---------------------------------------
WORLD SUPERBIKES News
---------------------------------

Kiyonari recovering well

After breaking his right collarbone almost two weeks ago, Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Ryuichi Kiyonari is now recovering at home in Japan, after undergoing the third plate and pin operation in his short career.

Remarkably for a rider who is still 26, he has also broken the left collarbone twice, but has not had to have surgery on that particular bone.

He is fully expected to be back in Europe for the final round of the year at Portimao, and is only staying in Japan to allow his specialist to make regular checks on him.

So far, ‘Kiyo' has won three races in his rookie year, only ranked behind Bayliss (9) and Haga (7).

---------------------------

Bayliss celebrates title with win.

Troy Bayliss celebrated his World Superbike championship with a victory in race two at Magny-Cours.

Bayliss had already sealed the title after finishing third behind winner Noriyuki Haga in race one.

The 39-year-old Australian, who retires at the end of the season, rode his Xerox Ducati to a controlled podium finish in the first race.

Knowing third place would guarantee him the title, Bayliss produced an uncharacteristically restrained race before exploding into life at the chequered flag.

There was evident relief for Ducati, after Bayliss had failed to wrap up the championship as expected in the last round at Vallelunga - finishing sixth and 16th to keep Haga and Corser in with a mathematical chance of overhauling him.

The celebrations were kept to a minimum, however, prior to the end of race two in which Bayliss just edged Haga for the win after making his attack on the penultimate lap.

Troy Corser took the final place on the podium and trails Haga in the race for second place overall after to his Yamaha Motor Italia team-mate's race one victory.

"It was a great race in the end, we made one change and put on a harder front tyre for the second race," Bayliss said.

"The grip was similar but more consistent during the race. I was struggling on the exits to the tight corner, losing a bit to Nori, but it's always like this.

"You lose some and gain some. I gave it my all, there wasn't much to lose, I put three good laps together at the end and it was a great win."

Andrew Pitt claimed a second world championship for Australia, winning the World Supersport title.

Pitt won the Magny-Cours race while his Ten Kate Honda team-mate and closest rival Jonathan Rea could do no better than 10th after being taken out by Robbin Harms.

 

Posted by NX Wolf

---------------------------------

 

------------------------
MOTO GP NEWS
------------------------

Rossi to continue Ferrari tests?

Team boss Stefano Domenicali said Valentino Rossi will be able do more tests with Ferrari.

But he added that Italy's six-times premium class motorcycling world champion is unlikely to switch to Formula One.

"We have a great relationship with Valentino and we'll definitely give him the chance to be part of our group again," Domenicali told Sky television.

"But I think he has already decided the path for his future."

Pedrosa boss attacks Hayden

Dani Pedrosa's manager Alberto Puig has launched a stinging attack on the Spaniard's departing Repsol Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden

Puig claimed the American used to copy Pedrosa's (pictured left with Casey Stoner and Hayden) settings because he does not know how to set up a bike, was never a rival to Pedrosa and is a hypocrite for saying he does not have a problem with Pedrosa.

Former 500cc race winner Puig was asked by the official MotoGP website about the wall which now divides the Repsol Honda pits following Pedrosa's shock mid-season switch to Bridgestone.

Hayden does not like the idea of a team being separated.

"All I can say is that Hayden may be bothered because now he can't access information and telemetry data from Dani's bike," replied Puig.

"With this information he was able to improve his riding, as he had all of Dani's references and now he can't use that any longer. He was simply copying as he never knew how to set up a bike."

Puig's claims are not reflected in the results: in the three races since the pits were divided, Hayden has enjoyed his best form of the season, claiming two podium finishes and beating Pedrosa twice. In that time Hayden has scored 47 points, while Pedrosa has managed just 24.

Puig said the relationship between the riders has not been the same since they collided at the 2006 Portuguese Grand Prix, resulting in Hayden losing the World Championship lead with one further round to contest.

Hayden subsequently won the title at the Valencia season finale, during which Pedrosa waved him past early in race; but Puig said the American had acted like a "hypocrite" and is "jealous".

"Everything changed with the incident in Portugal, where Dani made a mistake during the race and apologised for it afterwards," said Puig.

"Nicky eventually won the title and Dani did what he had to do in Valencia, which was to help him. But from that point - even if Hayden denies it - all he's been doing has been talking about how Dani was 'weird' and bringing the people around Pedrosa into the subject.

"He shouldn't act like a hypocrite and say that he doesn't have a problem with Dani, because since that incident in Portugal I think he has talked to him about twice.

"He shouldn't involve Dani's manager in this just because he's jealous of another rider."

Puig played down any rivalry on track between Pedrosa and Hayden as in the last two seasons the Spaniard has outperformed his team-mate.

