Valentino Rossi World

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Valentino Rossi victorious at TT Assen

2007-06-30T20:00:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi was victorious at the Dutch TT after a show down with Casey Stoner. The former MotoGP world champion was back to his 'old ways' when he worked his way up from 11th on grid to take the lead with only a couple of laps to go. Valentino Rossi showed the world that he has not lost his motivation or spirit and that he is still a serious MotoGP championship contender.

Casey Stoner finished in 2nd position after leading most of the race, ahead of reigning MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden.

Valentino Rossi said about the Dutch TT

"This was an incredible race. I think maybe one of the top five of my career! Clearly starting from 11th is quite lucky for us because I've won a few times from that position, including last year at Sachsenring. Last night I didn't sleep so well and I couldn't have imagined that the race could turn out like this, in fact I was really a little bit worried after the qualifying and didn't know what to expect today! Once I got going though I saw that I had a great pace and so I just rode as hard as I could to get past everyone because I knew then that I could come back to Casey. When I finally got there I was quite tired, as were my tyres, plus he was riding very well and it was hard to overtake him, but my M1 worked brilliantly today and in the last few laps I was able to go past and win. I have to say a big thank you to Michelin and to my team, because today our package was brilliant and I was able to ride at the maximum. I'm so happy to win here in Assen, it's a special place for me and this is a great emotion! It was nice to have a special livery here as well, in the past I haven't been so lucky with new liveries but hopefully today has turned that around! Congratulations to Yamaha for 150 wins, I am glad that we could celebrate like this!"

Race Results Dutch TT

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 25 points
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 20 points
3. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 16 points
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 13 points
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 11 points
6. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 10 points
7. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 9 points
8. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 8 points
9. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki 7 points
10. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 6 points
11. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 5 points
12. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 4 points
13. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 3 points
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 2 points
15. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 1 point
16. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki -

Valentino Rossi 11th on grid after wet qualifying session

2007-06-30T08:40:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi will start from 4th row on the grid after qualifying in 11th position in a wet qualifying session at the Dutch TT. The Doctor was fast during the dry free practice sessions and was even on the top of the timesheets on Friday morning. But Rossi looked uncomfortable in the wet and was much slower all through out the final session.

Valentino Rossi said about the qualifying session:

"For sure today in the wet we had some problems and the fourth row is not great! Of course in order to fight for the victory here I would prefer to be nearer the front, as to win from the fourth row is quite hard!

We've given ourselves a difficult job to do and now I will need to do a perfect race, with no mistakes from start to finish, in order to come back towards the front. I'm quite sad about the weather because I think from the front row I would definitely have been in a position to try to win tomorrow.

As we've proved before however, we know that it's not impossible to make a good race from the fourth row! We need to make the right tyre choice and we need to make a good start, because it's not so easy to pass people here.

Our pace in the dry this morning was good and luckily we're expecting better weather. We'll do our best and see how we go."

Results Qualifying Session Dutch TT

1. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′48.555
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′48.572
3. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′49.579
4. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′49.679
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′49.684
6. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1′49.691
7. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki 1′49.807
8. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′49.927
9. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′50.132
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′50.169
11. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′50.392
12. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′50.402
13. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′50.581
14. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 1′51.259
15. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′51.827
16. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′53.271
17. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′54.253
18. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1′57.525

Valentino Rossi 4th after Day 1 - GP of Holland

2007-06-28T16:09:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi and Colin Edwards came out on track with a new colorscheme in retro style. The new livery on the Yamaha M1 bikes are to celebrate the re-launch of the famous FIAT 500.

The Doctor was second fastest in the free practice session in the morning, but ended up 4th in the timesheets in the afternoon session.

Results Free Practice Day 1 - GP of Holland

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′37.828
2. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′38.040
3. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′38.114
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′38.148
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′38.221
6. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1′38.256
7. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 138.341
8. John Hopkins USA ‘Suzuki 1′38.436
9. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′38.444
10. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′38.485
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′38.600
12. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′38.650
13. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′38.733
14. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′38.846
15. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′39.152
16. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′39.259
17. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′39.716 *
18. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki 1′39.751
19. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 1′40.835

* Time set in FP1

Valentino Rossi 4th in wet Donington Park

2007-06-28T16:07:00.000+02:00

“Unfortunately today the conditions were not good for us at all and we had a lot of problems. In the full dry we would have been at our strongest, in full wet we would have been also quite good, but with a drying track like this we struggled a lot. I made a mistake and ran off the track when I was going the best I went during the whole race and then as the track began to dry I had less and less grip; it seems that this year, when the conditions aren’t perfect, we suffer a lot. I had to go very carefully just to be able to finish and, because we were riding with a wet tyre on a dry track, my tyre was destroyed by the end. Colin did a great job in difficult circumstances so congratulations to him. We’ve had a very long meeting tonight and now we have to try to improve the situation for Assen.”

Race Results GP of Great Britain

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 25 points
2. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 20 points
3. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 16 points
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 13 points
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 11 points
6. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 10 points
7. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 9 points
8. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 8 points
9. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 7 points
10. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 6 points
11. Anthony West AUS Kawasaki 5 points
12. Toni Elias SPA Honda 4 points
13. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 3 points
14. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 2 points
15. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1 point
16. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha -
17. Nicky Hayden USA Honda -

Valentino Rossi sees Max Biaggi crash in Misano

2007-06-19T03:56:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi was one of the spectators at the Misano round of the World Superbike championship. The former MotoGP world champion was seen watching the race trackside on a scooter.

In the past Max Biaggi cracked many times under the pressure of the Doctor and crashed out of the race. This time Biaggi was not under the pressure of Valentino Rossi breathing down his neck, but he did crash (and took Noriyuki Haga down with him) in the exact turn where Valentino Rossi was watching all the action of race one!

Valentino Rossi himself will compete at the newly reversed Misano circuit on September 2, during the San Marino Grand Prix.

Casey Stoner holds off Valentino Rossi in hard battle

2007-06-11T03:13:00.000+02:00

Casey Stoner has won the GP of Catalunya after a breath taking battle with Valentino Rossi. Both riders showed the spirit of true champions, fighting hard over every inch of the track. The riders are overtaking one and another, but Casey Stoner took the lead with only 2 laps to go on the straight. Valentino Rossi tried every possible way to pass him but Casey Stoner managed to hold the former MotoGP world champion off.

Casey Stoner won his fourth grand prix this season and extended his lead over Valentino Rossi in the championship with 5 points. Dani Pedrosa finished in 3rd position in front of John Hopkins and Randy De Puniet in 5th.

Valentino Rossi about the race

"What a race! Even if I'm disappointed not to win, it's a great emotion to be part of a race like that and fantastic fun. It really was an amazing battle to the end with many wonderful overtaking manoeuvres by both of us in all different parts of the track!

Unfortunately I lost a bit of time at the start and then it was quite hard to pass Hopkins because he was fantastic on the brakes. Then with Stoner it was a great fight and honestly I couldn't have tried harder to win, but he was a very hard rival.

There were some places were we could have been better today, not just on the straight but also in some corners, but anyway it was a great experience and it will help us to understand what we need to do to keep on improving. Yamaha and Michelin are working very hard and the fact that we could fight like this today to the very end showed this.

Of course I'm sad because I've won a lot of times here in Montmelo and I wanted to win again, but like I said, I don't think I could have done anymore today! We know that we can beat Stoner but today he rode like a god and he's a fantastic rival, so congratulations to him."

Race Results GP of Catalunya

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 20 points
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 16 points
4. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 13 points
5. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 11 points
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 10 points
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 9 points
8. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 8 points
9. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 7 points
10. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 6 points
11. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 5 points
12. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 4 points
13. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 3 points
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 2 points
15. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1 points
16. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA Honda KR -
17. Carlos Checa SPA Honda -
18. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR

Valentino Rossi on Pole in Barcelona

2007-06-10T16:20:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi grabbed Pole Position in Barcelona at the GP of Catalunya. Randy De Puniet had smashed the lap record and looked pretty confident for Pole Position, but Valentino Rossi pipped the French Kawasaki rider of that spot by going even faster. Dani Pedrosa will complete the front row tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi said about the qualifying session:

"I'm really happy to have another pole position, this season our bike is working brilliantly with our Michelin qualifying tyres and at every race I have great fun during qualifying!

Along with Mugello this is one of my favourite tracks and really I find it hard to decide which I like best! It's fun to have two great races together like this even if it's hard work without a rest in between.

As usual it's going to be very important to start from the front tomorrow, but I think it's going to be a really hard battle anyway, especially in this heat. Pedrosa and Stoner look very strong and also Hopkins has a good pace, so I think we can expect a great fight for the fans to watch!

Anyway we're starting in the best position, my M1 feels very good and we will be looking for another victory."

Results Qualifying Session GP of Catalunya

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'41.840
2. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'41.891
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'42.002
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1'42.117
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'42.233
6. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'42.283
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'42.522
8. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'42.607
9. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'42.623
10. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'42.860
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'42.967
12. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1'43.334
13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1'43.557
14. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1'43.722
15. Carlos Checa SPA Honda1'43.729
16. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1'43.947
17. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'43.948
18. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1'44.263
19. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 1'45.223

Valentino Rossi 2nd fastest Day 1 - GP of Catalunya

2007-06-09T13:03:00.000+02:00

After his excellent race in Mugello that brought him a victory at his home grand prix, Valentino Rossi is back to business in Catalunya. The Doctor was second fastest in the morning practice session behind Spaniard Dani Pedrosa. In the afternoon the former MotoGP world champion was back at the top of the timesheets in the second practice session. He finished the day in overall second position.

Valentino Rossi said after both practice sessions:

"We've made a good start to the weekend and my bike is already going very well. This morning was okay but then this afternoon especially we made a lot of steps forward with the tyres and with the setting. We've got a few different options for our tyre choice and we seem to have good grip in the long corners, which is very important at this track.

Now tomorrow we will continue with our work and make a final decision about tyres. I found a strong rhythm straight away today and this afternoon I put in a consistent run of laps - almost a half-race distance - and things are already feeling good for Sunday. We still have some improvements to make with the setting and hopefully with a few modifications we'll be going even better tomorrow. However it's a long race and if it's as hot as this then it's going to be a battle of physical strength for everyone!"

Results Day 1 - GP of Catalunya

1. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1:43.099
2. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1:43.313
3. John Hopkins Suzuki 1:43.389
4. Casey Stoner Ducati 1:43.543
5. Toni Elias Honda 1:43.551
6. Loris Capirossi Ducati 1:43.631
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1:43.713
8. Colin Edwards Yamaha 1:43.768
9. Marco Melandri Honda 1:43.811
10. Alex Barros Ducati 1:43.857
11. Carlos Checa Honda 1:43.866
12. Shinya Nakano Honda 1:44.003
13. Randy De Puniet Kawasaki 1:44.141
14. Nicky Hayden Honda 1:44.267
15. Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1:44.466
16. Alex Hofmann Kawasaki 1:44.528
17. Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha 1:44.665
18. Makoto Tamada Yamaha 1:44.743
19. Kenny Roberts Jr. Honda KR 1:45.284
20. Kurtis Roberts Honda KR 1:45.871

Valentino Rossi back on top at Mugello

2007-06-04T12:24:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi was victorious for the sixth time in a row at his home grand prix in Mugello. The former MotoGP world champion made a mistake at the first lap of the race and fell back into 8th position. But determined as he is, he put his head down and was riding like a demon possessed. The Yamaha rider was overtaking one rider after another and took the lead at lap 9 to never look back.

Valentino Rossi passed the checkered flag ahead of Dani Pedrosa and Alex Barros. Championship rival Casey Stoner finished in 4th position. Valentino Rossi made up 12 valuable points in the championship and is now only 9 points behind Casey Stoner.

