Ducati On Top Podium

Australia's Casey Stoner notched up Ducati's maiden MotoGP victory of the season when he dominated the Aragon Grand Prix from pole to the chequered flag on Sunday.

The 2007 world champion, who started from pole for the 20th time of his career, finished 5.148sec ahead of Spain's Dani Pedrosa (Honda) at the Motorland Aragon circuit in north-east Spain.

American Nicky Hayden, also on a Ducati, made it a memorable day for the Italian bike manufacturers when he trumped Spain's Jorge Lorenzo on the final lap to claim third, at 9.496sec, and deprive the Yamaha rider a podium finish for the first time in 14 races.

1. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 16.53s

"It's been too long between wins, that's for sure," said Stoner, who last won in Malaysia in October last year.

"We started out pretty well this weekend, and we got on with the track. We progressed and got better."

Stoner admitted to having fallen in final preparations ahead of the race, taking a tumble over the white lines at turn 14.

"I was a little bit nervous this morning, but I'm really happy to bring it home," he said. "It was unexpected for us."

2. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 42m 21.678s

"Ducati were very strong, with both riders on the podium.

"I tried everything, I didn't start well but I recovered," he said of his battle with Casey.

"But I was too far from Casey. We did many laps at the same pace but couldn't get him on corners. He did good."

3. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Marlboro Team 42m 26.026s

"I didn't mean to leave it that late," said Hayden of his nail-biting fight with Lorenzo. "In the final laps, Jorge kept the doors shut.

"It's been a very good weekend for us."

4. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 26.11s

5. Ben Spies USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 42m 30.301s

6. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 42m 43.86s

7. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 45.041s

8. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 42m 51.784s

9. Marco Melandri ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 42m 51.923s

10. Aleix Espargaro ESP Pramac Racing 42m 51.997s

11. Hector Barbera ESP Paginas Amarillas Aspar 42m 52.052s

12. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 43m 1.89s

13. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP 43m 4.849s

14. Mika Kallio FIN Pramac Racing 43m 14.577s

DNF:

Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team

Randy de Puniet FRA LCR Honda MotoGP

Jorge Lorenzo Tops Dani Pedrosa In Last-Lap Classickk

Spanish Yamaha MotoGP rider Jorge Lorenzo (R) is followed by his countryman Dani Pedrosa (L) of Honda team at the Jerez race track in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on 02 May 2010. Lorenzo won the race and his countryman Dani Pedrosa of the Honda team was second and Italian Valentino Rossi, of Yamaha, placed third.

As the midway point of the race approached Pedrosa was leading well at a second-and-a-half ahead of Rossi, with Lorenzo a further two seconds back. The fight for seventh place was a close one, with San Carlo Honda Gresini teammates Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli battling one another amongst a group of five riders.

At the same time Lorenzo was closing the gap on Rossi and on lap 21 passed his teammate, and turned his focus to hunting down Pedrosa. From there a superb duel developed between the two Spaniards.

With two laps to go Lorenzo caught up with the factory Honda rider and made his move to pass, but Pedrosa held his line and the two almost touched as the excitement continued to increase.

And so it came down to the last lap and as Pedrosa pushed it wide at the Dry Sack corner Lorenzo swept through to assume the lead, which he held to ensure he received his reward for a fantastic ride. Crossing the line the Fiat Yamaha rider was 0.543s ahead of Pedrosa, with Rossi placing third to complete the podium.

Completing the top five were Ducati Marlboro riders Nicky Hayden, who repeated his fourth spot from Qatar, and Casey Stoner, with Andrea Dovizioso taking sixth place.

Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) completed an impressive rise from last place on the grid to take seventh, with Melandri, Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) and Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) also placing inside the top ten.

Dani Pedrosa Goes Up

Spanish MotoGP pilot Dani Pedrosa of the Honda team speeds up his bike during the free practice session held at the Jerez race track in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on 30 April 2010 ahead of the Spanish motorcycling Grand Prix race to be held in Jerez on 02 May 2010.

Dani Pedrosa returned to his pre-2010 position as Honda's top rider during Friday free practice for his home Spanish Grand Prix.

The #26, who faded from first to seventh in the Qatar season-opener, benefitted from some a new stiffer chassis - designed to counter the stability problems he has been battling - on his way to a competitive fourth place.

“We tried a new chassis today and there is an improvement in some areas which meant we could finish the session not too far from the front,” said Pedrosa, who was within half a second of fastest rider Casey Stoner (Ducati).

“There seemed to be a lack of grip today though and we need to look at the data and work out if the problem is our set-up or just the condition of the track. We haven't found all the solutions we're looking for with the new parts on the bike yet, so we need to work hard in tomorrow's two sessions and try to qualify well.

“Every race is important of course, but because this is my home race I really want to do well on Sunday,” added Pedrosa, who won the 2008 Spanish MotoGP and was second to Valentino Rossi last year.

Cadey StonerFfastest at Spanish GP Practice ‎

Australian MotoGP pilot Casey Stoner of the Ducati team speeds up his bike during the free practice session held at the Jerez race track in Jerez de la Frontera, southern Spain, on 30 April 2010 ahead of the Spanish motorcycling Grand Prix race to be held in Jerez on 02 May 2010.

