The Pramac Racing Team gives its deepest condolences to the family, Team and friends of Shoya Tomizawa.

Aleix Espargarò:”There is nothing to say on a day like this. One of our family is gone.”

Mika Kallio: “Is a sad day today, for everyone.”

Casey Stoner:“I am very, very disappointed with our performance today considering the feeling we found yesterday after a few modifications. The feeling today was completely different from warm-up this morning. I tried to stay with Jorge in the race but I started to make mistakes because the front kept closing. It became a challenge just to make it to the end of the race and hold my position. This is not important today though considering what has happened. I am deeply saddened for Tomizawa, his family and everybody who worked with him. It is something truly terrible and it left me breathless, like a week ago. It was a pleasure to watch him ride and I was looking forward to see him have a great career.”

Nicky Hayden: “This hasn’t been a great track for me over the last couple of years. I got quite a good start and made up some positions but on the exit of turn two when I got on the gas and opened up for the next turn I touched with Loris, who was closing his line a little. I’m sorry but it was a racing incident that can happen at any time and when you start so far back you tend to cross lines. The shifter was damaged and I had to come back in. All this is irrelevant though compared with what happened to Tomizawa. I am really sad, we have lost two riders in two weekends. My thoughts are with his family and his team but I think the whole paddock has been hit hard by this tragedy. At the end of the day we are all brothers here. We have lost a talented kid with a great personality. I loved his style, his determination and the smile he always wore.”

Héctor Barberá: “I would have had fun in the race, as I was enjoying riding. We go home with a good result and have continued to improve. However, right now, after learning about what has happened to Tomizawa, I am speechless. I was told about it as soon as I got off the bike, and it is very difficult to take something like that in. Today’s result doesn’t really matter anymore. Shoya was a great rider who always gave his all on the bike. He was also a great person who was always smiling and with whom I got on well. I want to send my thoughts to his family and friends.”

1 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team
2 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team
5 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati
6 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki
9 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati
10 Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
11 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP
13 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda
14 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
Not Classified
Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati
Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team
Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki

Héctor Barberá (Aspar Team): “Misano is a circuit I like a lot. I tend to go fast there quite easily. Two years ago I I could have won the race but I finished third even though I ran off track a couple of times and lost a lot of time, and then last year I won. My results at Misano say a lot, I get a good feeling there and I’m going to go for it. I think I am in my best form of the season so far. Even though the result was quite positive at Indianapolis I didn’t manage to ride how I like. At Misano I’ll be giving my maximum from the first session. My objective as at every Grand Prix is to close the gap to the top riders in the class
in practice and in the race.”

Aleix Espargarò (Pramac Racing Team): “The last laps in Indianapolis were very difficult for me, between the air heat and the heat produced by my bike was difficult to keep on pushing. Too bad because I could have fought with Simoncelli and Bautista for the seventh and eighth position, however the important thing is to have finished the race in the better way as possible. I’m in perfect shape now and is good for me to get in these physical conditions to the Misano’s appointment that is one of my favorite tracks. Here I have got my best starting position on the starting grid, the third position in 2008 when I was racing in the 250cc. Last year was not so bad despite the fifteenth starting position, it was my second Grand Prix in the MotoGP category and I was aiming to conquer a good position. The eleventh final position has partially repaid the work done by my technicians throughout the weekend. This year’s goal is to significantly improve my starting position and then my final race position.”

Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing Team): “I hope that the bad luck that has conditioned some of my races of this season is over with the fall of Indianapolis Grand Prix. I was trying to maintain the contact with the riders ahead of me but I could not avoid the hole in the asphalt. Too bad because I could finish the race among the top ten of the ranking. My attention is now moving to Misano, which is one of my favorite tracks. Here I have got a good seventh place last year as Stoner substitute. I started the race in eleventh position and lap after lap I managed to overtake my rivals and obtain the seventh position that was for me the best result of my rookie year of MotoGP races. With a little bit of luck this year I’ll point to improve my last year position.”

The Ducati Marlboro Team return home this weekend looking to put on a good show for the local crowd at Misano and make up for a disappointing race last year, which Casey Stoner missed through illness whilst Nicky Hayden was taken out by another rider in the first turn.
Both riders have shown their pace around the Italian circuit previously, however, Stoner having won in 2007 and leading the 2008 race before crashing, and Hayden finding a good set-up and pace for his Ducati in practice last year. As always the Ducatisti will be out in force to support them from the Ducati grandstand, which is located in the “Variante Parco”, the first turn after the start-finish straight.