Valentino Rossi was over the moon with his win and said after the race:

“To win in Mugello once again is an incredible emotion for me and I am very happy at this moment. Racing in front of the fans here is always something unbelievable and they give me an extra motivation. It’s an incredible feeling to see so much yellow around the track, the fans were ‘coming crazy’ today and it was a wonderful race! As we had hoped it stayed dry, the sun came out and everything went to plan! My team have worked brilliantly, my bike was perfect and I could ride it exactly how I wanted, I need to say a huge thank you to them and also to Michelin. I didn’t get a very good start but once my tyres had warmed up my M1 really flew and I was able to fight back to the front. From the very beginning everyone was pushing at 100% and it was great fun in those first few laps! It was really a perfect race for me today and I felt like I had everyone on my side; Mugello is a magical track for me and this victory gives us a lot of power and confidence for the next races. I had a special helmet for this race with a big heart on it and today I think we showed that we really have a lot of heart at Yamaha. This is a great, great moment for me.”

Race Results GP of Italy

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 25 points
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 20 points
3. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 16 points
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 13 points
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 11 points
6. Toni Elias SPA Honda 10 points
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 9 points
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 8 points
9. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 7 points
10. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 6 points
11. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 5 points
12. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 4 points
13. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 3 points
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 2 points
15. Makato Tamada JPN Yamaha 1 point
16. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki -
17. Kenny Roberts Jr. Honda KR -

Valentino Rossi on front row in Mugello

2007-06-03T09:55:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi will start from the front row at his home grand prix in Mugello. The former MotoGP world champion qualified in 3rd position in a wet qualifying session. Championship leader Casey Stoner grabbed Pole Position in front of Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen.

Valentino Rossi commented on the qualifying session

"I'm very happy about this front row because today was really a bit of a ‘casino' with the weather and I think anything could have happened! We started off with wet tyres and actually everything felt quite good, then it began to dry out very quickly because of the wind. I was actually a bit unlucky because I put a harder rear in to try to do a faster lap on the drying track just as it began to rain again in the middle of the session. I was in eighth place and as soon as it stopped raining again I knew I had to get out and try to improve my time. With full wets the bike worked very well and I was able to keep on doing faster and faster laps as the track dried out. We found a good tyre for the rain and actually it seems here we're okay in the wet and the dry. Anyway I really hope it's dry tomorrow, for the riders but especially for all the fans who are camping on the hillside. I think in the rain it's maybe not so much fun! It's important to be on the front row here, now we wait and see for the weather and hope for a good race - rain or sun!"

Results Qualifying Session GP of Italy

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 2'00.359
2. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 2'01.381
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 2'01.695
4. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 2'01.709
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 2'01.797
6. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 2'02.001
7. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 2'02.443
8. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 2'02.776
9. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 2'02.932
10. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 2'03.025
11. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 2'03.920 secs
12. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 2'04.185
13. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 2'04.353
14. Carlos Checa SPA Honda2'04.971
15. Toni Elias SPA Honda 2'05.592
16. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 2'06.254
17. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 2'06.426
18. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 2'06.660
19. Kurtis Roberts USA Honda KR 2'07.571
20. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 2'09.080

Chris Vermeulen wins, Valentino Rossi 6th in wet France

2007-05-21T04:35:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi had an awesome start at the GP of France taking the lead and breaking away from the rest of the field. But the rain started to come down and spoil the fun for the Doctor. The other riders started to catch up and after the riders who managed to stay on their bikes, came in for a pitstop, the whole field got turned upside down.

Chris Vermeulen grabbed his first victory in the MotoGP class followed by Marco Melandri and Casey Stoner. Valentino Rossi who had been struggling with his Yamaha M1 finished in 6th position.

Valentino Rossi said about the GP of France:

“Of course I’m very upset about this result because I had a very good feeling in the dry at the start. We made some good modifications to the bike, it was working very well and I thought I was going to be able to fight for the victory. Unfortunately the weather ruined it for us today! We made the pit stop and started the second part of race with hard rain tyres, because we thought it was only going to be light rain. Sadly we were wrong and when the rain got heavier my tyre was too hard for the conditions and I couldn’t push. I was very slow from then on and didn’t have any grip from the rear. In the last five laps it was quite dangerous as it was very hard to stay upright and I think I lost five or six seconds per lap at the end. We had hoped that this would be a track at which we could gain some ground on Stoner and it’s going to be a very hard battle from here because he is very fast, not just on the straights but everywhere! I want to congratulate Chris Vermeulen today because he rode a great race, I think he’s a bit of a magician in the rain!”

Race Results GP of France

1. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 25 points
2. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 20 points
3. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 16 points
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 13 points
5. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 11 points
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 10 points
7. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 9 points
8. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 8 points
9. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 7 points
10. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 6 points
11. Fonsi Nieto SPA Kawasaki 5 points
12. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 4 points

Valentino Rossi 4th on grid in France

2007-05-20T12:13:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi improved a couple of spots today. The Italian Fiat Yamaha rider will start from the second row on the grid in 4th position at the GP of France in Le Mans.

Valentino Rossi said about the qualifying session

“Today was much, much better than yesterday! We changed a lot of things on the setting and straight away this morning I could ride better, although things still aren’t perfect and we definitely still need to improve more. I didn’t use my qualifying tyres so well today and I lost the front row through a small mistake, but anyway fourth isn’t so bad. Of course it would be better to be on the front row because I think, with these bikes and with everyone so close, it’s going to be a big battle tomorrow! Our biggest decision now is about the tyre for the race and I think we’ve got some work to do tonight and in warm-up. Colin is looking really strong and I’m happy for him. Now I hope we can get a good start and stay with the leaders tomorrow.”

Results Qualifying Session GP of France

1. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1′33.616
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′33.710
3. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′33.859
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′33.875
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′34.102
6. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′34.125
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′34.247
8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′34.318
9. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′34.360
10. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′34.412
11. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′34.507
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′34.574
13. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′34.817
14. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′34.834
15. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′34.903
16. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1′35.346
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′35.578
18. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1′35.681
19. Fonsi Nieto SPA Kawasaki 1′36.312

Valentino Rossi runs into problems at day 1 GP of France

2007-05-19T11:49:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi had a good start in the morning free practice session at day 1 of the GP of France at the le Mans circuit. The Doctor finished in 2nd position on the timesheets. But the afternoon was a whole different story as the Italian Yamaha rider ran into a few problems. Valentino Rossi and his team were busy sorting the problems out and the former MotoGP world champion was not able to improve the time he set in the morning session. The Yamaha rider finished day 1 with the 7th fastest time.

Valentino Rossi said:

“This morning things were going okay but this afternoon we ran into a few problems and we weren’t able to improve our situation much. The tyre rule isn’t great for us here and we haven’t yet found the right tyre from our selection, however we’ve gathered a lot of data today so hopefully we can make some changes tomorrow to get our package working better. I think that we didn’t find exactly the right direction today with regards to the setting; this is quite a strange track and at the moment I can’t ride the bike how I want to. I have a big score to settle here after what happened last year so we’ve got to keep focused and work at 100% in order to be in the best shape for a battle on Sunday. We need to close the gap to the others tomorrow. Colin is a bit faster than me and he showed the bike is working quite well, so hopefully we can study the data we have and come up with a new direction for tomorrow.”

Results Day 1 GP of France

1. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′35.319
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′35.467
3. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′35.498
4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1′35.626
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′35.746
6. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′35.759
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′35.770 *
8. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′35.818
9. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′35.908 *
10. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′36.044
11. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′36.139
12. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′36.352
13. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′36.491
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′36.705
15. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1′36.770
16. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1′36.795
17. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′36.855
18. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′37.668 *
19. Fonsi Nieto SPA Kawasaki 1′38.827

* Times set in morning session

Valentino Rossi 2nd after hard battle in China

2007-05-10T13:15:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi finished 2nd in the GP of China after a hard battle with Casey Stoner. The Doctor gave it all he had, but the Ducati of Casey Stoner was overpowering him on the long straights of the track. Valentino Rossi made up the gap Casey Stoner pulled on the straight during the rest of the laps and even overtook the Australian rider numerous times. The 7 times world champion showed great character and wasn't going down without a fight. Unfortunately Valentino Rossi made a mistake when he hit a bump when he was on the breaks and ran off track. He lost too much time to be a serious threat in the final stage of the race. Casey Stoner took his 3rd victory this season and Valentino Rossi finished in 2nd position in front of American Suzuki rider John Hopkins , who grabbed his first podium in the MotoGP class.

Valentino Rossi:

"I enjoyed today a lot, it was a great race, a really exciting battle and my Yamaha was fantastic to the end. We knew that this track would be difficult for us so to be able to fight with Stoner at 100% for the entire race was a great feeling. Of course it's not a win, but I think second place is a very good result for us here. I didn't want to give up and just ride for second, I wanted to try to pass him and I made some good overtaking manoeuvres but wasn't able to stay in front down the straight.

Then I made a mistake when I hit a bump when braking, had to release the brake and ran off track. It was a pity, but when you're riding on the limit lap after lap then things like this can happen; that's racing!

Anyway I knew I couldn't give up, I had a nice battle with John and then was able to take second. I think these twenty points are really important and we're still second in the championship.

I'm really more sad for what happened in Turkey because if we hadn't had the problem there then I might have been level with Stoner in the championship now. But the season is long and now we have several races in Europe at some of my favourite tracks and I think we're in good shape for them!"

Race Results GP of China

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 20 points
3. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 16 points
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 13 points
5. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 11 points
6. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 10 points
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 9 points
8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 8 points
9. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 7 points
10. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 6 points
11. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 5 points
12. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 4 points
13. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 3 points
14. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 2 points
15. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA Honda KR 1 point

Michelin promisses better tyres in China

2007-04-27T01:34:00.000+02:00

After the tyre disaster in the GP of Turkey Michelin took the destroyed tyre back to Clermont Ferrand for a thorough investigation.

Pierre Alves, Michelin's technician in the Yamaha garage, believes the problems to be the result of how the tyre has been made and not a matter of rubber degradation.

"It seems that it is inside the tyre rather than what happened in Laguna [July 2006], when it was starting to blister"

The tyre factory has promissed Valentino Rossi to give him new tyres in China who will fit Valentino Rossi's needs.

Michelin's director of Motorcycle Racing Jean-Philippe Weber said:

"We tested harder construction tyres based on Valentino's precise comments after the race at Istanbul. The new tyres he tested gave him more confidence and more stability. Based on these results Michelin is focusing all its efforts on taking new spec tyres that fit Valentino's requirements to China, adapted to the demanding Shanghai circuit."

Valentino Rossi testing for 2 in Istanbul

2007-04-24T00:37:00.000+02:00

After a dissapointing 10th position in the GP of Turkey where he faced major tyre problems, Valentino Rossi was back on track on Monday to do some serious testing. The former world champion had to do testing for 2 as Yamaha and Colin Edwards agreed that it was better for Rossi's teammate to take some rest after his crash.

Valentino Rossi completed 66 laps which he entirely spend on testing the Michelin tyres. This way Yamaha could gather some information about the tyre problem during the race and to get some data for the next race in China.

The Italian Yamaha rider put in a fastest lap of 1'54.0 on race tyres which left him in 12th position.

MotoGP Test Results Monday

1. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′53.1
2. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′53.2
3. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′53.3
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′53.3
5. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′53.4
6. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′53.5
7. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′53.6
8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′53.6
9. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′53.6
10. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′53.8
11. Kenny Roberts Jr USA KR Honda 1′53.9
12. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′54.0
13. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′54.2
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′54.5

Possible new fued between Rossi and Elias?

2007-04-23T02:53:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi was not happy with Toni Elias. In fact, after the race Valentino Rossi had a chat with Italia 1 television and had a good rant about the Spanish Honda rider. The former MotoGP worldchampion thought that Toni Elias made some dangerous moves by passing him on the inside and than altering his line. According to Valentino Rossi that is not the correct way to race.

Valentino Rossi said to Italia 1:

"I'm very disappointed with Elias because he was very unfair with me. Obviously we're all racing, but he had already overtaken me, and when he came on my side he tried to push me out and make me fall on purpose.

I don't think that's fair behaviour. There are other words than 'unfair' coming up in my mind, but I'll leave them to the imagination. He had already tried to come to apologise another time after the chequered flag. I'll say no more, I owe him twice, so I'll see him in China.

I think he has a rather unfair way of riding with everyone. He had already overtaken me, so there was no need to throw me out.We know these things among riders. So now we know, and we'll know how to behave next time we meet him."

Toni Elias couldn't care less and simply shrugged of the incident. The Spanish Honda rider said:

These things happen in racing and I'm happy with today's result. The way I drive may look risky but I feel comfortable with it and I will carry on like this."

