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.

Confirmed: KTM 350 Duke in 2013 – Moto3 Inspired 350cc Sport Bike in 2014

Our friends over at IndianCarsBikes.in were in attendance at the KTM 200 Duke launch in India this week, as the Austrian brand launched its somewhat bigger-displacement version of the popular KTM Duke 125. During the press event, KTM talked about the future of the mini-Duke line and its product roadmap for the emerging country, as well as abroad. With the Austrian brand confirming/clarifying that KTM would release a KTM 350 Duke for India in 2013, zie Austrians also confirmed that the KTM 350 Duke would be built locally in India by Bajaj, but would be exported worldwide — allaying fears that the KTM 350 Duke would be an India-only model.

SPEEDTV Will Broadcast MotoGP Live & in HD – Signs 3 Year Deal with Dorna Sports

Fri, April 9th, 2010 @ 8:48 pm, by Jenny Gun10 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » SPEEDTV Will Broadcast MotoGP Live & in HD – Signs 3 Year Deal with Dorna Sports

The MotoGP season is kicking off this weekend at Qatar. The oddity of the night race is good news for us Americans, as the race will hit the airwaves at a semi-decent hours. Accordingly, SPEEDTV will kick-off the season with a 1PM PST (4PM EST) live broadcast of the Qatar round.

“In addition to the international feed shared by all partners, SPEED will produce SPEED-specific features, interviews and graphic enhancements,” said Rick Miner, SPEED SVP of Production & Network Operations. “We are really stepping up the presentation for the American audience.”

Commentary will come from Greg Creamer as the in-studio host for SPEED, and Nick Harris will handle the play-by-play for the international feed. Providing analysis is Ian Wheel, with Gavin Emmett reporting from the pits. For 90% of race enthusiasts this means simply the absence of Greg White. Time and schedule of races after the jump.

Schedule and Times for MotoGP on SPEED (subject to change):
Grand Prix of Qatar – April 11 (4 p.m. ET, Live)
Japan – April 25 (Late night Saturday, April 24, 2 a.m. ET, Live)
Spanish Grand Prix – May 2 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
French Grand Prix – May 25 (2 p.m. ET, taped)
Italian Grand Prix – June 6 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
British Grand Prix – June 20 (9:30 a.m. ET, Live)
Dutch Grand Prix – June 26 (9:30 a.m. ET, SDD)
Catalonian Grand Prix – July 4 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
German Grand Prix – July 18 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
U.S. Grand Prix – July 25 (TBD)
Czech Grand Prix – August 15 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
Indianapolis Grand Prix – August 29 (TBD)
San Marino – September 5 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
Hungary – September 19 (9 a.m. ET, Live)
Malaysian Grand Prix – October 10 (6 p.m. ET, SDD)
Australian Grand Prix – October 17 (Late night Saturday, October 16, 1 a.m. ET, Live)
Portugal – October 31 (5 p.m. ET, SDD)
Valencia Grand Prix – November 7 (8 a.m. ET, Live)
*Note: French Grand Prix is taped event due to schedule conflicts

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Tagged under: broadcast, MotoGP, schedule, speed, SPEED Channel, SPEED TV, SPEEDTV, television, TV, USA

Comment:

Asphalt_Rubber says:
April 10, 2010 at 3:48 AM
SPEEDTV Will Broadcast MotoGP Live & in HD – Signs 3 Year Deal with Dorna Sports – http://bit.ly/9lOypE #motorcycle
Victor Knowles says:
April 10, 2010 at 5:03 AM
I hope they will bother to show Moto2. So far that does not seem to be on their schedule.
Anthony says:
April 10, 2010 at 12:53 PM
Yeah – I want to see Moto2 as much or more than MotoGP!
kevin says:
April 10, 2010 at 8:03 PM
Be glad you’re getting this instead of a “nascar special”.
Victor Knowles says:
April 11, 2010 at 8:13 AM
That’s true Kevin, Speed are all about the NASCAR.
Jason says:
April 11, 2010 at 7:48 PM
Speed sucks. Why show a live 40min race if you aren’t a) going to do it commercial free or b) double vision thing with the race and commercials on screen at the same time?
I wasn’t surprised what was going to happen when I found out the race was going to be live. They should have front loaded the commercials so that when the race started that could run it straight through (as they have done in the past). But no instead we get 2 laps and 4 or 5 commercials….half way through the race I just turned it off. If this had been nascar they would have made sure there was constant action on screen. truly pathetic and the fact that they’ve extended the deal makes me sick.
Singletrack says:
April 12, 2010 at 10:47 AM
Great to see MotoGP (and Moto2) in HD!
WOW what an improvment from the grainy TV coverage in the past. I loved the detail of the nighttime reflections, the track texture, seeing the chain links move, the riders eyes and stitching on the leathers. Excellent. I hope the daytime races offer as much visual pleasure.
I have no complaints about the coverage. Sure there’s always room to provide more/better, but i’m satisfied with it now that it’s HD.
But I do hope Speed can get the audience numbers up to a level where they can do a 1/2 hour prerace show to provide more in depth review of the technology and riders – tell me more about the elite athletes they are.
wayne says:
April 12, 2010 at 3:02 PM
Man, what a difference in clarity! I watched the (DVR’ed) MotoGP and WSBK Race 1 back to back and the WSBK race looked like it was done frame-by-frame on an etch-a-sketch. BUT…I was really miffed that they cut the podium interviews. And if I’m honest, I am disappointed that Speed TV feels the need to “NASCAR-ize” the pre-race stuff. I guess they’re afraid we Americans can’t get our tiny brains around a racing series that turns left AND right.
don_zielke says:
April 12, 2010 at 6:19 PM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber: SPEEDTV Will Broadcast MotoGP Live & in HD – Signs 3 Year Deal with Dorna Sports http://bit.ly/9lOypE
ladyhawke82 says:
April 12, 2010 at 7:26 PM
RT @don_zielke: RT @Asphalt_Rubber: SPEEDTV Will Broadcast MotoGP Live & in HD – Signs 3 Year Deal with Dorna Sports http://bit.ly/9lOypE