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SI.com (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
Ben Spies entered Sunday's final two races in the World Superbike Championship trailing Japanese rider Noriyuki Haga by 10 points. Starting from pole, Spies, a Longview, Texas native, won the first race to take a 15-point lead over Haga, who crashed, and rode strategically in the second to finish fifth and became World Champion by six points, 462-456, at the Algarve Circuit in Portugal. He's the first...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Valentino Rossi was the fastest man out of the blocks in the MotoGP class at Phillip Island, the cool but sunny weather and dusty track conditions keeping the Italian well off lap record pace. The Italian was just over a tenth faster than Casey Stoner, the birthday boy (he turned 24 today) the only rider close to matching Rossi's time. But a few spots of rain later in the session prevented the Australian...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
If one thing has become clear since the switch to the new 800cc formula, it has been the importance of the crew chief. With set up being an increasingly vital part of racing in MotoGP (get it wrong and you're nowhere, as Valentino Rossi found out at Estoril), the role of chief engineer has come under increasing scrutiny. This seems to have motivated Daniele Romagnoli's decision to leave Yamaha at...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/06/2009
The 2009 MotoGP season has seen the advent of a remarkable period in motorcycle road racing. For the first time in perhaps twenty years, there are not one or two riders dominating the championship, but a grand total of four. On any given day, at any given racetrack, any one of Valentino Rossi , Jorge Lorenzo , Dani Pedrosa or Casey Stoner can win, sometimes by a few hundredths, sometimes by a few...
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Valentino Rossi - MotoGP 2007 (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
Race results from the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril, round 14 of the 2009 MotoGP World Championship. Casey Stoner returned to action this weekend after a three-round hiatus to try and cure fatigue problems. 1. Jorge Lorenzo SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 45min 35.522 sec 2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 45min 41.816 sec 3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 45min 45.411 sec 4. Valentino Rossi ITA...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/03/2009
Jorge Lorenzo continues to set a scorching pace in Estoril, already lapping over half a second under the lap record, and doing so constantly. The only man anywhere near the extraterrestrial Lorenzo is Casey Stoner, and even the Ducati man is over three tenths back. Lorenzo's Fiat Yamaha team mate is nearly three quarters of a second off Lorenzo's time, and will not be happy, as the man leading the...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
MotoGP's current worst-kept secret is finally out: Ben Spies has now officially signed to ride for the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team in MotoGP in 2010. In a press release issued just a few minutes ago, the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team officially announced their rider line up for 2010, and it's going to be Team Texas. Spies will partner Colin Edwards for next season, whose widely-rumored contract was also...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/30/2009
MCN (It *must* be true!) is reporting that James Toseland will announce tomorrow that he will be moving to the Yamaha World Superbike team in 2010. There should also be a concurrent or simultaneous announcement that, as has been heavily rumored for weeks, American Ben Spies will ascend to Toseland's old seat at Tech 3. Perhaps Tech 3 will also confirm that Colin Edwards will team with his fellow Texan....
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/28/2009
The Spies Saga continues to rumble on. Despite the official announcement by Yamaha that Ben Spies will be racing in World Superbikes next season, rumors persist that the Texan will be riding a Tech 3 Yamaha alongside Colin Edwards in 2010. The persistently half-hearted denials by Yamaha, Spies and his mother and manager Mary serve merely to fan the flames, rather than deliver a decisive verdict on...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/28/2009
There's just something about Italy and motorcycles. The culture and economy are suffused with the love of all things two-wheel. Chances are, if you are a motorcylist at least a bit of your kit is produced in Italy or maybe your garage is populated by machines that were designed and built by people who have a preternatural passion for motorcycles. Italians love racing, too, and when you combine the...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/24/2009
The MotoGP silly season is just about played out. With four races left in the season, the rider line up for 2010 is almost complete. As expected, once Jorge Lorenzo finally made up his mind, the remaining pieces in the puzzle fell into place, leaving just a few gaps to fill. All of the factory seats are now full, and largely unchanged, with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo back at Yamaha, Casey Stoner...
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/17/2009
The next logjam in the motorcycle racing silly season looks like it is about to be burst. According to the British sites MCN and Visordown , Ben Spies has made up his mind, and will be making the switch to MotoGP in 2010. Spies is to replace James Toseland at the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team, turning Tech Trois into the Texas Two, as the young American will be racing alongside fellow Texan Colin Edwards....
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/09/2009
With Jorge Lorenzo finally signed up to Yamaha and Dani Pedrosa back at Honda, the next domino to fall in the MotoGP and World Superbike silly season is surely Ben Spies. Shortly before the Misano MotoGP round, Yamaha made an announcement that seemed to tie up Spies' future, were it not for a probably deliberate and certainly unusual choice of words. The press release said that the agreement between...
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SPEED (Free subscription) | 09/09/2009
Colin Edwards has agreed terms to race for the Tech3 Yamaha team again with fellow Texan Ben Spies now appearing as his most likely teammate.
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MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/05/2009
With the future of Ben Spies now apparently settled - though the English-language journalists continue to debate the exact meaning of the word "foresee", and whether it allows for Spies to move to MotoGP earlier than 2011 - half the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team seems to be settled, as Colin Edwards looks certain to keep his seat in the team, especially given the outstanding results he has...
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