Game on!!

Valentino Rossi 10th in Turkey - Istanbul

2007-04-22T15:44:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi had a good start from Pole Position, but fall back to 5th position after running wide in the first lap. There was lots of carnage as Olivier Jacque crashed. Unfortunately he took Dani Pedrosa, Colin Edwards and Chris Vermeulen down with him.

The Doctor worked his way back up into 2nd position and battled hard with Honda rider Toni Elias. The Spanish youngster made an aggressive passing move on Valentino Rossi and he was forced to run wide, causing him to lose lots of ground.

Unfortunately things only got worse for the Italian Yamaha rider; his tyre was completely worn out and destroyed and was struggling. One rider after another got overtook him and the championship leader finished in 10th position.

Casey Stoner dominated the race from the moment Valentino Rossi ran wide in lap 1. The Australian Ducati rider is leading the championship after his second victory for this season. Toni Elias finished in 2nd position. Loris Capirossi fought hard and deserved his 3rd spot on the podium.

Race Results GP of Turkey

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 25 points
2. Toni Elias SPA Honda 20 points
3. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 16 points
4. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 13 points
5. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 11 points
6. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 10 points
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 9 points
8. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 8 points
9. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 7 points
10. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 6 points
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 5 points
12. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 4 points
13. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 3 points
14. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 2 points
15. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1 point
16. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA Honda KR -

Valentino Rossi on Pole Position

2007-04-21T18:33:00.000+02:00

"I'm very happy to have a pole position at this track, which has never been one of my favorites. I've had some bad moments here in the past but this year it feels like a different track for me and I'm having great fun! My M1 is very competitive, a lot more fun to ride here than in the past and the new modifications we have for our engine have made an important difference to our overall performance.

The team has done a great job because we had some problems yesterday but they've found some good solutions and now Colin and I are first and second. My tyres are working well and we've found the right front for tomorrow. We need to make a final decision about the rear in the morning. With the qualifying tyre my bike really flew and I was able to do a very good lap; I started my first lap a few minutes earlier than the others and then I knew that I could improve a little bit more with the second qualifying tyre. Anyway all three of us are very close on the front row so I think it's going to be a tight battle tomorrow. Let's hope for good weather and see what happens."

Results Qualifying Session GP of Turkey

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1′52.795
2. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1′52.944
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1′52.971
4. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1′53.375
5. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1′53.559
6. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1′53.613
7. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1′53.637
8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1′53.706
9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1′53.771
10. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1′53.835
11. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1′53.847
12. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1′53.988
13. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1′54.082
14. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1′54.143
15. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1′54.206
16. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1′54.221
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1′54.421
18. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1′54.527
19. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1′54.845

Valentino Rossi 4th on Day 1 - GP of Turkey

2007-04-21T14:22:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi finished the first day of the GP of Turkey in 4th position. The Doctor said about his performance in Istanbul:

"The conditions today weren't ideal for us as the track was very, very dirty. However we're not in such a bad position in fourth and when you compare it to last year, when we had some serious problems here, things are much better and I can ride the bike very well, in fact I like the track a lot more with this bike!

Stoner especially was very fast today and I think that tomorrow is going to be a hard battle for qualifying. We need to work on the tyres and the set-up but I am confident that we can improve things quite a bit more tomorrow.

The Japanese engineers have been working very hard during the break and today we tried out some new modifications for our engine. My first impressions are that it's a definite improvement and we can go a little bit faster. It's not a big difference but it's very important, especially here at this track. Now let's see what we can do tomorrow."

Results Day 1 GP of Turkey

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1'54.200
2. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'54.979
3. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'55.062
4. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'55.120
5. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'55.158
6. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1'55.651
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'55.707
8. Alex Hofmann GERDucati 1'55.736
9. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'55.865
10. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'55.910
11. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1'56.071
12. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'56.225
13. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1'56.233
14. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'56.312
15. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'56.320
16. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1'56.555
17. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1'56.923
18. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1'56.936
19. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1'57.245

Looney Lorenzo new team mate of Rossi in 2008?

2007-04-17T07:38:00.000+02:00

It looks like Yamaha might look for a new team mate for Valentino Rossi in 2008. The contract of American rider Colin Edwards will expire at the end of the season.Yamaha team boss Lin Jarvis has admit that he has been in touch with the current 250cc world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

"From a casual point of view we’ve had some tentative chats. Remember that when Yamaha were sponsored by Altadis (Gauloises/Fortuna) so too was Lorenzo so of course we met. Lorenzo is one of the interesting riders and we’re looking towards the future. Getting a feel of the riders market is always in our interest. We also know Andrea Dovizioso from 250 so we’re well aware of who’s out there."

Valentino Rossi ready to improve last years performance

2007-04-15T10:56:00.000+02:00

After a break of a month, Valentino Rossi will get back in the saddle in Turkey. Valentino Rossi hopes to improve the performance from last year and aims for a podium position in Istanbul.

"The next two races, Turkey and China, are ones that I don’t like so much and I have never won at Istanbul, but it’s a great circuit with some very fast corners. If the bike works well then it will be great fun I think. Last year I made an error early in the race and it cost me the chance for a podium, but I won’t be making the same mistake this year! We are leading the championship but it’s a long season and we have to aim to get on the podium at every race.

The difficult thing over the next two races is going to be horsepower, because both Istanbul and Shanghai have very long straights. We tried some new things at the Jerez test to improve this and I know that Yamaha have been working very hard in Japan so hopefully we will have a little bit of improvement in this area when we get to Turkey. The other question is for the tyres, because it’s the first time this season that we’re going to be racing at a track that we haven’t tested at. With the new restrictions it’s going to be very important to make the right choices and also we don’t know what the weather will do."

Valentino Rossi victorious in Spain

2007-03-26T07:43:00.000+02:00

After a 5 race drought, Valentino Rossi stepped back on the topspot on the podium. The Italian Yamaha rider was untouchable in the GP of Jerez. He took the lead in the first lap of the race and did not look back since, while the other MotoGP riders saw the back of his bike disappear in the distance.

Dani Pedrosa, who Valentino Rossi considered to be his biggest threat this race, finished in second position in front of Rossi' teammate Colin Edwards. Worldchampion Nicky Hayden was once again struggling. He was riding in 4th position in the early stages of the race, but fell back and finished in 7th position.

Valentino Rossi said about the race:

"After the situation at this race last year, this is much, much better! Our first priority today was to get points and I knew that to win I would have to ride at the maximum, but today my Yamaha really flew and I was able to do a great race.

It feels like a long time since I last won and this is a great emotion and a very special victory for me, especially in Jerez in front of this great crowd. Qatar was good but to taste victory again is a wonderful feeling. We had some problems on Friday and again yesterday and then after this morning's warm-up we made some more small modifications; I have to thank my team, from Jeremy Burgess to all my mechanics and engineers. They did a fantastic job for me this weekend and they all deserve this win. My tyre worked very well today and Michelin have done a good job too in difficult conditions, so thank you to them.

I got a great start, didn't make any mistakes and had a good battle with Pedrosa, who we knew would be the danger today. I'm really happy for Colin too and to have both Yamahas on the podium shows that we're in good shape for what's going to be a long season. Now we have two race tracks which might be difficult for us so it's very important to leave here leading the championship."

Race Results:

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 25 points
2. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 20 points
3. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 16 points
4. Toni Elias SPA Honda 13 points
5. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 11 points
6. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 10 points
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 9 points
8. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 8 points
9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 7 points
10. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 6 points
11. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 5 points
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 4 points
13. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 3 points
14. Makato Tamada JPN Yamaha 2 points
15. Sylivain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1 point
16. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA Honda KR -
17. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Suzuki -
18. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki -
19. John Hopkins USA Suzuki -

Valentino Rossi on front row

2007-03-24T21:43:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi & the Yamaha team made a 180 degree turn from this morning. The Doctor was struggling with the grip of his Yamaha bike, but the Yamaha team worked its miracle and Valentino Rossi is back in the topspots! The last couple of minutes was exciting and Valentino Rossi moved to the topspot on the grid, but in the last minute Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa pipped him off Pole Position.

The grid is extemely close for this grand prix, so you can expect an exciting race!

As always Valentino Rossi commented about his qualifying session:

"It's been an up and down weekend for us so it's good that we've achieved our number one goal of getting onto the front row. It's going to be very important for tomorrow's race I think.
It was a good qualifying session and my lap was quite good, but we know it's possible to be a lot quicker because last month at the test I was more than one second faster! We knew it would be difficult to match the 1'38.394 I did then however, because then we had four qualifying tyres and with the new tyre restrictions now we only have two.

With the race tyre we were struggling quite a bit yesterday and this morning it was even worse, so we were a bit worried, but we looked at the situation together with Michelin and found a good solution and this afternoon we were in much better shape.

I think tyres are going to be the biggest issue tomorrow and the last ten laps especially are going to be very hard and difficult for everyone. I think it's going to be an exciting race for the fans!"

Results Qualifying Session GP of Spain:

1. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'39.402
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'39.453
3. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1'39.460
4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'39.486
5. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1'39.524
6. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'39.625
7. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1'39.632
8. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'39.660
9. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'39.722
10. Kenny Roberts USA Honda KR 1'39.727
11. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'39.834
12. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'39.883
13. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1'40.196
14. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'40.328
15. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'40.391
16. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1'40.405
17. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1'40.617
18. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'40.710
19. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Suzuki 1'41.202
20. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1'41.219

Valentino 6th after difificult day

2007-03-24T01:45:00.000+01:00

"Today was quite difficult for us, compared to how we began in Qatar! Unfortunately the situation with the tyre is not perfect, we don't have enough grip and the problem is made worse because the condition of the track isn't so good either. We have a lot less grip than we had at the test here so now we need to work more on the setting of the bike in order to improve the grip with the tyres we have.

This morning the problem was a lot worse and we were quite worried after the first session, but we've worked very hard today and the situation this afternoon is a lot better.
Anyway we're not that far away at the end of the day, only sixth, and all the riders are very close together so I don't think we need to worry yet. It's clear that some of our rivals are very strong and it's going to be a hard battle, so we need to make the most of the time we have left.

I hope that the track grip will improve tomorrow as more rubber is laid down and I hope it will also be a little bit warmer in the morning so we can work properly during free practice."

Results Day 1 GP of Jerez

1. Carlos CHECA (Hon RC212V) 1:40.851
2. Dani PEDROSA (Hon RC212V) 1:40.906
3. Toni ELIAS (Hon RC212V) 1:40.972
4. Casey STONER (Duc GP07) 1:41.171
5. Kenny Lee ROBERTS (Hon KR212V) 1:41.182
6. Valentino ROSSI (Yam YZR-M1) 1:41.198
7. John HOPKINS (Suz GSV-R) 1:41.245
8. Chris VERMEULEN (Suz GSX-R) 1:41.305
9. Colin EDWARDS (Yam YZR-M1) 1:41.339
10. Alex BARROS (Duc GP07)1:41.362
11. Loris CAPIROSSI (Duc GP07) 1:41.409
12. Marco MELANDRI (Hon RC212V) 1:41.418
13. Nicky HAYDEN (Hon RC212V) 1:41.536
14. Randy DE PUNIET (Kaw ZX-RR) 1:41.666
15. Alex HOFMANN (Duc GP07) 1:41.835
16. Makoto TAMADA (Yam YZR-M1)1:42.097
17. Shinya NAKANO (Hon RC212V) 1:42.199
18. Sylvain GUINTOLI (Yam YZR-M1) 1:42.311
19. Olivier JACQUE (Kaw ZX-RR), 1:42.402
20. Kousuke AKIYOSHI (Suz GSV-R) 1:42.549

Valentino Rossi 2nd in GP of Qatar

2007-03-10T14:09:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi has finished the first GP of the season with a podium position. The Yamaha rider battled hard with Casey Stoner for the whole race, but the Ducati was extremely fast down the straight.

Valentino Rossi was riding a good race, putting the pressure on the Australian and overtaking him numerous times. But Casey Stoner kept retaking the lead down the home straight. During the last two laps Casey Stoner simply pulled away and Valentino Rossi was not able to close the gap.

