Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

In case you missed the story last week, Kevin Schwantz is preparing to race in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race. For the race, Schwantz will be riding on a team formed by Yukio Kagayama, who in addition to having raced in the MotoGP, World Superbike, and British Superbike Championships, is also a previous Suzuka 8-Hour winner with the Suzuki Endurance Race Team (also joining the three-rider team Noriyuki “Nitro” Haga). Releasing a Q&A about his team’s Suzuka 8-Hour entry, Kagayama-san walks us through how the team came together, what equipment the riders will use, and his outlook on the team’s competitiveness.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4. Using the KTM 690 Duke platform and its LC4 engine, Bar has designed a super-single full-fairing sport bike that takes the Austrian company’s “Ready to Race” DNA and applies it to an idea that is not all that disimilar to the Ducati Supermono.

Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

When I sat down with Claudio Domenicali at the Ducati 1199 Panigale R launch, the now-CEO of Ducati Motor Holding was still just the General Manager of the Italian motorcycle company. Four weeks after our interview though, Gabriele del Torchio would leave Ducati for Alitalia; and Domenicali, a 21-year veteran of both the racing and production departments of Ducati, would take his place at the top of Italy’s most prestigious motorcycle brand. After reading our interview from Austin, Texas after the jump, I think you will agree too.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

That Yamaha is working on a seamless gearbox is no secret, with Yamaha’s test riders currently racking up the kilometers around tracks in Japan. Recently, however, Spanish magazine SoloMoto published an article suggesting that Yamaha has already been using its new seamless gearbox since the beginning of the season. My own enquiries to check whether Yamaha was using a seamless gearbox or not always received the same answer: no, Yamaha is not using the seamless gearbox. To test this denial, I went out to the side of the track on Friday morning at Jerez to record the bikes as they went by.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

After a very public father/son break-up between Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., a steroid-ring scandal involving Paul Sr., and finally a bankruptcy proceeding, it appears that Orange County Choppers is the impossible to kill multi-headed hydra of doom that we all knew it was, as the custom chopper shop is once again headed to the small screen and recruiting some talent, on and off the show. Looking for “someone who will work alongside Paul Senior, running the shop and helping build some of the best custom motorcycles in the world,” OCC says it will be back on television with a new show later this month. Please for the love of god, will someone give this man the attention he craves so dearly??! Or, just shoot us in the face.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

We love us some concept bikes here at Asphalt & Rubber, and we have featured more than a few pieces of stunning design and imagination on our pages. Though, we can’t remember the last time one of these works of art were brought to us by a legitimate racing team, but that is what we have here with the Team Alstare Superbike Concept. A nod to the former Suzuki team’s return to the World Superbike Championship as the Ducati factory squad with Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, Alstare has enlisted the help of designer Serge Rusak of Rusak Kreaktive Designworks to ink the shape of its futuristic Superbike concept, while Tryptik Studios handled the 3D modeling prowess.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

If you didn’t watch Thursday’s pre-event press conference for MotoGP at Jerez, it is worth a viewing right to the end (assuming you have a MotoGP.com account). Building off the news about the NBA’s Jason Collins coming out as gay in a self-written feature in Sport Illustrated, my good colleague David Emmett had the courage to inquire about the culture and acceptance of the MotoGP paddock for homosexual riders. For the sake of accuracy, after the jump is a full transcript of David’s question, as put to riders Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl, and Scott Redding, as well as those riders’ responses to David’s inquiry.

2014 Suzuki GSV-R Spotted Again

News that Suzuki plans on returning to the MotoGP Championship in 2014 should be old information for dedicated Asphalt & Rubber readers, and the Japanese company’s inline-four race bike was already spotted doing test laps last year by the eager eyes at Cycle World. Well the American print-mag has another set of eyebrow-raising high-quality photos of the 2014 Suzuki GSV-R to mull over from the Motegi race track, along with some technical insights provided by the venerable Kevin Cameron.

BMW F800GS Adventure – Germany’s Middleweight ADV

A surprise addition to BMW Motorrad’s 2013 model line-up, zie Germans have announced a new middleweight adventure-tourer, the 2013 BMW F800GS Adventure. Like its larger predecessor, the BMW F800GS Adventure is a more travel-ready and off-road capable build of the recently updated BMW F800GS motorcycle. Featuring a larger windscreen, panniers, and a bigger fuel tank capacity (2.1 gallons larger, for a total of 6.3 gallons of fuel), the BMW F800GS Adventure keeps the same 85 hp, liquid-cooled, 798cc, parallel-twin engine found on the F800GS, as well as the same chassis configuration. Pricing in the US will be $13,550 for the base model BWM F800GS Adventure.

Kevin Schwantz Returns to Motorcycle Racing – Enters the Suzuka 8-Hours with Team Kagayama

Former 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz has certainly been in the news a bit these past few months, mostly for his involvement and falling out with the Circuit of the Americas and the Americas GP, but also more recently for his comments regarding Dani Pedrosa — we also sat down with Mr. Schwantz in Austin, and the Texan gave us some sobering insight into the future of American road racing. As if all that wasn’t enough, Schwantz is making a return to two-wheeled racing, and has entered the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours endurance race with Team Kagayama racing alongside Noriyuki Haga and team owner Yukio Kagayama.

