Technical Regulations MotoGP Class - Effective 2014

Technical Regulations MotoGP Class - Effective 2014
Electronics (ECU) Regulations

A detailed specification and permitted options were confirmed.

The use of the official MotoGP ECU, including an internal datalogger, and the official MotoGP software package is compulsory.
Maximum fuel capacity is 24 litres.
Maximum number of engines per rider, per season, is 12.

Factory Status

Each Manufacturer, (including motorcycle manufacturers and chassis manufacturers), can choose to enter up to 4 riders for the season who will participate with “Factory” status.
The use of the official MotoGP ECU is compulsory. However manufacturers are permitted to develop and use their own software.
Maximum fuel capacity is 20 litres.
Maximum number of engines per rider, per season, is five. (Nine Engines for the first year of participation by a new manufacturer).

Engines are subject to the engine homologation regulations which mandate frozen engine design and internal parts. (New Manufacturers are not subject to frozen engine design and internal parts in their first season of participation).

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Manchester United a 2-2 friendly draw with Cerezo Osaka

Substitute Wilfried Zaha grabbed a late equaliser as Manchester United earned a 2-2 draw with Cerezo Osaka on Friday.

United playmaker Shinji Kagawa was taking on his former employers and revelled in the hole role behind Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck.

The hosts took the lead on 34 minutes when Chris Smalling's defensive error created a chance for Kenyu Sugimoto, who finished it clinically, rolling the ball past a wrong-footed Anders Lindegaard into the net.

Kagawa spurned the chance for an equaliser on 53 minutes when Jin-Hyeon Kim dived to his right to save his penalty, which was awarded after Ashley Young was sent tumbling in the 18-yard box.

But the former Borussia Dortmund man made amends a minute later, latching onto Ryan Giggs' cross from the left, swivelling and beating goalkeeper Kim with a low left-footed strike.

The hosts went ahead again on 63 minutes when 18-year-old forward Takumi Minamino sent a 20-yard piledriver into the top of the net, giving Lindegaard no chance at all.

But in the dying seconds, Zaha spared United's blushes when he put the icing on the cake to a flowing move by tapping home from close range.

United set off with clear intent and the lively van Persie brought a sharp save out of Kim inside the first minute.

The Dutchman had recovered from the thigh problem that forced his precautionary withdrawal in Yokohama on Tuesday and was denied by Kim once more, before Phil Jones sent his diving header over the bar.

In conditions so hot and sticky it was decided to take a drinks break midway through both halves, and Osaka were starting to get into their stride.

Lindegaard had already made two good saves when Cunha Edno sent his header straight at the Dane from point-blank range, when a foot either side would have seen the hosts go ahead.

They did not have to wait long, though, as a woeful error on the edge of his own box by Smalling gifted an opportunity to Sugimoto, which the 20-year-old drilled into the bottom corner.

Kagawa's first embarrassing blunder came not long afterwards.

Under normal circumstances, van Persie would surely have gone for goal himself as the loose ball fell to him after Welbeck had fired against a post. Instead, he squared unselfishly towards the player who has been feted at every turn since his arrival on tour on Monday.

Unbelievably, Kagawa screwed his shot high over the bar, the groans from a capacity crowd underlining the disappointment.

United continued to press and Giggs curled an effort narrowly over before Welbeck came close once more.

Kagawa then saw another chance go awry. After Ashley Young had been brought down, van Persie stood aside to let the Japan international take the penalty, but he spurned that opportunity too as Kim made a decent low save.

There was an element of relief and embarrassment about his celebration when Kagawa eventually scored, from a Giggs cross, and he was replaced by Zaha not long afterwards.

Cerezo were not inhibited by that setback, though, and Minamino put them back in front with a superb shot from the edge of the area that arrowed into the top corner.

United almost conceded a third as Lindegaard was forced into a fine fingertip save to deny Yusuke Maruhashi.

But the Premier League champions kept going until the final minute and were rewarded when Anderson crossed for Zaha, one of those to impress on this three-week trip so far, to finish from close range.