The Australian Ducati rider won his first MotoGP race ever in front of Valentino Rossi in 2nd and Dani Pedrosa in 3rd.

Race Results GP of Qatar:

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 20 points
3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 16 points
4. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 13 points
5. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 11 points
6. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 10 points
7. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 9 points
8. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 8 points
9. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 7 points
10. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 6 points
11. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 5 points
12. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 4 points
13. Kenny Roberts Jr. Honda KR 3 points
14. Toni Elias SPA Honda 2 points
15. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1 point

Rossi: It's great to have my first pole of the season

2007-03-10T01:19:00.000+01:00

"It's great to have my first pole of the season at the very first race and it's extra special for me because it's pole number 46 of my career! I hope this is a good omen for tomorrow. I'm really happy for this pole position because everyone has worked so hard; all my mechanics, engineers, Michelin…everyone involved. Yamaha has built us a great bike.

Anyway tomorrow is another day and the real race, but we're starting from first and Colin is on the front row too so I hope we can put in a good Yamaha show! We have a couple of things to check in morning practice but we're more or less ready.
I really like this track, the grip is great, it's fast and technical and it's possible to have a lot of fun with the new Yamaha. It's also quite quiet here, with not too many people and this is a nice atmosphere in which to start the season as I can focus completely on racing without too many other distractions!

I think tomorrow there are three or four riders who can fight at the top with Colin and me, but we're feeling confident in our garage."

Valentino Rossi on Pole Position in Qatar

2007-03-09T13:20:00.000+01:00

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'55.002
2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati 1'55.007
3. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'55.233
4. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'55.358
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'55.361
6. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'55.833
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'55.851
8. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'56.046
9. Shinya Nakano JPN Honda 1'56.306
10. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'56.461
11. Carlos Checa SPA Honda 1'56.609
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'56.631
13. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'56.746
14. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Yamaha 1'57.431
15. Alex Barros BRA Ducati 1'57.511
16. Makoto Tamada JPN Yamaha 1'8.024
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'58.067
18. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki 1'58.144
19. Jeremy McWilliams GBR Ilmor 1'59.606

Valentino Rossi: It was a very good beginning

2007-03-09T02:19:00.000+01:00

"It was a very good beginning for all of the team; it's a new season and we have a new sponsor and livery so it's good to start with both Colin and I at the top!

We were in a good situation at the test here also but really the most important test was Jerez, because there we understood a lot more about our bike and we made some important changes.

It seems here that the setting is very good and we were fast from the start this morning. I'm very happy with my Yamaha today, I can ride it well, I have a good rhythm and it's great fun to ride here in Qatar!

For me, the new tyre rule is very good. Like this you know just what you have from the start, it's much more logical and there is less confusion for everyone. It means we can make decisions more quickly and I think, especially with a delicate bike like ours, that it's going to be helpful to have such a clear situation with tyres from the start of every weekend.

Now let's see how we get on tomorrow and try to keep this rhythm going throughout the weekend."

Results Free Practice Day 1 - GP of Qatar

2007-03-09T02:17:00.000+01:00

1 Valentino Rossi Yamaha ITA 1'56.464
2 Colin Edwards Yamaha USA 0'0.201
3 Casey Stoner Honda AUS 0'0.281
4 John Hopkins Suzuki USA 0'0.508
5 Carlos Checa Honda ESP 0'0.517
6 Daniel Pedrosa Honda ESP 0'0.526
7 Marco Melandri Honda ITA 0'0.648
8 Loris Capirossi Ducati ITA 0'0.783
9 Toni Elias Honda ESP 0'0.918
10 Shinya Nakano Kawasaki JPN 0'1.027
11 Alex Barros Ducati BRA 0'1.156
12 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki AUS 0'1.172
13 Randy De Puniet Kawasaki FRA 0'1.222
14 Kenny Roberts Team Robert KR USA 0'1.274
15 Nicky Hayden Honda USA 0'1.458
18 Sylvain Guintoli Yamaha FRA 0'2.256
21 Makoto Tamada Yamaha JPN 0'3.724

Valentino Rossi ready to rock and roll in Qatar

2007-03-06T17:12:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi has made a clear statement in the pre-season testing by finishing at the top of the time sheets. The Doctor is in da house and he's ready to reclaim his thrown! More determined than ever Valentino Rossi will show what he is made off in the first race of the season in Qatar. With a new bike and new sponsor he is ready to rock and roll on two wheels!

Valentino Rossi said about the upcoming race in Qatar: “After the great test in Jerez we’re going to the first race feeling confident and happy,” says Rossi. “Last year we had some problems at the final test that left us feeling worried going to the first race but more than anything Jerez proved that we’re in a very different situation to last year and confirmed the great job we’ve done with the new M1 over the winter. Now it’s finally time for the first race and it’s time to see if all our hard work pays off. Everyone is very excited and very motivated after what happened last year and our aim is very simple – to win!"

“I like Qatar a lot, it’s fast and fun to ride and I have won there twice. Of course it’s quite hot and dusty so tyre choice will be very important, especially with the new rules. The other key factor is going to be the fuel consumption – I think it is something everybody is worried about this season but we are all in the same boat. We know the bike should work well at the first two races but the championship is very long. Dani Pedrosa has looked the most consistent in testing but I think Nicky Hayden, Loris Capirossi and my own team-mate Colin Edwards will be in the fight for the title.”

FIAT Automobiles new sponsor of Yamaha Team

2007-03-06T02:17:00.000+01:00

Yamaha Motor Co. LTD announced at the official team launch in Milan that FIAT Automobiles is the new sponsor of the Yamaha Team. They reached a two year agreement to be the title sponsor in the MotoGP World Championship.

We’re very excited about our new two-year partnership with Fiat,” said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. “Fiat, like Yamaha, is a truly global brand and we feel that there is a great match between our two companies. It’s good for our sport to welcome a new sponsor of Fiat’s calibre and we feel sure that they will enjoy their involvement with our team. We look forward to working with them over the coming two seasons and hopefully sharing many victories together.”

Fiat Yamaha Team Director Davide Brivio added “It’s nice to be able to finally unveil our new livery and our new sponsorship with Fiat. It’s a new start for us – a new bike, a new sponsor and a new challenge as we try to win back the title! It’s been a long pre-season for us but we’re finally ready for the first race this week; let’s hope we can mark our first outing in Fiat Yamaha Team colours in victorious style!”

Rossi ready to race after masterful performance in Jerez

2007-02-26T07:16:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi ended his pre-season preparations in fine style today after taking top honours in the traditional 40-minute ‘Qualifying’ Practice session at Jerez, smashing last year’s pole time and becoming the fastest man ever round the Spanish circuit in the process. There was double satisfaction for Yamaha as Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards, who took this same accolade in treacherously wet conditions at Catalunya last year, finished the session third.

After a one-two in this morning’s free practice, Rossi and Edwards were feeling confident for this afternoon’s timed shoot-out and with several qualifying tyres each to try during the session, had plenty of chances to see what their 800cc Yamahas could do under pressure. Loris Capirossi (Ducati) took an early lead before Dani Pedrosa (Honda) took control with just over half the session gone. Rossi soon joined him at the top and an exciting battle ensued between the Italian and the Spaniard as they swapped the lead several times over the last twenty minutes, with Edwards remaining in close contention throughout. In the closing stages of the session Rossi produced a perfect lap to set an outstanding time of 1’38.394, almost seven-tenths of a second faster than Capirossi’s pole time from 2006. Pedrosa was unable to find an answer despite crossing the line seconds before the chequered flag and mounting a last-gasp effort to usurp Rossi from the top spot.
Today’s result marks the end of a long but satisfying pre-season testing campaign for the Yamaha Factory Team, who leave Jerez in good shape and high spirits ahead of the first race of the season in Qatar on 10th March.

Valentino Rossi (1st, 1’38.394, 17 Laps)
“After this morning, when my Yamaha worked very well, I knew that I had a chance to try to win this competition. However I knew it was going to be a hard fight as well and I definitely expected Pedrosa to be as strong as he was. It was a fun battle with him, the first real one of the year! Anyway with every qualifying tyre I tried it felt better and better and I was able to go faster; in the end my time was fantastic and my Yamaha really flew! The most important thing about this is that it shows what great work we’ve done over the winter, everyone has tried so hard and this is a nice way to say thank you to them all. This new bike is working really well with the new tyres, both with race and qualifying tyres, so this is very important too and I would like to say thank you to Michelin. It was fun to see just how far I can push this new bike and it has answered me brilliantly, I felt very confident in my Yamaha today and I was able to ride it on the limit. Colin was also very fast so this once again shows how well our bike is working. Of course this isn’t even the first race and now we have to wait until Qatar, but we’re definitely in good shape and I am excited about the season ahead!”

Lap Times

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 1'38.394
2. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 1'38.527
3. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha 1'39.300
4. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 1'39.556
5. Randy de Puniet (FRA) Kawasaki 1'39.832
6. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 1'39.873
7. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 1'39.887
8. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 1'40.043
9. Kenny Roberts (USA) Team KR 1'40.083
10. Carlos Checa (SPA) Honda 1'40.100
11. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 1'40.202
12. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda 1'40.242
13. Makoto Tamada (JPN) Yamaha 1'40.307
14. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 1'40.396
15. Olivier Jacque (FRA) Kawasaki 1'40.551
16. Alex Hofmann (GER) Ducati 1'40.681
17. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 1'41.038
18. Kousuke Akiyoshi (JPN) Suzuki 1'41.805
19. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Yamaha 1'42.215
20. Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati 1'43.008
21. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 1'43.026
22. Shinichi Ito (JPN) Ducati 1'43.073
23. Jeremy McWilliams (IRE) Ilmor 1'43.202

Source: press release yamaha racing

Rossi and Yamaha together for 2007 and 2008

2007-02-02T08:59:00.000+01:00

Yamaha Motor Company Ltd and Valentino Rossi will continue to race together until the end of the 2008 season.

The next two seasons will see Rossi ride as part of Yamahas Official Factory Team, with which he has already won two MotoGP World Championship titles since joining the Factory in 2004. The Italian, who turns 28 this month, has won 25 Grand Prix during his three seasons with Yamaha and currently stands third in the all-time Grand Prix winners list.

Rossi, who is spearheading the rider development of Yamahas new 800cc motorcycle in the run-up to the new MotoGP season, will be back in action next week for Yamahas second test of the year in Sepang, Malaysia.

Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing, commented We are thrilled to confirm that our partnership with Valentino will continue for a fifth year in 2008, and its especially good to have completed all contract negotiations before the start of the rapidly approaching 2007 racing season. This now leaves Valentino free to concentrate solely on the job in hand winning back the World Championship! The past three years with Valentino have been a huge success for the Yamaha brand worldwide, Valentino is a great champion and there is no doubt in our minds that he remains the best possible person to continue to lead Yamahas MotoGP effort for the foreseeable future.

Im very happy I renewed the contract with Yamaha until the end of 2008 so now I can just concentrate on racing this season said Rossi. I think that last year, when we fought back from what seemed an impossible situation to come so close to taking the title, showed what a fantastic team we are and this is why I want to stay with Yamaha. The past three years with Yamaha have been very positive and this is why I am pleased to stay. The atmosphere in our garage is always relaxed and happy and I think that this is something very special and difficult to find. I have great faith in Yamaha and I am very excited about my future and the future of the 800cc bike with them. We are ready to challenge with the new 800cc and now this agreement gives us the chance to launch this challenge for the next two years.

Davide Brivio, Team Director of Yamaha Factory Racing, commented: During the last three seasons we have won on our debut with Valentino in 2004, dominated in 2005 and lost in 2006: to extend the contract for a further year at the end of a difficult season like the last one is the greatest demonstration of the trust Valentino has placed in this Team. This is the great motivation for everyone; Valentino, the engineers, the mechanics, all the staff and, of course, all those who, like me, have lived and continue to live through the victories and the defeats so intensely. We will continue to enjoy ourselves on track and to provide enjoyment for the huge numbers of passionate fans of two-wheeled sport; together we will look forward to the next two seasons with great energy.

