MOTOGP: Stoner to go underground!

Casey Stoner - one of the vital contenders for this year's MotoGP Championship, has been diagnosed of a secret illness which has been leading to his chronic fatigue for the past few races. The Australian will hence take a break from the MotoGP championship for at least the next three races.

While addressing the media, Ducati Boss Livio Suppo said: “Casey is very sorry that he is not able to race, especially as he feels the bike is very competitive. But he said he needs to fix this problem and come back at full strength for Estoril. It is one thing to stop if you are struggling but even more difficult when you know you are capable of winning.”

With Stoner's temporary retirement, Ducati satellite rider Mika Kallio will be promoted to race for the factory team, alongside Nicky Hayden for the next three races of Brno, Indianapolis and Misano. His current team mate Niccolo Canepa on the other hand will be joined by Ducati's WSBK rider Micheal Fabrizio.

Image Credits: Motogp.com

Yamaha MotoGP bikes now as powerful as the Ducatis - says Rossi

Valentino Rossi thinks that the performance of his MotoGP YZR-M1 engine is at par with the Ducatis now. The Ducatis have been having a massive advantage over their Japanese rivals in terms of straight line performance ever since the 800cc bikes were introduced in 2007.

While the previous season was a bit of a struggle for Yamaha, this year the Rossi-Lorezo duo of the Japanese firm have managed to win six out of ten races. Rossi says that the Yamaha team has become very strong this season. The key reason for that, according to Rossi was largely down to Yamaha making big improvements to the power delivery and acceleration of this year’s YZR-M1.

The eight-times world champion told UK based MCN "We have improved the engine a lot but we have really made big progress with improving the acceleration. It looks like the Ducati might still be a little bit faster, but we are more or less on the same level. Last year was different, and especially two years ago it was a lot different."

Ducati unveils new logo and the Street Fighter!

The ultimate Italian marquee has unveiled a new logo on the eve of the EICMA show.
The new logo for their street exotics continues the evolution of the historic brand and now unites the word 'Ducati' and the 'Ducati Corse Shield' - seen first time for their street bikes. The logo will be officially unveiled at the EICMA along with the new 'Street Fighter' motorcycle (below).

More info HERE.

Scale Models: New Collection

The MotoGP madness continues as Maisto has assembled together 2 new GP bikes to their 1:18 scale model collection. These are Pedrosa's No.2 Honda RC212V and Capirossi's No.33 Ducati GP8.
Here are the pics: