gemma Jordán

Los pasados 5, 6,7 y 8 de noviembre se celebró en Cheste la fiesta que siempre viene de la mano con la prueba del Mundial de Motociclismo que se dan en el Circuito Ricardo Tormo. Llevamos once años recibiendo a los moteros; sobre ellos no voy a hacer comentarios, porque no se debe generalizar. Solo digo que, como tal vez hayais visto en muchos medios, cientos de miles de personas invaden un pueblo que, el resto del año solo acoge a unos ocho mil habitantes. Podeis imaginar en qué estado queda Cheste.

El lunes (día 16) salí a correr por el Campillo, una zona de campo, cultivos, y casas de campo (o chalets) muy cercana al pueblo y a la que se llega por un pequeño paseo y carril bici que pasa por el polideportivo municipal, un pabelllón cubierto que se está construyendo al lado y un par de solares o explanadas que los rodean. Es un lugar por donde la gente sale a sacar el perro, caminar, correr o pasear con la bici, y cuando vienen los moteros, se convierten, esas dos zonas (Campillo y polideportivo) en un lugar para que campen a sus anchas, junto con puestos de comida, parcelas de acampada, aparcamientos…

Siempre se ha dicho que este Mundial de Motociclismo deja ingentes beneficios en la población, eso seguro; es mucha gente que viene, paga por un alojamiento y consume. Lo que no me entra en la cabeza es, ¿por qué parte de esos ingentes beneficios no se dedican a adecentar el pueblo después? Quiero decir, ¿por qué más de una semana después de que los moteros se hayan ido, si un chestano quiere salir a pasear o correr, tiene que hacerlo entre la basura que su fiesta ha dejado?

Es sencillamente una vergüenza el estado con el que el lunes se encontraba el Campillo, y este año ha venido menos gente, pero el año pasado toda esa porquería llegaba más allá de la zona delimitada e incluso se metía en el barranco.

Para preparar solares y parcelas para que ellos vengan, sí tenemos prisa y efectividad. Para cocinarles paellas gigantes, tirarles castillos de fuegos artificiales, ofrecerles espectáculos…sí hay dinero. Lo que no acabo de saber es por qué no hay iniciativa para luego dejar un pueblo y unos alrededores que estén algo más que “habitables”.

Mucha de esa basura que se ve ahí, es comida; comida que se pudre, que huele mal y que puede atraer a bichos y alimañas poco deseables, ¿de verdad tan costoso es retirarla?

Favorecer a los visitantes en detrimento de los habitantes habituales parece un mal definitorio de los organizadores de grandes eventos. Además de contener la respiración mientras corría el lunes por el Campillo para no vomitar por todo el hedor que soltaban esos desperdicios 7 días allí abandonados, me preguntaba cuándo narices los ciudadanos despertaremos y dejaremos de soportar ese olvido.

Más artículos de Gemma Jordán.

Anche quest’anno di motomondiale si è concluso. Tre campioni del mondo, uno spagnolo nelle 125, Julian Simon, uno Giapponese nella 250 Hiroshi Aoeyama e il solito Valentino Rossi.

L’ultimo mondiale da decidere a Valencia era quello delle 250. Primi giri molto belli, con Simoncelli che parte male, recupera e va in prima posizione, mentre dietro Aoyama fa di tutto per perdere, va lungo, rientra 11esimo (posizione minima per laurearsi campione matematicamente),  e poi rimonta fino alla settima posizione. Intanto Simoncelli cade e non vince neanche l’ultima gara di sempre delle quarto di litro.

Dall’anno prossimo si cambia, si passa alla Moto 2, una di quelle cose che non capisci e che forse non capirai mai. Intendiamoci, maari le gare saranno anche migliori, con più equilibrio e forse spettacolo, ma il regolamento di qualcosa di sportivo dovrebbe essere all’insegna dello sport…

In poche parole le moto saranno 600 derivate di serie, con motori uguali, monogomma, telai simili e soprattutto cambi non estraibili, solo qualche mappatura da scegliere. In pratica nessuno modificherà la moto, e addio alla scuola per il successivo salto di qualità, per la massima serie.
I piloti saranno niente più che piloti, con il rammarico di andare sempre più verso strade già viste con due ruote in più, verso regolamenti sempre più assurdi e con piloti che somigliano sempre più a giocatori di videogame.

