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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
That is radiculus comment. Pedrosa have earned his reputation on and off truck. Good rider does not need a manager / babysitter to wipe his behind every single time something goes wrong. I am sure once he wins the championship (maybe) he will be respected. Then I will respect him as a rider – do not have a lot good to say about his personality.
Pedrosa’s a headcase who will not win a world championship until he conquers the space between his ears, and dump Carlos Puig from his advising guru list. We wish well to all who can manage that. Lorenzo’s mental toughness is what makes him superior at this time. We’ve seen Stoner go from whining about a Rossi pass at Laguna to disappearing to the verge of his 2nd championship. Is it not a mental sport above all?
He DOESNT SUCK, but there is this definite vacuum in his vicinity… just sayin
Well said, Jamesy. And to win champioship you have to be leading on the last lap, not the first…
I’m noticing a disappointing trend here with Asphalt and Rubber: bring up a shallow, false premise like this one (or “will Elena Myers-a woman- ever get to race a MotoGP machine?”), then take the moral high road and shoot down that same argument.
If the men in your photo don’t like Dani Pedrosa, then they don’t like him. Who the hell are you to use that premise to make fun of their size? Thank god they weren’t black or you’d probably have called them the “N” word, wouldn’t you?
Dani will never win a championship, not only does he break too easily, but similar to Lorenzo and Stoner, he freaks out when someone gets too close. Somehow linking Preziosi and saying they don’t care he is in a wheelchair, errrr, sorry ? Then going on to poke fun at these guys because of their weight? Grow up. It’s obvious this article was meant to ridicule these two guys, but you’ve descended to the very same level you seek to place yourself above.
Hey Beary, Asphalt and Rubber seems to be making a habit of this kind of reporting. Just check out the same caliber of comments concerning Elena Myers test riding a Suzuki GP machine at Indy.
BTW, your comments are spot-on.
I love to spark a lively discussion and I appreciate the comments made here. Thanks to all of you.
My point in contributing this photo is that I don’t think you should criticize someone unless you know you can do better. (And even then you’re probably better off keeping that to yourself, since we all make mistakes, even elite MotoGP riders.) Over and over again I observe people who appear to me to have no particular insight, or position from which to criticize, expressing hateful opinions of amazing athletes who perform at levels far beyond what the rest of us will ever achieve. People with no idea what it takes to ride a MotoGP bike belittle the skills of those who do not win in the class, and others with no personal experience of the riders make malicious comments about their characters as if they know them intimately. This happens in all sports, and just as it is certainly the right of those in this photo to dislike Dani Pedrosa for whatever reasons they find compelling, it is also my right to find objectionable wearing that opinion on a t-shirt, which I suspect only serves to make them feel a bit better about themselves at the expense of a very talented person who does not deserve to be mocked in this way.
In that, perhaps I am guilty of the same thing for which I hold these two fellows accountable. It does make me feel a bit better to stand up for Dani, whom I think is a genuinely good person and insanely talented on two wheels. When I see these guys saying he sucks it does piss me off, and I am grateful for the opportunity to say so. Sadly, my attempt to express that with some levity did not come off, and I alone am responsible for that in this case.
I admit it’s possible that in spite of the condescension they chose to express in their attire, these two men are otherwise a pair of princes in both manners and generosity. It’s also possible that they are, in spite of their appearances, highly skilled motorcycle racers fully qualified to comment as experts that Pedrosa does in fact suck, even though this goes against my personal experience with the Spanish rider, an individual who has shown over and over again that, his physical frailty aside, he is the only other rider capable of matching the speed of Rossi, Stoner and Lorenzo. It’s possible they are fully aware of the remorse Dani showed after the incident at Estoril but choose to dismiss it as fraudulent based on greater insight into Dani’s mind and heart than I have in my admittedly limited experience. That experience is based only on Honda press debriefs, the chats that sometimes happen afterward, and on the opinions of paddock insiders who known Dani better than I and who describe him as a thoughtful, warm young man when he is not under the intense scrutiny of the international media. Rossi handles that situation well, most others do not have his gift in that department. In my opinion that does not mean they suck as motorcycle racers or as people.
I am certainly guilty of making these assumptions. I stand corrected, and again, for that I appreciate the comments here.
Well said Mr. Jones!
Oh Bullsh*t Jones. Nowhere does it say on their shirts that he sucks at riding a motorcycle. He is paid millions of Euros to Suck or anything else anyone wants to opine. It is YOU who are the reactionary here. Are YOU a motogp rider who is capable of assessing Dani’s talent? Was Bela Karolyi capable of doing a double back flip? You do not need to be supremely physically talented to recognize those qualities and differences in others.
And OBTW if his actions & statements after the Estoril incident speak to you of remorse then I dont believe you have a very good grip on knowing peoples demeanor. Its entirely possible that either of the guys wearing the rude shirts (yes, they most certainly were that!) could beat you at any of the things you mentioned. just sayin… give some, get some dude.
sorry, scott, i disagree, they’re millionaires riding motorcycles for a living on the public stage, if they can’t take it, they should play golf.
also, it does come off as quite hypocritical for making fun of two guys you know nothing about for making fun of some guy they know nothing about, no?
you can whitewash the dani/nicky incident all you want as you are an obvious pedrosa fan/apologist, but if you remember back, dani showed little remorse toward hayden and puig actually came out and said the incident was nickys fault. the people you keep around you says a lot about your own character (pedrosa & puig)
@invisible cities–Thanks!
