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Stoner Takes Close Second on Opening Day in France
Yesterday
Ducati Corse’s Casey Stoner got his French GP preparations off to an encouraging start in Le Mans today as the reigning world champion finished a close second, just 0.049s from Dani Pedrosa’s pace-setting lap. Five Bridgestone-shod teams have riders in the top half of the classification with last year’s Le Mans winner Chris Vermeulen on the pace with fifth place aboard his Suzuki. Winner of the Chinese GP, Valentino Rossi, set the sixth fastest time of the day, but his best morning session lap was marginally quicker than his afternoon best. Honda Gresini duo Shinya Nakano and Alex de Angelis were in seventh and tenth positions respectively, while John Hopkins posted the ninth quickest time for Kawasaki.
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Bridgstone Chinese GP Debrief
08 May 2008
Bridgestone saw the hoped-for return to winning ways at the Shanghai International Circuit in China last weekend with Fiat Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi scoring an impressive first victory of the season and his first using Bridgestone tyres. Rossi set the fastest lap of the race, a record-breaking 1m59.273s, on lap 18 of 22. Ducati’s Casey Stoner also made a solid return to the podium with a third-placed finish, making it the second Chinese Grand Prix in succession with two Bridgestone-shod riders on the podium.
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Rossi Takes Maiden Bridgestone Win in China
04 May 2008
Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi took a triumphant victory at the Shanghai International Circuit in China this afternoon to secure his first ever MotoGP victory using Bridgestone tyres. The Italian was embroiled in a race-long battle with Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, but a string of record-breaking lap times in the closing laps ensured a well earned first win of the season, 3.8 seconds clear of Pedrosa. Rossi becomes the sixth rider to take MotoGP victory using Bridgestone tyres after Makoto Tamada, Loris Capirossi, Troy Bayliss, Chris Vermeulen and Casey Stoner.
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Lorenzo Escapes Serious Injury in Spectacular Crash
02 May 2008
MotoGP World Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo escaped serious injury in a spectacular crash during the first practice session for the Grand Prix of China this morning (Friday). Lorenzo, who celebrates his 21st birthday on Sunday, was thrown high in the air when he highsided from his Fiat Yamaha coming out of turn two. The Mallorca - based rider who won his first MotoGP race in Portugal three weeks ago, was rushed to the medical centre at the Shanghai circuit and then taken to hospital for a scan. Incredibly Lorenzo, who is the current 250 cc World Champion, was diagnosed with a chipped bone in his left ankle, bruising to his right ankle and right knee but no fractures. A decision if he will be fit to ride in the qualifying session tomorrow afternoon will be made later.
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Strong Start for Bridgestone Riders in Shanghai
02 May 2008
All six teams using Bridgestone tyres performed strongly in today’s opening two practice rounds at the Shanghai International Circuit, in preparation for Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix. Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi was the quickest rider over the entire day, and was the only man to lap under the 2-minute mark, setting a best lap time of 1m59.906s in this morning’s session. Fastest this afternoon was last year’s Chinese race winner Casey Stoner, whose best time of 2m00.163 placed him strongly in second position in the combined practice classification after a competitive day for the reigning champion.
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Unsettled Weather Makes For Tricky Start in Estoril
11 April 2008
Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi was the highest placed Bridgestone-shod rider in today’s free practice sessions at the Estoril Circuit. Rossi finished the day in second place just 0.040s from lead rider Dani Pedrosa, as unsettled weather conditions interrupted initial preparations for Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix. Three further Bridgestone riders frequented the top ten in this afternoon’s classification with Ducati’s Casey Stoner in seventh, Honda Gresini’s Shinya Nakano in eighth and Kawasaki’s John Hopkins in tenth position.
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Spanish GP Bridgestone Debrief
04 April 2008
The second race of the 2008 MotoGP world championship took place in front of a rapturous 130,000 strong Spanish crowd at the Circuito de Jerez last week. Fiat Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi scored his first ever podium using Bridgestone tyres with a competitive second place, trailing race winner Dani Pedrosa by just 2.8s and clear of his third-placed team-mate Jorge Lorenzo by 1.5s. A further three Bridgestone-equipped riders finished in the top ten with Loris Capirossi superbly guiding his Suzuki to fifth place, John Hopkins in seventh for Kawasaki and Shinya Nakano in ninth for Honda Gresini.
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Dani Fit & Ready To Give It Everything At Home
27 March 2008
After a forceful ride in Qatar earlier this month Spanish star Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda RC212V) is set to make the first of three races in Spain his signal that he is more than ready for the challenge of the 2008 World Championship. But the way the World Championship is shaping up so far, he won’t be the only frontline Spanish rider to be gunning for the big prize on Sunday. Dani will relish the rivalry with Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha) this weekend. And now he is nearing full fitness again, after injuring his throttle hand in a crash while testing in Malaysia, he is itching for action. Pedrosa won here on a 250cc machine here in 2005 and he has also finished on the podium here for the last three years. His team-mate Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda RC212V) also scored a podium finish here in 2006 and the Repsol duo are sure to put up a determined display here for one of Honda’s long-term sponsors.
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De Angelis Learns Quickly Under Qatar Night Sky
29 February 2008
San Carlo Gresini Honda rider Alex De Angelis was one of the quick to learn brigade. The young Sanmarinese had tested at the circuit in November and was impressed with the improvements made in the meantime. Once his night vision was dialed in De Angelis used the base set up the team have established for the MotoGP Rookie’s RC212V to test tyres for Bridgestone testing both soft and medium compounds.His San Carlo Honda team-mate, Japanese star Shinya Nakano took longer to adjust to the experience but after two hours he felt confident enough to test a variety of tyres in combination with suspension settings.
