MotoGP: Rain Threatens Racing at the Catalan GP

When the Catalan fans’ eyes weren’t on polesitter Marco Simoncelli, they were looking up at the clouds in Barcelona, to see if they would rain on the Spanish track during today’s MotoGP racing action. With the Catalan track damp in some sections, riders started out on slick Bridgestone tires, hoping for the best in what would fall from the heavens in the coming laps. Disappointing for American fans, was the news that Colin Edwards had ...

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Eric Bataille Franco Battaini Gerhard Bauer Manfred Baumann

Up-Close with the 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc

MotoCzysz was out at Jurby Airfield yesterday, turning a wheel for the first time on the Portland company's 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc electric superbike. With TT Zero's first practice session tonight on the Mountain Course, the team has been busy getting ready to field two bikes for riders Mark Miller and Michael Rutter. With more power at the motor, more battery on-board, and a lighter overall package, MotoCzysz has its eyes on the 100 mph mark, and the £10,000 check the Isle of Man TT has put up as bounty for the milestone. Photos after the jump.

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Bruce Beale Douglas Beasley Daryl Beattie Roger Beaumont

Simoncelli takes pole to angry whistles

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Honda's Marco Simoncelli grabbed his first MotoGP pole position for the Catalunya Grand Prix in front of a hostile crowd on Saturday, beating Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo to first place.

The frizzy-haired Italian set the fastest lap at the end of the qualifying session with a time of 1:42.413, just 0.016 of a second ahead of Stoner on another Honda, in cloudy but dry conditions.

Simoncelli was whistled by home fans for his part in the incident which saw local favorite Dani Pedrosa crash and break his collarbone at Le Mans three weeks ago.

The Spaniard has had to miss Sunday's race at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, while Simoncelli has reportedly been given police protection for the duration of his stay after receiving threats.

"The best way to put an end to the accident and the controversy has been to achieve pole position," Simoncelli told reporters.

"I'm very pleased, I didn't expect it. Casey was very fast, faster than me, but I managed to get in some quick final laps. It will be a very tough race tomorrow with Stoner and Lorenzo."

Australian Stoner, who is second in the championship, had been quickest in the three practice sessions and came in ahead of Spanish world champion and overall leader Lorenzo on a Yamaha.

"I'm disappointed with qualifying, we had good pace and should have been able to go a lot faster on new tyres," Stoner said.

"Front row is obviously where we want to be but I'm annoyed we spent the whole session working on the tyres and not improving the bike set up. We are confident with our race pace on hard tyres if the weather stays dry."

The forecast is for some rain on Sunday.

The second row comprised American Ben Spies, Italian Andrea Dovizioso and Britain's Cal Crutchlow. Former champion Valentino Rossi, who took a tumble in the morning, was seventh fastest.

In Moto2, Germany's Stefan Bradl racked up his fifth consecutive pole on a Kalex in front of Spain's Aleix Espargaro and Japan's Yuki Takahashi.

There is an all-Spanish front row for the 125cc race, with championship leader Nicolas Terol taking his fourth pole position in five races on an Aprilia, ahead of Hector Faubel and 16-year-old rookie Maverick Vinales.

(Writing by Mark Elkington in Madrid, editing by Alan Baldwin)

Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/-jwoCfvs_cm/Simoncelli+takes+pole+angry+whistles

Gert Bender Ingemar Bengtsson Johnny Bengtsson Angelo Bergamonti

2011 Catalunya MotoGP Saturday Round Up - Hollywood Pole, And Japan Again

It is rather fitting that Paris Hilton should be coming to town, given the scenario that unfolded during qualifying for the MotoGP class this afternoon at Barcelona. It was straight out of a Hollywood script: after taking down the local hero, the Villain of the Piece turns up at Montmelo, faces down the booing crowd, and then steams home to take pole, his first ever in MotoGP.

Of course, in the Hollywood script, Marco Simoncelli would be defeated on the final lap by the guy brought in to defend the honor of the local hero, and if we were to cast Jorge Lorenzo in the role of Dani Pedrosa's avenging angel, then there is a good chance that Lorenzo will at least run the Italian to the line. But this isn't Hollywood, and despite Simoncelli's pole - taken with a brilliant lap, storming through the final sector to just edge Casey Stoner - it is the Australian Respol Honda man who is still firmly in control at Barcelona.

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Youichi Yamamoto Morisuka Yamashita Kazuaki Yamashita Fuyuki Yamazaki

2011 Catalunya Moto2 Warm Up Result: Iannone Leads Wet Crash-fest

Conditions are changing quickly at the Barcelona track, and it's catching a lot of people out. There were numerous fallers, including Thom Luthi, Kenny Noyes, Javi Fores, Mashel Al-Naimi and Ant West. None of the crashes ended in injury, though.

Results:

Race Details
2011

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Angelo Bergamonti Werner Bergold Jacques Bernard Adrian Bernetic