OnBoard lap with Valentino Rossi

Round eight of the 2010 season at Sachsenring saw the first use of a new Gyroscopic OnBoard camera in the live MotoGP international broadcast, presenting a new angle with a fixed horizon line that gives viewers a unique and spectacular perspective from the bike!

The new camera was fitted to returning World Champion Valentino Rossi’s M1, and in the attached motogp.com video you can experience the fantastic new footage for an entire lap of the German track with the Italian!

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Frustration for Mika Kallio after progressive weekend

Mika Kallio was experiencing a good level of progress in his feeling on board the satellite Ducati of the Pramac Racing team at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland over the weekend, before a crash in the restarted race ended his participation disappointingly early.

The Finn made a good start to the original race which was red flagged after a crash for Randy de Puniet, and then crashed at turn one once it was restarted.

“The first start in the race was not too bad and we were able to get into the top ten positions more or less, and we were fighting for that. But then the crash happened,” said Kallio.

“The second start was not too bad but immediately I crashed in the first corner. I think the rear tyre was just cold and as soon as I touched the throttle I lost the rear, and the race was finished for me.”

Added to the disappointment was the fact that Kallio was feeling good on his bike and believed he was on course for a good result, having experienced a difficult run of late.

“We thought it would be a good race for us because everything was going better than in the other races and we were in much better positions, and our lap times were okay. So we are disappointed because of that,” he concluded.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Paddock Girls - eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland

The ritual offering of the best selection of the most beautiful girls present in the paddock is presented in this motogp.com video from Sachsenring.

Review the lighter side of the action from round eight of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship, the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Randy de Puniet was the victim of two separate incidents

Randy de Puniet was the victim of two separate incidents of bad luck at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland this weekend, as he fractured the tibia and fibula in his left leg on Sunday in a crash.

De Puniet had a highly unfortunate fall in qualifying on Saturday when his LCR Honda RC212V lost grip in spilt oil, and as the Frenchman slid off the track he hit Ben Spies’ prone bike and hurt his right leg.

Braving the pain to ride today De Puniet then had a crash on lap nine of the race which resulted in the contest being red flagged, and after being examined at the Clinica Mobile fractures to his the tibia and fibula of his left leg were diagnosed.

“It could not be worse than this!” said the 29 year-old. “I had a bad start from the third row but got back up to ninth and my race pace was pretty good. I was able to push for sixth place despite my painful ankle after yesterday’s qualifying crash.”

“Suddenly I crashed at the exit of turn four and a bike hit my left leg. I immediately knew it was serious and we then found out the true extent after the X-rays.”

De Puniet was flown from the circuit to hospital in Hartmannsdorf with Doctor Claudio Costa, where he will this evening have surgery on his injured leg to insert a pin, and the French rider now faces an as-yet unknown period out while he recovers.

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Randy de Puniet heads for surgery, Espargaro crack

Randy de Puniet's nightmare German MotoGP weekend ended with the Frenchman heading for surgery on Sunday evening after fracturing his left leg.

de Puniet had been the innocent victim of Jorge Lorenzo's oil spill during Saturday qualifying and race day brought further bad luck when the LCR Honda rider fell from ninth place, on lap nine, and sustained fractures to his tibia and fibula.

The Frenchman's LCR Honda came to a halt on the track, where it burst into flames after being struck by Pramac's Aleix Espargaro and Suzuki's Alvaro Bautista. de Puniet was then hit by another rider, causing the leg injuries.

de Puniet left the circuit by helicopter together with Doctor Costa of the Clinica Mobile and will undergo surgery at Hartmannsdorf hospital, where a pin will be inserted into his left leg.

The injury is very similar to that suffered by world champion Valentino Rossi at Mugello. Rossi made his comeback at Sachsenring, after a recovery time of six weeks, meaning de Puniet - the top satellite rider in the championship - is likely to miss at least the next two races.

“It can't be worse than this!" said a dejected de Puniet. "I took a bad start from the third row but I got back to ninth and my race pace was looking pretty good.

"I was pushing for sixth place, despite pain in my left ankle after yesterday's crash in qualifying. Suddenly I crashed at exit of turn four and another bike hit my left leg.

"I immediately realised that it was something serious and after the X-ray we discovered the truth.”

Espargaro and Bautista were not allowed to take part in the restart as both failed to return to pit lane with their bikes within the allowed five-minute window after the showing of the red flag.

Espargaro then went for scans, which revealed a cracked C6 vertebra, although it is not yet clear if it is a new or old injury.

