Bridgestone gain valuable insight from Qatar Test

The official MotoGP tyre supplier made available to teams at the official pre-season Test the slick compounds which will be on offer for the opening race at Losail. Valentino Rossi also gave an experimental front tyre a run through.

The final pre-season Test in Qatar offered not only teams and riders the opportunity to fine-tune their set-ups ahead of the season’s start on April 11th at the Losail International Circuit, but also gave official tyre suppliers Bridgestone the chance to roll out the slick compounds that will be used in the first Grand Prix of the 2010 season.

Bridgestone presented medium and extra hard front slick compounds and medium and hard rears for the 17 riders in attendance at the Test, and the feedback on performance was good in the trying conditions of the desert-based track.

Sand caused some problems in the first session on Thursday, but the extra front and hard rear tyres – both harder compounds than were available for last year’s race – helped to combat the issue. Even as the track got cleaner throughout the two night-time sessions the harder options were favoured by the majority for their extra durability.

The Test’s quickest rider Casey Stoner’s lap of 1’55.353 was just under half a second faster than his best race lap from 2009, and Bridgestone Tyre Development Manager Tohru Ubukata was very pleased with the results gathered.

“During the two days of testing in Qatar we saw good and fairly consistent conditions which allowed us and the teams to gain data on all of the available slick tyre specifications that we will bring to the Qatar GP,” he explained. “Both options of front and rear slick are working well, although almost all the riders preferred the harder options. The track conditions were much improved on the second day because of the cleaning effect of a day’s running, but we can see that the track was still not perfect: Casey’s fastest lap time was 0.1s slower than his qualifying time from last year, and even at the end of the test the harder option tyres were favoured for their extra durability as the track was still quite sandy and slippery. Many riders completed long runs though, and durability was good despite this so I am happy.”

Another interesting aspect to Bridgestone’s work in Qatar was the use of another new front tyre, which World Champion Valentino Rossi provided some feedback on in Friday evening’s session.

Ubukata continued: “Again in Qatar we offered an experimental front tyre, though a different spec to the one we tested in Sepang. I would like to thank Valentino and the Fiat Yamaha Team for using this tyre in Qatar and providing some very important and valuable data that will not only help shape the future direction of our MotoGP tyre development, but also of our Battlax production tyres.”

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MotoGP to promote Spain as a tourism destination

The Spanish Secretary of State for Tourism and the CEO of Dorna Sports have reached an agreement for the next three years. The Secretary of State for Spanish Tourism, Joan Mesquida, and the CEO of Dorna Sports, Carmelo Ezpeleta, have today announced an agreement for the promotion of Spain as a major tourism destination through the MotoGP World Championship at a press conference at the Ministry for Industry, Tourism and Commerce.

The agreement, which is for three years up to and including the 2012 season, will utilise the international reach of the World Championship. With circuits in four continents and millions of spectators across the world, the Visit Spain slogan will help to continue raising awareness of Spain as a widely known holiday destination.

In this manner, the Spanish riders competing in the three categories of the World Championship (MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc) will reinforce the brand of Spain, not just on a sporting level but also in the field of tourism. Several riders were present at the presentation, including MotoGP vice-World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha Team) and riders who will this season make their debut in the premier class in Héctor Barberá (Páginas Amarillas Aspar Team) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki), as well as the various riders who will compete in the Moto2 and 125cc classes in 2010.

As part of this agreement, the Ministry of Tourism will be the title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Japan, which will take place at the Motegi circuit on April 25th. Visit Spain will have a presence through trackside advertising at various Grands Prix throughout the 2010 season, those being Silverstone (Great Britain) on June 20th, Sachsenring (Germany) on July 18th and at Indianapolis (USA) on August 29th.

The CEO of Dorna Sports is extremely proud that Spanish Tourism has chosen the MotoGP World Championship to promote Spain as a tourism destination across the globe. “For years, the three Spanish GPs, now four, have already served as an attraction to foreigners to visit Spain, and with this agreement we hope to continue to draw more people, not only to watch the races but to discover everything the country has to offer,” said Carmelo Ezpeleta.

The Secretary of State for Tourism Joan Mesquida also commented on the agreement with Dorna, which he views as an excellent global showcase for Spain. Mesquida highlighted the coverage of the Motorcycling World Championship, which reaches more than 225 million households every year through the media. “This agreement allows us to offer everyone the chance to Visit Spain,” he said.

