Talking to the Italian magazine, Rossi says “I think I can race at the top for another three years. Racing is the thing in my life that I love the best: it’s my passion, I don’t need any other motives.” Rossi is rumored to stay with Yamaha in 2011, and says that he’ll discuss his future in June. “To change, you have to think of going where you can feel better. For me it’s hard to think that there’s something better than Yamaha. Fans would be happy to see me in Ducati, but these decisions can’t be made by factoring in emotions,” says the Italian motorcycling god.

To us this looks like the most qualified speculation on what is better known as the MotoGP silly season. Reserved usually for later in the season, the rumors seems to be starting early simply because of how large of a force Rossi is in MotoGP racing. There’s still a long way to 2011 though, and the intense rivalry between Rossi and Lorenzo is just heating up. If we see a move by Fiat-Yamaha to further support Lorenzo, you can be certain to hear a change of tune from the Rossi side of the wall.

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The 22-year-old has spent the time recuperating at home in Barcelona and he has now been given the all-clear by his doctor to get back on his bike. The recovery has gone well and the hand is no longer swollen, but he needs to continue with physiotherapy in order to keep repairing the muscle around the break.

His doctor has confirmed that there is no risk to the broken bone from riding, but he will need to wait until testing starts in order to ascertain if he will be able to ride and use the brake at full strength.

This week’s test takes place on Thursday 18th and Friday 19th of March under the Qatar floodlights, the last test before the season starts in April.

Jorge Lorenzo
“Today we are leaving for Qatar for the last winter test. I think that it is important that we are there. The fracture happened less than five weeks ago, but we could not have missed this last test because it would have been negative for our preparation; we are not far from the first race of the season! The doctor has made a special carbon fiber protection and Dainese have modified my glove, in order to further protect the fracture, so we will see how we get on.”

Wilco Zeelenberg
“We are happy that Jorge will be back for this last pre-season test at Qatar! Of course we have had to miss a whole test but we are confident that we can make up for lost time because the 2010 bike has proved to be very competitive from the first time we have used it. We will have to wait to see how Jorge’s hand feels when he starts riding, but we do not take anything for granted. The doctors have prepared a special brace for the thumb, Dainese have prepared special gloves and also a modified handlebar grip has been produced. Yamaha will give him all the support and time he needs to return to full strength.”

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Race two saw a fiercely contested battle for points with both riders fighting off riders including Biaggi, Corser and others to stay within the top ten. Combined with a less than perfect set up on both bikes and struggling for grip the riders put in an incredible ride to bring their bikes home in the points, Crutchlow in ninth and Toseland tenth.

Crutchlow moves on to round two in Portimao in 12th position in the championship on seven points, team-mate Toseland sits just behind in 13th with six points.

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 9th)
“Race one was unfortunate, I felt we had good pace and were running up in the top five quite comfortably, I just made a little mistake. I was a bit better than Rea into the hairpin so had to run wide to avoid him and lost the front on the dirt. The second race was hard, I felt like I had no grip from the start and still some chattering. If we had better grip we could have pulled more out of it. We need to go back to the drawing board and work some stuff out.”

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team (DNF, 10th)
“I really needed to finish the second race after the crash in the first. To only finish 14 seconds from the front with the issues we’ve had this weekend is not so bad. I was really disappointed with the first race, with my injury on Friday I wanted to have two good finishes today. Full credit to the team they’ve tried so hard but unfortunately we haven’t had the software here to solve the issue. We know what the problem is and I’ve given enough feedback and input to give the guys a direction to go in. We’ve got a lot of work to do, no doubt, but even with all the problems we’re not actually that far away. The package, the power, the balance and the suspension have come on leaps and bounds. On to Portimao now, it’s a long season so we can do it.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“It was definitely a really tough weekend for us. We solved some problems, and some we still have to work on. As we spent the two day test and the first day of the race weekend resolving the chatter issue, qualifying and race day was our first opportunity to really test the 2010 bike set up. We’ve seen that we have the potential to do well so we will go home and start working on the solutions to be ready to fight for the Portimao races. The team have worked really hard over the last few days to try and solve the issues and both Cal and James have given 100% to meet the challenges.”

