Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.

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.

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

06/28/2009 @ 6:31 pm, by Jensen Beeler2 COMMENTS

WSBK: Race 2 at Donington Park Ends with a Nearly Fractured Vertebrae Ben Spies WSBK Race 2 Donington Park 560x332

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.RiderCountryBikeDiff
119B. SpiesUSAYamaha YZF R1
291L. HaslamGBRHonda CBR1000RR6.622
384M. FabrizioITADucati 1098R6.816
467S. ByrneGBRDucati 1098R7.349
566T. SykesGBRYamaha YZF R18.145
622L. CamierGBRYamaha YZF R113.463
79R. KiyonariJPNHonda CBR1000RR15.751
827J. EllisonGBRYamaha YZF R116.837
9111R. XausESPBMW S1000 RR22.891
10117S. AndrewsGBRKawasaki ZX 10R30.347
1157L. LanziITADucati 1098R30.622
1214M. LagriveFRAHonda CBR1000RR31.562
1371Y. KagayamaJPNSuzuki GSX-R 1000 K932.148
1423B. ParkesAUSKawasaki ZX 10R32.607
1565J. ReaGBRHonda CBR1000RR32.806
1699L. ScassaITAKawasaki ZX 10R34.269
1779B. YoungUSASuzuki GSX-R 1000 K940.644
1836G. LavillaESPDucati 1098R40.956
1925D. SalomESPKawasaki ZX 10R41.302
2011T. CorserAUSBMW S1000 RR42.856
213M. BiaggiITAAprilia RSV4 Factory47.769
RET77V. IannuzzoITAHonda CBR1000RR8 Laps
RET88R. ReschAUTSuzuki GSX-R 1000 K98 Laps
RET53A. PolitaITASuzuki GSX-R 1000 K917 Laps
RET7C. ChecaESPHonda CBR1000RR18 Laps
RET94D. ChecaESPYamaha YZF R118 Laps
RET41N. HagaJPNDucati 1098R19 Laps
RET96J. SmrzCZEDucati 1098R21 Laps
RET56S. NakanoJPNAprilia RSV4 Factory22 Laps
RET2J. HackingUSAKawasaki ZX 10R22 Laps

Top 5 Related Posts:

  1. WSBK: Race 1 Shows New Contenders at Donington Park
  2. WSBK: Five-Way Battle in Race 2 Thrills at Donington Park

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Comment:

  1. 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

  2. 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.