The Frenchman endured a successful two hour operation to place a titanium rod in his left leg on the Sunday evening of the German GP on July 18th, he then began an intensive rehabilitation program to ensure full fitness in time for the Cardion ab Grand Prix Czech Republic on August 15th.

Randy de Puniet states, "watching the first GP on TV since I made my debut was a bit hard for me but in the meantime it was good for me to take some rest. A couple of days after the surgery I left the German hospital to begin the Hyperbaric Chamber sessions at the Saint Marguerite Hospital in Marseilles under the supervision of Dr. Mathieu Coulange and his team. This machine increases both the pressure and oxygen levels to help repair the tissues of the body at a faster rate. Then I moved to Cannes to pursue my rehabilitation. I underwent ultrasound sessions to strengthen my bones a little more. Last Monday I went back home to Andorra to continue the ultrasound sessions with a domestic machine and I finally started to do some sport. Every day I go to the gym to cycle and I am training my upper body with rubber bands and special exercises. The doctors are continually surprised with the speed with which I am recovering, and I have to admit that I am as surprised as they are! I am using my crutches less and less.

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Dani Pedrosa’s consistent progress this year now sees the Spaniard in second place in the Championship rankings, at 138 points he currently arrives 72 points behind leader Jorge Lorenzo. The first nine events have gained some excellent results for the Repsol Honda competitor who has been on the stage five times with 2 victories in hand.

The session began indifferently for Pedrosa with a seventh place in Qatar, where he challenged with set-up problems that carried over from pre-season. However he stayed positive and the next round at Jerez arrived with a solid reward, as he claimed pole position and battled with Lorenzo for the win prior to ending second.

The inconsistency which proved to be Pedrosa’s main issue in the early area of the year, meant he would arrive fifth at Le Mans as he missed out on a stage appearance in the final lap. Then came another strong comeback for a victory from pole position at Mugello, as the hard work paid off.

A tough next round at Silverstone ensued where Pedrosa smashed in qualifying and came in at eighth, however a succession of regular results that showed the continuity he was aiming for then arrived. Second spot at Assen from seventh on the grid and second place at his home event at Catalunya, showed the way to a second victory of 2010 at Sachsenring, when Pedrosa won a battle with Lorenzo for the win.

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Mid-way through his second year with the Ducati squad, Nicky Hayden has assessed how the campaign and bike are going to date and the American is happy with the progress currently being made.

“We took a big step from last year to this year, and I would hope to be able to do the same next year,” says Hayden. “The bike has improved a lot from last year, and the engineers there are really committed to wanting to make it the best bike on the grid. I’ve seen a lot of improvements from last year in terms of rideability, reliability, and it’s a more consistent bike. I think the bike has a lot of potential that we haven’t even got to yet.”

On various aspects that require improvement on the GP10, Hayden adds, “We’ve been having big problems with our starts lately, both Casey and I, but we can work that out. I know Casey, he’s a good rider, so I’m sure if he thinks the bike needs to improve, I hope we can improve it. But I think we have a good enough package to be winning races. Casey proved that in Qatar, if he didn’t crash there, he would have won that race quite easily. But having said that, we still want to improve. We’ve seen a lot of the other teams making steps, especially Honda, who seem to have made a big one since the start of the season. So we need to do the same.”

Hayden is positive that the following test at the next round at Brno can be as productive as last season’s.

“That test is important, as limited as testing time is now in MotoGP you really have to take advantage of any extra time. The motors we get to test with don’t come out of our allocation,” he explained. “So you hope for good weather and hope to make a breakthrough.”

“Last year at that test on the Monday we changed something with the geometry and were able to take a little step from there, and my results basically improved from that test on.

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Aleix Espargaró is thrilled at the opportunity to race at Laguna Seca for the first time this weekend, after being cleared following a crash at Sachsenring.

An x-ray following the accident confirmed a fracture in the Spaniard’s C7 vertebra, but following closer examination, it was shown to be an old injury and will not stop him from participating at Laguna.

“Luckily I have not broken anything in the fall. I was a bit worried when I was in Chemnitz hospital because the doctors had no common opinion on the diagnosis. After the X-ray some said that my C7 vertebra was fractured and that I had to rest for two weeks, whist others argued it was an old fracture. Fortunately, the final diagnosis was that it didn’t happen in the crash,” explains Espargaró.

