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.

John Hopkins Confirmed for AMA with M4 Suzuki

01/30/2010 @ 6:10 pm, by Jensen Beeler7 COMMENTS

John Hopkins Confirmed for AMA with M4 Suzuki John Hopkins M4 Suzuki 2 560x372

We can finally retire the Hoppergate tag (saying this pretty much assures its continued use unfortunately), M4 Suzuki has issued a press release that confirms what Asphalt & Rubber already knew (hat tip to The Sparrow), John Hopkins will be riding in the AMA American Superbike team with Team Hammer. This news comes despite the fact that FB Corse has repeatedly insisted that the American rider was committed to them for the 2010 season, and they now chastise Hopper for backing out of the team at the last minute.

Despite the back and forth that has occurred over Hopper’s future racing plans, American fans will be delighted to see one of the country’s greatest riding talents riding back in the ol’ US of A. Even though the AMA Pro Racing series is a bit of a mess right now, Hopper is looking forward to joining the team that helped him launch his motorcycle racing career. He was quoted as saying:

“I’m really excited to be working with the team and (team owner) John Ulrich again. We had a lot of success when I raced with them at the beginning of my career and I’d like to thank Monster, M4 and all the rest of our sponsors for making it happen. I’m also happy to be back on a Suzuki motorcycle again. I’m feeling healthier than I have in a long time. I think my fitness level is up there with the way it was in 2007 and I’m looking forward to getting out there on the track and enjoying racing again. I have the chance to ride the bike a little bit today at a Fastrack Riders track day at Fontana and I’m really pleased. It is just a shakedown test but the bike feels really comfortable to me. My goals are to learn the bike and the tracks, have a healthy season, perform to the best of my ability, and see where that leaves us in the championship. I’m really happy to have a ride with a great team and be healthy again and I’m looking forward to having a good season.”

Team Hammer is equally excited to have Hopper back on the squad, as he will surely bring a level of talent back to the racing series that is devoid of such names as Mladin, Spies, and DiSalvo. ”I have full confidence in John Hopkins and his abilities,” said Team Hammer owner John Ulrich. “I really enjoyed working with John before, and I’m really looking forward to working with him again. There is no doubt in my mind that he knows how to ride a motorcycle, and now at age 26 he’s got seven years of Grand Prix experience under his belt.

Ulrich, owner of RoadRacing World went on to say that he is “proud to welcome John Hopkins and his family back to the AMA Pro paddock and I am very excited to be fielding John in the AMA Pro Racing National Guard American Superbike Championship. With the combination of Martin Cardenas and John Hopkins on M4 Suzukis, we have an exciting opportunity to make great things happen in 2010.”

Source: M4 Suzuki aka Team Hammer

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. John Hopkins to World Superbike with Crescent Suzuki
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  3. WSBK: John Hopkins Will Return at Miller Motorsports Park

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Comment:

  1. Asphalt_Rubber says:
    January 31, 2010 at 2:10 AM

    John Hopkins Confirmed for AMA with M4 Suzuki – http://bit.ly/9cEy5d #motorcycle

  2. Mak says:
    January 31, 2010 at 5:44 AM

    While your mother was crying “oh, isn’t true, my son wants to be in Motogp with FB, please don’t believe about USA magazines and websites…”, they were painting the bike with Monster’s logo.
    Very good Mister Hopper, very good, a great man.

  3. Dan says:
    January 31, 2010 at 12:50 PM

    The US series needs some star power and this is great. Now if Colin Edwards comes back to race in a year or two, Miguel gets a ride, Nicky can’t get a ride and goes AMA, Kenny Roberts (Sr.!) comes out of retirement….this series is making a comeback!

  4. Fearnow says:
    January 31, 2010 at 7:56 PM

    I wish Hopper the best, but will I live long enough to not see the ‘tempest in a teacup of the week’ suffixed with ‘gate’?

    Its the name of a gorramm hotel, not a codeword for All Things Nasty.

    ends rant

  5. mafiax says:
    February 2, 2010 at 6:25 AM

    RT @Asphalt_Rubber: John Hopkins Confirmed for AMA with M4 Suzuki http://bit.ly/9cEy5d

  6. hopper says:
    February 4, 2010 at 1:16 AM

    All right, Hopper ! I’m glad you’ll be on the circuit again… I can’t wait to see you race on that Suzuki !

  7. Jenny Gun says:
    February 7, 2010 at 3:22 PM

    test