Mugello, Italy

2009 Mugello Red Bull Rookies Cup Race Result

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 22:24

Sturla Fagerhaug won the Red Bull Rookies race at Mugello on Saturday, after a mature recovery from a terrible start. The Norwegian got away from the line terribly, crossing the line at the end of the first lap well down the order. But Fagerhaug settled down into a rhythm and fought his way forward to catch leader Jakub Kornfeil, then break away from the chasing pack together with the Czech rider.

2009 Mugello MotoGP Qualifying Report

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 17:33

Qualifying for the MotoGP class at Mugello took place under a hot Tuscan sun, the weekend continuing as it started yesterday. And just like yesterday afternoon, it was Valentino Rossi taking an early lead, cracking under the race lap record and into the 1'49s on just his 3rd lap. Rossi had been goaded into action after the morning session in which Casey Stoner once again did what he does best, which is to start fast and never let up, the Australian setting an astonishing 1'49.323 in the second session of free practice. So by laying down the law early in qualifying, Valentino Rossi set out his stall, making it clear to all what it would take to beat him.

For the first half of qualifying, the only man capable of getting close to Rossi was his team mate Jorge Lorenzo. Both Fiat Yamaha men spent the first 30 minutes doing long runs and race simulations, the pair of them putting in terrifyingly consistent runs in the mid to high 1'49s, setting the pace that will be needed for victory at Mugello on Sunday. Only Colin Edwards looked capable of approaching the pace of the Fiat Yamahas, the Texan demonstrating that the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha is very close to the factory bikes in performance.

The halfway point of the session came and went, and the wait began for the first real challenge to Rossi's dominance. The expectation was that it would come from Casey Stoner, as Stoner's time from the morning session was still nearly half a second quicker than Rossi's provisional pole session, but the Australian was having problems with the Ducati, spending time diving in and out of the pits to adjust the bike, and get the machine to turn.

2009 Mugello 250cc Qualifying Practice Result - Dream Front Row Settled In Final Minute

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 13:59

Results and summary of the 250cc Qualifying Practice at Mugello:

Alvaro Bautista took pole for tomorrow's 250cc race at Mugello, after a final minute surge took him to the top of the timesheets. Bautista was aided by Marco Simoncelli being fractionally balked on his last lap, as the Italian came up just a fraction too close on Raffaele de Rosa in the final corner, losing a couple of hundredths and just missing out on pole.

2009 Mugello 125cc Qualifying Practice Result - Surprise One-Two

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 11:44

Qualifying practice summary and results for the 125cc class at Mugello:

Bradley Smith and Scott Redding took a surprise British one-two during qualifying for tomorrow's 125cc Grand Prix. The session quickly turned into a battle royal between the Bancaja Aspar team mates Julian Simon and Bradley Smith, but it was Smith who was first under 1'59, and then taking pole back from with 10 minutes to go. 6 minutes later, the British rider improved even further, smashing the pole record with an astounding 1'58.134 lap, which no one was capable of matching.

2009 Mugello 250cc FP2 Result - Simoncelli Strikes Back

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 10:28

Marco Simoncelli seized control of the second session of free practice for the 250cc class at Mugello right from the start. The Italian, who could only manage the 8th fastest time yesterday, took top time after just 10 minutes of the session, and never relinquished his spot. Alvaro Bautista, who dominated yesterday, could only manage the 5th fastest time, behind Hiroshi Aoyama who was similarly slower. Hector Barbera's 2nd fastest time underlined the Spaniard's pace here at Mugello, but the big surprise is Karel Abraham's 3rd spot.

2009 Mugello MotoGP FP2 Result - Stoner Seizes Control

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 09:07

Casey Stoner returned to type in this morning's second session of free practice at Mugello, seizing control early and not relenting. Stoner had cracked into the 1'49s before the first 10 minutes of the session were over, and a lap later he set the fastest time of the session, an astonishing 1'49.323. Valentino Rossi held 2nd for much of the ssession, but his pesky team mate Jorge Lorenzo sneaked ahead of him again with less than 5 minutes to go. Toni Elias caused a surprise by leaping up into 4th in the dying seconds, just squeezing out Loris Capirossi and Colin Edwards.

2009 Mugello 125cc FP2 Result - Simon, Smith And Gadea Dominate Again

By Kropotkin | Sat, 30/05/2009 - 08:40

The Aspar team dominated the second session of free practice for the 125cc class once again. Julian Simon was fastest, as ever, with this time Bradley Smith in 2nd, ahead of Sergio Gadea. German rider Sandro Cortese was fourth quickest, ahead of Nicolas Terol, who was the last man to be within a second of Simon's blistering time. Local youngster Lorenzo Savadori impressed once again, taking the 7th fastest time, ahead of De Graaf Racing's Danny Webb. The final Brit, Scott Redding, finished down in 11th.

Results of 125cc FP2:

2009 Mugello Day 1 Roundup

By Kropotkin | Fri, 29/05/2009 - 19:35

After the cold drizzle of Le Mans, MotoGP hit Mugello under a sweltering Tuscan sun. The heat met with no complaints, however, as everyone in the paddock is sick to death of the wet weather which seems to follow them wherever they go.

As the bikes took to the track, Valentino Rossi did his best Casey Stoner impression, being fastest out of the gate, and staying on top for the first 20 minutes of the session. At that point, the rest of the Fantastic Four started to catch up, and leapfrogged each other for the lead. First Casey Stoner took the top spot, then with 32 minutes left Jorge Lorenzo took back the fastest time for the Fiat Yamaha team, only for Stoner to take it back again 5 minutes later.

With a quarter of the session left, Valentino Rossi reasserted himself atop the timesheets as Master of Mugello, but his team mate refused to be impressed. The young Spaniard took top spot again with 11 minutes to go, smashing the race lap record in the process and cracking into the 1'49s. Lorenzo then continued to set a string of lightning fast laps, eventually running three laps inside the 1'49s.

Valentino Rossi was left down in 2nd spot, just under 2/10ths off his Fiat Yamaha team mate, but capable of about the same kind of race pace. If The Doctor planned a spot of psychological warfare at Mugello, by coming out fast and trying to dominate practice, he ended up hoist by his own petard, coming up against a truly remarkable Jorge Lorenzo. But Rossi always has something special at the Tuscan track, so no doubt he'll be even faster tomorrow.

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