Niche Bloc » 125cc

Lambretta name returns to racing

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:08:03 +0000

Legendary manufacturer Lambretta is to return to world championship motorcycle racing after an absence of nearly 60 years, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

The newly-formed Lambretta Reparto Corse motorsport division will enter two Lambrettas in this year’s 125cc championship, with Italian Marco Ravaioli signed as the first rider.

“It’s is a wonderful day for Lambretta and one we’ve been working towards for nearly two years,” said Lambretta marketing director John Scully. “We’re delighted to be back on the racetrack and to compete in such an exciting and expanding sport. “It’ll be fun to compete with the big boys and see what happens.

“We’re determined to do well and develop winning racing technology that can then be translated into our production machines that will again make Lambretta scooters the most innovative on the market.”

Lambretta Reparto Corse was formed out of the ashes of the old Loncin squad, and will be run by the same team from premises in Bologna, Italy, with Nicola Casadei as team boss. The bike itself will use a brand new engine and frame however.

The Lambretta brand last competed in world championship motorcycle racing between 1950 and 1953, although its scooters were still successfully raced into the 1990s. Its return to the championship comes as Lambretta begins production on its first brand new scooter range since 1970.

Smith leads 2010 125cc field

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:53:24 +0000

Bradley Smith is set to start the 125cc season as title favourite, although he will face a tough challenge from his new Aspar team-mate Nicolas Terol.

British teenager Smith finished second in the standings to team-mate Julian Simon last year and took two race wins. Terol joins him at Aspar for 2010, having finished third in the standings with the Jack&Jones team last season.

Other leading returnees in the entry list issued by the FIM today include double race winner Pol Espargaro, regular frontrunner Sandro Cortese, and rising 16-year-olds Marc Marquez and Jonas Folger.

Simone Corsi, who was runner-up to Mike di Meglio in the 2008 125cc title race but slumped to 11th last year, also stays on for a seventh season in 125cc.

2010 125cc entry list

No. Rider Team Bike
5 Alexis Masbou WorldwideRace Team Aprilia
7 Efren Vazquez Bainet Derbi Derbi
9 Muhammad Zulfahmi Empowerment WorldwideRace Team Aprilia
11 Sandro Cortese Red Bull Ajo Motorsport Derbi
12 Esteve Rabat BQR Racing Aprilia
14 Johann Zarco WTR San Marino Team Aprilia
18 Nicolas Terol Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia
23 Alberto Moncayo Andalucia Cajasol Aprilia
24 Simone Corsi Fontana Racing Aprilia
26 Adrian Martin Team WRB Aprilia
32 Lorenzo Savadori Matteoni C.P. Racing Aprilia
35 Randy Krummenacher Molenaar Racing Aprilia
38 Bradley Smith Bancaja Aspar Team Aprilia
39 Luis Salom Lambretta Reparto Corse Lambretta
44 Pol Espargaro Bainet Derbi Derbi
50 Sturia Fagerhaug Empowerment WorldwideRace Team Aprilia
69 Louis Rossi CBC Corse Aprilia
71 Tomoyoshi Koyama Racing Team Germany Honda
72 Marco Ravaioli Lambretta Reparto Corse Lambretta
78 Marcel Schrotter Interwetten Racing Honda
80 Quentin Jacquet Molenaar Racing Aprilia
84 Jakub Kornfeil Racing Team Germany Honda
87 Luca Marconi WorldwideRace Team Aprilia
93 Marc Marquez Red Bull Ajo Motorsport Derbi
94 Jonas Folger WorldwideRace Team Aprilia
99 Danny Webb Team WRB Aprilia
tba tba CBC Corse Aprilia

Moto2 attracts big entry for debut

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:35:27 +0000

The inaugural Moto2 championship will see a full field of 39 bikes, with another two entries waiting in the wings as reserves.

The new series, in which chassis choice is free but all competitors run identical Honda engines, was over-subscribed when entries were first opened last year, and has remained at capacity despite Aprilia’s last-minute decision to pull the plug on its chassis project.

Moto2’s predecessor 250cc averaged 25 entries in its final season.

The entry is led by former MotoGP riders Toni Elias, Alex de Angelis, Gabor Talmacsi, Yuki Takahashi and Niccolo Canepa, with ex-Kawasaki MotoGP racer Anthony West among the reserves having joined the MZ team.

Roby Rolfo and Fonsi Nieto – two more riders with MotoGP experience – join Moto2 from the Superbike World Championship.

