The first free practice of the Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend was run in blazing sunshine at the Motor Speedway today, with Fiat Yamaha Team riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi finishing the day in second and fifth positions. The fastest time of the day was set by Casey Stoner, just two tenths ahead of Lorenzo.

Last year's race winner Lorenzo felt confident from the outset and was at the top of the time sheets for three quarters of the session before Stoner just edged him out. The young Spaniard made some subtle tweaks to his setting to better suit the flat nature of this track and also had time to try both Bridgestone race tyres, about which he already feels confident of his direction for Sunday.

Rossi struggled a little more today, lacking grip on the bumpy surface and lacking pace as a result. He and his team will make a detailed examination of the data tonight to try to find a way to improve their setting so they are in a position to challenge for the front row in tomorrow afternoon's qualifying session.

Both Fiat Yamaha riders are once again running the special 'Fiat 500' livery that was showcased in Laguna Seca earlier this season. The livery celebrates the forthcoming launch of the Fiat 500 in the United States and features the smiling faces of 500 Rossi and Lorenzo fans on each bike.

If you fancy a trackday but are terrified at the prospect of crashing your motorcycle or encountering scores of savage racers, don't worry about that.

What mental image do you see whenever the work 'trackday' is mentioned? That of a formerly pristine sport motorcycle laying upside-down in agony nearby, while another rider on a ratty ex-race motorcycle, beats his way off toward his next scalp? Is a trackday actually the ultimate way to transform your brand new Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki, Ducati or other superbike into a piece of strap-metal.

The risk is the first and biggest concern for anyone contemplating a trackday or the first time. The crash scenario is probably the most common reason people don't go, that and the fact that there's no such thing as insurance when it comes to circuit riding. Whatever you break, it's for you to repair and pay for.

Understandable for most riders this scenario was playing out big time in there imagination at the race-track. We spoke to several new riders after there first or second ride, on their first first-ever trackday. Most riders had ridden to the circuit and would ride home again on the motorcycle they where racing. So they where worried about crashing? Most said “absolutely”.

Life is all about timing. This time-hungry world is rules by the sweeping of the second hand, the blink of the digital clock. Our lives are ruled by the eroding sands of time. We drag ourselves out of bed when our alarm says, clock on, clock off. Even the most basic of human needs is controlled by the timing of television.

Tme constrictis, controls. It turns us into robots.

Except when it comes to motorcycles. Timing your ride makes even the most mundane routes come alive. That filthy twisty road on the way to work becomes your personal TT. Setting a target time gives you something to beat next time out. Shave a few seconds off with a bit of committed filtering, get on the throttle harder out of the corner, feel the back twitch, but don't back off.

Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG Moto2 team with rider Ratthapark Wilairot, races with a Bimoto HB4 Moto2 beauty. If you think that the 600cc Moto2's are slower than the 800cc MotoGP machines, think again – on the German Sachsenring both Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi booked a average speed of 159.9km/h, while in the Moto2 Ratthapark Wilairot was doing 150.5km/h as average speed.

So what are the specifications of the Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG Moto2 motorcycle? The Bimota HB2 used by the Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG team is powered by a Honda CBR600RR engine which is mounted in a Bimota DB6 Delirio CrMo4 trellis frame incorporating 7075 alloy plates, with the swingarm fabricated from 7020 aluminum alloy.

A sun-soaked Laguna Seca welcomed the MotoGP paddock to American soil today, where Jorge Lorenzo looked on good form to finish the opening session in second and his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi made a solid start for sixth position. The Fiat Yamaha M1s are running in a special livery here to celebrate the forthcoming launch of the Fiat 500 car in the United States, which features the faces of 500 fans on both bikes and the riders' leathers.

Lorenzo has had an eventful time at this track in his two previous visits here but today was much more routine, as the 23-year-old quickly found a good rhythm and was on the pace from the start. He finished the day just 0.233 seconds off leader Casey Stoner but he admits he needs to make some adjustments to his riding style tomorrow to better suit the peculiar nature of this track.

After his sensational return from injury in Germany, Rossi found he was in a little bit more pain at this track, especially in the braking area before the infamous Corkscrew. Aside from his physical worries the World Champion was happy with his first day's work and is confident that the information he and his team gathered today will help them to climb the order tomorrow.

The Fiat Yamaha Team is reunited at the Sachsenring this weekend, when runaway championship-leader Jorge Lorenzo will be joined by Valentino Rossi after the latter's six-week absence. Rossi's recovery from his broken leg in Mugello has gone so well that the reigning World Champion is hoping to return to action earlier than expected, although he will have to receive full approval from the Chief Medical Officer at the circuit tomorrow before he can confirm if he will ride. Wataru Yoshikawa will once again be present and will ride the second M1 if Rossi is unable to.

The undulating wooded hills of the Sachsenring brought about another neck-and-neck Fiat Yamaha battle last year, with Lorenzo missing out by the skin of his teeth to his team-mate. This year however Lorenzo comes to the German track as the man-of-the-moment, having won three races on the bounce and an incredible five in total from seven rounds this season. The 23-year-old Mallorcan has only one Sachsenring podium to his name. but he will be planning to add another this weekend as he looks to extend a championship lead that already stands at 52 points.

