The owner of Fabrication Techniques Racing (FTR), Steve Bones, explains how the British campaigners are going with their Moto2 project, through private development and testing and their current participation in the Spanish national championship (CEV Buckler).

The company of chassis specialists raced a Moto2 bike at the CEV Catalunya weekend earlier in the month, using their own prototype design which included Ohlins suspension, Marchesini tyres, Brembo brakes and Dunlop wheels and plan to further include competition at the two events left in Jerez and Valencia.

CEO Bones gave information on how the campaging was progressing and the next steps to claim agreements with squads in the new Moto2 World Championship category for next season.


Firstly can you explain how FTR is approaching Moto2?
“We are purely constructors, we don’t intend to have any team involvement. We intend to design and build race bikes and offer them as a constructer would, then the teams would buy them from us and run them as they see fit.”

“We have been long established in making parts for teams over the years, but never actually in a position where we have put out our own design to show what we can do ourselves. This is the beauty of Moto2 in my opinion, in that it gives us an opportunity to show what we are capable of doing in an environment which is not cost prohibitive.”


Who are you targeting in terms of the types of clients you aim to work with in Moto2?
“The main market place for us is the World Championship with Moto2, but it is wider than that too. We have built the bike with Grand Prix in mind and we are talking with four teams with regard to GP. We are also talking to teams in Spain with regards to bikes in the Spanish domestic championship and with two teams in Germany, but the running of Moto2 bikes in the IDM (German national championship) is still yet to be confirmed.”

“For GP, we are talking with Team Germany, with Ajo Motorsport, with the sponsors of the G22 Racing Team and with Stop And Go Racing, so there are a few teams we are in negotiations with at the moment.”


Why was it so important for you to start participating in the Spanish national championship?
“From a constructors point of view it is essential that you get amongst your competition. When you are testing on your own you don’t know where you are. You have got to be in there competing so that you know your strengths and weaknesses and the Spanish championship for us is the only place where we can do that at the moment. Because FTR is a new brand, although we have been involved in Grand Prix racing for many years, not everyone knows what we have done in the past.”

“As soon as the bike rolled out at Barcelona though, the attitude towards us switched immediately. People could see the quality of the bike and the thought and effort that had gone into the machine. We looked at the race weekend as an event to get the bike out, show people what we had done and show that it is for real and then all of a sudden the doors open and you are in a position to actually talk about the bike.”

“The bike isn’t up to speed yet, it has had limited testing time and we are still at the bottom of the development curve, but it is showing all the right signs. I am completely confident that it is going to be up there with the best of them.”


What was your experience of the Catalunya race weekend in general?
“The weekend went much better than we anticipated. Diego Lozano is an excellent feedback rider and he was under instructions not to push the bike too hard and not to crash, because it was the only bike we had.”

“He qualified 23rd and we were so impressed with a bike that had only covered 100m before leaving the pit-box on Friday morning, so we thought we may as well put the bike in the race. Unfortunately the clutch started slipping on lap three and the bike retired on lap 13. I think the clutch was damaged on the grid, but it is all part of the learning curve.”

“We are going to put the bike out again at Jerez and Valencia with the Joe Darcey team running it again and with Graeme Gowland riding it.”

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A top ten place in Malaysia at the weekend allows Mika Kallio to be named the MotoGP Rookie of the Year, ahead of Pramac colleague Niccolò Canepa.

At 26 points ahead of the Italian in the overall rankings, the Finn is unable to be caught going into the last event of the year in Valencia. Kallio has performed extremely well in his debut year.

Included in the top ten placements was the 26 year-old’s best result in San Marino, a seventh place spot when filling in for Casey Stoner, and Kallio was challenging for sixth on his satellite Pramac engine at Assen when a last lap smash ended his race.

Kallio is not happy with rest and is aiming to finish on a high in Valencia.

“I am disappointed with how the race went today,” states Kallio about Sepang. “On the dry we could have had a much better result but with these conditions I didn't have much confidence with the rear of the bike to accelerate as I wanted. Instead, in braking, the bike was really competitive. In Valencia I want to ride a much better race.”

Espargaró, expanded his experience of the premier class in the absence of Canepa, prior to his full time agreement next year.

“In the first five laps I couldn't believe how slow I was going but I preferred to not take any risks in order to understand the reaction of the bike in these conditions,” he says of the wet conditions. “From the sixth lap I aimed for the group where there was Colin Edwards, Alex de Angelis, Mika Kallio and Loris Capirossi, and lap by lap I reached them and overtook the first two.”