All of last year’s 250cc title contenders have moved into MotoGP rather than contesting Moto2, with Mattia Pasini, Raffaele de Rosa, Thomas Luthi, Mike di Meglio and Alex Debon the main ex-250cc men in the Moto2 field. 125cc graduates also feature strongly, led by reigning champion – and former 250cc racer – Julian Simon.

Actor Antonio Banderas is also a Moto2 supporter and is backing Spanish squad Promoracing. The team, which has title sponsorship from Jack&Jones, will run American Kenny Noyes and 125cc graduate Joan Olive.

2010 Moto2 entry list

No. Rider Team Chassis
2 Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up Aprilia Speed Up
4 Stefan Bradl Viessmann Kiefer Racing Suter
5 Joan Olive Jack&Jones By A.Banderas Promoharris
6 Alex Debon Red Bull Ajo Motorsport FTR
7 Axel Pons Pons Racing Pons Kalex
9 Kenny Noyes Jack&Jones By A.Banderas Promoharris
10 Fonsi Nieto G22 Holidaygym Moriwaki
12 Thomas Luthi Interwetten Moriwaki Racing Moriwaki
14 Ratthapark Wilairot Honda-Sag Suter
15 Alex de Angelis Scot Racing Team Scot
16 Jules Cluzel Forward Racing Suter
17 Karel Abraham Cardion Ab Motoracing RSV
24 Toni Elias Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki
25 Alex Baldolini Caretta Technology Race Dept I.C.P.
29 Andrea Iannone Speed Up Aprilia Speed Up
35 Raffaele de Rosa Tech 3 Racing Tech 3
37 Fabricio Perren Kino Racing Kino
39 Robertino Pietri Italtrans S.T.R. Suter
40 Sergio Gadea Pons Racing Pons Kalex
41 Arne Tode Racing Team Germany Suter
44 Roberto Rolfo Italtrans S.T.R. Suter
45 Scott Redding Marc VDS Racing Team Suter
48 Shoya Tomizawa Technomag-Cip Suter
52 Lukas Pesek Matteoni C.P. Racing Moriwaki
53 Valentin Debise WTR San Marino Team ADV
55 Hector Faubel Honda-Sag Suter
56 Vladimir Leonov Vector Kiefer Racing Suter
59 Nicola Canepa Scot Racing Team Scot
60 Julian Simon Mapfre Aspar Team RSV
61 Vladimir Ivanov Gresini Racing Moto2 Moriwaki
63 Mike di Meglio Mapfre Aspar Team RSV
71 Claudio Corti Forward Racing Suter
72 Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 Racing Tech 3
75 Mattia Pasini JiR Moto2 TSR
76 Bernat Martinez Blusens BQR BQR-Moto2
77 Dominique Aegerter Technomag-Cip Suter
88 Yannick Guerra G22 Holidaygym Moriwaki
95 Mashel Al Naimi Blusens BQR BQR-Moto2
TBA tba JiR Moto2 TSR

Reserves

27 Vincent Lonbois Marc VDS Racing Team Suter
TBA Anthony West MZ Racing Team MZ

Capirossi keen to race in 1000cc era

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:43:57 +0000

Loris Capirossi says he expects to continue racing beyond 2010 as he believes MotoGP’s forthcoming move to 1000cc bikes will suit him.

The Italian has been a world championship rider since joining the 125cc series in 1990 and is the most experienced man in the current MotoGP field. He will achieve his 300th start at world level at the start of the 2010 season.

MotoGP is due to change to 1000cc engines for 2012, although series supremo Carmelo Ezpeleta has hinted that the new rules could be brought forward to next year.

“If the 1000cc bikes come back in 2011, and I think this is possible, then I’d be the happiest rider on Earth,” Capirossi told Italian magazine Motosprint.

“It’s 99 per cent certain I’ll still be on the track after this season. I absolutely think so, because I’ll decide to hang up the helmet based on my level of satisfaction. If it’s an enjoyable season, with me fighting, if I’m satisfied with myself, then I may decide to quit.

“But after a 2009 so full of trouble, I’m not even thinking about this possibility.”

Capirossi is staying on with Suzuki for a third season in 2010, and will be paired with 250cc graduate Alvaro Bautista. So far Capirossi’s Suzuki stint has only delivered one podium finish in two years, and although he said he would probably retire if he was outpaced by Bautista, he did not want to stop without getting back among the frontrunners.