Source: press release Yamaha Racing

Provisional MotoGP Entry List

2007-01-14T03:20:00.000+01:00

1. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team
4. Alex Barros BRA Pramac D'Antin Ducati
5. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha Factory Team
6. Makoto Tamada JPN Tech 3 Yamaha
7. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LRC
10. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA Team Roberts KR211V
17. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team
19. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team
21. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
24. Toni Elias SPA Honda Gresini
27. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team
33. Marco Melandri ITA Honda Gresini
46. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha Factory Team
50. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Tech 3 Yamaha
56. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda
65. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team
66. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac D'Antin Ducati
71. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
TBC Jeremy McWilliams GBR Ilmor SRT
TBC Andrew Pitt AUS Ilmor SRT

Valentino Rossi tests Mercedes of Hakkinen

2006-11-10T03:21:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi has tested the Mercedes of DTM rider and former Formula 1 rider Mika Hakkinen. The Italian superstar had the requested the trail himself and impressed Mercedes with clocking fast consistent laptimes. The MotoGP star was only 1 second of the fastest DTM time. Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug said: "A formidable time. It was a very good performance by Valentino."

Valentino Rossi said the following about the test: "I had a lot of fun. The Mercedes is an impressive racing car and drives like a Formula One car. But I still don't know at this time whether I'll ever race on four wheels. But it's good to know that I didn't look that bad."

Valentino Rossi will try his luck on four wheels again this month when he will compete in the rally of New Zealand.

Valentino Rossi tests new 800cc Yamaha

2006-11-04T02:44:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi about the test:
“It was really good to have two days to rest after such a sad day on Sunday and I’m already feeling much better, in fact I wish the season started in two weeks time! We actually started off the test by doing some laps on the old 990cc bike as we wanted to have one more go at understanding why we lost! Then it was time to finally put it all behind us and get on with the new campaign. It’s been great to be able to try the new bike straight away, when the 990 is still fresh in my mind, as it’s easy to compare and understand the differences. Our bike is already quite good; it’s at a good level for this early stage of development. This is the third time I’ve ridden it and it’s got better each time because they’ve been working hard in Japan. They haven’t made so many big changes yet, just small things like the engine setting, but already it’s a bit faster. Yesterday we were fastest, which was exciting, but today we’ve been trying some different things and we were quite a lot slower. Anyway I’m not worried about that, the most important thing at the moment is to get as much information as possible and really start to understand and get to know the bike. This has been a useful test, I’m already feeling very motivated about the new bike and I am sure that next time I ride it in Jerez it will be even better!”.

Unofficial lap times

Wednesday 1st November 2006

1. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 990, 1’32.70
2. Toni Elias (SPA) Honda 990, 1’32.73
3. Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda 990, 1’32.90
4. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 800, 1’33.10
5. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 800, 1’33.14
6. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 800, 1’33.17
7. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 800, 1’3318
8. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 800, 1’33.21
9. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 800, 1’33.43
10. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 990, 1’33.64
11. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 800, 1’33.66
12. Jeremy McWilliams (IRL) Ilmor 800, 1’35.80
13. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 800, 1’36.60s

Thursday 2nd November 2006

1. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda 800, 1’32.66
2. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki 800, 1’32.69
3. John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki 800, 1’32’95
4. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati 800, 1’33.96
5. Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati 800, 1’33.02
6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Honda 800, 1’33.03
7. Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati 990, 1’33.40
8. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha 800, 1’33.78
9. Jeremy McWilliams (IRL) Ilmor 800, 1’35.90
10. Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor 800, 1’36.40

Valentino Rossi talks about the race

2006-10-30T01:39:00.000+01:00

"Of course this is a big disappointment for me because to arrive at the final race with an eight-point advantage and then not win the title is a disaster.

Basically I made two mistakes today - one was at the start and then the second one was the crash. It has been a very emotional season, with some great moments, some bad luck and now some mistakes. But this is racing.

All I can say now is a big 'congratulations' to Nicky because he is a great guy, a great rider and he is the World Champion because he has been the best this year. I have known him a long time, I know his family well and even though I am disappointed I am also very happy for them.
It has been a great fight with him this year - not like in the past with other riders when there have always been some polemics - and we have great respect for each other.

I want to say a huge thank you to Yamaha, to all my team and engineers and to everyone else involved, they've done an amazing job this year and now I am looking forward to working towards next season with the 800; I am sure it will be another exciting season and another big battle!"

Valentino Rossi crashes in Valencia

2006-10-29T15:08:00.000+01:00

Valentino Rossi starts from Pole Position for the most important 30 laps of this season. Valentino Rossi falls back into 6th position after the start. Troy Bayliss is leading the race in front of Loris Capirossi, Dani Pedrosa, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden.

Troy Bayliss makes a break from the rest of the field while Valentino Rossi is back in 7th. The Repsol Honda of Nicky Hayden is moving forward in the field. The championship rival is in 2nd position after overtaking his teammate Dani Pedrosa.

Valentino Rossi is starting to put the pressure on Casey Stoner. But the unbelievalbe things happens; VALENTINO ROSSI CRASHES!!! The Italian Yamaha rider lost the front end of the bike at lap 6. He manages to pick up the bike and get back on the track. He is riding in 19th position.

After Nicky Hayden got the message on his pit board that Valentino Rossi crashed he is taken it a bit more easy. Loris Capirossi has moved into 2nd position and Marco Melandri is right on Nicky's tail. Valentino Rossi moves into 18th position after passing the Ilmor of Garry McCoy.

Valentino Rossi is on the move. The Italian moves into 16th position but is still 27 seconds behind race leader Troy Bayliss. In the meantime a few riders have crashed out of the race making it easier for Valentino Rossi to get into the points. On lap 12 of 30 he is riding in 14th position.

With 6 laps to go Valentino Rossi is riding in 13th position after Casey Stoner dropped a lap.

Troy Bayliss, who replaced Sete Gibernau on the Ducati, wins the GP of Valencia in front of his teammate Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden. Nicky Hayden clinches the MotoGP worldtitle for 2006.

source: www.rossifumi.nl

Valentino Rossi talks about the Pole Position

2006-10-29T13:25:00.000+01:00

"We knew we had great potential with the qualifying tyre because we tried it this morning in the free practice and then this afternoon I did three very good laps, each one better and better and then the final lap was very fast. To do a 1'31.0 was really incredible.

This pole position is crucial for me because it is an important part of my race tactics to start from the front. The session couldn't have gone much better for us because we have a couple of other riders between myself and Nicky. It is a shame Colin is not one of them but he has a good race pace so hopefully he can help me out like he did at Estoril.

The team has done a great job this weekend, especially with the balance of the bike. Now we need to make one or two small changes for tomorrow and then we'll just wait and see. I hope the weather will be like this - for the riders and for the fans because it looks like there will be a great crowd! Now we have the most important thirty laps of the season left to complete our target."

Valentino Rossi on Pole Position

2006-10-28T16:39:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi will start from Pole Position at the most important race of the season. Valencia will go down to the wire tomorrow. Troy Bayliss (who replaces the injured Sete Gibernau) and Loris Capirossi complete the front row. Championship rival Nicky Hayden starts from 5th position on the grid.

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'31.002
2. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati 1'31.210
3. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'31.307
4. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'31.341
5. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'31.378
6. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'31.385
7. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'31.470
8. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'31.606
9. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'31.663
10. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'31.711
11. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'31.892
12. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'32.062
13. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'32.144
14. Kenny Roberts Jr USA KR211V 1'32.358
15. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'32.467
16. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'32.747
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'33.289
18. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'33.755
19. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'33.953
20. Garry McCoy AUS Ilmor 1'34.811

Valentino Rossi talks about the free practise sessions

2006-10-28T00:44:00.000+02:00

"We found a good setting this morning and we were quite fast from the start, but this afternoon some of the others made big improvements and caught up with us!

This afternoon we tried a lot of different things and quite a few tyres, trying to find the best possible package for tomorrow and Sunday. Tyres are fundamental here and its very hard on the left side of the tyre especially.

This track isn’t so easy and it takes time to find the right setting, but the feeling from the bike is good and in general our race pace is quite fast so we’re not really worried.

We’ve got one or two things to improve, especially in a couple of the hard braking areas, but I think if we can make just a couple of improvements then we will be able to fight at the top. For now we will stay calm and focused and tomorrow things will be clearer."

Valentino Rossi 7th after day 1 in Valencia

2006-10-28T00:43:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi finished in 7th postion after the second free practise session on the first day of the GP of Valencia. The current championship leader fully concentrated on getting the perfect set up for the oh so important race on Sunday. Italian Ducati rider Loris Capirossi is leading the pact in front of Randy De Puniet and Chris Vermeulen.

1. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'32.220
2. Rancy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'32.408
3. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'32.786
4. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'33.019
5. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'33.080
6. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'33.254
7. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'33.274
8. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'33.369
9. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'33.394
10. Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati 1'33.433
11. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'33.556
12. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'33.622
13. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'33.689
14. Kenny Roberts Jr USA KR211V 1'33.795
15. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'33.954
16. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'33.967
17. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'34.323
18. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'34.681
19. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'35.292
20. Garry McCoy AUS Ilmor 1'36.076

2007 MotoGP calendar

2006-10-19T03:05:00.000+02:00

Grab your agenda and pen down the following the dates! The 2006 season hasn't finished yet, but we can already look forward to an awesome new season of MotoGP

March 10 Qatar - Doha/Losail **
March 25 Spain - Jerez
April 22 Turkey - Istanbul
May 6 China - Shanghai
May 20 France - Le Mans
June 3 Italy - Mugello
June 10 Catalunya - Catalunya
June 24 Great Britain Donington Park
June 30 Netherlands - Assen **
July 15 Germany - Sachsenring
July 22 United States - Laguna Seca *
August 19 Czech Republic - Brno
September 2 San Marino - Misano
September 16 Portugal - Estoril
September 23 Japan - Motegi
October 14 Australia - Phillip Island
October 21 Malaysia - Sepang
November 4 Valencia - Valencia

* Only MotoGP class
** Saturday

Valentino Rossi talks about the race

2006-10-16T03:19:00.000+02:00

"I’m really happy to be finally leading the championship; this is the most important thing for today, even if I am disappointed not to have won!

I made a good start and was in front after turn one, but I knew that my pace wasn’t as fast as yesterday, because it was about ten degrees colder and this gave us some problems.

When I saw that Colin was behind me this made me quite relaxed because I knew he would help me as much as he could. He rode a great race and I have to say a big thank you to him, I am so sad that he’s not on the podium with me today.

It was a very hard race for me and I had to push all the way because Kenny, Toni and Colin were very fast too. Going into the last chicane I knew I had to come out in front, but then Toni was just a little bit faster than me to the line. Well done to him for his first win, he really rode a hard race today!

Now we have two weeks until the final showdown, so we need to relax and stay focused and try to do another weekend like this in Valencia!

Once again of course I need to thank my team and everyone involved, I think we’ve really shown today that we have real "team spirit" at Yamaha and Colin and I are really lucky to be able to race in a team like this."

Race Results GP of Portugal - Estoril

2006-10-15T15:56:00.000+02:00

1. Toni Elias SPA Honda 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 20 points
3. Kenny Roberts Jr USA KR211V 16 points
4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 13 points
5. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 11 points
6. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 10
7. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 9 points
8. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 8 points
9. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 7 points
10. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 6 points
11. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 5 points
12. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 4 points
13. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 3 points
14. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 2 points
15. Garry McCoy AUS Ilmor 1 point

Race Report GP of Portugal

2006-10-15T15:05:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi starts from Pole Position in front of his teammate Colin Edwards and Nicky Hayden. Rossi leads the race from the start, Dani Pedrosa who had a good start follows in 2nd in front of Colin Edwards. Nicky Hayden is in 4th.

At the first turn of lap 2, Nicky Hayden goes around the outside of Colin Edwards and moves into 3rd position. Shinya Nakano crashed in the first lap of the race and Casey Stoner and Sete Gibernau both crash out at lap 2.

Colin Edwards retakes 3rd position after passing Nicky Hayden on the inside and a few turns later, the Texas tornado makes a great move on Dani Pedrosa and moves into 2nd.

At lap 4 Nicky Hayden overtakes his teammate Dani Pedrosa as he sees Valentino Rossi open up a gap over the rest of the field.

