MOTOGP ROUND 12, INDIANAPOLIS, SUNDAY AUGUST 28

Arai riders bag points in Indy, Pedrosa scores second place.

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA

Race Position: 2^nd                          Championship Position: 5^th 

“WE ARE VERY HAPPY!”

Dani Pedrosa rode superbly at the Indy Brickyard to finish second behind Casey Stoner. Pedrosa made one of his trademark flying starts and took an early lead, however Stoner passed him on lap seven and checked out while Pedrosa maintained second position comfortably, fending off the Yamahas of Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies.  Spies went on to pass his team-mate to claim the last step on the rostrum.

“We are very happy with second place for several reasons. After the qualifying session, we had to work hard to reduce the one-second gap we had from Casey, it wasn’t normal to be so far away from him. I knew that my race pace wouldn’t be as fast as Casey’s, but the team did a very good job, helped me to feel more comfortable with the front and I was able to find a good rhythm, just 3-4 tenths slower than Casey. It was a tough race being alone, but I focused on my lap times and I made my best lap at the end, so I’m happy with my performance and the bike. To get 20 points is not so bad after the crash in Brno and I look forward to going to Misano to try and take another step forward.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3

Race Position: 11^th                            Championship Position: 15^th

“IT WAS IMPORTANT TO FINISH THE RACE…”

Cal Crutchlow’s reward for a weekend in which he worked tirelessly to improve the front-end feeling with his Yamaha YZR-M1 was his best finish since the Catalunya race in early June. He maintained a consistent pace throughout the race having led Loris Capirossi, Toni Elias, Randy de Puniet and Hiroshi Aoyama in a frantic opening few laps. A series of strong laps in the final stages saw him snatch 11th from Marco Simoncelli on the final lap to end his recent run of disappointing results.

“Firstly I want to say a big thanks to all my guys in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Team. They never gave up all weekend, even when we were struggling a little bit and it might sound silly, but I don’t think any of us in the garage have ever been so pleased to get an 11th place. After the bad recent run it was important to finish the race and I did that. The result wasn’t the best but my speed at the end of the race was really good and I’m happy about that, so there are a lot of positives to take to Misano. At the end of the race I was lapping faster than Jorge Lorenzo. I was a long way behind him but that still gives me a lot of encouragement. I’ve needed to finish races to gain some experience and I’m glad we did because I learned a lot this afternoon.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3

Race Position: 7^th                           Championship Position: 8^th

“I NEEDED FRED FLINTSONE BEHIND GIVING ME A PUSH!”

Colin Edwards, wearing a patriotically painted one-off Arai RX-7 GP, made a fast start from the second row of the grid but as the pack jostled for position in the tight first section of the 2.62 mile track, Edwards was bumped back to eighth. He was involved in an exciting early battle with Alvaro Bautista, Ben Spies and Valentino Rossi before the field began to stretch out at the halfway stage of the race. With temperatures reaching close to 30 degrees, Edwards was left in a personal duel with Bautista until lap 23 when a big front-end slide cost him crucial time. With his front tyre starting to push more and more, Edwards decided to slow his pace to secure seventh place.

“I thought I got a fantastic start but the problem is the Yamaha is lacking a bit of grunt. I needed Fred Flintstone behind giving me a push to go faster, so I had a few people come by me on the run to the first corner. The first few laps I felt I could go faster but with Bautista sitting in front of me, I’d get close and then coming out of the corner he would just grab a few metres on me. In the twisty stuff at the end of the lap I was gaining it all back and at the last corner I almost ran into him. I really wanted to beat Bautista but he started to ride really well in the second half of the race. I was on his back wheel and looking for an opportunity to make an overtake but I lost the front at the end of the back straight and that was a warning just to back off and take seventh. The front tyre lost a fair bit of grip in the last few laps though I wasn’t the only one to have a problem. But I was top non-factory rider, I got another top ten and I moved up another place in the Championship, so it wasn’t a bad afternoon's work.”

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI

Race Position: 14^th                         Championship Position: 7^th

“WE THOUGHT THE SOFT FRONT TYRE COULD BE A GOOD OPTION.”

Nicky Hayden, who like Edwards was wearing a one-off Arai – this one celebrating his sister’s wedding – got a great start at what is his true ‘home’ race and was riding strongly in the top four. But the decision to use a soft front tyre didn’t pay off, and after seven laps he steadily lost ground before finishing in fourteenth place.

