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.

Silly Season: Capirex to Pramac Ducati?

Tue, May 25th, 2010 @ 6:00 pm, by Jenny Gun7 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » Silly Season: Capirex to Pramac Ducati?

Silly Season: Capirex to Pramac Ducati? Loris Capirossi Capirex Pramac Ducati rumor 635x422

The MotoGP silly season continues, this time with a rumor that’s not about one of the four alien riders. MotoGP veteran Loris Capirossi has long been the rider behind the development of the Suzuki GSV-R in MotoGP, but that hasn’t stopped the lens of paddock gossips from pointing Capirex towards the direction of a satellite Ducati team. More specifically, Capirossi has been linked to talking to the Pramac Ducati team about a seat on a satellite Ducati for 2011.

Should the rumor pan out to be true, Suzuki would find itself in a very difficult position. The Rizla Suzuki team, while still considered a factory team, hardly has the competitive edge to race with the other three top manufacturers, and its Suzuki GSV-R still has a long ways to go in its development process before it can compete at a true factory level.

As such, Suzuki needs a talented development rider to be a part of its program, a title that the young Bautista cannot claim on his resume. With other famed development riders like Colin Edwards not likely to jump ship, Suzuki has a lot at stake by losing Capirossi, who is a linchpin in their program right now.

Carlo Pernat, Loris Capirossi’s manger, told Italian TV station Italia 1 that he’s been talking with Pramac Ducati about Capirex, and that he has already contacted Ducati management in Borgo Panigale about having Capirossi return to a Ducati again.

Whether that’s a true sentiment, or a carefully calculated ploy to get more money out of Suzuki remains to be seen. It should be noted that Capirossi sits behind both Pramac Ducati riders in the point standings at the time of this article.

Source: Crash.net & OmniMoto; Photo: Rizla Suzuki

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Tagged under: Capirex, contrat, Loris Capirossi, MotoGP, Pramac Ducati, Rumors, satellite team, silly season, Suzuki, Suzuki GSV-R

Comment:

Adesthemex says:
May 25, 2010 at 6:14 PM
If this is true and Capirex does move on, I would hope Suzuki look to try and draft John Hopkins back into the fold.
Jake says:
May 25, 2010 at 6:36 PM
So what is the big deal? Development riders isn’t Suzuki’s problem, Suzuki is Suzuki’s problem. Look at all the riders who have ridden for that team in the MotoGP era and they’ve only had 1 competative season. Ironically all of those former riders are out of MotoGP now. Regardless of who they get to ride and “develop” that bike until Suzuki has a change in how they build their MotoGP bikes nothing is going to change. The one constant through all of this has been Suzuki!!!!
Asphalt_Rubber says:
May 26, 2010 at 1:00 AM
Silly Season: Capirex to Pramac Ducati? – http://aspha.lt/11e #motorcycle
Jaybond says:
May 26, 2010 at 2:13 AM
Despite all the potential that were shown in the early season tests, Suzuki still fail to raise their game in the actual races, which has been the case all these years.
I think in terms of pace, the Suzuki is ahead of the Pramac Ducati, but who knows how the standings would be if Capirossi did’nt crash in those races.
LTC says:
May 26, 2010 at 9:28 AM
Suzuki should be completing with the other Works Teams, not the likes of the Pramac Ducatis & Gresini Hondas etc…. They really need to get up there for their name & the good of MotoGP too.
Steveo says:
May 26, 2010 at 9:41 AM
They need a good rider too. Ben Spies hop on a Rizla and ran top 7′s on an unpractied bike why can they only muster top 12′s. Get a good rider and the rest will follow.
Enter Mat Mladin, Haslam, Fabrizio or any other person needing a ride next season.
Asphalt_Rubber says:
October 8, 2010 at 3:33 PM
Silly Season: Capirex to Pramac Ducati? – http://bit.ly/cJxwHt #motorcycle