The Australian rider's lap of 1 minute, 39.731 seconds was more than one-tenth of a second faster than Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo, while his American teammate Nicky Hayden was nearly half a second behind in third.

Valentino Rossi of Yamaha, who won the season-opener at Qatar, was six-tenths back in sixth as the Italian braved back pain sustained in a motorcross accident in early April.

The Spanish GP is the season's second race after the Japanese GP was postponed to Oct. 3 due to air travel chaos caused by the volcanic ash two weeks ago.

Alex Debon of Spain was fastest in the Moto2 category while Derbi rider Pol Espargaro led the 125cc practice.

Fiat Yamaha Make a Speedy tart to 2010

With Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo both inside the top three times at the first official MotoGP test of 2010 in Malaysia, it was a successful outing for the Fiat Yamaha team.

Rossi was the only rider of all 17 present to get under the 2’01” mark, as he set a time of 2’00.925 on Friday, whilst Lorenzo’s time of 2’01.680 made him third fastest behind Ducati’s Casey Stoner.

Suzuki Continue Rizla MotoGP Partnership

Suzuki Motor Corporation is pleased to announce a further two-year agreement with ITL (Imperial Tobacco Limited) which will see the Suzuki MotoGP team continue to carry the Rizla brand on its GSV-R in the premier class of motorcycling racing.

Rizla became the title sponsor of Suzuki’s MotoGP team in 2006 and the announcement of a further extension to the partnership will mean the Suzuki GSV-R will compete in the MotoGP World Championship in the now famous ‘Rizla Blue’ until at least 2011.

Rizla is the world’s premier brand of rolling papers and has had a racing association with Suzuki since the 1980’s in Grand Prix, including Suzuki legend Kevin Schwantz rolling out on his GP debut on a Rizla-backed RG500 in 1986.

MotoGP: Jorge Lorenzo Goes Fastest

Championship contender Jorge Lorenzo topped the timesheets during Friday's first practice session as the FIM MotoGP World Championship hit Sepang.

Marlboro Ducati rider Casey Stoner continued his fine form since returning from illness with second place, with Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa in third and Rossi in fourth.

A fourth-place finish on Sunday will be enough for Rossi to take his seventh premier-class world championship even if Lorenzo wins, and the Italian was in relaxed mood as he lapped 0.684 seconds slower than his young rival.

MotoGP: 2009 San Marino Result

Valentino Rossi wins MotoGP San Marino race. Behind Valentino Rossi is other Fiat Yamaha rider, Lorenzo and Daniel Pedrosa on third place.

MotoGP News: Rossi Fastest In Motegi

Reigning world champion Valentino Rossi of Italy clocked the fastest time Friday in the first free practice for Sunday's MotoGP Grand Prix of Japan.

Practice results Friday from the Japan GP on the 4.8-kilometer (3 mile) Motegi Circuit: MotoGP
1. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Yamaha, 1 minute, 48.545 seconds.
2. Casey Stoner, Australia, Ducati, 1:48.601.
3. Jorge Lorenzo, Spain, Yamaha, 1:48.965.
4. Chris Vermeulen, Australia, Suzuki, 1:49.382.
5. Colin Edwards, United States, Yamaha, 1:49.697.
6. Loris Capirossi, Italy, Suzuki, 1:49.980.
7. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Honda, 1:50.030.
8. Marco Melandri, Italy, Kawasaki, 1:50.123.
9. Toni Elias, Spain, Honda, 1:50.209.
10. James Toseland, Britain, Yamaha, 1:50.342.
11. Dani Pedrosa, Spain, Honda, 1:50.391.
12. Nicky Hayden, United States, Ducati, 1:50.393. 250cc
1. Marco Simoncelli, Italy, Gilera, 1:53.093.
2. Hiroshi Aoyama, Japan, Honda, 1:53.695.
3. Alvaro Bautista, Spain, Aprilia, 1:53.836.
4. Mattia Pasini, Italy, Aprilia, 1:53.940.
5. Hector Barbera, Spain, Aprilia, 1:54.497.
6. Raffaele De Rosa, Italy, Honda, 1:54.584.
7. Gabor Talmacsi, Hungary, Aprilia, 1:54.594.
8. Mike Di Meglio, France, Aprilia, 1:54.595.
9. Roberto Locatelli, Italy, Gilera, 1:54.757.
10. Alex Debon, Spain, Aprilia, 1:55.103.
11. Lukas Pesek, Czech Republic, 1:55.158.
12. Ratthapark Wilairot, Thailand, Honda, 1:55.208 125cc

1. Andrea Iannone, Italy, Aprilia, 2:00.685.
2. Julian Simon, Spain, Aprilia, 2:00.864.
3. Stefan Bradl, Germany, Aprilia, 2:01.029.
4. Esteve Rabat, Spain, Aprilia, 2:01.372.
5. Nicolas Terol, Spain, Aprilia, 2:01.549.
6. Dominique Aegerter, Switzerland, Derbi, 2:01.565.
7. Bradley Smith, Britain, Aprilia, 2:01.608.
8. Pol Espargaro, Spain, Derbi, 2:01.781.
9. Sandro Costese, Germany, Derbi, 2:01.797.
10. Marc Marquez, Spain, KTM, 2:01.868.
11. Joan Olive, Spain, Derbi, 2:01.947.
12. Sergio Gadea, Spain, Aprilia, 2:02.333.