Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

When I sat down with Claudio Domenicali at the Ducati 1199 Panigale R launch, the now-CEO of Ducati Motor Holding was still just the General Manager of the Italian motorcycle company. Four weeks after our interview though, Gabriele del Torchio would leave Ducati for Alitalia; and Domenicali, a 21-year veteran of both the racing and production departments of Ducati, would take his place at the top of Italy’s most prestigious motorcycle brand. After reading our interview from Austin, Texas after the jump, I think you will agree too.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

That Yamaha is working on a seamless gearbox is no secret, with Yamaha’s test riders currently racking up the kilometers around tracks in Japan. Recently, however, Spanish magazine SoloMoto published an article suggesting that Yamaha has already been using its new seamless gearbox since the beginning of the season. My own enquiries to check whether Yamaha was using a seamless gearbox or not always received the same answer: no, Yamaha is not using the seamless gearbox. To test this denial, I went out to the side of the track on Friday morning at Jerez to record the bikes as they went by.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

After a very public father/son break-up between Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., a steroid-ring scandal involving Paul Sr., and finally a bankruptcy proceeding, it appears that Orange County Choppers is the impossible to kill multi-headed hydra of doom that we all knew it was, as the custom chopper shop is once again headed to the small screen and recruiting some talent, on and off the show. Looking for “someone who will work alongside Paul Senior, running the shop and helping build some of the best custom motorcycles in the world,” OCC says it will be back on television with a new show later this month. Please for the love of god, will someone give this man the attention he craves so dearly??! Or, just shoot us in the face.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

We love us some concept bikes here at Asphalt & Rubber, and we have featured more than a few pieces of stunning design and imagination on our pages. Though, we can’t remember the last time one of these works of art were brought to us by a legitimate racing team, but that is what we have here with the Team Alstare Superbike Concept. A nod to the former Suzuki team’s return to the World Superbike Championship as the Ducati factory squad with Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, Alstare has enlisted the help of designer Serge Rusak of Rusak Kreaktive Designworks to ink the shape of its futuristic Superbike concept, while Tryptik Studios handled the 3D modeling prowess.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

If you didn’t watch Thursday’s pre-event press conference for MotoGP at Jerez, it is worth a viewing right to the end (assuming you have a MotoGP.com account). Building off the news about the NBA’s Jason Collins coming out as gay in a self-written feature in Sport Illustrated, my good colleague David Emmett had the courage to inquire about the culture and acceptance of the MotoGP paddock for homosexual riders. For the sake of accuracy, after the jump is a full transcript of David’s question, as put to riders Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl, and Scott Redding, as well as those riders’ responses to David’s inquiry.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

News that Suzuki plans on returning to the MotoGP Championship in 2014 should be old information for dedicated Asphalt & Rubber readers, and the Japanese company’s inline-four race bike was already spotted doing test laps last year by the eager eyes at Cycle World. Well the American print-mag has another set of eyebrow-raising high-quality photos of the 2014 Suzuki GSV-R to mull over from the Motegi race track, along with some technical insights provided by the venerable Kevin Cameron.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.

Öhlins Releases a Semi-Active Suspension Upgrade for the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S – But, What’s Next?

An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.

Up-Close with the 2013 Yamaha YZR-M1

In case you missed our exhaustive coverage of the Grand Prix of the Americas, those fools at Dorna gave me pit lane access this MotoGP season. So while the whole paddock waits for the Spaniards to come to their senses, I don’t plan on wasting the opportunity to share with our readers our extreme access to motorcycling’s premier racing class. Accordingly, here comes another installment into our ever-continuing “Up-Close” series, featuring the very finest Iwata has to offer: the Yamaha YZR-M1. Thirty 2000px-wide photos are waiting for you after the jump.

