Last week, we wrote about MotoGP star Valentino Rossi taking a spin around the Charlotte Motor Speedway oval in NASCAR driver Kyle Busch‘s Toyota Camry. The meeting of motorsports greats was organized by their joint sponsor Monster Energy Drink following the inaugural Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Monster Energy has now released a video of Rossi’s NASCAR test drive and the meeting of the two racing stars. No lap times were released but Monster Energy says Rossi’s lap times would have put him in the top 15 from the first practice session at the 2012 History 300 race at the same track. Continue Reading »

The morning after riding his Yamaha M1 to a sixth-place finish at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, nine-time Grand Prix World Champion Valentino Rossi landed in Charlotte, N.C., to race around another track; only this time there were no right turns. (UPDATED with additional photos.)

Rossi met up with NASCAR racer and fellow Monster Energy-sponsored athlete Kyle Busch to ride Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch, winner of the last three Nationwide Series races, gave Rossi a walkaround of his car before taking the Yamaha factory rider around a few laps of the Charlotte  Motor Speedway 1.5-mile oval.

After a brief visit to the pit area, it was Rossi’s turn to climb into the driver’s seat and took his turn around the oval’s 24-degree banked corners, reaching speeds of about 185 mph. Continue Reading »

The 2013 MotoGP season kicks off this weekend at the Grand Prix of Qatar, and like many of you, we can’t wait to see how this season plays out. There are a number of plot twists this year, with Rossi, Marquez, Pedrosa and Lorenzo all grabbing headlines. Here, we’ll highlight the top 10 storylines to watch this year.

Yamaha officially launched its 2013 MotoGP factory team, revealing the new livery for riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi and their YZR-M1 prototypes.

The new livery returns to a predominantly blue design with white elements compared to last year’s design which was more predominantly white. The livery also features a modern interpretation of Yamaha‘s speed block design.

Rossi’s M1 features his iconic #46 in his traditional yellow while Lorenzo’s M1 features a red #99 instead of the #1 he earned as the 2012 MotoGP champion. Lorenzo wore the #1 plate in 2011 after winning the 2010 title. Lorenzo says he was excited to use the #1 plate after winning his first MotoGP title but the following season was not as successful, with his point total dropping from an all-time record of 360 points to 260 in 2011. Lorenzo still finished second that season to Casey Stoner but he says he won two titles with #99 and his fans know him best with that number. Continue Reading »

Former General Manager of Ducati Corse Filippo Preziosi has resigned from the company, ending his 19-year career with the Italian manufacturer. Preziosi led Ducati‘s racing program for the last decade including its lone MotoGP championship in 2007, but the 44-year-old engineer also carries a lot of the blame for Ducati’s recent struggles including the doomed Valentino Rossi era.

Preziosi held the position of GM of Ducati Corse until last November when he was replaced with former BMW Superbike manager Bernhard Gobmeier. At the time, Ducati announced Preziosi would assume a new role as director of research and development for Ducati, tasked with developing new products.

It appears that Preziosi never actually assumed that new position. Ducati says Preziosi was to take on his new role “after a period of rest”. The company now says Preziosi has resigned due to “health reasons related to his particular physical condition”. Preziosi is a parapalegic, losing the use of the lower half of his body after an accident in 2000. Continue Reading »

We’re just over two weeks into the new year which means it’s time for MotoGP teams to start the promotional push for their 2013 MotoGP programs. Ducati is set to reveal its Desmosedici GP13 today at its annual Wrooom ski event with Ferrari‘s Formula One team later today, but Yamaha has gotten the jump on its Italian rival by releasing new photographs and a video of ex-Ducati rider Valentino Rossi and reigning World Champion Jorge Lorenzo.

Also revealed is the 2013 Yamaha M1, though the racebike is shrouded in graphical overlays of its pilots and devoid of any sponsor logos including the newly signed supporter Monster Energy. So call this more of a teaser than a full reveal. We’ll have to wait just a bit longer to see the 2013 Yamaha M1 in its full race livery.

Until then, enjoy the video and the gallery of still photos. Continue Reading »

As we reported in December, energy drink producer Monster Energy has signed a sponsorship agreement with Yamaha‘s factory MotoGP program, putting its brand on the Yamaha YZR-M1 race bikes, team clothing and equipment, as well as riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi.

Monster Energy already had a personal sponsorship deal with Rossi but the company will now also sponsor Lorenzo. The reigning MotoGP Champion had previously had a sponsorship arrangement with rival energy drink company RockStar, but Yamaha exercised a clause in its contract with Lorenzo allowing a buy out of the RockStar deal as it conflicts with the team’s sponsor.

The new agreement with the factory team does not affect Monster Energy’s deal with Yamaha’s satellite team Tech3. The team will still be known as the Monster Energy Yamaha Tech3 team, but all four Yamaha M1s on the grid will now sport Monster Energy’s green M logo. Continue Reading »

Yamaha has reportedly signed energy drink maker Monster Energy to sponsor its factory MotoGP team, according to Spanish site MotoCuatro.com. The new sponsorship deal created a bit of a problem however, as Yamaha‘s star rider Jorge Lorenzo recently signed a two-year contact extension to his personal sponsorship deal with RockStar, a rival energy drink maker.

To get around this sticky situation, MotoCuatro reports Yamaha will invoke a clause in Lorenzo’s contract allowing the manufacturer to veto and buy out his RockStar contract.

The two energy drinks managed to co-exist within the Yamaha garage this past season. Along with RockStar’s sponsorship of Lorenzo, Monster Energy had a sponsorship agreement with his teammate Ben Spies. The difference next season however is Spies’ replacement, Valentino Rossi. Continue Reading »

In a pair of carefully-timed press releases, Ducati announced it will part ways with MotoGP star Valentino Rossi at the end of the season and Yamaha announced it has signed Rossi to a two-year contract.

The arrangement had been in the works for some time now and the two manufacturers had reportedly wanted to wait until Aug. 15 to make their announcements. But it’s very hard to stop the rumor mill from churning, especially when it involves the highest-profile Grand Prix motorcycle racer of this generation. After word leaked of Rossi’s impending return to Yamaha, the two manufacturers moved up the announcement date.

Rossi raced the last two seasons for Ducati‘s factory MotoGP team after a seven-year stint with Yamaha. His time with Ducati however was far less successful. In 27 races with Ducati, Rossi has finished on the podium just two times, finishing seventh in the 2011 season and currently sitting in eighth place in the championship. Continue Reading »

Last month, we wrote about the Diavel Drag Race at World Ducati Week 2012 starring Ducati’s current MotoGP and World Superbike racers and the one and only Troy Bayliss. If you missed it, the retired three-time WSBK Champion Bayliss defeated nine-time Grand Prix Champion Valentino Rossi in the drag race competition on Ducati Diavel Carbons.

Our initial post featured a video of highlights from the drag race competition shot by Italian website Motociclismo.it but it was filmed by a single camera from an awkward vantage point. Thankfully, Ducati has since uploaded a video of the entire competition with live commentary and various camera angles from its official WDW TV coverage.

Unfortunately the commentary is in Italian, but it’s pretty easy to figure out what is going on if you don’t speak the language. It isn’t difficult to make out the names of Bayliss, Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Carlos Checa, Jakub Smrz, Sylvain Guintoli, Niccolò Canepa, and Lorenzo Zanetti. Continue Reading »