Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2011 – The Ducati Story

Grab some popcorn, because this video from Ducati North America is over 14 minutes long. Telling the story of Ducati at the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), DNA has put together a great video that really captures how special the racing is at Pikes Peak, and how gorgeous the scenery is of the Colorado Mountains. With Santa Barbara Ducati’s Carlin Dunne winning the overall motorcycle category on his dealership’s Multistrada 1200 demo model, Alexander Smith from the Spider Grips Ducati Team made it a double podium for Ducati in the 1205cc class. If you’re new to racing at Pikes Peak, or wanted a quick re-cap of last year’s race, Ducati’s video pretty accurately sums up racing on the mountain and the anxiety around last year’s race.

Ducati Announces Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Team with Carlin Dunne & Greg Tracy

Ducati has announced its factory team for the 2012 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), and the Italian company has secured the services of last-year’s winner and Rookie of the Year Carlin Dunne as well as six-time PPIHC winner Greg Tracy. Ducati has also partnered with the Spider Grips team, who will help prepare the teams Ducati Multistrada 1200 for the “Race to the Clouds” on July 8th. For 2012, the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb will be fully-paved to the top of the mountain, which will surely see the speeds of competitors increase, and lap times drop on the 12.42 mile long course that ends at 14,110 feet.

Cutaway Photos of the Ducati Superquadro Engine

I was flipping through some photos from the 2011 EICMA show, and found these shots of the Ducati 1199 Panigale’s Superquadro engine. Unfortunately at the show, Ducati had its 1199cc v-twin motor behind a Lexan case, which created a bit of a glare, reflections, and of course had smudges from the touchy-feely Italian crowd. But still, the photos give a good idea of what’s going on in Ducati’s most-advanced production engine to date, and are better than just looking at the CAD renders. If you look at the shots very closely, you can almost see where the 195hp and 98 lbs•ft of torque is lurking inside.

AGV, Please Make This Helmet!

In addition to testing the factory Ducati Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” this week at Sepang, Valentino Rossi is also trying out a new lid from AGV. Aside from the carbon fiber goodness, and of course the Rossi stickers (which add 5hp & $200), AGV’s prototype helmet sports a noticably pronounced rear spoiler. Tucked in behind the windscreen, it is obvious why the Italian helmet manufacturer designed such a large protrusion off the back of the prototype helmet, as it looks to be clearly helping the flow off the back of the helmet, across the rider’s hump, and down his backside.

2012 Honda RC213V Debuts in Malaysia

While Ducati Corse is busy playing hide-the-Desmosedici at Sepang, HRC is all business in Malaysia this week, and has debuted its 2012 Honda RC213V MotoGP-contender. Honda isn’t saying too much about the RC213V, simply stating that the race bike is all new, but is also a continuation of the company’s design with the 800cc Honda RC212V. Testing the Honda RC213V over the course of last season, reigning-World Champion Casey rode the new 1,000cc machine three times in 2011, while teammate Dani Pedrosa swung a leg over the RC213V twice (missing one test because of injury).

No, This is the “90%” New Ducati Desmosedici GP12

You may have been misled by some eager journalists today and yesterday, if you saw a Ducati Corse livery-clad Ducati Desmosedici GP12 that some sites were passing off as the first shots of the “90% new” GP12. With the alleged new GP12 looking surprisingly similar to the aluminum-framed “GP0″ that was tested at Valencia, Valentino Rossi’s mechanic has now Alex Briggs confirmed that the photos taken were not of the all new “GP12 Phoenix” that the factory team will race this season. While the Ducati lords can taketh away, they can also giveth, and Valentino Rossi himself has posted the first photo of the factory Desmosedici GP12, and the bike is clearly different.

Zero Motorcycles Commences 2012 Model Line Production

Zero Motorcycles has announced the full-commencement of production for its 2012 model line, which is expected to hit dealers in February & March of this year. First off the line was the 2012 Zero DS back in December, though the electric motorcycle company has recently started building the Zero S, Zero XU, Zero X, and Zero MX at its Scotts Valley facility as well. A story we broke back in November, Zero Motorcycles debuted its important 2012 electric motorcycle line up at the 2011 EICMA show in Milan, with the 2012 range being a substantial improvement upon the company’s previous offerings.

The Dainese D-Air Racing Airbag Suit Comes to America

Getting a look at Dainese & AGV’s 2012 collection, Asphalt & Rubber was down in Orange County earlier this week to see the highly anticipated Dainese D-Air Racing leather suit, which has a four liter airbag system that helps reduce the risk of injury during a motorcycle crash. Dainese has been working on the D-Air Racing system for 10 years now, and after soft-launching the airbag suit in Europe, the Italian company is ready to bring the game-changing technology to American soil.

I Love the Nightlife. I’ve Come to Boogie.

Us Danes, we’re a strange breed. From the culture that taught you how to rape and pillage, Scandinavia is making yet another contribution to the motorcycling world with this latest video. Featuring Danish Supermoto Champion Andreas Mikkelsen, we get a RoToR camera-esque perspective (this rig is actually home made) on the Dane’s practice session at the Als Supermotard Club in Denmark. It’s videos like this that are slowly eroding my will-power to resist getting into supermotard riding. Also, I don’t know who was in charge of the music selection on this thing, but my hat is off to him/her. I love the nightlife. I’ve come to boogie.