"Honestly, and without trying to offend anyone, there was never a rivalry in the garage," he said.

"Nicky won the title when Dani was in his first MotoGP season, and since then there was no rivalry because he [Hayden] didn't get the results.

"On his own, Dani gained experience in this class and Nicky was always behind him, so Nicky has never been a serious rival."

 

Rossi supreme in Malaysia

Valentino Rossi won the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang as rookie Andrea Dovizioso took his debut podium behind Dani Pedrosa.

It was Rossi's ninth triumph of this victorious 2008 season and his 150th grand prix podium, while Pedrosa now cannot finish second in the championship after Casey Stoner came home in sixth.

"I had a great battle early in the race with Dani, but I had 10 laps alone which, although the track is fun, were hard work," Rossi said afterwards.

"I'm happy because it's my ninth victory of the year. I like this number and will try for 10 in Valencia."

Pedrosa said: "Valentino always gives more in the race than in practice, and we need to learn this and push harder.

"Second place is very good and we are happy with this."

The Italian produced a cool, calculating performance at a scorching hot Sepang after dropping from second to third at turn one while pole sitter Pedrosa blasted into an early lead.

Rossi put his Fiat Yamaha back ahead of countryman Dovizioso to reclaim second spot by the start of lap two and was soon locked on to Pedrosa's rear wheel. The pair circulated together for several laps, pulling away from JiR Team Scot rider Dovizioso - who had a queue of riders backed up behind him.

Pedrosa is at his most dangerous when he is able to escape in the early laps but, having failed to do so, the Spaniard looked likely to fall victim to Rossi.

However the Yamaha could not match Pedrosa's pneumatic-valve Repsol Honda along the straights, even in the slipstream, forcing the Italian to plot a braking move.

That eventually came at the halfway mark of the 21 laps - and saw the eight times world champion dragging his inside foot on the asphalt as he successfully dived inside Pedrosa into a left-hand hairpin.

The Italian's biggest threat thereafter was from the weather: with six laps to go white flags came out to indicate that bike swaps were now permitted due to the threat of rain. That did not materialise, however, and Rossi cruised to a comfortable four-second victory from Pedrosa.

By contrast, the battle for the final podium position went right to the line.

Dovizioso, who had finished fourth three times during his rookie season prior to Sepang, mounted an admirable defence against Nicky Hayden - whose Repsol seat the Italian will take next year - for almost the entire race, with five other riders also in contention by the midway point.

That seven-way fight was reduced to six when Jorge Lorenzo, who got a bad start from the front, lost the front of his Michelin-shod factory M1 and fell from sixth position through turn one.

With four laps to go, Hayden finally got in front of Dovizioso by diving inside into turn one. The Italian retaliated immediately, only to be squeezed gently to the edge of the track by Hayden. But Dovizioso was not finished and threw his JiR Team Scot machine inside Hayden into the next hard-braking zone.

A small mistake by Hayden allowed him a little breathing room and also put the American in danger of an attack from Gresini's Shinya Nakano, but the 2006 world champion was back on Dovizioso's rear wheel by the start of the last lap.

Dovizioso, impressive under braking throughout the race, held tight lines for the final lap and was rewarded with his first ever MotoGP podium - and the first podium this season for a satellite Honda rider - by 0.3s from Hayden.

"I'm really happy about my first podium," he said. "It was very difficult this year, we had many problems. We worked a lot and can be really happy with the result."

Nakano had overtaken Stoner with six laps to go and the Ducati Marlboro star appeared to be suffering badly in the exhausting 42-degree heat, but hung on to sixth by three seconds ahead of Rizla Suzuki's Loris Capirossi.

Australian Stoner now holds a 26-point lead over Pedrosa in the drivers' standings heading into next weekend's Valencia season finale - and cannot be caught.

Colin Edwards was the only Tech 3 Yamaha rider to reach the flag at Sepang - finishing eighth - after rookie team-mate James Toseland fell on lap nine. Behind Edwards, Chris Vermeulen was the second GSV-R home in ninth, with Randy de Puniet 10th for Honda LCR.

Kawasaki riders John Hopkins and Anthony West finished 11th and 12th ahead of Alice's Sylvain Guintoli and Gresini's Alex de Angelis.

The second Alice Ducati of Toni Elias was forced to serve a jump-start penalty, but still finished ahead of factory Ducati rider Marco Melandri to claim the final World Championship point. Suzuki wild-card Nobuatsu Aoki was 17th and a distant last.

 

MORE NEWS TO FOLLOW THANKS FOR VIEWING

-------------------------------
FOR ALL MOTO GP STANDINGS PLEASE CLICK BELOW.
-------------------------------

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/motorsport/moto-gp/driver-table/2008.html

osted by NX Wolf

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------