Was a bit dull once Dani passed, but not a bad race all things considered. Spies on the Fiat Yamaha should be good, he's a good rider.

Sad day. Tomizawa killed in a bad crash involving Scott Redding in the Moto2.

yeah. very sad affair.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amj_mEB51_U

Indeed, Its very rare occasions I say it but watching it live at the time, I said immediately "he's dead" (I remember the last time I thought that was back when Greg Moore was killed) I didnt even dare to watch the close up replay as watching it on the main feed alone was horrific.

Cant put any blame on either Redding or de Angelis, there was nothing they could do to avoid Tomizawa as it all happened so suddenly.

R.I.P.

When I was watching it I only looked at what happened to Redding and thats who the camera seemed to be focusing on. Now that I've watched it again and looked at Tomizawa, it looks pretty obvious that he's in a very bad way after the hit he got.

Away from the tragedy today, Crutchlow has been signed up to replace Spies at Tech 3 for 2011, Speis moves up to the FIAT squad to partner Lorenzo

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86427

Was always going to happen. Great to see a Brit back in it.

Tributes from fellow riders for Tomizawa, just goes to show how much he was liked in the paddock, and (didnt know at the time) but one of the riders who ran over him (Scott Redding) was his teammate so even more traumatic for him.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86443

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86436

The 2011 season starts next weekend in Qatar, heres the calendar which again includes Spain getting FOUR races

1. Qatar - March 20th
2. Spain (Jerez) - April 3rd
3. Japan - April 24th
4. Portugal - May 1st
5. France - May 15th
6. Spain (Catalunya) - June 5th
7. Great Britain - June 12th (The first International event to use the new pit complex)
8. Dutch TT - June 25th
9. Italy - July 3rd
10. Germany - July 17th
11. USA (Laguna Seca) - July 24th
12. Czech Republic - August 14th
13. USA (Indianapolis) - August 28th
14. San Marino - September 4th
15. Spain (Aragon) - September 18th
16. Australia - October 16th
17. Malaysia - October 23rd
18. Spain (Valencia) - November 6th

And here's the lineup for the main championship, again, just 17 riders but it could be 18 if the rumours about John Hopkins returning to Suzuki are true

WORKS TEAMS
REPSOL HONDA: 4. Andrea Doviziozo (Italy), 26. Dani Pedrosa (Spain), 27. Casey Stoner (Australia)
YAMAHA: 1. Jorge Lorenzo (Spain), 11. Ben Spies (USA)
DUCATI: 46. Valentino Rossi (Italy), 69. Nicky Hayden (USA)
SUZUKI: 19. Alvaro Bautista (Spain)

SATELLITE TEAMS
TECH 3 YAMAHA: 5. Colin Edwards (USA), 35. Cal Crutchlow (Great Britain)
GRESINI HONDA: 7. Hiroshi Aoyama (Japan), 58. Marco Simoncelli (Italy)
PRAMAC DUCATI: 14. Randy de Puniet (France), 65. Loris Capirossi (Italy)
ASPAR DUCATI: 8. Hector Barbera (Spain)
CECCHINELLO HONDA: 24. Toni Elias (Spain)
CARDION DUCATI: 17. Karel Abraham (Czech Republic)

British riders in the lower classes

MOTO2 (39 full time entries)
38. Bradley Smith (Tech 3)
45. Scott Redding (Suter)
49. Kev Coghlan (FTR)

125cc (31 full time entries)
17. Taylor Mackenzie (Phonica Aprilia)
21. Harry Stafford (Ongetta-Setto Aprilia)
52. Danny Kent (Red Bull Derbi)
99. Danny Webb (Mahindra)

good reminder - thanks.

still not enough riders, but with the big shake up of riders/teams from last year it should at least be interesting providing everyone can stay injury-free. Last year became a procession with Rossi spilling and Stoner having a spat with Ducati.

