Still waiting for an announcement from Ducati that they’ve signed Valentino Rossi? So are we, and as we know now the delay of the worst kept secret in MotoGP is due to a gentleman’s agreement between Ducati & Yamaha. In exchange for delaying the announcement until after the American round at Laguna Seca (now slated for the Monday after racing at Brno), Yamaha is allowing Rossi to test the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 when MotoGP stops at Valencia at the end of the 2010 season.
UPDATE: Ducati will be unveiling to the public its 2011 Ducati 848 Superbike EVO, which will have a $1,000 cheaper “Dark” variant as well.
Get ready Ducatisti, a new Ducati model is coming in two weeks. To be launched at Laguna Seca’s Ducati Island during the GP weekend, Ducati is tight lipped as to what the new model could be. In our invitation to the event, we are told only that the unveiling will be “hosted by four very excited guests to whom this new model means quite a lot.” The unveiling will be at 1pm on Saturday, and we’ll be there with our cameras.
We’ve been expecting an electric sportbike from Brammo for over a month now, getting our first clues from our Bothan spies last week that the bike’s launch was imminent. Now we can officially say that the Brammo Empulse is the latest creation from the Ashland, Portland based Brammo, Inc. Continuing Brammo’s electric motorcycle offering, the Brammo Empulse represents the first production sportbike to be available by consumers. The Empulse comes in three flavors (Brammo Empulse 6.0, Empulse 8.0, & Empulse 10.0) with differing amounts of on-board power each variant.
From the official results of World Superbike’s stop at Brno, the FIM has once again determined that twin-cylinder motorcycles, i.e. Ducatis, will get another minimum weight reduction. Averaging more than a five point deficit over the last three WSBK events (Miller Motorsports Park, Misano, and Brno), WSBK rules require that twins be given another 3kg weight reduction, as the rules have been deemed to “favor” the 1000cc 4-cylinder motorcycles too heavily.
UPDATE: John Paolo Canton, Ducati PR Manager, has responded in the comments that Lock was last spotted slaving away in his office, and it’s business as usual in Ducati North America.
With all the commotion going on today, our last piece of breaking news is the developing shake-up that’s going on at Ducati North America. Presumably involving the departure of Ducati North America CEO Michael Lock, we’ve been told changes at Ducati N.A. are occurring at the highest levels. All day we’ve been unable to reach anyone at Ducati’s Cupertino office, so we cannot confirm the report at this time…hey guys, pick up your phones!
Let’s avoid the the “scoops”, “exclusives”, and “OMG’s”, and just say that Asphalt & Rubber has received word from a trusted source that Valentino Rossi has signed a two-year agreement with Ducati, that’s set to be announced on Monday…and boom goes the dynamite (sorry, we couldn’t resist). The Rossi/Ducati fantasy has been put forth for years, with the fervor on the subject reaching its pinnacle this season, as Ducati reportedly wafted a €15 million salary (almost double Yamaha’s offer) in front of the nine-time World Champion.
It didn’t take long for the other shoe to drop, and now it is official that Casey Stoner will race with HRC in 2011, after it was announced moments ago that the Australian would be leaving the Ducati MotoGP team. Perhaps the most unexpected development in this announcement is HRC’s intentions of keeping both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso for the 2011 season. The likely result of this will be a two-man Repsol Honda team, and a second single-bike team, which is likely to be sponsored by Red Bull.
There’s a lot of pressure on Kawasaki for 2011. Team Green has exited MotoGP, and is completely un-competitive with its ZX-10R in World Superbike and World Superstock 1000. Looking to rectify the situation, Kawasaki has gone back to the drawing board with it’s liter bike offering, and have been testing the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R at Suzuka for the last two days this week. With test riders Hidemichi Takahashi & Akira Yanagawa on-board, we get our first glimpse at the rumored 190hp/190kg Superbike taking laps. Video confirms that a normal firing order is inside the four-cylinder motor (sorry, no cross-plane here), but traction control is rumored to come as a standard option.
Motorcycle upstart Motus Motorcycles continues to press forward with its MST-01 sport-tourer, and has released a video that talks more about the development of their 1645cc gasoline direct-injection V4 motor: the KVM4. Balking at the advice of others not to build their own powerplant, Motus has teamed up with Katech to design an in-house motor for the Motus MST-01.
There’s so many things going on in this video, we’re not certain where to begin. Filmed on Mulholland Highway by the same fine folks who brought us video footage of the guy who crashed in front of a CHP officer, this new saga takes a different approach to riders exceeding their limits on city streets. Take an unsuspecting white Honda Elite scooter, a pair of Crocs shoes, and some invisible knee pucks, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a bizarre Sunday morning lowside that could have been much, much, much worse. While we’ll give bonus points for good dirt-tracking technique, be sure to check the slow-mo footage for the exact moment the rider’s shoes depart humanity, and dive over the cliff.