“I have always heard about Laguna Seca and the famous Corkscrew, and I cannot wait to see if the change in direction and fast downhill descent takes your breath away as I have head.”

The 20 year-old adds, “I have studied the track with my engineers and it will be very important to be fast immediately on Friday, and then to continue to progress throughout the weekend.”

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Andrea Dovizioso is focussed on taking a good result at Laguna Seca this weekend. The Italian has been on the stage this year four times, though not in the prior three races, he wants to change that at the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix.

“I’m really looking forward to racing at Laguna Seca because it’s a unique track, and also because I want to improve on my result from the last race in Germany,” says the 24 year old. “We are completely focused on getting a strong finish this weekend before we head into the MotoGP summer break.”

Dovizioso arrived fourth at Laguna in his debut premier session and was in the same place last season before a crash resulted.

He adds, “Last year I was fast at Laguna and I was having a great race until unfortunately I clipped the plastic poles at the exit of Pit Lane at high speed and it damaged my clutch lever, which later contributed to my crash. Until that point I was fighting with Valentino and it could have been a good race. But still, this means I’m confident going into the weekend and I know we can be strong at this Grand Prix. Dani won the race here last year – and also the last race in Germany on Sunday – and this gives us extra motivation too.”

“The Laguna track is special – very different from the standard of tracks we are used to in Europe, and for this reason it is interesting to race here.

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A tough weekend for Colin Edwards at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland finished in disappointment on Sunday.

Despite many variations to the set up of his Monster Yamaha YZR-M1 engine over the weekend, Edwards could not find a setting to make him push at the quick pace he has been able to show.

His goals in being able to score points at every event this year came to a finish when he crashed out of 16th spot just prior to the initial race being red flagged.

Colin Edwards comments, “I got pushed around a bit at the start and lost a bit of time and I was just pushing because what I would lose on acceleration I would try and catch it all up on the brakes. It was my mistake. I ran into the last corner wide and was probably a metre off line and when I tried to pull it back I lost the front. This wasn't the result I wanted going into my home race next week at Laguna Seca but I'm more motivated than ever to get back on track and recover from a pretty difficult period in the season for me.

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Nicky Hayden claimed some positive outlooks after a difficult Sunday at Sachsenring where he arrived in seventh spot, after challenging for fifth with Andrea Dovizioso and Marco Simoncelli.

“On paper seventh place doesn’t look like a great result but after qualifying 15th yesterday actually it’s not so bad. I was running fifth but with a few laps to go I lost the front coming through the Waterfall and went back to seventh, after which I couldn’t really get back to them. Also on the last lap the bike jumped out a gear and I almost crashed so I’m happy to have picked up points,” explains the Ducati racer.

“Of course fifth would have been a lot better but I’m proud of my team because yesterday (Saturday) was probably the worst day of our season so far but they worked so hard to change almost everything with the set-up, from the forks to the pivot and the shock. We tested it in the wet morning and it felt okay – I was fifth fastest and comfortable so we rolled the dice and went for it in the race.”

Hayden adds, “At the start I was able to recover a lot of positions and got up to sixth when the red flag came out, which did me a favour because it closed the gap back up. I did not have the best feeling with the bike for a couple of laps, I was running wide in a lot of places and it was difficult. From there I got into a very aggressive race with Dovi and Simoncelli - I got rubber on both sides of my leathers but you expect that in MotoGP when you start 15th.”

The next race is one where Hayden has excellent skills and looking to please his home crowd as he prepares for the Red Bull US Grand Prix.

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Randy de Puniet was unfortunately the victim of two separate areas of bad luck at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland this weekend, he has fractured the tibia and fibula in his left leg on Sunday in a crash.

De Puniet had a disappointing fall in qualifying when his LCR Honda RC212V lost grip on spilt oil, the Frenchman slid off the circuit, striking Ben Spies’ bike, and hurting his right leg.

Braving the agony to keep racing De Puniet then had a crash on lap nine of the event which ended up with the race being red flagged.  Following examination at the Clinica Mobile, fractures to his tibia and fibula of his left leg were confirmed.

“It could not be worse than this!” says the 29 year old. “I had a bad start from the third row but got back up to ninth and my race pace was pretty good. I was able to push for sixth place despite my painful ankle after yesterday’s qualifying crash.”

“Suddenly I crashed at the exit of turn four and a bike hit my left leg. I immediately knew it was serious and we then found out the true extent after the X-rays.”

