Stoner Gabung Honda Musim Depan

Musim 2010 ini akan jadi akhir kebersamaan Casey Stoner dengan Ducati. Sebab mulai musim depan Stoner akan "mudik" ke Honda.

Keputusan itu diambil secara bersama oleh Stoner dan juga pihak Ducati, Jumat (9/7) sore WIB, setelah empat tahun lalu Stoner berada di pabrikan asal Italia itu.

Di tahun 2007 itu pula Stoner langsung menyabet gelar juara dunia pertamanya dalam karir pembalap asal Australia itu. Juga jadi yang pertama bagi Ducati di gelar konstruktor.

"Ducati menguncapkan terima kasih kepada Casey Stoner yang telah memutuskan mencari tantangan baru. Dengan rasa syukur dan sayang kami dia akan selalu kami kenang," bunyi pernyataan Ducati di situs resminya.

Stoner pun tak lupa berterima kasih atas semua kesempatan yang telah diberikan oleh Ducati sehingga ia menjadi pembalap kelas satu dunia sejajar dengan Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo dan Dani Pedrosa.

"Aku ucapkan terima kasih kepada Ducati yang telah memberiku kesempatan hebat untuk membalap dan menang bersama mereka dalam empat tahun terakhir ini," tukas Stoner.

"Kini aku sudah memutuskan harus pindah dan akan mencari tantangan baru di masa depan dan banyak hambatan di yang datang. Namun aku tidak akan melupakan kebersamaanku bersama Ducati dan orang-orang yang yang sangat dekat dengaku," pungkas Stoner.

Lalu kemana pembalap 25 tahun itu akan pindah? Dilansir dari twitter resmi MotoGP, Stoner akan bergabung bersama Pedrosa dan Andrea Dovizioso di tim Honda di mana Stoner mengawali karirnya di MotoGP tahun 2006.

"Kami sangat senang Casey akan bergabung ke Honda lagi musim depan. Jelas dia adalah salah satu pembalap top di MotoGP dan ia akan membawa kecepatan dan pengalaman dalam tim kami," ujar wakil presiden Honda Shuhei Nakamoto di gpupdate.

"Honda sudah memiliki dua pembalap kuat dan berpengalaman yaitu Dani Pedrosa dan Andrea Dovizioso yang tampil sangat baik dan berada di posisi kedua dan ketiga musim ini. HRC (Honda Racing) berharap mempertahankan dua pembalap ini tahun depan, yang mana membuat kami memiliki line-up yang sangat kuat," tuntas Nakamoto.

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Pedrosa Siap Teruskan Momentum

Dani Pedrosa siap melanjutkan momentum. Pembalap Repsol Honda ini bertekad tidak membuat kesalahan dan mengejar kemenangan saat tampil di MotoGP Jerman akhir pekan ini.

Pedrosa baru saja berada di posisi kedua saat tampil di kampung halamannya di MotoGP Barcelona lalu. Pedrosa gagal melewati Jorge Lorenzo namun mampu berada di posisi kedua setelah bertarung dengan Casey Stoner.

Pembalap Spanyol ini pun mengaku hasil yang diraih di Catalunya merupakan hasil positif. Kini Pedrosa pun berharap bisa dia bisa tampil lebih baik di Sachsenring dan bertarung untuk meraih kemenangan bagi Repsol Honda di tahun ini.

"Balapan di Catalunya sangat positif bagi kami, bagi saya pribadi karena saya dapat memberikan teman dan fans saya hasil yang baik, dan bagi tim, mereka bekerja keras dan kami bisa di posisi kedua," kata Pedrosa seperti dilansir Crash.

"Saya ingin melanjutkan momentum ini dan tetap berada di depan, dan bertarung untuk kemenangan di dua balapan ke depan. Saya ingin berkonsentrasi penuh dan tak membuat kesalahan dan siap bertarung untuk kemenangan," tukasnya.

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Rizla Suzuki to continue progress in Germany

Álvaro Bautista has a good record at the German circuit over the past couple of seasons in the 250cc class, and in 2008 and 2009 he rode to the third step of the podium in both races. The 25 year-old is hoping to carry some of the ‘home’ form he showed at the last race at Catalunya – where he finished an excellent fifth – to Sachsenring and continue to improve on a MotoGP machine as his strength and confidence grows following his early season injury.

Capirossi will be looking to build on what he described as “the first real result” of 2010 last time out in Spain. He finished seventh in Barcelona and is certain that the huge steps the team took there will benefit them at Sachsenring.

