Casey Stoner set an early target that his rivals were unable to follow in this afternoon’s opening free practice for the Grand Prix of Spain, clocking what proved to be the fastest time of the session after just four laps. An effort of 1’39.731 was inside the quickest lap of last year’s race and secured the Australian’s position at the top of the timesheet overnight, despite a crash at the end of the session from which he escaped unharmed.

His team-mate Nicky Hayden also made an impressive start to the weekend, racking up 25 laps and clocking the third fastest time of the session. Hayden’s form continues a positive start to his season, having been challenging at the top of the time sheets throughout winter testing and battling for the podium at the opening race in Qatar three weeks ago.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st (1’39.731)
“My first run was okay but we had some problems in braking so we spent the rest of the session trying to improve this area, comparing the two bikes. The crash at the end was a similar situation to Qatar – I went into the corner with less pressure on the front and it closed. It’s never nice to crash but at least it gives us a better understanding of what happened in Qatar and which direction we need to take with the set-up over the rest of the weekend. Other than that I am really happy – I think this is the first time I’ve been fastest in any MotoGP session at Jerez. We’ve started out strongly, we have no worries and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd (1’40.148)
“The session went well and I’m really happy right now because this is a big one for us. I was fast in Malaysia and Qatar but that was after a lot of testing at those tracks, experimenting with many different settings, but we’ve come here and been fast out of the gate, which was one of my goals for this season – to be on the pace on Fridays. We didn’t set the world on fire or break any track records so we’re not getting carried away but the bike is close and if we can get it a little better in the fast corners we should have a good package. The team made one little change today that helped a lot and on my last exit I was able to stay in the 1’40s from the first lap to the last. It’s a good start and if we keep working in this way we can have a good weekend.”

Circuit Record: Valentino Rossi (Yamaha – 2009), 1’39.818 – 159.518 Km/h
Best Pole: Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha – 2008), 1’38.189 – 162.164 Km/h

As part of the build-up to the Czech Republic Grand Prix a number of World Championship riders called into neighbouring Austria’s capital city of Vienna on Wednesday, for a special event organised by Austrian national broadcasters ATV.

An exciting gathering witnessed by thousands of local fans saw a demonstration ride through the heart of the city with Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha), Nicky Hayden (Ducati Marlboro Team), James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Gabor Talmacsi (Scot Racing) all taking part.

Although MotoGP has visited Vienna before this was the first time in history that the riders were allowed to take their prototype machines along the famous Ringstreet, the main boulevard in the city.

Local government welcomingly treated the event like a state visit, with the Austrian police riding ahead of the World Championship stars on a 5.2km loop through the city centre. The route commenced at the Burgtheater on Josef-Meinrad-Place, along Ringstreet, past several important buildings such as the State Opera House, the most famous historical museums and the Austrian Parliament and eventually returning to the Burgtheater.

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, who is popular with the public wherever he goes, said, “It was a great opportunity for the fans to get close to the bikes and to the riders, and hopefully for us to show them a bit of our sport. Perhaps we can get a new audience that have not seen our bikes before and I think it’s a good build up for the weekend. Last year I missed the race but Brno is a great track, fast, flowing and a lot of long straight aways so I am looking forward to the weekend now.”

Source MotoGP

Ducati MotoGP Team riders Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were in competitive form in qualifying practice for the USGP at Laguna Seca today, with the Australian sealing a front row start for tomorrow’s race and the American qualifying on the third row in eighth place – the best grid position of his debut season with the Italian factory so far.