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Jorge Lorenzo arrives at Sachsenring for the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland in the finest form, with a 52 point lead in the Championship standings plus following a smooth run of three successive victories. After ending in the top two of every race so far this season, the Fiat Yamaha competitor is the initial racer since Valentino Rossi in 2005, to have been on the stage in the first seven events of a season. However, he will be looking for a first premier class victory at Sachsenring, one of the four tracks he is yet to claim victory at.

Nearest to Lorenzo is Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol Honda rider has different memories of the track. In 2007 he was victorious there, in 2008 he was leading the rankings when he smashed out and claimed an injury that finished his title challenge, and last year he ended up on the podium. His colleague Andrea Dovizioso, who is 22 points behind in third place, has a best finish of fifth in 2008.

Even on 69 points in fourth and fifth respectively are Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) and Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda). The American has more stage ends at Sachsenring than any other track. De Puniet’s year follows on to be impressive and he will be eager to improve on his previous best of eighth from 2008.

Casey Stoner is two points further back in sixth place, however signs of excellence are imminent as he arrives into this weekend following back-to-back podiums in the last two rounds. A first victory of this year for the Aussie will be enjoyed by many, he has claimed a win here once before in 2008.

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The Moto2 125cc test last week at the Motorland Aragón track brought together other racers, as they prepared for an opportunity to take a first look at the track to be visited for its first World Championship GP on September 19th.

In sweltering conditions with temperatures up to 40ºC, the whole Ducati competitor list (excluding Casey Stoner), was present.  The threesome of Nicky Hayden, Aleix Espargaró and Héctor Barberá all made observations of the layout on a Suter 600cc engine.

Páginas Amarillas Aspar racer Barbera, took to 15 laps of the track last week and commented,  “It’s a complete track – every corner is a fast one, the straight is very long and it goes downhill and uphill.

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Speculation is growing at the Czech Republic World Superbike round that world champion Valentino Rossi will test James Toseland’s factory R1 engine this week.

Rossi is anxious to make a come back from injury at next weekend’s German MotoGP event at the Sachsenring and will use the test at the Brno track to further enhance his healing progress.

The Fiat Yamaha competitor tested an R1 WSB motorbike last week at the Misano track near his Tavullia residency as he aims for a return from the broken right leg he incurred in a tough practice match last month.

Rossi had originally set a date for return for the Brmo MotoGP on August 15, however the quick progress of his healing enables him to contemplate a come back in Germany, only 41 days after breaking his leg.

Rumors are rife that Rossi will arrive to the Czech Republic to race former Monster Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP hero James Toseland’s R1.

Rossi will then decide whether he is fit enough to race at Sachsenring or if more treatment is required.

Rossi says he was happy with the progress at Misano, however complained of agony in his right tibia and the right shoulder he first injured in April.

The 31-year-old says, “We made this test in order to understand how we must work from here and to see more or less how I can ride the bike. The test was positive, because I can at least ride, but there is a lot more to a MotoGP race than to a test like this one.

"I had some pain in the ankle, the knee and the shoulder, but above all I lacked strength in the shoulder and a bit of movement in the ankle. I would really like to come back at Sachsenring, but it is still too early to say. We still have twelve days and we must wait and see how much we can improve my condition in the next few days.

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The initial 2010 MotoGP updated year for the videogame is now available for download on Xbox 360 and PS3 in Europe and Australia, this includes all current squads and competitors in the premier class.

Fans over Europe and Australia who bought a MotoGP 09/10 videogame for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are now able to download for free, the first 2010 season modification.

Also included is the fresh Silverstone track plus the latest motorbike, racer and team updates for the 2010 MotoGP year, players can now enjoy an up to the minute experience.

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Dani Pedrosa’s second position at the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya allowes him to keep his second spot in the World Championship rankings, leaving the Repsol Honda racer very happy with the consistency of claiming back to back stage appearances.

After winning in round four at Mugello, Pedrosa then arrived in eighth place at Silverstone, however he came back to take second position at Assen. This is just what Pedrosa is looking for, the 24 year old explains, “We’ve linked two good results together which was our target and now we must maintain this consistency and fight for the win at the next races.”

Beginning from the second row at Montmeló, Pedrosa raced into the lead at Turn 1 but drifted wide whilst coming out of it, which made him drop down the order as far as 11th on lap one.

