Malaysia to have Moto2 wildcard rider

Sepang International Circuit is spearheading a second MotoGP Wildcard programme that will see a local rider competing in the new Moto2 class at the upcoming 2010 Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix which will be held at Sepang International Circuit from 8-10 October 2010.

The collaboration between SIC, Two Wheels Motor Racing, PETRONAS and Japanese chassis provider, MORIWAKI, which came to Sepang International Circuit recently for a development test, made the entry possible for ARRC Championship Rider Mohd Zamri Baba as he had a unique experience to test the Moto2 bike earlier today at Sepang International Circuit along with his teammate Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman.

As another landmark move in Malaysian Motorsports history, SIC and its partners - TWMR, PETRONAS, Dunlop, Moto Milia, Motorsports Association of Malaysia, AAM and the Youth and Sports Ministry - brokered the inaugural GP wildcard programme last year which saw Elly Idzlianizar Ilias and Muhammad Zulfahmi Khairuddin granted wildcard entries to compete in the 125cc at the 2009 Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

SIC CEO, Razlan Razali said that the programme for next year's Moto2 GP Wildcard ticket will still continue as this year's entry is an added bonus. In the 2011 plan, SIC had offered to the top three finishers in the 600cc Supersports Championship category of the Malaysian Super Series a seat for a selected group for a final selection for the wildcard ticket in the Moto2.

Commenting after the Moto2 test earlier today, both Zamri and Azlan agreed that the Moto2 bike is ever more challenging than their Yamaha R6 bikes which they usually ride in the ARRC and the Malaysian Super Series Supersports Championship.

Introduced this year in replacement of the World 250cc category, the Moto2 GP championship runs bikes with both engines and chassis provided by a single manufacturer from the Honda Racing Corporation.

For Zamri, it was a lifelong dream that finally came through and a perfect incentive for him after his sensational performance scoring the first victory for Malaysia this season at the just concluded Round 4 of the Asian Road Racing Championship in Madras.

"It will be a fantastic and unprecedented Malaysian MotoGP come October with a local representative in the 125cc by Fahmi and now Zamri Baba in the Moto2. We expect a full support of the Malaysian motorsport fans to make the 20th edition of the Malaysian MotoGP the biggest ever", Razlan Razali added at the press conference held at Sepang earlier today.

Sepang will be hosting Round 15 of the MotoGP Championship from 8-10 October 2010, and are offering tickets from as low as RM30 for fans to enjoy top class entertainment on and off track at the 2010 Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

For the local fans, it would be a rare opportunity to see their own local hero Zulfahmi and now Zamri Baba to test their skills with worlds best at home soil apart from catching the other top Malaysian riders in action at the support races.

Azlan and Kuhara double victory

Defending champion Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman kept his hopes alive in retaining the Malaysian Super Series (MSS) 600cc Supersports crown with a spectacular performance at Round 3 in Sepang yesterday with a double victory for the second successive time this season.

Azlan, who missed the opening round in April earlier this year, took a double victory at Round 2 in July, hauls the gap closer with championship leader Mohd Suhadi Ali Rahmat with just two more rounds to go for this years' season 2010.

Suhadi, on the other hand, had to settle with the double second placing who finished the race behind Azlan. The former 2009 Superstock champion added another 40 points to stay 10 points ahead of Azlan Shah in the championship standings.

Rathapong Walairot, the younger brother of Moto2 rider Rathapak Walairot who upstaged Azlan and Suhadi in the qualifying session on Saturday, topped the Junior Category, though was unable to equal the race pace of the two Malaysian riders.

Azlan who was representing the PETRONAS Sprinta Yamaha Racing, said that the championship battle was still an open affair to the rest of the riders including Thailand's Suhatchai Chaemsap and his teammate, Zamri Baba, who was missing from the round as well.

In the Superbike Championship, defending champion Yasuhiro Kuhara also managed to score a double win to add another 50-points to his total championship points as he closes in to his third MSS title. The Japanese rider for Team HKL Racing has now 145-championship points and looked strong to seal the crown at the next round during the Round 4 which will be held during the Malaysian GP as support races.

Ahmad Zamani Baharuddin managed to open up a gap of 25-points ahead of Ramon Azrem in the Superstock Championship category after a second placing in Race 1 and a winner in Race 2. Ramon, will have to perform well in the next two rounds to snatch the championship title away from Zamani when he did not finish the race in the second heat, although winning the first race.

The next round will be held as support races to the 2010 Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix from 8-10 October 2010, and the final round in November.

Disappointment for Zulfahmi at San Marino

Disappointment for Zulfahmi Khairuddin as his battle for championship points in the MotoGP's 125cc category was denied after his machine faced technical problems after completing only 2-laps out of the 23-lap race at Misano yesterday.