However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Stoner, who crashed out heavily at the end of the session. The 2007 World Champion is nevertheless confident he will be able to ride tomorrow although he is expecting a gruelling race, not least because of the physical exhaustion he has been suffering in recent weeks. Hayden can also expect a tough battle in an intense mid-pack, with less than half a second separating him from the man in fourth on the grid and three riders within three tenths just behind him.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) (3rd; 1’21.910)
“To be honest the bike had given us a few warnings in a lot of places around the circuit today and I’m sure there were a lot of other guys in a similar situation. The tire is quite hard on the right-hand side and needs a couple of laps to warm up properly. Unfortunately on the lap before the crash, in the most important corner for heating that side of the tire up I was held up by two riders having a disagreement and then I got stuck behind one of them into the next right-hander too. I was wary that the tire would be cooler than I needed it to be on the next lap so I went into turn three a lot more carefully than normal, but as I closed the gas on the way into the corner the rear just came around. I tried to pick the bike up and go straight into the gravel but it didn’t want to and that was it – it threw me straight up in the air! It hurt when I landed but I thought I’d only winded myself – now it looks like I might have torn something in my groin, which is not the best thing to happen before the race. Anyway, we have a great bike for this track so we’ll see what we can do.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team) (8th; 1’22.540)
“I’m happy with that. I know eighth place is nothing to write home about but it’s a big result for us and I’m relieved after yesterday. The data guys did a good job and we made a good step with the mapping this morning that allowed me to come off the corners a lot better. I had a crash at the end of free practice that set us back a little bit but we got it together for qualifying this afternoon and at the end there it looked like I might steal P6, which I would have been real happy with. We slipped back to eighth but considering that we usually lose positions from free practice to qualifying, to make some up today is pleasing. It got pretty gnarly at the end of the session there, a lot of guys were crashing and there were yellow flags everywhere. People thought getting rid of qualifying tires would make things safer but when grid positions are as important as they are at a circuit like this you’re going to have guys hanging it out for a fast lap on a race tire, and that ain’t so safe! I don’t remember a dry qualifying session with so much carnage at the end and it’s something we need to look at.”

Good news, an elusive creature sometimes. This is what I have for today and I must confess that in this case it’s the BBC who did the job ‘the right way’ in my opinion.

In the soap opera ‘the MotoGP Paddock turns’ there are a couple of riffs going on. One long standing falling out has apparently resolved – Rossi VS Gibernau, and I’m really glad because it always seemed a bit below Rossi’s usual stature.

The other, not going as well is the pit split at Tech3. In a much-publicized turn of events the crews that worked for Edwards and Toseland were swapped in an apparent attempt to help Toseland get up to speed. I really can’t figure out the thinking behind this because it seems like it could only cause hard feelings all the way around. The reported logic is that Toseland was unable to work with his engineer. The engineer was apparently deemed competent so they moved him over to the Edwards side as Collin seemed happy to work with anyone. Well, apparently not. At least not under those terms. At the end of the day it is management that is ultimately responsible for this and I didn’t see how Collin’s decision not to talk to Toseland is supposed to fix that. He has, in fact, convinced the team to actually separate the two riders in the pit by a wall. Yeah – a physical wall.

Edwards skipped country pretty fast but I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him on a few occasions and he always comes off as very low key, easy going and even-keeled. Yet another clue that this wasn’t handled correctly is the fact that Collin is still yanking the paint off Toseland’s bike in every session; so what’s changed? Who is supposed to be happy? Edwards, who got the ‘unsuccessful crew’? The crew, who has been deemed unsuccessful? Toseland, who can only ride if he gets his own way (and then stayes exactly where he was in the first place)? The other crew, that was having success with Collin and now has to move to the “problem child?” I don’t mean any dispersions towards Tosland but isn’t that what they (Tech3) are saying?

Never fear! Ducati is here to save yet another day! This is what the BBS had to say, and it isn’t the last you’ll hear from us on the subject, either.

“There had already been a sense of anticlimax on Thursday when Valentino and Sete Gibernau publicly made their peace over a bitter row that started, ironically, at Qatar back in 2004.

It was the first ever race to be run here and Vale was forced to start from the back of the grid after a complaint from Sete’s Honda team that Jeremy Burgess and his crew had swept his grid position clean.

Valentino crashed out trying to recover positions in the race and, when Sete took victory, Rossi swore he would make sure the Spaniard would never win another race – a promise he stuck to in their most public falling out at Jerez in 2005, when he punted him off the track on the final corner.

Sete announced his retirement at the end of 2006, marrying a supermodel and disappearing into the ether before divorcing and returning to MotoGP as a test rider last year. When he announced he was coming back full-time for 2009, we were all looking forward to some unfinished business getting sorted out.

“Honestly, I’m really happy to have Sete back,” said Vale, disappointing the hacks but without doubt echoing the sentiments of the entire paddock.

“Some of my hardest battles have been with him and I wish him luck. Hopefully he can be at the front again – not in front of me, but at the front – and I think we can be friends again.”

“We’ve all matured since then and I’ve come back with my hand outstretched to Valentino and to everybody else,” said Sete.

“I’m proud of the way I’ve been welcomed back and proud that Valentino says he had to ride on the limit against me in the past. I think he’ll be champion again this year.”

The pair had actually already kissed and made up – metaphorically speaking of course – in an impromptu phone conversation last summer when Sete was visiting his friend Fonsi Nieto, the former 250cc and WSBK rider, in Ibiza.

The Spanish pair were having dinner when Fonsi received a call from Valentino, who owns a house on the island.

Fonsi cheekily passed the phone to Sete without telling either who was on the other end. “It was a bit confusing and he caught us both out,” recalls Sete. “We talked for a little while and we’ve been in touch a couple of times since.”

Friendly rivalry is an essential part of racing and while it may have overstepped the mark at Tech 3 Yamaha, where Colin Edwards and James Toseland are still not talking, there is very much the opposite vibe going on a few doors down the pit-lane at Ducati.

Nicky Hayden suffered a 130mph high-side during qualifying on Saturday and when Casey Stoner returned to parc fermé at the end of the session to be congratulated and interviewed on his pole position, his first question to his mechanic before he’d even taken his helmet off was about the welfare of his team-mate.

As soon as the front-row press conference was over, Casey headed straight down to the medical centre to see Nicky, who was laid on a stretcher with an oxygen mask over his face. Casey asked him how he was and Nicky pulled the mask to one side to say: “Well I don’t feel like going for a jog, that’s for sure!”

Despite heavy bruising to his back and three stitches in a chest wound Nicky bravely made it to the grid for his 100th Grand Prix start.” the BBC

So far no good for Nicky, I guess sometimes it even sucks to be a Hayden. The quick summery of his weekend goes like this. On Friday he is forced to abandon his primary bike because of a bad sensor, likely one of the cheapest parts on the bike. Then the back-up bike had clutch problems that pretty much finished off his first day’s practice. At this point I guess you just shake it off, re-focus and go again tomorrow right? So Saturday first he blows a motor in the second practice session (first of the day). Then I guess because he’s human he’s got to be feeling the pressure to produce something as it’s already qualifying not to mention his teammate just happens to be pretty much smoking the rest of the field he grabs a handful of throttle and his bike tries to put you into orbit in what might be the biggest highside yet this year. So when the best thing that’s happened to you all weekend is the fact that they don’t find anything broken after a barrage of x-rays I guess you could say – fun, no, not so much! I’d hope, Nicky fan or not decent people everywhere should hope things look up for the kid from here.

Casey Stoner will start the 2009 MotoGP World Championship from pole position in Qatar after a dominant performance in today’s single qualifying session, which saw Nicky Hayden suffer a spectacular crash that has left him battered, bruised and doubtful for his Ducati race debut tomorrow night. The American is suffering severe pain in his back and after undergoing some initial x-rays at the circuit medical centre, he has been taken to a local hospital for further checks. He also required three stitches in a cut on his chest and a decision on his participation in the race will be made tomorrow.

As he had done in each of the free practice sessions, Stoner set the pace throughout this evening’s 45-minute grid shoot-out and rarely looked threatened at the top of the time sheets, leading nearest rival Valentino Rossi by over a second for the majority of the session before the Italian closed the gap to 0.432 seconds at the end.

