Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

In case you missed the story last week, Kevin Schwantz is preparing to race in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race. For the race, Schwantz will be riding on a team formed by Yukio Kagayama, who in addition to having raced in the MotoGP, World Superbike, and British Superbike Championships, is also a previous Suzuka 8-Hour winner with the Suzuki Endurance Race Team (also joining the three-rider team Noriyuki “Nitro” Haga). Releasing a Q&A about his team’s Suzuka 8-Hour entry, Kagayama-san walks us through how the team came together, what equipment the riders will use, and his outlook on the team’s competitiveness.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4. Using the KTM 690 Duke platform and its LC4 engine, Bar has designed a super-single full-fairing sport bike that takes the Austrian company’s “Ready to Race” DNA and applies it to an idea that is not all that disimilar to the Ducati Supermono.

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.

MotoGP: One Last Qualifying for the King of Phillip Island

10/26/2012 @ 10:25 pm, by Jensen Beeler2 COMMENTS

MotoGP: One Last Qualifying for the King of Phillip Island Casey Stoner Phillip Island MotoGP Scott Jones

In typical Phillip Island fashion, a range of weather was featured during qualifying for the Australian GP — though, it was mostly cold, cloudy, and windy. With spots of rain throughout the day, it was anyone’s guess when the weather would, could, or should arrive on the coastal track, which meant every minute of qualifying counted.

Unsurprisingly, Casey Stoner dominated the time sheets throughout Free Practice, and was heavily favorited for the pole-position for Sunday’s race. With the MotoGP Championship going down to the wire for Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, MotoGP fans were perhaps more concerned what was happening behind Stoner, despite this being his last home grand prix.

This doesn’t mean the session was business as usual for Stoner though, as the Repsol Honda rider found the gravel, after high-siding in Turn 4 of the Phillip Island Circuit. Limping away, Stoner was able to immediately rejoin the session, putting his best laps of the day in after the crash. The only man able to get into the 1’29 on his lap times, Stoner is still heavily favorited to win tomorrow’s Australian GP.

Coming into the pits to a series of high-fives, Jorge Lorenzo is taking his half a second behind Stoner as a win, especially since Championship rival Dani Pedrosa, in turn, is almost half a second behind him. If Lorenzo finishes ahead of Pedrosa tomorrow, he would clinch the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Conversely, if he makes a mistake, and ends up in the gravel though, he could hand Dani Pedrosa the opportunity for a title shootout in Valencia.

Notably off the pace were the Ducatis of Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden, Hector Barbera, and Karel Abraham, who found the CRT bikes of Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro mixing it up with them on the time sheets.

Only Rossi was able to get clear of RdP, while Barbera found himself the only prototype rider to be behind Espargaro’s Aspar Aprilia ART machine. A fast track, but not necessarily a horsepower track, we could see some prototype scalps hanging from the belts of the Aspar riders tomorrow.

Qualifying Results from the Australian GP at Phillip Island, Australia:

Pos.RiderNationTeamBikeKM/HTimeDiff.
1Casey STONERAUSRepsol Honda TeamHonda335.61’29.623-
2Jorge LORENZOSPAYamaha Factory RacingYamaha330.61’30.1400.517
3Dani PEDROSASPARepsol Honda TeamHonda335.71’30.5750.952
4Cal CRUTCHLOWGBRMonster Yamaha Tech 3Yamaha332.71’30.7631.140
5Stefan BRADLGERLCR Honda MotoGPHonda337.11’30.7981.175
6Andrea DOVIZIOSOITAMonster Yamaha Tech 3Yamaha334.71’31.2001.577
7Alvaro BAUTISTASPASan Carlo Honda GresiniHonda334.91’31.4901.867
8Valentino ROSSIITADucati TeamDucati337.41’31.6612.038
9Randy DE PUNIETFRAPower Electronics AsparART323.61’31.6672.044
10Nicky HAYDENUSADucati TeamDucati334.41’31.6812.058
11Karel ABRAHAMCZECardion AB MotoracingDucati339.61’31.9102.287
12Aleix ESPARGAROSPAPower Electronics AsparART319.81’31.9902.367
13Hector BARBERASPAPramac Racing TeamDucati334.11’32.2312.608
14Michele PIRROITASan Carlo Honda GresiniFTR316.81’33.0503.427
15Danilo PETRUCCIITACame IodaRacing ProjectIoda-Suter315.41’33.0693.446
16Colin EDWARDSUSANGM Mobile Forward RacingSuter321.71’33.4503.827
17James ELLISONGBRPaul Bird MotorsportART317.41’33.4893.866
18Roberto ROLFOITASpeed MasterART314.01’33.5773.954
19Ivan SILVASPAAvintia BlusensBQR313.51’34.1564.533
DNQKris McLARENAUSAvintia BlusensBQR311.61’36.3246.701

Source: MotoGP; Photo: © 2012 Scott Jones / Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. MotoGP: Qualifying Shows Some Surprises at Phillip Island
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  3. MotoGP: Yamahas Flex Some Qualifying Muscle in Catalunya
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Comment:

  1. Cpt.Slow says:
    October 27, 2012 at 7:00 PM

    Look at Randy in 9th!

  2. Trane Francks says:
    October 28, 2012 at 3:00 AM

    Yes, indeed. Randy was QUICK!