valencia

2009 125cc world champion Julian Simon took his seventh pole position of the season during qualifying for the Valencia season finale on Saturday.

"If I had a ninth or tenth place finish in the race I'd be super happy. That would be like winning a Superbike race" - Ben Spies.

Aleix Espargaro will ride the Pramac Ducati at the MotoGP season finale after injury forces Niccolo Canepa to withdraw

Ben Spies will get an early chance to experience Yamaha MotoGP machinery after being granted a wild-card ride for the season-ending Valencia round.

Luca Badoer has hit out at the Formula 1 media for having 'played a fundamental role' in the decision to replace him at Ferrari with Giancarlo Fisichella - arguing that he is a 'victim' of the current ban on in-season testing in the top flight, meaning no incoming driver stands a chance.

After a weekend to forget in Valencia, the Fat Burner Racing Engineering Team arrived at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps Circuit with optimism and ready to continue fighting for points.

Jonathan Neale has insisted that McLaren-Mercedes is under no false illusions at Spa-Francorchamps ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, well aware that the race is likely to signal the end of the squad's current purple patch of form.

Toyota's Timo Glock reflects on a difficult European Grand Prix, where he finished a lowly 14th, despite setting the fastest lap. The German also looks ahead to this weekend's event in Belgium...

Brawn's Rubens Barrichello secures the victory at the European Grand Prix, his first of the season and his first since 2004. Follow the links below for team-by-team reaction to the race at Valencia in Spain:

1. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 57 laps 1hr 35m 51.289s 2. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes +2.3s 3. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Ferrari-Ferrari +15.9s

Nico H?lkenberg claimed his fourth win of the season after steering clear of the early race mayhem before walking away from Sergio Perez and Vitaly Petrov to claim an easy victory in race two this morning at Valencia.

Luca Badoer's Formula 1 rivals have leapt to the beleaguered Italian's defence in the wake of the barrage of criticism he has received for his performance in Valencia so far this weekend - contending that he has 'done a good job' in what is an 'impossible' situation.

Jarno Trulli's five-year association with Toyota looks to be drawing to a close if the admission of John Howett is anything to go by, as the big-budget Japanese manufacturer's motorsport president suggested 'there is a very strong probability' of the experienced Italian's contract with the team n

The post-qualifying fuel weights ahead of the European Grand Prix this weekend suggest that Sebastian Vettel should be worried, that Rubens Barrichello is arguably in the box seat - and that Jenson Button could just be about to get his faltering championship challenge back on-track under the Span

Luca Badoer contended that had he only been able to test for a couple of days ahead of his F1 return in this weekend's European Grand Prix in Valencia, he would not be starting the race from the very back row of the grid.

Heikki Kovalainen admitted to having 'pushed just a little too hard' at the end of qualifying for the European Grand Prix in Valencia - as a tiny twitch cost the him what would likely have been his second career F1 pole position.

1. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 39.498s 2. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 39.532s 3. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 39.563s 4. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 1m 39.789s

Luca Badoer was caught speeding in the Valencia pit-lane four times on Friday during the opening two free practice sessions for the 2009 European Grand Prix, it has been revealed - as the Italian proved to be quicker in the pits than out on the track.

F1 returnee Luca Badoer has shrugged off suggestions that he will be swiftly ejected from the cockpit of Felipe Massa's Ferrari should he fail to perform - arguing that the drive is his for as long as the Brazilian remains out of action.

Double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso shrugged off an embarrassing coming-together with BMW-Sauber rival Nick Heidfeld to delight his home fans with the fastest time at the end of the opening day of practice for this weekend's European Grand Prix in Valencia - as new rookie team-mate Romain Gr

1. Fernando Alonso Spain Renault-Renault 1m 39.404s 2. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 40.178s 3. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 40.209s 4. Nico Rosberg Germany Williams-Toyota 1m 40.385s

1. Rubens Barrichello Brazil Brawn-Mercedes 1m 42.460s 2. Heikki Kovalainen Finland McLaren-Mercedes 1m 42.636s 3. Lewis Hamilton Britain McLaren-Mercedes 1m 42.654s 4. Jenson Button Britain Brawn-Mercedes 1m 43.074s

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF APPEAL (I.C.A.) of the FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE L'AUTOMOBILE

Though paddock speculation has linked him to a comeback in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in just under a month's time, Ferrari star Felipe Massa has said that a more realistic aim may be to return to the F1 starting grid for his home race at Interlagos in October.