“It was a really tough day. We thought the soft front tyre could be a good option for the race, but unfortunately it only worked for seven or eight laps. Then I began to steadily lose ground until it even began shaking on the straightaways, and I had to come in. Since you’ve got to finish to get points, I went back out, and it was actually worth getting two points. I got a good start and was up front the first few laps, and that was the first time I put up a real fight in the dry all season. My bike felt fast in a straight line, and with this new gearbox, I could get out of that last corner and keep guys in the draft early on. We’re on our first race with this bike, and maybe we don’t know enough about what it needs.”

Hiroshi Aoyama took his San Carlo Honda Gresini to 9^th place, and is 10^th in the Championship. Karel Abraham DNF’d his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati and moves to 13^th overall in the standings.

For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

MOTOGP ROUND 11, BRNO, SUNDAY AUGUST 14TH

DANI PEDROSA, REPSOL HONDA
Race Position: DNF Championship Position: 5th

“IT WAS A SHAME. I LOST THE FRONT AND CRASHED!”
Under similar circumstances to the last race at Laguna Seca, Casey Stoner managed to turn a difficult weekend into a win without opposition in a race that he led from the third lap, when Dani Pedrosa, after taking the lead, lost the front and crashed out of the race, luckily without injury. With the absence of Pedrosa, who had been the fastest man throughout the weekend and qualified in pole position, Stoner had no rival and set a steady pace to cross the finish line 6.5 seconds ahead of his teammate Andrea Dovizioso. Marco Simoncelli claimed the final podium position, his first in MotoGP.

“It was a shame. I lost the front and I crashed, that was it! I was not even pushing so hard, I just took the lead and, well I may have tilted the bike too much, maybe the tyre was not warm enough, still I don’t know. The problem is that I’ve wasted an important race that we had prepared for very well. I have to thank the team for the bike they gave me this weekend, it worked really well, and I will tell them I’m sorry for the mistake. It hurts because we were well prepared and finally the race was quite slow compared to the pace we did in practice sessions, but we cannot do anything, just think towards the next one and try to get back on top.”

CAL CRUTCHLOW, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: DNF Championship Position: 15th

“ANOTHER CRASH IS THE LAST THING I NEEDED…”
Brno ended in unhappy circumstances for Cal Crutchlow; the 25-year-old was optimistic he could battle for a top 10 result, but his race was ended prematurely by a front-end crash at the first corner on lap seven after he’d just passed Hector Barbera for 10th. Crutchlow was able to walk away uninjured but was frustrated that his hard work throughout the weekend went unrewarded.

“Nobody is more disappointed than me with what happened because another crash is the last thing I needed. I am currently having a difficult run of races but all I can do is get my head down, work hard with my crew and try and put things right in the future. At the moment I am struggling with grip in the front-end and we seem to have been going round in circles a little bit to find a solution. Today I was off-brake and accelerating at the first corner when I lost the front. The last person who wants to crash is me, but I can only do my best. I am sorry to my Team and Yamaha but I am sure they realise that I am trying as hard as I can to get a good result. We’ve got a test tomorrow and that is important because we can work on the bike without the time constraints of practice. I still believe in myself and I am determined to get a good result in Indianapolis.”

COLIN EDWARDS, MONSTER YAMAHA TECH 3
Race Position: 8th Championship Position: 9th


“IT WAS NOT AN EASY RACE.”
Colin Edwards started and finished the Czech Republic MotoGP in eighth position, once again finishing the leading non-factory rider. The 37-year-old rode a determined race throughout the 22-lap encounter, which took place under cloudy but warm skies in front of a massive crowd of 155,400 at the Brno circuit. He spent almost the entire race in close pursuit of fellow American Nicky Hayden’s factory Ducati machine; despite launching numerous attempts to up his pace and get within striking distance of the 2006 World Champion, Edwards was frustrated in his attempt to seize a hard-fought seventh position.