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Jose Mourinho thinks Arsenal's Luis Suarez bid makes sense

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho says he is not surprised Arsenal have made an offer for Liverpool forward Luis Suarez.

Arsenal have made a bid of £40m + £1 for the 26-year-old but Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers says he wants the Uruguayan international to remain at Anfield.

And Mourinho, involved in a transfer saga of his own as he pursues Wayne Rooney of Manchester United, thinks Arsenal should go and get Suarez if they have the finances.

"I've no idea of the contractual situation of Luis Suarez," said Mourinho.

"But, I think if Arsenal has the economical potential to buy, and his manager decides Luis is the perfect buy for them, I think it's normal they make an offer.

"But I have no idea how it's going to end."

We need to show ambition

And Arsenal forward Olivier Giroud thinks their audacious bid for Suarez has sent a signal to the club's current playing staff.

"We need to show ambition and the offer for Suarez has done that," said Giroud.

"The club has to show the fans that we mean business. Me and my team mates need it as well. It will be a really positive thing if we have a new striker."

Giroud is looking forward to the start of the new campaign and added: "The whole team is stronger now than it was a year ago. Last season's new players are all more established.

"And we've lost nobody this summer, which is the first time for Arsenal in maybe four years."

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Indonesian All Stars vs Chelsea - Chelsea hit eight in friendly victory over Indonesia All Stars

Chelsea ended their tour of the Far East with a 100 per cent record after demolishing Indonesia All Stars 8-1 in Jakarta.

Eden Hazard opened the scoring from the penalty spot in the 22nd minute after a foul on John Terry, and there were further goals for Ramires, Demba Ba and Terry before half-time.

There were a host of changes at the break, but that did not disrupt Chelsea's rhythm as Bertrand Traore curled in a wonderful fifth, Romelu Lukaku struck twice and Ramires added his second of the game.

Tomas Kalas' own goal gave the home side something to cheer, but at the final whistle it was Jose Mourinho left celebrating an impressively ruthless performance.

Like in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, the stadium was blue for the third and final match of Chelsea's Asia tour, before pre-season preparations begin in earnest in the United States next week.

There, Mourinho's squad will be augmented by David Luiz, Oscar, Juan Mata, Fernando Torres and John Obi Mikel - excused from the Asia tour following the Confederations Cup - but there was plenty of talent on show.

Hazard, Ba, Ramires and Victor Moses spurned chances before Terry was felled by Hamka Hamsa, giving Chelsea a penalty.

Hazard sent goalkeeper Kurnia Meiga the wrong way and Chelsea's onslaught continued with Nathaniel Chalobah, who was starting in midfield, and right-back Wallace each hitting the post.

A second followed when Hazard's trickery on the left found Ryan Bertrand in the box and his cushioned header fell for Ramires to turn and blast into the net.

Ramires was then denied his second, but Meiga parried only to Ba, who netted Chelsea's third.

Meiga was the only All-Star to put up any real resistance and saved from Marco van Ginkel, before retrieving the ball at the feet of Hazard as the Belgian forward tried to round the goalkeeper.

There was a fourth before the interval when Bertrand's inswinging free-kick was met by Gary Cahill and Terry headed in.

Traore, one of a host of half-time substitutions, curled a left-footed effort into the top corner for a fifth and Lukaku converted a cross to make it six after great work down the left by Chelsea.

The Blues continued to forge forward and Lukaku romped down the left on the counter-attack and fed Ramires, who fired in.

Having created one, Lukaku then scored his second before Chelsea's defence was breached as Nwokolo reached the byline and his cross into the six-yard box went in off Kalas.

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New scan for Pedrosa reveals complete collarbone fracture

Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa has given details of his physical condition in his latest blog post, stating that a recent medical examination undertaken in Barcelona has revealed a complete collarbone fracture in his injured shoulder.

Pedrosa returned to Europe satisfied with his fifth place finish in Sunday’s Laguna Seca race and now that a complete fracture has been detected his performance in the U.S. seems only more heroic.


The additional medical tests Pedrosa underwent in Barcelona this week have shown that his injury is more severe than first diagnosed, with the rider himself commenting online, “The race was quite unusual for me due to my injury, but anyway my feeling was ok and I finished not too far behind the leaders. The goal I set myself was to finish as close to the front as possible and I managed to do just that.”