CASEY STONER, Ducati Marlboro Team: “Indy was obviously a big disappointment for us but we’re looking ahead. I am happy to be going to one of Ducati’s home circuits and a place where we have gone fast in the past. It is the third of the races I missed in 2009 so we’ll see what we can do this weekend. We’ll have to work hard on the front again because we don’t want to take a backward step on the progress we’ve made recently. The whole team is working really hard, the guys are giving everything like always so hopefully we can have a good result to celebrate on Sunday.”

NICKY HAYDEN, Ducati Marlboro Team: “We have travelled straight from Indianapolis to Italy so it feels like a short week! We had a really good pace in race trim during practice and warm-up at Misano last year but I got hit from behind in the race on the Sunday. It is always special to race a Ducati in Italy and I can’t wait for it. Last year went like I said and in 2008 I didn’t race because of a foot injury so we’ll try to make up for it on Sunday, when I’m sure we’ll have the support of a lot of fans and a lot of people from Ducati.”

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team – 6th: “I still can’t believe what happened – I am so disappointed. I was being careful over the first few laps because in that heat the track was very greasy. I lost the front slightly on the third lap and caught my left knee on a drain cover on one of the kerbs, right where the knee slider attaches to the velcro. There are so many left-hand corners here… from that point on I had to take it really steady, I couldn’t push anywhere and finished up with a huge hole in my leathers. I am incredibly disappointed because we had to the pace to put in a performance today.”

Casey Stoner, Ducati Team – DNF: “I am very disappointed – it was a nothing crash but obviously it was enough to leave me out of the race. I know a lot of people have had front end crashes but apparently here at Indianapolis we have gone back to the situation we were in at the start of the season and we’ve struggled to find front-end feel in the corners. It is a real shame because we had good pace and I think we could have been on the podium.”

Aleix Espargarò – Pramac Racing Team – 9th: “It’s so hot here, I did a sauna inside my leather suit, I had never run with a similar wheatear condition. I’m really exhausted after this race but very happy to have finished my race in the better way. I was able to start very well and to not lose positions, in the early laps I tried to get my rhythm and overtake the other riders. On the fifth lap, I both overtake Capirossi and Edwards and I sewed up the gap with Mika. Unfortunately I could not have a lap pace that would allow me to be with the others. With the heat the track had became very slippery, during the last laps I tried to complete my race without taking unnecessary further risks. After the summer break I came back in a perfect shape, I cannot wait to race on Misano’s, which is one of my favorites.

Mika Kallio – Pramac Racing Team – DNF: “What a bad luck, this is not the right way. I had start a lot better than usual, at the end of the first lap I had conquer three positions. Then thanks to the drop of some riders and to the overtake that I had made on Bautista, I was riding in eighth position with almost four seconds behind Simoncelli. During the eighth lap I was passed again by Bautista, who was faster than me at that time. Together we started to run with a very fast pace and in seven laps we sew up the gap we had from Simoncelli. I was fighting with Simoncelli and Bautista for the seventh position, but in a curve due to a hole in the asphalt I have instantly lost the front tyre and found myself with my face on the asphalt. I could easily fight with the others for the seventh position or at least I could gain a top ten position. I am very disappointed with how things went, but as so often is happening during this season for one reason or another I cannot get the results I deserve.”

1 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team
2 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
3 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team
4 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team
5 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda
6 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team
7 Marco SIMONCELLI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini
8 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
9 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Pramac Racing Team Ducati
10 Hector BARBERA SPA Paginas Amarillas Aspar Ducati
11 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP
12 Hiroshi AOYAMA JPN Interwetten Honda MotoGP
13 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP

Not Classified
Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Team Ducati
Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
Casey STONER AUS Ducati Team Ducati
Marco MELANDRI ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini

His signature completes a new look of the Ducati MotoGP Team line-up for 2011, which will see the 29-year-old line up alongside Valentino Rossi.

Hayden, who over the past two seasons has won over the Ducatisti with his positive and determined attitude, currently lies sixth in the MotoGP World Championship standings and is confident for two successful seasons ahead, which he will tackle with his trademark enthusiasm.

