2009

Chris Vermeulen backs rider aid reduction bid

Chris Vermeulen backs rider aid reduction bid

Factory Suzuki rider Chris Vermeulen has backed Valentino Rossi’s bid for MotoGP to slash the influence of electronic rider aids. The Aussie sits on the influential MotoGP Safety Commission with Rossi...

Scott Russell races again

Scott Russell races again

Former WSB champion Scott Russell earned the nickname “Mr. Daytona” with his two-wheel prowess at Daytona International Speedway, winning the Daytona 200 five times. Now Russell joins fellow two-wheel...

Coma secures stage win, Despres takes fighting second

Coma secures stage win, Despres takes fighting second

Marc Coma continued his dominance of the 2009 Dakar by winning his third stage win in four days ahead of factory KTM team-mate Cyril Despres. Starting the revised 380KM stage first, Coma was unfazed...

Support the companies that support MotoGP

I’m a bit of a bike collector. On the road I have 3 “classic” bikes, namely 2 750 Kawasakis and a T150 Triumph and a “modern” bike, a Triumph Thunderbird. I have long been disappointed that Triumph have no presence or even aspiration for racing at the top level and am saddened by Kwak’s withdrawal. The time has come for me (and others?) to support those firms committed to top level racing so I...

Sykes: “I could ride now if I had to”

Sykes: “I could ride now if I had to”

Factory Yamaha WSB man Tom Sykes is confident of a quick recovery following his 100mph crash on the final day of the Kyalami test in South Africa four weeks ago. The 23 year old crashed his R1 after...

Kawasaki UK back McAdoo team on roads

Kawasaki UK back McAdoo team on roads

Kawasaki Motors UK has confirmed official support for the McAdoo Kawasaki racing team on the exciting and demanding pure road race level. With recent signing Conor Cummins on the team’s 2009 Kawasaki...

Dakar Day 3 - Coma reasserts dominance on 2009 Dakar

Despite starting the day in 17th place, Spaniard Marc Coma dominated day three of the 2009 Dakar Rally to move clear at the top of the timing sheets. The factory Repsol KTM rider won the shortened 551KM timed special stage by 17m 49s and now leads the overall Dakar standings by a comfortable 39m 11s. The days riding saw the remaining 192 competitors head into Patagonia where they were faced with...

Dakar Day three – Simon Pavey Blog

Dakar Day three – Simon Pavey Blog

Simon Pavey used his experience gained from competing in seven Dakar rallies during his careers to post another strong result on day three of the 2009 event. The 41 year old Australian claimed an...

Harley-Davidson announce XR1200 prize money and tyre details

Harley-Davidson announce XR1200 prize money and tyre details

Harley-Davidson has confirmed today that the one-make XR1200 series that will run as part of British Superbike weekends in 2009 will have Dunlop solely supplying tyres for the championship. Dunlop,...

Marco Melandri rules out World Superbike move

Marco Melandri rules out World Superbike move

Not that there are any top factory rides going vacant in World Superbikes, Marco Melandri has ruled out saving his 2009 season with a switch to WSB. The Italian is currently searching for a ride...

Jorge Lorenzo: I want to spend my whole career with Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo: I want to spend my whole career with Yamaha

Jorge Lorenzo will tell Yamaha bosses he wants to spend his entire MotoGP career with the Japanese factory as he prepares to thrash out a new deal. Yamaha management confirmed to MCN in late October...

600cc Moto2 class to feed MotoGP talent

600cc Moto2 class to feed MotoGP talent

The new 600cc class could be used by some of the non-factory teams in MotoGP as ‘feeder’ outfits to help them nurture talented young riders for a premier class future. The Scot Honda team that will...

Can I have my bike back please?

Can I have my bike back please?

Here is a photo sequence of Karl Harris getting a face full of Tom Sykes’s Rizla Suzuki in BSB

Lucio Cecchinello rules out Marco Melandri swoop

Lucio Cecchinello rules out Marco Melandri swoop

LCR Honda team boss Lucio Cecchinello has told MCN he won’t be offering Marco Melandri a MotoGP lifeline in 2009. Former world 250 champion Melandri is frantically searching for a ride following the...

MotoGP calendar cut not answer to cost saving

MotoGP calendar cut not answer to cost saving

MotoGP team bosses believe a reduction in the number of MotoGP races would have little or no impact on slashing costs. With the global credit crunch forcing the likes of Honda, Yamaha and Ducati to...

Tech 3 Yamaha boss dismisses John Hopkins move

Tech 3 Yamaha boss dismisses John Hopkins move

Tech 3 Yamaha team manager Herve Poncharal has categorically denied considering bringing in John Hopkins to partner James Toseland for the 2009 MotoGP campaign. Rumours circulated that Hopkins was...

Simoncelli keen but unlikely to make WSB wild card appearance

Simoncelli keen but unlikely to make WSB wild card appearance

Reigning 250GP World Champion Marco Simoncelli has expressed his desire to compete as a wild card in WSB in 2009 following a brief but successful test on the new Aprilia RSV4 Superbike in Valencia...

2009 Dakar Rally: Simon Pavey day two blog

2009 Dakar Rally: Simon Pavey day two blog

BMW’s Simon Pavey raced his BMW G 650 Xchallenge to 81st position on day two of the 2009 Dakar. His strong results see’s the Australian move up to 100th overall, 14 places higher than his day one...

Dakar Day two: Coma slowed by mechanical problem but stays in control

Dakar Day two: Coma slowed by mechanical problem but stays in control

Spaniard Marc Coma had his day one lead slashed by over nine minutes after a technical problem slowed the factory KTM man during the second special stage of the 2009 Dakar. Coma dominated the opening...

Dakar: Simon Pavey Blog

Dakar: Simon Pavey Blog

BMW Off-Road Skills instructor Simon Pavey got his 2009 Dakar off to a solid start on Saturday. The honorary Brit returns to the Dakar Rally after a two-year break. His last outing was back in 2006,...

Mark Coma dominates opening day of the Dakar

Mark Coma dominates opening day of the Dakar

Repsol KTM rider Marc Coma got his Dakar off to the best possible start by winning the opening 733KM day from Buenos Aires to Santa Rosa, whilst his rivals faltered. The Spanish rider finished a...

Is anybody else need help?

Is anybody else need help?

it was made earlier this year for laughs but now it comes somehow closer to reality…

Ducati forced to revise 2009 line-up

Ducati forced to revise 2009 line-up

Ducati has been forced to revise its 2009 line-up, with rookie Niccolo Canepa now to campaign his first MotoGP season for the new Onde 2000 squad. Canepa will now partner returning Spanish veteran...

John Hopkins still waiting on Kawasaki

John Hopkins still waiting on Kawasaki

American John Hopkins is still waiting for official confirmation that Kawasaki will plunge the MotoGP world championship into crisis by withdrawing its factory team from the 2009 season. Kawasaki has...