“Having put in such an effort it was important to see how the collarbone was affected and the latest test I had was a 3D CT scan, which revealed more than was shown up in my initial tests due to swelling and limited visibility of the injury. The latest scan shows a complete fracture,” Pedrosa explained.


The Spaniard went on to add, “The key thing is that it’s not a displaced fracture and it wasn’t pushed out of shape in the race, so there is no need for an operation. It’s relatively good news and within a fortnight I’ll have another check-up. I’ll do some physio during the holidays in order to recover well in time for Indianapolis.”


Pedrosa currently sits second in the championship, 16 points behind his teammate Marc Marquez at the top of the standings.

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Bayern Munich vs Barcelona 2 - 0

Pep Guardiola's new-look Bayern Munich secured their second pre-season title thanks to a comfortable 2-0 victory against his former employees Barcelona.

Captain Philipp Lahm gave the German giants an early lead before substitute Mario Mandzukic finished the job with a late effort as they claimed the Uli Hoeness Cup.

Last season's treble winners were greeted by a full house at the Allianz Arena as they looked to keep up their recent fine form.

Spain Under-21 captain Thiago Alcantara lined-up in the Bavarian's star-studded midfield which included Holland's Arjen Robben and France winger Franck Ribery as, in typical fashion, Guardiola started without a recognised striker.

It took just 14 minutes for Bayern to open the scoring through Lahm, who continued in his new midfield role under Guardiola.

Franck Ribery's delicious inswinging cross was cushioned past the onrushing Pinto by the 5ft 6in Germany international.

Lionel Messi, who was making his first competitive start of the summer for the Spanish champions, was kept quiet for much of the half although he came close with a firm drive from the edge of the area and a 25-yard free-kick, which drifted harmlessly over the crossbar.

With Gerardo Martino set to take over at Camp Nou on Friday, it was left to Jordi Roura to pick the side and he opted to make a whole host of changes for the start of the second half.

Many of the Barcelona 'B' team were handed an opportunity to shine and the likes of Oier, Patric, Planas, Samper, Ilie, Espinosa, Nieto and Dongou all impressed.

However, Bayern finished the job with three minutes remaining as Emre Can split the Barcelona defence wide open with a slide rule pass to Diego Contento, who slid the ball across for Croatia international Mandzukic to finish off the move with a simple finish from close-range.

It was perfect preparation for the German giants who now travel to face Borussia Dortmund on Saturday in the German Super Cup in a repeat of the UEFA Champions League final, which the Bavarians won 2-1 at Wembley in May.

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Manchester City beat South China 1-0 to reach final

Edin Dzeko's first-half header saw Manchester City beat South China 1-0 in their Asia Trophy semi-final in Hong Kong.

New City coach Manuel Pellegrini returned after compassionate leave to see his charges record the first victory of his tenure, with the two matches on their tour to South Africa having both ended in defeats.

The Chilean included midfielder Fernandinho, one of the Blues' summer signings, in the starting line-up and saw his team look comfortable in the opening exchanges, with Dzeko firing into the side-netting and Yaya Toure then having a header saved.

On a difficult surface churned up by torrential rain and the first semi earlier on Wednesday, City produced a workmanlike performance with only man-of-the-match James Milner producing any real quality of note.

It was the tireless England midfielder who crossed from the right in the 21st minute for Dzeko to head down and in from close range. That proved to be the only goal of the game.

The next time City really looked threatening was two minutes after the break as Toure flashed an effort across the face of goal and wide.

The well-organised South China side then enjoyed a spell of pressure, before Toure was substituted for new recruit Alvaro Negredo, who was making his unofficial Blues debut. The Spaniard soon sent an acrobatic effort over the bar.

Dzeko came closest to a second goal when he powered a shot at the keeper from Negredo's ball into the box, as City set up a final clash against Sunderland on Saturday.

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New Suarez bid turned down

Liverpool have turned down a fresh £40million bid from Arsenal for striker Luis Suarez.