WSBK: Race 1 at Imola Takes the World Superbike Championship Up Another Level

09/27/2009 @ 5:23 pm, by Jensen Beeler4 COMMENTS

Racing went off without a hitch this Sunday, as the Imola circuit seemed devoid of earlier traction problems that almost sidelined the racing earlier this week. With Imola sitting literally in Ducati’s backyard, all eyes were on the Xerox Ducati squad, and Noriyuki Haga.

Haga, who trails Ben Spies for the first time this season coming into Imola, was especially keen on grabbing back some points from the American. Lastly, a new addition to the WSBK paddock took the form of Marco Simoncelli, who was filling in on the factory Aprilia team for the injured Shinya Nakano. A full race report with spoilers after the jump.

The Italian motorcycles clearly were dialed-in for Imola this weekend, with the Ducati’s showing strong results, as well as the RSV4′s of Biaggi and Simoncelli. So it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see that Race 1 at Imola was dominated by the close racing between the Italian machines, with American Ben Spies trailing and Johnny Rea a brief factor.

With Biaggi leading the majority of the first race at Imola, Sunday looked to be a good outing for the Aprilia squad. This mood was only affected by Marco Simoncelli’s early departure from the race, as he crashed while in 5th place (after moving up the second wave of riders with skill and ease). Simoncelli more than made-up for his Race 1 performance in Race 2 thought (more on that later). In fact, it looked like Biaggi might take it all the way to the podium before Haga passed him with three laps to go.

Once Haga had gotten around Max, he was never to be seen again, and Biaggi had to contend with an equally fast Michel Fabrizio, who at times was also showing Biaggi a wheel. Holding Fabrizio off through the rest of the course, Biaggi found himself on the second step of the podium. The Texan Ben Spies was less of a factor during the race, content to finish 4th for the race, and unable to match the speeds of the Italian beasts. With that result, Spies’ lead over Haga is reduced to just 6 points.

Johnny Rea also contended with the leaders, until a hot entry on lap three saw Rea cut-through the lead pack. Barely missing the pair of Xerox Ducatis as he over-shot the turn, Rea ended-up dumping the bike in the gravel, as he lightly hit the air wall. He would rejoin the race and finish 7th. Thankfully this move had no impact on the WSBK Championship standings.

Results from Race 1 of World Superbike at Imola, Italy:

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Country	Bike	Diff
1	41	N. Haga	JPN	Ducati 1098R	-
2	3	M. Biaggi	ITA	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	2.074
3	84	M. Fabrizio	ITA	Ducati 1098R	2.190
4	19	B. Spies	USA	Yamaha YZF R1	5.438
5	9	R. Kiyonari	JPN	Honda CBR1000RR	14.470
6	91	L. Haslam	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	14.685
7	65	J. Rea	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	26.822
8	96	J. Smrz	CZE	Ducati 1098R	32.694
9	66	T. Sykes	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	33.817
10	23	B. Parkes	AUS	Kawasaki ZX 10R	34.801
11	11	T. Corser	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	35.286
12	111	R. Xaus	ESP	BMW S1000 RR	36.442
13	31	K. Muggeridge	AUS	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	38.698
14	15	M. Baiocco	ITA	Ducati 1098R	42.147
15	71	Y. Kagayama	JPN	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	46.510
16	99	L. Scassa	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	46.628
17	94	D. Checa	ESP	Yamaha YZF R1	1’16.121
18	25	D. Salom	ESP	Kawasaki ZX 10R	1’16.398
RET	77	V. Iannuzzo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR	8 Laps
RET	58	M. Simoncelli	ITA	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	12 Laps
RET	67	S. Byrne	GBR	Ducati 1098R	13 Laps
RET	7	C. Checa	ESP	Honda CBR1000RR	14 Laps
RET	10	F. Nieto	ESP	Ducati 1098R	14 Laps
RET	100	M. Tamada	JPN	Kawasaki ZX 10R	16 Laps
RET	124	L. Conforti	ITA	Ducati 1098R	16 Laps
RET	14	M. Lagrive	FRA	Honda CBR1000RR	18 Laps
RET	57	L. Lanzi	ITA	Ducati 1098R	19 Laps

Tagged under: Ben Spies, imola, italy, Max Biaggi, Michel Fabrizio, Noriyuki Haga, Race 1, superbike, world superbike, World Superbike Championship, WSBK

Comment:

Kerry Powell says:
September 27, 2009 at 5:26 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Imola Takes the World Superbike Championship Up … http://bit.ly/AZwhu
Motorcycle_Heads says:
September 27, 2009 at 6:18 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Imola Takes the World Superbike Championship Up …: Motorcycle news, Industry Rumors, MotoGP, .. http://bit.ly/oCUzz
Razvan Popescu says:
September 27, 2009 at 6:48 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Imola Takes the World Superbike Championship Up … http://bit.ly/Kk1sZ
Asphalt_Rubber says:
September 27, 2009 at 9:23 PM
WSBK: Race 1 at Imola Takes the World Superbike Championship Up Another Level – http://bit.ly/2sdop #motorcycle

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