DANI PEDROSA TOOK NICKY HAYDEN OUT OF THE RACE.. BOTH CRASH!!!!!! Dani Pedrosa hit the curb while he went to go on the inside; he lost the back end of the bike and crashed into the side of the bike of Nicky Hayden.

Valentino Rossi has a 1.1 second gap over Colin Edwards who is starting to feel the pressure of Toni Elias in 3rd. Kenny Roberts Jr has closed the gap on Toni Elias and Colin Edwards at lap 11.

At lap 14 Toni Elias makes a move on Colin Edwards and moves into 2nd position, but it doesn't stick for very long. Colin Edwards retakes 2nd spot behind his teammate. The fight for the podium positions is on.Both riders are swapping and changing positions.

Toni Elias finally makes the 2nd position stick and opens up the throttle. He is closing in on Valentino Rossi and gets the back of Yamaha M1 in sight. Toni Elias closes in and makes an amazing move on the Doctor. With 7 laps to go Toni Elias leads the race.

But Valentino Rossi never gives up without a fight and one lap later he retakes the lead. Kenny Roberts Jr is flying at the last stage of the race; he overtakes Colin Edwards and puts the pressure on Toni Elias. With 4 laps to go the American KR211V rider overtakes Toni Elias and is hunting Valentino Rossi down.

Kenny Roberts Jr is right on Valentino Rossi's tail and with 2 laps to go Kenny Roberts Jr overtakes Valentino Rossi at the end of the straight. The American rider is making a small break on the Italian Yamaha rider.

On the last lap Valentino Rossi moves back to 3rd after Toni Elias outbreaks them all, but Valentino Rossi moves straigth back into 2nd. Valentino Rossi is back in front after an overtaking move in the chicane, but Toni Elias had more drive after the last turn and wins on the finishline.

source: www.rossifumi.nl

Valentino Rossi: It was fundamental to be on Pole Position

2006-10-15T04:30:00.000+02:00

"With the championship as it is now I think it was fundamental to be on pole position today and for Colin to qualify second is perfect - I am really pleased for him and all his guys. We've worked hard this weekend because the right setting was quite difficult to find and all the team had to give 100% so I'm really thankful to them and to Michelin for a great tyre.

Of course the important thing is tomorrow and with Hayden on the front row with us it looks like it will be a great battle for the victory. There are a lot of other riders with good pace too but for now I'm really happy with the pole position.

My first two qualifying laps were quite good but the last one was unbelievable - it is so much fun to ride the M1 when it's working so well like this. Hopefully the weather will stay like this tomorrow and we can have a good show for everybody."

Results Qualifying Session GP of Portugal

2006-10-14T16:42:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi has returned to the top of the timesheets at the qualifying session today. His championship rival Nicky Hayden was fastest this morning in the third practise session, with Valentino Rossi following in second position.

But Valentino Rossi will have the advantage tomorrow of starting from Pole Position. His teammate Colin Edwards finished 2nd in front of Nicky Hayden, who will complete the front row.

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'36.200
2. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'36.478
3. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'36.549
4. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'36.569
5. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'36.702
6. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'36.790
7. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'36.790
8. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'36.940
9. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'37.107
10. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'37.182
11. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'37.245
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'37.371
13. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'37.433
14. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'37.517
15. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'37.582
16. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'37592
17. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'38.810
18. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'39.647
19. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'40.451
20. Garry McCoy AUS Ilmor 1'41.260

Valentino Rossi talks about his first day

2006-10-14T03:06:00.000+02:00

"I saw that Nicky was very quick so it's definitely going to be hard this weekend! In the morning we immediately went well and we were fast from the start.

Then this afternoon we weren't able to find the perfect tyre, so we need to do quite a lot more work in this area. Then we lost a bit of time because we had a problem with our first bike and so needed to set the second bike up quickly and so we only had time for three more laps before the session finished.

Anyway despite these problems it's been a good start to the day overall and I am quite pleased. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow but I think it's going to be a good fight!"

Photo: Reuters/Jose Manuel Ribeiro

Results Free Practise Session GP of Portugal

2006-10-13T16:48:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi had a good start on the first day of the GP of Portugal. In the morning session he was fast from the beginning, finishing in the topspot on the timesheet.

In the afternoon the Camel Yamaha team worked more on the set up of the bike. The tables turned for Valentino Rossi because of this and he sees himself back in 8th position. Australian Casey Stoner took Provisional Pole.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'38.218
2. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'38.268
3. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'38337
4. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'38.503
5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'38.586
6. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'38.779
7. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'38.815
8. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'38.826
9. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'39.007
10. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'39.161
11. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'39.217
12. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'39.907
13. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'40.006
14. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'40.096
15. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'40.214
16. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'40.661
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'41.146
18. Gary McCoy AUS Ilmor 1'42.096
19. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'42.319
20. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 2'14.734

Valentino Rossi on four wheels again

2006-10-12T07:41:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi loves anything that goes fast. Whether it is on two or four wheels. When the season is finished he is gonna try his luck on four wheels again. He will compete in the rally of New Zealand. The Subaru team will provide him with the rally car that Australian Chris Atkinson drove in Germany last year.

Richard Taylor, the team managing director said: "Valentino has entered Rally New Zealand privately in his own name. He will however be driving a car supplied by us. In fact, the car which Chris Atkinson drove in Germany this year. There's still a little bit of work to do on the details and it may be run alongside the Subaru team. But it will certainly not be an SWRT-liveried car."

Two-race title challenge starts in Portugal for Rossi

2006-10-10T03:30:00.000+02:00

Five years to the week since he won the MotoGP World Championship for the first time, Valentino Rossi heads into the penultimate round of the 2006 season at Estoril in Portugal next Sunday aiming to finally overthrow Nicky Hayden from the top of the standings and set-up his sixth premier-class title in a row. After an amazing run of form for the Italian, who has made up 39 points over the last four races, he is now just 12 behind and on course to catch the American by the final round at Valencia.

A slip-up for Rossi, of course, could see Hayden take the number 1 plate this Sunday, but the formbook suggests that this should not be the case, with Rossi having finished on the podium in each of his previous six visits to Estoril. The 27 year old has won the race four times, including his first appearance there for Yamaha in 2004, whilst conversely for Hayden it is one of his least successful circuits - his best result coming last year when he finished seventh.

Estoril’s location on the western tip of Europe, just seven kilometres from the Atlantic coast, makes it vulnerable to dramatic changes in weather and high gusts of wind, meaning the riders can take nothing for granted. An autumn visit promises to deliver similarly wild conditions to those encountered when the event was held last year in the spring, culminating in the first ever flag-to-flag race in MotoGP – although unlike at Phillip Island three weeks ago none of the riders opted to come in and change bikes.
Valentino Rossi remains confident that he has the speed to beat Nicky Hayden in any situation although he admits that the upcoming circuits are not amongst his favourites. An intense summer of hard work by Yamaha’s engineers on the YZR-M1 has given Rossi a competitive and adaptable package that he believes can adjust to the demands of both Estoril and Valencia and give him every chance of retaining the title, which he has made his own in recent seasons.

“Now we have two difficult tracks but I think our M1 can be fast at both of them,” says Rossi. “Since Brno, when we finally understood everything about what we needed to do to make our bike work at 100% again, we’ve been very strong everywhere and on the podium each time. I think that we’re as strong as our rivals now and when we’re at the maximum we’re always going to be fighting at the front. Of course we know we could have won more if we’d been like this earlier in the season but we can’t do anything about that. Anyway we know our potential and when we’ve started from the front lately we’ve been on the podium each time, so we have to carry on like this.

“Everyone involved has helped bring us back to this level. I think the team’s level of motivation and concentration is the best in the paddock, it’s incredible, more than anyone else, so I have to say thank you again. I actually like Portugal - the ‘04 bike especially was very good there. It’s twisty but we can go well there. In ‘05 we had some problems with the tyre, plus it was only the second race and early in the year so the weather was bad. I hope that it will be a bit warmer and won’t rain, and that we can find a good tyre with Michelin.”

From a press release from yamaha-racing

Rossi earns Australia wrist slap

2006-09-26T06:09:00.000+02:00

Organisers of the Australian MotoGP will be slapped for overlooking world champion Valentino Rossi's illegal passing during the race.

The Grand Prix Commission will send a letter to the Australian "pointing out the failings of their officials that caused the controversy," the sport's governing body FIM said overnight.

The decision was reached at a special meeting of the commission here on Saturday ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix, it said in a statement.

The commission, comprised of heads of organisations which hold rights in grand prix racing, can make changes to the sport's rules and regulations.

Italian Honda rider Marco Melandri won the Australian MotoGP at Phillip Island on September 17, after which the on-track battle between Rossi and championship leader Nicky Hayden developed into an exchange of barbs.

Hayden complained that Rossi overtook Australia's Casey Stoner when yellow flags were being waved following Carlos Checa's slide into a gravel trap.

Hayden was trailing in seventh spot right behind Rossi when the incident occurred on the 18th of the 26-lap race.

But the board of race directors did not take any punitive action against Rossi on the grounds that Stoner momentarily re-passed the Italian. The race results meant Hayden's championship lead was slashed to 21 points.

Hayden's point advantage was further cut to 12 overnight when he finished fifth and Rossi third in a race won by Italian Ducati ace Loris Capirossi.

According to the rules, Rossi could have been slapped with a "position" penalty to put him where he was before the overtaking, captured on live television coverage.

But, according to press reports, course marshals did not report the yellow-flag pass before the race was over. The factory teams of Honda, Ducati and Kawaski have protested to the FIM against a lack of action against Rossi.

The commission agreed to "closely examine the regulations and procedures in order to avoid in future the incorrect application of the rules forbidding passing under yellow flags," the FIM statement said.

It also decided to study new technology to "facilitate a more immediate response to incidents around a circuit".

When he learned about Hayden's complaint, Rossi told Italian reporters that "anyone who spies on another is not a son of Mother Mary".

The rivals played down their differences here in a pre-GP press conference.

"That was last week. We're here to race this weekend," said Hayden.

"I didn't see the yellow flags," said Rossi. "But I have been unlucky with them before and I was lucky this time. Stoner retook me and I was saved by that."

In 2003, Rossi was stripped of his British Grand Prix win for passing under a yellow flag. But he won the Australian MotoGP the same year, despite a 10sec penalty for the same violation.

Source: Agence France-Presse
Photo: AFP/File/Kazuhiro Nogi

Valentino Rossi talks about the race

2006-09-25T02:05:00.000+02:00

I'm really happy with this second position today. It wasn't a great battle like in Sepang, but my rhythm was really good and my bike worked very well. We had a few problems in warm-up this morning and, like always, my mechanics, the Yamaha engineers and Michelin did a great job to make some last-minute changes to our race set-up.

At the start my M1 was a little bit hard to ride but slowly I found my rhythm and then bit by bit I started to come closer to Marco. Once I passed him I started pushing to try to reach Loris and made the fastest lap, but once he realised I was coming closer he opened the throttle again and he was just too fast for me to catch.
My bike worked brilliantly since Friday morning and I want to thank everyone for all their hard work, it seems that when everything is working for us then it's hard for the others!

20 points is a great result for me at this track, which isn't one of my favourites, and now we're only 12 points behind in the championship. We have two races left and if we can continue in this way then it's possible!"

photo: AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama

Valentino Rossi 2nd in GP of Japan

2006-09-24T08:12:00.000+02:00

Loris Capirossi has a good start and leads the race in front of Marco Melandri and Sete Gibernau. Valentino Rossi is 4th but moves up into 3rd after passing Gibernau at lap 1. Casey Stoner is on a charge and moves into 4th.

John Hopkins makes a detour in the gravel at lap 3. Nicky Hayden is stuck in 8th place behind Toni Elias, who is not letting him get passed. But at lap 6 his fortune changes when he finally gets passed Toni Elias.

Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri and Valentino Rossi have opened up a gap over the rest of the field. Nicky Hayden has closed the gap with the riders fighting over 4th position. Marco Melandri makes a mistake and gives Loris Capirossi the opportunity to break away.

Valentino Rossi is starting to put more pressure on Marco Melandri half way through the race. Loris Capirossi is starting to get away and Valentino Rossi wants to get as many points as possible. Casey Stoner loses the front end of his bike at lap 13 and crashed out of the race.

