Valentino Rossi's leg injury at Mugello last weekend has rocked the world of motorcycle racing this week.

MOTOGP
It’s been a massive week in motorcycle racing, but unfortunately no news has outweighed the devastating injury of MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi, who suffered a broken right leg in his home round at Mugello on Saturday.

Our news section has been flooded with updates on the progress of Vale so check that our for the full details of his injury, however it’s hard not to admit that the sport just wasn’t the same without him in Sunday’s race – a topic I touched on in this week’s copy of Australian Motorcycle News.

The big question now is, when will Valentino be back? Pundits are saying Brno on 15 August, but at this stage I think it’s safe to say that not even he is 100 percent certain to return. That would mean we’d see six GPs without the familiar 46 in them!

Another massive question sits over the point of who will Yamaha put in place of Rossi in the factory team? Texan Ben Spies would be the logical choice, but rookies can’t ride for factory teams in the premier class.

Spies’ Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Colin Edwards has spent many years at Fiat in the past and could handle the pressure as good as anybody, but the word is that Yamaha doesn’t want anybody on the M1 – with Aussie Jerry Burgess stating that The Doctor is simply irreplaceable according to reports.

If Edwards does get the call up to replace Rossi, look for Cal Crutchlow or James Toseland to join the Tech 3 team in his place. Don’t forget that Crutchlow has close ties with Monster Energy, Tech 3’s title sponsor.

Adding interest this week was the fact that Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has reached out to Rossi on the Ferrari website by offering him a test of their Formula One car while he’s injured.

“Everyone at Ferrari is with you at this difficult time. We are sure that you will be back on track soon, even stronger than before,” he said. “If during your convalescence you feel you would like to do some training on four wheels, then remember that the door to Maranello is always open to you.”

Nothing like trying to get Rossi to switch to four-wheels directly after the biggest incident of his career on two!

Don’t forget Yamaha, one Garry McCoy has just left the FB Corse team and has great grand prix credentials with a load of experience to boot. It’s unlikely to happen, but he can only hope.

MotoGP will go on, but Yamaha and Jorge Lorenzo need to remain focussed on the job at hand because Dani Pedrosa and Honda seem set to strike at this point.

AUSTRALIAN SUPERBIKE
Last weekend’s Queensland Raceway round of the 2010 series saw a new winner emerge in Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring, the category returnee and reigning Aussie Supersport champion putting the package together and making it work for him to take over the series lead.

All ASBK followers will know by now that Staring opted to remain on the 190/55R17 Dunlop D211GP control tyre rather than to go with the newer 200/55R17 tyre, a gamble that proved genius for him and the team.

Those at the podium on Sunday afternoon would have been able to see just how frustrated both Josh Waters and Wayne Maxwell were that they didn’t use the 190, but you have to give credit to Staring for taking the risk and using it to his advantage.

Those three guys are definitely the main contenders for the title at this point, but there’s no doubt that Ducati Motologic’s Jamie Stauffer also has what it takes to steal race victories once they sort through the teething issues on the 1198R.

What’s with the Euro invasion at the moment? Between Stauffer having mechanicals in both races last weekend, brother Dan’s shocking run on the Aprilia RSV4 with TBR, and Shannon Johnson’s inconsistent run on the KTM Superbike Team’s RC8R after starting the season so strong, it hasn’t been an easy run for the newcomers in the series.

Anyway, here are some topics I noted during last weekend’s round.

Teams continue to finalise their look for the 2010 season, with Glenn Allerton’s Valvoline Superbike Team taking delivery of an all-new set of Berik leathers in the lead-up to Queensland. Joining Allerton in new suits since the first round were the Ducati Motologic Racing duo of Jamie Stauffer and Jordy Burgess, as well as Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing’s Bryan Staring.

Staring didn’t only have a shiny new leather suit to show off in the Sunshine State, with his Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing team unveiling a new paint scheme on the CBR1000RR on Friday afternoon. The new look features an expanded red section, as well as a larger Honda decal on the side of the fairing.