Zulfahmi managed to rise from 28th to 20th position on the starting grid after a great performance in the qualifying session on Saturday. His target was to gain at least another championship point for the round in Misano.

He was very disappointed with the technical problem he faced with his bike when the engine came to a halt and the rear wheel jammed right after the second lap of the race.

Fahmi, who also encountered technical difficulties which ended his race early at the Indianapolis Speedway in United States last week, said that he had hoped for a better race at San Marino after a team effort in improving the bike's overall engine performance.

"My Aprilia machine looked very promising as the team improved the machine's performance", he added looking sad and disappointed with his performance.

Misano Adriatico Grand Prix Preview

There will be no rest for the Fiat Yamaha as they return to Europe and Marvellous Misano despite having just finished a punishing weekend's race in the searing heat of Indianapolis.

As for the Ducati Marlboro Team, they will return home this weekend looking up to put on a good show for the local crowd at Misano and make up for a rather disappointing race last year, which Casey Stoner missed through illness whilst Nicky Hayden was taken out by another rider in the first turn.

The MotoGP riders will be back on board in less than four days time for the twelfth round of the season at Misano Adriatico on Italy's eastern seaboard. It will be another 'home' race for the Fiat Yamaha Team, as it lies just a few hundred kilometres away from their Italian base, and both championship leader Jorge Lorenzo and his team-mate Valentino Rossi will be planning on a big weekend at the Italian party town.

Misano lies just 30-kilometres away from Valentino Rossi's hometown of Tavullia, where the 31-year-old legend grew up and where he still lives today.

The Misano Adriatico circuit was built at the start of the seventies and has since undergone a series of modifications that have altered both the length as well as the layout and updates and upgrades of pit facilities and paddock. The current layout of the track which was switched from an anti-clockwise to clockwise in 2007 when MotoGP returned after 16-years of absence, looks straightforward but is far from it.

The twelfth round of 2010 season will be a race to be remembered as Rossi is hoping to give the fans a good show as it will be his last race for the Fiat Yamaha Team at his hometown circuit.

"Of course it's my home race and it's near my house so it's always very special to race there, in front of all my fans. I have won there the last two years but this year we come in slightly different circumstances. Still, we will be trying our hardest and I really hope I can give the fans a good show", Valentino Rossi.

Valentino Rossi still holds the lap record at Misano which he set in 2009 on his Fiat Yamaha with a best time of 1 minute 34.746 seconds.

In 2009, Valentino Rossi won the MotoGP race with a total time of 44 minutes 32.882 seconds with Jorge Lorenzo coming in second, just 2.416 seconds behind Rossi and Dani Pedrosa completing the top three finishers 12.400 seconds behind Rossi.

ARTA HSV-010 gets first win of the season

GT500 class winner for the Round 6 of the 2010 AUTOBACS Super GT Series that was held at the Suzuka Circuit in conjunction with the 39th International Pokka GT Summer Special on 22 August 2010 was team ARTA HSV-010 with drivers Ralph Firman, Yuji Ide and Takashi Kobayashi, bagging their first win of the season.

Team ARTA HSV-010 started from the front row of the grid in pole position with Yuji Ide as the starting driver. The team completed the 121 laps of the 5.807-kilometre Suzuka Circuit in 4 hours 7 minutes 10.085 seconds.

The Motul AUTECH GT-R finished the race in second overall in the GT500 category with just 22 seconds behind team ARTA HSV-010 whilst Team RAYBRIG HSV-010 managing third overall in the GT500 category.

Ralph Firman was relieved with the win at Suzuka Circuit and was delighted that it was the team's first win in their ARTA HSV-010 for the season, even though it was a tough season so far. With the win at Suzuka, the team can now look forward to the remainder of the races for the season with a bigger confidence for the team as well as the drivers.

Yuji Ide added that he was also delighted as it was his first pole start for him for quite some time, as he managed to stay calm and get a good head start for the race.

"Since joining the ARTA team this year, I had not been able to contribute to a good race result, so I wanted to win here. What was the reason for my tears after the race? There are really just too many reasons.", he added.

Team R&D Sport Legacy B4 emerged as winners in the GT300 class with drivers Tetsuya Yamano and Kota Sasaki, after starting from 11th position on the GT300 class grid.

The teams will now move on to Round 7 of the AUTOBACS 2010 Super GT at Fuji Speedway for the OKAYAMA GT 300 kilometre Race round the 4.563-kilometre Fuji Speedway track on 12 September 2010.

