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Four Norma at the first four places of "6 hours V de V" fully dedicated to Prototypes cars. The french team Mondolot/Zollinger won the race, because of a big problem at another Norm run by Guillet-Arnaud/Rosier, first for more than 100 laps. Second place for Menahem/Faggionato and third  for  Cavailhes/Romecki. Good result for the italian rider Massimo Vignali (Ligier JS 49), that with teammates Pierre Remon e Wilson Bryce, is fifth on the finish line behind invincible Norma.

Ferrari F430 -  Pagny/Perrier/Beltoise – is the winner of the “6 hours V de V” endurance-race for GT and Touring Cars hosted at Mugello Circuit this afternoon.  Behind the red Ferrari nr.1,  Porsche 997 (Lichtner-Hoyer/ Eckert/Seefried) and Lamborghini Gallardo (Giroix/Fatien/ Valentini). During the race the weather has changed several times so the team made a very hard job into the garages. It’s rained, too.
The timetable of tomorrow  (race at 10 a.m, endurance 6 hours) is completely characterized on Proptotyps category,  with Ligier, Norma and Juno.

We inform the seats free of charge dedicated to people  with a disability rate over 74% and situated in Centrale Grandstand and in Materassi Grandstand are sold out. The tickets booking service organized by Mugello Circuit has assigned all the seats available.

We confirm that the person with a disability rate over 74% can collect a free ticket for the Standing Area (“Prato”) for himself/herself and a companion. These tickets can be asked during the days of the Event to the ticket office located at “Ingresso Palagio” by showing the disability certificate and the identity card. Entrance to the Circuit will be forbidden for those lacking in a valid ticket. The person with a disability rate included within 34% and 73% can buy a “REDUCED” ticket in any Ticket Office located at the Circuit entrances.

A very particular day for the Corps of forest rangers (coming from Arezzo, Tuscany, with a special team) who tested their speed camera during a day where the activity of Mugello Circuit was fully dedicated to the free practices of motorbike. "We intend to say thank you to Paolo Poli, Mugello Circuit's CEO.It was possible to put under check our material just before the arrival of the riders in the mountain roads of our land where, last year, we hade hundreds of operations. Our philosophy intends to reaffirm the concept of 'Safe environment" and legality on road network. Neverthless Mugello Circuit is a structure where each of the motorsport fans can make its passion in a place where its possible to conjugate speed and safety".

After the traditional season-opening Jarama event in March, the V de V Series competitors are to discover the superb Italian track at Mugello for two six-hour races.

V de V Challenge Endurance GT/Tourisme – The « V de V Mugello 6-Hours »

« The battle of the Giants ! »

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Mosler, the world’s four leading GT constructors occupy the first four places on provisional classification prior to Mugello.

Christophe Bourret and Pascal Gibon took control by winning the opening event in their n°76 Porsche 997 RSR. With the support of Richard Balandras at Mugello, they will have Jarama pole drivers, Gabriel Abergel and Xavier Pompidou, hot on their heels in the n°5 Mosler MT 900 and Jean-Paul Pagny and Thierry Perrier will be flying the Maranello flag in their n°1 Ferrari F430 while Team First will be defending the Lamborghini colours in the n°17 Gallardo.

The Mosler MT 900’s from the V de V Sports écurie will be aiming at a win for Eric and Guillaume Van de Vyver in n°11 or Manuel Ferreira and Ludovic Bour in n°12. Struck by bad luck in Spain when they were leading in their n°14 Porsche 996 RSR, Miguel Langin and Bernard Moreau will be assisted by Jean-Charles Levy.

There will be tussles in all categories, with the two Porsche’s of Seminole Racing, car n°9, the 997 RSR in GTV1 and the n°8 car, the 997 Cup S in GTV2 in the company of regulars P. Martinet and G. Tremblay (Cup S n°65), and the n°16 Mosler MT 900 of D. Kohler, B. Arezina and P. Burel. The two Austrian  Porsche 997 Cup’s, n°36 and 37 from Jetalliance Racing will be mixing it in GTV3 and the Porsche Cayman S, 993 and 996 Cup and also the Ginetta G50 will be endeavouring to catch out Eric Vincenot and Jean-Marc Bachelier in their n°64 Porsche 993 RSR in GTV4.

Start procedure: Saturday, 17th April, from 12h00 to 12h30 - Race: from 12h30 to 18h30

V de V Challenge Endurance Proto - The «V de V Mugello 6-Hours »

« A hotly disputed season »

For the constructors, Ligier, Norma or Juno, as well as for the teams, « Pro-Am » or gentlemen, English, French, Italians, Germans or Belgians, the races are wide open.

Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock and their n°47 Ligier JS 49 will be absent, enabling Philippe Mondolot and David Zollinger to take back the lead in their n°1 Norma M20 F. Marc Faggionato and Jean-Marc Menahem will be breathing down their necks in n°2, followed by the Juno SSE n°30 of Duncan Williams and Tony Freeman. Philippe Haezebrouck and Philippe Alliot should be making their mark with the n°7 Ligier JS 51, as should Fabien Rosier and François Guillet-Arnaud in the n°20 Norma M20 F.

Loïc Deman and Yann Le Calvez are the best placed to score a win for Ligier in their n°3 JS 51, but all eyes will be on the If Motorsport n°49 JS49 entered by Italian Massimo Vignali, the Proto specialist, teamed up with British driver Pierre Renom. Giuseppe Barresi will be the other driver from across the Alps competing in this race, in the n°21 Juno SSE.

