In the early stages of the race, it looked set to be a thriller with all three battling for the front, but after 10 laps Stoner pulled out a gap that was just too big for the chasing Spaniards. At the halfway point, Lorenzo had nibbled away at that lead and was within a second of the World Champion, and with three laps to go he was still in with a chance of beating him. However, similarly to events in Jerez the week before, Stoner found some extra pace and rhythm and extended his advantage until the chequered flag.

Andrea Dovizioso pipped Tech 3 Yamaha teammate Cal Crutchlow for fourth, and Spaniard Alvaro Bautista came fifth on the San Carlo Gresini Honda. Valentino Rossi showed some signs of improvement, finishing a season best of seventh, ahead of Ben Spies and Stefan Bradl, who had a race-long battle for eighth after the American ran off track in the early stages having qualified on the second row.

Hector Barbera completed the top ten, while Aleix Espargaro was the best of the CRT bikes for the second race in a row. 

Colin Edwards was forced to miss the race in Estoril after breaking a collarbone in qualifying having been caught up in an accident with Randy de Puniet who crashed from behind Edwards and his bike clipped the back wheel of the American. He will also miss the race at Le Mans next weekend, where he will be replaced by Chris Vermeulen, and he is not expected to be back in the paddock until the Cataluña round in early June.

Estoril Grand Prix Result:

1 Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda) 45’37.513

2 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha Factory Racing) +1.421

3 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) +3.621

4 Andrea Dovizioso (Tech 3 Yamaha) +13.846

5 Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha) +16.690

6 Alvaro Bautista (San Carlo Gresini Honda) +21.884

7 Valentino Rossi (Ducati Racing Team) +26.797

8 Ben Spies (Yamaha Factory Racing) +33.262

9 Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda) +35.867

10 Hector Barbera (Pramac Racing Ducati) +53.363

11 Nicky Hayden (Ducati Racing Team) +1’02.630

12 Aleix Espargaro (Power Electronics Aspar) +1’20.736

13 Randy de Puniet (Power Electronics Aspar) +1’23.483

14 Michele Pirro (San Carlo Gresini Honda) +1’37.905

15 Danilo Petrucci (Came Ioda Racing Project) 1 lap

Not Classified

Karel Abraham (Cardio AB Racing) 5 laps

James Ellison (Paul Bird Motorsport) 10 laps

Yonny Hernandez (Avintia Blusens) 12 laps

Mattia Pasini (Speed Master) 17 laps

Ivan Silva (Avintia Blusens) 17 laps

 So Thank you so much, thank you also to the awesome girl who convinced me to choose this one, and to the very kind guy who helped me in the size selection.

 Will recommend you (already did it :D) to everyone

The second round of the MotoGP World Championship started with crashes galore and brief rain showers in the Moto3 and Moto2 classes – 17 of the 34 Moto2 entrants failed to finish the race – before the main event got underway in dry conditions – to the dismay of Valentino Rossi, who, despite being second quickest in the wet practice session on the Friday, just cannot compete in the dry on his Ducati.

While Rossi is struggling for form – which is all it can be now, Ducati have done everything they can to the bike short of stripping it bare and rebranding themselves as Honda or Yamaha – Cal Crutchlow is getting better and better. The rider from Coventry was top of the qualifying timing sheets for half of the 60 minute session on Saturday, and was battling with Pedrosa for the majority of Sunday’s race, coming home in fourth for the second week running. You have to feel that a podium finish is just around the corner for Crutchlow. If only the same could be said for Rossi…

Back at the front, it looked like it was heading for an easy final few laps for Stoner before a recurrence of his ‘arm pump’ issues from Qatar resurfaced, allowing Lorenzo to close the gap. With two laps remaining the Spaniard was right on the reigning champion’s rear wheel until he ran into a corner too quickly and went wide, allowing Stoner to reopen the gap and that meant Lorenzo was forced to settle for second place.

The Spaniards won’t have long to wait to get their own back on Stoner, with the next round of the Championship coming up this weekend at Estoril in Portugal, a track that Pedrosa has really taken to in recent years.

Jerez MotoGP Result:

1 Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda)

2 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)

3 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda)

4 Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha)

5 Andrea Dovizioso (Tech 3 Yamaha)

For all of your replica motorbike clothing including leathers, helmets, boots and gloves, take a look around the Bikestop website or come and see us at our store in Stevenage. For a review of the Estoril round of the championship, come back next week.

The final point there is especially key with this week’s circuit profile. Lying on the outskirts of the Qatar desert, the Losail International circuit boasts the longest straight on the MotoGP calendar. The start-finish straight measures 0.664 miles, with riders frequently getting up to around the 300kph mark. In fact, at this year’s opening round of the Championship, Hector Barbera set a new circuit record when he racked up a top speed of 342.3kph on the Pramac Ducati.

The circuit itself opened back in October 2004 and cost $58 million to construct in the desert just outside the capital city of Doha. The track flows around 5.4km of desert and AstroTurf – making it the third longest in the championship – and became the first MotoGP circuit to host a floodlit race back in 2008 after riders complained of heat exhaustion and a lack of grip during the midday Qatar sun, with Australian Casey Stoner – then with Ducati – taking victory that day.

