Photo of the Week: Here’s to the Unsung Heroes of MotoGP

This, race fans, is Danilo Petrucci, one of the brave souls trying his luck on the future of MotoGP hardware, in his case the doggedly underpowered Came IodaRacing Project machine. Not on a (relatively) zippy Aprilia ART, or a Honda-powered FTR, Petrucci qualifies on the same grid as Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, and brings to this gunfight a knife that packs a whopping 185 bhp, compared to the factory prototype engines that are rumored to be around 260 bhp. As I photograph a race, I see a much different version of the event than TV viewers. I watch the recorded TV broadcast later, and can tell you that there is a lot going on with the Claiming Rule Team bikes that doesn’t make in onto TV.

Suter 500 Factory V4 – Thank You for Smoking

We are now purely a “suck, squeeze, bang, blow” society, and while that suits many motorists just fine, there are some who enjoy the smell of pre-mix in the morning — you know who you are. You enjoy the sound of angry bees following you from apex to off-camber. You think a displacement for “serious riders” starts at around 250cc. You like your engine compression low, and your powerbands narrow. You sir (or madam), are a two-stroke junky, and we have just the fix you need. Having a bevy of intriguing two-wheeled projects within its walls, the Swiss bike that catches our eye today is the Suter 500 Factory V4: a two-stroke, 500cc, V4, track weapon that puts out over 200 hp and weighs 284 lbs ready to race — no, that is not a typo.

Photo: Five – Two = Podium

Blurred to protect against spoilers, we’ll just leave things simply by saying that World Superbike’s Race 2 at Donington Park is well worth a watching if you haven’t already seen it. Decided right down to the last few turns, race pundits surely will be discussing the race and its outcome over the next week. Unsurprisingly, geography is playing a major a role in how things are being viewed. Though in a race where a number of questionable passes occurred, it is hard to single out this one event from the plethora of others that occurred during the race, but of course this one had the biggest effect on the race outcome. Click past the jump for the he said, she said, and of course for some slightly sharper photos.

Norton V4 Gets Shakedown Test Ahead of Isle of Man TT

More news from Norton, as the British firm has begun track-testing its V4 road race bike, in preparation of the 2012 Isle of Man TT. Focusing on the bike’s handling, Norton has been working hand-in-hand with Öhlins and Dunlop developing the bike’s chassis. The trio has devised the highly sophisticated “165 mph no hands” test, which supposedly checks the stability of the bike, though we imagine Health & Safety would frown upon it. With the bike’s Aprilia RSV4 motor putting out 195hp at the crank, and with the total race package weighing 419 lbs (195 kg) when it is sopping wet, the Spondon-framed Norton may not be exactly what fans of the famous marques were hoping for after seeing the very appealing Norton NRV 588, though it does seem to be a potent package.

2012 Brammo Empulse R – Was It Worth the Wait?

Launching in downtown Los Angeles, the 2012 Brammo Empulse R & 2013 Brammo Empulse broke their cover and officially debuted. Right off the bat from the designations, you can see that Brammo intends for the Empulse R to be a 2012 model, with the base model Emuplse coming out next year (more on that further down). As we expected, the Brammo Empulse R got quite the price bump after its 22-month marination, and will be $18,995 MSRP. Meanwhile when the Brammo Empulse becomes available next year, it will have a slightly more palatable $16,995 price tag.

Up-Close with the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS ‘merica Edition

While the EBR 1190RS race bikes were on the track, their $40,000+ street-legal counterparts were on display outside of the Erik Buell Racing garage. Rocking an American flag livery, I naturally took pictures of this show bike. Eye catching to say the least, nothing says “Made in ‘merica” better than a red, white, and blue color scheme, especially when it is laid over carbon fiber. And while I want to love this bike because of its nuances and outside-of-the-box technical design, I don’t.

Sunday Summary at Estoril: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

If there’s one lesson we can take from Sunday’s race at Estoril, it’s this: “I’ve always said we know Casey’s the guy that’s the fastest guy in the world. Maybe over the seasons he hasn’t put the championships together, but by far he’s the best guy in the world.” Cal Crutchlow is not known for mincing his words, and his description of Casey Stoner pulls no punches. But given the fact that Stoner only managed to win the Portuguese round of MotoGP by a second and a bit, is that not a little exaggerated?

Up-Close with the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR

Brammo is back for electric motorcycle racing in the North American TTXGP series, as the Ashland-based company is set to defend it’s #1 plate this year with Steve Atlas on board ( Shelina Moreda is slated to join the team later in the season). Gaining a title sponsorship from Icon, Brammo arrived at Sears Point with some edgy graphics on the 2012 Brammo Empulse RR. Dropping roughly 35 lbs in weight, and gaining roughly 50hp over the bike they ran at last year’s season opener, Brammo is making most of those gains in its revised motor and power inverter for the newest Empulse RR.

