Stoner powers to Valencia victory

Casey Stoner closed the 800cc era with his tenth victory of the season by a margin of one hundredth of a second over Ben Spies, with Dovizioso claiming the third podium spot and third in the Championship.

The Repsol Honda rider launched from pole position and into the lead off the start of the Gran Premio Gernerali de la Comunitat Valenciana, the final race of the season and of the 800cc machines. Although the race was declared wet, the field all sported slicks tyres in the difficult conditions that claimed the first casualties in the very first corner.

In the rush for the first corner, Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) fell, taking out Pramac Racing’s Randy de Puniet along with both Ducati Team riders, Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi. The crash was the Rossi’s third race in succession to conclude with a fall, marking the end of a difficult season for the seven times MotoGP World Champion.

Andrea Dovizioso and Dani Pedrosa managed to avoid the incident, and with Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) already holding first and second in the Championship, the campaign for third between the teammates remained to be decided this weekend. Neither of the Repsol Honda riders showed any sign of deferring to the other as the two fought for the second spot on the podium, as well as the final Championship position, until the final laps of the race when the Spaniard slowed slightly as the slight rain fall picked up.

Ben Spies rode behind the Honda men as they battle for second, until on lap 23 the Texan made his move on Pedrosa for third, then put on the afterburners and closed in on Stoner, passing Dovizioso on the way to the front.

With three laps left, Stoner ran it wide, letting the American through to take over the head of the race and who then pulled an immediate one second gap at the front. The Yamaha man looked set to take the win, until in the very last corner of the race when the World Champion rocketed past the Texan at the line to claim his tenth win of the season and in the final race of the 800cc era.

The chase for the Rookie of the Year award between Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and Cal Crutchlow (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) also went down to the very last lap, with the Czech rider poised to take the title until he touched the British rider and ran off into the gravel, handing Crutchlow the title and fourth place in the race. Abraham was able to rejoin the race to finish in eighth, ahead of Loris Capirossi (Pramac Racing), who concluded the final race of his career with a ninth place.

Fifth place went to Dani Pedrosa, with Lorenzo’s replacement rider Katsuyuki Nakasuga (Yamaha Factory Racing) claiming sixth ahead of Colin Edwards’ replacement on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team, Josh Hayes. Toni Elías (LCR Honda) completed the top ten finishers, with Héctor Barberá (Mapfre Aspar) and Hiroshi Aoyama (San Carlo Honda Gresini) the final race finishers.



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MotoGP.com

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Valencia pay tribute to Marco Simoncelli

On Sunday morning riders from all three categories of the World Championship have been invited to depart from Pit Lane as a group, and completed a lap of the track in honour of Simoncelli. The procession was led by former World Champion Kevin Schwantz riding at the head of the group on board Simoncelli's San Carlo Honda Gresini RC212V bike.

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Valentino Rossi New Helmet Remembers Sic at Valencia 2011

During the 10 o'clock trial laps today, Valentino ran with a new helmet dedicated to his friend Marco Simoncelli.

To demonstrate how much Valentino was affected by the tragedy that hit the Honda rider, Valentino's helmet will be divided in half: the front part of the AGV GP-Tech will be exactly like Marco Simoncelli's, with its red and white motif and ever present number 58, while the back will maintain the colours Valentino used throughout the 2011 season.

Vale will use the helmet for all of Valencia's weekend.

Valentino stated: "I really miss Sic, and I still haven't completely realized what happened. I thought the least I could do was dedicate my helmet to him and to his number, 58. Here in Valencia number 58 is all over the paddocks, everyone wants to remember him. Sic, this helmet is for you!"

Dainese.com
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Ducati Team starts Valencia weekend well

The first day of the GP de la Comunitat Valenciana started off well for the Ducati Team, with Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden riding comfortably in the wet conditions that marked both free-practice sessions.

The teammates posted the third and fourth best times of the day, respectively, their fastest laps coming in the morning session. Conditions were slightly worse in the afternoon, and all of the MotoGP riders lapped more slowly. Forecasts for tomorrow and for Sunday’s race are uncertain, although conditions are expected to improve slightly.

