MotoGP Kicks off in Qatar 09/04/10

[Testarossa6000]

Spectacular Qatar night race to kick off MotoGP season
Monday, 05 April 2010
The floodlit desert circuit will host the opening round of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship on Sunday, April 11th.

Preview here (http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2010/motogp+preview+qatar)

Forza Vale!!!

TV timings here - biking fans remember it's also the Superbikes at Valencia.

Friday
Eurosport 1
17.00 Best of MotoGP 2009
18.00 – 21.30 Live FP 125cc, MotoGP & Moto2

Saturday
Eurosport 2
14.00 WSBK Superpole
17.00 Superstock Superpole
Eurosport 1
20.00 125cc Qualy
20.45 MotoGP Qualy

Sunday
Eurosport 2
09.30 – 15.30 Live World Superbikes
17.45 – 125cc Race
19.15 – MotoGP Race

For bikers out their check out MCN's latest offering - a great interview with Vale, some stunning pics - if anyone interested I'll scan it for you.

[Rob]

Moto GP :clap roll on. Another good season fight between Vale, Stoner and Jorge. Close season and racing again.

[Bikus]

Finally the springtime has come .:-D

Welcome Jack&Jones ( Antonio Banderas ) !:clap

[Rob]

Moody: Rossi looks uncatchable www.crash.net

Eurosport commentator Toby Moody says Valentino Rossi looks 'uncatchable' heading to Qatar
Eurosport commentator Toby Moody says he feels Valentino Rossi looks 'uncatchable' heading into the first round of the 2010 season in Qatar.

Rossi will kick-start his challenge on an eighth premier class title under the lights at Losail with Moody – who will be back behind the microphone alongside Julian Ryder this year – predicting that the FIAT Yamaha strr and Casey Stoner will be the men to watch during the season ahead.

However, Moody insisted that one rider starts the year as the man to beat.

“After pre-season testing, Valentino Rossi once again looks uncatchable,” he said. “In my eyes Casey Stoner looks to be as strong as he has ever been this year, so that should give us a continuation of what happened two years ago in 2008, when the pair were at each others' throats until Laguna Seca.

“Stoner has won in Qatar for the last three years so in theory this will be his race but with Rossi looking as strong as ever, the Italian will not be far behind, it's going to be very close. Bring on the floodlights!”

Moody also backed Ben Spies to impress on a consistent basis during the year ahead as he makes the move over from the World Superbike Championship, with the Tech 3 ace having produced solid performances during pre-season testing.

“This will be the opportunity for Ben Spies to show MotoGP that World Superbike champions can be the quickest,” he said. “He has the opportunity to show them that World Superbike champions can win and I genuinely think he can do that.

“We've had race winners in the past but I think Spies can do it consistently.”

[Suzie]

I'm looking forward to the new MotoGP season - I get more into it as each year passes although I'm still learning!
I like to see Vale win but I do have a soft spot for little Dani Pedrosa.

[Bikus]

Rossi is another league . Hope Stoner will be OK with his health this season and I do expect some good results from HONDA ( I love HONDA can´t help myself ) and I mean HONDA Gresini with Marco & Marco .:-)

[Ste]

Yay! Glad it's finally back. Hope to see Rossi winning it again!

[m schumy]

Yay! Glad it's finally back. Hope to see Rossi winning it again!

I`m also cheering for Rossi :thumb would be brilliant if he won the title again

[Testarossa6000]

Well FP results here:

Vale expected to be faster - but we all know him and he can win from middle of grid. Sorry for Grisini boys, Bikus - though Simoncelli appears to be quite happy with this result. Look out for the Spies - this boy is good. I watched him in superbikes last year and he wowed the field. Looks like he's already getting more out of that yam than Edwards. This could be interesting year - hopefully lots of battles up front.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 55.500sec
2. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.026sec
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.028sec
4. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 1min 56.698sec
5. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 56.793sec
6. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 56.818sec
7. Alvaro Bautista SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 56.998sec
8. Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 1min 57.031sec
9. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 1min 57.059sec
10. Hector Barbera SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar 1min 57.105sec
11. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 57.133sec
12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 1min 57.167sec
13. Loris Capirossi ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 57.363sec
14. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 57.535sec
15. Aleix Espargaro SPA Pramac Racing 1min 57.605sec
16. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 1min 58.035sec
17. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 1min 58.082sec

[Ferrarichamp]

I hope Stoner gets the title back, not sure how Hayden will fare this year.

