MotoGP coverage on Eurosport ends for 2009
MotoGP rights-holders Dorna Sports said that coverage of the MotoGP World Championships will no longer be available on Eurosport from the 2009 season, as part of Dorna’s new strategy of working with national network broadcasters around Europe.
Dorna said it wanted to focus first and foremost on free-to-air coverage to bring MotoGP to wider audiences. In the UK, the BBC will enjoy exclusive coverage of MotoGP next year, whilst in Spain and Italy, where MotoGP enjoys long-term agreements with TVE and Mediaset respectively, negotiations are ongoing about extending coverage to more hours during the weekend.
In Germany, a deal has been signed with a privately owned free-to-air channel, giving the commercial network exclusive coverage for three years until 2011. Meanwhile, negotiations are ongoing in France and other major European territories with various mainstream networks; further details will be announced shortly.
Dorna said it would like to thank Eurosport for a partnership which has been of mutual benefit for several years, having helped take MotoGP to new levels of popularity and coverage whilst also offering the pan-European broadcaster impressive viewing figures.
News, results and riders' opinions
CASEY STONER slaughtered the opposition during Saturday's Dutch Grand Prix, winning the race by a staggering 11.3 seconds. Second placed went to Dani Pedrosa who now leads the championship with 171 points. Third place was swept up by Yamaha's Colin Edwards, who pipped Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden at the finishing line, after the former MotoGP world champion ran out of fuel.
Valentino Rossi fell on the first lap but remounted to take 11th place. The Italian now trails Dani Pedrosa by four points in the race for the title.
Here's what the riders said after the race:
Casey Stoner - Ducati - 1st
"We knew we had the pace to win today but sometimes coming into race day that can make you even more nervous because you know the only thing that can go wrong is yourself! I was also worried about the weather and after watching the 125 race I thought it would be typical to start raining whilst I was in the lead. Thankfully that wasn't the case and I was able to get out front, put my head down and concentrate on doing the times we've been doing all weekend in dry conditions. I'm sorry Valentino crashed because this isn't necessarily the way I wanted to recover points on him, but at the end of the day we've had our fair share of bad luck this year too and racing is an unpredictable game. Now it seems fortune is favouring us but more than that I've really got to take my hat off to Ducati and to my team. They've been doing such a good job over the past few races to get us back on the pace again and make us consistently competitive, so I want to say 'thank you' to all of them."
Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 2nd
“I'm happy with this result because it was a difficult race and I'm happy to be in the World Championship lead once again, the 20 points we got here are very important. We've struggled a little bit during practice here, but my team have worked really hard, so a big thanks to all of them. Yesterday I was able to qualify on a MotoGP front row for the first time at Assen. Today I did my best in the race but unfortunately we couldn't go with Casey because he was so fast. Now we need to keep working hard because we must try to close the gap over the next few races. Sachsenring is next. We had a great win there last year and we will try to the same again this year.”
Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 4th
“Man, we had a pretty good race. Unfortunately this game can be cruel sometimes. To be so close to a really good result is tough, but we still finished, we made it across the line and still got some good points out of the deal, but it would've been nice to stand on the podium. The team certainly deserved it, they've worked really hard this weekend. On the sighting lap I knew something was wrong. It's been a little bit frustrating because she hasn't run right off the bottom since I got here, especially out of slow corners. They've been changing stuff and they thought they had it fixed but something was wrong. I had a dash light come on at the start of the race, though it went off after the start. She finally quit right before the finish line. It's how it goes, I guess me and Colin are even now, he gave me one here a couple of years ago and I gave him a podium today. There at the end I was trying to make a push on Dani, I wanted to keep the pressure on him, he was coming back to me a bit. I was pushing, then on the last lap I thought 'oh no, we're in trouble'. Nonetheless the bike is working good, now they've got a week and a half to hopefully sort it out in Japan and we can keep moving on.”
Andrea Dovizioso - JiR Team Scot Honda - 5th
“I'm very happy with this fifth place, I believe this is the maximum that we could achieve today. I started well and in the early stages of race I was faster than some of the other riders, managing to stay in front, even though we started from the fourth row of the grid where usually it's hard to recover and get with the leaders. When Valentino fell, this opened a gap for me and I benefited from it and stayed in fifth position. After a few laps Vermeulen was behind me, so when he came past I wanted to see where he was faster and whether he could drag us further on. He wasn't faster than me, so I overtook him, as I knew Colin was coming. Colin passed Chris and I was unable to stop him passing me. He then had a pace I could not match. Yesterday I thought we would be able to have a better rhythm, but our result today could not have been better. We struggle to fight for the podium posit! ions and it seems that fourth or fifth is 'our' position in the race. We are working well and happy with the results, even if we want better!”
Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 6th
“I said yesterday that the most important thing for me today was to finish after everything that's happened recently, so this is a good thing. However I am not happy about the race because it wasn't fun today and I had some problems, although, as in the last few races, my bike became easier to ride towards the end of the race. I must just take comfort now in the fact that we have two weeks until the next round, and hopefully by then I will be feeling a lot better. We are trying to go step-by-step but of course I want to do better than this. Valentino was not so lucky today but I want to say well done to him for finishing and taking some important points.”
Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 11th
“After seven podiums in a row I made a mistake today - this is racing! I am very disappointed because we made a change to the set-up of the front and it worked very well, and I could tell from the warm-up lap that my bike was very good today. Unfortunately I made a mistake at the first left; I arrived too fast when the tyres were still cold, I was too hard on the brakes and I lost the rear. I am sincerely sorry to Randy de Puniet and all of his team. After the crash I had a bent handlebar and no gear shifter, but despite this I was able to do the third fastest lap time, 37.1! I know I could have been faster than Pedrosa today and, although it's easy to say now, I think I could have fought with Stoner for the win. I am glad for these five points and although we have lost the lead we are not far behind Pedrosa. I am loo! king forward now to some more technical improvements for my bike and being fast, together with Bridgestone, at every track.”
Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 7th
“I got a good start and moved into a good position through the first two corners, but I was nearly involved in the crash and had to run wide causing me to almost lose the front. The bike worked really well in the beginning part of the race and I had a lot of grip from the Bridgestones. I felt like my pace was better than the guys in front and I could see them and thought I could get up to them, but once I got past and up into fourth the grip went off a bit and it became quite slippery out there. Unfortunately I lost a bit of time and dropped back a few positions, but I was still quite strong at the end of the race and managed to get back to seventh. Considering the problems we have had this weekend and losing a couple of sessions - one to problems on the first day and another to the rain - it is a decent result and we have managed to salvage something from it. Full congratulations to the team they did a great job again, and I'd like to say get well soon to Loris, I hope he is back at Sachsenring so he can give me a run for my money!”
Marco Melandri - Ducati - 13th
"It would have been good for me to have a wet race today. This morning things were going better and I was quite satisfied with the bike. Compared to yesterday the situation was much better, even though the front end still wasn't perfect. Unfortunately though you can't do anything about the weather, the race was run in the dry and the problems we've been having with the bike returned. I can't get it into the corner, I can't make it turn and I'm losing so much grip, especially with a full fuel tank. It was a very difficult race."
Anthony West - Kawasaki - DNF
"I got a good start to the race, although it was difficult from so far back on the grid because the first turn is quite tight. I had made up a few places when Alex de Angelis highsided in front of me and I had to almost stop the machine to avoid hitting him. The bike was feeling good and in the next few laps I managed to pass a few people into 11th place. I was sure I could catch the group ahead of me and be well within the top ten, but we were lapping at a similar pace and with the incident at the start, I had to push just that little bit harder. Unfortunately I lost the front of the bike and crashed out, which is a real disappointment because we were quite strong today. The new engine upgrades have made a difference and we still have more grip than previously, despite struggling a little bit in places with cornering. We just need some luck on our side and, hopefully, we'll be fighting for good positions next time out at Sachsenring."
Randy de Puniet - LCR Honda - DNF
“We all deserve a lot better than this! Since the beginning of this week end my pace was consistently fast and could stay with the top 5 riders today. I made a very good start and was in the 5th position when Rossi crashed and I was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”. We both went out in the gravel but he rejoined the race. Probably he arrived to fast and lost the rear in the braking hitting my bike. I am very disappointed because we could fight for a good result here. Luckily I only suffered a small abrasion in my left thigh. Want to thank my Team for their excellent work during this week end”.
Dutch Grand Prix MotoGP Results
1. C. STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 42'12.337
2 D. PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team + 11.310
3 C. EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha + 17.125
4 N. HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team + 20.477
5 A. DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 27.346
6 J. LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team + 28.608
7 C. VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 32.330
8 S. NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini + 34.892
9 J. TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha + 38.566
10 S. GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team + 38.817
11 V. ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team + 46.025
12 T. ELIAS SPA Alice Team + 48.213
13 M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team + 59.594
2008 Championship Standings
1 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team 171
2 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 167
3 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 142
4 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team 114
5 Colin EDWARDS USA Tech 3 Yamaha 98
6 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA JiR Team Scot MotoGP 79
7 Nicky HAYDEN USA Repsol Honda Team 70
8 James TOSELAND GBR Tech 3 Yamaha 60
9 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 57
10 Shinya NAKANO JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 57
11 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 51
12 Toni ELIAS SPA Alice Team 33
13 John HOPKINS USA Kawasaki Racing Team 32
14 Marco MELANDRI ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 32
15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini 25
16 Sylvain GUINTOLI FRA Alice Team 24
17 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP 22
18 Anthony WEST AUS Kawasaki Racing Team 16
19 Ben SPIES USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2
20 Tadayuki OKADA JPN Repsol Honda Team 2
Constructor Points
1 YAMAHA 180
2 HONDA 151
3 DUCATI 122
4 SUZUKI 71
5 KAWASAKI 41
Toseland battles to ninth in Dutch MotoGP
JAMES Toseland hit back at critics who have questioned his commitment to racing with a return to a competitive on-track performance at Assen in Holland on Saturday.