Nicky Hayden:
“This was actually the first time I’ve ever ridden the GP11.1 in the wet, and I was really happy with how it felt. The track was extremely slippery. We came from Malaysia and Australia, where the surface would dry in no time, but here, even when it would stop raining, it just wouldn’t dry. The grip was really low, especially on corner entry, but we made a few steps through the day that seemed to help. I’m not going to lie; it would’ve been nice to end up in P1, even though it’s just Friday afternoon, but we spent a lot of time at the top and put up quite a few red helmets (the monitor’s indication for a best time in a sector or lap). We’ll see what the weather does tomorrow, but regardless, we got some good information.”

Valentino Rossi:
“Our bike works very well in the wet, so this morning I was able to push and to stay up there near the front. In the afternoon we had a few more problems because we made a mistake with the rear setting. I couldn’t manage to find grip under acceleration, or to ride the bike well like in the morning. I should add that we’re a bit on the limit regarding the asphalt conditions, because it’s very worn and has terrible grip. The rain and the cold make it worse, and it’s very difficult to ride. We’ll have to see how to proceed throughout the weekend, because if it stays wet, we could do pretty well. If it improves, we’ll have to see how we are in the dry.

Ducati Team press release
MotoGP.com

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Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

What is Ice Cream Sandwich?

It's an OS that merges Android on phones and on tablets, ending the brief dalliance with an operating system based on the same foundations and fundamentals, but divided in look, feel and devices that we saw in Gingerbread and Honeycomb.

But if Ice Cream Sandwich has a flavour, that flavour is honey. Honey from Android 3.0, because much of what we've seen in Android 4.0 behaves like Honeycomb. Barra told us that development on Ice Cream Sandwich was underway before Honeycomb launched and it's obvious that the two walked the same path.

Moving forward you won't have Android for phones or Android for tablets, it will be the same scalable platform. At least that's the intention, although as Android users will be aware, there are a huge array of devices already out there, some Google certified and some not, so we suspect there will legacy devices with older software circulating for some time, or residing at the bottom end of the market.

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Ciao "Super Sic"

The Honda family mourns one of its own

The Honda family is mourning the loss of one its rising stars, the charismatic Italian Marco Simoncelli, who lost his life in a racing accident in today's Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang.

Simoncelli was one of the sport's rising stars, a charismatic 24-year-old who rode with his heart. He was as passionate on the track as he was off, and sometimes that got him in trouble. His was an aggressive style that didn't always suit the venue, but he was maturing as a rider. This season he earned his first two MotoGP podiums and his first two MotoGP pole positions. Only a week ago, he finished a career best second in MotoGP race at the Australian Grand Prix, taking the runner-up spot to Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda RC212V) with a brilliant last lap pass of Andrea Dovizioso (Repsol Honda RC212V).

Photos from that day show Simoncelli standing out on the podium, which he also did in life. It wasn't just because he was one of the taller riders in MotoGP, and it wasn't just for the blossoming, bushy hair that paid homage to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix, but it was because of his outsized personality and his passion for winning.

The Honda Motor Company family would like to express its sincere condolences to the family of Marco Simoncelli, his team owner Fausto Gresini, his team, his legion of friends, and his thousands of fans throughout the world. He will be missed.

Shuhei Nakamoto, HRC Executive Vice President, says "I just don't know what to say; words escape me. Marco was a very nice guy and a very talented rider. Sometimes I was a little harsh with him, for example after his first MotoGP podium in Brno when I told him, 'Lucky podium!' and he was so angry, but I wanted to motivate him as I knew he was able to do even more. I was thinking that when he won his first race we would have been able to celebrate together. Now I just want to say thank you to Marco, for what you gave me, and pass my sincere condolences to his family at this very sad time."

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa says, "In a tragedy like this there is not much to say. I just want to give my condolences to his family and all the people who love him. I've been with his father and all we could do was to hug, nothing else matters. It was a fatal accident and everybody in the paddock remains in shock. Many times we ourselves forget how dangerous this sport can be and when you lose people on the way nothing has any meaning. It's clear that we all do what we like, what we love, but on days like today nothing matters."

Repsol Honda rider Andrea Dovizioso says, "In these circumstances, words don't seem to be appropriate. I think of Marco's family and all the people dear to him, in particular his father and mother. I also have a child and what happened today is the hardest situation you can imagine. I watched the images and I'm shocked. In a race you fight and push hard and disaster is often around the corner. Marco was a strong rider and he always pushed hard. We raced together since we were kids. I saw him always pushing to the maximum, he crashed many times, but without major injuries, he was seemed invincible. What happened today seems impossible."