Valentino Rossi is all over Marco Melandri, but can't get passed the Italian Honda rider. At lap 15 Valentino Rossi finally gets passed Marco Melandri on the inside. He opens up the throttle and slowly pulls away from Marco Melandri.

Valentino Rossi tried to bridge the gap with Loris Capirossi, but the Italian Ducati rider responds with picking up the pace and increases the gap with the reigning worldchampion.

Shinya Nakano crashed out of the race at the last lap of the race after trying to overtake Sete Gibernau. Both riders touch, but Gibernau stays on the bike.

Loris Capirossi wins the GP of Japan. Valentino Rossi finishes in 2nd position and picks up very important points for the championship. Marco Melandri completes the podium.

Valentino Rossi picks up important championship points and decreases the gap with championship leader to 12 points with 2 rounds to go.

source: www.rossifumi.nl
picture: REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Race Results GP of Japan - Motegi

2006-09-24T08:10:00.000+02:00

1. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 25 points
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 20 points
3. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 16 points
4. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 13 points
5. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 11 points
6. Toni Elias SPA Honda 10 points
7. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 9 points
8. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 8 points
9. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 7 points
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 6 points
11. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 5 points
12. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 4 points
13. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Suzuki 3 points
14. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 2 points
15. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1 point
16. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati -

Valentino Rossi: I am happy to be on the front row again

2006-09-24T02:00:00.000+02:00

"For sure I am very happy to be on the front row again for the fourth race in a row. My M1 has worked well from the start here so we've been able to work on the setting with various different things and then mix everything together to find the very best race set-up.

Now it seems we're in good shape. The bike worked very well also with the qualifying tyre and I had very good grip. Unfortunately I lost one qualifying tyre when Hopkins crashed in front of me, but luckily my team did a great job with the pit-stop - it was even faster than a Formula 1 team!

Fortunately I made a good lap with the final tyre and now we're starting from second. I am happy; tomorrow will be a difficult race but I am quite confident."

Valentino Rossi starts 2nd on grid

2006-09-23T08:37:00.000+02:00

Loris Capirossi has grabbed Pole Position after being fastest all day at the 2nd practise and qualifying day. Valentino Rossi was the only one who could keep up with the red speeddevil and qualified in 2nd position. The front row is an Italian occasion this time as Marco Melandri on his Honda will complete the front row.

Results Qualifying Session GP of Japan:

1. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'45.724
2. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'45.991
3. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'46.250
4. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'46.291
5. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'46.316
6. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'46.326
7. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'46.489
8. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'46.512
9. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'46.576
10. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'46.726
11. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'46.847
12. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Suzuki 1'46.958
13. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'47.071
14. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'47.310
15. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'47.451
16. Naoki Matsudo JPN Kawasaki 1'47.826
17. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'47.905
18. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'48.426
19. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'48.716
20. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'48.748
21. Jose Luis Cardoso SPa Ducati 1'50.359

Brad Pitt: Rossi is mesmerizing

2006-09-23T07:32:00.000+02:00

Some of you probably know that hollywood hunk Brad Pitt loves motorcycles. We've already seen him hanging around at the GP of the USA in Laguna Seca. But not only does he loves motorcycles, he's also a fan of Valentino Rossi.

Brad Pitt mentioned Valentino Rossi in the current issue of Esquire magazine in a feature called: Fifteen Things I Think Everyone Should Know.

This is what he says about Valentino Rossi: " He is a magician. He's mesmerizing. ... he's the fastest man on two wheels. It's speed but it's also balance. ... (Rossi) has a sort of innate sense of balance that's beyond mortal man."

Valentino Rossi happy with good start

2006-09-22T13:58:00.000+02:00

"I am very happy with today; we've made a really good start. The track has a good grip and also Michelin have made great progress since this race last year, especially with the front tyre. They have a new front tyre here which gives me much better grip when braking and so I was able to ride the bike at the maximum straight away today, which meant that I had great fun!

My pace is okay, although there are many riders with a similar rhythm so I think it's going to be a hard battle on Sunday! My best time today was done with the qualifying tyre and once again my bike worked perfectly in this situation, so this is good news for tomorrow. Colin was fast too today, as he was last weekend, which shows what good work we've done on our M1 over the last few races.

This race is very important for the championship so it's nice to start off on the right foot with this good result. Now we wait to see if we can continue in this way tomorrow."

Photo: REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Valentino Rossi tops the timesheets at day 1 of Japanese GP

2006-09-22T09:50:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi is on top of the timesheet after day 1 of the GP of Japan at the Motegi circuit. Loris Capirossi topped the order for most of the session with Valentino Rossi being consistent in second position, but in the final moments of the free practise session the reigning worldchampion set a fast lap of 1'46.981.

Results Free Practise Session day 1

1. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'46.981
2. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'47.315
3. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'47.449
4. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'47.581
5. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'47.610
6. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'47.646
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'47.731
8. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'47.915
9. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'47.982
10. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'48.002
11. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'48.059
12. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'48.160
13. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'48.313
14. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Suzuki 1'48.317
15. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'48.389
16. Naoki Matsudo JPN Kawasaki 1'48.722
17. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 1'49.488
18. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'49.683
19. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'49.761
20. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'49.889
21. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'51.138

Valentino Rossi rips into Dani Pedrosa

2006-09-20T10:29:00.000+02:00

Dani Pedrosa may be used to getting everything on a silver platter, but he has learned this year that if he wants to win in the big-boys class, he's got to fight for it. After the GP of the Czech Republic he accused Valentino Rossi of being 'very aggressive when overtaking'.

Valentino Rossi finally hits back and says: "I don't know the situation in 250 but this is MotoGP. It's a battle, especially when you are fighting for the second place position with three laps to go (in Czech GP). The problem with Pedrosa, at this moment, is that he is not able to overtake, he arrives at the front always over-shooting (on the brakes), like in Brno - so the danger is him, not me. He needs more experience and to understand the way to overtake."

Title chase heads north as Camel Yamaha Team travel to Japan

2006-09-19T13:47:00.000+02:00

The final leg of an exhausting Grand Prix triple-header takes place in Japan this weekend as the chase for the MotoGP World Championship heads north from Australia with Camel Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi now the closest he has been to the series lead since the third round of the season in Turkey. Third place for the Italian at Phillip Island on Sunday moved him to within 21 points of Nicky Hayden (Honda), with this weekend's event at the Motegi circuit in the Tochigi prefecture providing another opportunity to cut that gap even further before the series returns to Europe for two final races in Portugal and Spain.

As well as lifting him up to second place in the championship, Rossi's 89th top-three career finish in the premier class also moved him ahead of Giacomo Agostini in the all-time podiums list, with just Mick Doohan above him on 95. The 27-year-old's goal is to add to that tally with his 59th victory at a circuit where he has already celebrated on the top step in 2001.
Valentino Rossi admits that Motegi is not high on his list of favourite destinations although that opinion could easily be changed by another top result on Sunday. The Italian has bounced back from a series of early-season setbacks to hit top form in recent weeks and with three rounds remaining he still has a realistic chance of wrestling the title from Hayden's grasp.

"Honestly it's not a track I like very much and I haven't had such a good time there in the past, but we're going to have to do our best at Motegi," says Rossi, who didn't finish last year's race after a collision with Marco Melandri. "Three races in a row like this is very hard, especially with this one as the third! We need to make the most of the practice time there because it is not a great track for us. Last year especially it was not a good weekend; we had a lot of problems during the practices and then the race result was very bad!"

"A gap of 21 points is still a lot but it's not impossible so we can still try. Motegi is going to be a very important race for us, firstly because we know it's going to be difficult and secondly because we have to try to get more points from Hayden in order to stay in the fight. My M1 has been pretty good recently and I think we're going there in good shape, so hopefully we can make the most of the weekend and go back to Europe with an even better shot at the title."

source: Press release Yamaha Racing

Valentino Rossi dissapointed with 3rd place

2006-09-17T15:32:00.000+02:00

“I'm a little disappointed with third place because I know that in dry conditions we had a very good set-up and I think the result could have been better. Anyway, we can't do anything about the weather and in these circumstances I have to be thankful for third place because we have pulled some more points back on Nicky.

After we changed the bike I lost a few places because I didn't have a good feeling initially on the wet tyre. Honestly I think this was my fault because once I found my rhythm I realized my M1 was in good shape and I was able to push more.
I'm really happy with the second half of the race because the gap to Sete was seven seconds, but I made my mind up to try and pass him and my bike and my Michelin tyre worked very well to the end.

I saw the red dot getting bigger and bigger and to pass him in the last corner was excellent. I would have liked to win for the sixth time here but at least I got to celebrate on the podium in front of all these wonderful fans. Now we are 21 points behind – it is a lot, but not impossible.”

Race direction decides...

2006-09-17T15:21:00.000+02:00

Race direction has reviewed the complaint that Valentino Rossi passed Casey Stoner under a yellow flag while Carlos Checa had a detour in the gravel.

Even though Valentino Rossi indeed passed under the yellow flag, race direction has decided not to take any further action against the incident.

Did Valentino Rossi pass under a yellow flag?

2006-09-17T08:36:00.000+02:00

The big question after the race is if Valentino Rossi passed under a yellow flag. According to championship leader and rival Nicky Hayden he did. Shortly after the race Nicky Hayden made the statement to the press that the Italian Yamaha rider passed under a yellow flag.

He himself took it ‘easy’ after that because he figured that he had ‘beaten’ Valentino Rossi because of it. Nicky Hayden said he finished in front of Valentino Rossi and Valentino Rossi should end up last on the race results because of the incident

Valentino Rossi denies the accusation. Is Nicky Hayden speaking the truth or is he maybe a bit pissed off that he sees his championship lead shrink every race? The Repsol Honda team will most likely complain to race direction about the incident.

If this is true than Valentino Rossi will be penalized and lose valuable championship points.

To be continued...

Valentino Rossi 3rd in Australia

2006-09-17T08:32:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi will start from 3rd position on the grid. During the warm up lap rain lightly start to fall down. The riders put their hands up and the start is delayed. The race has been declared a wet race. The riders are on the starting grid, deciding what tyres to put on their bikes. Because all practice and qualifying sessions were done in dry conditions, no one has the bike set up for a wet race. The riders will all start on slick tyres as there is not enough water on the track to change tyres.

Shinya Nakano had a flying start, leading the race from the start. Valentino Rossi is down in 7th after a bad start. Teammate Colin Edwards is in 2nd in front of Marco Melandri and Roberts Jr. Valentino Rossi moves even further down the pack on the first lap of the race. Valentino Rossi is in 10th position. His championship rivals are in 5th (Dani Pedrosa) and in 16th (Nicky Hayden).

At lap 2 Valentino Rossi moves into 9th. He is behind home gp rider Casey Stoner. He is behind home GP rider Casey Stoner. The reigning worldchampion is on a mission. At lap 3 he gets passed Casey Stoner and his eyes are set on Kenny Roberts Jr. in 7th.

Rossi overtakes Kenny Roberts Jr. and John Hopkins in one move. The Italian Yamaha rider is on the charge! He overtakes his teammate, Dani Pedrosa and Marco Melandri at lap 5. But Marco Melandri isn’t going down without a fight and the riders are swapping and overtaking each other but Valentino Rossi means business and gets the better of Marco Melandri.

At lap 6 the reigning worldchampion moves into 2nd position after passing the Ducati of Loris Capirossi. But the Ducati is fast and Capirossi overtakes the Yamaha at the end of the straight. Valentino Rossi keeps fighting back and both riders are overtaking each other.

The rain is starting to fall down more heavily and the riders are coming into pit lane to swap bikes. Valentino Rossi comes into pit lane at lap 9 to swap his bike. Race leader Shinya Nakano comes into pit lane at lap 10. Timing proves to be crucial as some riders move up a few positions after coming into pit lane.

Sete Gibernau is now leading the race in front of Chris Vermeulen, Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri. Valentino Rossi overtakes John Hopkins and moves into 7th position, but Nicky Hayden follows his example. Not much later Nicky Hayden overtakes his rival at lap 13 and now Valentino Rossi is following the American Honda rider.