@keet–I certainly sympathize with that perspective, having held it myself for most of my life. But if there’s one single thing that has changed since I started working in MotoGP I think it’s my understanding of top class athletes. Having the opportunity to observe them at least in a limited way when they are off camera has made me alter my own belief that the salaries they receive should require excellence in all aspects of their work. It’s mainly Pedrosa and Stoner who have had this effect on me. Both are superstars on the track but quiet, private individuals otherwise. My opinion now is simply that the salary requires only excellence on track and meeting the team/contract requirements to the best of each individual’s ability. It doesn’t really matter to me that some riders dislike talking to the press or doing publicity appearances, and I can’t hold it against them if their personalities off the bike are such that these chores are difficult for them. They can ride faster than anyone else, and to me that’s why they are in MotoGP, not because they are gifted public speakers or shrewd at politics. Some don’t like Spies because they say he’s boring off the bike. I think Spies is awesome because ON the bike he is fantastic and exciting, and that’s what I care about. So while I respect your opinion, I’ll ask that we agree to disagree about the salary issue.
To return to Estoril, it is not my intention to whitewash the incident, but rather to express that my understanding of Dani’s reaction to his mistake was not well publicized and I believe, largely misunderstood. It’s my belief that he felt terrible for what was basically a mistake, albeit a terrible one that an athlete at his level should not make. Saying that something should not happen, however, doesn’t mean that it never will. Pro sports are full of dropped passes, bungled ground balls, and missed shots in clutch situations, yet even our best athletes are fallible. Dani came across afterward as not really caring what had happened, but I don’t think this is accurate. In Rick Broadbent’s book, Ring of Fire, he tells how Dani was nearly in tears about it. This jibes much more with my own experience of Dani’s personality than what was conveyed at the time.
As for Alberto Puig, I have never defended him or his actions, as I simply have no experience with him that compels me to do so. In fact the biggest complaint I have about Pedrosa is that he has not severed the connection with his mentor and become, so to speak, his own man. However, I have read enough about their history to believe that doing this would be something like a son cutting ties with a father. Though I don’t know, I suspect that Dani would feel like an ungrateful sod were he to separate from Puig, so I cut him slack on this even though I sincerely wish he would do so. I agree completely with your statement that the company you keep says a lot about you, I just think that such situations can be very complicated, and while Puig’s involvement with Dani’s career may be as harmful in some ways as it is beneficial in others, or even more the former recently than the latter, only Dani knows the real story there. I choose to believe that he feels he is doing the right thing by keeping Puig around, so though I don’t agree with it from my limited perspective, I try to remind myself that I don’t know the whole story.
Dear Mr. Jones,
There is nothing wrong with being Dani Pedrosa`s fan and I applaud you for it. You have to respect, however, the other peoples` right to exspress their feelings, even if it is not in classy manner. As for Puig, I think his remarks and pressure from DORNA broke Marco Simoncelli`s spirit and I wonder if he ever be the same again. I do not want to watch him content with the 3rd place,I want him fighting,sometimes reckless – that is what the racing is all about. As for Dani – karma is a b..ch….
I’m not above criticizing anyone for anything. I’ll admit that. I doubt any of us are. And I dont need to be more skilled then them to do it either. The amount of monday morning quarterbacking that goes on after any given football game….c’mon….we all do it. And just because we arent more skilled at racing than any man who has ever so much as subbed in for a MotoGP racer, doesnt mean we cant critisize these guys. That doesn’t mean we are all asses about it tho. I dont like pedrosa for many reasons. Thats my right to feel different about different people.
But I’m not sure the relevance of this 3yr old photo. Because indy is next weekend? It was obvously an attempt to get people to comment the way they are. It seems that you posted this pic just to argue your point tho. We can tell you are a pedrosa fan. And good for you. Thats your right. But I think we can move on from the Pedrosa – Hayden thing. From either side of the fence youre one
Pacsap stop trolling. We never wrote such an article, and don’t take the argument to such a base level as to put racial slurs in our mouths.
I welcome opposing viewpoints on this site, but civility and decorum have to come with it.
Pacsap is far from Trolling… he is responding in kind, to an article so laced with negativity and ridicule, that is deserves no space on any Professional website. This kind of ‘writing’ from staff brings down your whole image, Mr Beeler, and I’m more than surprised you gave it space.
Jones initial response was to admit he’d made an error, but close his response with thinly veiled sarcasm. (see last paragraph of initial response.) He reasoned that we thought ill of him because he made assumptions. Wrong. We thought ill of this article, because it was mean-spirited, and biased. Are these the qualities you seek to promote in your writers, Mr Beeler ? Oh hang on, Scott is usually just a photographer, is he ?
See what I did there? It’s poor form to be judgmental and mean sprited, most especially on a world-wide forum. I think that you were genuinely surprised at the bad response to your snark, Mr Jones. But for me, Journalism should be unbiased observation – in this kind of forum. There was no ‘levity’ as you put it in this article. Just immature lashing out at a couple of guys who ‘pissed you off”.
So learn from this Mr Jones, and move on.
I’m trying to do just that, thanks everyone for calling me on it. What I wrote was inappropriate and as I said earlier, my responsibility alone. I apologize to anyone who was offended and will take more care in the future.
Hey,Jonesy – take it easy…No reason to go sour on us. These riders are in entertainment business – if they cannot take it they can find different line of work. By the way,you take killer pictures…Thanks,
D.
Not sour, just offering a sincere apology in the hopes it’s accepted as intended. And thanks for the compliment, glad you enjoy my work, D.