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner says, "I'm so shocked and saddened by the loss of Marco. When things like this happen it reminds you how precious life is, it makes me feel sick inside. All I can say is how sorry I am for Marco's whole family I can't imagine what they are all going through and our thoughts and wishes are with them at this time. I hope they all stay close and pull through this tragedy together."

Press release courtesy of Honda Racing Corporation
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Google Plus vs Facebook: Who's Winning?

There’s a hot new social media contender in town: She’s just shy of three months old and alreadyboasts more than 25 million users -- the fastest growing platform of her kind. She possesses all of the bells and whistles of her competitors, plus a few cool surprises of her own.

World, meet Google Plus.

Still in beta, Google Plus (or G+ for short) is the search engine giant’s latest attempt at social networking dominance (and the successor to its similarly-veined -- but failed -- ventures, Google Wave and Google Buzz).

Seeking to improve upon the Facebook model, G+ has already created quite a stir in the tech world, but critics argue that its chances for long-term success still remain to be seen.

So what exactly does G+ have that Facebook doesn’t? Is it worth the switch? Let’s break down the pros and cons:

The Good

1. Hangouts
Definitely one of the cooler aspects of G+, hangouts are group video chats (à la Skype) that let you converse with pals in real time. Unlike Skype, which charges a fee for multiple users, up to ten people can participate in one hangout at a time, totally free of cost. Fun for a casual chat with friends, yes -- but also helpful for a team call with co-workers.
What’s more, if you want to watch the latest funny cat video with nine of your closest friends, now you can, thanks to G+ Hangout’s recent integration with YouTube. You can choose your desired video on YouTube, click “Share,” and then “Start a Google+ Hangout.” Instant party!

2. Circles
You love your parents but you’re sick of them stalking you on Facebook. G+ has got your solution: an innovative feature that allows you to organize your contacts into separate groups or “circles” (i.e. “Family,” “Work Friends,” or “Music Buddies”) and pick and choose what those circles can view.
For example, if you’d rather Mom not know what shenanigans you were up to last night, no worries -- just limit your status update to your “Friends” circle only.
Circles also let you filter your “stream” (the G+ version of Facebook’s News Feed). Done with work for the day? Simply click over from your “Work” stream to your “Friends” stream, and you’ll only see updates from friends.
G+ also recently added a “Suggested Users” feature that enables you to add famous folks (or strangers) to your circles. Similar to Twitter, users are grouped into categories (e.g., “Entertainment,” “Fun & Interesting,” and “Politics”), and you can browse for people of interest. Plus, you can see updates from your favorite celebrities or bloggers -- even if they’re not technically your real-life friends. (So, yes, you can take your Ryan Reynolds-stalkerdom to an entirely new level.)

3. Instant Uploads
Got some great vacation photos or videos you’d love to share, but dreading the task of having to upload them all yourself? No problem! G+ will do it for you (provided you have an Android phone).
Just snap the pic of your choice, and it will automatically be posted to a private online album. From there, you can share it with whomever you choose with just one click.

The Bad

1. Too Exclusive?
Three months into the launch of its beta, G+ still operates on an invite-only basis. So, despite its initial buzz, there’s been a noticeable decline of late in the number of visits to the fledgling site. And many critics believe it’s due to the limited access G+ has imposed.
Social networks thrive on interaction, they argue, and until G+ makes itself available to all, it risks alienating a lot of potential users, who will quickly lose interest in whatever it has to offer.

2. Real Name Policy
G+ requires proper names for its Google Profiles, asserting that it is an “identity service” which relies on truthful information from its users that will help it build future products. Pseudonyms are forbidden and make the user subject to account suspension, a policy that many oppose. What about users with uncommon names, or those who simply prefer using pseudonyms for security or privacy reasons?
Blogger Violet Blue learned this lesson the hard way: even though she had previously given two tech talks at the Google headquarters, her G+ account was suspended because her real name was not real enough.