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Sukses Yamaha Bukan Cuma Karena Motor

Sejak era 800 cc dimulai, Yamaha mendominasi MotoGP dengan mengalahkan Honda dan Ducati. Menurut Ben Spies, keberhasilan tersebut didapat bukan semata karena pabrikan Jepang itu selalu punya motor kompetitif.

Setelah pada 2007 Casey Stoner menjadi juara dunia bersama Ducati, dua musim terakhir status tersebut diambil alih Valentino Rossi dan Yamaha. Di tahun 2009 kemarin Yamaha malah lebih dominan setelah menempatkan Jorge Lorenzo di posisi runner up.

Sukses Yamaha menjadi juara dunia konstruktor dan pembalap berpeluang kembali terjadi di 2010 ini. YZR-M1 tampil paling impresif di sepanjang sesi ujicoba musim dingin dengan Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies, Colin Edwards dan Jorge Lorenzo selalu dengan mudah masuk posisi lima besar pembalap tercepat.

Dari enam hari ujicoba musim dingin yang digelar, cuma satu di mana Yamaha gagal menempatkan pembalapnya sebagai yang tercepat. Hebatnya lagi, di sepanjang sesi ujicoba tersebut pembalap-pembalap Yamaha tak pernah keluar dari posisi 10 besar.

Keberhasilan Yamaha mendominasi MotoGP di dua musim terakhir bukan semata karena mereka memiliki motor-motor yang kompetitif. Disebut Ben Spies, hal lain yang membuat tim tersebut berjaya adalah keberadaan orang-orang hebat di dalamnya.

"Setiap tim punya masanya sendiri-sendiri. Honda sudah memiliki waktunya dan Ducati juga sangat baik melihat apa yang secara spesial diberikan Casey Stoner pada mereka. "Saya pikir Yamaha sedang melakukan pekerjaan yang bagus saat ini dan pembalap-pembalapnya selalu tampil maksimal saat ini ," ungkap Spies di MCN.

Keunggulan lain Yamaha jelas ada pada pembalap-pembalapnya. Meski belum mampu menundukkan Rossi, dengan dua gelar juara dunia 250 cc Lorenzo diyakini akan bisa menjadi juara dunia dalam beberapa musim ke depan.

Spies, yang akan membela Yamaha Tech 3, juga menyanjung kerja anggota tim yang lain yang dianggapnya punya kontribusi besar terhadap sukses yang didapat.

"Dari sisi talenta Anda melihat sekelompok pembalap hebat di sana, jadi itu bukan sekadar motornya. Dengan tim seperti itu, pembalap dan insinyur dalam satu paket, mereka bisa tampil bagus di semua trek," tutup mantan juara Superbike itu.

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Stoner: Ducati Kini Lebih Siap

Casey Stoner mengaku kalau dirinya bukan tandingan Valentino Rossi saat ujicoba di Sepang bulan lalu. Namun menyusul performa bagus di Losail, pembalap Australia itu menyebut timnya sudah lebih baik.

"Pada tes pertama di Sepang kami punya beberapa hal untuk dikerjakan dan sekarang kami sudah membuat kemajuan yang stabil. Langkah besar terakhir dengan GP10 datang malam tadi dan hari ini saya bisa punya kecepatan yang stabil," sahut Stoner di Autosport.

Untuk kali pertama di sesi ujicoba pra musim, Stoner berhasil menjadi pembalap tercepat dan mengalahkan Rossi. Hasil tersebut dia torehkan di ujicoba hari terakhir, yang sekaligus merupakan penutup, di Sirkuit Losail.

Kesiapan Ducati menantang Yamaha ikut dibuktikan oleh Nicky Hayden. Pembalap asal Amerika Serikat itu berhasil menjadi salah satu rider tercepat dengan duduk di posisi lima.

"Saya sangat menyukai mesin barunya, lebih mudah dikendalikan san saya puas bisa melihat pembalap Ducati lainnya, terutama Nicky yang melakukannya dengan mencatat waktu yang cepat," lanjut Stoner.

Seri pertama MotoGP musim 2010 akan digelar di Sirkuit Losail pada 11 April mendatang. Kemajuan pesat yang diraih Ducati dipastikan membuat persaingan di kelas rajanya balap motor itu dipastikan bakal makin sengit.

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