Nicky Hayden gets MotoGP test time at Mugello

This Wednesday and Thursday, Ducati MotoGP star Nicky Hayden will join the factory's Test Team during the last two days of a three-day test at Mugello.

The aim of the test is to permit the American, who finished sixth and top Ducati at round one in Qatar, to make up for time lost during winter testing due to injuries at the 2011 Valencia Grand Prix and then in a December training event.

Hayden is thus predictable to use the time as an opportunity to carry out set-up tests that he wasn't able to complete prior to the start of the season. The 2006 world champion will join official test rider Franco Battaini, who is previously on track today (Tuesday) as he continues his development work on the GP12.

Those updates will be tried by Valentino Rossi and Hayden during future tests.

Round two of the 2012 MotoGP season takes place at Jerez, Spain, from April 27-29.

Stoner and Pedrosa geared up for Qatar

The 2012 MotoGP™ World Championship publicly starts this weekend in Qatar, the small Peninsula off the Persian Gulf, noted for hosting the only race of the calendar under floodlights. The Commercial bank Grand Prix of Qatar is, without any doubt, one of the most impressive races of the season.

Months of development, testing and hard work have gone into the training for this season which sees a switch to 1000cc bikes. In adding up to this change the Repsol Honda Team faces another challenge; defending the Triple Crown they achieved in 2011 when they won the rider, team and constructor titles.

Casey Stoner, the current MotoGP World Champion, has also been the man to beat in pre-season, dominating both tests in Malaysia and Jerez, where his team-mate, Dani Pedrosa, also established himself as one of the fastest riders in the top class.

Stoner’s record at the Losail circuit is impressive: he is the main position with four pole positions and four wins out of six in the MotoGP class. Pedrosa has visited the podium three times in MotoGP and will be fighting, like the Australian, for a strong start to the season.

Casey Stoner:

“After good pre-season Tests in both Sepang and Jerez, we head to Qatar feeling positive, but still have some work to do. This will be the first time with the new bike on this circuit so we will need to expend some time on the set-up to put ourselves in the best position. We've constantly enjoyed good results at the Losail circuit but this is a new season and there are more competitors contesting for victory this year. I'm keyed up to get the season started and fight for another World Championship.”

Dani Pedrosa:

“Each year is different and there are always a variety of obstacles to go through during a season. I’ve had good and bad races in the past, but a big part of these results are resolute by how you have prepared yourself in the winter. I’ve worked very well this year, I had a good pre-season with the bike and with my physical training; I hope that luck is on my side this time, so we can have a good championship. Qatar is significant because it’s the first race of the season, but you have to minimize risks. If you don't win this race you can at rest win the championship, but on the other side, a mistake can make difficult the year. I’m ready. Let’s see how everything goes and where each person is.”

Announcement regarding Formula One finances

Formula One Group has launched a process to expand its current financing facilities. This will involve raising $2.27bn of new services with maturities in 2017/18, replacing the company’s accessible $2.92bn facilities which are due to full-grown in 2013/14. The new facilities will offer the business with a secure, long term capital structure.

Proceeds raised will be kept within the Group for general business purposes and the company has no current plans to pay a bonus.

Raikkonen targets Malaysian podium

Kimi Raikkonen says he is confident of scoring his first podium since returning to F1 in this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix after picking up points in his maiden outing for Lotus in Australia.

The Finn suffered in qualifying at Albert Park and failed to make it past Q1, even though he came through the field to finish seventh and give Lotus its first point’s finish of the year.

Having managed to come from side to side the field on race day down under, Raikkonen said he was happy with the concert shown by the E20 and felt confident that he could he could fight for more during the second round of the year at Sepang.

“The car feels very good,” he said. “In the race I was wedged in traffic a lot so it didn't show so much, and who knows what strength have happened if we had a better grid a slot. There is a lot of speed in the car.

“We'll be trying to get better our performance in Malaysia for sure. We don't know how the car will behave there but it's been good everywhere so far so hopefully it'll be the same there. It'll be hot and humid which is a confront but we have a good car. As long as qualifying goes well we might be fighting for podiums. We'll have to wait and see.

“There's much more to come. We're learning concerning the car all the time and the last race didn't really give us the chance to use its full possible. Hopefully Malaysia will be a bit more straightforward.”

Raikkonen's seventh place stop in Australia came in his first F1 start since Abu Dhabi 2009, but the former Ferrari driver insisted he felt at home straight-away in spite of the changes that have taken place over the past two years while he has been competing in the WRC.

“To be honest it didn't feel any dissimilar to when I last raced,” he said. “There have been a few rule changes but the racing itself is very similar. The DRS is easier to use in the race than in practice or qualifying because there are only certain places you can set in motion it, whereas in the other sessions people will try to push the limits of how early they can use it which can easily lead to a mistake if you are too destructive.”