The 27-year-old passed the chequered flag in ninth position in his first race since his torrid first home MotoGP at Donington Park just six days earlier.
The dramatic 26-lap race in the Netherlands saw just 13 riders complete the distance from the 15-rider grid.
Tech 3 Yamaha's Toseland started from 13th place but was able to make ground on his rivals on the opening lap.
Factory Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi suffered a similar accident to the Isle of Man resident's incident at the British GP – unavoidably taking out Randy De Puniet and holding up several other riders.
Toseland worked his way into eighth position and held it for a large part of the race. He was pushed back into ninth place by team-mate Colin Edwards, who went on to secure a well-deserved podium finish with third position.
The British contender held on to his place to add further points to his championship tally and gain more experience in the premier league of motorcycle racing.
'We're having a bit of a tough period at the moment,' said Toseland. 'We tried something totally different with the bike and although it wasn't quite right, we are starting to make headway. We were back in the top 10, which is important, but I've still got a lot of work to do.
'I apologise to the fans because I know it must be frustrating to watch but I am committed to working my hardest to continue to improve and get the bike to where we need to be.
'It hasn't helped that we've had changeable weather at the last two events either because we have such a short space of time to get the bike right.'
Keep up to date with all James Toseland news at www.jamestoseland.com
RESULTS
1, C. Stoner 42'12.337
2, D. Pedrosa +11.310
3, C. Edwards +17.125
4, N. Hayden +20.477
5, A. Dovizioso +27.346
6, J. Lorenzo +28.606
7, C. Vermeulen +32.330
8, S. Nakano +34.892
9, J. Toseland +38.566
10, S. Guintoli +38.817.
STANDINGS (after round nine)
1, Pedrosa 171
2, Rossi 167
3, Stoner 142
4, Lorenzo 114
5, Edwards 98
6, Dovizioso 79
7, Hayden 70
8, Toseland 60
9, Vermeulen 57
10, Nakano 57
KEVIN SCHWANTZ has ruled out a sensational switch from Suzuki to Honda or another marque, after his GP team management hopes have been continually thwarted.
Schwantz had been working to try and find a seat for double AMA Superbike champion Ben Spies, and a senior team role for himself, either with the factory team or an independent Suzuki with Jorge “Aspar” Martinez. The first option has so far been blocked from within the team, and the second has been definitely closed down, with Suzuki declining to make bikes available for even one extra rider.
Now rumours linked Schwantz with an approach to Honda to run a satellite team, but the 1993 500cc World Champion and career-long Suzuki rider ruled it out, when asked directly at Assen if he was looking for another machine.
“Not necessarily,” he replied. “My heart, soul, my career's been with Suzuki. I'd like to stay there.
“But if I've got people coming to me that say they want to be involved, in something that I'm involved in, it's hard for me to keep watching.
“It's just talk. I haven't got money in the bank. But it's hard to keep saying, maybe something's happening with the third bike. It's getting to the point where I'm kinda looking silly, because people are coming to me asking questions and I don't have any answers,” he continued.
“I understand why Suzuki's not going with the third bike, with the way the economy is.
“For Ben, I've told him that if there's not a third bike from Suzuki, the probability of me having something is pretty slim. I said: 'you need to look after you'.
“He has his own agent, and his own processes. He'd like to be here, with the factory Suzuki team, but it that's not possible he can look elsewhere. If I had someone that wanted to be affiliated with him, I might send them in that direction. But I don't think I'm going to jump ship and go there.
“I'd like to bring funding here (to Suzuki), bring some help here. That's my first desire,” he concluded.
Hopper likely to miss home GP
JOHN HOPKINS may miss his home US GP in three weeks after he continued a crash-strewn season with another heavy fall during the qualifying hour, another victim of the Ramshoek corner that claimed Capirossi, and lucky to escape with nothing more than leg and ankle fractures after slamming feet-first into the barrier.
The Hopper started the season injured after crashing at Phillip Island tests, then hurt his back again crashing at Catalunya, although he kept riding.
The Assen crash was expected to keep him out for two weeks or more, missing Assen, the German GP, and probably also Laguna Seca. He sustained a fracture in his left ankle, re-opened an old fracture in his left tibia, and incurred a new fracture.
He was scheduled to fly to California directly to see Dr Ting, famed orthopaedic surgeon who numbers Lawson, Rainey, Doohan and others among past patients.
Hopkins lost control as he changed direction after the fast right-hand kink on the section of the old circuit leading towards Ramshoek corner and the final chicane. He and his bike sped across the new tarred run-off area and the gravel trap so fast it looked almost as though he had suffered brake failure. This was not the case.
