Oz Racers around the World – June 2009

MotoGP – Assen

Valentino Rossi won his 100th Grand Prix, took his second triumph in succession and became the leader of the MotoGP World Championship with a stellar performance at the Alice TT Assen. The vintage Rossi performance was celebrated with his unravelling a backdrop and posing for a classic photo with antiquated cameras, the Italian’s latest post-race show with his faithful fan club.

Teammate Jorge Lorenzo was once again forced to settle for second place, his third on the bounce. The Spaniard got off to a bad start from third on the grid and, although he was able to fight back up to the front, could not provide Rossi with the same challenge that he had done last time out.

Ducati Marlboro’s Casey Stoner completed the podium with a solitary ride chasing Lorenzo. The Australian now trails Rossi and his Spanish rival in the overall standings after the trio had been level on points heading in to the Assen race. Colin Edwards equaled his best result of the year with fourth place, at the end of an enthralling battle between Rizla Suzuki’s Chris Vermeulen.

Repsol Honda riders Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso had been in with a shout at the rostrum, but both took tumbles before the race took its full shape.

For the second race in succession Casey Stoner was totally physically exhausted after finishing in third place at Assen, but it is hoped he will be fit to ride properly next weekend. The Ducati Marlboro team has been doing everything they can to help Australian former World Champion Casey Stoner recover from what appeared to be severe exhaustion following the race at the Assen. Like at Barcelona, Stoner crossed the line third behind championship rivals Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, though on this occasion he was even more run down than at Catalunya, unable to attend post-race media briefings and receiving treatment from Clinica Mobile staff in his motorhome.

Ducati’s MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo spoke to motogp.com on Saturday afternoon in the Netherlands, saying, “There is something wrong with Casey and we are trying to understand what is wrong and trying to help. Dr Claudio Macchiagodena from Clinica Mobile has done a lot to help after the race and he has some ideas for Laguna so let’s just hope.”

Stoner was quoted by Ducati as stating, “I’ve been feeling fine all week but started to feel run down again on Friday and I’ve just got worse as the weekend has gone on. I’ve taken every kind of supplement and vitamin tablet you can think of but nothing seems to have worked, so it is obviously something we need to have looked at closer because I can’t keep going like this and it is costing us points.”

“Thankfully I had a fantastic bike underneath me again today and I owe the team for that. A big thanks also to Dr Macchiagodena and our physio Freddie (Dente), who took good care of me both in Catalunya and here. Unfortunately we don’t have much time to get fit for Laguna but we’ll see what we can do.”

World Superbikes

Donington - UK

Ben Spies (Yamaha) pulled off another amazing double triumph in the ninth round of the Hannspree FIM Superbike World Championship in front of 61,000 spectators at Donington Park. The Texan has now reduced the 48 point gap at the top of the table to 14 from Noriyuki Haga (Ducati), who crashed in race 2, picking up a broken vertebra in the process. Haga's Italian team-mate Michel Fabrizio was third in race 2 and is now 51 points behind. Aprilia had a good first race, with Max Biaggi second at the finish, while the best of the numerous British platoon present at Donington was Leon Haslam (Honda), who finished second to Spies in race 2.

Race 1

Spies continued to steamroller his way to the wins in World Superbike as he took his ninth victory of the year in the first race. After setting his eighth pole in qualifying, the Texan rider dominated the 23-lap race but was shadowed all the way by Max Biaggi (Aprilia). The Italian ran faultlessly in second until the final lap, when Ben upped the ante to power to the chequered flag, but Biaggi also encountered a fuel problem a couple of hundred metres from the flag and risked losing out on second. Third went to point’s leader Haga, who limited the damage in a race where he was not in a position to challenge for the win.

Ben Spies: "It was a tough race for us, Max was there the whole time and we were both able to do quick laps. I got a bit of a gap then made a couple of mistakes and he got back on me. The last three laps I rode as hard as I could, we got down to the 30s, then I couldn't hear Max coming into the chicane on the last lap so knew something was wrong and I took the last corners easy. We can't be too conservative now; we have to claw back and get a whole lot of points in a couple of races."

Max Biaggi: "I am very happy with this result after a very hard decision we made in free practice and qualifying. Yesterday we found a way to go fast and we made the right choice in tyres and the balance was correct. In the warm-up we had some problems but for the race we fixed most of them. Just on the last lap at the last chicane we had some trouble, I don't know what, the bike just stopped and then went back again in the last few metres before the flag. I think I deserved second!"

Noriyuki Haga: "I tried to do my best but the front two guys were very fast. I tried to catch up for the victory but I had to settle for third position. Of course during the laps I tried to push and catch them up but it was quite difficult. Our package was quite different but for the next race we try to change something to improve the riding of the bike."

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha; 2. Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia; 3. Haga N. (JPN) Ducati;

Race 2

Spies also dominated the second race, but this time without any pressure from his rivals. The Yamaha man immediately pulled away at the start to pick up a seven second lead, which he administered easily to pick up his tenth win of the year. Spies' double coincided with a disaster for Haga, who crashed out of second place on lap 5 while trying to make up ground on the leader. The Japanese rider was taken to hospital in Derby with a fractured vertebra and other injuries. Race 2 saw a British rider on the podium, thanks to Haslam, who held off Fabrizio. Both Aprilia riders crashed out, Biaggi suffering a hairline crack in his right foot in the process.

Ben Spies: "It was a picture perfect weekend; I know Haga had a big crash and hope he's OK. That's not the way you want to do it but you've got to capitalize when things go wrong. The track was definitely hot in the second race and a little bit slick so we made some changes to the bike that made it better. Fortunately we didn't have to push to the absolute limit but it all worked great today."