Meno male che limitano i costi, ma anche lì coi sarebbe molto da ridire, molti credono che si andrà a spendere di più, esattamente come in MotoGp, dove le limitazione dei motori non solo non si addice a prototipi che in quanto tali necessitano del miglior sviluppo possibile e continuo, ma la spesa e la ricerca sarà da oggi indirizzata all’affidabilità.

Non sarebbe meglio togliere un po’ di elettronic – tranne quella per la sicurezza si intende – limitare le mappature e fare in modo che gli ultimi giri sembrino gli ultimi e non i primi?, con gomme finite e non nuove? Con piloti che sanno sviluppare la moto, gestire il polso destro e non solo piegare e dare gas.

Guardatevi la gara di Phillip Island del 2001, “vecchie” 2 tempi 500cc, altra era, altro spettacolo. Capirete meglio…

Following post will be in english due to the fact that moto gp is an international sport. If you dont care for it then highly recommend that you stop reading right now.                …Well u have continued, so i presume you have some love for the sport. Allthough i must WARN you. This is abit of a read! So we will see how big a fan you really are.

We all know that the season is over, and the testing has begun. I would like to take a “little” moment to recap what I belive to be some of the happenings that have been throughout the season.

Jorge Lorenzo

Last seasons “Rookie of the Year” has improved. Alltho he has the same DNF (did not finish) statistic as last season (4). But this season he didnt have nearly as many practice/qualify/warmup wrecks as the previous one. Last year he could almost see Jorge doing a spectacular High Side at every event.           So good on you Jorge, you have improved, and you have a Runner up title to prove it with.

This year we saw Jorge putting some serious pressure on his opponents. Especially his team”mate” Valentino Rossi. On a personal view I find this a good thing. Even tho I am a Rossi fan, i also cheer for good racing. And Lorenzo has contributed to some(i usually stay away from this word due to the fact that it has been ruined by underage teenagers) awesome racing this year. I probably dont need to remind you about Catalunya??? Jesus Christ man.. That was the highest point of the season in my opinion. Was it the best one in MotoGP history? Yes and No. Yes, it was the best fight ive seen between to so called teammates. No, not the best fight ive seen. I still think the Laguna Seca race last year between Rossi and Stoner was the biggest thriller. But dont get me started. ( I have to add that there was some good fights between Rossi and Biaggi in the 500cc class aswell).          But yes, Lorenzo… You have evolved pretty fenomenal since you started minicross at the age of 3. And I cant wait to see you battle for next years title, which i know you will. Spaniards has one of the best motorcycle sports interest in the world in my opinion. And i envy you!

Another snag was the re-signing of Lorenzos contract. I personally think he handled it really bad, and openly doubted the Fiat Yamaha Team. Rumor has it that Lorenzos ego had trouble racing in the same team with his biggest competator.

Valentino Rossi

Im not gonna go on and on how brilliant Valentino is. I know it, you know it. And ANYONE who says his not is a stupid fool. Just look at his statistics and re-think your stupid comment about him being lucky, or him having a technical advantage all the time or whatever.

You won us the championship once again Valentino. I admit im beginning to become a little spoiled but who cares. I still get tears everytime you celebrate in one of your  fan-including ways.  Some memorable moments for me is when you walked up Cork screw at Laguna Seca and kissed it. Or the 100th victory banner, but the best one i can remember was when you had a fan dress up like an oldschool doctor and took him for a ride on the track. If i remember correctly that cost you 25000 GBP? Anyway, i cant wait for next season, and the next battle you’re going to have. You always deliver. Rumor has it that he is looking to finish his career on an Italian motogp bike. Gee, I wonder which bike that is… But, he didnt say anything about when, and he is contracted throughout the 2010 season.