Mea Culpa: The Media’s Hard-on for a Good Penis Story

As you can imagine, the bulk of the commentary, both from readers and from professional journalists, has centered around the absurdity of the claim, with even jokes being offered about how an aged BMW rider should be thanking the German motorcycle brand for saving him money on Viagra, etc. The situation reminds me of the McDonald’s hot coffee lawsuit. You know the story, right?. A woman buys a cup of coffee at McDonald’s, spills it on herself while in the car, and sues the bastards for her incompetence. True to litigious American form, the unthinkable happened, and a jury awarded this gold-digging woman millions of dollars. It is repudiating, and it stands for everything that is wrong with the legal system, or so we would be lead to believe — especially by the media.

An Addendum to Valentino Rossi’s Options for the Future

Never say never, but few are expecting Valentino Rossi to hang up his spurs at the end of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Going out on a career low-point is certainly not the Italian’s style, especially as it casts a particularly dark shadow on a career that has enjoyed the bright-light superlative of “Greatest of All Time” from some of motorcycling’s most knowledgeable sources. Hoping to cast that phrase with an underlined typeface, and not with an interrogatory question mark, there is sufficient evidence to believe that Rossi will want to end his career in a way that will leave no doubt about the nine-time World Champion’s abilities. The question of course is how those final seasons will play out, and who they will be with.

WSBK: A First-Time Pole Sitter from Superpole at Aragon

06/18/2011 @ 7:04 am, by Victoria Reid1 COMMENT

Marco Melandri (1:57.634) took his first World Superbike pole at Motorland Aragon, holding off Max Biaggi, Leon Camier, and Carlos Checa in the Spanish heat. Though the Saturday Superpole sessions were moderately uneventful, they were not without drama as riders jostled to move forward and fight over pole. Melandri’s Yamaha teammate, Eugene Laverty, will start sixth as Kawasaki undergoes something of a resurgence. Tom Sykes and Joan Lascorz will join him on the second row in fifth and seventh, respectively.

Somewhat shockingly, both factory BMWs were knocked out in Superpole 1, leaving Leon Haslam and Troy Corser to start from fourteenth and sixteenth. However, satelitte rider Ayrton Badovini qualified on the second row in eighth. Jonathan Rea did not compete, having had surgery Monday for the injuries he sustained during a warm-up crash last weekend at Misano.

Melandri took an early lead at Aragon, leading both the first free practice and the first qualifying practice. Though the Italian has a small advantage in having raced at the circuit last year in MotoGP, WSBK uses a slightly longer circuit that includes a hairpin at the end of the back straight. Melandri led Checa, Badovini, Camier, and Sykes in the morning practice and Checa, Haga, Camier, and Sykes as the top five in the first qualifying session in the heat Friday afternoon.

In the final qualifying practice, Checa was back on top. He led a very close QP, one in which the top sixteen who moved on to Superpole were covered by just one second. Smrz, Biaggi, and Sykes completed the provisional front row, with Melandri having dropped down to seventh fastest. Meanwhile, Badovini continued to outpace his factory BMW colleagues on his satellite bike, finishing the session eighth fastest. Just before Superpole, Biaggi led the final free practice by a half second, with Checa, Melandri, Sykes, and Haga the top five. Knocked Out in Qualifying Practice: 17. Ruben Xaus, 18. Chris Vermeulen, 19. Roberto Rolfo, 20. Lorenzo Lanzi.

Superpole 1:
Sykes was the last rider out onto the track for the fourteen minutes of Superpole 1. Checa (1:58.714) took the unsurprising early lead, posting the fastest time with ten minutes remaining. He was followed by Camier, Haslam, Corser, and Laverty while Fabrizio, Guintoli, Biaggi, and Sykes were in the knockout zone. Melandri soon moved up through the order, going third fastest behind Checa and Camier with eight minutes remaining. Haslam, Corser, Laverty, Sykes, Berger, Lascorz, and Aitchison were the top ten. Quickly, Biaggi was third fastest, with Haga slotting into fourth.

