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.

WSBK: Race 2 at Donington Park Ends with a Nearly Fractured Vertebrae

Sun, June 28th, 2009 @ 6:31 pm, by Jenny Gun2 COMMENTS
Home » Racing » WSBK: Race 2 at Donington Park Ends with a Nearly Fractured Vertebrae

If the close racing of Race 1 wasn’t enough drama for the fans at Donington Park, Race 2 provided it in full. Another breakaway start, and a couple key crashes, lead to a shake up in the finishing results, and one rider was rushed off to the hospital for a suspected fractured vertabrae that might change the course of the season. Continue reading for spoilers.

Ben Spies took an uncontested Double at Donington by winning Race 2 with relative ease. Spies took the lead in the first corner, and never looked back, finishing 6 seconds ahead of second place Leon Haslam.

As the track at Donington warmed up, it was clear some riders had the wrong compound of tire on their race bikes. Max Biaggi crashed first, hanging up any hopes for redemption after running out of fuel in Race 1. A lap later, Noriyuki Haga had a nasty crash where his Ducati tumbled and landed on top of him.

Haga walked away from the crash, visibly in pain. It was suspected he had a fractured vertebrae, but a later CAT scan confirmed he did not, although he did break a series of other bones in his arm and shoulder.

With the podium shake up completed, the race was left for Leon Haslam, Michel Fabrizio, and Shane Byrne to figure out the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place spots in victory lane. Haslam ended up holding off Fabrizio, and Shakey finished 4th.

Spies made 25 points on Haga for his day’s work at Donington, and now only trails the Xerox Ducati by 14 points. The big question now will be whether Haga will be able to ride any of the remaining races of the season, and defend is now narrow lead.

We’ll keep your apprised of the news as we get it.

Results from Race 2 of World Superbike at Donington Park, UK:

Pos.	Num.	Rider	Country	Bike	Diff
1	19	B. Spies	USA	Yamaha YZF R1
2	91	L. Haslam	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	6.622
3	84	M. Fabrizio	ITA	Ducati 1098R	6.816
4	67	S. Byrne	GBR	Ducati 1098R	7.349
5	66	T. Sykes	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	8.145
6	22	L. Camier	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	13.463
7	9	R. Kiyonari	JPN	Honda CBR1000RR	15.751
8	27	J. Ellison	GBR	Yamaha YZF R1	16.837
9	111	R. Xaus	ESP	BMW S1000 RR	22.891
10	117	S. Andrews	GBR	Kawasaki ZX 10R	30.347
11	57	L. Lanzi	ITA	Ducati 1098R	30.622
12	14	M. Lagrive	FRA	Honda CBR1000RR	31.562
13	71	Y. Kagayama	JPN	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	32.148
14	23	B. Parkes	AUS	Kawasaki ZX 10R	32.607
15	65	J. Rea	GBR	Honda CBR1000RR	32.806
16	99	L. Scassa	ITA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	34.269
17	79	B. Young	USA	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	40.644
18	36	G. Lavilla	ESP	Ducati 1098R	40.956
19	25	D. Salom	ESP	Kawasaki ZX 10R	41.302
20	11	T. Corser	AUS	BMW S1000 RR	42.856
21	3	M. Biaggi	ITA	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	47.769
RET	77	V. Iannuzzo	ITA	Honda CBR1000RR	8 Laps
RET	88	R. Resch	AUT	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	8 Laps
RET	53	A. Polita	ITA	Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9	17 Laps
RET	7	C. Checa	ESP	Honda CBR1000RR	18 Laps
RET	94	D. Checa	ESP	Yamaha YZF R1	18 Laps
RET	41	N. Haga	JPN	Ducati 1098R	19 Laps
RET	96	J. Smrz	CZE	Ducati 1098R	21 Laps
RET	56	S. Nakano	JPN	Aprilia RSV4 Factory	22 Laps
RET	2	J. Hacking	USA	Kawasaki ZX 10R	22 Laps

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Tagged under: Ben Spies, Donington Park, Fuel, Leon Haslam, Michel Fabrizio, Race 1, world superbike, World Superbike Championship, WSBK

Comment:

Asphalt_Rubber says:
June 28, 2009 at 10:31 PM
WSBK: Race 2 at Donington Park Ends with a Nearly Fractured Vertebrae – http://tinyurl.com/mj2sb4 #motorcycle
Beatpusher says:
June 29, 2009 at 1:40 AM
Hey you didn’t mention the first top ten for BMW! Also, I’m pretty sure the aprllia didn’t run out of fuel. Listen to the post race withMax.