Valentino Rossi rode to a stunning victory on new compound Michelin tyres at the Catalunya MotoGP™ this weekend as the nine-time World Champion fought off the challenge of his nearest rivals to take his seventh premier class win at the Montmélo circuit.

Starting from fifth on the grid, Rossi was blocked on the first corner and relegated to eighth position. He quickly rectified that with his trademark passing manoeuvres and was soon in to fourth place. Over the next few laps Rossi passed the Honda of Dani Pedrosa, pole-setter Marc Marquez also on a Honda and previous championship leader – and Yamaha team-mate – Jorge Lorenzo, as he moved to first place on lap-seven. Using the new compound hard front and rear MICHELIN Power Slicks, the Italian consistently circulated the Catalonian circuit at the head of the field before Marquez chased him down and challenged for the lead with five laps remaining. The pair battled for the victory as the race drew to a close, before Rossi took the initiative after a mistake by Marquez and made the final decisive break to take a hard-fought, but thoroughly deserved victory, with Marquez following him home with the consolation of taking the championship lead.

A crowd of almost 100,000 people packed the grandstands and were treated to a superb day of racing from all three classes. In beautiful, warm sunshine today’s track temperatures rose to the highest this weekend as the asphalt reached 48°C, this combined with the poor condition of the surface, which gave little grip to the riders, made tyre choice an important factor. The majority of the field went for a hard front and rear selection, to give durability over the tough 25-lap race. Pedrosa was one rider to make a different choice, as he chose a medium compound rear to partner his hard front, and used the pair to good effect to take the final podium position.

Fourth-place went to Suzuki’s Maverick Viñales, while the honour of First Independent Rider was secured by Pol Espargaro on a satellite Yamaha, an impressive result and one that also showed the performance of the medium compound MICHELIN Power Slicks, as the Spaniard was one of only two riders to use these on the front and rear of their machines. Cal Crutchlow on a Honda was sixth, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso seventh, with the Aprilia of Álvaro Bautista taking eighth. Danilo Petrucci on a Ducati was ninth and Honda’s Jack Miller rounded out the top-ten – the best result of his premier class MotoGP career so far. Lorenzo didn’t make it to the chequered flag, after an incident which saw Ducati’s Andrea Iannone collide with the current World Champion and leave both of them on the side of the track and out of the race on lap-17. This was the only crash during today’s race and for the second successive event no crashes were contributable to tyres, a fact that underlines the advances Michelin is making as the season progresses.

The race was held on a revised circuit configuration, to the one originally planned, due to the tragic events which have overshadowed this weekend’s proceedings. During Friday’s second Moto2 Free Practice session Spanish rider Luis Salom crashed at turn-12 and the 24-year-old succumbed to his injuries. Following the fatal crash and subsequent discussions, the layout of the circuit was changed for safety reasons and the F1 track configuration was implemented. This featured the addition of the chicane at turn-12, designed to miss out the corner where the accident happened. Everyone at Michelin would like to pass on their condolences and deepest sympathies to the family, friends and team of Luis Salom.

Michelin remained at Montmélo for a one-day test on Monday where the latest versions of the MICHELIN Power Slicks were tested and evaluated by all riders. The paddock will now move to the most northerly circuit on the calendar, as the championship heads to Assen in the Netherlands for the Dutch TT on Sunday 26th June, the first time this iconic race has not been staged on a Saturday.

Valentino Rossi – Movistar Yamaha MotoGP: “We were a little bit worried about what might happen, because yesterday we had a bit of a problem with the hard tyre and making it work, but today it was good and worked well in the temperature with my bike. I think it was difficult for everybody with some spinning, but the tyres worked really well and I am very happy with the result.”

Nicolas Goubert – Deputy Director, Technical Director and Supervisor of the MotoGP Programme: “This has been a very difficult weekend for all concerned, after what happened on Friday, and I would firstly like to pass on my condolences to the family and friends of Luis Salom, it was a terrible tragedy and one that nobody ever wants to happen.

“Regarding the race weekend, we had a selection of tyres that we thought would work well here in most conditions, but we never expected the surface to be as poor as it was. The track gave very little grip and all the teams had to work hard to get the best for their bikes. The change of layout also made a big difference and changed the stresses that were put on the tyres. For the race itself the track was at almost 50°C, but the majority of the field used the new hard compound tyres to cope with these difficult conditions and although we experienced quite high levels of wear we were pleased with the overall performance. Valentino rode a great race and when he came under attack from Marc the performance in the tyres was still there in the last laps to produce a memorable end for the fans. One of the most pleasing aspects of today’s race was that again we had no crashes that the tyres could be held responsible for and it was a close race right until the end. This is another step forward for us and shows that we are continuing to work in the right direction. We now have a test on Monday, when we have some tyres for all the rides to try, hopefully this will give use more information as we head towards the second half of the season and some very challenging circuits.”