CJC Racing’s Craig Coxhell stunned on Friday morning when he recorded the unofficial second fastest top speed down the back straight on AMCN’s radar gun amongst the entire Superbike field. Team Suzuki’s Waters was clocked at 273km/h, with Coxhell setting a 270km/h speed on his near-stock BMW S 1000 RR, only featuring an Akrapovic exhaust.

Coxhell wasn’t the only well known ASBK regular to enter the Superstock 1000 category on a BMW for the first time in Queensland, with local rider Cole Odendaal switching to an S 1000 RR for the round. Odendaal started the season with Trinder Brothers Racing on an Aprilia RSV4, however will finish the season on the German-built Beemer.

Team Suzuki’s three-time Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles celebrated his 40th birthday on Tuesday after the event. Happy birthday, Gilesy!

Not long after their podium runs, current champ Josh Waters flew to the USA on Monday for a test with Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s AMA Superbike team, while Wayne Maxwell headed to Japan for Suzuka 8-Hour testing on Tuesday.

Good luck to both guys, I have a feeling we are going to see some more ASBK stars packing up and heading overseas in 2011.

For those who missed our feature-style coverage from the round, check out our Video Interviews including an all-new ASBK Panel Show here, our Pit Pass image gallery here, our post-race Moto Talk with Bryan Staring here, and an interesting new feature called The Point here, which debuted with ASBK Regulations as the topic this week.

Next up is the Broadford round that’s been scheduled as a support-class only event without the Superbikes or Supersport class next month, before the ASBK returns to Queensland for the last full standalone event of the season in August. We’ll be at both!

Dunlop's ASBK control tyres were the topic of conversation in Queensland last weekend.

BRITISH SUPERBIKE
Just quickly, the news that Andrew Pitt will be riding for the Motorpoint Yamaha team in the British Superbike Championship is relieving for Aussie fans, the former Supersport World Champion parting ways with the MIA Reitwagen BMW WSBK team.

Pitt is taking the seat of the recently retired Neil Hodgson, himself a former world champion in SBK, so let’s hope that he can get it dialed in for some good results before the season’s out.

It was also announced this week that Josh Brookes is racing in the national Superstock 1000 class at the British Grand Prix this month, deputising for injured teammate Steve Plater on the HM Plant Honda.

BSB doesn’t compete at the MotoGP round at Silverstone, so it’ll be a good opportunity for Brookes to go out and have some fun without the usual pressures of chasing for the championship.

Speaking of Brookes, he posted through on Twitter this week that he’s on hand at the Isle of Man TT as a guest of Honda, also given the keys to a Honda VFR1200 for the week.

AUSTRALIAN MOTOCROSS
While the MX Nationals have a month off, that doesn’t mean that the leading stars of the sport have gone on vacation in the lead-up to the Albury Wodonga round at the end of the month.

The prestigious Manjimup 15,000 was run and won in Western Australia last weekend, where Raymond Terrace MX Nationals round winner Brad Anderson took his second overall victory on Aussie soil in as many tries before heading back to defend his British Motocross Championship.

Anderson didn’t have it all his own way this time however, winning ahead of local Louis Calvin and Billy Mackenzie after an action-packed day of competition.

This weekend will see a number of New South Wales guys back in action at the second round of the state titles, including Pro Open national points leader Jay Marmont and brother Ryan, as well as Cody Mackie, Luke George, Lawson Bopping, Luke Styke and Michael Addison just to name a few of the national pros competing.

Cougar Bourbon Honda Thor Racing’s Todd Waters will be back on the bike this week after taking delivery of a new practice CRF450R recently, the Queenslander healing quickly after breaking his collarbone and getting it plated after his Toowoomba crash last month.

That’s all for today, and as usual, thanks once again for reading!

Anderson added a Manjiump 15,000 win to his Raymond Terrace MX Nationals round victory in WA last weekend. Image: kajx Communications