PPIHC: Carlin Dunne Sets Outright Best Motorcycle Time at Pikes Peak Tire Test on a Lightning Motorcycle

The competitors for the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb have just concluded a two-day tire test at the Colorado road course, and it should perhaps come as no surprise that our boy Carlin Dunne has posted the outright fastest lap for a motorcycle during the tire test (the Santa Barbara native set the outright two-wheeled course record last year on his Ducati Multistrada 1200 S). What is surprising about Carlin’s result at the tire test is that he was on the Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike. That’s right, the fastest bike so far for 2013′s Race to the Clouds is a 200+ hp electric superbike that is refueled with solar energy. Petrol heads, eat your heart out.

Report: Indianapolis “Opting-Out” of 2014 MotoGP Race?

Talking to the Indy Star, Mark Miles (CEO of Hulman & Co, the parent company to Indianapolis Motor Speedway) has put some doubt into the historic venue’s commitment to host the MotoGP Championship. Having a contract to run the race through the 2014 season, Miles said that IMS might opt-out of the final year in its agreement with Dorna (IMS apparently has this option for a brief window after the 2013 Indianapolis GP). However while the news has focused so far on IMS’s ability to opt-out, both Dorna and Indianapolis Motor Speedway have options in their contract to go through with the 2014 round, and with a bevy of variables in the air, we may or may not see three American GP rounds next year.

2014 Yamaha FZ-09 – Three Cylinders of Naked

Surprise! America will be getting a 847cc three-cylinder naked bike for the 2014 model year, the 2014 Yamaha FZ-09. Replacing the Yamaha FZ8 in the Japanese company’s line-up, the FZ-09 is the first motorcycle from the tuning fork brand to sport the Yamaha’s new line of three-cylinder engines. The Yamaha FZ-09 comes about as the MIC is reporting its second-consecutive year of growth in the 751+cc sport bike segment, as well as increase in commuter riding over short-distance sport riding. With those trends in mind, Yamaha has punched out the displacement on its middleweight naked bike, and focused on giving riders a comfortable, yet stout, motorcycle. Priced at $7,990 MSRP, we think Yamaha hit the nail pretty much on the head with this one.

Trackside Tuesday: The Mind-Killer

In the past few years I’ve come to believe that, while superior physical differences (their reflexes and fine motor skills) are significant, it’s the mental differences that are the most interesting. I suppose anyone who has ridden a motorcycle even a bit beyond one’s comfort zone can appreciate some part of the physical aspect of riding a racing bike. For most of us, even the speed of racers in local events is impressive compared to our street riding. While the skills with throttle, brakes, and balance are on a level similar to the best athletes in other sports, I think that what really sets motorcycle racers apart is their ability to overcome fear.

Video: Still Think Electric Motorcycles Are Slow?

The progress in the last five years on electric motorcycles has been astounding. Taking their first laps around the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, a 87.434 mph pace was the best an electric motorcycle could do at the prestigious road race in 2009 — a pace that was on par with the 50cc record set in 1971. In just five years after the first laps were taken by electric motorcycles at Snaefell, these machines have grown their average lap speeds by over 20 mph at the TT Zero race, setting a new record of 109.675 mph in 2013, and boasting a rate of improvement of roughly 5 mph each year since 2009. If hitting 142.2 mph down the Sulby Straight speed trap wasn’t further proof of the speeds these bikes are achieving, maybe some visual evidence will help support the notion.

Here’s Your Feel Good Moment of the Week — Now, What’s Your Excuse for Not Riding Today?

Darius Glover is a dirt bike racer. Like you and me, he lives to ride, and when he is on two-wheels he feels the freedom that only other motorcyclists can truly understand. The thing is though, Darius is paralyzed from the waist down. Where others would give up their dreams and this sport, Darius at the age of 15 instead pushed onward. No pity parties, no excuses, just simply a daily example of where there is a will, there is a way, and a reminder that you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. It’s hard not to get a bit choked up listening to Darius tell his story, but you walk away feeling uplifted after feeling his attitude come across the screen.

Erzberg Rodeo – Red Bull’s S&M Playhouse for Motorcycles

Any race where 1,500 riders start, 500 qualify, and only 14 finish, has got to be an epic competition, and considering the fact that the Erzberg Rodeo starts in the excavation pit of an Austrian mine…well, it takes a special rider to be enticed by such an event. One such special rider is Graham Jarvis, who was the first of the fourteen men to reach the 20th and final checkpoint. Taking 2 hours and 52 seconds to complete the course, Jarvis made the 2013 Erzberg Rodeo look downright easy. However, with one look at the race-day conditions from this past weekend, we know it was anything but.

Controlling the Uncontrollable – The Role of Ritual in Racing

While normally, MotoGP fans never get enough of seeing Valentino Rossi on TV, there is one shot they would (for the most part) gladly be spared. As he leaves the pits, Rossi stands on the footpegs, and pulls his leathers from between his buttocks, before sitting back down again and leaving. These rituals – part useful limbering up, part invocation of Lady Luck – are something many riders perform, in their attempt to exert control over themselves, and over their environment. In a fascinating press release – by far the most interesting we have received in many months – the Aspar team today provided a discussion and explanation of what riders are trying to achieve through the use of these rituals.

Up-Close with the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc

Hoping to make it four wins in a row, it goes without saying that the MotoCzysz crew is working hard to close the gap to the John McGuinness and the Mugen team. However, having Team Principal Michael Czysz stuck back in the US, undergoing cancer treatments, must certainly add another level of motivation for the on-island MotoCzysz crew. Making time in their busy schedule, Asphalt & Rubber got to take some up-close photos of the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc. The most obvious changes made to the MotoCzysz E1pc for the 2013 TT Zero race are the use conventional suspension pieces. Of course, it’s not a completely standard suspension setup, as MotoCzysz has developed its own adjustable triple clamp that incorporates tunable lateral flex parameters.

MotoGP: Max Biaggi To Test Ben Spies’s Ducati at Mugello, Michele Pirro To Replace Spies at Barcelona

Max Biaggi is to make a surprise return to riding a MotoGP machine. The former 250 and World Superbike champion will take a seat on Ben Spies’ Ignite Pramac Ducati as part of a one-day test at Mugello, as part of Ducati’s testing program, according to Italian site GPOne. Spies was scheduled to stay on at Mugello to take part in a two-day test, but after the first day of practice at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it was clear to both Spies and Ducati that his shoulder was still too weak to ride a MotoGP machine. With work continuing on the Desmosedici, it was important for Ducati to get as much data as possible on their bike, and so Biaggi was offered the chance to ride the machine.

Ducati Corse Testing a New Engine at Mugello Next Week

06/17/2012 @ 2:40 am, by David Emmett9 COMMENTS

Ducati is to test the latest version of their Desmosedici GP12 engine next week at Mugello. Ducati team manager Vitto Guareschi said that Franco Battaini is to start testing the bike, complete with the new engine, next week, in preparation for handing the machine over to Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi for a final test on the Monday after the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. If that test is successful, then both factory Ducati riders will have the new engine available as part of their allocation from Laguna Seca, the race directly after Mugello.

Much rides on the new engine: Valentino Rossi has repeatedly expressed his hopes that the improvements the new engine should offer will allow him to make a big step towards closing the gap with the front-runners. That improvement should come from improved driveability, the main focus of development for Filippo Preziosi and the Ducati Corse department.

“The aim is to improve the first touch of the throttle,” Guareschi said, the area in which the Ducati has suffered the most. “Driveability is very important for the 1000′s, even more so than the 800′s,” Guareschi added. “The 1000′s have much more torque than the 800s, which makes it harder for the rider to use the power.”

Though Guareschi would not be drawn on the exact changes to the engine, it would not be radically different to the existing power plant, Guareschi said. Contrary to expectations, the layout of the engine would remain unchanged.

“The hardware looks the same,” Guareschi said. The reason for not radically revising the engine layout was because Ducati Corse was still gathering data, and the information from the new engine would give them more data to work with. “We want to understand what we need before making a big change,” Guareschi said.

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

Tagged under: Desmosedici GP12, Ducati, Ducati Corse, Ducati Demosedici GP12, engine, GP12, MotoGP, motor, Nicky Hayden, Valentino Rossi

Comment:

Leo says:
June 17, 2012 at 3:38 AM
“We want to understand what we need before making a big change,” Guareschi said…..
Simple….a better rider!
shallwedance? says:
June 17, 2012 at 6:37 AM
75°
dc4go says:
June 17, 2012 at 2:03 PM
Ducati should give up on the Aluminum frame and bring back the Trellis frame with a smoother less peaky motor…. Make the bike less stiff and more ridable..
johnjenin says:
June 17, 2012 at 11:59 PM
Leo, the main problem its not the “rider”, but the bike itself….ducati should find the way to resolve front end problem’s.
Leo says:
June 18, 2012 at 4:39 AM
@dc4go I agree about the trellis frame…
@johnjenin resolve the front end and it helps to have a rider WILLING to push..
Halfie 30 says:
June 18, 2012 at 7:30 AM
@Leo. We all know how Hayden rides. They had a rider “pushing” the bike. The engineering crew need to respond to feed back instead of being convinced their design is flawless out of the gate.
Neil says:
June 18, 2012 at 9:16 AM
@ Leo
The rider is not the problem, both Nicky and Vale ride the pants off that Desmo….remember Stoner was on a different version of that bike, (and he still had problems) managing the power to the ground (smoother) without eating the tires I would say is the biggest problem right now after watching Silverstone (with Nicky)….he had early pace but lost grip as the race went on, shame…
Leo says:
June 18, 2012 at 9:20 PM
@Neil and Halfie I agree to a point but a Factory Duc finishing behind a customer bike at any race is not Pushing. I hope the rumor mill pans out and Crutchlow takes the Duc seat.. Then (i think) we shall see the power of Rider over Bike.. Like Mind over Matter..
If (and when) it works for Cal then the Goat will trully fade into history as he seems now to be relegated.
No offense against Nicky but he’s a one time one hit wonder champion. He got lucky but he’s not and never was an Alien quality rider. That’s just the truth.
Looking forward to Rossi vs Biaggi in WSBK… and Hayden vs Spies in AMA
Neil says:
June 19, 2012 at 7:16 AM
Rumors ??? lol
And you didn’t factor Bayliss in there anywhere ???

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