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.

MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya

06/14/2009 @ 7:46 pm, by Jensen Beeler3 COMMENTS

MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya Fiat Yamaha Rossi Lorenzo Catalunya motogp 560x358

With a tenth of a second separating Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi in yesterday’s qualifying, the Catalan GP was shaping up to be a MotoGP race worth watching. Adding to the intrigue was a course that is especially demanding on tires, and a heat wave that was sure to make the rubber selection ever more critical. Bridgestone brought to the track an asymmetrical tire compound that was expected to help teams, but with so many factors going on, race day was bound to get interesting.

The fans at the Circuit de Catalunya were given a treat of a race, that saw two riders battling it out until the very last turn. The end result is a three-way tie in the MotoGP Championship standings, and a season that is really starting to brim with excitement.

With the 90,000 fans in the little town of Montmeló, just outside of Barcelona, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo gridded on the starting line, knowing that only .013 seconds had separated the pair the previous day. With 25 laps to determine who would be the victor, neither rider seemed content to let the other one by without a fight.

The pair was so evenly matched, the only a tenth of a second separated them at the end of the Catalan GP as well.

From the start of the race, it was clear that the front row of the grid would be the only contenders for the lead. For the first 9 laps, Rossi, Lorenzo, and Stoner broke away from the pack, and seemed evenly matched. However, on the tenth lap, Casey Stoner, who was suffering from stomach pain, was not be able to hold onto the Fiat Yamaha pair. Watching the duo slip away, Casey could only sit in third place as a battle to the finish unfolded before him.

With the pair practically next to each other the entire race, Rossi passed Lorenzo early on in the race. By lap 13, Lorenzo returned the favor, squeaking in on the inside of Rossi. Rossi waited until lap 23 to make his next move on Lorenzo, out braking the Spaniard down the front straight. Now in the lead again, Rossi tried to pull away from Lorenzo, but Jorge wasn’t having any of it. Slipping behind the Italian coming down the straight on the very next lap, Lorenzo got around Rossi, and entered into Turn 1 ahead of his teammate.

Neck-and-neck for the next two laps, Lorenzo slammed the door on Rossi in the last lap, but two turns later Rossi gave it another go around, but can’t seem to make the pass stick. With only a few more turns left, it seems Lorenzo might pull off a home town victory. But as the pair enter the last turn, Rossi made one final move around Lorenzo, and the pair drag race it to the finish line. Rossi having just the extra edge from the pass, crossed ahead of Jorge by a margin of only .095 seconds.

Photo Sequence of Rossi’s pass on Lorenzo in the last corner:

Commenting about his victory, Rossi only had this to say:

“In Italian you would just say about that race, ‘Mama Mia!’. This battle with Lorenzo was very, very close. Our two bikes are set-up very well and we had the same pace so I knew we would get to the end of the race like that so it was fantastic.

It was a great race and we know that Lorenzo is very strong, so to try and beat him in the future we have to be at 100%. I’m so happy about today and my 99th GP win. It was so important to take this victory here in Barcelona, more than just the 25 points, because for me, for my team and for the crowd it is just fantastic, so I think the show was unbelievable.”

This was the first time since Estorial in 2006 that a MotoGP race was decided on the last corner, and the 2009 Catalan GP might go down as the best race of the season, if not one of the more important ones standings-wise. Stoner would finish third, but having trouble with his health, would find Andrea Dovizioso trailing him by only .15 seconds.

Dani Pedrosa also finished the race, although in a disappointing 6th place. The fact the young Spaniard even raced today is a showing of his commitment to his fans and team, although it probably wasn’t the result he was looking for.

Today was Rossi’s 99th career victory. MotoGP will test in Catalunya tomorrow on Monday, and then prepare for the Dutch GP at Assen, where Rossi will look for his 100th career win.

Race Results for the 2009 MotoGP Catalan GP outside of Barcelona, Spain:

Pos.No.RiderManufacturerTimeDiff
146Valentino ROSSIYAMAHA43’11.897
299Jorge LORENZOYAMAHA43’11.9920.095
327Casey STONERDUCATI43’20.7818.884
44Andrea DOVIZIOSOHONDA43’20.8338.936
565Loris CAPIROSSISUZUKI43’31.72819.831
63Dani PEDROSAHONDA43’34.07922.182
75Colin EDWARDSYAMAHA43’35.44423.547
814Randy DEPUNIETHONDA43’37.16225.265
936Mika KALLIODUCATI43’43.69431.797
1069Nicky HAYDENDUCATI43’45.49033.593
117Chris VERMEULENSUZUKI43’48.58036.683
1215Alex DEANGELISHONDA43’48.77136.874
1352James TOSELANDYAMAHA43’51.33039.433
1433Marco MELANDRIKAWASAKI43’56.68544.788
1559Sete GIBERNAUDUCATI43’58.65146.754
1688Niccolo CANEPADUCATI44’07.77055.873
1741Gabor TALMACSIHONDA44’39.5371’27.640
Not Classified
24Toni ELIASHONDA15’45.21416 laps
Not finished first lap
72Yuki TAKAHASHIHONDA

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. MotoGP: Yamahas Flex Some Qualifying Muscle in Catalunya
  2. MotoGP: The Rebirth of Racing at the Qatar GP
  3. MotoGP: Decisive Racing at the Czech GP

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Comment:

  1. Jack Johnston says:
    June 14, 2009 at 10:02 PM

    MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/hWzsV

  2. race news says:
    June 14, 2009 at 10:20 PM

    MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/r8XeZ

  3. Asphalt_Rubber says:
    June 14, 2009 at 11:46 PM

    MotoGP: Epic Racing in Catalunya – http://tinyurl.com/ndjb6a #motorcycle