Chris Vermeulen believes he is on course to put the troubled start to his MotoGP campaign behind him with a strong showing at Le Mans this weekend, after an encouraging first day of practice.
Alvaro Bautista left it until the final seconds of first qualifying for the 250cc French Grand Prix to grab provisional pole position at Le Mans on Friday.
Alvaro Bautista left it until the final seconds of first qualifying for the 250cc French Grand Prix to grab provisional pole position at Le Mans on Friday.
Alvaro Bautista may only hold sixth in the current 250cc world championships standings, but the former 125cc world champion once again underlined that his pace isn't in doubt by taking provisional pole at Le Mans on Friday.
MotoGP World Championship leader Dani Pedrosa led a top three covered by just 0.060secs during Friday practice at Le Mans, which ended with an accident for the already injured Jorge Lorenzo.
The MotoGP World Championship returns to Europe for the Grand Prix of France as the season enters its busiest phase, with five races coming up over the next seven weekends. Despite finishing on the podium in the last round at Shanghai, reigning World Champion Casey Stoner was disappointed that he hadnt been able to repeat his pace from practice in the race and his target for this weekend is to return to his usual highly-competitive self. Marco Melandri achieved his objective in China by improving his feeling with the bike and fighting for a top position, so his clear objective for France is to continue with that level of progression.
The MotoGP calendar itself is perhaps the biggest challenge facing riders now as seven races in ten weekends loom. Anyone found wanting as this schedule of intense racing unfolds will surely lose sight of the big prize - the time to put points on the board is very definitely now. Dani Pedrosa is in the driving seat with 81 points to his bitter rival Jorge Lorenzos 74, with former World Champion Valentino Rossi very much in touch with 72. The two Yamaha riders chasing Dani have shown speed but not quite the consistency of Hondas Spanish maestro.
Jorge Lorenzo has been given the official thumbs up to participate in this weekends French Grand Prix, after undergoing assessment in Barcelona this afternoon by Doctor Xavier Mir. The Fiat Yamaha rider paid a visit to the Dexeus Institute where Doctor Mir assessed the injuries to both ankles, sustained in Shanghai less than two weeks ago, before taking his flight to Paris.
The Kawasaki Racing Team head for this weekends French Grand Prix at Le Mans in confident mood, with both John Hopkins and Anthony West determined to make amends after the disappointment of Shanghai. Hopkins is now fighting fit again, after sustaining a nasty injury at the Chinese Grand Prix. The 24-year-old Anglo-American caught the back of his knee on the foot peg of his Ninja ZX-RR, after a collision with Alex de Angelis forced him off the track at the end of the 1.2km main straight.
The racing at Thruxton had shown that British Superbike competition in 2008 is going to be all about Airwaves Ducati and HM Plant Honda yet again, even if the riders are different this season. Bank Holiday Monday’s action would take place at a very different circuit, as the technically challenging Oulton Park played host to races three and four.
HM Plant Honda team-mates Leon Haslam and Cal Crutchlow had a weekend to forget at Oulton Park on the Bank Holiday weekend. Whilst leading the first British Superbike race of the day, Cal crashed out of contention at Lodge corner, but restarted his machine to finish in sixth place.