Phillip Island Circuit, Victoria, Australia
Circuit Length: 4.445
Weather: Windy
Lap Record: 1′32.402 (Troy Bayliss, 01/01/2006)
Fastest Lap Ever: 1′31.069 (Ben Spies, 01/03/2009)
Last Year’s Winner: Ben Spies
2010 WSB Australia – Phillip Island 28/02/2010

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The Italian – who was quickest on Thursday and also at the first test at the track three weeks ago – was 0.247s seconds faster than the time he set to qualify on pole position for the 2009 Malaysian GP. The Fiat Yamaha rider was followed on the timesheet by Ducati Marlboro pair Casey Stoner (2’00.512) and Nicky Hayden (2’00.703), both of whom felt the benefit of the new engine in the Desmosedici GP10 prototype on which new swingarms were tested. Hayden’s time was an improvement of just over 1.5s on his Thursday best lap.

Making it three Yamahas inside the top five times were Monster Yamaha Tech3 pairing Colin Edwards and Ben Spies. The former overcame electronic problems from Thursday to post a best lap of 2’00.988 on Friday – the fourth and final rider of the test to come in under the 2’01” barrier – whilst rookie Spies’ time of 2’01.014 shows that he is already finding a superb level with his M1 as he prepares for his first full season in MotoGP in 2010. Spies completed a race simulation on the second day and was pleased with his consistently fast times.

The Rizla Suzuki team tested their new GSV-R engine for the first time at this test and veteran Loris Capirossi made progressive improvements across the two days to post a 2’01.320 on Friday, making him the sixth quickest of the two days. He tested a range of other aspects on the bike first tried three weeks earlier and rode just over 100 laps this time out.

Repsol Honda riders Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa were seventh and eighth fastest respectively on their RC212V machines. Dovizioso enjoyed a productive two days and on the second went round in 2’01.439, whilst Pedrosa was 0.039s behind. The Spaniard experienced a fall on Thursday and was uninjured, returning to the track later in the day and working throughout Friday as well.

Rookie Hiroshi Aoyama made impressive strides throughout the two days, with the Interwetten Honda MotoGP rider ninth in the timings with a 2’01.692 set on Friday as he felt vast improvements on the RC212V. He was followed by fellow MotoGP debutant Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) who set a best time of 2’01.732, despite having hurt his arm the previous day in a slide.

Randy de Puniet of the LCR Honda team was the final rider to break the 2’02” mark with his 2’01.980, and was followed on the timesheet by Mika Kallio who completed the highest number of laps across the two days (just over 140).

Marco Melandri of the San Carlo Honda Gresini team continued to adapt to the RC212V, and rookies Héctor Barberá (Paginas Amarillas Ducati), and Aleix Espargaró (Pramac Racing) – whose fall on Thursday had no ill effects – were all present as they amassed laps on their respective Desmosedici machines.

Another MotoGP debutant for this season, Marco Simoncelli of San Carlo Honda Gresini, suffered a crash early on Friday morning. The Italian had completed just two laps when he fell, cutting short his day’s work, and was taken to hospital as a precaution. Later in the day Simoncelli confirmed he was feeling better.

A notable absentee from this test was Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, who is still recuperating from a training accident which happened two weeks ago in which he injured his right hand.

You can see the full testing results from both days at Sepang here.

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Source: MotoGP

The Monster Yamaha Tech3 team ended the first day of the second test at Sepang in high spirits after a good display from riders Ben Spies and Colin Edwards. Riding their respective M1 machines the two riders came inside the top six times on Thursday, both showing improvements on their best laps from the first test three weeks earlier.

Continuing his learning process on board the MotoGP machine Spies’ time of 2’01.843 was the fifth quickest of day one, as the American carried on his learning process on board the MotoGP bike in ideal track conditions. Work on revised geometry settings to improve rear grip helped Spies get 42 laps under his belt, and he is pleased with the progress he is making.

“It was hot out there today but I’m happy with how I performed and I feel I’ve accomplished a fair bit,” said Spies. “I automatically picked up where I left off here because my fourth lap today was only three-tenths slower than my best time at the first test. I’m close to half-a-second faster than the last test and I’m more consistent. My fastest laps were all on tyres that had done race distance and that makes me happier than anything else. It’s not so much that I got under the 2’02” barrier but I did it on worn tyres and I think that will be one of my big strong points this season. I feel like I’m getting closer to finding the limit of the Bridgestone tyres and I’m getting more comfortable on them, but we still need to do more work.”

