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.

WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel

Sun, June 28th, 2009 @ 5:55 pm, by Jenny Gun4 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel

World Superbike came to Donington Park this weekend, and in Race 1 three riders broke away from the pack at blistering speed. With only two riders capable of pushing further, it looked like the race victory would be decided on the very last lap. Coming into the last few corners, a fuel issue upset what could have been a great finish. Continue reading for the spoilers.

Ben Spies, Max Biaggi, and Noriyuki Haga, all broke away early from the group. Spies lead off the line, and set the tone for the rest of the race. With a blistering pace, Haga couldn’t keep in touch with Biaggi and the Texan, and slowly faded into a race of his own.

The race between Spies and Biaggi was closely faught, with Spies being the faster man in the first half of the track, and Biaggi quicker in the second half. Biding his time the whole race, Max finally made his move in the last lap. Closing within striking distance in the last few corners, Biaggi sprung his trap, but almost immediately it was apparent something was wrong.

Shaking the bike back and forth, it was clear the RSV4 had run out of fuel in the back section of the track. Getting some fuel back into the system by sloshing it around, Biaggi got the RSV4 running again, but limped across the finish line, still holding onto his 2nd place position.

With Biaggi’s problems, Spies won the race easily with a 7 second lead, and Haga would finish a few second behind Biaggi, showing how much time the pair had made over the Japanese rider and the rest of the field.

Results from Race 1 of World Superbike at Donington Park, UK:

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Country	Bike	Diff
1	19	B. Spies	USA	Yamaha YZF R1
2	3	M. Biaggi	ITA	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	7.156
3	41	N. Haga	JPN	Ducati 1098R	10.968
4	91	L. Haslam	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	18.843
5	67	S. Byrne	GBR	Ducati 1098R	19.125
6	56	S. Nakano	JPN	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	21.286
7	65	J. Rea	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	23.644
8	121	J. Hopkins	USA	Honda CBR1000RR	32.849
9	96	J. Smrz	CZE	Ducati 1098R	32.904
10	9	R. Kiyonari	JPN	Honda CBR1000RR	33.192
11	7	C. Checa	ESP	Honda CBR1000RR	34.535
12	84	M. Fabrizio	ITA	Ducati 1098R	35.093
13	22	L. Camier	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	35.441
14	57	L. Lanzi	ITA	Ducati 1098R	39.034
15	111	R. Xaus	ESP	BMW S1000 RR	41.067
16	14	M. Lagrive	FRA	Honda CBR1000RR	46.452
17	71	Y. Kagayama	JPN	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	47.924
18	23	B. Parkes	AUS	Kawasaki ZX 10R	48.246
19	99	L. Scassa	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	50.932
20	117	S. Andrews	GBR	Kawasaki ZX 10R	55.032
21	2	J. Hacking	USA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	55.216
22	53	A. Polita	ITA	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	1’02.758
23	25	D. Salom	ESP	Kawasaki ZX 10R	1’02.977
24	94	D. Checa	ESP	Yamaha YZF R1	1’12.255
25	79	B. Young	USA	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	1’12.531
RET	11	T. Corser	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	2 Laps
RET	27	J. Ellison	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	10 Laps
RET	88	R. Resch	AUT	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	10 Laps
RET	66	T. Sykes	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	10 Laps
RET	36	G. Lavilla	ESP	Ducati 1098R	16 Laps
RET	77	V. Iannuzzo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR

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Tagged under: Ben Spies, Donington Park, Fuel, Max Biaggi, Noriyuki Haga, Race 1, world superbike, World Superbike Championship, WSBK

Comment:

Net Detective says:
June 28, 2009 at 8:11 PM
http://bit.ly/ZR1fz WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/3Y5vQ
Asphalt_Rubber says:
June 28, 2009 at 9:55 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel – http://tinyurl.com/muxukg #motorcycle
Razvan Popescu says:
June 28, 2009 at 10:15 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/35VQoP
Harley Tweeter says:
June 28, 2009 at 10:26 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Donington Park Decided by Fuel – Asphalt & Rubber http://bit.ly/9yNZd