Video: 2011 AFM Banquet Film – Death to Second Place

The oldest racing organization in the country dedicated soley to motorcycle road racing, the AFM is a Northern Californian non-profit racing organization that has helped hone the skills of riders like Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, Kenny Roberts, and Steve Rapp — not mention a weekend warrior or two. Each year the racing league comes together for a banquet, and lately the tradition has been to include a highlight film of the year’s racing. I’m not sure what films in the past have been like, but if the latest AFM banquet video doesn’t give you goosebumps, you might want to check your pulse. Bonus points for the including the Versus “Second Place” monologue — it’s very apropos.

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.

MotoGP: Slip n’ Slide Qualifying in Germany

Sun, July 19th, 2009 @ 4:29 am, by Jenny GunComments Off
Home » Racing » MotoGP: Slip n’ Slide Qualifying in Germany

Weather at the Sachsenring for MotoGP’s qualifying was rainy to put it mildly. As such, the water soaked track feasted upon the unsuspecting riders as they left pit-lane wearing full sets of rains. In total, six riders touched the asphalt with more than a knee puck or elbow, with Turn 6 responsible for the majority of that action.

MotoGP this season has been plauged with changing conidtions on race weekends, and Germany will be no different. With Saturday’s rain, comes Sunday’s sunshine (or at least more sunshine than Saturday’s). This will likely cause a bobble in the qualifying order, which has already seen some surprise this weekend. Continue reading to find out all about it.

Toni Elias, Alex de Angelis, Niccolo Canepa, Marco Melandri, Randy de Puniet and Nicky Hayden all found there way to the German Slip n’ Slide while qualifying. Rainy weather always makes for interesting events, but Nicky Hayden’s highside takes the cake. After being violently thrown from his bike, Hayden found a softer landing resided on top of fellow Ducati rider Niccolo Canepa’s back. The American practically landed on-top of the Pramac Ducati rider, which caused them both to tumble in the water. Hayden seemingly was no worse for the fall, but Canepa had to be taken away from the track on a stretcher. Canepa has so far found his way to the tarmac 3 times this week, but has always remained uninjured. Despite this crash not being his fault, he still harbored no anger at Hayden:

“I didn’t understand what happened until I saw the replay while I was in the mobile clinic. When I was on the ground after the accident I saw and heard Hayden saying to me “Sorry, sorry, sorry”, but I didn’t understand why. He doesn’t have to worry because this sort of thing can happen and the most important thing is that both of us are ok and ready to race tomorrow.”

Despite the rain, the usual suspects are on the front-row of the grid, with Fiat-Yamaha taking another 1-2 qualifying. We’ll see Rossi from first, Lorenzo from second, and Stoner from third all try and grab valuable points in Championship standings tomorrow. Surprsingly, Nicky Hayden could be in that hunt as well, as he starts 4th on the grid. This move has lead some to rumor that Casey Stoner finally told the American GP Champion how to properly ride the Ducati. We tend to the theory that Nicky just put his head down during qualifying, and gott’r done.

Qualifying Results from MotoGP at the German GP at the Sachsenring:

Pos	No.	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Diff. Prev.
1	46	Valentino ROSSI	YAMAHA	1’32.520
2	99	Jorge LORENZO	YAMAHA	1’33.160	0.640	0.640
3	27	Casey STONER	DUCATI	1’33.759	1.239	0.599
4	69	Nicky HAYDEN	DUCATI	1’34.404	1.884	0.645
5	15	Alex DE ANGELIS	HONDA	1’34.490	1.970	0.086
6	14	Randy DE PUNIET	HONDA	1’34.564	2.044	0.074
7	5	Colin EDWARDS	YAMAHA	1’34.607	2.087	0.043
8	3	Dani PEDROSA	HONDA	1’34.725	2.205	0.118
9	65	Loris CAPIROSSI	SUZUKI	1’34.741	2.221	0.016
10	36	Mika KALLIO	DUCATI	1’34.771	2.251	0.030
11	4	Andrea DOVIZIOSO	HONDA	1’34.892	2.372	0.121
12	7	Chris VERMEULEN	SUZUKI	1’34.937	2.417	0.045
13	33	Marco MELANDRI	KAWASAKI	1’34.938	2.418	0.001
14	52	James TOSELAND	YAMAHA	1’35.005	2.485	0.067
15	88	Niccolo CANEPA	DUCATI	1’36.012	3.492	1.007
16	41	Gabor TALMACSI	HONDA	1’36.055	3.535	0.043
17	24	Toni ELIAS	HONDA	1’36.531	4.011	0.476

Top 5 Related Posts:

Tagged under: Casey Stoner, crashes, German GP, Germany, Jorge Lorenzo, MotoGP, Nicky Hayden, qualifying, rain, Sachsenring, Valentino Rossi

Comments are closed.