3. Facebook is on to the G+ Game
Feeling pressure from the success of G+, Facebook has implemented a number of privacy changes in recent weeks that it hopes will help keep its users loyal.
Dig the G+ circles feature? Facebook just rolled out its improved “Friend Lists,” which allow you to control who sees what you post.
Like being able to read updates from people you’re interested in who aren’t your friends (à la G+ and Twitter)? Introducing the Facebook “Subscribe” button, which lets you keep up with personalities you admire. And as the battle for social network supremacy rages on, we can expect Facebook to continue to step up its competition

What do you think? Have you tried G+? Is it worth the switch, or are you a Facebook fan forever?

news.tobaonline.com
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Troy Bayliss Back on Track with Ducati

Retired 3 time World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss will soon be back on track with Ducati in 2011 with the announcement of an addition to the Ducati Riding Experience (DRE), the new Troy Bayliss Academy. Lucky riders will ride with and receive direct tuition from the legendary triple World Superbike Champion himself on Ducati’s new 1198SP.

Catering to every level of riding experience, the 2011 DRE courses start begin in April at major circuits across Italy such as Adria, Imola, Monza and Mugello. The safety-driven, adrenaline-filled events collaborate with the Italian Motorcycle Federation (FMI) – setting a new benchmark for fully approved instruction.

For those wanting to lay their very first tire tracks on a motorcycle, the Basic course onboard the Ducati Monster 796 provides the perfect environment to learn in complete safety under highly skilled instructors. More experienced riders who want to further improve their skills will benefit from the Intermediate course; which uses Monster 796, Hypermotard 796 and Hypermotard 1100EVO models in specially prepared exercises.

On the track, the Racing 1 course uses the brand new 848EVO to teach basic track riding-skills in an environment specifically designed for those riding on a track for the first time; or those who have limited track experience. The course is held exclusively at the Adria Circuit, a perfect place for a track-riding debut.

The Racing 2 course is intended for those who already have track-riding experience and want to improve their style, technique and speed in a controlled and safe environment. Also using the Ducati 848EVO, participants will be under the professional tuition of highly experienced and accomplished instructors.

For those riders who already have well developed track skills, are comfortable with being in a high-speed environment and now want to take their riding to the next level, the Master course uses the new Ducati 1198 SP model.

DRE participants will enjoy considerable track time on some of Italy’s top race circuits and full immersion into the world of Ducati. The incredible line-up of instructors includes champions from the National, European and World level; including Dario Marchetti, Alessandro Polita and the charismatic 500cc World Champion, Marco Lucchinelli.

2011 also sees the addition of the Troy Bayliss Academy, an exciting new course designed for highly competent track-day riders aboard the new Ducati 1198 SP. Groups will be restricted to just four lucky riders per day, each riding with and receiving direct tuition from the legendary triple World Superbike Champion himself.

DRE course fees range from €350 (~$450US) for the Basic course to €2000 (~$2,600US) for the Troy Bayliss Academy. The fee includes motorcycle, tires, instructors, fuel, lunch and a welcome kit. Course registration opens on 20 January 2011 at www.ducatiridingexperience.com.

Bayliss had been rumored as wanting to return to Superbike racing with Ducati and made public statements to that effect before dramatically performing a you turn and claiming retirement for good. There has been some speculation that Troy may have become aware of Ducati’s plans to no longer field a factory team in the World Championship before it was formally announced.

Ducati Riding Experience courses:

• Basic (Monster 796)
• Intermediate (Monster 796, Hypermotard 796, Hypermotard 1100EVO)
• Racing 1 (Superbike 848EVO)
• Racing 2 (Superbike 848EVO)
• Master (Superbike 1198 SP)
• Troy Bayliss Academy (Superbike 1198 SP)

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Google to Buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion

In a bid to strengthen its mobile business, Google announced on Monday that it would acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, the cellphone business that was split from Motorola, for $40 a share in cash, or $12.5 billion.

The offer — by far Google’s largest ever for an acquisition — is 63 percent above the closing price of Motorola Mobility shares on Friday. Motorola manufactures phones that run on Google’s Android software.

Android has become an increasingly important platform for Google, as global smartphone adoption accelerates. The platform, launched in 2007, is now used in more than 150 million devices, with 39 manufacturers.

The acquisition would turn Google, which makes the Android mobile operating system, into a full-fledged cellphone manufacturer, in direct competition with Apple.

“This is an emphatic exclamation point that Google is a mobile company,” said Ben Schachter, an analyst with Macquarie Capital. “This is clearly a defensive deal, they were backed in a corner and they had to protect the Android platform.”