Fiat Yamaha Team

Without any doubt the best competative bike this season. They won the constructor championship without any trouble. It can be discussed to why. Some say that when you have Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo in your team then its a slam dunk. But the thing is you dumb sh**s, they wouldnt have won if the bike wasent up for it… So without any doubt, the best competative bike. But there is some trouble stirring up. Jorge didnt want to sign at first, and now Valentino has stated that he does NOT want to see Lorenzo on a M1 for the 2011 season. My guess is that he doesnt want one of his main rivals to ride and win on a bike which he, along with the Fiat Yamaha Team has developed. Because, lets face it… The M1 wasnt superior before Rossi changed from Honda to Yamaha. Infact it wasnt superior for after 2007 season. But thanks to Rossi and Jeremy Burgess the M1 is now the elite.

Casey Stoner and a little Nicky

Casey was his regular psycho self by riding that Ducati like only he can. He gave us quite a scare with that…. illness? Ofcourse American doctors diagnosed him with un-curable diseases and deficinsies. Gave him loads of pills to take, but not giving him the best advice anyone with a brain could. REST! No doubt riding a Moto GP bike is hard, add to that the pressure from employers, sponsors and who i think was the biggest pressuring part, himself. Will sometime cause your body to just say no. No, i wont preform. At the beginning I was happy and excited that Stoner was out sick. I dislike the ducati, its power, its sound… okay, i dont, i love it, but i hate the electronics they have based the bike on. That thing is impossible to ride without that traction control. Its stiff, hard to handle, unstable. The only thing keeping people on is that traction control. Imagine Lorenzo on a Ducati… He would have broken every bone in his body. Ofcourse he still would have ridden it, but it would have destroyed him. Like it almost did Marco Melandri… He was lucky that he could ride this season, and the Hayate Racing team has done a great job up to the point where there was no more developing on the bike. (Which was just after the last testing??)     But ye, back to the case(y). After the second absent race i started missing him. He makes magic with that bike, and its a dream to watch. Rumor has it that the 2010 prototype of the Desmosedici is working absolutly great, which means the new traction control is awesome. So we are in for a treat next season aswell.

Im sorry Nicky, you dont get any bold name or a picture. This due to the fact that you havent delivered at all this season. Driving good on a track is one thing, but only driving good on your favourite tracks isnt good enough. (which are 3? 2 of them in the states? Americans…) It just proves to show that it isnt just the bikes fault.

It should be mentioned that the way a contract signing used to be is that you signed for 3 or 4 seasons. Season 1 is used to show that you have promise on the bike, maybe a podium or pole or first row, but thats only a bonus. Its expected to start grabing some podiums in season 2, you have had a season to get comfy with the bike, now its time to perfect it. In season 3 you have to win the championship. Ofcourse this doesnt apply to the sattelite teams, but the factory ones used this template.  But if you show NO promise, which i belive you havent, then you are sacked…

Repsol Honda Team + riders

The Honda has underpreformed ever since Nickys championship year. I think they used the 2009 chassie for 3(?) races. Bad execution, bad planing bad season. Well, you got a third, but thats with Casey out sick and a cold tire at Valencia. Dani didnt exactly get any advantages by falling off and weighing 3 and a half kilo sustaining injuires on his existing injuries. Andrea has kind off preformed as expected.

Say goodbye to:

James Toseland; Sorry mate, you were very promising, but after the nasty fall at Jerez testing, I think you got of to a bad start which kept with you throughout the season. Good luck in Superbike man!

Tony Elias; Finally!! Get out! You underpreform every season, and only show promise at the end. Usually you do dumb mistakes. Crashes, drive ons, cutting the course. Its finally over and i wish you luck in Moto2…

Alex De Angelis; Sorry dude, you have been underpreforming every year except the last half this year. I personally want you to stay and give you 1 more season to see if you could keep up your recent pace. But when you got to go, you got to go.

Gabor Tamaci; As far as i know Scot Racing is not going to compete in the premiere class next year, but rather have a go in Moto2. Bye Gabor, you didnt show us much.

