MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
Alex Debon went out for a test lap, but was in too much pain. So the final 250 race ever will start with a different polesitter. Debon qualified on pole, but because he won't be starting, Marco Simoncelli will be starting from pole, alongside Hector Barbera, Ratthapark Wilairot and Hiroshi Aoyama, who moves up onto the front row. Results: read more
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 11/07/2009
Mike di Meglio topped the timesheets in the second session of free practice for the 250cc class, relegating the Valencian riders into a battle for 2nd. Alex Debon was the fastest of the local boys, edging out Hector Barbera by just fifteen hundredths of a second. Championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama finished the session in 4th, in good shape for this afternoon's qualifying. Marco Simoncelli, the only...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
Hector Barbera won the battle of the Valencians on the first day of practice for the 250cc class. The local hero relegated Alex Debon to 2nd place, Barbera leading Debon by over three tenths of a second. Alvaro Bautista was another three tenths behind in 3rd, ahead of championship leader Hiroshi Aoyama. Aoyama usefully put his team mate Raffaele de Rosa between himself and the only man capable of...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
Yet another unmissable charity event with a MotoGP connection, but this time in the dirt rather than on tarmac. Valentino Rossi is helping to organize a charity motocross event to be held on November 15th at the Crossodromo di Cavallara, in Mundavio, not far from Pesaro on Italy's Adriatic Coast. The event is due to feature a host of big names from the MotoGP world, including Andrea Dovizioso, Marco...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
The 2010 MotoGP season is set to be a bumper year for rookies, with a grand total of 6 newcomers entering the class. Hiroshi Aoyama, Hector Barbera, Alvaro Bautista, Aleix Espargaro and Marco Simoncelli are all moving up to MotoGP from the 250cc class, while Ben Spies is parachuting in from World Superbikes. The influx of new blood into the class - including some of the most eagerly-awaited names...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
Hiroshi Aoyama topped the time sheets in the second session of free practice, continuing the work he started on Friday. After his salary holdout on Friday, Hector Barbera was back on the front row, ahead of Marco Simoncelli, who was back up to speed. Mattia Pasini was 4th fastest. Result read more
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/23/2009
Hiroshi Aoyama struck the first blow in the battle for the 250cc championship at Sepang, the Japanese rider setting the fastest time of the day in the dying seconds of first session of free practice. It had taken much of the session until Aoyama was up to speed, though. For the first 40 minutes, Aoyama languished mid-pack with his main title rival Marco Simoncelli, but with 20 minutes to go, the Scot...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/16/2009
Hector Barbera was the fastest man on track for the 250cc class at Phillip Island, but the Spaniard paid a heavy price for his efforts, falling heavily on his back and badly bruising it. Barbera finished over half a second ahead of 2nd place man Raffaele de Rosa, the Scot Honda rider carrying on the strong form he showed at Estoril. Both Jules Cluzel in 3rd and Mike di Meglio in 4th did much the same,...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
Marco Simoncelli was fastest in this morning's warm up session for the 250cc class, powering through the morning's sea mist to lead by half a second. Hiroshi Aoyama is in good form in 4th, while his title rival Alvaro Bautista had a more troubled session, ending the warm up in 17th spot. Results: read more
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 10/02/2009
Hector Barbera leads the way in the 250 class at Estoril, putting over half a second on 2nd place man Alex Debon. The Frenchman Mike di Meglio was 3rd fastest, while Karel Abraham once again surprised the field with a strong 4th place. The two men in the title race had a less successful start to the weekend, with Alvaro Bautista getting the best of it with the 6th fastest time, just behind Marco Simoncelli....
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/29/2009
With Shinya Nakano out for the rest of the season with an injury, Aprilia are in need of a replacement rider for the World Superbike rounds at Magny-Cours and Portimao. Marco Simoncelli returns to his day job as factory Gilera 250cc rider this weekend at Estoril, and Aprilia test rider Alex Hofmann has duties of his own as a TV presenter for the German-language sports channel DSF at the Portuguese...
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/26/2009
Jonny Rea set the fastest time on the final session of practice, snatching the top time away from Ben Spies at the very end of the session. Spies finished ahead of the two Ducatis of Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga, Fabrizio within a few hundredths, Haga half a second back. Max Biaggi finally beat his team mate, setting the 8th fastest time, a tenth quicker than Marco Simoncelli. Results: read more...
SPEED (Free subscription) | 09/25/2009
But the biggest news on Thursday at Imola was the arrival of Aprilia's stand-in rider for this event, the 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli.
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/23/2009
With barely time to recover from the shock news that reigning 250 World Champion Marco Simoncelli was testing an Aprilia RSV4 World Superbike machine at Mugello, with an eye to competing in this weekend's WSBK round at Imola, motorcycle racing fans have more to deal with. Aprilia and Simoncelli have confirmed today that Simoncelli will indeed be racing on Sunday at Imola, according to GPOne.com ....
MotoGPMatters.com (Free subscription) | 09/22/2009
Marco Simoncelli appears to be edging closer to racing in this weekend's World Superbike round at Imola. The Italian posted a best time of 1'54.21 during testing at Mugello today, after running 49 laps in sets of 10. Simoncelli was not chasing hot laps, but was instead getting used to the bike and the tires, and spent the day running on a medium compound, according to the Italian website GPOne.com...
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