The Qatar GP is down to 16 riders after Bautista fractured his femur (hip) in practice and could be out for a long time

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90018

Friday pracetice:

1. Casey Stoner (AUS/Honda) 1min 55.035secs
2. Dani Pedrosa (ESP/Honda) at 0.158
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Honda) 0.705
4. Jorge Lorenzo (ESP/Yamaha) 0.779
5. Ben Spies (USA/Yamaha) 0.968
6. Hector Barbera (ESP/Ducati) 1.231
7. Colin Edwards (USA/Yamaha) 1.267
8. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Ducati) 1.271
9. Randy de Puniet (FRA/Ducati) 1.327
10. Loris Capirossi (ITA/Ducati) 1.399
11. Cal Crutchlow (GBR/Yamaha) 1.402
12. Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN/Honda) 1.482
13. Marco Simoncelli (ITA/Honda) 1.505
14. Nicky Hayden (USA/Ducati) 1.552
15. Karel Abraham (CZE/Ducati) 2.240
16. Alvaro Bautista (ESP/Suzuki) 2.566
17. Toni Elias (ESP/Honda) 3.088

Bloody good effort from Honda to be in top 3, could be a good year for them.

Good effort from Cal too in 11th, especially considering he lost the tip of his finger yesterday!

Not really suprised to be honest, they've dominated pre-season testing.

Plus ou can scratch Bautista from the list, he wont be racing this weekend

Stoner got pole with Pedrosa just 2 tenths behind, Stoner though was a massive 8 tenths clear of 3rd placed Lorenzo. Simoncelli was the big suprise netting 4th spot and well done Cal Crutchlow, he starts his first MotoGP race in 8th, a fine effort

FINAL GRID FOR QATAR GP

ROW 1: 1st Casey Stoner (Honda), 2nd Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 3rd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
ROW 2: 4th Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda), 5th Ben Spies (Yamaha), 6th Hector Barbera (Aspar Ducati)
ROW 3: 7th Andrea Dovizioso (Honda), 8th Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha), 9th Valentino Rossi (Ducati)
ROW 4: 10th Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), 11th Randy de Puniet (Pramac Ducati), 12th Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini Honda)
ROW 5: 13th Nicky Hayden (Ducati), 14th Loris Capirossi (Pramac Ducati), 15th Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Ducati)
ROW 6: 16th Toni Elias (LCR Honda)

WITHDRAWN: Alvaro Bautista (Suzuki)

MOTO2 CLASS TOP 4

1st Stefan Bradl (Kalex)
2nd Marc Marquez (Suter)
3rd Thomas Luthi (Suter)
4th Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki)
-----------------------------------------------
7th Bradley Smith (Tech 3) - Terrific effort on his class debut
10th Scott Redding (Suter)
33rd Kev Coghlan (FTR)

125cc CLASS TOP 4

1st Nicolas Terol (Aspar Aprilia)
2nd Sandro Cortese (Team Germany Aprilia)
3rd Efren Vasquez (Red Bull Derbi)
4th Sergio Gadea (Paris Hilton Aprilia)
------------------------------------------------
13th Danny Kent (Red Bull Derbi)
20th Taylor Mackenzie (Phonica Aprilia)
23rd Danny Webb (Mahindra)
30th Harry Stafford (Ongetta Aprilia)

Gonna be a great year!

Honda's looking strong. Yamaha's will always be up there, as will the Ducati's and when Rossi finds his feet he'll be swish. Could be a 5/6 horse race.

Great showing from Cal. And Bradley in Moto2.

Rossi on the Duke is gonna be the biggest interest point, given their awful showing last year. I really wish Suzuki would sort themselves out, they've been shocking in MotoGP for a while and didn't turn up (bike performance wise) at the last TT.

I like Suzuki.

I heard the company's bike division were struggling a lot financially due to the recession which would probably explain the reason of only alloting enough funding to field just 1 bike.