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San Carlo Gresini Consistent On Final Day
19 February 2008
The San Carlo Gresini Honda squad continued their solid pre-season progress with both riders setting consistent fast times all day while testing tyres for supplier Bridgestone. MotoGP debutante De Angelis has been a revelation aboard the big 800cc RC212V four-stroke so far this winter. The young Sanmarinese was holding second place on the time sheets at one point eventually ending the day with eighth fastest time. De Angelis’ team-mate, Japanese star Shinya Nakano has found a spiritual home at Gresini Honda and his lap times reflect the progress he has made by switching to the vastly experienced San Carlo sponsored team. Nakano ended his day four-tenths of a second behind De Angelis.
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San Carlo Gresini Honda's Nakano in Sixth At Jerez
18 February 2008
The San Carlo Gresini Honda team were again in top form in today’s IRTA ‘Official’ pre-season MotoGP test shoot out with Shinya Nakano working off the dry weather base set up of yesterday. Japanese star Nakano came into the pit early in the session to soften up the suspension slightly before returning to the track to set sixth fastest time in the shoot-out.
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Grisini Honda Boys 6th & 7th Respectively
17 February 2008
San Carlo Gresini Honda riders Alex De Angelis and Shinya Nakano gave positive feedback about the latest engine developments the two men ending the day in sixth and seventh places respectively separated by a mere three-tenths of a second. Both men worked on finding a base set up for their RC212V’s then spent a large part of the day working with Bridgestone to evaluate a series of race and qualifying tyres brought to the track by the Japanese m,anufacturer, with very positive results.
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Honda Grisini Riders Return To Sepang For Second Test
06 February 2008
The second MotoGP test of 2008 at Sepang, Malaysia opened today with just five regular championship challengers present. The Gresini Honda team of Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis are in attendance together with the Yamaha squad of Rossi and Lorenzo and several test riders from other factory teams. Rain on Monday had left the track surface in a greasy condition and the first rider to venture out was Gresini Honda rider Alex De Angelis. The young Sanmarinese and his technicians planned a full day of tyre testing for Bridgestone but De Angelis crashed after just nine laps but returned to the track to complete 41 laps on the day.
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De Angelis & Gresini Racing Again Fastest
01 February 2008
The rain came to Phillip Island on the morning of the second day of the three-day MotoGP test. Despite the rain easing off at lunchtime the track surface did not dry completely out until mid-afternoon. The day was not a wash out as the Honda riders took the opportunity to test their 2008 spec RCV’s in wet conditions for the first time.
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De Angelis Fastest Honda Rider On Test At Phillip Island
31 January 2008
MotoGP winter testing continued at the Phillip Island circuit Australia, the opening day of a three-day session. In fine, sunny weather, with ambient temperatures just above 20 degrees and track temperature at 40 degrees, the riders and teams began chasing a good base set-up for their Honda RC212V machines, working from data gathered at Sepang last week. The surprise package of the day was Gresini Honda rider Alex De Angelis who set third fastest time even though this is the first time the MotoGP debutant has ridden his RC212V at Phillip Island. De Angelis felt strong all day and made good progress, working on geometry settings. His team-mate Shinya Nakano was also happy, using new front suspension settings to dial out the chatter that had hampered him at Sepang.
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Grisini Riders Sit It out In The Heat
24 January 2008
Gresini Honda riders Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis, had a relatively quiet final day of testing. Nakano decided to sit out a few hours of the day when the track temperature rose to an incredible 52 degrees making serious tyre development work for Bridgestone extremely difficult. Nakano returned to the track late afternoon but did not better his time and he did not try a race simulation test as hoped. The team will run a full race distance when the MotoGP teams return to Sepang early next month to continue pre-season testing.
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Grisini Honda Riders Improve
23 January 2008
Both Gresini Honda riders put in improved performances today. Shinya Nakano reaped the benefit of changes to the front fork settings and lowering the rear end ride height and ended the day half a second faster today Team-mate Alex De Angelis is, along with Dovizioso, a MotoGP debutant and has been impressive form at Sepang despite missing the November test at the track through injury. The Sanmarinese was consistently faster than his best time of yesterday, reducing his lap time by four-tenths of a second. De Angelis decided to take a rest from testing late on in the day when he suffered a jarred wrist while surviving a high speed ‘Tank-slapper’ when the RCV snapped sideways at a fast right hand corner.
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Grisini Honda's De Angelis & Nakano Gaining Confidence
22 January 2008
Gresini Honda riders Alex De Angelis and Shinya Nakano spent the first part of the day adapting the base set up of their RC212V’s to suit the 2008 chassis. Once the riders had gained confidence in the set up the team moved on to testing rear suspension link set up in a bid to improve grip and stability while testing a range of Bridgestone tyres.
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Nakano & De Angelis Satisfied With Test
30 November 2007
Gresini Honda riders Shinya Nakano and Alex De Angelis have joined the team for the 2008 season and have both benefited from the three-day test. Nakano set fifth fastest time today as he completed his test programme, he is regaining confidence and his feeling for the Bridgestone tyres he will use next season. De Angelis is another 2008 MotoGP debutant who has found the move from the 250cc class to MotoGP not as daunting as first feared. Working with the experienced Gresini technicians Italian De Angelis has quickly adapted to the awesome power of the big four-stroke steadily improving his lap times as he learned more about RCV.
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Points For Konica Minolta Honda At Final Race Of 07
04 November 2007
Konica Minolta Honda took their last points of the year at today’s final MotoGP race of 2007. Shinya Nakano took 14th place at the end of the 30-lap race around the 2.764-mile Valencia circuit. Honda’s Dani Pedrosa won the race, helping him to second-place in the riders’ championship.
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