Oz Racers around the World – March 2009

MotoGP

Stoner crowns perfect pre-season at Jerez The final pre-season MotoGP test of 2009 has fallen to Casey Stoner, courtesy of a stunning lap time set during the 45-minute 'qualifying' shootout at Jerez on Sunday.With rain that brought an early end to that session lingering on, only ten riders chose to take advantage of this track session - the last before Friday practice begins at Qatar on April 10.

Stoner's BMW-winning 1min 38.646sec - which had been a huge 0.719sec clear of reigning world champion Valentino Rossi - therefore remained unchallenged. Stoner was visibly pleased with such a strong showing at a track traditionally difficult for both the Australian and his 800cc Desmosedici.
“I really don't know where that fast lap came from, especially at this track where I've never even been on the podium before!” smiled Stoner, who smashed the existing lap record by nearly 1.5 seconds despite the loss of qualifying tyres. “It's been something of a bogey track for myself and the Ducati. The last two races here were difficult, but we definitely found something yesterday afternoon and that made us feeling more confident about Jerez. This is a very, very good step for us.

Of the three 2009 pre-season tests - held at Sepang, Qatar and then Jerez - Stoner has been fastest in all three (see below), with Rossi his nearest rival on two occasions. Stoner was also fastest at the Valencia post-race test in October 2008, by 0.208sec from Honda's Dani Pedrosa, but then missed November's Jerez test in order to recover from wrist surgery. Stoner has thus been fastest in every test he has taken part in since the end of the 2008 season, but will be aware that raw speed alone is unlikely to be enough to beat Rossi. Stoner's team-mate Nicky Hayden was eleventh fastest in the 'qualifying' session.

Oz Racers Around the World – World Superbikes - Qatar

Race 1 Pole man Spies made his attack six laps from the end, and immediately pulled out a gap that allowed him to administer his lead until the flag. There was a great scrap for the runner-up slot between Haga and Biaggi, with the Japanese rider getting the nod. For Aprilia it was their first podium since returning to WSBK, and the Italian manufacturer's competitiveness was confirmed by fourth place for Shinya Nakano. Fifth went to Carlos Checa, the first Honda rider to the flag, who managed to hold off the attacks of the determined British duo of Shane Byrne (Ducati) and Tom Sykes (Yamaha). Troy Corser scored an encouraging ninth place for BMW, while Kawasaki notched up their first points in this year's championship with a 14^th place for Broc Parkes. Max Neukirchner and Michel Fabrizio had disappointing races, both riders crashing out.

Race 2 Spies also went on to take the win in Race 2, confirming himself and his Yamaha to be the strongest combination in this early part of the season. This time the Texan had a different strategy, taking control in the early laps of the race and then gradually pulling away.  Behind there was another terrific scrap for the runner-up slot between Haga and Biaggi, and once again second place went to the Japanese rider, who holds on to his points lead in the table. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) scored an excellent fourth place, but was unable to get in amongst the podium battle. Fifth place went to Sykes, while Neukirchner just got the edge over Nakano in a photo-finish. BMW made a major leap forward with Corser running fifth in the early stages, both the Australian and Xaus scoring top 10 points finishes.

World Supersport

The second round in Qatar saw the crowning of a new talent in World Supersport. Thanks to a perfect slipstreaming dash to the line, Eugene Laverty (Honda) scored his first win in the category. The Irish rider held off the attacks from reigning champion Andrew Pitt (Honda) to take the win. Former point’s leader Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) only finished fourth after making a mistake at the final curve, which opened the door for Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) to gain his first WSS podium. Seven Hondas placed in the first ten positions, including Robbin Harms and Matthieu Lagrive in fifth and sixth. Garry McCoy took the Triumph 675 to an encouraging seventh place, while Joan Lascorz could only manage thirteenth with the Kawasaki. Phillip Island podium finisher Anthony West and Barry Veneman made up the top 10.

Oz Racers around the World - AMA

FONTANA, California (March 22, 2009) - Mat Mladin doubled up on race wins in the Suzuki AMA Pro Superbike Challenge at Auto Club Speedway where the Australian veteran swept both AMA races.
Mladin battled with teammate and early race leader Tommy Hayden for the second-straight day but ultimately prevailed for this third win in as many American Superbike starts this season."

Mladin made the winning pass on Lap 10 and steadily pulled away from Hayden, who did well to nurse his damaged Suzuki to the finish after an unintentional contact with third-place runner Aaron Yates.
final. Fourth-place went to Geoff May who capped a good weekend after finishing third in yesterday's race. Ben Bostrom also posted his best American Superbike result of the season to round out the top five. Yates recovered to finish 10th.

AMA Pro Issues Penalties
AMA Pro Road Racing rider Jamie Hacking has been suspended indefinitely following this weekend's event at Auto Club Speedway for conduct detrimental to the sport of professional motorcycle racing.  The culminating incident occurred in the Auto Club Speedway media center following post-race interviews on Sunday where Hacking used a string of profane language while exiting the press interview area.  Prior to this incident, Hacking displayed additional acts of inappropriate behavior in both public and media interviews.

"No premier sporting organization would tolerate, whether it be motorsports or major league stick and ball sports, the level of disrespectful, profane and vulgar language in a public forum as demonstrated by Jamie Hacking this weekend at Auto Club Speedway," said AMA Pro Road Racing Managing Event Director Colin Fraser.  "His behavior was totally disrespectful to the media, his competitors and the sport of motorcycle racing in general.

"Hacking will be considered for reinstatement pending payment of a $4,000 fine and delivery of a public apology to AMA Pro Road Racing officials.  Subsequent to payment of the fine and receipt of an apology acceptable to AMA Pro Road Racing, Hacking will also be suspended for one full event weekend. 

All fines paid to AMA Pro Road Racing will be donated to Camp Boggy Creek, a Paul Newman Hole in the Wall Camp located in Eustis, Florida, and the Roadracing World Action Fund. Additionally, AMA Racing also placed riders Michael Beck, Kevin Boisvert, Mat Mladin, Mark Simon and Dustin O'Hara on probation due to failure to participate in Sunday's mandatory autograph session.