"Unfortunately I found de Puniet's bike that was lying on the track in front of me and I could not avoid it," he said. "My bike has brought too much damage in the accident and I was not able to bring it back to the box again.

"I had a big pain in my right wrist and in my neck and while in Chemnitz's hospital, where I was taken to have further checks, they found that my vertebra is broken.

"Tonight we will send the x-ray to Spain so that my doctor can see them and check if it is new or old fracture. I am confident and I hope to attend the upcoming US Grand Prix." 

Source: http://www.crash.net/motogp/news/

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Casey Stoner happy with German result after fight for third

Casey Stoner said that he felt the benefit of the race restart at the eni Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland, where he took third place after a red flag saw the Sachsenring contest run a shortened second race.

Randy de Puniet’s crash on lap nine halted the original race, and the 25-minute interval before a second 21-lap contest began allowed Stoner and his Ducati team to change the rear tyre he was using, an alteration that the Australian said made a big difference.

“I thought it was going to affect us in a bad way but it actually helped us slightly,” said Stoner of the restart. “In the first part of the race we had a new rear tyre that wasn’t producing the grip that the tyres had been all weekend. I just wasn’t able to keep up with the lap times being set by Dani and Jorge.”

“For the second part of the race we went back to a tyre we were using in qualifying yesterday so it already had laps on it, and immediately it felt better with more grip and a better feeling in mid-turn. We were able to run a lot faster lap times, maybe three or four-tenths of a second consistently. I tried to chase the top two down but didn’t quite have the pace.”

As race winner Pedrosa and Championship leader Lorenzo remained ahead, Stoner became engaged in a battle with Valentino Rossi for third, a fight the Ducati man won thanks to an overtake on the final corner of the last lap.

“I saw Valentino coming and he had a much higher pace than me and I thought he would just take off if he got past. So I tried to do everything I could to stay with him and when I got an opportunity to overtake him it came down to the last two laps,” explained Stoner. “We had a few nice passes and I just had to go for it in the last corner, and it worked out. I’m pretty happy with the result, and we managed to pick up points when we needed to.”

Next up is the Red Bull US Grand prix at Laguna Seca, and Stoner looked ahead to next weekend by saying: “If we can get a bit more grip out of the tyres then we should be a little more competitive. We thought today we should have been running with Jorge and Dani for most of the race, but I just was just a little bit off the back and couldn’t quite close the gap. I’ve got a bit of work to do but we will see what happens at Laguna.”

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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Valentino Rossi admits surprise at “fantastic” fourth

Valentino Rossi’s return to racing after injury delivered the spectacle that had been highly anticipated by many, as the reigning World Champion finished fourth after only being beaten to a podium spot on the final corner of the race at Sachsenring by Casey Stoner.

In a shortened 21-lap contest due to the red flagging of the original race – in which Rossi was pushing hard as well – the Italian of the Fiat Yamaha team refused to take it easy on his still recovering right leg as he fought throughout the race, only losing out to Stoner by 0.366s.

The 31 year-old surprised himself with his own display, and said: "I didn't expect this! I thought it was maybe possible to make fourth or fifth place but I thought it would be very difficult. In the end I was fourth but I had a great battle with Casey and I was so close to the podium, so this is a fantastic result after missing four races.”

Rossi was extremely satisfied despite just missing out on what would have been a remarkable top-three finish, and continued to analyse his superb result: “I need some more kilometres to really recover the feeling and feel completely okay with the bike again, but I think I did a great job and this was a very good comeback, better than we could wish for. I felt a bit of pain in my shoulder but more in the leg when changing direction, but at the end the battle with Casey was such fun that I didn't think about it. Unfortunately though he just got the better of me on the last corner!”

The MotoGP class now head to Laguna Seca next weekend, where Rossi placed second in last year’s race, and he outlined his aim for the Red Bull US Grand Prix.

“Thanks to all my team for helping me come back and be competitive like this, we will try to do even better in Laguna,” he concluded.

Davide Brivio, Team Manager for Rossi, was just as amazed by the result and stated: “One week ago we didn't know if we'd be able to ride here at all and then day by day our targets changed. We would have been happy whatever with a top five today but finally we were really competitive and so close to the podium. It's unbelievable and even more so because we were lapping at the same pace as the leaders. It was very positive; Valentino worked so hard to be here and he made it in style, so now we will continue our plan in Laguna next weekend."

Source: http://www.motogp.com/en/news/

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