The zero emission electric bikes are preparing for today’s SES TT Zero at the 2016 Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy and the Mugen outfit, winners of the SES TT Zero in 2014 and 2015 with John McGuinness, will again be the team to beat.

The Japanese based team and Morecambe rider John McGuinness shattered their own lap record with a time of 119.279 (18:58.743) and already speculation is turning to the first 120mph lap in the class. McGuinness’s closest challenger is expected to be teammate Bruce Anstey and the New Zealander will be looking to improve on his own runner up spot in last year’s race.

However the Mugen pair can expect close competition from a number of teams in this year’s SES TT Zero Race including Victory Racing. William Dunlop will be representing the American based team who will campaign their all-new Victory RR machine and the team managed to clock an impressive 115mph in qualifying.

Belgian outfit Sarolea returns with a two-man outfit with Bradford’s Dean Harrison joining Northern Ireland rider Lee Johnston, who finished on the podium in last year’s race, for their third year of competing in the race. The team finished an agonising 0.4 seconds off the podium in their debut year in 2014 and broke the 100mph barrier in 2015 with a lap of 106.510mph. This year’s effort will see them run their new SP7 machine, which has been under wraps so far in qualifying, in two different colours.

Timothee Monet completes the international flavour of the field with the French rider on the Lito for the TMR team.

The battle of the University teams is expected to be a race within a race with perennial challengers Nottingham University running two riders – Rob Barber, the 2009 TTxGP winner and Daley Mathison – on their UoN Electric 1 machines while Matthew Rees will ride for debut outfit University of Bath, whose engineering team are behind the Odin machine. Shaun Anderson is competing for the Custom Build team from Kingston University while South African Allan Venter is representing Brunel.

As a tribute to Michael Czysz, the electric motorcycle pioneer whose MotoCzysz outfit won four consecutive races between 2010 and 2013, all of the competing bikes will wear a MotoCzysz decal.

The SES TT Zero will get underway at 4.10pm (GMT). You can follow all the action via live timing on iomtt.com

I must admit I am really looking forward to this year's Farmyard Party - even though I will be working throughout the rally. Many of you have been coming to our events, especially Farmyard, for years in support of MAG UK.  This year it’s a little special - it's Farmyard's 30th anniversary (if you didn't already know!) - and our pre-book tickets have been going exceptionally well, with many people returning after a few years to celebrate this and catch up with mates they may not have seen for a while.

To celebrate this anniversary, we are starting the party early on Friday, with Scott Dangleberry playing in Crusties Bar from 2pm by special request. We will also have the return of the Eat Your Words (again by special request) for those wanting a late night 'dance'. Personally, I will be looking to visit the Blues Bar where there are some fantastic bands, including The Grimms and 24 Pesos amongst others. By the way, if you fancy having a go at entertaining us, we have an open mic session on Saturday afternoon in the Blues Bar - with prizes would you believe?

Of course, we will have a range of bands playing in the Back Street Heroes main stage and the Riders' Rights Party tent. It's going to be a tricky one deciding whether to see Limehouse Lizzy or Exhibit A on Saturday night. Mr Hulse's Smacked Arse Comedy Show - one of our most popular features of all our events - starts at 1pm on Saturday to put a smile on your face and help you through your hangover from Friday night. Martin Mor - the 'knife man' comedian seen in our recent promo video - is headlining, so be careful not to sit too near the front unless you have a death wish.

We are very proud that this year's Farmyard will host Round 1 of the BSH Custom Bike Building Championship. There will be 5 additional prizes with winners going through to the Custom Xtreme stand at the NEC in November.

We will have a range of world food outlets within the main arena and also in each of the camping fields - don't forget we have a central marquee where you can sit and chat with your mates whilst eating. It's better than dropping half of your food on the floor... Alternatively, you can enjoy a sit down meal - with proper plates and cutlery - at our world famous cafe. Johnsons of Leeds will be there as usual along with a wide range of stalls and traders.

Full details of bands, comedians and all other special features below and on our website here.

I look forward to seeing you all on the 17th for this special rally - or the Thursday the 16th if you're looking to get away early to enjoy the rally. Our cut off dates for pre-booked tickets is the 12th of June for telephone and web bookings. Tickets will be available on the gate priced at £40.

Pete Walker

...  on behalf of the Henry Surtees Foundation

Musician and composer Nick Mason, best known as the drummer of Pink Floyd, attended the Midlands Air Ambulance base at Strensham, near Worcester last Friday, to hand over a cheque for £18,275 on behalf of the Henry Surtees Foundation

As a keen supporter of the air ambulance and self-confessed petrol head, boasting a large collection of vintage and classic cars, Mr Mason was happy to support the cause.

