Suzuki Motor Corporation announced that Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have both agreed terms to continue riding for the Japanese company's MotoGP squad for a further season.

Spaniard Dani Pedrosa made his debut on Bridgestone tyres at the MotoGP test held at the Misano circuit, Italy, venue for the GP of San Marino held on Sunday. Pedrosa ran a total of 81 laps testing both the spring valve engine and the latest version of the RC212V with pneumatic valves. Pedrosa's best time with the spring valve engine was1m 35.555s, which he lowered to 1m 34.652s riding the RCV with pneumatic valves.

After the race in Misano today, championship hopes for Casey Stoner faded even more, and as realistic rider he already starts to think about next season. On the other side, Valentino Rossi was over the moon about his results today, which included another track in his winning list and equaling record of Giacomo Agostini. Read rider impressions after Misano race.

Valentino Rossi today took his 68th victory in MotoGP class, equaling achievement of the Giacomo Agostini and took giant step towards 6th premier class victory. Main rival of Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, crashed for second consecutive time while leading race and having solid 3 second advantage over Rossi. Stoner took holeshot from pole position, and built 2 second advantage over Rossi, who had scary moment while trying to get in front of Pedrosa, who put himself between Rossi and Stoner after the start. After Rossi got in front of Pedrosa, gap to Stoner was already 3 seconds, and duo started setting fastest lap times until Stoner crashed in lap 7. Rossi managed to resist to pressure of his team-mate who found his way to second place, while Toni Elias shown that result from Brno was not coincidence by taking 3rd position.

Casey Stoner continued his usual pre-race domination in San Marino, as he was the only man to dig under 1.35 mark in first day of free practice in San Marino. Valentino Rossi closed gap to his rival to 0.418 seconds in his last lap in FP2, still having some catching-up to do. Loris Capirossi confirmed form shown in Brno by setting 3rd time of the day, just 0.153 seconds behind Rossi and quarter of a second in front of Randy de Puniet. Chris Vermeulen completed top 5 riders of the day 1 free practice in Misano.

The Ducati Marlboro Team will race on home soil and in front of their fans for the second time this season when the Gran Premio di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini gets underway this weekend at Misano. Thousands of Ducatisti will once again make their presence felt on Sunday as they take over the grandstand in turn one, the Variante Parco, providing crucial backing to the Italian factory.

The Fiat Yamaha Team contest their second home race of the season this weekend, with the San Marino Grand Prix taking place on Italian soil at the Misano circuit on the Adriatic coast. The trip is a short one for the team, whose base is just 300km away in Milan, but even shorter for Valentino Rossi, with his hometown of Tavullia located a mere 15km down the road.

Kawasaki's Anthony West and John Hopkins head for the Republic of San Marino and the Misano circuit for round 13 of the MotoGP World Championship in confident mood, after improvements to the Ninja ZX-RR led to a strong showing by both riders last time out at Brno. Anthony West secured a career best finish with fifth place in the Czech Republic Grand Prix, and after making further steps forward with the set-up of his Ninja ZX-RR during the post race test at the Brno circuit, the 27-year-old Kawasaki pilot heads for Misano determined to continue his run of form into this weekend's Grand Prix Di San Marino E Della Riviera Di Rimini.

The forthcoming Grand Prix of San Marino, which precedes four flyway outside Europe, will be an emotional one for the riders of JiR Team Scot. Andrea Dovizioso - a native of Forli around thirty kilometers from the circuit - ran the first race of his career on the near-by track of Romagna, and he has a strong following from the Iocal fans who warmly welcome him for one of his home grand prixs.

The Repsol Honda Team will be back to full strength for the San Marino Grand Prix, with Nicky Hayden coming back from injury to rejoin team-mate Dani Pedrosa. Hayden missed the recent Czech GP due to a foot injury sustained during an X Games Supermoto event in Los Angeles on August 1. Doctors told the 2006 MotoGP World Champion that a hasty return to racing might complicate the right-heel injury, advising him to delay his comeback until Misano

Rizla Suzuki MotoGP will be in Italy next weekend for the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix hoping to continue with both its recent good run of results and to follow on from the impressive performance there last year. Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen have recorded consecutive podiums between them from the last three Grands Prix, and both riders will be looking to continue with that good run of form on a circuit that the Suzuki GSV-R scored a double podium in 2007.