The deal answers a big question about Google’s next strategic step in wireless. Google has been battling with Apple and Microsoft over patents.

Last month, Apple and Microsoft led a consortium of technology companies in a $4.5 billion purchase of roughly 6,000 patents from Nortel Networks, the Canadian telecommunications maker that filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Google, which lost out in the bidding, criticized the deal as an anticompetitive strategy. Several weeks later, Google acquired more than 1,000 patents from I.B.M.

Motorola holds more than 17,000 patents.

While the acquisition will move Google directly into the telecommunications hardware business, Larry Page, Google’s chief executive, said in a blog post that “this acquisition will not change our commitment to run Android as an open platform. Motorola will remain a licensee of Android and Android will remain open. We will run Motorola as a separate business.”

Still, the deal is certain to attract significant antitrust scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission is already investigating Google’s dominance in several areas of its business. The company has agreed to pay a $2.5 billion reverse termination fee, if it walks away, and Motorola will pay a $375 million break-up fee if it takes another offer, according to a person close to the transaction, who was not authorized to speak.

In a conference call on Monday morning, Google said it was confident that it will be able to win regulatory approval, since the deal will ultimately improve competition in the smart phone market.

“We think this is a competitive transaction,” David Drummond, the company’s chief legal officer said. “This is not a horizontal transaction, Google has not materially been in the handset business.”

The acquisition of a major handset maker may still pose a significant challenge to the search giant, which has not specialized in manufacturing or marketing of smartphones. Last year, it closed down the online store for its first Google-branded phone, the Nexus One, citing the store’s underwhelming performance. A Motorola tie-up may also irk other phone manufacturers, like Samsung and HTC, which will now be competing directly with Google.

“Can they convince their competitors that Motorola will truly operate as a standalone business?” Mr. Schachter said.

And while Google has made dozens of acquisitions in recent years, most of them have been for less than $1 billion — despite a current war chest of some $40 billion in cash. On the company’s official blog, Mr. Page said Google was purchasing the handset maker to bolster its Android mobile operating system and increase the number of patents it owned.

Android accounted for 43.4 percent of smartphone sales in the second quarter, according to Gartner Research, a major increase from the year ago period, when it made up about 17 percent of sales.

“Our acquisition of Motorola will increase competition by strengthening Google’s patent portfolio, which will enable us to better protect Android from anticompetitive threats from Microsoft, Apple and other companies,” Mr. Page said.

Carl C. Icahn, Motorola Mobility’s second-largest shareholder, had urged the company last month to “explore alternatives regarding its patent portfolio to enhance shareholder value.” Mr. Icahn owns 9.03 percent of Motorola Mobility.

On Monday, he applauded the transaction, calling it “a great outcome for all shareholders of Motorola Mobility, especially in light of today’s markets.”

Lazard and the law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton advised Google. Frank Quattrone’s investment bank, Qatalyst Partners, Centerview Partners and the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz advised Motorola Mobility.

The acquisition has been approved by both boards.

Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: August 15, 2011

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article referred incorrectly to Google's acquisition of patents from I.B.M. The purchase price was not disclosed.
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Challenging weekend for the Ducati Team at Aragón

On one hand, the choice to use a seventh engine for Valentino Rossi enables his team to have two identical motorcycles available to work on during the last races of the season, but on the other hand, he was obliged to start from pit lane today, ten seconds after the race start. That didn’t prevent the Italian from stubbornly climbing to ninth place, even if a worn rear tyre prompted him to subsequently lose a position to Cal Crutchlow.

