Márquez back on track at Albacete

The Albacete circuit welcomed Marc Márquez for two days of Moto2 testing this week —the Spaniard’s first time on track since the October 21st crash that ended last year’s title challenge. After an assessment run at Alcarrás at the beginning of the week, the Repsol rider and his team headed to Albacete for a private test.

Greeted by sun and warm temperatures, Márquez was able to start his testing at midday on Thursday. He put in a series of short runs in order to check on his physical condition, which had obviously improved considerably. There is still room for improvement, but the Moto2 runner-up from last season was just happy to be back riding again after nearly five months out.

The two days had a long finale as Márquez remained in the saddle until mid-afternoon, steadily progressing and picking up kilometres in order to be ready for the Qatar GP on April 8th. His next testing date comes in ten days, when the MotoGP Official Test starts at Jerez on March 19th.

Marc Márquez : "Thanks to the fitness check in Alcarrás it was possible to come here to Albacete and make this test a reality. It really has been incredible to get back on the bike again. These two days of testing have been useful for getting laps under my belt, getting my feel back onboard the Suter and for convincing myself that I can ride at Jerez.

I still have a little way to go, but this is a big first step in my preseason. I thank the team for their patience all this time, to the sponsors and the fans for their support and best wishes". FIM.com

---

Dani Pedrosa calls in on the FIM

MotoGP rider Dani Pedrosa met Stéphane Desprez, the new CEO of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, when he dropped in at the Federation’s headquarters, for a meeting with Ignacio Verneda (FIM Sports Director).

Dani will be cheering on the world’s top Trial riders when they compete at the Geneva Arena next Saturday, and especially his friends and fellow Spaniards Toni Bou, Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany, Jeroni Fajardo and Alfredo Gomez.

On 21 January for the second year running, the FIM is organising the Swiss round of the FIM X-Trial World Championship just a few kilometres from its headquarters.  Fim.com

2012 PATA Racing sign Zanetti

Lorenzo Zanetti will step up to World Superbikes in 2012 after PATA Racing confirmed the Italian's signing. 

Zanetti, who shone in last season's Superstock 1000 championship, will replace Noriyuki Haga and ride an Aprilia RSV-4.

PATA ran a bike for the Japanese rider in 2011 but have opted to go with Zanetti this time out after the 24-year-old won his first race in Superstock at Monza and impressed on his way to a third-placed finish overall.

Haga remains just one of two full-time WSBK competitors without a ride for 2012.

Eurosport

Bimota Motor set to Re-launch racing plans

In the early days of WSBK racing Bimota was a famous name with many victories to their credit thanks to Davide Tardozzi, Giancarlo Falappa and Stephane Mertens, and the most recent being with Anthony Gobert in a wet race at Phillip Island in 2000. Launched in the 1970s, the brand has always been a protagonist introducing new technologies that were later incorporated into the design of its own models.

Bimota today has officially set up the Bimota Research Development Department, thanks to a joint venture with EDO Racing that will manage the marketing and development area. This is a first step for what concerns the SBK project as well, since the brand is willing to work on a World Superbike machine in the near future and is absolutely open to the possibility that in the not too distant future, the bike could arrive at one round. Obviously the Rimini-based company must first reach the production numbers stipulated in the FIM regulations and request homologation. 

WSBK legend and recent competitor Ruben Xaus is the new team manager, and he said of the whole initiative, "I've been part of Bimota for a few months and I'm trying to bring my whole experience as a world-known rider. I decided to create a development project, a joint venture with Edo Racing that could allow more flexibility and a faster service so the company can fully concentrate on the planning and prototyping. SBK is at its beginnings. In our recent test at Almeria, we just had to check different solutions about the chassis and from the next step forward we'll get to know better which is our project-competitiveness level."　　　www.worldsbk.com

Lorenzo boss: ‘＃27 Stoner took Honda to another level’

The talent of Casey Stoner lifted the performance of Honda’s factory RC212V machine to a new level in 2011, according to Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha boss Wilco Zeelenberg.
Zeelenberg reckons Honda’s 2011 bike changed very little from the RC212V that ended the 2010 campaign but it was the Australian’s skill and raw speed that made the HRC contender the dominant force last season.

Stoner won his second premier class world title with 10 race wins and frequently outclassed Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso, who were riding identical machinery.
In a recent interview with MCN, Spaniard Lorenzo explained the three main reasons he felt had contributed to him surrendering his world title in 2011.

He said: "The first one is that Honda made a big step at the end of last season (2010) and this year they have this new gearbox system, which makes them very competitive. Then Honda took Casey and I can't say anything new that I have not said about him. He is very talented and he can ride the bike to the limit in every situation.

"Casey's presence made all the other Honda riders stronger because the limit they must reach is now higher. There is more pressure so they get faster. Yamaha made a big effort to improve the bike but we couldn't improve so much, so these three things makes us a little bit slower with less options to win races."