FIM Releases 2011 WSBK Entry List, Begins Official Testing

01/26/2011 @ 9:19 am, by Victoria Reid1 COMMENT

FIM Releases 2011 WSBK Entry List, Begins Official Testing WSBK provisional entry list1 635x331

The FIM released the provisional 2011 World Superbike entry list just days before the first official test of the season kicked off in Portugal this morning. Twenty riders are entered for the entire season, with Team Pedercini yet to finalize their second rider. Five Britons, five Italians, three Spaniards, two Australians, two Frenchmen, one Japanese, one Irish, and one Czech rider are currently entered for the thirteen rounds in the WSBK championship.

Only the Kawasaki factory team has three riders, with Yamaha, Honda, Aprilia, and BMW all fielding two factory riders. Suzuki has only one factory rider and no satellite teams. Ducati has provided no factory support, though two single rider squads and Team Effenbert – Liberty Racing’s two rider team will race on the Italian machinery. Honda has no satellite teams, while BMW has a one step-down factory based squad in Italy. Noriyuki Haga will appear on the single non-factory Aprilia. Kawasaki has entered the larges effort of the manufacturers, though satellite Team Pedercini is still waiting on Gabor Talmacsi and has entered Bryan Staring as a wildcard for season-opener Phillip Island. Roberto Rolfo has long been signed to the team for this season.

Today is the first chance for the various riders and teams to see each other in action. While some have run off to the far corners of the globe for private tests, all but the factory BMW team with Troy Corser and Leon Haslam are in Portugal for the official Infront Motor Sports test. Max Biaggi is looking to keep his championship crown while Haga has already begun a war of words, while sitting on his on Aprilia in Italy.  Two times champion James Toseland is back for a second season after a sojourn to MotoGP, though this time on the Italian BMW squad. He partners rookie Ayrton Badovini. Fellow WSS rider turned WSBK rookie Eugene Laverty has parlayed his success into a Yamaha factory ride, where he can pick up tips from veteran and now former MotoGP rider Marco Melandri.

Johathan Rea and Reuben Xaus have a championship team name on their sides for 2011 with the return of the Castrol Honda name, but they remain part of recent WSBK stalwart team Ten Kate. Part of the mighty Kawasaki wave this season, Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz partner with the still-recovering Chris Vermeulen. Carlos Checa is riding for Althea Racing, which has become the de facto Ducati factory team. Maxime Berger will contest his maiden WSBK season for Supersonci Racing Team, the other single-rider Ducati team.

No.RiderTeam
2Leon CamierAprilia Alitalia Racing Team
3Max BiaggiAprilia Alitalia Racing Team
4Jonathan ReaCastrol Honda
7Carlos ChecaAlthea Racing (Ducati)
11Troy CorserBMW Motorrad Motorsport
17Joan LascorzKawasaki Racing Team Superbike
33Marco MelandriYamaha World Superbike Team
41Noriyuki HagaPATA Racing Team Aprilia
44Roberto RolfoTeam Pedercini (Kawasaki)
50Sylvain GuintoliTeam Effenbert – Liberty Racing (Ducati)
52James ToselandBMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team
58Eugene LavertyYamaha World Superbike Team
66Tom SykesKawasaki Racing Team Superbike
77Chris VermeulenKawasaki Racing Team Superbike
84Michel FabrizioTeam Suzuki Alstare
86Ayrton BadoviniBMW Motorrad Italia SBK Team
91Leon HaslamBMW Motorrad Motorsport
96Jakub SmrzTeam Effenbert – Liberty Racing (Ducati)
111Reuben XausCastrol Honda
121Maxime BergerSupersonic Racing Team
TBATBATeam Pedercini (Kawasaki)

Source: FIM

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. WSBK: Unfamiliar Names Thrill During Race 1 at Misano
  2. WSBK: “Wet” Superpole Qualifying at Assen
  3. WSBK: Sykes Fastest at Phillip Island Official Testing

Tagged under: , , , , , ,

Comment:

  1. actionsportsconnectn says:
    January 26, 2011 at 5:23 PM

    RT "@Asphalt_Rubber: FIM Releases 2011 WSBK Entry List, Begins Official Testing – http://bit.ly/he4tsb #motorcycle"