“If Bautista beats me race after race, then I will understand the problem is me and I will stay at home,” said Capirossi. “But if the bike doesn’t give me the chance of showing my worth, then it’d be difficult accepting to quit.”

The 36-year-old said his priority was to bow out in style, and that he would seek another team if Suzuki did not allow him to do so.

“I hope to find a competitive Suzuki this season, but if the bike isn’t and it doesn’t bring me decent results, then I won’t quit anyway,” Capirossi suggested.

“I’ll carry on racing, maybe after sorting out something else. If the bike goes well and I manage to get what I want, then I may decide to quit. I want to quit in a honourable way for myself, not for other people.”

Aoyama beats Simoncelli in Sepang test

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 09:47:55 +0000

MotoGP newcomers Hiroshi Aoyama and Marco Simoncelli continued their 2010 preparations with a three-day test at Sepang this week.

Rookies are allowed a limited amount of extra mileage under the testing restrictions, and the former 250cc title rivals took advantage of this to gain more experience prior to Christmas. Apart from heavy rain on Tuesday afternoon, they enjoyed dry weather throughout the test.

Interwetten Honda rider Aoyama was the faster of the pair, his best time of 2m02.30s beating Gresini Honda’s Simoncelli by 0.9 seconds.

“It was very important that we had the test in Sepang at this time of the year,” said Aoyama. “The circumstances were ideal; apart from the rain on Tuesday afternoon.

“I have to learn a lot, because the MotoGP bike is so much different from the 125cc and 250cc machines. I have to get used to the traction control and to the fact that all works electronically. I am satisfied with the work of these days, but I want to do more.”

Simoncelli felt he should have gone quicker, but was satisfied with his pace on longer runs.

“I’m happy. I had hoped to go a little faster but the lap times were not our principal target here and I am extremely satisfied with what we have achieved,” he said after finishing running on Wednesday.

“Fortunately today the rain held off and we were able to do a race simulation. I did 21 laps at a consistent pace in the 2m04s – even over the last few laps when the tyres were almost completely spent. Before the race simulation I did a 2m03.20s but I felt like I could have gone a good bit faster if the track was in better shape.”

125 champions to test FTR Moto2 bike

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:03:14 +0000

MotoGP 125cc champions Julian Simon, Mike di Meglio and Gabor Talmasci will test the new FTR Moto2 bike at Valencia today.

The trio, who have won the last three 125 world titles between them, will sample a prototype version of the machine for the British manufacturer, which is looking to supply its bikes to teams in the new series in 2010.

FTR director Steve Bones said: “It will be a good gauge as to how far we have come with the project. By tomorrow evening a total of seven teams will have tested the M209 with a view to using our next generation machine in the 2010 world championship.

“What we have now is very much a prototype and has been built primarily for research and development purposes. At present we have around 30 improvements in progress for next year’s race machine.”

Q and A with Tony Fernandes

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:27:09 +0000

Tony Fernandes has been involved in Formula 1 for a several years as a sponsor via his Air Asia business, but he is now moving into team ownership as he heads the new Malaysian-backed Lotus project that will join the field in 2010.

In his keynote speech at the Motor Sport Business Forum in Monaco, Fernandes discussed the challenges and opportunities arising from entering a new F1 team.

Q. Why get involved in Formula 1, and why now in particular?

Tony Fernandes: I started the airline business from the music business. I signed it three days after 9/11, and everyone said that’s a crazy time to start an airline, it’s in crisis etc, etc. But I thought it was a great time, because the incumbents were in a little bit of a state of flux, and it gives a new entrant such as us with very little capital the chance to go in there and try and start something.

Formula 1 is nowhere near the state that the airline business was after 9/11. But we see opportunities – I think things are going the right way. Costs may be coming down. I still think it’s a phenomenally successful sport. There are still lots of ways of making this a really good business, and it’s a great business for other businesses to sit on on a platform. So those are the three main things that got us involved in this.

Q. What is your initial investment going into 2010?

TF: We have a budget of £55 million this year to get the team going. That involves a lot of start-up costs. We are obviously the latest entry vis-a-vis a new team, because obviously Sauber has come in but they’ve got all the infrastructure in place. We have had to build everything from scratch.

But we took a little bit of a risk – I started investing in the car and people even before we had a grid slot. I told [Mike] Gascoyne ‘if this doesn’t work, I’m going to have some very expensive pictures, and not very nice pictures either…’ But that paid off so we’re looking confident and we’re about a week ahead of schedule for being on the grid.

