AMA Superbike: Blake Young at NJMP

This Rockstar Makita Suzuki's Blake Young is hoping to return to racing next weekend at Round 9 of the AMA American Superbike series set for the New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, NJ, Sept. 3-5.

Young has been absent from the series since mid-June after sustaining an injury during a test session in Alabama.

Young fractured his L-1 vertebrae during the incident, and he has been in a soft body cast since then. After two months of physical therapy, exercise, and his doctor's recent go-ahead, Young is planning to race next weekend in New Jersey.

He'll first be testing his Rockstar Makita Suzuki GSX-R1000 in the middle of next week at the New Jersey facility to ensure he is physically prepared to return to the series.

Peter Doyle (team manager) says: "We want Blake back on the bike and out on the track, but we want him to be 100 percent ready. After the test, if Blake feels comfortable out there, we'll plan to be on the starting grid in New Jersey."

Young scored the first wins of his SuperBike career this year at Road Atlanta, and he was hoping to carry that momentum throughout the season. Despite being sidelined for three rounds of the series, Young is still focused on winning aboard his GSX-R1000.

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Ben Spies to join factory Yamaha Team for 2010

Recently Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd has announced that current Yamaha Tech 3 rider Ben Spies will move to the Factory Team for the 2011 MotoGP season.The 26-year-old American, who won the World Superbike Championship with Yamaha in 2009, is enjoying an impressive first season in MotoGP. He is currently the leading rookie and the top satellite rider, lying seventh in the championship.

"We're delighted that Ben will join the Factory Team for next season," said Lin Jarvis, Managing Director of Yamaha Motor Racing. "Ben has shown great promise in his first ten MotoGP races. He has learnt rapidly and recorded strong results, including a well-deserved podium finish at Silverstone - impressive for someone in their first full season.

"We believe that Ben will be a future title contender and that he will be a good fit with our team. His mission next year will be to continue learning, consistently challenge for podium places and try to win some races. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Herve Poncharal and the Tech 3 Team for taking care of Ben this season and for giving him such good training for the years ahead. I hope that he will repay them by getting some more podium results in the second half of this season and helping them to secure top satellite team status at the end of this year."

Spies added "My first year in MotoGP has been a great learning curve and for that I have to thank Herve Poncharal, all the team at Tech 3 and especially my American mechanics who have stuck by me throughout this great journey so far. Having previously been to only four of the ten tracks to date, I have to be pleased with where I am and with having achieved my first podium so soon. I'm especially pleased that Yamaha have recognized the potential in me and given me the opportunity to step up to the Factory Team so early in my GP career. I believe that by working closely with the Yamaha staff and my mechanics we will be able to help develop the M1 and make the next step of challenging for regular podiums, followed by future championships."

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Valentino Rossi In Ducati Profil

Valentino Rossi photo , was born February 16, 1979 in Urbino italia, he is an Italian professional motorcycle racer and multiple MotoGP World Champion. He is one of the most successful motorcycle racers of all time, with 9 Grand Prix World Championships to his name.

Name Valentino Rossi
Caption Rossi at the 2010 Qatar Grand Prix.
Nationality Italian
Birthdate February 16, 1979(age 31)
Birthplace Urbino, Italy
Website valentinorossi.com
Current Team Fiat Yamaha Team
Bike Number 46
Championships 9
125cc – 1997
250cc – 1999
500cc – 2001
MotoGP – 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009
Race Starts 233
Race Wins 104
Podiums 168
Poles 59
Fastest Laps 83
Points 4127
Last Season 2009
Last Position 1st (306 pts)

Following his father, Graziano Rossi, Rossi started racing in Grand Prix in 1996 for Aprilia in the 125cc category and won his first World Championship the following year. From there, he moved up to the 250cc category with Aprilia and won the 250cc World Championship in 1999. He won the 500cc World Championship with Honda in 2001, the MotoGP World Championships (also with Honda) in 2002 and 2003, and continued his streak of back-to-back championships by winning the 2004 and 2005 titles after leaving Honda to join Yamaha, before regaining the title in 2008 and retaining it in 2009. He will leave Yamaha to join Ducati for the 2011 season.

Rossi is first in all time 500 cc/MotoGP race wins standings, with 78 victories, and second in all time overall wins standings with 104 race wins (behind Giacomo Agostini with 122).

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