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THE HOT OIL NEWS

Updated 23 Feburary 2012

• Manawatu’s Adam Reeves has started is national off-road motorcycling title defence in the best way possible – by winning.
  
  The 29-year-old Palmerston North man stamped his authority on the first of four rounds of the Suzuki-sponsored 2012 New Zealand Cross-country Championships near Pahiatua on Sunday.
• MotoGP's ruling body FIM has confirmed Portugal has secured a contract to host a round of the championship in 2012.

  The Estoril event was included on the provisional calendar revealed last year, but subject to the successful conclusion of a contract.

  On Wednesday, FIM confirmed the event will go ahead as planned on May 6.

  Portugal has been on the world championship calendar since the 2000 season.

• Nicky Hayden expects to be fit for the second MotoGP winter test at Sepang on 28 February to 1 March after successful surgery on his injured shoulder. Having been in pain during the opening test in Malaysia last month, Hayden realised that the damage done in a training accident in December was more serious than he had first thought
• MotoGP safety advisor Loris Capirossi believes Bridgestone's 2012 tyres have addressed the issues that concerned riders in '11.

  Several frontrunners complained that a lack of feeling from last year's Bridgestone control tyres was a contributory factor in a number of crashes, particularly on cold rubber.

• Nicky Hayden will undergo surgery on Monday to try and resolve the shoulder problem that hampered him in pre-season testing at Sepang this week.

  The Ducati rider had fractured his left shoulder in a training accident just after Christmas. At the time, he opted to avoid surgery but struggled to ride during the test.

• technical chief Filippo Preziosi says the results of the first winter test proved that the team is on the right track with the major changes it has made for 2012.

  After failing to win a race in 2011 - despite recruiting seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi to lead its line-up - Ducati has had a total rethink of its bike concept with the GP12.

• Nicky Hayden could only manage 16 laps of running on the second day of MotoGP winter testing at Sepang today before pain from his injured shoulder forced the Ducati rider to pull out.

  The American broke his left scapula and fractured two ribs when he fell while training shortly after Christmas. Although he managed 33 laps on the opening day of testing yesterday, today proved harder still.
  

• Casey Stoner shrugged off his Tuesday back problem to set the fastest time of the second day of MotoGP winter testing at Sepang.

  The reigning world champion had been forced to skip day one when he hurt his back while warming up before going out for the first time. Although with a total mileage of 29 laps, he completed rather less running than his rivals today, Stoner still showed his and Honda's pace with a 2m00.895s lap.

• Valentino Rossi believes Ducati has taken a big step forward with its 2012 bike after an encouraging first day of testing at Sepang.

  Following Ducati's tough 2011 season, team boss Vito Guareschi had said that he would be satisfied just to get the GP12 within a second of the pace in the Malaysian tests this week, but Rossi was 0.7 seconds off pacesetter Jorge Lorenzo's Yamaha on day one - and felt significant improvements had been made to the bike.

  "I'm happy because first impressions are important, and already in the first few laps, I could tell that I like the bike," said Rossi.

• Jorge Lorenzo was delighted to commence his 2012 MotoGP campaign with the fastest time on the opening day of pre-season testing at Sepang - particularly as it marked the first time he had been on track since suffering a severe hand injury at Philip Island last October.

  The Yamaha number one was quickest by 0.3 seconds over Honda's Dani Pedrosa in Malaysia today, while Pedrosa's reigning champion team-mate Casey Stoner was sidelined with back pain after injuring himself as he warmed up to go out.

• Casey Stoner believes that the humiliation of the defeats suffered by Yamaha and Ducati in 2011 will make both manufacturers far tougher to beat in the upcoming MotoGP season.

  The world champion, who was speaking at the launch of Honda's RCV 213V in Kuala Lumpur, dominated last year's title race, winning 10 times and scoring 90 points more than his closest rival, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.

• Casey Stoner says his dominance of the 2011 MotoGP championship with Honda - and Valentino Rossi's struggles after replacing him at Ducati - have given him a credibility he never attained while riding for the Italian marque.

  Stoner won his first MotoGP crown with the Desmosedici in 2007 and was a race-winner in the subsequent three seasons, never finishing lower than fourth. Rather than approbation, however, the Australian said he received 'nothing but mistrust' from the media.

• Nick Cole wins in Teretonga. Battling terrible weather and a very strong field Nick Cole from Hamilton has his first Superbike victory. Nick uses SBS 806DC Brake Pads.