There was another first for the Losail circuit a year later, as it was the scene of the first washed out race. Yes, even tracks in the middle of the desert aren’t safe from the torrential downpours! The first time this happened in twenty years of racing.

At the 2012 race, it was Yamaha’s Jorge Lorenzo who took the victory, edging Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa into second, and Stoner – who lead for the majority of the race – into third, while the Tech 3 Yamaha duo of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso finished fourth and fifth respectively after a battle which lasted the whole race.

Starting from pole for the first time since the United States Grand Prix, Lorenzo couldn’t keep up with Stoner in the early exchanges but gradually reigned the World Champion in when the Aussie suffered fitness issues – not to take anything away from Lorenzo, or Pedrosa for that matter – who kept up consistent pace and lap times throughout to fight back and prevent a fourth successive Honda victory.

For all of the latest MotoGP, World Superbike and British Superbike news, as well as factfiles on all of the riders and circuits – and of course the very best motorbike clothing around – keep visiting Bikestop.

That is, unless you’re Leon Haslam of course. Following in the footsteps of his Dad, Ron – who won four British championships in addition to his world accolades – Leon burst onto the British Superbike scene in 1998 when he made his debut in the British Superbike championship at Donington Park, making the step up from the 125cc class to finish 17^th.

By 2003, Leon had moved up to the Grand Prix circuit on a more regular basis after a series of wildcard entries, and in just three races in ’03, he finished in sixth place on two occasions.

In 2004, “The Pocket Rocket” combined racing in the UK with the glamour of the World Superbike Championship. He raced in four meetings in BSB, winning his maiden race at Brands Hatch en route to finishing ninth in the championship. He actually faired better in the WSB championship, finishing eighth overall with a best finish of third, and having qualified on the front row of the grid twice.

He returned to the British Championship on a full-time basis the season after and took the grid by storm. Three pole positions and 19 podium finishes with Ducati saw Leon end the season fourth, and went even better in 2006, finishing second in the Championship. Four race wins in 2007 helped him to third overall before a move to Honda in ’08 got him back to second as the title continued to evade him.

Leon moved to the World Superbike paddock in 2009 with Stiggy Motorsports Honda. The season started brightly for Haslam but tailed off and he finished sixth with Ben Spies dominating the season.

His best season to date followed the year after having moved to the Alstare Suzuki squad as Leon finished second in the Championship, 75 points behind the dominant Italian Max Biaggi. He won his maiden race in the competition at the opening round of the season at Phillip Island – one of three race victories and fourteen podiums.

In 2011 Haslam moved to the BMW Motorrad team, finishing in fifth place in the Championship on 224 points – behind runaway winner Carlos Checa, who scored 505.

You can get your hands on your very own Leon Haslam replica helmet at Bikestop, with Leon’s Arai RX-7 GP helmet currently in stock.

Out in Qatar, the big guns were out in force – literally, there were 21 bikes on the MotoGP grid in Losail – and after looking like a procession for Casey Stoner, the 2011 champion had to settle for third after arm pump issues slowed his progress, allowing Jorge Lorenzo to take the first victory of the season from compatriot Dani Pedrosa.

Yamaha man Lorenzo started the race on pole but soon found himself in a battle with Stoner, Pedrosa and the Tech 3 Yamaha pairing of Cal Crutchlow and Andrea Dovizioso – who had a thrilling battle of their own – with the Aussie making his break to the front of the pack after 6 laps. Qatar has been a happy hunting ground for Stoner in recent years, looking unbeatable formerly on the Ducati and now on the Repsol Honda, but it wasn’t to be six straight wins for the HRC team as Lorenzo and Pedrosa caught and passed Stoner in the final few laps, leaving no opportunity for the reigning champion to retaliate.

Crutchlow and new teammate Dovizioso had a race-long battle for fourth position that was eventually edged by the Brit. Dovi lead for the majority of the race but was never able to pull out a lead of more than a second on the Coventry-born rider who started from the front row for the first time in the premier class. Crutchlow showed great temperament to wait for his opportunity to pass the Italian, and held on to take fourth position – his best finish in MotoGP.

Two men who really struggled were Valentino Rossi and Ben Spies. Rossi had a disappointing debut season on the Ducati in 2011, and despite months of work over the winter, he doesn’t seem able to replicate his previously imperious form in the Italian dream team. Spies on the other hand has impressed on the factory Yamaha and there are high hopes for the American this season, with many at the team expecting podium finishes. However, a series of problems resulted in Spies dropping backwards throughout the race, finishing behind Rossi in eleventh.

Back on British soil, the first round of the British Superbike Championship rolled in to Brands Hatch on Easter Monday, only to be curtailed early than planned. In true British bank holiday tradition, the weather was atrocious but race one went ahead and was won by a real outsider. Many were expecting the likes of reigning champion Tommy Hill and rivals Shane Byrne, Michael Laverty, Josh Brookes and newcomer Noriyuki Haga to be on the top step, but it was John Kirkham who beat the torrential rain and difficult track conditions to claim the opening victory.