The donation of £18,275 presented to Midlands Air Ambulance crews will be used to fund specialist equipment designed specifically for critical care transport, including a Zoll X Series Monitor, defibrillator and aircraft bracketry. The equipment developed for the military and air medical operations, enables the flight crew to continuously deliver the highest quality CPR and resuscitation capabilities, whilst patient data is automatically uploaded and streamed to remote displays in ambulances, hospitals and communication centres as the rescuer cares for the patient at the scene of incident and in transit.

Becky Steele, air operations manager for Midlands Air Ambulance Charity said: “As a pre-hospital emergency service that attends some of the most traumatic incidents in the region, it is vital Midlands Air Ambulance has the right equipment to give patients the best chance of survival and greater recovery outcomes. We are extremely grateful to the Henry Surtees Foundation for the grant for the monitors, which have become one of our greatest assets on board our three air ambulance helicopters and our rapid response vehicles.”

Since 1991, Midlands Air Ambulance has responded to more than 43,000 missions, averaging 2,000 per year.

John Surtees CBE said, “I would like to thank Nick Mason for his enthusiastic support of the Foundation and being able to fit into his busy programme this visit to represent us. The Foundation is very pleased with the association it has been able to make in the assistance given to a number of Air Ambulance regions including that of the Midlands Air Ambulances and Great Western Air Ambulances. The service they provide is vital and something which is continuously developing with the introduction of new life-saving equipment”.

The Henry Surtees Foundation have also actively supported and provided funding for the following Air Ambulances:
Midlands Air Ambulance
Great Western Air Ambulance
Kent, Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance
Great North Air Ambulance
Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance

Ian Hutchinson made it two wins in a day when he smashed the lap and race records in Monday afternoon’s RL360 Quantum Superstock TT race, the Tyco BMW rider leading from start to finish to take victory by 27 seconds. 

With an opening lap of 133.098mph, it was the Bingley rider’s 13th TT race win as Dean Harrison and James Hillier battled all the way for the runner up position, Harrison clinching it by just one second.

As he had done earlier in the morning, Hutchinson blazed a trail from the off and he was again leading at Glen Helen on the opening lap, his advantage over Michael Dunlop two seconds with Gary Johnson a similar distance behind in third. It was close behind the leading trio with Michael Rutter, Peter Hickman and Hillier separated by just three-quarters of a second.

It was clear Hutchinson was putting in a remarkable lap and so it proved as he flashed across the line at a speed of 133.098mph, faster than he’d done in Saturday’s RST Superbike race. The gap to Dunlop had grown to 15.9s but the Ulsterman was in trouble, pulling into the pits with a broken gear lever. Hillier had moved up to third with Harrison, Johnson and Lee Johnston now the top six.

Hutchinson was by now leading on the road and with Dunlop out, retiring in the pits, his advantage over Hillier shot up to 24s at Glen Helen and he continued to increase his lead throughout the lap. Indeed, with a second lap of 132.93mph, the gap to Hillier had grown to 32.7s with the Kawasaki rider enjoying a six second lead over Harrison.

Johnston was now fourth ahead of Rutter and Gary Johnson as Bruce Anstey and Peter Hickman also retired. Meanwhile, 12th placed Ivan Lintin picked up a pit-lane speeding penalty dropping him down the order.

With a commanding lead, Hutchinson could control the race from the front and that’s exactly what he did over the next two laps with his final lap being over 129mph.

However, the battle for second and third was raging between Hillier and Harrison with just over a second dividing them on the third lap while there was also a four-way battle going on for fourth between John McGuinness – who again gained time at the pit stop - Johnston, Johnson and Rutter.

Harrison had now overtaken Rutter on the road and the pair of them both lapped at over 131mph on their final laps which enabled Dean to take second and Rutter fourth, Hillier just missing out on second by 1.9s. Rutter got the better of Johnson for fourth by 3.2s and with Johnston retiring at Sulby Crossroads, McGuinness took sixth.

Conor Cummins, William Dunlop, Steve Mercer and David Johnson rounded out the top ten, having missed out in the morning’s race.

Hutchinson has now moved to the top of the race for the Joey Dunlop Championship with 70 points and with Dunlop retiring, Harrison movea up to second on 47 points with Dunlop remaining on 45 in third.

Meanwhile, Dan Hegarty was again the top privateer in an excellent 11th place. Horst Saiger was the second privateer home in 13th overall with Jamie Coward third and 14th overall.

Hegarty leads the overall privateers table on 50pts followed by Coward on 47 and Saiger 46.