Spies continued: “Today we played around with the bike a bit more than previously just to understand a few things but it was nothing major. Some changes were good and some were bad and I feel we made some important progress and I definitely had more grip. Everyday I’m trying to learn something and go a little bit quicker and that’s what I achieved.”

Edwards overcame a minor technical issue in the morning which cost him some track time to clock in at 2’01.897 – the sixth fastest lap of the day – and worked on a new swingarm, as well as evaluating new electronics.

“After the small problem I had this morning I had to play catch up pretty quick to the rest of the guys, but I managed to do some good laps and I’m happy with my pace,” commented Edwards. “It was a productive day and I feel like we’ve learned a few things. Everybody is testing electronics and Yamaha have done another good job because what I tried definitely has some good points and they are moving in the right direction. Yamaha might have dominated last year but they definitely haven’t just taken the easy option and sat back. They’ve worked really hard on improving what was already a great bike, and some of the improvements have really helped me.”

Edwards added: “I did more work on the new swingarm and I like it. It seems to help the front and the rear of the bike and it gives me a lot more confidence. And it helps a lot with my front feeling, which I had an issue with a bit last year.”

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Source: MotoGP

Scheduled for three days from February 24-26 the opening day on Wednesday will be for test riders only, with Thursday and Friday offering valuable time for the team riders to further the customisation of their 2010 machines.

Valentino Rossi set the standard at the first test with the only sub-2′01″ lap of the test on his M1, and the Fiat Yamaha rider and reigning World Champion will again be working on new aspects of the setting on his bike. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo will not be testing however as he continues his recovery from a hand injury sustained in a training accident.

Casey Stoner was pleased with the reaction of the new engine in the Desmosedici GP10 of the Ducati Marlboro team, as was team-mate Nicky Hayden, and the duo will again focus on finding their comfort zones. Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa was happy with his RC212V after the first test and both he and team-mate Andrea Dovizioso will maintain their acclimatisation to the bike.

Rizla Suzuki will have their new GSV-R engine for Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista to test, and Monster Yamaha Tech3 pairing Ben Spies and Colin Edwards will look to build on what was a pleasing opening test on their M1 machines. Pramac Racing’s Aleix Espargaró and Mika Kallio will have their second rides on the GP10, and Marco Melandri (San Carlo Honda Gresini) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) will both persist with the RC212V.

Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP), Héctor Barberá (Paginas Amarillas Ducati) and Marco Simoncelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will all gain more important experience ahead of their debut seasons in the premier class.

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In 2009 Valentino Rossi took his ninth world title, a seventh in the premier class, as he continued his incredible World Championship career which has so far spanned 14 spectacular seasons. Turning 31 years of age today, Rossi is showing no signs of slowing down in his pursuit of further success.

Taking last year’s title in one of his toughest seasons to date, the Italian enjoyed six wins in a season which saw him and his rivals all make mistakes at times as they pushed each other to unexpectedly great heights. Rossi’s duel with his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo reached epic proportions with the Battle of Barcelona due to go down in history as one of the greatest ever, Rossi triumphing with an audacious last-corner move that saw him win by just thousandths of a second.

His incredible run of Mugello victories came to an end but he made up for it with a perfect performance at his home track of Misano when he also took one of his seven pole positions. His victory in Holland was the 100th win of his career, and he finally secured the title at Sepang and will come out all guns blazing in 2010 as he looks to make it ten.

Born in Urbino, Italy on 16th February 1979, Rossi rode bikes from an early age under the influence of his father Graziano, a former Grand Prix winner. Rossi junior started in go-karts, but before long was riding minimotos and became regional champion in 1992. He quickly rose through the ranks, winning the Italian Sport Production Championship in 1994 and the Italian 125cc Championship in 1995 (alongside third place in the European Championship), and the following year made his World Championship debut.

His first Grand Prix came at Malaysia and Rossi ended the season in ninth place, having won his first race at Brno. The following year he became the youngest ever rider to win the 125cc World Championship, winning eleven races along the way with Aprilia. He repeated the feat in the 250cc class, taking second place in his first year in the category before becoming World Champion in 1999, once again with Aprilia.

