Lorenzo and Spies set for Qatar

The Factory Yamaha Racing duo are keen to get out on track for the opening round of the 2011 MotoGP World Championship, the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

This weekend marks the end of a long winter of coming up as the hugely anticipated 2011 MotoGP season bursts into life on the floodlit Losail International Circuit in Qatar. Reigning MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo steps up to the grid to confront for a second title at the controls of his YZR-M1 with nothing less than victory in his sights. Joining him in the garage and carrying out Yamaha Factory Racing's line up for this season will be 2010 MotoGP Rookie of the Year Ben Spies.

The 2010 season saw Lorenzo resolutely cement his place as one of the Grand Prix elite. The 23 year-old Mallorcan stormed through the 18-round season to take an impressive nine race wins and a premier class record breaking 383 point tally on his way to title victory. The Yamaha Factory rider has started every MotoGP race in his premier class career at Qatar from the front row, taking a pole position in his 2008 MotoGP debut and has always ended on the podium, although a race win has so far eluded him.

Spies, the Texan Factory newcomer, is no stranger to Yamaha having taken the Yamaha Factory Superbike to conquest in the 2009 World Superbike Championship. He went on to amaze in his debut season in MotoGP in 2010 on the Tech3 Yamaha M1, securing sixth in the Championship standings as the highest placed non-factory rider, scoring two podiums and a stunning pole position start for his home race at Indianapolis in the process. The 2010 season opener at the Losail circuit saw the 25 year-old push on from a fourth-row grid start location to finish the race in fifth, just 3.9 seconds from the race winner.

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Dani Pedrosa: Rossi is Rossi…

Dani Pedrosa says Valentino Rossi can never be inexpensive as a title contender, despite the somewhat unpromising start to the seven-time MotoGP world champion's career as a Ducati rider.

Rossi finished the first pre-season test of 2011 in a modest 11th position overall, while Pedrosa – jointly with Honda stablmates Casey Stoner and Marco Simoncelli – have been in the middle of the main pace setters.

Despite this, Pedrosa is refusing to get rid of Rossi from the equation of title challenger, maintaining the Italian has the aptitude to turn things around in time for the start of the new season.

“The great unknown amount will perhaps be Rossi,” he said in his latest blog. “It's his first year with Ducati and in Malaysia he wasn't amongst the fastest riders. But Rossi is Rossi, and you can not at all rely on anything. Even when he's in last place on the Saturday he still has the ability to surprise.”

Additionally, Pedrosa is wary of reigning champions Yamaha, pointing out that and Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies carry on to display the most convincing race pace.

“Right now the Honda RC212V seems to be performance well. We'll see what happens when we get to the first GP of the year, because the whole thing could change there. You never know, but at the instant everything points towards a tough World Championship.

“The Yamaha continues to have a good rhythm lap upon lap. Lorenzo, as the defending Champion, is a rival to beat, and Spies had a huge season in 2010 and will certainly be better this year.”

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Recap 2010: Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix

motogp's complete summary of the ninth round of the season at the Laguna Seca offers you the chance to re-live the best of the action, with easy one-click access to the video highlights.

Marking the halfway point in the season – the ninth of 18 rounds on the 2010 MotoGP calendar – the Californian sunshine welcomed the premier class to the Laguna Seca in late July, and provided the chance for the premier class stars to enjoy some of the glitz and glamour thanks to the close nearness to Hollywood.

Taking advantage of that were Jorge Lorenzo, Ben Spies and Colin Edwards, who were connected by the MotoGP legends Eddie Lawson, Kenny Roberts and Wayne Rainey as Yamaha riders past and present were treated to a trip around the American TV presenter Jay Leno’s extensive collection of cars and motorcycles. Meanwhile over on Sunset Beach, Dani Pedrosa was surfing and then took a skydiving lesson in a wind tunnel courtesy of Red Bull.

The serious commerce began at the pre-race press conference where Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Spies were joined by Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. The famous Laguna track was also navigated by MotoGP legend Kevin Schwantz, who gave a tour of the circuit layout.

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Spies shoots hoops and pre-empts announcement on future

The Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider took part in the Indianapolis Red Bull Grand Prix basketball themed pre-event, and also said an official announcement on his ride with the factory team for the next season would be made over the weekend.

Ben Spies will be one of the three American premier class riders going for home glory this weekend at Indianapolis, and before the serious on-track business began the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider took part in the official pre-event at the Indiana Pacers’ home basketball court on Thursday.

The rookie met former Pacers centre Rik Smits, an avid motorcycle fan, who gave Spies some tips on how to shoot the perfect hoop. “I’ve had a lot of fun and it’s been great being able to meet the Rik Smits, who was a great player back in the day. I wish I could play a little bit more with him but I don’t want to hurt my ankle any more!” said Spies. “It’s one of the great perks we get to do before the race and business starts tomorrow.”

Having placed sixth at the Laguna Seca five weeks ago in the first of two U.S. rounds on the calendar Spies is targeting a result that would reward the support given by a passionate home crowd.

“This weekend I have American fans behind me so it’s as special this year as Laguna was,” said Spies. “For an American race I want to have my best results of the year in front of home fans. We’ll try as hard as we did at Brno and we just hope everything comes together so the home fans have something to cheer about. We’ll try to do the best we can.”

With Yamaha Motor Racing MD Lin Jarvis having confirmed at the Brno test last week that negotiations were underway for the Spies’ graduation to the factory team in 2011, the rider said that an official announcement would be made this weekend.

“It’s one of those worst kept secret things, but it will be coming out in the next couple of days,” he explained. “There will be an announcement and I look forward to next year for sure, it’s going to be good!”