Chris Vermeulen; Bye chris. Im not gonna miss your stupid grid hat. Im sorry mate but you cant win a championship as a “rain-specialist”… Alltho i think you have 1 victory in wet which was ages ago? You can put some blame on Suzuki, theyve delivered crappy Motogp bikes for a while now. But Loris have gotten a few decent standings, and hasent had a heart-attack due to age yet so, you gotta’ goooooooo (not refering to yamaha by writing goooooo)

Canepa; Didnt see you much, so not gonna miss you.

Im not too sad about their exit, because i feel they are replaced with MUCH HOTTER PROSPECTS!!

Say Hello to:

Hiroshi Aoyama; 250cc World Champion, asian, has a name simular to Hiro in Heroes YATTA! Whats not to like???  Gonna ride for Emmi Caffé Latte Team. Which is a sattelite team using the Honda RC212V bike. Ive missed a real asian contender in Motogp for ages. The last japanese prospect was Daijiro, may he rest in peace!! Hiro YATTA will be followed closely next season.

Alvaro Bautista; Another hot prospect, please understand me right. They are all good, but are prospects for motogp entry. He is going to ride for Rizla Suzuki. Good choice, bad choice, I hope for his sake that Suzuki can deliver something that is competative the whole season.

Héctor Barberá; Has always been fast, and i wanted him up to motogp last year. He is going to ride for his current team. Team Aspar are moving up to the premiere class, and are racing customer ducati bikes with modifications ofcourse. Had he been moved up last season like i wanted he wouldnt have sustained that insane crash with Simoncelli.

Marco Simoncelli; Former champion, fast, italian and great hair. He is joining with the San Carlo Gresini Honda Team. Which is a semi factory team with potential for podiums. I think replacing Tony Elias with Marco was a great move for Gresini Honda.

Ben Spies; American… well, he seems extremely smart, and humble. Qualities you dont really find much in most americans. Had a go in Valencia which was over all expectations. He is joining the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha Team, which is the most promising team for success after the big boys in my oppinion.

Next season predictions:

I think we will have an even tighter title fight next year. Casey is on point and hopefully unstressed, Valentino is a God, Lorenzo is insane and Dani is… lightweight? No doubt its gonna be a season depending on good bikes. Bad setup equals bad top 4. Im looking forward to next season, the drama, the overtakes, highsides, tire damage and crashes. But im also hoping and looking forward to the “new bloods” All of the new comers are champions and are Motogp championship material. HOPEFULLY they all will have competative bikes. What a race we would have seen then. 8 people really gunning for it?! My heart cant take it. Not to mention that we also have Mika Kalio AND Ben Spies who are able and ready to give it their all in 2010.

Going to end this one with a Poll, if i can get it to work.

Thanks for reading this according to a dodgy word count 2040+ words long post. And i will continue to post updates of preseason stuff and try to have predicitons and updates before each race day. Hope to see you back.

Marius Dang.

Los dos pilotos del Repsol Honda han rodado por primera vez con una Honda RC212V evolucionada en prácticamente todos sus elementos.

Dani Pedrosa y Andrea Dovizioso han comenzado a sumar kilómetros y a obtener las primeras impresiones del prototipo que conducirán en la próxima campaña del Campeonato del Mundo. La primera jornada del test post GP en Valencia, donde el domingo Pedrosa se adjudicó su segundo triunfo de la temporada, ha sido laboriosa y fructífera para los dos pilotos del Repsol Honda. El barcelonés ha tenido que acostumbrarse al comportamiento de las nuevas suspensiones Öhlins que incorporaba hoy su nueva moto.

“Hoy ha sido el primer día de pruebas con la nueva moto que utilizaremos en 2010 y también hemos probado las suspensiones Öhlins. Así que lo primero hoy ha sido comenzar a acostumbrarse a las nuevas suspensiones, porque su comportamiento es distinto y nos hará falta algún tiempo para ponerlas a punto” ha señalado el piloto de Castellar del Vallés, que ha firmado el cuarto mejor crono del día, a 0.428s. de Casey Stoner.