Nicky Hayden started very well from the third row and finished in seventh place after a strong battle with Hector Barbera that lasted until the final corner.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th
“I had a good start and was decent at the very beginning. We knew tyre wear was going to be an issue, and we had a drop in performance after the first couple of laps. It lost grip, and I also wasn’t able to load the bike well for turning. I was okay in parts of the track, but compared to the fast guys, I was losing time in the last corner. I hoped to hang onto the second group for a while, but it just wasn’t possible. I’d like to have fought with Bautista on the last lap because he was on our pace, but Barbera and I were going back and forth, which hurt both of us and let him escape. It’s unfortunate, because coming here we hoped that we could put up a better fight. Still, this is the first race I’ve finished normally with the GP11.1, since at Indy I reentered just to get points. Hopefully that will help us to get some data and be better off in the future.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th
“It was definitely a difficult race, even if objectively speaking, we could have done a little better than we did. We used the setup from yesterday morning, with which I had done some good laps with a very used tyre. Unfortunately, in the race the rear tyre was sliding much more than it did in practice. It was almost used up just when I was catching Nicky and his group. That said, we’re still not where we should be. We’re working on several fronts, with short-term solutions that haven’t been conclusive, and others that are longer-term and that I still hope can bring more substantial improvements. We’ll see what they think at the factory. For now, we’re still pretty far, and given that time is our biggest enemy, we’ll continue also working on development during the races.”

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)
“This race was very difficult for us, but it was also important because we began a project that, while it caused a penalty for Valentino, is also one of the first steps in the direction of the Desmosedici’s development. We know that it’s not easy for a rider to knowingly sacrifice any chance of having a better performance, and this gives us enormous motivation to try to speed up our work as much as possible. Nicky and his team are also trying extremely hard to gather as much information as possible on his GP11.1 which, despite not having the updated front chassis part like Valentino’s, is still a new bike with a lot of margin for improvement with regards to its setup.”

Press release courtesy of Ducati Team
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Double podium for Repsol Honda Team’s 100th win

Not only did Stoner celebrate recording the fastest pole position (1'48.451) and fastest race lap (1'49.046) at the MotorLand circuit, but he also took the 100th victory for the Respol Honda Team since the partnership was formed in 1995 where fellow Australian Mick Doohan won the very first race for the factory HRC team in Eastern Creek.

Dani Pedrosa completed a 1-2 podium finish for the team with a comfortable margin over Jorge Lorenzo. Unfortunately, team mate Andrea Dovizioso fell on the first lap and was unable to continue.

Championship leader Stoner now enjoys a 44 point margin over Lorenzo in second place, with Dovizioso in third position and Pedrosa close behind in fourth.

The Championship now heads east to Japan for round fifteen in Motegi on October 2nd where alongside it's contracted riders, HRC will enter Shinichi Ito as a wild card entry in a HRC Team while Kousuke Akiyoshi will ride alongside Toni Elias for LCR as a show of support for the affected East Japan area.

Casey Stoner:
"Before the race everyone was a little cautious with the wind picking up after the morning warm up and conditions being a lot different to those we have seen all weekend. This was on our minds, also warming the hard tyres to make sure everything was good for the beginning of the race. Our start was pretty average, I pulled to the left a little on the start and managed to avoid hitting Dani, but Ben came around the outside and I ended up third or fourth going into turn one but from there we were able to settle down and feel comfortable with the bike. I wanted to get to the front as soon as possible as the bike has been working perfect all weekend and it was our race to lose, so I tried to get in front and pull a gap. I passed Dani as soon as I could and tried to pull that gap, Dani kept with me for the first few laps, but slowly I was able to put in a gap and manage the race. I think everyone was struggling with tyres to some degree, but the bike was fantastic and I don't mind when the bike slides around a little! A big, big thank you to the whole team and to take this hundredth win for Repsol Honda is something special."

Dani Pedrosa:
"We already saw in practice that Casey was very fast here and it was also like this in the race. I was losing some tenths in the first sector and I was unable to reduce the gap in the other parts of the lap. The second half of the race I was sliding the whole time and I had some fun, but it was a shame not to be closer to Casey, I had many problems with the rear tyre for the whole race. My priority was to control the gap to Spies and Jorge in the final laps and get another podium. We've been second in the last three races, which is not so bad, but we want to keep improving in the coming races."

Andrea Dovizioso:
“I made a small but fast slide at the first right turn, all the weight went on the front, I wasn't able to control the bike and I immediately lost it as the front tyre was still not at temperature. It’s so disappointing to see your race over on turn two of the first lap after all the hard work done during the weekend. It’s a pity because we had the pace to fight for the podium and the team did a good job. Leaving Aragón without scoring any points is also so bad for the Championship. We are still third, with a fifteen point advantage over Dani, but now we need to return on the podium and have good results. Last year we had a strong end of the season, especially in Japan and Malaysia, so I look forward to the next GPs.”

Repsol Honda press release.
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