The figure - plus an additional pound - is designed to trigger a clause in the forward's contract with the Reds duty bound to consider any bid over the £40million mark.

Uruguay international Suarez is set to make his first appearance for the Reds this summer in the friendly against Melbourne Victory today and Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers and managing director Ian Ayre plan to hold talks with him after the game.

He will not be allowed to leave the tour early, with another friendly scheduled in Bangkok later this week.

Suarez flew to Australia on Sunday after being allowed to take extended leave following his involvement with his country in the Confederations Cup.

While he was away the 26-year-old spoke about the attraction of Real Madrid, and his agent Pere Guardiola has told Liverpool the player wants to play in the Champions League but will not try to force through a move.


Suarez has been frequently linked with Arsenal, whose biggest spend on a player is the £15million they paid to Zenit St Petersburg for Andrey Arshavin in 2009.

By exceeding the £40million mark, Arsenal's offer means Liverpool have to inform Suarez of the offer but it does not trigger a buy-out clause.

The Reds had previously turned down a £30million bid from Arsenal, and Rodgers has said he "very much" expects the star man to be with the club come the start of the season.

Rodgers said on Monday: "There's been a lot of speculation over the course of the close season but the reality is that he's a player who is very much valued at Liverpool.

"And unless there's any sort of offer that comes in that's anywhere near his value, there's nothing to consider. We haven't had that."


Meanwhile, Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has revealed he has been working to convince Suarez to remain at the club.

Gerrard said he had been talking to Suarez since he arrived in Australia on Sunday from Montevideo and continued to remind him that there is "a lot of love" for him from the club, the players and the fans.

Liverpool keeper Brad Jones expects Suarez to stay and told the Liverpool Echo: "It's good to have Luis and (fellow Uruguay international) Seb Coates back.

"Most of the boys were joking with him about his Uruguayan (television) advert which we saw on the internet.

"Luis is a bubbly character. You always know when he's about as you can hear him five rooms away!

"He just loves football - he lives and breathes it. You saw him in training here, he's like a little kid. He doesn't want to stop - it's like waiting for your mum to call you in.

"He's that type of character. He's never going to shirk any effort. We don't expect anything less, no matter what's gone on in the media.

"He's the same player we've been used to. Nothing has changed. He's still here and we e

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Jose Mourinho wants Didier Drogba back at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho wants Didier Drogba back at Chelsea and is ready to offer him a player-coach role to help the club’s strikers.

According to the Express, Chelsea’s new manager wants a reunion with the players he brought to Stamford Bridge in a £24million deal from Marseille.

The report claims Mourinho still believes the 35-year-old still has a lot to offer on the pitch but also wants him to help coach the Blues strikers.

Drogba is currently playing with Turkish champions Galatasaray and this report claims they have refused to negotiate any sale and insist he will not be leaving before his contract expires at the end of next season.

Chelsea experienced problems with their strikers scoring regularly in the Premier League last season and Mourinho believes Drogba’s experience will be able to help in that area.

A deal is already being drawn up, as Mourinho is prepared to help his former charge gain his coaching badges while with the Blues.

Drogba won two Premier League titles while playing under Mourinho at Chelsea and the pair remained close after the Portuguese left in 2007.

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Liverpool target Toby Alderweireld

After Jamie Carragher's retirement, it was vital that Liverpool filled the void left with both skill and experience. 

Brendan Rodgers has already snapped up Kolo Toure on a free transfer, but knows he needs another highly talented and preferably young centre-back.


Rodgers is such a fan of Daniel Agger due to his strength in defending and also his calmness when in possession.

Toby Alderweireld as a Liverpool target from Ajax appears to possess the same attractive talents. The 24-year-old has reappeared after Schalke defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos was priced out of a move to Anfield.

Alderweireld is part of a golden generation for the Belgian national side and has made 23 appearances for his country.

Over time he has shown that he is strong in the tackle and is lethal in the air both attacking and defending.

An aerial threat will be high on Rodgers agenda as Liverpool rarely threatened from corners last season - especially after he sold Andy Carroll.

Furthermore, Alderweireld is calm on the ball and has shown a beautiful range of passing during his time at Ajax.