“No hemos completado muchas vueltas hoy por la tarde, porque con este tipo de pruebas necesitas pasar mucho tiempo en boxes. Las sensaciones con el chasis han sido muy similares a lo que estamos acostumbrados a utilizar, lo que más ha cambiado ha sido el comportamiento de las suspensiones. Pero no es algo que me haya sorprendido, creo que es lo normal cuando haces un cambio como el que hemos hecho. Las primeras sensaciones han sido positivas; mañana regresaremos al trabajo para seguir realizando pruebas” ha añadido Pedrosa que ha completado 31 giros al trazado valenciano, marcando un mejor crono de 1.33.088 en la vuelta 23. El domingo, durante la carrera, Pedrosa marcó la vuelta rápida de la misma con un mejor registro de 1.32. 778.

Dovizioso ha completado un total de 51 giros al trazado valenciano, con un mejor registro de 1.33.675, marcado en el giro 38. El mejor tiempo del italiano en carrera fue de 1.34.050.

“Hoy hemos rodado por primera vez con el nuevo chasis y basculante. De momento, acabamos de comenzar a probar pero las primeras sensaciones han sido positivas y creemos que vamos en la dirección correcta” ha valorado Dovizioso. “El reparto de pesos ha variado, con la intención de mejorar la estabilidad de la moto en las frenadas y también para adaptarla mejor a los neumáticos Bridgestone. Tenemos todavía mañana y pasado por la mañana para probar y seguir evaluando la nueva moto”.

Kemenangan Valentino Rossi di musim ini diwarnai dengan selebrasi yang cukup memutarbalikan fajta di negara Italia. Rossi menggunakan simbol ayam tua sebagai dirinya sendiri. Selebrasi yang dilakukan Rossi memang selalu menimbulkan decap kagum para penggemarnya. Terutama pada saat kemenangan atau peraihan podium pertama untuk ke-100 kalinya, dia membawa segulungan foto-foto kemenangan dirinya selama bermain di arena balap profesional.

Musiim ini the doctor meraih titel juara dunia satu race sebelum musim berakhir. Poin yang didulangnya pada race tersebut membuat raihan poinnya secara umum tidak bisa terkejar lagi oleh para pesaingnya terutama Jorge Lorenzo. Persaingan keduanya musim ini menjadi tontonan utama dari awal musim hingga akhir musim. Race yang paling membuat denyut jantung berdetak kencang adalah di Catalunya. Di sirkuit ini rossi dan Lorenzo bersaing dari lap pertama hingga lap terakhir. Lorenzo sempat memimpin 5 lap sebelum finish, namun Rosi terus menekan dan terjadi salip-salipan antara keduanya. Rossi yang memiliki mental juara berani mengambil resiko dengan melakukan overtaking berbahaya pada tikungan terakhir sebelum finish.

Persaingan kedua pembalap ini pun tak hanya di sirkuit, di luar sirkuit pun terjadi. Persaingan untuk merebutkan pembalap utama Yamaha pun jadi hal yang kontroversial. Kemungkinan salah satu pindah pun bisa saja terjadi. Rossi yang selama ini diberitakan adem ayem saja mulai berkoar. Sperti kepindahannya ke Yamaha dari Honda, kini The doctor pun sepertinya siap untuk hijrah ke Ducati. Motor yang selama ini hanya bisa dikuasai Casey Stoner. Apapun keputusan The doctor, semoga itu yang terbaik. Namun kemenangan di musim ini harus bisa dilanjutkan sperti kemenangan Pak SBY pada Pemilu kemarin. Dengan begitu, si “ayam tua” musim depan diharapkan menghasilkan banyak telur lagi.

Slow in the uptake to this blog, but I’ve just got to write about being in Valencia for the Moto GP. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present than to fly to Spain for a weekend of camping and watching the 2009 championship race of the season. Not only did I get to see Rossi win the championship, but it was fantastic to see Lorenzo on his home track and see the Fiat Yamaha team do so well.

