Casey Stoner has withdrawn from the Brno, Czech Republic MotoGP round to undergo surgery on his injured ankle. Trailing Yamaha‘s Jorge Lorenzo by 39 points and Honda teammate Dani Pedrosa by 21 points with seven rounds to go, Stoner’s hopes of repeating as MotoGP champion before retiring at the end of the season are all but dashed.

The Repsol Honda rider injured his ankle in a high side crash in last weekend’s Indianapolis Grand Prix. Stoner still managed to compete on The Brickyard, finishing fourth despite his injury. Stoner traveled to Brno intending to compete in the upcoming Czech Republic Grand Prix but made the decision to return to his native Australia for surgery to avoid permanent damage to the ankle. Continue Reading »

Marco Melandri bit a chunk off of Max Biaggi‘s World Superbike championship points lead by taking a pair of wins at Brno. The double was the first in Melandri’s career and the first for BMW.

Biaggi, who arrived in the Czech Republic with four wins and nine podium finishes in ten previous races at Brno, was held off the podium this year, shrinking his lead in the championship to 21 points from 48.

Both races saw Melandri steal the win from Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes who led all but seven laps all weekend but was forced to settle for a pair of second-place results. Continue Reading »

This week is catchup time for Track Facts. Four tracks of the Moto GP 2009 Season will be covered in this installment. Sachsenring, Donington Park, Automotodrom Brno and Indianapolis.

Hit the jump for all the details.

Continue Reading »