Agger and Alderweireld could potentially be a great pairing at the heart of Liverpool's defence, both having experienced international and Champions League football as well as possessing similar attributes that would only help to compliment one another.

As well as this, Alderweireld has shown that he can spray brilliant long range passes around.

Last season Liverpool would keep the ball near their own goal despite there being pressure and on occasions it would have been easier to simply kick it long and regroup.

The signing of Alderweireld would offer a route B when bringing the ball out of defence as he would be able to find Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge or Philippe Coutinho with long accurate passes.

There is other interest in Alderweireld from Italy, but he has said that he prefers the English or German leagues.

The versatile defender only has one year remaining on his contract, so it would not take a huge sum to prise him away from the Amsterdam Arena.

Liverpool have possibly found the two players to help lead the club forward at the same team.

With both Christian Erikson and Alderweireld entering their final contracted year, a deal to bring both players to Anfield is possible.

If Liverpool can indeed negotiate a double swoop for both Eriksen and Alderweireld, we could be hearing the famous Champions League tune rigging around Anfield sooner than expected.

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Karl Henry leaves Wolves to sign two-year contract at QPR

Karl Henry has completed his move from Wolves to QPR for a fee believed to be around the £1million mark.

The experienced midfielder has signed a two-year contract after Wolves accepted an undisclosed offer.

Henry, 30, becomes Rangers' third summer signing as Harry Redknapp reshapes his squad ahead of this season's Championship campaign.

Danny Simpson and Richard Dunne have already arrived, and Redknapp told the club's official website: "We're trying to change the club around a bit.

"Karl's another piece of the jigsaw that can hopefully help us build a team that can challenge for promotion.

"He's a combative midfielder and you know what you're going to get from him week in, week out. He'll be ready for the Saturday, Tuesday slogs and you know you can rely on him.

"Like Danny Simpson and Richard Dunne, he's been promoted to the Premier League before so he knows what's needed."

Henry said: "Harry Redknapp being manager was a massive pull and a big attraction. I spoke to him and hearing where he wants to be I jumped at the chance of joining the club.

"I have been promoted to the Premier League before and played for a few years in the top-flight, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

"The Championship is a tough league and it sounds like Harry wants to bring in the kind of players that will get this club out of the division which is fantastic."

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Wayne Rooney set for comeback in Sweden

United have already turned down one bid from Chelsea for the 27-year-old, who is unsettled at Old Trafford.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has stated that Rooney is the Blues only current transfer target and it is expected the Portuguese will lodge another bid for the player.

However, United's stance regarding the England international has not changed.

And they expect the hamstring injury that forced him to leave United's pre-season tour to have healed in time for Rooney to be in Stockholm for the friendly against AIK Solna on 6 August.

"I do expect Wayne to be in Stockholm. As far as I know, he is coming on."
David Moyes
"We have said and the club have said he is not for sale," said Moyes after Tuesday's 3-2 friendly defeat against Yokohama F. Marinos. "That has not changed.

"I do expect Wayne to be in Stockholm. As far as I know, he is coming on.

"He has started light jogging and the feedback from the physios is that he is progressing, so hopefully those dates will still be right when we get back."

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Casey Stoner to test for HRC

The Australian rider will do four tests in Motegi in the next few months with Honda Racing's R&D team, working on the evolution of the RC213V and also on the new production racer bike that Honda Racing will sell to selected team next year to race in MotoGP.


Casey Stoner
"It's been almost 9 months now since Valencia and I'm still happy and comfortable with the decision I made to stop racing. Sometimes I miss riding my RCV, so I am happy that HRC asked me to do some tests in Motegi this year. This will allow me to enjoy what I miss: riding a MotoGP bike! I'm looking forward to getting on the bike and see how i t has changed from last year and I'd like to thank Honda for this opportunity"

Shuhei Nakamoto - HRC Executive Vice President
"We are very pleased to have Casey back on a Honda! He knows this machine very well and I'm sure he can help our engineers and technicians with the development of the RC213V. We will also ask him to test the new production racer and give us his initial feedback to assist us in producing the best machine possible"

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Yokohama F Marinos struck late to beat David Moyes' Manchester United 3-2

Manchester United suffered their second defeat in three pre-season matches as J. League outfit Yokohama F. Marinos struck late to sink David Moyes' men 3-2.