Spain is absolutely incredible and the unseasonably warm weather is so much like Los Angeles that my mediocre Spanish is the only constant reminder of my location.

Motorcycling in Spain might as well be the national sport and I’m in love with the 2-wheeled machines on the road here. The selection is awesome. More pictures coming soon.

With love from Valencia,

X

Se acabó lo que se daba: el Mundial de Motociclismo 2009 ha terminado. La verdad es que parece que fue ayer cuando comenzó (y este blog con él), pero ya no veremos más carreras hasta la primavera del año que viene, y eso es mucho tiempo. Afortunadamente, el Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana nos ha dejado un magnífico sabor de boca: triplete de ganadores españoles.

Además, se decidió el último título que aún no tenía dueño: el de 250 c.c., que fue a parar a manos del japonés Hiroshi Aoyama, quien tendría que sufrir de lo lindo para conseguirlo a pesar de tenerlo a priori muy fácil.

Pero hagamos un repaso a las tres carreras:

125 C.C:

Julián Simón, que ya se adjudicó matemáticamente el título de campeón hace dos grandes premios, no ha dejado títere con cabeza, pues después de aquello, ganó también en Malasia y ha vuelto a vencer en su casa, en Valencia.

El piloto de Villacañas (creo que se escribe así), se marcó una gran persecución tras su compañero de equipo Bradley Smith, escapándose ambos del resto de corredores. Sin embargo, lejos de adelantarle, estuvo casi toda la carrera a 1 segundo de distancia, hasta que el inglés cometió un error y Simón aprovechó la ocasión. Después se sucedieron algunos adelantamientos muy entretenidos, pero el español se hizo finalmente con la victoria.

Tras la carrera, Julián Simón aseguró que, de no haber cometido su rival aquel error, era muy probable que no le hubiese podido ganar; un detalle de humildad que le honra. Lo cierto es que Julito ha cerrado una excelente temporada (pese a cometer alguna estupidez), siendo el líder más sólido de las tres categorías.

Julián Simón venía de correr la temporada pasada en la categoría de 250 c.c. con poco éxito, y este año tomó la difícil decisión de volver a 125 c.c. a luchar por el título. Y ahora es suyo. Esto demuestra que dar un paso atrás en la vida no tiene por qué significar una derrota.

Finalmente, la clasificación de 125 c.c. ha quedado así:

1     SIMÓN, Julián: 289 puntos

2     SMITH, Bradley: 223,5 puntos

3     TEROL, Nicolás: 179,5 puntos

4     ESPARGARÓ, Pol: 174,5 puntos

5     GADEA, Sergio: 141 puntos

6     CORTESE, Sandro: 130 puntos

7     IANNONE, Andrea: 125,5 puntos

8     MÁRQUEZ, Marc: 94 puntos

9     OLIVÉ, Joan: 91 puntos

10   BRADL, Stefan: 85 puntos

11    CORSI, Simone: 81 puntos

12   FOLGER, Jonas: 73 puntos

13   AEGERTER, Dominique: 70,5 puntos

14   VÁZQUEZ, Efrén: 54 puntos

15   REDDING, Scott: 50,5 puntos

16   NAKAGAMI, Takaaki: 43 puntos

17   WEBB, Danny: 38,5 puntos

18   RABAT, Esteve: 37 puntos

19   ZANETTI, Lorenzo: 37 puntos

20   ZARCO, Johann: 32,5 puntos

21   KRUMMENACHER, Randy: 32 puntos

22   SALOM, Luis: 21 puntos

23   SCHROTTER, Marcel: 18 puntos

24   KOYAMA, Tomoyoshi: 17 puntos

25   RANSEDER, Michel: 9 puntos

26   SAVADORI, Lorenzo: 7 puntos

27   MORETTI, Riccardo: 3 puntos

28   IWEMA, Jasper: 3 puntos

29   BEAUBIER, Cameron: 3 puntos

30   GLOSSOP, Martin: 2 puntos

31    FRITZ, Marvin: 2 puntos

32   DI CARLO, Gregory: 2 puntos

33   KARTHEININGER, Daniel: 1 punto

—

250 C.C:

En Honda ayer sudaron tinta. Su piloto, Hiroshi Aoyama, sólo necesitaba acabar la última carrera de la temporada siendo undécimo para hacerse con el título. Sin embargo, la situación, a priori tan fácil de resolver, bordeó por momentos el desastre absoluto.