Álvaro Bautista:

“The last race was the first time I have felt like I could ride the bike how I wanted to. I feel stronger now and I’m sure I will be 100% when we get to Germany. It is a quite a difficult track, but I have had a couple of good results there on a 250 so I hope that will help me on the MotoGP bike. We know we still have a lot of work to do, but as usual we will be working as hard as possible to get the bike right and try for a good result.”

Loris Capirossi:

“We must continue to work how we did at Barcelona and find the best solution for the bike. We know that the bike can perform well and we need to keep the positions we got at Barcelona, this is where we should be and at some races we can be even higher. The team is still so focused and we know what we have to do. I think we can go well in Germany and the GSV-R will work there and we’ll get a good result.”

Press release courtesy of Rizla Suzuki

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Rossi plans to starting ride at Sachsenring

Valentino Rossi will make his return to action at this weekend’s eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, provided he receives clearance on Thursday from the Chief Medical Officer at Sachsenring.

Just six weeks after suffering a fractured right tibia at Mugello the Italian rider’s Fiat Yamaha team confirmed on Wednesday afternoon that the 31 year-old and his medical team have decided that after four races out he is now ready to make his comeback. Test rider Wataru Yoshikawa, who stood in for Rossi at the previous round in Catalunya, will be again be ready to take the Italian’s place if needed.

"I'm really excited that my doctors think I can ride this weekend,” said Rossi, who has completed two private tests in the last week – at Misano last Wednesday and at Brno on Monday – to assess his level of fitness and comfort. “Tomorrow I will see the medical officer and then we will have the final decision.”

He continued: “I felt good on the R1 but I know my M1 at the track is a different thing and it will be hard for me, but I miss my bike and my team and I want to try. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and being back in the paddock; I was tired of being at home! Wataru will be there as well so if there is a problem he will ride my bike again."

Rossi’s Team Manager Davide Brivio added: "Valentino has made big effort to be ready to race in Sachsenring this weekend. He really wanted to be back riding his M1 as soon as he could and so he's worked hard to make his recovery as quick as possible. We expect him to take a couple of races to be up to speed and competitive at the top after his injury, but it's very nice to see him back with us."

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GP Aperol de Catalunya: The crashes and conditions of the riders

Morales, Terol, Debón and Dovizioso were just some of the unfortunate fallers at Montmeló. Here you can find updates on their physical conditions and see the incidents again.

The Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya produced a spectacular weekend of action in the 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP classes, with almost 90 riders present across the weekend. In total there were 46 crashes throughout the sessions and the races, with 26 of those on Sunday.

In the premier class Aleix Espargaró suffered disappointment in front of a home crowd of 80,000 as he failed to finish the race, and Andrea Dovizioso fell whilst trying to impose himself at the front of the race with Jorge Lorenzo. Neither were injured, and Marco Simoncelli also escaped unharmed from his own slip as he competed for sixth place.

The Moto2 race was highly eventful and the drama started at Turn 1 where a huge nine-rider crash involved Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP), Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons), Roberto Rolfo (Italtrans STR), Alex Debón (Team Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo), Robertino Pietri (Italtrans STR), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP), Mike di Meglio (Mapfre Aspar), Héctor Faubel (Marc VDS Racing) and Alex Baldolini (Caretta Technology Race Dept).

For Debón the crash came just a week after he had suffered a fractured collarbone at Assen. However, the news was encouraging for the Spanish rider who suffered no further damage to the right clavicle and left hand he injured last week. He will however remain under observation until at least Tuesday due to the abdominal blow he received in the fall at Catalunya.

There were more incredible images throughout the race as Niccoló Canepa’s RSM Team Scot bike caught fire after a high speed crash, whilst Ratthapark Wilairot also fell. There was a spectacular crash for Carmelo Morales on the start/finish straight and he was miraculously unharmed. The 31 year-old Spaniard, who was substituting for Axel Pons in the Tenerife 40 Pons team, suffered nothing more sinister than bruising to his left shoulder and elbow.

In the 125cc class the unfortunate riders whose races ended prematurely were Esteve Rabat, Alexis Masbou and Sturla Fagerhaug.

Nico Terol was another crasher on the final lap as he battled for second place, and the Spaniard was taken to the Hospital General de Catalunya after being examined at the circuit. When there, Doctor Raúl Haspert examined Terol and confirmed there were no neurological abnormalities and that his cardiovascular status was normal. A chest scan confirmed a traumatic pulmonary contusion in the lower region of the left lung, as well as fractures to the L1 and L2 vertebra and bruising in the left hand. His condition is stable, but his participation at Sachsenring (July 16th-18th) is in doubt.

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