Former Moto2 World Champion Toni Elias is back in the premiere MotoGP class, albeit on a temporary basis. The Pramac Racing satellite Ducati team has signed Elias to race at the U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in place of Hector Barbera who is sidelined with a broken leg.

Barbera, pictured above, broke his left fibula and tibia in a training accident on July 21 in Spain. Barbera underwent surgery to have a titanium plate and several screws inserted into the leg and is expected to be out four to six weeks. The Spanish rider will miss this week’s U.S. Grand Prix and likely the Aug. 19 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

For Elias, this marks a return to MotoGP and a quick end to his recent unemployment. Elias started the season racing for the Aspar Racing Moto2 team but the two sides agreed to part ways after the July 15 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. Aspar has replaced Elias with reigning Spanish National Moto2 Champion Jordi Torres. Continue Reading »

The Aspar Team officially presented its CRT MotoGP team including riders Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro and the team’s new Aprilia RSV4-based race bikes.

Aspar is using an ART race bike which consists of an Aprilia-designed aluminum frame with an engine based on the RSV4′s powerplant. Whereas Aprilia claims an output of 178 hp from the production engine, Aspar claims the ART’s 65-degree V4 engine produces over 220 hp. Max speed is said to be over 205 mph.

The team will compete under the name Power Electronics Aspar and will wear the blue color of the team’s title sponsor, a Spanish power generator producer. Continue Reading »

The Aspar racing team announced the signing of Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaró to compete in the 2012 MotoGP World Championship on a CRT racebike powered by Aprilia engines.

De Puniet (pictured above with his Playboy model girlfriend Lauren Vickers) rode a mystery race bike for Aspar this week at a MotoGP test, believed to be a modified version of Aprilia‘s WSBK-spec RSV4 with MotoGP-issue Bridgestone tires and carbon brakes. CRT rules require the use of a prototype chassis, so the Aspar machine cannot use the RSV4′s chassis. The RSV4 engine however is eligible for the new MotoGP regulations.

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The Mapfre Aspar Moto2 team has named Elena Rosell the replacement rider for the injured Julian Simon in the June 25 Moto2 race at Assen.

Rosell will become the first woman to ever race in the Moto2 class and the first in any Grand Prix road racing class since Katja Poensgen competed in the 250cc class during the 2003 season. Rosell regularly races Stock Extreme class of Spain’s CEV championship, currently sitting 11th in the standings.

Other female racers who have competed in the Grand Prix World Championships include Tomoka Igata, Taru Rinne, Nikoletta Kovacs and Marketa Janakova.

Rosell will have a tough job filling in for Simon, the 2009 125cc GP Champion and runner up in the 2010 Moto2 Championship. Simon suffered multiple fractures in his right leg after a crash at the Catalan Grand Prix. Simon currently sits 5 in the 2011 Moto2 standings despite the crash at Catalunya and missing the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Simon is expected to be out for a while longer but it isn’t clear if Rosell or another rider will fill in for other upcoming rounds.

[Source: MotoGP (Spanish)]