En vez de tomarse la carrera con cierto relax, Aoyama quiso llevarse el campeonato celebrándolo desde el podio -lo cual le honra- pero en el camino, luchando contra pilotos que no tenían nada que perder, estuvo a punto de irse al suelo en una preciosa y larga excursión por la gravilla, que salvó de milagro. Por suerte para él, pudo volver al asfalto ¡el 11º!, a un pelo de regalar el mundial.

La situación fue muy tensa durante algunas vueltas porque su único rival real, Marco Simoncelli, iba en cabeza, y si alguien adelantaba al japonés, el mundial se iba para Italia. Sin embargo, el ritmo de Aoyama era suficientemente fuerte como para que ningún otro piloto pudiera ni soñar adelantarle en esas posiciones, y además, Simoncelli terminó cayéndose, con lo que automáticamente se decidió el campeonato. Al final, el japonés pasó en séptima posición por meta.

Total, que con mucho sufrimiento, pero Honda ha ganado el último Camponato del Mundo de 250 c.c., aunque realmente deberíamos decir que lo ha ganado Hiroshi Aoyama, porque lo ha hecho sin ningún apoyo desde fábrica y con una moto claramente inferior a las Aprilia, y que no evoluciona desde hace siglos, con lo que su título tiene aún más mérito.

Mención especial también para Héctor Barberá, que ha firmado una gran final de temporada, consiguiendo la victoria en Valencia, lo que le ha valido para acabar subcampeón de 250 c.c.

La clasificación final ha terminado de la siguiente manera:

1    AOYAMA, Hiroshi: 261 puntos

2    BARBERÁ, Héctor: 239 puntos

3    SIMONCELLI, Marco: 231 puntos

4    BAUTISTA, Álvaro: 218 puntos

5    PASINI, Mattia: 128 puntos

6    DE ROSA, Raffaele: 122 puntos

7    LUTHI, Thomas: 120 puntos

8    DI MEGLIO, Mike: 107 puntos

9    FAUBEL, Héctor: 105 puntos

10  DEBÓN, Álex: 101 puntos

11   LOCATELLI, Roberto: 85 puntos

12   CLUZEL, Jules: 82 puntos

13   WILAIROT, Ratthapark: 81 puntos

14   ABRAHAM, Karel: 74 puntos

15   PESEK, Lukas: 74 puntos

16   BALDOLINI, Alex: 41 puntos

17   TOMIZAWA, Shoya: 26 puntos

18   TALMACSI, Gabor: 28 puntos

19   AOYAMA, Shuhei: 27 puntos

20  ESPARGARÓ, Aleix: 22 puntos

21   DEBISE, Valentin: 18 puntos

22  TOTH, Imre: 12 puntos

23  NEMETH, Balazs: 11 puntos

24  LEONOV, Vladimir: 9 puntos

25  CHESAUX, Bastien: 3 puntos

26  PONS, Axel: 3 puntos

27  MARKHAM, Toby: 2 puntos

28  WATANABE, Kazuki: 2 puntos

29  BONSEY, Stevie: 1 punto

—

MotoGP:

Y en la categoría reina se vieron mucho detalles interesantes y mucho pilotos intentando demostrar cosas.

En primer lugar tenemos a Pedrosa, que ganó la carrera y de paso, el tercer puesto en la clasificación general, lo cual le dará ánimos para la siguiente temporada. Ha hecho un buen final de año, pero que no se alegre demasiado, que aún tienen que mejorar bastante para llegar al nivel de Yamaha.

En segundo lugar, tenemos a Rossi y Lorenzo, que entraron por este orden por meta. Lorenzo intentó acercarse lo suficiente como para adelantar a Valentino hacia el final de carrera, pero no fue posible. Il dottore sigue estando un paso por delante de todos. Ya veremos el año que viene.