Nicky Hayden opens up a small gap on Valentino Rossi, but once again Valentino Rossi shows spirit and fights back. Not only does he close in on Hayden, but at lap 15 he overtakes the championship leader on the breaks. Marco Melandri is on the charge as well. First he overtakes Chris Vermeulen and after that he takes the lead by overtaking Sete Gibernau.

Valentino Rossi is slowly pulling away from Nicky Hayden and the championship leader is starting to feel the pressure of Loris Capirossi. The curse continues for Sete Gibernau. After losing the lead to Marco Melandri, he loses 2nd position to home GP rider Chris Vermeulen.

Valentino Rossi has arrived at the back of Casey Stoner and Shinya Nakano. The Doctor overtakes Casey Stoner and got his eyes set on 4th position. He overtakes Shinya Nakano and opens up the throttle. But Nicky Hayden keeps fighting back. He overtakes Shinya Nakano and is in 6th position behind Casey Stoner. With 7 laps to go Nicky Hayden overtakes Australian Honda rider Casey Stoner.

With 6 laps to go it will be a difficult task for Valentino Rossi to move into 3rd position as Sete Gibernau is 6 seconds in front of him. But the doctor is lapping fast. With 4 laps to go he reduces the gap to 3.1 seconds. Nicky Hayden isn’t beaten yet and fights back again. He is slowly closing the gap on Valentino Rossi.

The bike of Valentino Rossi starts to move around more and more. He is really closing in on Sete Gibernau, but he is towing Nicky Hayden and Casey Stoner with him. Valentino Rossi has an amazing last lap and just finishes in front of Sete Gibernau in the last meters.

source: www.rossifumi.nl

Race Results GP of Australia

2006-09-17T08:19:00.000+02:00

1. Marco Melandri. ITA Honda 25 points
2. Chris Vermeulen AUS Suzuki 20 points
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 16 points
4. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 13 points
5. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 11 points
6. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 10 points
7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 9 points
8. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 8 points
9. Toni Elias SPA Honda 7 points
10. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 6 points
11. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 5 points
12. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 4 points
13. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 3 points
14. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 2 points
15. Dani Pedrosa SPA 1 point
16. James Ellison GBR Yamaha –
17. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati -

Valentino Rossi is happy about front row start

2006-09-16T12:41:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi is happy about his front row start. In a qualifying session that saw Nicky Hayden finish on top of the time sheets, Valentino Rossi qualified in 3rd. Just before Valentino Rossi wanted to go all out to set his fastest lap, he made a detour in the gravel. His tyres were covered in dirt, but still managed to get on the front row.

Valentino Rossi about the Qualifying Session:

"I'm surprised that Capirossi and Gibernau are so far back because they have got a very strong race pace so I suppose me and Nicky will be pushing hard from the start to try and escape.

The team did a really good job today because we had some difficulties setting the bike up yesterday, but today it worked really well and I was able to qualify on the front row, which is very important at this circuit.

Because of the temperatures here we are finding it hard to get heat into the rear tyre and we struggled a bit again today, which is why I had to leave it so late before trying for the fast time on the qualifying tyre.
We still have some work to do in this aspect on the race setting but with the qualifying tyre the grip was there and I was able to go third fastest, even though I ran off the track on my out lap and then my bike did a small wheelie in the last corner on my flying lap.

Anyway I am happy and want to say a big thank you to my team and to Michelin for the excellent progress we made today.

Picture: AP Photo/Rob Griffith

Results Qualifying Session GP of Australia

2006-09-16T07:31:00.000+02:00

1. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'29.020
2. Shinya Nakano JPN kawasaki 1'29.258
3. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'29.271
4. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'29.662
5. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'29.680
6. Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'29.865
7. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'29.949
8. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'29.969
9. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'30.037
10. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'30.081
11. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'30.132
12. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'30.237
13. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'30.393
14. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'30.498
15. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'31.143
16. Chris Vermeuelen AUS Suzuki 1'31.288
17. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'31.676
18. James Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'31.998
19. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'32.870

Valentino Rossi talks about the free practise session

2006-09-16T03:18:00.000+02:00

"Friday is always a difficult day for us because we have to make a lot of changes to the bike from one circuit to the next and today was no different. Especially here, since the track temperatures and the conditions are a big change from Malaysia, which makes life especially difficult and we have some work to do.

The grip levels are lower than in past years and I think both Colin and I are struggling with the rear. For me it is taking me four or five laps to get the tyre up to a temperature where I can ride at the maximum so obviously this is not the ideal situation for me. We have to find a setting and a tyre that can deal with these cooler conditions better tomorrow because this is a very important race for us and I want to do well in front of the Australian fans. However we have gathered a lot of data today and we have some good ideas for tomorrow, so we're quite confident that we can improve the situation."

picture: REUTERS/Mark Horsburgh

Results Free Practise GP of Australia

2006-09-15T09:02:00.000+02:00

1. Randy De Puniet FRA Kawasaki 1'29.745
2. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati 1'30.310
3. Nicky Hayden USA Honda 1'30.471
4. Shinya Nakano JPN Kawasaki 1'30.716
5. Sete Gibernau SPA Ducati 1'30.719
6. Valentino Rossi ITA Yamaha 1'31.045
7.Carlos Checa SPA Yamaha 1'31.137
8. Marco Melandri ITA Honda 1'31.154
9. Makoto Tamada JPN Honda 1'31.346
10. Kenny Roberts Jr. USA KR211V 1'31.358
11. Casey Stoner AUS Honda 1'31.512
12. John Hopkins USA Suzuki 1'31.719
13. Colin Edwards USA Yamaha 1'31.785
14. Chris Vermeuelen AUS Suzuki 1'31.846
15. Alex Hofmann GER Ducati 1'31.978
16. Dani Pedrosa SPA Honda 1'32.304
17. Jose Luis Cardoso SPA Ducati 1'32.419
18. Toni Elias SPA Honda 1'32.696
19. Jame Ellison GBR Yamaha 1'32.778

Nicky Hayden better watch out!!

2006-09-15T04:23:00.000+02:00

Nicky Hayden better watch out!!!

The reigning MotoGP worldchampion is back and brimming with confident. Nicky Hayden had a comfortable lead, but the last few races he has seen his lead shrink and shrink. It seems like Valentino Rossi is unleashed and there is no stopping him.

Valentino Rossi believes again and is showing what he is made off. The reigning worldchampion has never backed down from a challenge. And the challenge for the world title will go to the wire this season.

Valentino Rossi said: “After Laguna, I didn't entirely believe in my chances for the championship anymore, but then after Brno I said to myself ‘okay, we still have a chance, now we can try. Now, my team objective is to win as many races as possible, then we'll see in Valencia."

Title chase continues for Camel Yamaha Team in Australia

2006-09-14T06:44:00.000+02:00

The Camel Yamaha Team take their global points quest to the southern hemisphere this week as the MotoGP World Championship makes the transcontinental trip from Malaysia to Australia. Round fourteen of seventeen takes place at the Phillip Island circuit near Melbourne almost a month earlier than usual, promising brisk spring temperatures and another unpredictable weekend of top class motorcycling action.

Valentino Rossi arrives Down Under on top form, having clinched his fifth victory of the season just last Sunday in Malaysia. That morale-boosting win over fellow title contender Loris Capirossi (Ducati) has left him just 26 points shy of series leader Nicky Hayden (Honda) with four rounds to go and his most successful premier-class circuit on the horizon. The 27 year old has taken MotoGP victory at Phillip Island for the past five straight seasons, adding to two previous successes there in the 250cc class.
Valentino Rossi can’t wait to get back on track after one of the most exhilarating races of his career at Sepang on Sunday. The Italian is relishing every opportunity he gets to close in on series leader Hayden and can’t wait for his next bite of the cherry at one of his favourite venues.

“Honestly I always look forward to this race a lot, and especially now, when my M1 is working so well,” says Rossi. “Phillip Island and Australia in general is a special place, very beautiful. This race is very important for my team, because many of them are Australian and it’s their home race, like Mugello for me. I want to thank them for all their hard work by doing well!”

“Phillip Island is a magic track for me. I’ve won a lot of races there and some championships too, I love it! It’s one of my favourite tracks, an ‘old style’ track. We didn’t test there this year but anyway the M1 always works well there and I love riding there. It’s very cold this year, so it’s going to be difficult with the tyres, but I am really looking forward to it."

“After Laguna I didn’t entirely believe in my chances for the championship anymore, but then after Brno I said to myself ‘okay we still have a chance, we can try.’ Now my objective is to win as many races as possible, then we see in Valencia.”

source: pressrelease yamaha-racing

Valentino Rossi launches new watch

2006-09-12T11:27:00.000+02:00

We all know that Valentino Rossi is a busy man, but he had a spot left in his agenda to promote a product. The seven times worldchampion signed up with Swiss watch maker Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Valentino Rossi promoted the new Jaeger-LeCoultre World Chronograph "46" at the famous Venice International festival where he showed that he is not only a star on- but also off-track. The crowd went wild by the sight of the Italian superstar. Police needed to help to keep the enthusiastic fans in control.

And on Thursday at the GP of Malaysia Valentino Rossi officially launched the limited edition Jaeger-LeCoultre World Chronograph "46", the first to be launched in the world. It has the legendary number 46 engraved at the back. The watch can read all time zones and it uses MotoGP track names instead of names of cities. There are only 246 available around the world.

For more info read the press release here

Oh la la...

2006-09-12T11:06:00.000+02:00

The famous Italian gossip magazine Novella 2000 shows a story and some hot pictures of a topless Arianna Matteuzzi and Valentino Rossi.

The love for each other is still going strong!

On these pictures you can clearly see that the smoking Arriana is not pregnant like the magazine suggested a few months back.

The fans just have to wait a little bit longer on a mini Rossi!

Valentino Rossi talks about the race

2006-09-12T10:28:00.000+02:00

"That was another legendary battle between myself and Loris - very hard but also very fair. At Brno he escaped but today I was able to hang on to him.

When both our bikes are working well it is always spectacular because his performs better in some sections and mine in others so it makes for a beautiful fight. I enjoy racing with him so much because there is a lot of respect between us and a great trust - he is probably the hardest rival I have ever had but also one of my best friends in the paddock.

At one point I thought I'd got away but then he appeared again and I knew it was going to be a battle to the end. He tried to break free but I stayed with him and I think we passed each other about ten times in the last few laps, it was amazing.

I want to say a huge 'thank you' to everybody at Yamaha because they virtually cancelled their summer holidays to get this bike working at the maximum again and I was able to push at 100% today. I also need to say another big 'thank you' to Michelin, who have worked really hard to help us to get back to this level of competitiveness.

For the two Honda riders to finish third and fourth is not ideal but all I can do is keep winning races so that is what I will try to do."

Valentino Rossi wins exciting GP of Malaysia

2006-09-12T10:23:00.000+02:00

Valentino Rossi starts from Pole Position after the qualifying session got cancelled, and the race officials decided to take the fastest lap time of each rider from the previous practise sessions.

Valentino Rossi takes the lead in the first lap of the race in front of Dani Pedrosa, Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden. Loris Capirossi overtakes Dani Pedrosa at lap 3 and is putting pressure on the race leader. The Italian Ducati rider overtakes Valentino Rossi in the last turn of lap 3.

The Italian riders have opened up a small gap over Pedrosa and Hayden. Loris Capirossi is trying to break free from Valentino Rossi, but the Yamaha rider has no intention of letting him go. Valentino Rossi retakes the lead at lap 7 while Dani Pedrosa closes the gap on the race leaders. At the end of lap 7 the Spanish Repsol Honda rider even overtakes Loris Capirossi, but the Italian Ducati rider retakes 2nd position a lap later.
Dani Pedrosa can’t keep up with the pace of the race leaders and is losing ground.

From lap 16 the game is on! Loris Capirossi and Valentino Rossi are overtaking each other time after time. Loris Capirossi overtakes on the inside, but runs wide a couple of times and Valentino Rossi retakes the lead.

With one lap to go Loris Capirossi is leading the race. He is trying to break away on the last lap. But Valentino Rossi opens up the throttle once again and closes the gap. With only a few turns to go, the Italian Yamaha M1 rider parks his bike on the inside of the Ducati. Both riders touch, but Valentino Rossi makes it stick and leads the race when he passes the finish line.

Source: www.rossifumi.nl