The Ligier’s from Blue One,  n°s 14 and 15, the three Norma M20 F’s from Norma UK, n°s 32, 33 and 34, but also n°s 8, 9 and 10 from IRS, the n°44 of Germans J. Petersen and J.D. Lueders or the n°69 car of B. Bazaud and P. Thirion, are all sure to shine. British driver Sarah Reader and the Juno SSE n°24 which she shares with G. Fennymore and L. Atkins will be aiming for a place in the honours during the six hours, along with the Palmyr Norma’s, n°s 77 and 6,  n°s 18 and 19 from Extrême Limite and n°105 from Champion. And finally, Funyo 7’s, n°s 27 and 35 from HMC Lohéac will also be taking part in the event.

Start procedure: Sunday, 18th April from 09h30 to 10h00 - Race: from 10h00 to 16h00

The 62nd edition of the MotoGP World Championship fires up on the 11th April and for the third consecutive season the curtain raiser will take place at night, under floodlights, in Qatar. The Ducati Marlboro Team head to Losail confident in the work they have done during winter testing but well aware that the competition is tough and the level even higher than ever.
“We have always enjoyed great results in Qatar although the track isn’t one of my favourites as a rider, Casay Stoner said.  It was good that they changed the race from daytime to night because they’ve made it different to anything else – it’s interesting for the fans and it is good fun for us. Ducati have come up with a much more manageable engine for this season, it is easier for everybody to understand and from my point of view I am finding it easier to ride fast on used tyres. We have made progress with the set-up ever since the first test at Sepang and we’re happy with what we have going into the first race. I will give my maximum as always but it is only the first race of a very long season that will only start to take shape from the third or fourth round.” 
“Finally the first race is here, Nicky Hayden speaks! We seem to have started later than everybody else and I don’t know if I could have waited any longer! Testing went fairly well – we met some of our objectives and still have a lot of work to do in other areas but overall I’m satisfied. We established a good base setting in Qatar and hopefully we can use that for the first race. It has been a couple of years since I made a good start to the season but I feel in good shape, the team are fully behind me and I can’t wait to get started.”

The long winter break draws to a close this weekend as the 2010 MotoGP season gets going under the floodlights of the Losail International Circuit. Fiat Yamaha Team riders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo are fresh from the recent pre-season test and both last year's World Champion and the runner-up are aiming to kick off their 2010 campaigns with a successful opening weekend. For the third time the opening race of the year will be run under the floodlights at the desert circuit of Losail. The infrastructure features 3,600 light fixtures using 250, 1500 and 2500-watt bulbs and the system needs 13 megawatt generators to produce the required 5.4 million watts of power - creating enough light to cover an area equivalent to 70 football pitches. The bulbs are fixed on 1000 poles with mounting heights from 3 to 36 metres, all linked together by almost 500 kilometres of wire and supported by 300,000 kilos of concrete.
"Finally we're at the start of the season and we are all very excited, Valentino said The pre-season has gone well for me, our new M1 is good, Yamaha and Bridgestone have done a great job and we have been fast. We have only had six days on track so we still have work to do and things to learn about the new bike, but we are starting in good shape. I expect this season to be a big battle with many riders very strong, and I hope that we will show some good racing to the fans! Qatar hasn't been one of the best tracks for our bike in the last few years but at the test we went well so I hope this will continue again for the race." 
"I am not perfect yet, I still need more time to recover 100% from my injury, explians Jorge Lorenzo. but at least I can ride in Qatar. I am very happy because we are so close now to the start of the season; it's been a long winter! Unfortunately, I had some troubles in training and hurt my hand, but these things happen. Qatar is a very special track for me; it was the place where I got my first podium in MotoGP in 2008! I know this time it will be more difficult, but I will try to be close to the action. I hope this year it doesn't rain like last year!"
 

On next April 16-17-18th, the French organizer V de V Sports, organises two six-hour endurance races to count for its both European Challenges. One six-hour race is reserved for 2 litres modern Sport Prototypes coming from all over Europe, and one other race for modern GT and Touring cars.

GT/Touring V de V Endurance Challenge

The « 6 hours V de V of Mugello »

Grouped together, several categories are rewarded by a specific classification, the finest current GT cars, Ferrari F430, F360, Mosler MT900, Lamborghini Gallardo, Viper, Ginetta, Marcos but also of course Porsche 964, 993, 996 ou 997, Cup types, RS, RSR or turbo, fight for six hours in the greatest  fair-mindedness with Touring cars, category that is dominated by BMW M3 or Z4 and the very efficient Silhouettes with V6 engines as Touring Cup cars, Mercedes or Volkswagen Sirocco.

Proto V de V Endurance Challenge

The « 6 hours V de V of Mugello »
It’s the hottest challenge for 2 litres Sport Prototypes in Europe and manufacterers let there be no misunderstanding about, with the French Norma, Ligier, Merlin, Funyo or Sportdrive, facing the English Juno, Radical, Chevron or Lola, but also the Austrian PRC, that will meet the Italian Osella or Lucchini. Cunning strategists, the discipline specialists, gentlemen drivers or young drivers, will fight for the best ranking until the checkered flag is shown after six hours