Q. What about the business opportunities that you see in Formula 1?

TF: We have a great opportunity because Air Asia sits on massive market. We started eight years ago with 200,000 people flying with us. Eight years later, we carry 25 million people and we sit in a playground of 600 million people in south east Asia, and a billion in China and India that we fly to us. So the opportunities to do things together are wonderful, and that’s what we’re looking at.

I’m not so sure that the traditional form of just sticking the name on car just for branding purposes will be enough going forward. I think Formula 1 teams have to look at other revenue streams as well and over the next three or four years we have many ideas.

Q. F1 has been based in Europe so far, but you’re moving to Malaysia in time. What opportunities do you think a move outside Europe presents to you and F1 as a whole?

TF: For the sport it is important, even though people think it’s a global sport with lots of circuits around the world – you can build stadiums all around the world but people still come to see the participants – it’s still really predominantly European based. Even Force India is really a British team with Vijay [Mallya] running round.

So we think it important for the sport that for it to be truly global, it needs to have teams outside of Europe. Recently in Malaysia we sponsored a wild card entry for MotoGP. That created largest audience ever for a 125cc race in Malaysia, and in fact for MotoGP because there was a lot of local interest.

I dare say next year with both Singapore and Malaysia there will be a huge amount of additional interest. So having a circuit is one thing, but having your own team with local involvement will create much more excitement. Hopefully us and US F1 are the start of many more national based teams, which I think it will be great for Formula 1 going forward.

Q. Sponsors like to be in a ‘peer group’ with other prestige brands. How important do you think the loss of manufacturers is? Is it a blow?

TF: No, I don’t think so at all. If you look at a lot of those brands, Formula 1 created them as well and I think in this case there will be many brands that will become as big as some of these other guys. McLaren is looking at making a car, obviously we have a relationship with Lotus.

But I think Formula 1 is big enough anyway. With or without manufacturers, people will still come – it’s not because of BMW or Toyota or the other manufacturers that people came to Formula 1. They came before the manufacturers, they came after the manufacturers left, and they will come back again. It is the sport that people come to, not the teams. As long as the sport’s exciting and there is a lot of interest and personalities in it, people will come. I have no fear about that.

Q. Can you explain the ownership structure of your team and how the Lotus brand fits in?

TF: Lotus is a complicated brand. Obviously Proton in Malaysia owns Lotus, and we have a licensing agreement with them. I think over time that relationship will solidify more and more, and Group Lotus will probably buy into the team at some stage. More and more technology from our side will go into Lotus cars, we will promote Lotus Cars closely, and I see it in time being no different from how Ferrari works.

Q. To what extent can you claim the heritage of Lotus in Formula 1?

TF: I don’t think we can claim any of the heritage but we obviously have a great relationship with Clive and Hazel Chapman. We’re in Norfolk and a few miles from Hethel. We are very clear about making sure we don’t destroy any of the prestige, we have an advisory council to make sure that we protect what has been built by Colin Chapman and the people at Lotus.

So I don’t think we can claim [Lotus heritage] but we’ll certainly celebrate it and work with it. We have lots of ideas. We’ve talked about doing something like the Goodwood Festival at this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix and have lots of Lotus enthusiasts bring their cars down to Malaysia. There are lots of ways to celebrate the heritage. It’s phenomenal history, a phenomenal brand. We can’t claim it, but we will work with it, we’ll celebrate it and we’ll honour it.

Q. What have you learned from being a sponsor that you can take into team ownership?

TF: It has been a fantastic relationship with Williams, it started as a very small sponsor. I think we’re a great example of how it worked. We were a small brand, we sponsored a Formula 1 team, we grew it and we added more. In eight years we have built a brand that is second to none. We’ve started another airline called Air Asia X, which really almost mirrors the Formula 1 circuit. Williams has helped us tremendously. They worked very hard on building the brand.

But I do think there are more things that can be done. I think generally Formula 1 teams are really race teams. I think the business side of Formula 1 hasn’t always been exploited for the best ability of sponsors. Being on both sides, I think we know what sponsors want and now we have a team so we’ll try and marry the two and give more value to sponsors.

Q. What does the Resource Restriction Agreement mean for a new team like you?

TF: It gives us everything we need. Obviously at one stage we were ready to put a team out at £40 million because that’s what we were told the cap was going to be. Obviously we’re in favour of having less money to build a car but it’s still exciting.