Leon Haslam: "We've been struggling for the past few rounds with unknown circuits and I really wanted to get on that podium today. I feel good, obviously feel sorry for Haga because I was pushing him hard and I was pretty happy to get second. In the first race I was really suffering from chatter but everyone in the team has been behind me all weekend so a big thanks to them."

Results: 1. Spies B. (USA) Yamaha; 2. Haslam L. (GBR) Honda; 3. Fabrizio M. (ITA) Ducati;

14. Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki;

Points (after 9 of 14 rounds): 1. Haga 308; 2. Spies 294; 3. Fabrizio 257;

World Supersport

Coventry man Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha t) had a terrific homecoming race at the Donington circuit as he shrugged off the broken ankle he picked up in qualifying to take a dominant fourth win of the year. His chief rival in the title battle Eugene Laverty (Honda), together with Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) tried hard in the early stages, but the Irishman crashed at the Melbourne Hairpin and the Spaniard had to take second best after Crutchlow upped the pace in the final part. Laverty rejoined and worked his way back up the field from 22nd place to fifth overall. It was a great result for veteran Australian Garry McCoy, who gave Triumph its first ever podium in Supersport. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) could only finish fourth and is now 64 points away from the top of the standings, while team-mate Andrew Pitt fared even worse to finish in tenth.

Results: 1. Crutchlow C. (GBR) Yamaha; 2. Lascorz J. (ESP) Kawasaki; 3. McCoy G. (AUS) Triumph;

Points (after 9 of 14 rounds): 1. Crutchlow 185; 2. Laverty 157; 3. Sofuoglu 121; 5. Pitt 79; 6. West 75; 8. Aitchison 61; 9. McCoy 55.

AMA (June 6, 2009)

In a cool and rainy day, Mat Mladin continued to roll in AMA Superbike with another victory in the first day of the Suzuki Superbike Doubleheader.

Despite putting the No. 7 Suzuki GSX-R1000 on pole Friday, Mladin had to overcome a few challenges to win today. First, he encountered a clutch problem that prevented him from participating in the 10-minute warm up just prior to the race. Because of that and the fact that track conditions were less than ideal, Mladin dropped back a few positions at the start.

He quickly worked his way back toward the front of the field and took the lead from Larry Pegram’s Ducati 1098R heading into Turn 3 on the second lap. Mladin would not be challenged from that point on and he went on to score his ninth win in 10 tries this season.

"We had a bit of a problem in the warm up so we didn't get to do any laps," Mladin said. "So the first lap, lap and a half, of the race I was trying to get the feel of the racetrack because I didn't know how it was going to be. It worked out good for us, though. After that first lap, I got a bit of a feel for it and the Suzuki felt good. I decided to have a go at it. I just kept trying to go."

Finishing an impressive second was Michael Laverty on the No. 8 GSX-R1000. The 2007 British Supersport champion was well suited for the tricky conditions and charged from 11th on the grid to score his best American Superbike result to date. He also turned the fastest lap in the race at 2:30.803.

"A lot of people in the American paddock don't know who I am yet," Laverty said. "If I hadn't gotten such a bad start, I probably could have raced Mat for the win, but I just had to come back through from 11th. By the time I got through to second, he already had quite a gap, but at the end of the day, Mat is one of the best Superbike riders in the world and I was pushing him pretty hard towards the end.

Completing the podium was Ben Bostrom with a third-place performance on the No. 2 Yamaha R1. It was Bostrom's fourth podium result in his past five American Superbike starts.

Isle of Man TT – June 2009

After days of domination by 14-times TT winner John McGuinness, a new name tops the timesheets for fastest lap in practice for the 2009 Isle of Man TT.

And what a way to move to the head of the standings with an unofficial lap record and the first ever circuit of the legendary Mountain course at an average speed of more than 131mph!

TAS Suzuki’s Cameron Donald, on his fourth lap in the fifth practice session, hooked up a perfect lap to cross the line in 17m 13.25secs, an average speed of 131.457mph.

Fans watching this incredible feat unfolding saw the Australian complete the run to Ballaugh Bridge at an average of 140.428mph, after roaring through the Sulby speed trap at 188mph – more than 4mph slower than the night’s fastest speed, set by Guy Martin, Donald upped his pace to raise his average to 143.897mph. Even at the Bungalow his speed was only 0.024 off 140mph!

Initially it was Hydrex Honda’s Martin who had the led the way in the Superbike class, only to be outdone by TAS Suzuki Bruce Anstey. The Kiwi’s 130.129mph average on lap two, only slightly slower then the benchmark set by McGuinness on Wednesday, had looked good enough for him to finish the evening on top – until his teammate blitzed the Mountain course.

Donald’s awesome performance overshadowed some stunning superbike runs from others, including a notable 129.027mph from Honda-mounted Ian Hutchinson, a 128.982mph from HM Plant Honda’s Steve Plater and a fantastic 128.334mph from Manxman Conor Cummins.

McGuinness, who has been dominating the headlines during practice week suffered mechanical issues with his HM Plant Honda superbike and was unable to fight for a place at the top of the leaderboard.

While Donald’s sensational Superbike pace caught everyone’s attention, no one should overlook the equally impressive efforts of Michael Dunlop, who took his year-old Yamaha R6 supersport machine around at a staggering 126.299mph, a record time, albeit unofficial.

Hutchinson was his nearest rival, but was some 10 seconds down on Dunlop’s magnificent speed.

The data shows Dunlop maintained an average speed in excess of 130mph in all but the final section from Cronk ny Mona to the Grandstand, actually averaging more than 138.5mph between the start and Ramsey Hairpin.