Maurizio Arrivabene is an idiot. How many of those employees have to muscle a 200+ HP bike around a race track against the skill levels of Rossi & Co? So yeah a “stomach ache” might be a bigger deal than someone sitting in an office talking on the phone all day.
he may have to muscle a 200+ HP bike around against rossi & co, but he’s well compensated for it, probably a tad more than your typical ducati employee. moreover, he’s paid that kind of bank to appear ON the track, ON the bike, not on a fishing vacation while he’s “recovering.” stoner didn’t help himself by making it clear through his comments that he was mostly just unable to muster the mental toughness he’s being paid for. sorry, no pity here. he should apologize to the team, to the investors in his talent as well as the people whose livelihood depends on him getting his head out of his ass and racing.
I love how “armchair” racers like Bill act as if they know exactly what was going on in Stoner’s mind and body. As if they could even hang on to that bike at half speed in perfect health!
Professional motorcycle racers are super-human. They are faster than us mere mortals can ever be and they risk the sanctity of their bodies without fear. These guys break bones and are back on the bike as soon as they can get them wrapped. Casey Stoner is not only a professional motorcycle racer. He’s one of the best and fastest. A “stomach ache” is not going to sideline him. He’s tough as nails and would make Mr. Bill look like a sissy in any activity you care to mention. There was obviously more going on than is being told in the news.
I wish people would put their feet into the other person’s shoes before they’re so quick to judge them.
Stoner can apologize if he wishes, but I think Arrivabene and people like Bill are the ones who should be apologizing. Stoner was sick, too sick to ride. Top-level racers in the championship hunt do not “go on fishing vacations” unless there’s a damn good reason.
You want to insult professional athletes? How about the rookie NFL players coming out of college and refusing to play until they’re paid more money? That’s just one example of many that can be brought out.
Mental toughness my ass. Let’s see you get on the track on that bike with an illness. Those bikes are beasts and are nothing like your cushy little street bike. He obviously knew he’d be a danger to himself and his competitors if he rode while ill.
Give the guy a break. He’s more than proven himself. Think before you talk/write.
Well said Gary ….
I love people like Gary that will defend their idols to no avail. Nobody is questioning the guys skills or how he got there. Obviously he is a great rider or he wouldnt be at this level. It’s also a privledge.
I love the always intelligent arguement of “lets see you get on the bike”… good one…. why dont we all do that. Or why don’t we switch topics to Rookie NFL players… this isn’t espn.com dummy.
The fact is Stoner is and always will be a little b!tch. He has cried at every opportunity when things have not gone his way. Should he apologize? Of course he should apologize… sponsors like Marlboro dump miillions into this sport so that it can exist (and people like you can hang on his nutz)… like it or not. Stoner decided to mail it in this season because of an admitted mental break down. Try doing that at your office/work see how well that goes over.
One thing is certain, we (the public) will never know the truth about his condition. You have to realize that for an elite level athlete to stop the very activity that they are being paid for or have worked their whole career for, there must be a real and good cause (be it mental or physical). Doctors orders boys. And an unfortunate situation for all involved. This kid CAN ride and has tamed the orange beast like no other. Give him his due. Peace.
it’s a disappointment that the response is ad hominem, rather than offering some sort of argument as to why i’m wrong. i never even said i didn’t like stoner. he’s the only guy on the planet, as far as i can tell, that can win on the desmosedici. i also never said that he just had a stomach ache. i think his absence from the grid has very little to do with physical ailment, and very much to do with where his head is, based on his own remarks. i don’t pretend to know what the guy’s dealing with, i can only go on what he says.
but we’re not arguing about his skills, or his fitness (nor mine, for that matter, to the extent you seem to think it relevant), but rather his obligations to his team, sponsors and fans. lest we forget, the rider is but the business end of a whole team of folks whose livelihoods rest at least in part of the performance of the team.
when your rider takes a sabbatical because he’s struggling with his desire for/enjoyment of his sport (again, casey’s remarks), it’s at best a let-down for the team. I’m not questioning his decision to sit out some races (though I bet his team didn’t like seeing the photos of casey fishing, perhaps trying to hook his loss of heart), but I do think he owes something to the team and sponsors. This ain’t a charity; factory GP riders are compensated well enough to be expected to “suck it up” and ride when they don’t want to.
I sincerely hope that this doesn’t damage his career, because he’s an amazing rider (and his success is important to ducati, a small manufacturer competing with giants), but from a business standpoint, it certainly raises questions about the soundness of the investment he represents.
Like every bad horror movie, Stoner sees Rossi behind him every time he looks in the mirror. I love VR46, but that would scramble my eggs as well.