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.

Why Today is the Most Important Day for Ducati…Ever

Now that the first Ducati 1199 Panigale has rolled out of the door in Bologna, the die is cast, the chips are in play, and our course is set to see if Ducati has created a “massive breach of brand trust and honesty.” The realization of course should be that Ducati’s brand was never in danger with bikes like the Hypermotard, Multistrada 1200, or Diavel. Instead, the danger of serious brand dilution has always rested on how Ducati handled its Superbike line. A failure to produce a two-wheeled machine that is both as striking visually as it is kinetically, could permanently alienate a loyal fan base that has endured a great deal in the past half-decade.

All You Need to Know About TTXGP at Infineon – Mission: Out – MotoCzysz: Out – Brammo: Doubtful

Sat, May 1st, 2010 @ 12:46 pm, by Jensen Beeler5 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » All You Need to Know About TTXGP at Infineon – Mission: Out – MotoCzysz: Out – Brammo: Doubtful

Even though the official TTXGP entry list isn’t due to be out until Monday morning, Asphalt & Rubber has been working hard to find out what electric motorcycle manufacturers would be at Infineon for the first round of TTXGP. We already expect Zero to show up on something that doesn’t rhyme with Ravizen, but what about Mission Motors, MotoCzysz, and Brammo? The answer to that question would be: no, no, and maybe…but probably not.

Even though Mission Motors tested their Mission One at Infineon, and signed early in the silly season to ride exclusivily with TTXGP, the San Franciscan company is going to be a no-show at Infineon. Citing their focus on getting the Mission One into production, it looks like we won’t see Mission at many races as the company balances priorities. The good news though is that Mission has tipped us off that they wil be debuting a new race bike later in the season. Mission Motors would neither confirm nor deny that the new race bike would be based off their second-generation street bike, which we’ve dubbed the “Mission Two”. More on this as we get it.

An additional no-show at Infineon will be MotoCzysz, which is blaming Infineon’s race date as being to close to the team’s ship date for TT Zero, the Isle of Man TT’s zero-emission race that sarts June 1st. TTXGP has been purposefully scheduling events on top of other competing racing events, TT Zero being just one of these instances.

Brammo is the only remaining question mark from the big electric four, and the only company that hasn’t made it’s racing intentions clear. The Ashland, Oregon company, the last time we talked to them, was indecisive about racing this season, and with zero time left on pulling the trigger for Infineon, we’re not expecting a Brammo (or Best Buy) tent at the Sonoma track.

While each team has their reasons to obstain from what was expected to be one of only a few gatherings of competitive teams in electric motorcycle racing, we think the final reason comes down to time and money, commodities all startups are in short supply of. This development does bring into question if it’s too soon for a full-blown electric motorcycle racing series, and whether or not the current situation is encouraging growth in the industry, and putting this budding sport in a positive light.

As we like to say here, only time will tell.

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Tagged under: Brammo, electric, electric racing, Mission Motors, Motoczysz

Comment:

KLS says:
May 1, 2010 at 4:13 PM
“…whether or not the current situation is encouraging growth in the industry, and putting this budding sport in a positive light.”
For an industry to grow there has to be consumption. Electric bikes have been around for decades and it was past time for something to prompt their production and innovation. The best way to do so is racing–at least when it comes to our two-wheeled sports.
Every motorcyclist I know thinks of themselves as more creative, more innovative, and more forward-thinking than car drivers. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t be riding! As such, I know that electric racing is pushing the envelope of technology and setbacks are bound to happen. We don’t have car executives building these racebikes, we have engineers. Engineers make progress by trying stuff and improving what breaks. It’s not pretty to watch but as a result we have a whole new type of competition in racing. When was the last time that happened in >>any<< motorsport?
Asphalt_Rubber says:
May 1, 2010 at 7:46 PM
All You Need to Know About TTXGP at Infineon – Mission: Out – MotoCzysz: Out – Brammo: Doubtful – http://bit.ly/9284OF #motorcycle
Brammofan says:
May 2, 2010 at 3:50 AM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: All You Need to Know About TTXGP at Infineon – Mission: Out – MotoCzysz: Out – Brammo: Doubtful – http://bit.ly/9284OF
skadamo says:
May 3, 2010 at 2:42 PM
RT @torkindia @Asphalt_Rubber All You Need to Know About TTXGP at Infineon Mission: Out MotoCzysz: Out Brammo: Doubt.. http://bit.ly/9284OF.
Odie says:
May 5, 2010 at 5:02 PM
As much as I would like to see electric bike racing, it seems to me the electric bike industry just isn’t quite ready yet. I also think the racing is too fractured.
A number of years ago, there was a huge push for fuel cell engines for cars. People touted it as THE solution for the next generation of car power. It turned out to be a lot harder than anyone anticipated and a lot of promises were made that could not be filled and the whole movement pretty much stopped dead in it’s tracks.
I just hope that this doesn’t happen to electric bikes. I thought TTXGP on the Isle of Man was a good start, but a full season of events maybe too much for these fledgling companies to pull off if they want to make and, most importantly, sell electric bikes.