Its a really sad state of affairs considering Suzuki's past success in the championship

Well all 3 races seemed to follow a similar theme, the leader breaks away to win easy leaving an entertaining battle for 2nd place. As for Crutchlow, he had a difficult day but great move on Barbera on the final lap to nick 11th place despite his figner injury, well done.

As for the other Brits, Bradley Smith had a fine debut in Moto2 finishing in 9th place ahead of past class winners like Kallio, di Meglio, West and Noyes. Both Redding and Coghlan crashed out

In the 125's, Danny Kent took a fine 13th with both Webb and Mackenzie unlucky to miss out on a points finish. Stafford did a fine job despite his troubles to finish the race in a creditible 25th

Fairly mediocre race, a few battles here and there but nothing spectacular.

This roughly translates was "Doviziozo angry with Simoncelli for not letting him through"

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90073

Free practice today for the 2nd Round in Jerez, a track that was supposed to favour the Yamahas. Not so, Honda dominating again. You just get the feeling that this could set the tone for the rest of the year.

FREE PRACTICE TOP 10, SPANISH GRAND PRIX, JEREZ

1. Dani Pedrosa (Honda) ................. 1m 40.101
2. Casey Stoner (Honda) ................ + 0.188
3. Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) ................ + 0.522
4. Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda) ................ + 0.600
5. Valentino Rossi (Ducati) ................ + 0.855
6. Randy de Puniet (Pramac Ducati) ................ + 0.881
7. Ben Spies (Yamaha) ................ + 0.952
8. Nicky Hayden (Ducati) ................ + 0.957
9. Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini Honda) ................ + 1.191
10. Karel Abraham (Cardion Ducati) ................ + 1.203
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha) ................ + 1.753

As for series returnee John Hopkins, he was second last and over 3 seconds off the pace, with the Honda's yet to show their true pace, both he and Toni Elias might struggle to qualify

Honda's at it again in qualifying, they were clearly sandbagging while Lorenzo topped the timesheets but both Stoner and Pedrosa took off the shackles and blitzed Lorenzo's time out of the water, Lorenzo improved to nick 2nd off Pedrosa only for the latter to snatch it back at the death.

Crutchlow also had a great session getting his Yamaha onto the 3rd row but Rossi had a nightmare, he crashed out early and starts down in 12th

GRID FOR TOMORROWS SPANISH GRAND PRIX

ROW 1: 1st Casey Stoner (Honda), 2nd Dani Pedrosa (Honda), 3rd Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)
ROW 2: 4th Ben Spies (Yamaha), 5th Marco Simoncelli (Gresini Honda), 6th Andrea Doviziozo (Honda)
ROW 3: 7th Randy de Puniet (Pramac Ducati), 8th Colin Edwards (Tech 3 Yamaha), 9th Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha)
ROW 4: 10th Hiroshi Aoyama (Gresini Honda), 11th Nicky Hayden (Ducati), 12th Valentino Rossi (Ducati)
ROW 5: 13th Hector Barbera (Aspar Ducati), 14th John Hopkins (Suzuki), 15th Loris Capirossi (Pramac Ducati)
ROW 6: 16th Karel Abraham (Cardion Ducati), 17th Toni Elias (LCR Honda)

MOTO2 Stefan Bradl got pole but what a performance by young Bradley Smith, only his 2nd outing in the class and he gets into the top 5

TOP 4 (out of 40 qualifiers)

1st Stefan Bradl (Kalex)
2nd Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki)
3rd Thomas Luthi (Suter)
4th Marc Marquez (Suter)
----------------------------------------------------
5th Bradley Smith (Tech 3)
13th Scott Redding (Suter)
24th Kev Coghlan (FTR)

125cc Bit of a suprise here as runaway favourite Nicolas Terol was beaten to pole by the German rider Sandro Cortese

TOP 4 (out of 33 qualifiers)

1st Sandro Cortese (Germany Aprilia)
2nd Nicolas Terol (Aspar Aprilia)
3rd Hector Faubel (Aspar Aprilia)
4th Efren Vasquez (Ajo Aprilia)
----------------------------------------------------
9th Danny Kent (Red Bull Aprilia)
16th Taylor Mackenzie (Phonica Aprilia)
19th Danny Webb (Mahindra)
27th Harry Stafford (Ongetta Aprilia)

2 very good races in the 125's and Moto2.