In 2000 he entered a new phase of his career when he joined forces with Honda in the 500cc class. As he had done in both the 125cc and 250cc classes, it took Rossi just a season to settle, and he finished second in his debut premier class campaign as he won two races and finished on the podium a total of ten times. The following season, Rossi was crowned the last Champion of the 500cc era as he won 11 times throughout the season, starting a run of five consecutive premier class titles as he took his first title at the elite level and engaged in an engrossing battle with rival Max Biaggi.

Taking a dominant hold, Rossi was again World Champion in 2002 as he adapted seamlessly to the 4-stroke bikes, sealing the title with victory in Rio de Janeiro as he won 11 races and finished on the podium in all but one of the 16 races.

In 2003 he completed a fine achievement as he finished on the podium in all 16 races of the campaign, and marked his fourth and final season with Honda with a third straight title. By this stage his entertaining celebrations were becoming widely recognised as his trademark.

Rossi made history by moving to Yamaha in 2004 and in winning the season-opening Grand Prix in South Africa he became the first rider in the history of the sport to win back-to-back premier class races for different manufacturers. He went on to win nine out of 16 races, clinching the World Championship title – Yamaha’s first for 12 years – with victory at the penultimate Grand Prix in Phillip Island. A final win at the Valencia Grand Prix also ensured that the Yamaha Factory Team won the team title.

He dominated the 2005 season, winning 11 races in total, taking five pole positions and only finishing off the podium once. In doing so Rossi became one of only five riders in the history of the sport to win the premier class title on five occasions. He also helped Yamaha to win the manufacturers and team titles, ensuring Yamaha celebrated its 50th Anniversary with one of its best ever years in Grand Prix.

2006 saw him finish World Champion runner-up for only the second time in his premier class career, having lost the title to Honda’s Nicky Hayden by just five points following a final-race showdown in Valencia. Rossi still managed five race wins and finished on the podium ten times.

Rossi took four race wins in 2007 and several podiums in what was one of his toughest seasons, as he was limited by technical and tyre problems as well as bad luck. The Italian missed out on the runner-up spot in the Championship by just one point after his final race was wrecked by injury, and third place was his lowest Championship finish since his rookie year in 1996.

Rossi returned to winning form in 2008 and recaptured the MotoGP title, winning nine races and standing on the podium at 16 out of 18 rounds. His results included a seventh straight win at Mugello, a titanic duel with Casey Stoner in Laguna Seca (where Rossi had never previously won) and an historic victory at hurricane-struck Indianapolis. Rossi eventually took the title with a victory at Yamaha’s home track in Japan, with three races to go. It was his eighth career title and his third with Yamaha.

As he turns 31 Rossi embarks on his seventh season with Yamaha, and continues to have the support of his long-standing Crew Chief, Jeremy Burgess, who moved from Honda to work with him at Yamaha Factory Racing in 2004.

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Source: MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo underwent an operation on his right hand on Thursday, after a motocross training accident near Montmeló.

The 22 year-old Spanish rider, who was runner-up in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, fell in a slow corner when doing approximately 30 km/h and hurt his right hand as he landed.

Lorenzo was immediately taken to the Capio Hospital General de Catalunya where it was discovered he had a fracture at the base of the first metacarpal and a displaced thumb. Doctor Augusto J. Casanovas made an open reduction and osteosynthesis with a small titanium plate, and Lorenzo will require hand protection for four to six weeks.

The Fiat Yamaha rider left the hospital on Friday morning and returned to his home to begin his recuperation. He will not participate in the Sepang test, which is scheduled for February 25-26, but is expected to make a full recovery in time for the final pre-season test in Qatar, which is due to take place from March 18-19.

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Source: MotoGP

Riders James Toseland and Cal Crutchlow revealed their 2010 YZF-R1 racebikes then took time to answer questions about their upcoming season. Both two-time World Superbike champion Toseland and reigning World Supersport champion Crutchlow have the potential to fight for the championship title this year.

New racing developments to the 2010 bike based upon the production crossplane crankshaft R1 include:

• Increased engine power – Maximum engine power increased by 8hp, considerable power benefits over the full rev range.

• Weight reduction – Overall bike weight reduced by 3kg without losing the electric starter.

• Different radiator shape – For increased cooling capacity and also to reduce drag.

• Different fuel tank – Now made entirely from carbon fiber with greater capability and lighter.

• Re-designed bottom fairing – Narrower design for less drag, design allows for easier heat dispersal

• New exhaust system – For increased power in the middle of the rev range.

