MotoGP

Lorenzo is launching his own comic book series - Lorenzo Land

Last year’s MotoGP World Championship Rookie of the Year Jorge Lorenzo will extend his Lorenzo Land image in 2009, releasing a comic book series that will see the Fiat Yamaha rider lead a fictional life as a superhero character. Lorenzo will launch the series next week in Barcelona, with the comics produced by Panini Comics – a popular comic publication in Spain.

According to reports, Lorenzo Land will not only feature Jorge, but will also have many of the other leading MotoGP stars and famous friends in the stories, which could become a real collectable item in the years to come as Lorenzo’s career continues to grow. How about a cameo appearance from AMCN’s Fred Gassit some time soon? Gassit visits Lorenzo Land, maybe.

The opening day of testing for the 125cc and 250cc categories started in Jerez, Spain, overnight, and it was local man Hector Barbera who lead the way with a 1:43.156, the Pepe World rider hitting the top of the timesheets late in the afternoon on day one of the test.

Second was world champion Marco Simoncelli, which was a good result following limited testing this year, and Alvaro Bautista was the third fastest rider to round out the top three on day one. Bautista is returning from a broken collarbone suffered early last month.

The 125cc category was no surprise who was on top as Julian Simon, who did a 1:47.345, over half a second quicker than fellow Spaniard Efren Vazquez and Andrea Iannone. Judging by Simon’s form so far this year since joining Aspar Aprilia, he is going to be a hard man to beat come the opening round of the season in Qatar.

World Superbike
There hasn’t been a whole lot of World Superbike news lately apart from John Hopkins joining the series, but one piece of good news is that ex-MotoGP rider Makoto Tamada will be back in the saddle at Valencia following his nasty warm up crash at Qatar’s most recent round. The Japanese rider broke his big toe in the fall, but all medical checks to his pelvis have come back clear with no breaks. It remains to be seen whether Tamada can match the pace of SBK returnee Broc Parkes as his new teammate in the PBM Kawasaki team.

Australian Superbike
There’s been speculation over the past few days that Calder Park’s final round of the Woodstock Bourbon Australian Superbike Championship that was scheduled for November 12-13 has been cancelled, and that scenario is very likely according to very reliable sources in the industry. It’s not expected that the circuit will be ready in time for the event, although the big news will come as to what round will replace Calder. We’ll hold off on putting that particular rumour out there for now as IEG director Yarrive Konsky wasn’t available for comment as this Racing Insider was posted, so stay tuned for that news to be confirmed.

On a positive note, entry numbers for Tasmania seem to be pretty strong at the moment according to lists on the ASBK website, and this is a good sign considering the negative light that has been shed on the series by certain parties over the last few months. The only way that the series is going to move ahead is by the riders and teams getting behind the new promoters, and that will ensure that the series has a bright future as great as its 20 year history.

We are currently in transit to Mallala’s RRPA event, so we’ll have to wrap this edition of Racing Insider up a little earlier than usual today. Check back later for more updates.