Zeelenberg though believes Stoner’s impact at HRC was pivotal and he told MCN: "The big change was that Casey on the Honda took it to another level. We knew the Honda had made a step last August in Brno because Jorge even then was saying ‘mayday, mayday’ and urging Yamaha to make a step. To make that step we have our own philosophy and you can’t change too much otherwise you’re jumping in the same boat as Ducati. We didn’t want to jump in that boat so it looks simple that we didn’t do enough work.

"But that is not the case. The bike was still capable of fighting for the championship but sure the Honda was strong this year with Casey. For me at the moment the two guys that are a step up from everybody are Casey and Jorge. Dani sometimes is spectacularly fast but the two guys for me in MotoGP are Casey and Jorge. That’s quite clear and with the difference in our bikes, Jorge is able to beat the rest."        www.motorcyclenews.com

THE LITEUL TOURIST TROPHY

Repsol Honda Toni Bou changes to four wheels

The Repsol rider unveiled today the car he will use to participate in the Endurance Spanish Championship in Alcañiz

Toni Bou, who yesterday won the Spanish Trial Championship, will be part of the Repsol team that will participate in the Alcañiz 500 kilometres race next December at the Motorland Aragón Circuit.

It is one of the toughest endurance race in Spain due to its length, the low temperatures and the bad weather. Repsol will debut in this competition with the first racing car modified in Spain to run with AutoGas. Bou will drive a Fiat 500 with 205cv power that runs with alternative fuel which helps improving the quality of the air due to minimum emissions and also offers an economical advantage for the users compared to traditional fuel due to its higher efficiency.

That is the reason why three riders of different disciplines have been chosen: Dani Solá (Junior World Rally Champion), Toni Bou (Trial World Champion), both making their debut in circuit, and Jaime Hernández (driver and journalist specialist on circuits). In brief, a pioneer event, both for the use of AutoGas, a fuel used by 5.000 vehicles in Spain and more than 8 millions around the world, and for the driver line-up.

On the occasion of this competition, today the car that will be driven by Toni Bou was unveiled. It is a vehicle adapted to work with Spanish technology provided by Difisa, the biggest Fiat dealer in Cataluña. Several journalists had the privilege to accompany Bou as codrivers in a short stint near Palau Sant Jordi

Furthermore, Takahisa Fujinami, Bou's team mate at the Repsol Montesa Honda Team, also attended the event to support the rider from Piera. The Japanese rider had a ‘duel’ with Bou, making some impressive jumps and tricks with his bike.

Toni Bou:

"After a fantastic season, for me it is a prize that Repsol gives me the opportunity to run the Alcañiz 500 km in a circuit such as Motorland, which is amazing. The car I will drive has special features. It works with a fuel named AutoGas, which contributes to improve the quality of the air and has a much lower consumption. This will allow us to do more laps and to be more competitive".    www.fim-live.com

Super moto out of control

Crescent Suzuki to get Yoshimura power

Crescent Suzuki will be teaming up with the Japanese Yoshimura tuning company brand as it enters its first year of World Superbike action. Yoshimura will build, supply and develop the engines for the Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 that will participate in the 2012 championship, as well as supplying race performance exhausts. The Yoshimura engineers have already spent some time at the Crescent race headquarters in Verwood and evaluated the development that the team have already made with the 2011 engine. The Japanese company will work alongside Crescent to develop the motors further and make them as competitive as possible in time for the start of the 2012 season. Crescent Suzuki SBK - powered by Yoshimura - will begin testing later this month with Leon Camier who was recently named as the first racer to join the team. His team-mate will be announced soon, as will further sponsorship and partner agreements. The 2012 World Superbike championship kicks off at Phillip Island in Australia in February.

Fujio Yoshimura (Owner, Yoshimura Japan): "We at Yoshimura greatly appreciate this collaboration and it will be our highest priority. Thanks to Paul (Denning) and Crescent Suzuki for trusting our engine tuning capabilities and our passion towards competing at the front of the 2012 WSBK Championship Series. We believe Crescent Suzuki has a record of structuring the best racing team in the BSB championship series, with very dedicated technical and supportive team members presenting the most competitive machinery and riders at all races. We hope that the partnership between Yoshimura and Crescent Suzuki will be the most perfectly matched racing team on the WSBK circuits!"

Paul Denning (Crescent Suzuki Team Principal): "When Fujio and Yohei came to see me at the Japanese Grand Prix to discuss this partnership, it was clear that their passion and enthusiasm to work with Crescent Suzuki on the global stage was genuine and something they felt strongly about. For us as a team it is a significant level of assistance and a substantial boost to our performance potential. The Yoshimura company was built on engineering the best possible performance from engines and exhaust systems, and that principle has never changed. It is also very pleasing that the whole attitude to the project is of open communication and using the best combination of Yoshimura's own concepts and ideas and those which already exist in the Crescent developed engine. Yoshimura is a global household name in the motorcycle industry and we are very proud that they have shown such trust in the Crescent Suzuki World Superbike team to partner us so closely, and for us to uphold their honour on the world stage."  SBK.com

8 Hours Endurance Suzuka 2011 - Highlights