Casey Stoner también intentaba reafirmarse con otra victoria, después de hacer segundo y primero en los dos últimos grandes premios. El australiano pretendía demostrar que, de no haberse perdido tres carreras por enfermedad en esta temporada, otro gallo les hubiera cantado a Rossi, Lorenzo y Pedrosa. Y es verdad. Sin embargo, cometió un error estúpido el domingo, y tras conseguir la pole, se cayó de la moto en la vuelta de calentamiento, lo que le impidió tomar la salida. Finalmente ha quedado cuarto en la clasificación.

Más atrás hemos visto cómo Toni Elías se despedía de Moto GP con un sexto puesto, que le coloca a la postre en séptima posición en el mundial, que no está nada mal. Lástima que no obtuviera mejores resultados un poco antes. Le echaremos de menos en la categoría reina, aunque le seguiremos viendo en Moto2.

Colin Edwards, el tejano en el que nadie se fija, pero que siempre está ahí, acabó cuarto en Valencia y ha conseguido una meritoria quinta posición en la clasificación final del campeonato; un premio a la constancia. Y Nicky Hayden, que parece que ha conseguido llevarse mejor con la Ducati a final de temporada, acabó quinto en Valencia.

Otro hombre que captó la atención del público fue Ben Spies, flamante campeón del Mundial de Superbikes, que vino a probar sobre una Yamaha satélite lo que era correr en Moto GP, pues el año que viene estará en la parrilla. Y no lo hizo mal: 7º, por delante de la otra Honda oficial de Dovizioso y muy por encima del poco afortunado James Toseland (12º), que también fue campeón de Superbikes. Eso sí, Spies estuvo lejos de igualar la humillación a la que sometió hace dos años Troy Bayliss a todos los pilotos de MotoGP, ganado la última carrera de la temporada de un modo aplastante (aunque iba sobre una Ducati oficial, todo hay que decirlo…).

En fin, qué penita, esto se ha acabado. Así ha quedado la tabla de puntos para la reflexión:

1    ROSSI, Valentino: 306 puntos

2    LORENZO, Jorge: 261 puntos

3    PEDROSA, Dani: 234 puntos

4    STONER, Casey: 220 puntos

5    EDWARDS, Colin: 161 puntos

6    DOVIZIOSO, Andrea: 160 puntos

7    ELÍAS, Toni: 115 puntos

8    DE ANGELIS, Alex: 111 puntos

9    CAPIROSSI, Loris: 110 puntos

10  MELANDRI, Marco: 108 puntos

11   DE PUNIET, Randy: 106 puntos

12   VERMEULEN, Chris: 106 puntos

13   HAYDEN, Nicky: 104 puntos

14   TOSELAND, James: 92 puntos

15   KALLIO, Mika: 71 puntos

16   CANEPA, Niccolo: 38 puntos

17   TALMACSI, Gabor: 19 puntos

18   ESPARGARÓ, Aleix: 16 puntos

19   GIBERNAU, Sete: 12 puntos

20   SPIES, Ben: 9 puntos

21   TAKAHASHI, Yuki: 9 puntos

—

Y colorín, colorado… el campeonato ha terminado. Pronto colgaré un post repasando lo que ha sido esta temporada 2009 bajo mi perspectiva personal, y hablaré de Moto2, y de todo lo que podemos esperar de esta nueva categoría el año que viene.

Hasta entonces, os dejo un par de imágenes que a mí me parecen muy interesantes. Son de una gala de entrega de premios de la FIM (Federación Internacional de Motociclismo) que hubo ayer por la tarde, donde se galardonó a los pilotos más destacados de la temporada. A mí me parecen muy bonitas.

Al fin y al cabo, ellos nos han entretenido (a los que seguimos apasionadamente este deporte) durante muchas horas en este año, y es curioso verles vestidos “de calle”, sin decenas de logotipos rodeando sus cuerpos.

Hasta pronto.