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This season Fiat Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi has continued to increase his legendary status and affirm his spot in the history of Grand Prix competition. The Italian’s ninth career crown is his seventh in the premier session and his fourth since uniting with Yamaha in 2004. Some statistics from the fourteenth year of his career:

- Rossi has now equalled Mike Hailwood and Carlo Ubbiali with 9 crowns in all sessions. Only Giacomo Agostini with 15 and Angel Nieto with 13 are above them.

- Rossi’s victory in Assen this year makes him only the second competitor in history to claim 100 wins in all sessions. Rossi now has 103, 19 lower than Agostini's record of 122.

- He already takes the all time premier class wins record, beating Agostini’s points at Indianapolis in 2008. He now has a premier class victory of 77 in total.

- Rossi’s win this year at Brno takes him to the all time podium record with his 160th stage appearance in all classes. He is also the only competitor to have been on the podium in the premier class over 100 times. Sunday’s stage at Sepang was his 163rd in all classes.

- With 44 victories from 102 events since he united with the Japanese factory in 2004, Rossi is the most successful Yamaha racer ever. He has 21 more victories than Kenny Roberts, Yamaha’s next most successful racer.

- Rossi’s current crown means he has now won more championships for Yamaha than any of the other manufacturers he has raced for in his career.

- His victory at Misano this season was his 11th victory in all classes at home.

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“Valentino is a very, very important rider for Yamaha, and also Jorge is, but especially Valentino. I have worked with him for six years and sometimes we’ve had sad times, like in 2006 and 2007.

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Current moves forward at Sepang have allowed Dani Pedrosa closer to a win at the Malaysian track in his three prior years in the premier class. Currently, the Repsol Honda competitor is aiming for his first MotoGP victory at a circuit where he plans to increase the challenge on Casey Stoner in the World Championship.

Pedrosa has won at the circuit in both the 125cc and 250cc sessions, in his three years in the upper class he has claimed two third placed spots and arrived second last season.

With only six points apart from third placed Ducati Marlboro champion Stoner in the overall rankings, a second victory of the year at this weekend’s Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix could keep the pressure on in the battle for points.

“Sepang is a good circuit and I always look forward to this race,” states Pedrosa. “I’ve won here previously with Honda in the 125 and 250 classes, and I’d really like to add a MotoGP win to those victories. It could be tough because we know how fast our rivals have been recently, but still, the win is what we’ll be aiming for as always – and also to challenge Casey for third in the championship.”

Pedrosa adds, “The track has a fast and challenging layout – plus the hot, humid conditions we encounter here always mean this is a physically demanding race for the riders, although we’re well prepared for it. It will certainly be a big contrast to the cold weather conditions we rode in at Phillip Island last weekend. At the moment we are looking to improve the stability of our machine and it’s important that from the first moments of practice we use all the preparation time available to us to arrive in the best possible shape for this race.”

Andrea Dovizioso sits right below his colleague in the championship and he enjoyed his initial MotoGP stage appearance at Sepang last season.

“I really look forward to racing in Malaysia as this is my favourite track and I have good memories there,” says the Italian. “Last year I had a strong race at Sepang and scored my first podium in MotoGP on the RC212V for the Scot Honda team.

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Following a medical testing at Melbourne hospital on Monday, Niccolò Canepa is required to withdraw from this weekend’s Shell Advance Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

The Italian racer, who had a skin graft after his smash during Friday’s practice testing at Phillip Island, cannot race in this weekend’s GP awaiting his injured arm to heal.

Aleix Espargaró will substitute for him, having already competed twice for Pramac Racing at Indianapolis and Misano this year. Earlier, the Spaniard signed an agreement to compete in the premier class with the squad next year, he will have a chance to further enhance his form at Sepang.


Aleix Espargarò

“I am very surprised and happy to be back in MotoGP so soon, even if I am always sad when a colleague gets hurt. I hope Niccolò gets well as soon as possible and is at his best for the Valencia race. I will use this weekend as a pre-season test. I have a lot to learn and this will be a great chance for me. After my last race in Misano I have trained constantly and I am certain to be in good physical condition, even if in Sepang it is always very hard due to the high temperature and humidity.”


Niccolò Canepa

“I am very sorry I’m unable to ride in Malaysia. The team was working very well together and in the last few races I wanted to secure a good place. The doctors have recommended that I don’t take any risks as the cut isn’t looking too good, and therefore I will be taking a break to ensure I’m at my best in Valencia next month. I still feel a lot of pain but now the worst has passed.

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Sepang is the next event on the 2009 MotoGP track and a top four race for Valentino Rossi would be ample to secure the Italian claiming the crown this season as World Champion at Sepang.

In Second place, following an exciting Casey Stoner in Phillip Island, has extended Rossi’s lead at the top of the rankings to 38 points, thanks in a major part to title opponent and colleague Jorge Lorenzo’s first lap smash.

