Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

In case you missed the story last week, Kevin Schwantz is preparing to race in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race. For the race, Schwantz will be riding on a team formed by Yukio Kagayama, who in addition to having raced in the MotoGP, World Superbike, and British Superbike Championships, is also a previous Suzuka 8-Hour winner with the Suzuki Endurance Race Team (also joining the three-rider team Noriyuki “Nitro” Haga). Releasing a Q&A about his team’s Suzuka 8-Hour entry, Kagayama-san walks us through how the team came together, what equipment the riders will use, and his outlook on the team’s competitiveness.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4. Using the KTM 690 Duke platform and its LC4 engine, Bar has designed a super-single full-fairing sport bike that takes the Austrian company’s “Ready to Race” DNA and applies it to an idea that is not all that disimilar to the Ducati Supermono.

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.

2013 WSBK Official Phillip Island Test Day 1 Times: Camier Impresses ahead of Haslam

02/18/2013 @ 12:06 pm, by David Emmett5 COMMENTS

Leon Camier has carried his strong form from last week’s private test at Phillip Island into the official test which started at the circuit on Monday. The FIXI Crescent Suzuki man used a race tire to lap half a second under Max Biaggi’s race lap record, then going on to post a strong race simulation.

The improvements the Crescent Suzuki squad have made, in conjunction with the Japanese Yoshimura company, are clearly paying off, the Suzuki lapping a second quicker than it did at the test last year.

Camier ended the session ahead of Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam, the Ten Kate team well on their way to mastering the new HRC electronics, with still some potential left to come. Haslam was within two tenths of Camier, and just a few thousandths behind Michel Fabrizio, the Italian impressing on the Red Devils Roma Aprilia.

The Italian privateer put his Aprilia RSV4 ahead of the factory machine, Eugene Laverty ending the day as 4th quickest, just two tenths off the time of Camier, and ahead of Marco Melandri, though the BMW GoldBet Italia rider is still struggling with his shoulder.

Melandri complained of a lack of strength in the shoulder after just a few laps on the bike, giving the Italian some concern for Sunday’s two WSBK races. A further operation could be needed to his shoulder once he returns to Europe after this weekend’s races.

Carlos Checa posted the 6th fastest time, the Alstare Ducati man the last of the close group stretching from 2nd to 6th. That the brand new Panigale should end the first test within three tenths of the fastest man is promising, given the fact that both Ducati men missed the private test, Checa due to illness and teammate Ayrton Badovini due to a massive crash. Badovini is also skipping this test, still resting from the huge highside he had at Lukey Heights.

Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Fixi Suzuki’s Jules Cluzel also ended last week’s private test badly banged up, Sykes having fractured the radius bone in his left wrist, while Cluzel has a very painful elbow from his crash. Both men got out and lapped, though both were clearly suffering. Sykes ended the day as 10th fastest, while Cluzel was 14th quickest on the first day of testing.

Testing concludes tomorrow, ahead of this weekend’s opening round of World Superbikes as the Australian circuit.

Official Times from the 2013 World Superbike Pre-Season Test at Phillip Island — Day 1:

Pos	No	Rider	Team/Bike	Time	Diff	Prev.
1	2	Leon Camier	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:31.243	-	-
2	91	Leon Haslam	Honda CBR1000RR	1:31.396	0.153	0.153
3	84	Michel Fabrizio	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1:31.401	0.158	0.005
4	58	Eugene Laverty	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1:31.452	0.209	0.051
5	33	Marco Melandri	BMW S1000 RR	1:31.485	0.242	0.033
6	7	Carlos Checa	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:31.523	0.280	0.038
7	34	Davide Giugliano	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1:31.701	0.458	0.178
8	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1:31.966	0.723	0.265
9	65	Jonathan Rea	Honda CBR1000RR	1:31.980	0.737	0.014
10	66	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:32.061	0.818	0.081
11	19	Chaz Davies	BMW S1000 RR	1:32.077	0.834	0.016
12	21	Jamie Stauffer	Honda CBR1000RR	1:32.231	0.988	0.154
13	18	Ivan Clementi	BMW S1000 RR	1:32.789	1.546	0.558
14	16	Jules Cluzel	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:32.817	1.574	0.028
15	31	Vittorio Iannuzzo	BMW S1000 RR	1:33.162	1.919	0.345
16	27	Max Neukirchner	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:33.541	2.298	0.379
17	76	Loris Baz	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:33.628	2.385	0.087
18	14	Glen Allerton	BMW S1000 RR	1:34.009	2.766	0.381
19	23	Federico Sandi	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:34.094	2.851	0.085
20	5	Alexander Lundh	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:34.612	3.369	0.518

Lap records:

Pole record	2011	Carlos Checa	Ducati 1098 R	1:30.882
Lap record	2012	Max Biaggi	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1:31.785

Photo: Ducati Alstare

This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.

Comment:

Afletra says:
February 18, 2013 at 1:16 PM
Still…no R1 :(
Bryan Niese says:
February 18, 2013 at 4:16 PM
Wow, Suzuki is taking their racing seriously again! Hopefully dropping the automotive branch of the company will allow them to be re-focused and bring new life back into their company.
Bryan Niese says:
February 18, 2013 at 4:35 PM
As for the R1, it seems that Yamaha is reloading right now and preparing to switch to three cylinders very soon. Sport Rider has a very interesting interview in their newest issue (April) with Kunihiko Miwa. He confirmed that they were looking for a rules change to allow for a three cylinder to be greater than 1000cc. Yamaha will be back soon enough :)
Jensen Beeler says:
February 18, 2013 at 5:33 PM
There is very little Suzuki in the Fixi Crescent Suzuki team — Yoshimura is doing most of the development work. Suzuki dropping their automotive business in the US doesn’t affect WSBK one iota.
Aj says:
February 19, 2013 at 6:59 AM
So, I did a quick check. Last year, the Ducati MotoGp bike was running 1:32′s at Phillip Island. Rossi qualified 8th with a 1’31.661. Checa and the Panigale have now tested faster than Rossi qualifying on the motogp bike. Seriously, do you need to be an engineer to figure out that they should throw the motogp bike in the trash and build off the Panigale design? I wouldn’t be surprised if you shove the V4 into a Panigale frame and end up with a better bike than what they have now.

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