BRNO Tests

Bad weather at Brno afforded the MotoGP teams just half a day's testing in the second and final official one-day post-GP session schedule, setting their self up for the rest of the eight races for the 2010 MotoGP Season.

Jorge Lorenzo of the Fiat Yamaha Team, who picked up from where he left-off during the first session the day before, was still the fastest round the track with a total time of 1 minute 56.269 seconds whilst his team-mate Valentino Rossi, only able to clock fourth fastest with a total time of 1 minute 57.129 seconds.

The Fiat Yamaha team tested their new engine upgrade as well as a new suspension setting for their M1 bikes for both Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo. Lorenzo, on the other hand, was able to complete some laps on Yamaha's 2011 prototype YZR-M1.

Being the fastest round the track, Jorge Lorenzo was happy with the 2-day post-GP official tests held at Brno, as he finds that the tests were important and rather interesting for them. Unfortunately, the heavy rain forced all the teams to stop early.

Casey Stoner of the Ducati Marlboro Team managed to clock second fastest completing yesterday's post-GP test session with his team-mate Nicky Hayden, only managing tenth fastest on the time sheets. Nicky Hayden who injured his left wrist was riding a more conservative lap round the track to ensure he is able to be back to full fitness in time for his home race at Indianapolis on 29 August.

"We tried a new fork today and as far as we could tell, the feeling is positive. Unfortunately we were only able to get a couple of hours in this morning because immediately after lunch, it started to rain and we couldn't complete the test.", Casey Stoner of the Ducati Marlboro Team.

Meanwhile, Dani Pedrosa from the Repsol Honda Team completes the top three Unofficial Lap Times for the 2-day post-GP Season Test yesterday finishing third fastest with a lap time of 1 minute 56.944 seconds, just 0.1 seconds slower than Casey Stoner.

The current circuit record is still being held by Jorge Lorenzo which he clocked 1 minute 56.670 seconds in 2009 with an average speed of 166.716 Km/h while Rossi having holding the Best Pole lap with a fastest time of 1 minute 56.145 seconds, which he also recorded in 2009 on his Yamaha.

The teams will now have a weekend off before making headway for the next GP at Indianapolis in The United States of America for the next round of the MotoGP World Championship.

Valentino Rossi and Ducati

Nine-times World MotoGP Champion, Valentino Rossi, seals the deal with Ducati, after signing a two year agreement to race with the "Rossa" of Borgo Panigale in the Ducati Marlboro Team from 2011.

The arrival of Valentino Rossi in Ducati opens a new and exciting chapter in the Italian factory's sporting history and indeed, of the whole World MotoGP Championship. The opportunity of the lining-up both an extraordinary rider and character is considered by Ducati to be a huge value to the whole Ducati MotoGP Project.

Fillipo Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Director, expressed that he sees Valentino as a great fan of motorcycles and so, it has always been a pleasure for him to listen to Vale's opinions.

He added that until the end of the 2010 Valencia GP, Rossi will remain as a competitor, one so great, that have always given special values to Ducati's victories, but, as soon as Rossi rides the Ducati for the first time, they will continue to work together on every single detail that will develop the bike better in order to fully unleash its huge talent.

"Working with Valentino is one of the most exciting things for every engineer and it's good to know we will have this great opportunity next season", he added.

The Yamaha Motor Co. Ltd, announced Rossi's part from the company at the end of this season hours after the Czech Republic Grand Prix yesterday. They have announced that Valentino Rossi has played a huge part in Yamaha Racing's history and Rossi will remain as an important part of Yamaha's heritage.

On behalf of the Yamaha Motor Group, Managing Director Lin Jarvis of the Yamaha Motor Racing, conveyed the company's sincerest gratitude for the amazing seven years that Rossi and Yamaha had spent together.

In 2004, Rossi joined the Yamaha Racing Team, during that moment, Yamaha was still struggling in road racing after eleven seasons without a single championship victory.

"There have been so many wonderful experiences and victories and we are very proud to have been able to make history together. Whilst we regret Vale's decision to move on, at the same time we fully respect his decision to search for a new challenge and we wish him the very best for 2011 and beyond.", he added.

Rossi quoted that it is very difficult to explain in just a few words what a great relationship bond that has been bonded between Yamaha and himself in the past seven years. He added that many improvements and things have changed since that far-off time in 2004, but definitely, the M1, has changed.At one time, 'she' was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers.

"Now, the moment has come to look for new challenges; my work here at Yamaha is finished. Unfortunately even the most beautiful love stories finish, but they leave a lot of wonderful memories, like when my M1 and I kissed for the first time on the grass at Welkom, when she looked straight in my eyes and told me 'I Love You!'", he added, in his handwritten manuscript (in Italian).