Bradley finished 4th and was leading in the first lap.

I'm busy watching the BTCC at the moment but I recorded all 3 MotoGP races and from what I heard, the main event was a thriller.

Unbelieveable. Not really through exciting over-takes, etc. But because no one could make it stick!

Just seen the MotoGP race for myself and the first thought that entered my mind was feeling sorry for Simoncelli, he will win one day but that was heartbreaking for him.

Plus Rossi has some explaining to do for that move which eliminated Stoner

Well this thread hasn't been used enough this year...

I had been planning to go to Assen this year with my mates, but only last week decided we couldn't afford it.

Then yesterday another mate of mine tells me he wants to go to Silverstone this weekend! He's just let me know he's bought 2 weekend tickets. So I'm going to Silverstone again on Friday! Still need to find camping, but will be a laugh.

Should be good to see Crutchlow with the home support.

Have a blast mate.

Not just Crutchlow mind you, Smith, Redding & Coghlan in the Moto2 and also Kent, Webb, Mackenzie and Stafford in the 125s need the support too

Well....

Don't organise everything on the morning that you go.... Forgot everything!

Weekend was pretty good though, but cold. Race day was a wash out!

Some great racing though, Bradley Smith coming through from 28th to take a brilliant 2nd place in Moto2 for me was THE highlight, an awesome ride

The MotoGP main class grid will recieve a boost in 2012 as for the new 1000cc regulations, six teams have been granted entries, all of them currently in the Moto2 class

Kiefer Racing (likely one bike for its star rider Stefan Bradl)
SpeedMaster (Andrea Iannone's family tun ream so expect 1 bike for him)
Interwetten Paddock GP (Raced in MotoGP last year, currently in Moto2 with Thomas Luthi)
Marc VDS Racing (A new team currently in Moto2 with Britain's Scott Redding)
BQR Blusens (The team whose 125cc operation is part owned by Paris Hilton)
Forward Racing (Ran an indpendent Kawasaki in 2009 for Marco Melandri under the Hayate Racing banner)

And it could get bigger with rumours some manufacturers are open to returning

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/92362

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/i..._medium=twitter

Simoncelli dead after crash

Really sad.

A lot of the riders didn't like him as they thought he rode too aggressively and would seriously hurt a rider one day.

He was good for the sport - new, exciting, but yeah, maybe a bit too risky.

That said, just seen the crash on YouTube and it's not a result of driving too aggressively. Just low-sides and Edwards and Rossi pretty much run over his head as his helmet comes off. Nasty. RIP

Yeah, it's not pleasant and youve gotta feel for the two riders involved.

Rossi an Simo were good friends, i think.

Just seen the crash on my recording of the race, sickening, absolutely sickening, it really looked like at first glance that he was decapatated, it was that horrifying to watch. But as it turns out, he always wore his helmet a bit loose so he could fit in that massive Coloccini mop. Hopefully this'll change the rules regarding hair after this

RIP, first Wheldon and now Simoncelli, a truly horrible week for motorsport

http://www.motogp.com/en/videos/2011/Valen...arco+Simoncelli

Valencia Tribute to Simoncelli. 125, Moto2 and MotoGP riders all in a parade lap followed by fireworks and engine revs and then, the last ten seconds of the video are just the best way to see why he was seen as such a well loved guy off the track.

Very heartwarming tribute that

In terms of next season's lineup, there are two big factors to notice, the first is the much needed increase in bikes thanks to the claiming teams rule allowing privateer teams to buy chassis' and engines from separate manufacturers, reducing the costs of competing thus increasing the entry list to 23. The second and arguably the most upsetting from a fans point of view is the withdrawal of Suzuki.