“I made a really good start and was leading towards Turn 1,” he explains. “I had a bit of a front end shake on the way to the first corner but I didn’t think anything of it until I hit the brakes and for a moment there was nothing. I was surprised because it was not such a big shake, but then I pumped a few times and it came back. By then it was too late and I had to run wide. I took it slowly to get back on track because I didn’t want to be to be penalised (for cutting the corner).”

Pedrosa then swiftly worked his way back, by lap six he was in third position.  He adds, “I tried to recover as quickly as possible and make up the positions I’d lost. I got past Casey when he made a mistake and we raced together for many laps. I was pushing as hard as possible but we had a bit of a front end issue through the race and it was closing in the corners - I think many riders were having this problem today though. I was able to hang on until the end of the race though and I’m happy enough with second place after that first lap.”

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Repsol Honda competitors Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso go into this weekend’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya with only four points separating the duo in second and third. For Pedrosa this will be a home event and will follow a strong second position result at Assen, while Dovizioso will be focussing on getting back on the stage following his fifth position in the prior race.

Pedrosa is looking for consistency after claiming victory and two second spots, along with finishes of seventh and eighth, now he prepares to repeat his higher end places after finding a satisfying level on his RC212V.

"The last race in Assen was an excellent example of how we will never give up. The practice sessions were very difficult but our team never became downhearted and we were working until the final moments to get a good result,” says Pedrosa. “So far this season we have alternated between bad and good results at each race, but hopefully we can reach a high level again in Barcelona - everybody in my team is ready to go for it.”

Pedrosa has been victorious in the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP (2008) sessions at Montmeló, and adds, “It’s a circuit I always love to ride at because it’s very much my home race. We know that we will need to work very hard to set the bike up because at this circuit it is always difficult to find a good machine setting, and the one we used in Assen will probably not be right for this circuit. We must continue pushing in Barcelona this weekend."

Dovizioso has been near the podium in his two premier class years to date at Catalunya, and will look to gain better results this season.

“This is one of my favourite circuits, it suits my riding style and I think it should be good also for the Honda RC212V machines,” says the Italian. “I have always had good results here and I’m feeling really motivated. We have been strong so far this season and generally we have been improving race by race. We’ve finished on the podium quite a few times, and thanks to the work we put in over the winter we’ve been closer to front-running pace at most races.

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With impressive results like second at Silverstone and third at Assen in the Moto2 category, Tom Lüthi has made fantastic progress considering he raced in both events with a healing dislocated collarbone.

The Swiss competitor of the Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 squad dislocated his left clavicle in a motocross incident prior to Silverstone, however still appeared on stage at the British track and at Assen a week later. In Saturday’s event he then snapped the collarbone as he attempted to control his machine, with the pressure of his shoulder adding extra injury but amazingly still unable to prevent him from claiming another top three finish.

Lüthi had an operation in Switzerland by Doctor Marc Mettler later that night to replace the titanium plate he received following the original incident, he is now recovering at home. The 24 year old is focussed on racing in this weekend’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya, as he attempts to defend third position in the Championship rankings.

“I will definitely try to race in Barcelona. I am third in the World Championship standings right now and I will do all I can to not risk this position,” says Lüthi. “I’ve already had one race with no points this season and I won't risk losing more important points.”

Lüthi adds, “I will speak to the doctors in Barcelona and hope that I will be on the bike for the first free practice on Friday.

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Rizla Suzuki MotoGP are preparing for this weekend’s Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya in Barcelona following a tough event at the TIM TT Assen on Saturday that left the squad with much work ahead. Loris Capirossi and Álvaro Bautista ended in 13th and 14th positions respectively, these places being under their expectations at the Dutch track.

Capirossi struggled with his Suzuki GSV-R as the problems he incurred at Silverstone last week carried on in the warmer temperatures of Assen. He was instantly liaising with his squad following the race to assess the issues and endure modifications to assist with the bike being more competitive at Catalunya.

Bautista tried his best as he struggled with a shoulder injury on the physically demanding track. He started the event in major discomfort and though he pushed hard, was unable to locate the strength required to battle with the other competitors. He raced a lonely ride following 26 difficult laps.