After several attempts to start the British Supersport race in mid-afternoon, it was decided that the conditions were too dangerous for race two to go ahead, and the riders will now have that race at Oulton Park later in the year.

So the teams move on to Thruxton this weekend with just one race worth of experience on their bikes and everything to play for.

MotoGP Round 1 Result:

1 Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha)

2 Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda)

3 Casey Stoner (Repsol Honda)

4 Cal Crutchlow (Tech 3 Yamaha)

5 Andrea Dovizioso (Tech 3 Yamaha)

British Superbikes Round 1, Race 1 Result:

1 John Kirkham (Samsung Honda)

2 Alastair Seeley (Tyco Suzuki)

3 Michael Rutter (MSS Bathams Kawasaki)

4 Ian Lowry (Padgetts Racing)

5 Gary Mason (Quattro Plant Kawasaki)

Stoner has taken pole position at the Losail circuit for the past three years, leaving his title rivals way behind in the Qatar nighttime. The signs are ominous again for his rivals as Honda’s have won the last four races in MotoGP, and if Stoner or teammate Dani Pedrosa were to win this weekend it would be a HRC record run.

But the likes of Yamaha duo Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies and, who knows, even the Ducati’s of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, won’t let them run away with things without a fight. Lorenzo battled hard in 2011 but came up against Stoner on an unbeatable machine. This time round the Yamaha team have been working on improving corner speed and this should allow Jorge and Ben to really get the power down around the fast circuit in the desert.

Rossi and Hayden were disappointing last season on a Ducati that didn’t really work in the dry or wet, the straights or the turns. The team have put in endless hours of work over the winter in an attempt to make the Desmosedici more competitive and the early signs have been promising. They’re by no means ready to mix it with Stoner, Pedrosa and Lorenzo, but they’re moving forwards.

It’s an exciting year in MotoGP in 2012 with the bikes now moving up to the 900cc category, and also the inclusion of the Claiming Rules Teams, (CRT). This prototype bikes aim to bring new, exciting riders into the premier class to mix it with the big boys. While they’re not going to be battling for the top step of the podium, many will be keeping their sights set on the satellite riders such as Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow on the Tech 3 Yamahas.

Not sure about you, but I can’t wait!

The ability to weave through the traffic to meet deadlines is just one reason that businesses love them, getting important files to offices before 5pm on a Friday or getting that important parcel to Mrs. Jones in Peterborough in time for her fancy dress party that night. Bike couriers deliver a wide variety of items, but are faced by just as wide a range of problems in doing their jobs.

This career seriously tests all areas of your riding ability, making good quality motorbike clothing an absolute essential. Many riders are forced to negotiate narrow streets with cobbled surfaces which could throw inexperienced riders over the handlebars, while even the most experienced face tricky manoeuvres through inner city traffic so you really do get a thorough test of your skills.

Safe filtering through stationary traffic is a useful skill to have, but something many are intimidated by. It forces riders to use their observation skills and also their balance, weaving through the often narrow gaps presented to get everything delivered on time. By looking straight ahead into the distance you are able to judge just how far you are able to progress, helping you to make an early decision over whether or not the filtering is a worthwhile idea. It also makes it easier to spot potential hazards, such as zebra crossings that may dissect the traffic, or temporary traffic lights, which could be the cause of the queuing in the first place.

When filtering it is essential that you consider all possible hazards, including other motorcyclists looking for similar gaps as you. If you have to filter between the two lanes of traffic, it is entirely possible that road users on the opposite side may choose to turn around and go the other way, so be aware that cars may poke out of obscure areas.

The slower you travel as a courier filtering through the traffic, the more beneficial it will be. Moving your body and reducing the amount of front brake you use will help you to stay balanced, while travelling at a slow speed will allow you to react suddenly if a hazard presents itself.

With the retirement of Toseland and a current lull in great UK riders across motorcycling Johnny is the man that more and more of us are choosing to support.

The boy has pedigree too. He’s been one of the most consistent riders across the ultra-competitive Briitish Superbikes series for several years now, coming runner up in both 2007 and 2008 thanks, in the main, to his gutsy, no-holds-barred approach.

But there’s more to the small framed Northern Irish pugilist than meets the eye. While he’s more than happy trading paint with the best motorcycling has to offer he’ is also never far away from social media or the pool, as a keen swimmer. He’s also Twitter fanatic and along with partner Tatia they record their every move for followers and fans alike.

And while he’s not racing he splits his hard earned time off between his Isle of Man and Australia bases.

As we write the number 65 is currently heading to Imola for round two of the 2012 after clocking up a 7^th and a 4^th in the first meet at Phillip Island. Those results leave Johnny 5^th and well placed to mount a serious championship assault for the rest of the year.

Date of birth : 02/02/1987

Home Town : Larne,N.I

Height : 5’ 8”

Weight : 70kg

Hobbies : Motorcross

Favourite Food :Italian

Favourite Drink : Red Bull

First Road Race : Silverstone 03

First Race Win : Bishops Court 03

Favourite Circuit : Phillip Island

Favourite All Time Rider: Ricky Carmichael

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