LINEUP SO FAR

------WORKS & SATELLITE TEAMS------
DUCATI: Valentino Rossi (ITA), Nicky Hayden (USA)
YAMAHA: Jorge Lorenzo (SPA), Ben Spies (USA)
HONDA: Casey Stoner (AUS), Dani Pedrosa (SPA)
GRESINI HONDA: Alvaro Bautista (SPA), ???
TECH 3 YAMAHA: Andrea Doviziozo (ITA), Cal Crutchlow (GBR)
PRAMAC DUCATI: Hector Barbera (SPA)
CARDION AB DUCATI: Karel Abraham (CZE)
LCR HONDA: Stefan Bradl (GER)

------CLAIMING RULE TEAMS------
MAPFRE ASPAR (SUTER-APRILIA): Randy de Puniet (FRA), Aleix Espagaro (SPA)
GRESINI (FTR-HONDA): ???
BLUSENS PARIS HILTON (???-???): ???
FORWARD (SUTER-BMW): Colin Edwards (USA)
KIEFER (KALEX-APRILIA): ???
MARC VDS RACING (???-???): ???
PADDOCK GP (???-???): ???
PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORTS (???-APRILIA): James Ellison (GBR)
SPEEDMASTER (???-APRILIA): Anthony West (AUS)

aren't they all now running 1000cc machines as well? As oppose to the standard MotoGP 800s?

Sad to see suzuki go, obviously, but they've not been 'competing' for a number of years now... just making up the numbers, sadly.

They are, the "claiming rule teams" are all using modified Moto2 chassis' from what im hearing with engines built to the new specs developed from elsewhere, its supposed to cut the running costs by as much as half for the season and that can only be good as there are plenty of cracking Moto2 riders missing out just because of the lack of available rides in the top class. Give it a couple of years to bed in and we could see grids as big as 30.

As for Suzuki, Its sad yes but they did say they are taking a "sabbatical", they could be back in 2013 or 14

The lineup for the 2012 season is pretty much complete now, 21 riders are confirmed

Teams in Red are running bikes to the new CRT regulations

REPSOL HONDA: 1. Casey Stoner (AUS), 26. Dani Pedrosa (SPA)
YAMAHA: 11. Ben Spies (USA), 99. Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)
DUCATI: 46. Valentino Rossi (ITA), 69. Nicky Hayden (USA)
TECH 3 YAMAHA: 4. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA), 35. CAL CRUTCHLOW (GBR)
ASPAR (ART-APRILIA): 14. Randy De Puniet (FRA), 20. Aleix Espargaro (SPA)
SAN CARLO GRESINI HONDA: 19. Alvaro Bautista (SPA), 51. Michele Pirro (ITA)
BQR BLUSENS AVINTIA (FTR-KAWASAKI): 22. Ivan Silva (SPA), 68. Yonny Hernandez (COL)
FORWARD RACING (SUTER-BMW): 5. Colin Edwards (USA)
LCR HONDA: 6. Stefan Bradl (GER)
PRAMAC DUCATI: 8. Hector Barbera (SPA)
IODA RACING PROJECT (IODA-APRILIA): 9. Danillo Petrucci (ITA)
CARDION AB DUCATI: 17. Karel Abraham (CZE)
SPEEDMASTER (ART-APRILIA): 54. Mattia Pasini (ITA)
PAUL BIRD MOTORSPORTS (ART-APRILIA): 77. JAMES ELLISON (GBR)

Other British Riders in the lower classes

MOTO2
8. Gino Rea (Gresini - Moriwaki)
38. Bradley Smith (Tech 3)
45. Scott Redding (Marc VDS - Kalex)

MOTO3 (Formerly the 125cc class)
52. Danny Kent (Red Bull Ajo - KTM)
99. Danny Webb (Mahindra)