With the Spaniard unable to complete the event, this means that even if he is victorious at Sepang, Rossi only needs to arrive in fourth position to take his ninth world title. Lorenzo is the only competitor who can halt Rossi from the title in Malaysia and the circuit caused Lorenzo to retire after crashing. A victory in the 250cc class is his best result there.

Rossi has a famous history of good form at Sepang, where he was victorious from second on the grid last season and has seven podium ends in the premier class in total, inclusive of five victories.

Ducati Marlboro man Stoner passed Dani Pedrosa in the rankings with his third win on his home circuit, and the Aussie seems back to full fitness after missing three events. Last season saw the 24 year-old arrive sixth at Sepang, however in his title winning 2007 year, Stoner was victorious in Malaysia.

Pedrosa is six points away from Stoner in fourth spot, but his record of always ending on the stage at Sepang could mean he may be amongst the best also, having crossing the line third in his prior three events this year.

Pedrosa’s colleague Andrea Dovizioso appeared on the podium in Malaysia last season and will endeavour to improve on his sixth place finish in Australia, hot on his heels is Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Colin Edwards who has never ended up in the top three at Sepang.

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Bancaja Aspar’s new World Champion Julián Simón has thanked the successful Spanish squad when he took the title with a thrilling final lap win over his colleague Bradley Smith at Phillip Island on Sunday.

After spending four prior years in the 125cc session, then two years in the 250cc class, Simón came back to the single cylinder session with the management of Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ for the 2009 year, the choice has paid big for both of them.

Prior to the commencement of this year Simón never begun from pole and had been victorious only once in the Grand Prix, which was in the wet at Donington in 2005, however he soon swapped form after a solid pre-season and a sturdy beginning to the year. With six poles, five victories and five more podium finishes, the Spaniard now celebrates his initial world title still with two rounds left.

After claiming the 125cc crown with a strong performance at Phillip Island he states, “I’m really, really happy. The race was very complicated and it went down to the last lap as Smith was pushing really hard to win. I went for it at the end and I was able to win.   Now the most important thing to do is thank my team, my sponsors and everybody around me, because they have provided great support.”

“This time last year at this circuit (Phillip Island) I signed the contract to come back to the 125cc class and now I have won the championship here.

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A video combining MotoGP's hero Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, has claimed an award at the 2009 Georges Bertellotti Golden Podiums ceremony in the ‘Best Slow Motion Sequence – Cut/Edited Shot’ category.

The video, named ‘A closer look at the title fight’, was judged the best in the category for the Golden Podiums and the award was given to MotoGP commercial rights holders Dorna at a gala event in which the HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco also attended on Tuesday night.

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Rizla Suzuki competitor Chris Vermeulen is hoping for an impressive ride at Phillip Island in the Iveco Australian Grand Prix over this coming weekend of 16th-18th October.

Vermeulen claimed second position three years ago amongst his home crowd, however a first lap smash at last season’s event saw him end in 15th place.

The 27-year-old is determined to build on his progress upon the GSV-R engine, a tenth place finish at Estoril from 15th on the grid has allowed him extra confidence prior to the Australian GP.

“A home GP is always very exciting because all my friends and family will be there and it's always good to race in front of your countrymen,” states Vermeulen. “The last time out at Estoril we made improvements in the longer corners with the GSV-R, so hopefully that will help us at Phillip Island. That long straight is going to be hard work, but we'll certainly be trying as hard as we can to keep in the slipstream. I really love racing at Phillip Island and hopefully we'll have a good time there!”

Vermeulen’s colleague Loris Capirossi, who has taken six podiums in 11 events at Phillip Island in his career, is completely focused on coming back from a 20th lap retirement in Estoril.

“I am still disappointed by what happened in the race at Estoril, but I am confident of doing much better at Phillip Island than we have in the past on the GSV-R because of the developments we made in Portugal,” says the Italian. “I had a tough race in Australia last year, but we did improve on lap-times and with the new bike I think we should be aiming for an even better result this year.

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Valentino Rossi’s talents to partner develop his Yamaha YZR-M1 closely with his Head Mechanic at Fiat Yamaha, Jeremy Burgess, has claimed the base of the duo’s success says the Aussie.

Ahead of the Iveco Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island in mid October in his homeland, Burgess has commented on the importance of Rossi’s feedback in keeping his bike into a three-time world title winning engine to date.

Burgess united with Rossi in his swap from Honda to Yamaha for the 2004 year as they followed on with their winning formula, Burgess insists the World Champion’s input is as much crucial as his own technical experience.

“I think Motorcycling will never be the same because Valentino Rossi showed that he could win on a Honda that other riders could win on, and he could then take the Yamaha machine that no other riders could consistently win on and win on it,” says Burgess.