Loris Capirossi explains, “I just don’t know what to say after this weekend - when I try to go quicker than I did today I feel like I will crash and when I try to make a race I end up almost last. The effort we are putting in is a lot and I am really angry and annoyed, because the whole team is trying really hard, we make so many changes to try to find the best solution and we just cannot find it. We just had no feeling at the start of the race and we needed three or four laps to get any kind of feel in the tyres, but by then it was too late. It is the same to finish 11th or 13th, both positions feel the same and it is just not good enough, we need to make some big changes for the weekend so we can try to be more competitive.”

Álvaro Bautista adds, “This has been a very bad race for us for a couple of reasons. On Friday in qualifying it looked like we had improved the bike, but when I woke up on race morning I felt more pain in my left arm. I think that I did too much on Friday and my left arm was very tired and painful. This was a bad start for a race, but I tried to be positive and have a good race. From the first lap though it felt very difficult riding the bike, because it felt like the tyres were still not warm enough, so I tried to push and find my rhythm like in practice, but the bike just moved around much more than it did in practice – I don’t know why. I struggled a lot in the race and I just tried to do the best I could. I hope that the feeling is better for the next race because it is my home GP.

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The first day at Assen was a close challenge in the MotoGP opening practice session as Jorge Lorenzo beat Casey Stoner to the fastest time by 0.011s. Gavin Emmett commented on his early views of how round six could progress.

“It’s good to see the Ducati Marlboro riders up there and Stoner’s time was so close to Lorenzo’s” states Emmett. “Lorenzo looks good, smooth and confident and the Yamaha always goes so well, and Colin Edwards’ time was up there too. Ben Spies looked good as well. Andrea Dovizioso was saying to me that his bike feels really strong, so you hope there will be more of a race than Lorenzo escaping at the front.”

Asked for his prediction, Gavin adds, “I think Lorenzo will probably win, and then Stoner has to get a podium sooner rather than later. It’s between Hayden and Edwards for third!”

The Moto2 session was taken by Andrea Iannone, at 0.222s in front of Championship leader Toni Elías, Gavin believes the intermediate session will also be tight.

“I think tomorrow will be when you start seeing everyone getting their settings down, and we should be able to tell more then,” he comments. “After Silverstone I’m not predicting anything!”

The 125cc category was headed by Nico Terol, however with Marc Márquez going for a third successive victory, Gavin thinks the young racer could be a contendor.

“I don’t see any reason why Márquez cannot make it a third win in a row, he certainly is very quick,” adds Gavin.

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For the initial time in 14 years, Valentino Rossi had no participation in a Grand Prix at Silverstone last weekend, however the injured 31 year old was in good spirits as his Fiat Yamaha squad garage displayed a signed t-shirt from the World Champion with the message “Torno Subito” (I’ll be back soon).

Together with his two Yamaha M1 prototypes, Rossi’s t-shirt made sure of a good reminder that he is currently healing and made a sincere contribution to Riders for Health, the official charity of MotoGP.

The t-shirt, which has a picture of Rossi laying on his hospital bed with an injured leg in cast, has been donated to Riders by Rossi for auction. The bidding will commence on Sunday afternoon, there will also be a jacket that belonged to Jorge Lorenzo on sale also.

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Dani Pedrosa was an unhappy rider after claiming eighth position at Silverstone on Sunday, grip problems on his RC212V stopped him from pushing for a higher place.

The quickest lap time in second practice had shown signs that Pedrosa was preparing for good pace after qualifying later that day, he took third spot on the starting grid before crashing at the end of the session.

Suffering bruises to both knees, Pedrosa was able to race on Sunday but issues with the bike proved to be difficult. “Eighth is obviously a disappointing result because we were looking quite strong here on Saturday and I was confident,” he said.

“However, we were lacking some grip from the beginning of the race and we couldn’t replicate the pace we were able to achieve in practice. The rear was spinning and sliding quite a lot and the front was pushing which meant that, even though I was pushing really hard, I wasn’t able to maintain my pace. It was frustrating because I could see the riders in front and I could stay with them but it was impossible to fight for position.”

Pedrosa also had fallen in the warm up on Sunday morning, but he praised the work of his squad in repairing his bike. He was also lucky to escape without any serious injury.

“The one positive thing from the weekend is that even though I had two crashes I wasn’t injured and I didn’t feel pain during the race today,” he states. “This means we can quickly put this weekend behind us and move on to the next races - the first one being Assen next weekend.

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MotoGP’s competitors will be racing on a new track this weekend when they appear for the AirAsia British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

The newly developed site is spectacular, and is classed as one of the quickest tracks on the 2010 calendar. 

 

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