Yamaha's 50th Anniversary of Grand Prix Racing Celebration at Assen

Yamaha is set to celebrate its 50th Anniversary of Grand Prix Racing at the historic circuit of Assen, Netherlands. The 2011 Assen TT will witness a full livery change by Yamaha Factory Racing as part of ongoing activities to celebrate the iconic Japanese manufacturer's 50th year of Grand Prix Racing.

Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies will be looking to put the previous race at Silverstone behind them in order to focus on delivering a strong performance and result at Assen, a track favoured by both. Lorenzo has won the Dutch GP circuit in all three GP classes, while his team mate Ben Spies took pole and a race win in 2009 in the World Superbike Championship.

Spies has added that he is looking forward to the coming race at Assen , to improve his position and hope for a podium finish, after finishing fourth in last year's race. He added that the Assen track is a fast track which he enjoys riding it. It reminds him of his childhood days watching the race at Assen on television back then.

The team manager is positive with a strong result in Assen and he mentioned that the team has been looking forward to the race in due to their special livery unveil.

Assen Circuit, sometimes referred to as the cathedral by race fans worldwide due to its status and historical significance in racing, is the only circuit to have been part of the Grand Prix World Championship calendar since its inception. The circuit, which celebrated its 80th Anniversary of TT racing last year, has undergone many changes over that time. The track is one of the highly technical tracks in the Grand Prix with its high speed chicanes and varied camber changes.

source: Yamaha Factory Racing Press

Weider HSV-010 Rules Sepang Circuit

Round 3 of the 2011 Autobacs Super GT Series was held at the Sepang International Circuit from 18-19 June 2011. The pilots for Team Weider HSV-010, Takashi Kogure and Loic Duval, drove a superb race from start to the chequered flag.

The team started from pole position after securing it during the GT 500 qualifying session. Takashi Kogure secured the pole position during a blasting pace set in the Super Lap session with a time set at 1 minute 55.984 seconds; 1.227 seconds faster than their lap time in the Qualifying session.

Team Weider HSV-010 completed the Race to 46-laps of the 5.542-kilometre Sepang International Circuit with a total time of 1 hour 33 minutes 34.849 seconds, followed by Team S Road MOLA GT-R, drivers Masataka Yamagida and Ronnie Quintarelli, in second, while Keihin HSV-010's Toshihiro Kaneishi and Koudai Tsukakoshi finishing third, just 14.198 seconds and 32.487 seconds behind, respectively.

In the GT-300 category, drivers Nobuteru Taniguchi and Taku Bamba of Team Hatsunemiku Goodsmile BMW, drove their BMW Z4 GT3 to victory, completing the race in 1 hour 34 minutes 10.601 seconds, with a total of 42-laps round the Sepang track. The team practically lead a great race throughout till the final 3-laps of the race.

The BMW was challenged closely by team JIMGAINER Dixcel Dunlop 458 lead by Tetsuya Tanaka and Katsuyaki Hiranaka, during the closing stages of the race with Tetsuya Tanaka closing up on the Z4. Both teams were bumper-to-bumper, with just 1 last lap to the cheqeured flag.

It was a close battle at the end of the race, with the Ferrari 458GTC settling for second placing, 0.776 seconds behind the Z4. Yutaka Yamagishi and Hideki Yamauchi of Team Pacific NAC Ikamusume Ferrari in their Ferrari F430 managed to finish third, 46.432 seconds away from the leader.

The teams are now headed back to Japan for the next race of the 2011 Autobacs Super GT Series which will be held at Sugo Circuit from 30-31 July 2011.

Repsol Honda Racing podium at Silverstone

Casey Stoner sealed his 27th victory thus securing the Championship lead in the MotoGP standings after a wet race at the AirAsia British Grand Prix MotoGP Race with team mate Andrea Dovizioso finishing second.

Jorge Lorenzo lead a rainy start of the 20-lap, 5.902-kilometre Silverstone Race Track, being chased down the straight followed closely by Marco Simoncelli and the two Repsol Honda riders.

Steady rainfall and as the track conditions worsen, Lorenzo highsided out of third position on lap 8 of the race, making the Silverstone race the first he did not finish since 2009.

Securing third placing in the MotoGP category was 'Texas Tornado' Colin Edwards, after piloting the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike to a podium finish. Edwards, who broke his collarbone last week in practice at Circuit de Catalunya, started from eighth on the grid, rode a consistant race throughout. His consistency benefited from the setbacks of Lorenzo and Simoncelli, earning him, his first podium for the season.

Rossi on the other hand, struggled with his bike to secure sixth position with his team mate Hayden finishin fourth. His team mate Hayden, on the Ducati, found a very good setup for the wet conditions.

It was a good team result with Hayden's fourth and Rossi's sixth positions secured, as the Italian limited damage in a challenging weekend, while the American posted the fastest lap of the race and finished just off the podium.

Lorenzo in an interview, stated that he was somewhat disappointed with the result as the crash was due to a mistake of his own.

Casey Stoner now leads the championship standings with a total 116-points, 18-points clear from Jorge Lorenzo in second, while Andrea with a total 79-points in third. Rossi still holding his fourth in the championship standings with just 68-points, while his team mate Hayden of the Ducati Team in sixth with 60-points.

Auer Scores EutroInternational's 100th Win

Austrian youngster Lucas Auer, scored his 100th win at the Asian Festival of Speed held at the Sepang International Circuit from 28-29 May 2011 in the JK Racing Asia Series Round 5 handing the trophy to EuroInternational owner, Antonio Ferrari.

Auer, in a media interview said that the win is for the team.

Auer's dominance in the Series is proven when he bagged another win in Round 6 in the afternoon's race, extending his lead to 116-points in the championship standings.

The young Austrian has managed to bag five wins out of the six races held at the Sepang International Circuit, stating that he is confident racing in Sepang. He added that this is a result of consistent testing held back here in Sepang and he enjoyed a good line here.

"The weather has been good. With the exeption of the rain during the qualifying session, it's been sunshine all the way", he added.

Irfan Ilyas of team PETRONAS MOFAZ Racing meanwhile, was contended to settle with second placing in both races Round 5 and 6. However, he has stated that he might face a greater hurdle debuting next in Sentul International Circuit as the series heads over to Indonesia.

Irfan during the press conference stated that he has never raced in Indonesia, and he is nervous heading there next. Though, he is confident that after a few rounds of practice there, he will be able to pull-off finishing for podium.

Teammate Nabil Jeffri, coming in third in Round 6, looks forward to a better race next in Sentul International Circuit, as he is still set for the championship this year, with a lot of catch up to do.

The JK Racing Asia Series is currently the only Junior Formula that provides a unique opportunity where the drivers are given a platform to compete in front of the Formula 1 fraternity. On three occasions that the JK Racing Asia Series will support the Formula One Grand Prix, which will be held at Malaysia, Singapore and India.