Confirmed: KTM 350 Duke in 2013 – Moto3 Inspired 350cc Sport Bike in 2014

Our friends over at IndianCarsBikes.in were in attendance at the KTM 200 Duke launch in India this week, as the Austrian brand launched its somewhat bigger-displacement version of the popular KTM Duke 125. During the press event, KTM talked about the future of the mini-Duke line and its product roadmap for the emerging country, as well as abroad. With the Austrian brand confirming/clarifying that KTM would release a KTM 350 Duke for India in 2013, zie Austrians also confirmed that the KTM 350 Duke would be built locally in India by Bajaj, but would be exported worldwide — allaying fears that the KTM 350 Duke would be an India-only model.

Alpinestars Tech Air Race – A Smart Airbag for Your Collarbone and Neck

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Fri, April 30th, 2010 @ 1:04 pm, by Jenny Gun5 COMMENTS
Home » News » Alpinestars Tech Air Race – A Smart Airbag for Your Collarbone and Neck

Motorcycle safety technology has clearly entered a new phase of development with airbag systems being pursued by a variety of apparel manufacturers. The latest company to enhance it’s riding suits with the technology is Alpinestars, purveyor of fine jackets, gloves, boots, etc. Alpinestars’ airbag system, dubbed the Tech Air Race, the system easily integrates into what the company calls the Electronic Airbag Protection Suit. The two components combined create a leather racing suit that can calculate in eight milliseconds whether a rider is crashing, and if so, deploy a pair of airbags that protects the rider’s body.

Alpinestars has five levels of computer algorithms and seven sensors that determine the various criteria that assure when a rider is crashing, and whether to deploy the airbag system. All these calculations take 8ms to run, and the system itself takes only 50ms to fully inflate the airbags once they’re triggered. The bags stay inflated for five seconds after the deployment, take 25 seconds to fully deflate, and can be ready to fire again in a minute’s time. This allows a fallen rider to remount their bike, and continue racing while still having airbag protection.

The Tech Air Race is designed to help protect the shoulder (collarbone) and neck of the rider, leaving the rider’s helmet and back protector to curtail injuries in those regions of the body. With the system easily expandable, it seems that Alpinestars could offer different protection zones with the Tech Air system in the future.

Alpinestars Tech Air Race isn’t quite ready for the mainstream consumer yet though, and Alpinestars plans to have a consumer-ready version (the Tech Air Street?) out by June 2011. Currently, Ben Spies, Mika Kallio and Dani Pedrosa are running the Tech Air Race system in MotoGP, and looking at the feature list, it’s clear this system is intended for the amateur/pro racer, which is readily apparent in the system’s $2500 price tag…suit not included.

At nearly $5,000 out the door, that’s a hefty price tag for the casual street rider, and track day enthusiast. However as the technology improves, and costs come down, we’re more than certain that vital pieces of safety equipment like the Tech Air Race system will become more readily available.

Source: AutoBlog

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Comment:

  1. fazer6 says:
    April 30, 2010 at 3:53 PM

    What’s supposed to be the point of that video, besides feeling bad and awkward for the poor sap standing there looking like a serious tool?

  2. Asphalt_Rubber says:
    April 30, 2010 at 8:04 PM

    Alpinestars Tech Air Race Suit Calculates Airbag Deployment in 8ms – http://bit.ly/bYRTe3 #motorcycle

  3. Sean says:
    April 30, 2010 at 8:47 PM

    “…vital pieces of safety equipment like the Tech Air Race system…”

    Really!? Have you seen some data that youre not telling us about?

  4. CBR600RR 09 says:
    May 2, 2010 at 7:26 PM

    What a fantastic safety device! Soon Insurance companies will be endorsing these and god knows I’ll be wearing one! You can not, CAN NOT put a price on your life and this without a doubt is far superior to your normal leathers!!! Imagine the benefits of sheer impact injuries, the dampening effects, as well as the slow deflation providing a cushion…

    I can not wait till they are released here in Australia, I will be buying one for $5000 come rain, hail and shine!!!

  5. Don Z. says:
    May 4, 2010 at 11:09 AM

    AGATT!! (All the Gear, All The Time!)

    I think this is a great idea. I love the fact that this isn’t a once-and-done system but is reusable.

    I crashed my Monster a couple of years ago and my gear saved my butt, literally. I was a Belstaff (textile) jacket and pants, Oxtar boots, Fieldsheer gloves, and a Skorpion helmet when I crashed at about 35-40 MPH getting onto the interstate. I slid about 40 feet or so (about the width of a 4-lane bridge) and every bit of my gear was destroyed in the process. I walked away with one minor abrasion on my left elbow where my jacket sleeve rode up and the armor exposed a small place that wore through my jacket.

    I know I was lucky, but man was I SORE the week following the crash. Having an airbag system (if not too cumbersome) to protect me sounds like a lifesaver!