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.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

News that Suzuki plans on returning to the MotoGP Championship in 2014 should be old information for dedicated Asphalt & Rubber readers, and the Japanese company’s inline-four race bike was already spotted doing test laps last year by the eager eyes at Cycle World. Well the American print-mag has another set of eyebrow-raising high-quality photos of the 2014 Suzuki GSV-R to mull over from the Motegi race track, along with some technical insights provided by the venerable Kevin Cameron.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.

Öhlins Releases a Semi-Active Suspension Upgrade for the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S – But, What’s Next?

An interesting development on the aftermarket side of things has graced our desks, as Öhlins has released a “suspension control unit” (SCU) that upgrades the electronically adjustable suspension on the Ducati Multistrada 1200 S so that it becomes a semi-active suspension system. Whhhaaaat??! So, if you’re the proud owner of a pre-2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200 S, and you think that your electronically controlled Öhlins suspension is no longer boss, now that Ducati has released its Sachs-powered “Skyhook” semi-active suspension pieces on its new batch of Multistrada sport-tourers, there is a remedy for your motolust.

Up-Close with the 2013 Yamaha YZR-M1

In case you missed our exhaustive coverage of the Grand Prix of the Americas, those fools at Dorna gave me pit lane access this MotoGP season. So while the whole paddock waits for the Spaniards to come to their senses, I don’t plan on wasting the opportunity to share with our readers our extreme access to motorcycling’s premier racing class. Accordingly, here comes another installment into our ever-continuing “Up-Close” series, featuring the very finest Iwata has to offer: the Yamaha YZR-M1. Thirty 2000px-wide photos are waiting for you after the jump.

WSBK: One Man Show for Race 1 at Phillip Island

02/26/2011 @ 6:27 pm, by Victoria Reid4 COMMENTS

WSBK: One Man Show for Race 1 at Phillip Island Carlos Checa WSBK Race 1 Phillip Island 635x422

Carlos Checa started the season-opening round of World Superbike racing at Phillip Island on pole, having dominated testing and the weekend. Reigning champion Max Biaggi started alongside him, finally bearing his #1 championship plate, having posted a qualifying time just .013s slower than Checa’s. Completing the front row were Sylvain Guintoli and Leon Haslam, both quick in the dry times from Saturday’s qualifying.

Conditions on Sunday led to some shake-ups in the order for the morning warm-up, as overnight rain dampened the track. Australian Troy Corser led those times, followed by Guintoli, Jakub Smrz, Haslam, and the injured Jonathan Rea. Chris Vermeulen was unable to race at Phillip Island after failing to pass the physical due to a slow recovery from knee surgery. To find out who dominated Phillip Island Race 1, continue reading after the jump.

Though both Biaggi and Laverty gave Checa a run for his money at the start, it was the Spaniard who led by a very comfortable margin to win Race 1 at Phillip Island. Biaggi finished second by his own comfortable margin over Haslam, with Laverty and Melandri rounding out the top five. The first three laps saw some dicing for the lead before Checa checked out, with a gap of nearly six seconds over the rest of the field at one point.

Laverty did well in his first ever WSBK race, leading at the end of the first lap and taking a close fourth from fellow WSBK rookie and teammate Melandri at the finish line. They, together with Haslam, spent much of the race scrapping over the final podium position. Corser and Fabrizio were in that mix early on, but drifted back as the race progressed. Rea had passed the Australian for fifth and was running well when he ran off the track, finishing twelfth. Neither Guintoli nor Joan Lascorz finished the race, crashing out separately and uninjured.

World Superbike Race Results from Race 1 at Phillip Island:

Pos.No.RiderTeamDiff.
17Carlos ChecaAlthea Racing-
21Max BiaggiAprilia Alitalia Racing Team4.365
391Leon HaslamBMW Motorrad Motorsport10.719
458Eugene LavertyYamaha WSBK Team11.266
533Marco MelandriYamaha WSBK Team11.293
684Michel FabrizioTeam Suzuki Alstare12.039
796Jakub SmrzTeam Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)20.294
866Tom SykesPaul Bird Kawasaki Racing20.742
941Noriyuki HagaPATA Racing Team Aprilia22.421
1011Troy CorserBMW Motorrad Motorsport25.822
1144Roberto RolfoTeam Pedercini Kawasaki29.27
124Jonathan ReaCastrol Honda31.059
132Leon CamierAprilia Alitalia Racing Team31.721
1486Ayrton BadoviniBMW Motorrad Italia SBK36.389
1567Bryan StaringTeam Pedercini Kawasaki36.47
16111Ruben XausCastrol Honda41.928
1752James ToselandBMW Motorrad Italia SBK55.239
1812Josh WatersYoshimuri Suzuki1’00.312
198Mark AitchisonTeam Pedercini Kawasaki1’00.316
20121Maxime BergerSupersonic Racing Team (Ducati)1’30.125
Not Classified
RET13Joan LascorzPaul Bird Kawasaki Racing9 Laps
RET3Sylvain GuintoliTeam Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)16 Laps

Source: WorldSBK; Photo: Althea Racing

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Comment:

  1. joe says:
    February 27, 2011 at 11:52 AM

    too bad theres no factory ducati team

  2. patron says:
    February 28, 2011 at 8:46 AM

    I’m not sure if that comment was to be read as sarcasm, but Checa is pretty much on a factory supported machine

  3. patron says:
    February 28, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    He is running electronic package upgrades and is using the same suspension as the GP boys are. Its as factory as you can get without being official

  4. joe says:
    February 28, 2011 at 10:59 AM

    It was sarcasm, the lines between factory and non factory are vague though. Seems to have a great deal with the quality of the rider they can draw, as well as the equipment. Checa is no slouch though.