However, the Australian’s first question to his mechanics on his return to parc fermé was not about his own authoritarian performance but about the condition of Hayden, who he had seen left strewn in the gravel at turn eight following a sickening high-side. It was the latest episode in a luckless weekend for the American, who suffered an engine breakdown in today’s final free practice.

CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 1st (1′55.286)
“It rained a little bit at ?lunchtime’ between the two practice sessions today but it was gone as quickly as it arrived and we were relieved that we were able to ride at all. There is a little bit of dust and dirt that seems to come down with the rain here so we knew the track conditions would be slick and the lap times wouldn’t come down much. The reality was that there was so much dirt out there that the softer compound tires worked virtually like a qualifier and only lasted for a couple of laps. Even on a race tire it is hard to predict whether your set-up is going to work because the conditions are different every time we go out so we’re going to have to wait and see what tomorrow brings. It’s impossible to guess what could happen in the race but generally I’m happy with our set-up and the main thing for us at this early stage is to pick up points, keep working on our weaknesses and make sure we don’t make the same mistakes as last year by getting to the middle of the season with problems to fix. The whole team are keeping our fingers crossed for Nicky too. Hopefully he can ride tomorrow but the most important thing is that he’s okay.”

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati Marlboro Team) 16th (1′58.215)
“I don’t feel like going for a jog right now, I can tell you that much! It was a big crash and I’m in a lot of pain so we’re going to get some more x-rays done and see what the score is”.

Nicky Hayden: “It’s nice to be going racing again. The season is starting out much later than usual this year even though we haven’t been doing much testing. To be honest with you, I’d like to have had a little more time with the bike in preseason, but this is what we’ve got to deal with, and now it’s time to get serious. If I could have chosen anywhere to be making my debut on the Ducati, I would have chosen Qatar, where we had a good test session a few weeks ago. So I guess I’m lucky in that respect! I can’t hide the fact that I’d like to be closer to the front than where we’re at right now and further down the road in terms of the work we’ve got to do with the team, but I’m still really pleased that the season is starting because I love the races, I love racing, and I love competing against those other guys. I’m looking forward to getting out to Qatar, where the temperature should be a bit higher than it was in the test, and we’ll try to start out the season on the right foot by getting a decent result and enjoying myself as much as possible. I can’t believe it’s already been a hundred GP starts – I have really enjoyed them all … well some a lot more than others! But it’s been an honor to race in Grand Prix with all these great riders, sweet tracks and the awesome fans all over the world! I know it won’t be easy, but I really hope my best GPs are ahead of me. It seems only fitting to start my 100th race with a new bike and team.”

Colin Edwards: “I like the night race. I think it’s a cool little scenario. It’s something special; you only have one a year. It’s something a little bit different. I tend to ride faster when I can’t see where I’m going. Everything works out better that way.”

THEY SAID IT: “Finally! This hasn’t only been one of the hardest winter breaks for our sport, but it has been one of the longest. After all the talk over the winter, we can now get back to track action.” – Pramac Racing Team Principal Paolo Campinoti

FAST FACTS: This is the only night race on the 2009 MotoGP schedule and only the second night race in MotoGP history. The first was the 2008 Grand Prix of Qatar …

2007 MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner led all three official preseason tests on his Ducati, including a top lap of 1:55.744 on March 1-3 at Qatar …

Stoner has won this event the last two years …

2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, from Owensboro, Ky., will make his 100th career MotoGP start at this event. Hayden will become the seventh American to make 100 career starts at the premier GP level. The others are Kenny Roberts Jr., Randy Mamola, Eddie Lawson, John Hopkins, Kevin Schwantz and Colin Edwards …

Longtime MotoGP standout Sete Gibernau of Spain returns to the grid this weekend with the new Grupo Francisco Hernando team’s Ducati after a two-year hiatus …

Three rookies will be on the MotoGP grid this weekend: Niccolo Canepa of Italy, Mika Kallio of Finland and Yuki Takahashi of Japan …

Eleven of the 17 ri ders on the MotoGP grid this season have won a world title in MotoGP, 250cc, 125cc, World Superbike or World Supersport …