James Toseland, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“The first race is coming up in two weeks and testing has been really promising after riding a GP bike for two years. After the test in Phillip island personally and machinery wise everything should be set to compete at the front from the first race.”

Cal Crutchlow, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team
“I’m looking forward to the year ahead, it’s going to be a good challenge, but tough! Testing has gone well, hopefully we can turn that into good results from the first few races and build from there. I know we can do a good job.”

Laurens Klein Koerkamp, Yamaha Motor Europe Racing Manager
“After an incredibly successful season last year it’s back to business. We have two new riders and we’ve taken the bike to the next level over the winter, we want to keep the world title at Yamaha. The grid is looking really tough this year but we have two of the toughest guys at the front.”

Nando Sarzi, Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa CEO
“We were delighted to be able to join up with Yamaha in Monza in 2009, it was amazing to be able to share the year of successful racing together. We are very excited about 2010 and are looking forward to more success and our relationship continuing to develop.”

Sterilgarda joined up with Yamaha as a key Sponsor midway through the 2009 race season at the Monza round in Italy. The relationship has continued to grow successfully with Sterilgarda sharing in the championship success of 2009. For 2010 Yamaha and Sterilgarda have remained committed to strengthening their partnership further and continuing to work closely together, sharing a common passion for racing and the desire to be the best.

Sterilgarda Alimenti Spa is the second largest UHT dairy manufacturer in Italy, operating from their headquarters in Castiglione delle Stiviere (Mantova, Italy) with a turnover of 258 million € (2009), main products include UHT milk and cream, béchamel sauce, pudding, yogurt, mascarpone, fruit juices and soft drinks.

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Refreshed after a long winter break and boosted by the impressive performance of Yamaha’s new 2010 YZR-M1 machine, Colin Edwards produced a stunning return to MotoGP action at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia today.

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider ended the first day of 2010 pre-season testing with the third fastest time, a best lap of 2’01.932 only bettered by Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner as the MotoGP paddock reconvened after a three-month winter break.

Edwards completed 48 laps in typically demanding Sepang conditions as air temperatures reached close to 40°C and track temperatures hitting a searing 60°C. Edwards, who finished fifth in last year’s MotoGP World Championship, was one of four riders who managed to lap under the existing lap record and he finished just 0.030s behind Stoner. The Texan was thrilled with the performance of Yamaha’s new 2010 YZR-M1 machine, particularly with bottom end performance on the in-line four-cylinder motor.

Ben Spies kicked off his 2010 challenge with a fastest lap of 2’03.142 helping the reigning superbike champion secure 12th spot. A chronic bout of jetlag after the long trip to Kuala Lumpur stopped Spies from displaying his true potential, with the Texan continuing to adjust to the prototype YZR-M1 machine while also trying to learn the long and technical Sepang circuit.

Colin Edwards

“After I blew off a few cobwebs this morning I’ve got to say the bike worked really great and a big thanks to Yamaha. They have impressed me because we knew it was a big challenge to achieve a high level of performance while also getting more durability out of the engine for the new rules. And they have done that and I’m really happy, so I’m already excited about the new season.”

“The engine seems much better off the bottom. Last year I’d open the throttle and nothing really happened, but this year there’s a response when you push. I never even touched the bike today, I just got on it and rode it and it felt really natural and I could do what I wanted with it. It accelerated how I wanted, I could hold a line how I wanted and I was riding round talking to myself inside my helmet saying ‘how much fun is this?’ When the bike does what you ask, it’s pretty easy. It was a great way to start what hopefully is going to be another successful year with Hervé Poncharal and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team.”

Ben Spies

“I tried as hard as I could for the first day but I’ve got a little bit of jetlag and I wasn’t at 100%. Despite that the new bike is really good. I got behind a couple of people and the engine performance was really good and that is a real positive. I’m still working on my mid-corner speed and trusting the Bridgestone tyres and today was still a good day even if I’d like to have been a bit further up the timesheets. My times aren’t far off on a track that these guys know like the back of their hand, so I know there is plenty more to come from me.”

“My guys asked me what I need to work on for tomorrow and right now it’s just me. There’s a good half-a-second just in myself. I’ve got a lot to learn and it takes time. I’ve already been getting a lot of help and advice from Colin about the track and that is great for me and for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team that we are working together like that.”

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Source: MotoGP