Rossi has missed four races over his injury and currently sits seventh in the championship standings. The 31-year-old has been recovering at home in Italy and has undergone an intensive rehabilitation programme, which has resulted in him being back on a bike earlier than expected. The nine-time champion has produced some masterful displays at the Sachsenring over the years, including a superb race in 2006 when he won from tenth position and he has a total of five wins at the track. The evergreen Italian has had two successful tests on a Yamaha R1 in the last week and has been given the all-clear by his doctors, he just has to await the decision of the event Chief Medical Officer tomorrow before he can be sure of riding.

The Fiat Yamaha Team, the Yamaha Classic Racing Team and multiple-World Champion Giacomo Agostini joined together for a very special celebration at Assen this evening, ahead of the 80th edition of the historic Dutch TT.

Giacomo Agostini, Shigeto Kitagawa, President of Yamaha Motor Racing and Ferry Brouwer, owner of the Yamaha Classic Racing Team presented the celebrated 1975 YZR500 OW23, on which Agostini won his last ever world title in 1975 and also the Dutch TT in 1974. In addition Yamaha unveiled a surprise ‘Agostini' 2010 YZR-M1 in Fiat Yamaha Team colours, with the Italian's famous Number One stickers.

Yamaha legend Agostini will ride a display lap of Assen on both motorcycles tomorrow at 13.10 to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the TT.

Shigeto Kitagawa, President of Yamaha Motor Racing, said: "I am very pleased to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the Dutch TT with Yamaha's first and latest premier class championship-winning bikes. It is going to be a great pleasure to see both machines ridden by the great and legendary champion Giacomo Agostini."

Now-a-day, athletes seem to be in and out of hospitals just like motorcycles going in for a scheduled service maintenance. And not just for major injures! With updates in sports science combined with astronomical increases in riders salaries, it's becoming the 'done thing' to check in regularly for a quick fix of body parts. And if that is what it takes to lengthen a relatively short career life span, then so be it.

One of my old friends, a professional rider, got me thinking just how much our sport has progressed and how on top of things you need to be if you have any hope of being successful in motorcycle racing. My friend had just been released from hospital after his second operation in less than a week.

The first operation was an arthroscope on his knee, and the second – yes, you guessed it – another arthroscope on his ankle. An arthroscope is basically like a service for MotoGP motorcycle engine. It involves a surgeon sending a small camera into a body part via a tiny incision to have a look around and assess the situation. From there, this little tool can clean up scar tissue and even remove it from the body. It can also grind away sharp edges that shouldn't be there. In no more than a couple of weeks the rider is good as gold and ready to get back on his motorcycle.

With a win and a podium each so far this season, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will arrive at Le Mans this weekend with high hopes of continuing their victorious start to the season. The Fiat Yamaha pair lie first and second in the championship after two races, with Lorenzo four points ahead of Rossi following his magnificent home victory last time out.

The Spaniard turned 23 two days after Jerez and the memory of his first home MotoGP win was still fresh in his mind as he celebrated his birthday at home in Barcelona, following a successful one-day test. He cannot help but feel confident for another good weekend in Le Mans, where last year he kept his head to win by 17 seconds as the weather wreaked havoc on all around him, and the season before he finished second despite riding with two broken ankles. The Mallorcan has one other win at Le Mans, in 2007 on the way to his second 250cc title.

The French Grand Prix in 2009 on the other hand is one that nine-time World Champion Rossi would rather forget, plagued as he was by a catalog of mishaps and visits to pit lane before limping home in 16th position. His previous record at the famous French track is exemplary however, with two wins for Yamaha in 2008 and 2005, as well as one other win and six podiums in all classes. Another two weeks off has given him time to fully recover from the shoulder injury that hampered him in Jerez and he will be back on top form and shooting for the top this time out.

Le Mans is most famous as home to the iconic 24-Hour race but the MotoGP also draws a huge crowd every year. The first part of the track is the most difficult in what is not a particularly technical circuit, with the high-speed, uphill turn one giving way to several tight chicanes. The remainder of the track is made up of short straights and hairpins calling for a set up that yields both balance and control under hard and repeated braking and a quick transfer from full braking to full acceleration on the exit of the corners.

Austria's Martin Bauer gave KTM an almost perfect race weekend at the German International Superbike (IDM) Championship on Sunday when he rode the new KTM RC8R to first place in the first of two races. He then followed up with a second place when the second race was halted after the 14th lap. The win on the KTM RC8R is not only historic for the Austrian sports motorcycle specialists as its first ever victory in Superbike competition; it also vaults the company into the lead in the manufacturer's standings in the IDM competition.

Bauer's teammate German teammate Stefan Nebel finished fifth in the first race and was ranked sixth in the second for good championship points.

Tough race conditions

It was a tough race weekend punctuated by multiple crashes on the Oschersleben circuit, especially on Saturday in temperatures of only between 4-8 degrees Celsius and in driving rain. Bauer crashed in the timed training when he was unable to avoid a rider who went down in front of him and this put him back at eleventh place on the starting grid for Sunday's race. Teammate Nebel was in front at eighth just behind KTM privateer Vesa Kallio at seventh.

Historic first race victory for KTM

Bauer charged into eighth position in the opening lap of race one and gradually forged his way through the pack until he finally overtook race leader Joerg Teuchert, going on to win by a 2.9 second margin. It was an occasion for real celebrations for KTM Superbike Team Germany in only their second season in the IDM. Nebel also engaged in a battle of attrition with the BMW duo Werner Daemen und Barry Venemann to be fifth at the checkered flag.

Bauer also went on the hunt in the second race on the German circuit and with six laps to go was lying second, 3.3 seconds behind leader Teuchert when the race was halted due to a crash.