“I couldn’t go into Yamaha and scream and yell and change the way they did things, it was necessary to work together with Valentino and the Yamaha Engineers to solve the problems they had. We had to take a step back and analyse why we at that time, or they at that time, had not been as competitive as their opposition. We had to diplomatically change the direction without making anybody look as if they had been making mistakes.”

Burgess adds, “Certainly, my objective from an engineering perspective is to make a bike that all riders can ride. It’s a very well tuned bike which has been developed by Valentino Rossi, and any rider coming in to ride this bike doesn’t have to worry about development. They have the ability and the information that we have put together over many years, combined with the settings we have from the last two especially – and particularly with the Bridgestone tyres – so it’s not as easy to develop the bike as it is to ride the bike.

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An instant return to the stage after an absence of three races due to illness was the ideal rest break to those who doubted Casey Stoner’s choice to take a leave of absence, the Ducati Marlboro competitor stated in his post-race media conference at Estoril.

The 2007 MotoGP hero claimed a solid break to recover from a virus after affecting his fitness levels, but raced in admirable fashon upon his return to place second at the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal event this weekend.

Stoner appeared on the podium behind Jorge Lorenzo (Fiat Yamaha) and ahead of Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda), this confirmed any doubts over his form to race for the rest of the year.

“Not only has it been a long time off the podium, it’s been a long time since I was competitive,” says Stoner. “It’s nice to know we can be competitive until the end of the race now. For us to come back and do this in front of everyone after what everyone said, it’s a big relief for me and it’s a nice feeling.”

Lorenzo took charge of colleague Valentino Rossi to take the victory, narrowing the gap on "The Doctor" who placed a dissapointing fourth, he is 18 points ahead with only three races left.

“It was a perfect weekend for us. I dominated every practice and was feeling great on the bike,” said Lorenzo. “I didn’t expect this victory with such a gap, and I didn’t expect Rossi to finish fourth.”

Pedrosa, who ended up in the top three adds, “I started very well, but I couldn’t follow the rhythm for the first five laps. After those five laps I started to be quicker. Some tracks we are closer, and some tracks we struggle more to be on the pace.

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After the news this weekend in Portugal that 250cc hero Hiroshi Aoyama will race in MotoGP next year under the management of current Emmi - Caffe Latte boss Daniel M. Epp, the Japanese competitor shared his thoughts about his career move.

Crossing the line in fourth place at Estoril with a 28 point advantage and only three events left, Aoyama looks ahead to his premier class adventure, stating, “It was one of my targets to go into MotoGP and finally I have got it. It has taken a long time so I am really happy about it. There has been a lot of co-operation from a lot of people to organise this, so I want to thank all the guys.”

He has done an excellent job on his return to Honda this year and he will compete on a Honda RC212V in MotoGP next season. On his objectives with the switch to 800cc competition Aoyama concludes, “It will be a new category for me so I don’t know yet how well I will ride the bike. It is a very important series and the level is the best in the world.

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Valentino Rossi prepares to appear for the 100th time on a Yamaha factory engine in the bwin.com Grande Premio de Portugal, a circuit where he has claimed wins on five occasions in the premier session.  The Italian hero is aware that another Portuguese victory will take him closer to keeping the MotoGP title.

Rossi has a 30 point championship advantage following 13 events, the finals which saw him claim a win on home soil at Misano.  Rossi’s main objective at Estoril will be to finish ahead of his Fiat Yamaha colleague Jorge Lorenzo, who still has an opportunity of catching his rival in the standings. Lorenzo took a maiden MotoGP victory in Portugal last season in only his third premier class event and the Spaniard will be aiming to repeat the success.

Lorenzo has also finished in first and second places at the last two rounds of the current year to fight his way back into the title fight after consecutive DNF results at Donington and Brno.

For third-placed competitorDani Pedrosa, Estoril is one of only four circuits on the calendar where he has not been victorious in any class of Grand Prix racing. However, Pedrosa has finished in second place in Portugal for the past two years and the Repsol Honda racer will be highly challenged to stay above the return of Casey Stoner in the standings following the remaining four 2009 GPs.

Stoner comes back for Ducati Marlboro at round 14, after skipping three events due to illness, he will endeavour to claim his early season competitiveness which allowed him wins at Losail International (Qatar) and Mugello, plus three further stage appearances. The Aussie is 87 points behind Rossi, 57 behind Lorenzo and only seven away from Pedrosa.

Repsol Honda’s Andrea Dovizioso, currently in fifth place, is ten points above Colin Edwards, and has ended fourth in the final three events since his initial MotoGP win at Donington in July.

Edwards’ blameless first lap smash and DNF at Misano the previous time was his first non-scoring result since Germany last season and the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 racer would be elated with repeating his 2008 and 2006 fourth spots at Estoril.

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