With just over five mintues remaining, Lascorz, Guintoli, Badovini, and Smrz were in the relegation zone, and most riders were back in their garages for final adjustments. The top eight remained in their garages as the bottom half of the timesheets went back out to improve their times and continue on to Superpole 2. Badovini secured his position, moving up to fourth from the knockout zone, while Laverty and Sykes also returned to the track. With moments left, Corser, Berger, Lascorz, and Smrz were about to be dropped, only for Lascorz to go seventh fastest. Smrz improved, but not enough, and the factory Yamaha riders were a surprising eleventh and twelfth fastest. However, Laverty (1:58.621) put in a quick lap to go fastest at the very end, leading Checa, Camier, and Guintoli as the provisional front row. Knocked Out in Superpole 1: 13. Jakub Smrz, 14. Leon Haslam, 15. Maxime Berger, 16. Troy Corser.

Superpole 2:
Next, the riders were out for the twelve minutes of Superpole 2, with Biaggi (1:57.841) the early leader and the only man to post a 1:57s lap so far for the weekend. Checa, Badovini, Lascorz, and Guintoli completed the top five, only to have Laverty slide into third fastest halfway through the session. At that point, Melandri, Fabrizio, Sykes, and Aitchison were in the drop zone. Melandri’s next lap put him fifth fastest, putting Haga in danger.

In the final minutes, only those in seventh through twelfth were on track. Haga, Fabrizio, Sykes, and Aitchison were attempting to move forward to fight for the first two starting rows in Superpole 3. Biaggi still led by two tenths with a minute remaining, as Haga put Camier in the drop zone by going seventh fastest, only to be dropped to eighth as Camier jumped to fifth. That left Guintoli in the knockout zone. However, Sykes put Haga back down to ninth on his final lap, having gone fifth fastest. Biaggi (1:57.841) retained his lead, with Checa, Laverty, and Badovini the provisional front row. Knocked Out in Superpole 2: 9. Noriyuki Haga, 10. Sylvain Guintoli, 11. Michel Fabrizio, 12. Mark Aitchison.

Superpole 3:
Sykes, Camier, Melandri, and Lascorz joined Biaggi, Checa, Laverty, and Badovini in the fight for pole during the ten minutes of Superpole 3. Melandri (1:57.634) led Biaggi by over three tenths at the halfway point, with Camier, Checa, Laverty, Sykes, Badovini, and Lascorz the eight riders. Soon, Lascorz and Badovini were faster than Sykes, but Melandri remained fastest. However, Biaggi was closing in lap times, cutting Melandri’s lead in half with two minutes to go. Apparently confident, or perhaps out of tires, Melandri remained in the garage as the minutes ticked away. In the end, he had enough and won his first WSBK pole, with Biaggi, Camier, and Checa completing the front row for Sunday’s two races.

Superpole Results from World Superbike at Motorland Aragon, Spain:

Pos.	No.	Rider	Team	Time	Diff.
1.	33	Marco Melandri	Yamaha WSBK Team	1:57.634	-
2.	1	Max Biaggi	Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team	1:57.790	0.156
3.	2	Leon Camier	Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team	1:58.279	0.645
4.	7	Carlos Checa	Althea Racing Ducati	1:58.472	0.838
5.	66	Tom Sykes	Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing	1:58.641	1.007
6.	58	Eugene Laverty	Yamaha WSBK Team	1:58.756	1.122
7.	17	Joan Lascorz	Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing	1:59.194	1.560
8.	86	Ayrton Badovini	BMR Motorrad Italia	1:59.591	1.957
Out After Superpole 2
9.	41	Noriyuki Haga	PATA Racing Team Aprilia	1:58.566	0.725
10.	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati	1:58.640	0.799
11.	84	Michel Fabrizio	Team Suzuki Alstare	1:58.950	1.109
12.	8	Mark Aitchison	Team Pedercini Kawasaki	1:59.680	1.839
Out After Superpole 1
13.	96	Jakub Smrz	Team Effenbert-Liberty Ducati	1:59.355	0.734
14.	91	Leon Haslam	BMW Motorrad	1:59.367	0.746
15.	121	Maxime Berger	Supersonic Racing Ducati	1:59.507	0.886
16.	11	Troy Corser	BMW Motorrad	1:59.565	0.944
Not qualified for Superpole
17.	111	Ruben Xaus	Castrol Honda	2:00.432	1.249
18.	77	Chris Vermeulen	Paul Bird Kawasaki Racing	2:00.507	1.324
19.	44	Roberto Rolfo	Team Pedercini Kawasaki	2:00.678	1.495
20.	57	Lorenzo Lanzi	BMW Motorrad Italia	2:00.776	1.593

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Tagged under: Carlos Checa, Marco Melandri, Motorland Aragon, pole, qualifying, Superpole, world superbike, WSBK

Comment:

dom sprzedam says:
June 20, 2011 at 7:42 AM
results are not too bad i could say..

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