Although it’s widely accepted I’m a complete Alvaro Bautista nut, I have no illusions about his championship chances this season, and I’ve always cheerd on other riders too. One rider I loved and cheered for in the top class right from his slightly ragged first season in 2006 is Aussie boy Casey Stoner. He’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but then plenty of people always have something to say about Dani Pedrosa or Jorge Lorenzo too. You just can’t please everyone.
Casey is a mercurial talent and a hard worker, and can work miracles when all things line up with the bike… He did a moster job of taming the Ducati to stomp through 2007 to the MotoGP title.
And this season he could well be something of a favourite again. Certainly I’m going to be rooting for him at the front of the field and I hope on the top of the podium.
He’s looking cool and confident – and fast – on the bike so far; and he’s also looking quite dapper in the new Repsol kit including some nifty aboriginal designs worked into his orangey Alpinestars boots and gloves, which because of how they look from anything other than extreme close-up has already bagged him the nickname “Tiger Paws” for 2011.
All of which is basically a preamble into a nice interview released by the Repsol Media service on the back of the testing in Sepang and ahead of the final Qatar pre-season tests.
Enjoy… Read the rest of this entry »
Just thought I should post up a quick little update, something that I’ve covered over at the VROOM website – which is that I’ve just launched the new Official website & online fanclub for Moto2 rider Scott Redding; this website is at scottredding45.com
Scott has a new manager – the charismatic and excellent Michael Bartholemy, boss of the Marc VDS Racing Team that Scott rides for in the MotoGP Moto2 championship – and he is very much in favour of doing great things online for Scott.
Getting the new official website up and running is just the first step, and I’m looking forward to being involved in taking all this stuff forward and developing a really great online presence for a really really talented guy.
As well as news, photos, videos and results, the site also has a section for Fanclub members only with exclusive downloads and great competitions. Merchandise will follow soon.
It’s great to be a part of this, and another step for VROOM in developing its Motorsports arm.
To go to the new official Scott Redding website click here…
Whilst covering the final round of the 2010 MotoGP season at Valencia in November, I was lucky enough to score an amazing interview with Sergi Sendra – he’s the Director of Dorna Sports TV Production, and I’d spent a while organising the interview so that I could publish a feature across my various MotoGP sites on the story of just what it takes to produce the international MotoGP TV feed.
He was a great guy, incredibly helpful, and it was a fascinating hour or so of learning a great deal about a subject close to my heart.
It’s a nice long read, and if you’ve any interest in MotoGP or TV production, then I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Here goes…
Read the rest of this entry »
If, like me and like most MotoGP fans, you’re already experiencing withdrawal symptoms now the final race is over and the winter is drawing in, then don’t worry – you can watch loads of great video at motogp.com with the excellent Off-Season Video Pass.
Not only do you get to see action footage and interviews from off-season testing at Valencia and Sepang, but you can also access a vast amount of archived video content too.
It’s an excellent way to pass the winter and keep the excitement going ahead of the build-up to the 2011 season.
The motogp.com Off-Season Video Pass includes:
• Highlights, interviews and reaction from the MotoGP Tests in Valencia and two in Malaysia in Hi-Res video quality
• Access to the motogp.com Video Library, which includes material dating back to 1992
• Access to the MotoGP Classics section, which contains specially remastered full-length races of some of the sport’s finest moments in Hi-Res quality.
The price for all that exclusive footage and archive access? Just 24.95€
The period of validity for the pass is 09 Nov 2010 – 28 Feb 2011, so get yours early and make the most of it!
To find out more and to get your Off-Season Video Pass, simply click here…
It’s not been an easy year for the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP team, although they’ve repeatedly bounced back from injury and technical problems to show signs and performances filled with great promise. And now the team looks ahead to a 2011 season with just one bike, following a decision by Suzuki themselves.
The man who presides over the strategy and operations of the GP squad, Team Manager Paul Denning hasn’t had it easy either – with his year complicated by his very own leg injury to add to the mix. Nonetheless, he’s a resilient and inspiring guy – and I was lucky enough to interview him at Valencia for BatiFans, and to chat about his background, his team, his riders and his management style…
What’s your background? How did you come to be here?
I’ve been involved in the motorcycle industry since I was a kid, and been involved with Suzuki in a racing sense since I got involved with racing myself in the early nineties. I went on to ride a season in the British Superbikes in ’96 off the back of our Suzuki dealership and soon discovered that my talents, for what they were, were better placed in sort of putting together commercial relationships and team rather than riding.
So as Crescent we own and operate a British Superbike team that’s run consistently every year since ’97, and in 2004, when Suzuki Japan decided to restructure things, we’d by then been looking after Yukio Kagayama for a couple of years in the UK which I think it helped in terms of that Japanese relationship. They asked me to put a pitch together for a Grand Prix team and that’s where we are now. Read the rest of this entry »