American Cameron Beaubier will make his World Championship debut this weekend in the 125cc class. Beaubier, 16, from Roseville, Calif., joins the Red Bull KTM 125 factory team with considerable international experience. He finished fourth in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in 2007 at MotoGP tracks across Europe, winning at Sachsenring, Germany. He also participated in the Red Bull MotoGP Academy program in 2008, only the second American selected for the prestigious program, which grooms riders for future MotoGP competition …

American Stevie Bonsey will not compete in the 250cc class this weekend as the Aprilia Madrid team for which he is riding did not enter this event. Bonsey, from Salinas, Calif., competed in the 125cc class the last two seasons and was looking to be the first full-time American rider in 250cc since Kurtis Roberts in 1997.

Compiled by IMS

Round 1 –AMA Pro American Superbike Series – March 4-5 2009

In an amazing display of hard work, technical skill and sheer willpower, Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki were able to complete the difficult task of taking production street bikes straight from the dealership floor to race winning machines in less than three weeks time. Faced with the challenge of preparing brand new GSX-R1000’s for the season opening round of the new AMA Pro American Superbike Series, Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki worked overtime to set up and prepare the racing machines for team riders Mat Mladin, Tommy Hayden and Blake Young.

All three Rockstar Makita Suzuki riders delivered with Mladin taking pole position and winning the first race of year, Hayden posted a solid podium finish and newcomer Blake Young carded an impressive fifth place finish. Even more amazing the seasoned Rockstar Makita Suzuki team was able to finish in front of teams that had the luxury of longer preparation time for their own racing machines.

Aki Goto – Rockstar Makita Suzuki Team Manager
“This is an amazing victory for everyone at Rockstar Makita Suzuki, especially considering the long negotiation period with the DMG group, the increasingly difficult economic situation, and the minimal preparation time trying to get ready for this exciting race weekend.”

“Thanks to Mat Mladin, Tommy Hayden and Blake Young for their exceptional riding effort today. I also want to give special thanks to the entire Rockstar Makita Suzuki team for all their hard work in preparing these race-winning GSX-R1000’s in such a short amount of time.”

Team Rockstar Makita Suzuki will race next at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on March 20-22, 2009.

Daytona Beach, Florida – Daytona International Speedway – March 4 -5 2009

Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Mat Mladin celebrated his 73rd AMA Superbike victory by taking the win at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, on Thursday afternoon. The six-time AMA Superbike Champion also captured the coveted pole position in the new Superpole procedure, thus taking his 56th career pole position. Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Tommy Hayden qualified right behind Mladin and rode an impressive 15-lap race. Hayden got a rough start but worked his way up into third place. Right down to the wire, he was battling for second position and the final result was a photo finish with Hayden taking third. Finally, Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s newest team member Blake Young started the season strong by carding an impressive fifth-place finish in his first AMA Superbike race with his new team.

Mat Mladin:
“It was an interesting race, that’s for sure. It’s always nice to get any win, obviously, and with all the new stuff this year it was really nice to get one for the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team and keep that Suzuki win streak alive. Now I’m looking forward t the next race at Fontana, and the boys will be getting home and doing a little work and doing a few things so we can go to Fontana and have a bit of a go.”

Tommy Hayden:
“I felt like I was riding pretty good, and my Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 was definitely working very well. Considering I got a little confused with the new starting process and was 10th off the line, this result is all right. Fortunately, I was able to get up to the front-runners pretty easily. And with Mat being a little
wounded today, I thought this was my day to get a win but I came up a little bit short. We’ll do a few things before the next race at Fontana and come back strong.“

Blake Young:
“I have to admit it would have been nice to be up on the podium with Mat and Tommy today, but since this is my first Superbike race on the Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000, and running new tires and after very little testing, I’m OK with fifth place. But every day, I’m getting to know my new crew better and I know we’ll come back for Fontana with a better bike and hopefully a better result.”
Rockstar Makita Suzuki Factory Racing will race next at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, on the weekend of Saturday, March 7, 2009.