Valentino Rossi returned to the top step of the podium yesterday at the Mugello circuit, following what he described as 'one of the toughest battles of my entire career'. In what was probably the best race of the season so far, Valentino battled with the likes of Sete Gibernau, Loris Capirossi and Nicky Hayden from flag to flag.
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Valentino Rossi has secured his first front row start of the season today, after qualifying in third at Mugello ahead of tomorrow's race and his home Grand Prix. The all Italian combination of Loris Capirossi on the Desmosedici qualified in second with Sete Gibernau taking pole on Ducati number two.
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Following the announcement earlier this week that Valentino Rossi would remain at Yamaha in 2007, the defending champ has dominated today's free practice sessions at the Italian Mugello circuit. Valentino, for whom this is the home race, went fastest in both FP1 and FP2, closely followed by both Ducatis.
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Wealthy bike nuts the world over will be reaching for their wallets, following the unveiling of Ducati's Desmosedici RR road bike yesterday at Mugello. The L-four 989cc machine is described by Ducati as 'a true GP replica', is based on the GP6 that Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau are riding this season and produces '200 +' bhp.
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Following the recent announcement that Rossi would not go to F1 in 2007, Yamaha have confirmed today that the reigning champion will not be going anywhere at the end of the season. 2007 will mark the beginning of the 800cc era for MotoGP and a new challenge for a rider that has won championships on 125, 250, 500 and 990cc machinery.
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The MotoGP paddock will be unpacking at the Mugello circuit tomorrow in preparation for what could be one of this season's most important races. The sixth round of the season is the home race for Ducati as well as Loris Capirossi, Marco Melandri and one Valentino Rossi. We see what the riders have to say before things get underway.
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For some time there have been rumours that Valentino Rossi would have to make his decision about Formula One before Mugello in a little over a week's time. According to the ANSA news agency, Rossi issued them a statement in which he said he would remain in MotoGP 'for a while yet'.
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We see what the MotoGP riders have to say after Le Mans. One Valentino Rossi was quoted as saying 'Now we need to look at it race by race, maybe not think about the championship for a while' - did anyone expect that from him this year?
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Marco Melandri became the only rider to have won 2 races this season, with Loris Capirossi and Dani Pedrosa on the next two steps of the podium. Valentino Rossi looked to have heading towards a comfortable race win, but an engine failure mean that the reigning champion picked up 0 points and is now 8th in the championship. |
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Marco Melandri became the first rider to achieve a second win in the 2006 championship yesterday at the Le Mans circuit. Whilst the Italian rider did qualify on the second row of the grid, he had not been particularly impressive during the pre-race practice sessions and even he admitted after the race that he wasn't expecting a win. |
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Dani Pedrosa today achieved the second pole position of his five race MotoGP career. The Spanish rider was nowhere of note for much of the session, but a stunning couple of laps in the closing minutes of the session saw him knock Shinya Nakano from the top of the order with a 1'33.990.
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Colin Edwards and Valentino Rossi have concluded day one of the French GP weekend at the top of the timesheets. The two Camel Yamaha riders completed a 1'35.170 and 1'35.282 respectively ahead of Shinya Nakano on the Kawasaki ZX-RR. The twelve fastest riders were just 1 second apart at an overcast Le Mans circuit.
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With the MotoGP teams having barely had time to catch their breath after packing up and flying back to Europe, the 2006 season now moves on to Le Mans for the fifth round of the championship. Last weekend's race winner Dani Pedrosa has both qualified on pole and won at both of his previous 250cc outings to the French circuit so will no doubt be looking to put a big dent in team-mate Nicky Hayden's championship lead.
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Unsurprisingly Dani Pedrosa barely strayed from his 'business as usual' mindset following his debut race win yesterday, managing no more than 'this is very special for me', when commenting on the result. On Dani's performance Nicky Hayden said, 'I tried to go a little bit faster every lap and put some heat on him, but that dude just wouldn't crack!'
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Dani Pedrosa took his maiden MotoGP win yesterday in China, ahead of Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden. Hayden did all he could to attack Pedrosa's lead, but the Spaniard's clean, smooth riding style proved impossible to beat.
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