Filippo Preziosi – Ducati Corse Director: “We are really pleased that Nicky will be staying with us for the next two years. It is no secret that he is a rider who never gives up, his whole racing history shows it. As a person his tenacity is an example for us all because he shows us that nothing is impossible if you truly believe. His progress since arriving at Ducati has been impressive and I am sure this trend will continue in the future. Nicky is also a special rider because of his attention to every detail and for him having Valentino as his team-mate means a huge contribution towards the development of an even more competitive motorcycle. I think it is these characteristics that have won the hearts of all the Ducatisti and that is the reason why a Ducati is the bike for him right now.”

Nicky Hayden – Ducati MotoGP Team: “I am very proud to be signing for Ducati again. Last year I felt like I rode for Ducati but now I really feel as if I am a Ducati rider. The team, sponsors and Ducati fans have really taken me in and supported me a lot and I really hope to pay them back with the results they deserve. Next year I’ll be teamed with some guy named Rossi who knows a little something about bikes! We’re going to have a strong squad – I won’t predict results but I have no doubt this team will have some real passion, real worth ethic and a lot of fun. It is the start of a new era at Ducati and it is an honour for me to be a part of it.”

1 #11 Ben SPIES USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3
2 #99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team
3 #69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Team
4 #4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team
5 #26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team
(more…)

Excellent relationship between Spanish team and Italian factory leads to fresh deal
The Aspar Team is pleased to announce that it will continue to contest the MotoGP World Championship with Ducati next season, having recently agreed a new deal at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The Spanish outfit is delighted to extend the excellent relationship they have already established with the Borgo Panigale manufacturer, which has given its unconditional support to the project headed by Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ since it began. The commitment of both parties has ensured that Héctor Barberá has been able to make an impressive start to his rookie season in the premier class.

The recent announcement that Valentino Rossi has signed with Ducati gives the Aspar Team extra satisfaction and motivation, given that the technical expertise of the Italian superstar combined with the experience of Filippo Preziosi, creator of the Ducati Desmosedici – the MotoGP title-winning bike in 2007 – can make it an even more competitive package. For the Aspar Team it is a huge bonus that they will benefit from the genius of both Preziosi and Rossi for the 2011 season.

The next objective for the Aspar Team is to extend the deal with Ducati into 2012 and Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’ is already in negotiations with the team’s sponsors to expand to two riders.

Jorge Martínez ‘Aspar’: “I am very happy to extend out contract with Ducati for another season. Ever since we crossed paths everybody in Borgo Ponigale has been completely committed to our project and the relationship is magnificent so it is an honour for us to extend it. So far we have made an agreement for one more season but my objective is for us to continue into 2012 and expand to two riders. Conversations are underway although first of all we need to focus on getting sponsorship in place so that we can make a long term commitment. Aside from this we have the news that Valentino Rossi has signed for Ducati. The Desmosedici is already one of the best bikes on the grid and I’m sure that with his input it will be even better and more manageable. His collaboration will benefit us a lot because I am sure we will have the same bike.”

Páginas Amarillas Aspar looks for top result to atone for technical problems on first transatlantic trip

Just a month after leaving Laguna Seca and with just one round of the series in between the MotoGP World Champonship returns to the United States this week for the Indianapolis Grand Prix. The eleventh round of the season is followed just seven days later by the twelfth, in San Marino, as the 2010 campaign builds into a dizzying crescendo. Jorge Lorenzo holds a 77-point lead with eight rounds remaining but anything can happen as the series takes in some of the most exciting circuits on the calendar, including the legendary home of the Indy 500.

Páginas Amarillas Aspar rider Héctor Barberá cannot wait to return ‘Stateside’ after an enjoyable weekend at Laguna Seca that turned sour in the race, when a breakdown caused him to retire and return home empty handed. However, the Spaniard was back on form in the next race at Brno with an excellent ninth place and further progress in the post-race test has raised his hopes for another top performance at the famous Brickyard. Héctor is hopeful another solid points haul can help put the Laguna Seca disaster behind him.

Héctor Barberá: “This week we head to Indianapolis, a circuit I like quite a lot and where I hope to score a good result. Nobody has great references there because this is only the third time MotoGP has been there. The Brno test was very fruitful for us because we tested the carbon swingarm and I think it could work well for us this weekend at Indy. I also think the set-up we found in the Czech Republic will work well for us here too. We have taken a step forward and it is important for us to be back in the positions where we belong, which is inside the top ten. We managed to do that last time out and the objective now is to improve on our best result, which was eighth at Le Mans. I am ready to race again after a nice break following the Czech Republic race, which I spent doing some tourism in Poland.”