MARCO SIMONCELLI 1987-2011: The world of motorsport has been left reeling by the death during yesterday's Malaysian Grand Prix of this flamboyant young Italian rider, one of the brightest and most talented rising stars on the MotoGP scene

The World Superbike Championship will arrive in France in just over a week's time for its penultimate round of the season and to celebrate the MiTo's status as the official Safety Car of the series, Alfa Romeo France is launching a special limited edition

Matters got a step worse for Valentino Rossi in the Aragon Grand Prix as due to an engine change he was forced to start his uncompetitive Ducati from the pitlane 10 seconds after the green light - the Italian eventually finishing in 10th place

Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi could manage to finish in no better than eighth and ninth places respectively in the German Grand Prix after a charge by the Italian and a subsequent three-way battle with his teammate and Alvaro Bautista

After a slow start in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello yesterday, but motivated by his enthusiastic home crowd, Valentino Rossi caught up with the group of riders in front of him and climbed up the MotoGP order to finish in sixth place

Ducati Corse riders' Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden earned fourth and fifth places, respectively, in the Dutch TT yesterday after a day marked by difficult weather conditions, with cold temperatures resulting in a number of early crashes

The Catalan Grand Prix yesterday saw Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden finish fifth and eighth, respectively on a day that had mixed conditions as the Ducati GP11 again showed that it isn't capable yet of competing with the front runners

Fiat Automobiles might have called time on its sponsorship of the Yamaha team but Iveco has decided to strengthen its MotoGP presence and is now linking its name to the Dutch TT race in Assen in addition to the Phillip Island race in Australia

The French Grand Prix saw Valentino Rossi haul the Ducati up to third place to score his first podium finish since joining the Italian team for the 2011 season, following a race that was marked by excitement and surprises

The third round of the MotoGP World Championship, held at the Estoril circuit yesterday, saw Valentino Rossi put in a steady race on a dry track, as there was no rain after the morning’s wet warm-up, the Italian eventually finishing a close fifth

Valentino Rossi was back in the headlines at Jerez yesterday as wet conditions allowed him to overcome the deficiencies of his Ducati bike and power his way through the field to second before a tumble put him out of the fight at the front

A new chapter in the career of Valentino Rossi kicked off under the floodlights in Qatar last night but a combination of the Italian still recuperating and Ducati lagging behind its rivals meant an unrewarding start to the season

Bologna’s Piazza Maggiore attracted 38,000 fans in the biggest pre-season party ever organised by the motorcycle manufacturer, a spectacular send-off for the Ducati MotoGP Team and factory riders, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden

Dressed in "Ducati red" for the first time, at Wrooom 2011 Valentino Rossi announced his motivation for the new season and that the Italian Tricolore will decorate the Ducati bikes during this year’s celebration of 150 years of Italian unity