“I said yesterday that if I finished in the same position that I started that I would be pretty happy. I guess I am pretty happy but it was not an easy race. In the warm-up I had zero traction, so we made a small geometry change for the race and it was definitely better. I had more grip but the lap time was the same. All I kept seeing on my lap timer on the dashboard was 58.5, 58.5. It must have been like that for about 14 laps in a row and at one point I thought it had broken. I just couldn’t go much faster and it seems we are lacking traction compared to the others. I was spinning the rear tyre a lot and right now our bike feels a little bit unforgiving. I was right on the back of Nicky for pretty much the whole race but I couldn’t do anything with him. Our lap times just didn’t deviate at all, so I couldn’t get close enough to him. It wasn’t like he had more grip than me, but because we were doing the same pace I didn’t get close enough to attack him."

NICKY HAYDEN, MARLBORO DUCATI
Race Position: 7th Championship Position: 7th


“IT’S BEEN A REALLY TOUGH WEEKEND.”
Nicky Hayden finished up at Brno in seventh position, behind his team mate Valentino Rossi in sixth, but much closer to the leaders than at any other time this season. The American, however, was looking forward more to the following day’s test sessions, where he could focus on new parts for this year’s Ducati GP11 with, obviously an eye on next year’s 1000cc GP12 machine.

“It’s been a really tough weekend right from when we got the bikes out of the crates from Laguna, but we chipped away at it. The guys have worked extremely hard, and we got better and better. We even made a change after the morning warm-up that actually helped a bit, although I didn’t really understand it the first few laps, and the group was already gone. I held on and got seventh, which isn’t fantastic. Still, the gap to the front is the closest it’s been this season, which is positive. The bike was really good in a few places, but I was slow in change of direction and couldn’t get the bike to finish the corner and was spinning the tyre a lot. We also need to understand why I had the slowest top speed. It would’ve been nice to hang onto that front group a bit longer, but Colin pushed me all the way to the end. The work’s far from over, because we’ve got a big day testing. Valentino tried some new parts on the front that they seem real happy about, so hopefully I can try those.”

Hiroshi Aoyama steered his San Carlo Honda Gresini to 9th place, and lies 10th in the Championship. Karel Abraham unfortunately crashed his Cardion AB Motoracing Ducati out of his home race; he remains 12th overall in the standings.

Round 12 of MotoGP is at Indianapolis, Sunday August 28th.

For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

ARAI AT GEORGE WHITE MEGA FACTORY OUTLET OPENING IN BOLTON

Discount motorcycle clothing giant to launch massive new clothing super-store on Saturday 13th August with huge launch party with stars and mad one-day only deals.

George White will be opening the doors of their latest superstore - their first in the north of England - with a huge splash this summer.

Known for amazing deals and an equally amazing range of top name motorcycle brands at stunning low prices George White will offer the first 500 people to spend over £10 at the Bolton store a fabulous goodie-bag worth £50, absolutely FREE!

Visitors will be able to buy boots, gloves, Goretex jackets and full race suits from low, low prices!

As with all George White events, the day will rammed with wall-to-wall stars and entertainment - all absolutely Free!

Riders from the World and British Championships will be present to meet fans and answer questions fired at them by Eurosport's Jack Burnicle. Castrol Honda's Jonathan Rea will be present alongside eight-time TT winning legend Ian Hutchinson. Alex and Sam Lowes will also make an appearance and talk about their mad-busy 2011 season as well as BSB and BSS stars; Steve Brogan (Jentin Racing Honda), Tommy Hill (Swan Yamaha), Gary Mason (Colchester Kawasaki), Billy McConnell (Oxford Tag Triumph) and Steve Plater (Padgetts Honda)

World Factory Gas Gas trials rider, Michael Brown will be performing five gravity-defying shows during the day and there will also be a Formula 1 driving simulator on hand during the day that will test the professional riders four-wheel skills against the clock.
Arai’s Race Service will be on hand all day to fit and service helmets and offer technical advice.

During the day, the famous George White no-reserve auction will be back with a morning and afternoon session with eye-watering bargains and one very lucky customer will win a bike of their dreams for a year - in the free to enter prize drawer.

Add in the MCN girls, the Hornee jeans girls, and the famous George White Balloon its obvious that the George White Mega factory outlet opening on Saturday 13th August at 156 Bradshawgate, Bolton BL2 1BA will the THE place to be.