I am still confused as to where all the extra money goes when you have a team with £150 million. I’m still trying to understand my £55 million.

We think we are going to have a very reasonable car. We know we aren’t going to be competing [at the front] in year one, but it takes time and we’ll have a good basis for moving forward. But the idea of capping costs is a good one, because you do need good teams, you do need a competitive grid.

If you look at American sports, the NFL have got it right, because you never know who will be the Superbowl winner – the way they draft pick, the way they cap salaries, etc. So it’s always exciting because you could be right at the bottom and a few years later you could be winning the Superbowl. In English football it’s very different. I support, for my sins, West Ham United, and all we do is sell players to everyone else to survive. I could never dream of winning the Premiership. The gap between Premier League sides at the top and bottom is massive. And I think long-term that damages the sport.

Q. What’s your target for 2010, how close do you expect to get to the existing teams?

TF: I honestly have no idea, we haven’t even got the finished car yet. Mark [Gallagher] is here with the Cosworth engine, so maybe he can tell us more. For me – make sure I’m ahead of Richard Branson. I used to work for him, we partnered together in an airline. So I’d like to see him behind me, that would be nice, not physically… I think a good target would be to be the best of the new teams and I’d like to finish every race.

This Formula 1 thing is not about next year for us, it is about building a good package for both sponsors and our team, building a good team and building a solid structure. Building a house is about putting the right structure in, so this year’s about putting the right structure in, having realistic targets, and moving ahead slowly. The great thing about it is that we can dream in the morning and say ‘maybe we have a chance’, but we’re realistic and I think as long as we have realistic goals and we have a plan, we’ll get near the top.

We haven’t come here to be in five years time still at the back of the grid, that’s very clear. No one remembers people who come second. If I say ‘who came second in the 100 metres at Beijing?’, you don’t know. Everyone just remembers the man with the golden shoes. We’re here to make sure we can compete, but we’re also realistic. It may take us a bit of time, but we’ll be there in the end.

Aspar to hold Aprilia Moto2 talks

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:25:52 +0000

Aspar team boss Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’ is to hold talks with Aprilia following the Italian company’s decision to abandon its Moto2 plans.

The Piaggio Group had supplied the majority of the field in Moto2’s predecessor 250cc via its Aprilia and Gilera brands – but this week announced that it was calling a halt to its Moto2 project. Its statement claimed it would be “unnecessary and damaging” to participate in the series as the whole field would run Honda engines.

Martinez had expected to use Aprilias for his team’s Moto2 programme, and amid reports that Aspar could take over the Aprilia chassis project, Martinez and his team’s sporting director Gino Borsoi will meet with the company next Tuesday to discuss the situation.

“The news came as a surprise to me,” Aspar was quoted as saying by the official MotoGP website. “We believed the project was developing and wanted Aprilia for our arrival in Moto2, because there is no doubt the Italian brand has great experience in world championships.”

Aspar said his priority was to secure the most competitive Moto2 bike possible, having already signed the last two 125cc champions – Mike di Meglio and Julian Simon – has his 2010 Moto2 riders. If a deal cannot be reached with Aprilia, the team will have no qualms about switching to an alternative chassis.

“Next Tuesday, Gino and I will travel to Italy to meet with the leaders of Aprilia, and see if we can find a solution,” Aspar said. “If there isn’t one, we’ll immediately look at our other options.

“What is clear is that we’ll go with the most reliable project, because Julian and Mike, both 125cc world champions, must have the best equipment to challenge for the title. We also cannot let down the trust placed in us by our sponsors.”

Piquet to race in Vegas kart event

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:27:21 +0000

Nelson Piquet Jr will race for the first time since splitting with the Renault Formula 1 team when he takes part in an all-star karting event next weekend.

The 24-year-old Brazilian will compete in the Superkarts USA Super Nationals event in Las Vegas, racing in the 125cc gearbox kart class for Intrepid Kart Technology.

“I’m really excited about this race and am so happy that Intrepid invited me to drive for the team,” said Piquet.

“It came about after they supplied karts for the Monaco Kart Cup and after that I went to visit them at the factory in Italy, where they have a very impressive set-up.

“Karting is one of my favourite types of racing and I’m so looking forward to driving one of the fastest karts around in this race.”

Among Piquet’s rivals at the event will be seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Toro Rosso F1 driver Sebastien Buemi.