Jesse Lingard scored another goal to continue his impressive run of form but despite holding a half-time lead, United were unable to keep their advantage.

In the stadium where they won the World Club Cup in 2008, not even the introduction to great acclaim of Shinji Kagawa, who amazingly was named man of the match, could inspire United to victory, with Yoshihito Fujita netting the winner three minutes from time.

Having named a youthful starting line-up, manager Moyes must have been delighted at the manner in which they responded to a quite unexpected early setback.

Their hosts piled forward straight from the kick-off but when David de Gea produced an acrobatic save to deny veteran Brazilian striker Marquinhos, United thought they had been let off the hook.

Instead, they struggled to regroup and when the ball was played back into the box, Marquinhos, the 37-year-old, was on hand to turn it home with a first-time effort.

Not even half a minute had been played.

It must have been a substantial positive for Moyes that none of those young heads went down.

Indeed, two of them combined to haul United level after 18 minutes.

Lingard scored twice in Sydney on Saturday and is evidently in form.

The 20-year-old played a pass out wide to Wilfried Zaha, then continued his run as the young England international burst into the box.

Masakazu Tashiro stretched to cut out the cross but Lingard pounced on the loose ball to take himself one clear of Danny Welbeck as the tour's top scorer.

Tashiro was not having the best of evenings and it was his own goal that gave United their advantage as he tried to clear a vicious Adnan Januzaj free-kick.

Jonny Evans failed to convert decent chances either side of the interval, the second in particularly should have been a goal, only for the Northern Ireland international to turn Zaha's cut-back wide.

United had cause to regret that miss as, with the crowd distracted by national hero Kagawa's first appearance to warm-up, Marinos defender Fabio climbed highest at the far post to head home direct from a corner.

Welbeck spured a glorious opportunity to restore United's lead virtually immediately and the visitors were still level on the hour when Kagawa was introduced.

The Japan star only started training properly yesterday after an extended break following the Confederations Cup.

Clearly, though, some kind of appearance was expected and he slotted in the middle of three attacking players operating just behind Welbeck.

Every touch was greeted with a sense of excitement and Kagawa almost set up a winner for fellow substitute Ashley Young, only for the England international's shot to get deflected into the side-netting.

A draw would have been a fair result but after good work from Jin Hanato, Fujita had the final word.

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Gerardo Martino to replace Tito Vilanova as Barcelona coach

Gerardo Martino to replace Tito Vilanova as Barcelona coach

Barcelona have announced that Gerardo Martino is to take over from Tito Vilanova as the club's coach on a two-year contract.

Argentine Martino, 50, led Newell's Old Boys to the Argentinian Clausura title last season and recently severed his ties with the club.

Martino is from Rosario, where Barca's World Player of the Year, Lionel Messi, was born, and was the favourite player of Messi's father during his days as an attacking midfielder with Newell's Old Boys.

He also played for Spanish side Tenerife as well as Lanus in his homeland, Barcelona SC in Ecuador and O'Higgins in Chile.

Martino, who is nicknamed Tata, was manager of Paraguay from 2007 to 2011 - guiding them to the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup - before returning to Rosario-based Newell's Old Boys as boss for the last two seasons.

A Barcelona statement read: "FC Barcelona have reached an agreement to appoint Gerardo Martino as the new coach of the football team for the next two seasons. This agreement is pending the drafting and signing of the contract.

"In the coming hours [a programme will be planned for] his arrival in Barcelona, signing the contract and the subsequent presentation."

Vilanova, 44, stepped down last week to continue treatment for throat cancer after leading Barca to the La Liga title in his first season since taking over from Pep Guardiola.

A host of coaches had been linked to the Barcelona job, including former Barcelona B boss Luis Enrique, Andre Villas-Boas, Marcelo Bielsa, Michael Laudrup, Rubi and most recently Guus Hiddink, who on Monday resigned as coach of Anzhi Makhachkala.

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