Pikes Peak International Hill Climb 2011 – The Ducati Story

Grab some popcorn, because this video from Ducati North America is over 14 minutes long. Telling the story of Ducati at the 2011 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC), DNA has put together a great video that really captures how special the racing is at Pikes Peak, and how gorgeous the scenery is of the Colorado Mountains. With Santa Barbara Ducati’s Carlin Dunne winning the overall motorcycle category on his dealership’s Multistrada 1200 demo model, Alexander Smith from the Spider Grips Ducati Team made it a double podium for Ducati in the 1205cc class. If you’re new to racing at Pikes Peak, or wanted a quick re-cap of last year’s race, Ducati’s video pretty accurately sums up racing on the mountain and the anxiety around last year’s race.

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.

MotoGP: Qatar Shows All Bets Are Off for 2010

Mon, April 12th, 2010 @ 1:37 pm, by Jenny Gun3 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » MotoGP: Qatar Shows All Bets Are Off for 2010

MotoGP action is finally back and the 2010 season was underway at Qatar this weekend. With three-time Qatar GP winner Casey Stoner sitting on the pole position, and all eyes were on the Australian for a fourpeat. But with the Fiat-Yamaha contingency on front row with Stoner, the Ducati was sure to have some competition. Stoner would find pressure from all corners though, as riders from the second and third row would shine under the Losail circuit lights during this season opener. Click through for a full race report.

Written off before the race started Dani Pedrosa silenced the HRC hate club with another rocket start from the grid. The Spanish rider, who has been struggling with HRC’s switch from Showa suspension to Öhlins units, blasted from the third row to take an early lead in the race. Following Pedrosa to the front of the pack was Nicky Hayden who had a tremendous race, and also proved to nay-sayers that he deserves his factory Ducati ride. While Pedrosa back-pedaled through the riders towards the end of the race, Hayden would take home a disappointing 4th place, after watching Andrea Dovizioso sneak an at-the-finish-line pass.

“I did a masterpiece in the last corner of the last lap where I overtook Nicky on the inside and then I used all the power of the RC212V to get to the line first. Tonight I raced with my heart, and this result is a good motivation for myself and everyone in the Repsol Honda Team,” the ever-modest Dovizioso told reporters.

All three of these riders had phenomenal race, but the real talk was Casey Stoner who lost the front-end of his Desmosedici on the 5th lap. At the time of the crash, Stoner was under no pressure and lapping nearly a second quicker than the field. “The bike closed up at the front a few times but I had managed to control it, so I tried to make the turns more open. However, in the sixth lap, when I lost the front there was absolutely nothing I could do to control it. It was a big mistake, a stupid one,” said Stoner.

Stoner’s crash practically handed Rossi the race win, although the Italian did find pressure from Nicky Hayden and Dovi. Toying with the pair of riders, Rossi would let them get within striking range (Dovi even showing Rossi a wheel on the front straight), and the dial-up the reserves and break away again, leaving the Ducati and Honda to be eaten up by Rossi’s teammate Jorge Lorenzo. Able to squeak by the pair, Lorenzo made his way into second place, making for another famous Fiat-Yamaha 1-2.

Although only finishing in 5th place, Ben Spies was also the talk of the paddock. The rookie rider showed that he not only had what it takes to ride with the best in the world, but also showed promise that has us believing a podium from the American is a sure-fire guarantee. Honorable mentions also go to Randy de Puniet, the second quickest Honda in the race (Dani Pedrosa finished 7th for the day).

Race Results from MotoGP at the Qatar GP:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Manufacturer	Time	Diff
1	46	Valentino ROSSI	YAMAHA	42’50.099	-
2	99	Jorge LORENZO	YAMAHA	42’51.121	1.022
3	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	HONDA	42’51.964	1.865
4	69	Nicky HAYDEN	DUCATI	42’51.975	1.876
5	11	Ben SPIES	YAMAHA	42’54.002	3.903
6	14	Randy DE PUNIET	HONDA	42’59.421	9.322
7	26	Dani PEDROSA	HONDA	43’06.607	16.508
8	5	Colin EDWARDS	YAMAHA	43’09.966	19.867
9	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	SUZUKI	43’10.992	20.893
10	7	Hiroshi AOYAMA	HONDA	43’11.199	21.100
11	58	Marco SIMONCELLI	HONDA	43’21.737	31.638
12	40	Hector BARBERA	DUCATI	43’22.672	32.573
13	33	Marco MELANDRI	HONDA	43’30.879	40.780
Not Classified
	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	SUZUKI	41’25.290	1 lap
	41	Aleix ESPARGARO	DUCATI	13’53.062	15 laps
	27	Casey STONER	DUCATI	9’48.964	17 laps
	36	Mika KALLIO	DUCATI	4’08.133	20 laps

Photo: Fiat-Yamaha

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Tagged under: Andrea Dovizioso, Ben Spies, Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Losail, Losail International Circuit, MotoGP, Nicky Hayden, Qatar, Qatar GP, race, Valentino Rossi

Comment:

Dan Crouch says:
April 12, 2010 at 3:30 PM
It was so nice to be able to watch in HD on Speed too. I can’t wait to check out the action at Indy this year!
dc
Trevor Weimer says:
April 12, 2010 at 8:07 PM
It was such a great season opener and just like the commentators say the only thing consistant in motogp is the unpredictability of each race.
Nicky had a great run. I think he’ll do well this year.
ladyhawke82 says:
April 12, 2010 at 9:11 PM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber #MotoGP: Qatar Shows All Bets Are Off for 2010 – http://bit.ly/c59Glv #motorcycle