WSBK ROUND 9, SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY JULY 31

Arai’s Hopkins bags Superpole, Haslam tantalisingly close to a podium

LEON HASLAM, BMW MOTORRAD MOTORSPORT
Race One: 4th                                  Race Two: 8th                 Championship Position: 5th

“I WAS REALLY PUSHING FOR THE PODIUM”
Silverstone played host to a dramatic World Superbike round, with Leon Haslam coming close to clinching a rostrum finish in front of his home crowd, wearing a special one-off paintjob on his Arai RX-7 GP helmet in support of his chosen charity, SPARKS (Sports Aiding medical Research for Kids). Leon makes a contribution to the charity that is directly linked to his racing performance, and gives SPARKS £10 for every World Championship point he scores in 2011.

Race one started promisingly for Haslam, who made a good start from 9th on the grid to join the leading group in 6th in the early laps. As the laps tumbled, seven riders fell victim to the tricky Silverstone circuit, but Haslam crossed the line in 4th position after fighting hard with pole sitter John Hopkins and Marco Melandri. Top honours went to championship leader Carlos Checa. Race two saw a difficult opening lap for Haslam and he dropped back to 10th; but he continued to push and, at half race distance, managed to take seventh position from Fabrizio. However, with a four second gap to the leaders to contend with and a charging Guintoli chasing him down, Leon still faced a battle to the end, eventually being forced to settle for 8th position. But it was to be the same three from race one who took to the podium with Checa doing the double, followed by Laverty and Melandri.

“In race one I was really happy with the start, I was able to get myself into the position I wanted to be in and run with the leaders. I was really pushing for the podium and battled to keep with Melandri but I was really struggling to pass him and remain in front. I was happy to be running close to the front and the lap times were OK, I just couldn’t quite get on the podium. In race two I was having a few issues with the bike and was forced to adapt my riding style to try and ride around it. I got to the point where I was able to run consistent lap times but by then the leaders had gone. Now we have the summer break so I am just looking forward to spending some time at home and preparing in the gym for the next races.”

JONATHAN REA, CASTROL HONDA
Race One: DNS                               Race Two: DNS              Championship Position: 12th

Castrol Honda rider Jonathan Rea remained on the sidelines for his home round of the WSBK championship at Silverstone as his right arm, broken at Misano during morning warm up on race day, June 12 continues to heal.

Samsung Crescent Racing's John Hopkins raced to fifth and seventh places as a ‘Wild-Card’ entry at Silverstone. Following his victory in Superpole – where he set a new lap record – the British Superbike Championship contender started both races from pole, going in full of fight and dicing for the lead in the early stages of race one. But with a riding style that dictates use of the rear brake, disaster struck mid-way through for Hopkins when he suffered a rear brake issue, effectively ending hopes of a podium finish – but he still finished the race in an impressive fifth place. In race two, Hopkins was at the sharp-end of the action, battling hard with WSBK title contenders Marco Melandri, Max Biaggi and Eugene Laverty. He thoroughly enjoyed his day’s racing:

“Boy that was a lot of fun. The first race was a bit of a disappointment with the rear brake pad issues, but I managed to alter my corner-entry and keep my focus to bag that fifth place. Race two felt better, but to keep with those factory bikes you really need to make up time on the brakes and on the gas out of the turns. I knew that would kill my tyre, so it was no surprise in the closing stages of race two when we started losing the times. Overall, I’m really pumped about this weekend. I’ve bagged my first-ever World SBK pole position, mixed it at the sharp-end and enjoyed the racing immensely. A huge thanks to the whole team.”

Noriyuki Haga and his PATA Aprilia crashed out of race one and DNF’d in race two he remains 9th in the championship. Jakub Smrz and his Effenbert Liberty Racing Ducati didn’t make the end of race one, but finished 11th in the second outing, moving him back one place to 13th overall in the title chase.

Kawasaki Motocard.com rider Broc Parkes found the World Supersport competition tough in the early laps, with top names like Robin Harms, Sam Lowes and Gino Rea crashing or running off the circuit. The race settled into a pattern of Parkes vying for a top six finish which he achieved and after the race he was pragmatic, if a little unhappy with the performance:

“We struggled in the race big time and didn’t have the pace all weekend. It was damage limitation really, a matter of seeing what I could do in the race. For some reason our set-up is not working the way we want it. I could do the same consistent lap time but to have the pace to get to the front I could not pass people. Sixth was not so good for our championship push but we came out of here with some points and we have to improve and go into the last part of the season and see what we can do…”

The next Word Superbike championship round is at Nurburgring, on September 4.

For more information on Arai helmets please visit www.whyarai.co.uk

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