[Tommy_F]

Qualy:

1. Stoner
2. Rossi
3. Lorenzo
4. De Puniet
5. Capirossi
6. Dovizioso
7. Pedrosa
8. Edwards
9. Hayden
10. Aoyama

[Bikus]

Sorry for Grisini boys, Bikus - though Simoncelli appears to be quite happy with this result...

Yep , poor result in Moto GP but at least they ( Gresini team ) got pole position in Moto2 . ;-)

Ben Spies is such a great talent and it is good to see him doing well from the start in Moto GP . Well done . Rossi will win tonight anyway , even Stoner looks fast . Dovi faster than Dany ? Hummm that´s interesting .

[m schumy]

Well done Rossi :clap brilliant race :thumb

[Suzie]

Really enjoyed that and I may or may not have LOL'd when Stoner fell.
I'm not partisan when it comes to MotoGP so I was torn about who I wanted to get third place. Would have preferred a Rossi, Dovi and Hayden podium rather than Jorge sticking his nose in ;-)

[Greig]

I just find MotoGP so boring, more so than the Abu Dhabi GP :-D

[Ste]

Good race, very happy for Rossi. Not sure what 'the Stoner' was doing though. Coverage I thought was pretty poor, no replay whatsoever of the fall from any camera. Quite ridiculous considering how important it was.

[Testarossa6000]

Good race, very happy for Rossi. Not sure what 'the Stoner' was doing though. Coverage I thought was pretty poor, no replay whatsoever of the fall from any camera. Quite ridiculous considering how important it was.

Agree with you, Ste. No coverage of Stoner's fall. Same in Superbikes - race 2 was red flagged because of a big crash, but no coverage of it.

Happy for Vale and Dovi and, I guess, Lorenzo - he is a fighter and put on a good show. Sorry for Hayden, but the Duc just did not have the Honda speed in the end. As for Spies - brilliant - he is definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with. Looking forward to the next.

[Rob]

Very enjoyable race, good result for "the docter" Wasnt the fastest along the straight, but really got head down and open gap in twisty bits. Those honda's, wow, what have they done to that engine???

How come Eurosport doesnt show live race??

[Ferrarichamp]

The race was ruined by Stoner's fall :furious

[Suzie]

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/MotoGP/2010/April/apr1810-japanese-motogp-cancelled/


The Japanese MotoGP race, scheduled to take place at the Twin Ring Motegi next weekend (April 25), has been postponed until early October because of on-going European travel chaos caused by an Icelandic volcano, MCN can reveal.

The Twin Ring Motegi race, which was due to be the second of 18 races on the 2010 MotoGP calendar, will now run on October 3 after crisis talks were held by Dorna management. The race will now be round 14 and run before the Malaysian GP in Sepang on October 10 and the Australian GP at Phillip Island on October 17.

The cancellation means the next round of the MotoGP world championship will be the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on May 2.

Most of Europe has been a no-fly zone since Thursday after plumes of ash were blown over five miles into the air after the eruption of the Eyjafjallajoekull volcano grounded thousands of flights.

The travel crisis has now hit MotoGP, with hundreds of people from the paddock unable to travel to the Far East.

Most team staff and riders would have left on flights bound for Tokyo today (Sunday), Monday and Tuesday, but there is still no assurance from experts that flights will be able to resume in the next few days.

One of the most seriously affected flight zones has been the UK, with virtually every flight cancelled for the last four days and no end in sight to the chaos that has impacted on millions of travellers.