For a second consecutive day in Brno Casey Stoner continued to set pace, this time digging under 1.56 mark on race tyres. Obviously, Ducati is still in front of other manufacturers in development terms, and only Valentino Rossi manages to stay close Stoner. New electronics should help Italian to fight Stoner in the rest of the championship, as he managed to shave around 0.7 seconds from his best time from day 1 time. Loris Capirossi was also on decent pace in second day of the test, with Chris Vermeulen close behind. Read rider impressions after the test conclusion in Brno.

Day after Brno MotoGP race, teams and rider stayed in Czech Republic in order to perform some more testing before next race. Casey Stoner put bad memories behind and set some fantastic laps on race tyres, about second faster than his race lap times. He mainly worked on set-up and tried new Bridgestone tyres. Valentino Rossi did not spend too much time on track (28 laps), evaluating new Bridgestone tyres and trying some new electronics and mapping, which he will evaluate in more details tomorrow. Toni Elias also significantly improved his time from race, showing that race result may not be just one-time miracle.

Race in the Brno today was the strange one, as we saw many back-markers or midfielders grabbing some position that they did not used to. Also, situation with tyres was another factor that makes Brno race results one time exception - so we should not get carried away in praising achievements of some riders. On the other hand, Brno was race to forget for some usual top performers, so you will find lot on interesting (and funny) things in post-race rider claims...

Race at Brno today was not particularly exciting, but it's outcome was something that none of us expected. Valentino Rossi has won Czech Republic Grand Prix after Casey Stoner crashed while leading race in lap 6. Rossi easily finished race around 15 seconds in front of second-placed Toni Elias, who has overcome problems on the start of the warm-up lap and bad starting position to bring first podium this season for satellite Ducati team. Loris Capirossi rode steady race to finish in 3rd, bringing another podium to Rizla Suzuki.

After weather conditions gave no chance to riders and teams to find perfect set-up for the tomorrow's race, we actually don't know what we may expect. Despite starting from pole position, Stoner did not have chance to dominate free practice sessions in the same manner as we saw in Laguna Seca, but for sure he and Rossi will be main riders to watch tomorrow. Read rider impressions after difficult qualifying session in Brno today.

Wet conditions in Brno were something that no one of riders preferred for qualifying session, expect maybe few usual favorites in wet. Casey Stoner managed to get another pole position despite bad weather and not so good physical shape. Stoner took pole position in his first run, after which weather conditions on the track got worse and he did not even try to improve it. Similar was with Rossi, who once again secured chance to be close to his title rival on the starting grid, which we saw as important factor in some of previous races. John Hopkins, recovering from serious injuries and returning after 2 month break, managed to grab final position in front row.

MotoGP riders today had first chance to try resurfaced Brno track, with usual riders on the front of the pack again. Casey Stoner managed to set first time of the day in second free practice, despite illness which slowed down his progress. Valentino Rossi, who was fastest in first free practice, managed to set second time of the day, less than two tenths of a second behind Stoner. More than half of a second behind Rossi was returning Loris Capirossi.

Many fans will still be enjoying their Summer holidays when - on Sunday, August 17 - the Brno race circuit plays host to the Grand Prix of the Czech Republic: the twelfth round of the MotoGP World Championship. Andrea Dovizioso, after yet another good performance in Laguna Seca, intends to continue the excellent run of form that now sees him in fifth position overall in the standings, just 11 points from Jorge Lorenzo.

The Fiat Yamaha Team resume their pursuit of the MotoGP World Championship title this weekend after a four-week summer holiday, with Valentino Rossi leading the series into what promises to be a thrilling seven-race climax. The Czech Republic hosts round twelve of eighteen, with the town of Brno staging a Grand Prix for the 39th time since the original 14km road circuit was first used back in 1965.