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.

Silly Season: Stoner to HRC for 2011 MotoGP?

Wed, May 5th, 2010 @ 6:07 am, by Jenny Gun6 COMMENTS
Home » Popular » Silly Season: Stoner to HRC for 2011 MotoGP?

Yes silly season is well upon us now for MotoGP, and rumors are swelling after Livio Suppo spent time with Casey Stoner and his father during the MotoGP testing at Jerez, Spain. Suppo, who moved to HRC after 11 years with Ducati, is rumored to have met with Stoner in order to have the Australian rider make a switch of teams in 2011. The Honda marketing manager made it clear when he jumped ship from Ducati that he would be back for Stoner, a rumor that’s been confirmed by Loris Capirossi, and passed around the paddock more than a few times.

This silly season rumor isn’t without some faults though, as a move by Stoner into HRC would likely mean the exiting of Dani Pedrosa from the team. Pedrosa’s contract with HRC is up after this season, while Andrea Dovizioso’s contract has an option for the rider to renew with HRC for 2011, which would seemingly give him some immunity from a rider shuffling. Pedrosa has long been the #1 rider on HRC, and has garnered support from Spanish title sponsor Repsol, who would normally like nothing more than seeing a Spanish rider on their sponsored team.

However Pedrosa has also made some publicly unfriendly remarks as of late about HRC and their development of the RC212V. Whether related to these comments or not, Repsol has been rumored recently as giving its blessing on showing Pedrosa the door, which could allow HRC to pursue the pairing of Stoner and Dovizioso, but then again Pedrosa’s strong finish in Jerez may have silenced that tune to some degree.

The Spanish rider, despite his podium victory, is still complaining of problems with his Honda RC212V, while Dovi seems to be getting on with the machine quite well. Could all this be the formula needed to bring Stoner into Honda’s camp? It’s probably too early to tell, but as the silly season heats up we can certainly expect to hear more about Stoner and Pedrosa what their prospects for next season look like. Stay tuned race fans.

Source: Moto.it via Two Wheels Blog

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Tagged under: Andrea Dovizioso, Casey Stoner, contract, Dani Pedrosa, Ducati, Honda, Honda RC212V, HRC, Livio Suppo, Marlboro Ducati, RC212V, Repsol, Repsol Honda, rumor, silly season S

Comment:

Asphalt_Rubber says:
May 5, 2010 at 1:07 PM
Silly Season: Stoner to HRC for 2011 MotoGP? – http://bit.ly/bxaq20 #motorcycle
ladyhawke82 says:
May 5, 2010 at 1:25 PM
RT @Asphalt_Rubber Silly Season: Stoner to HRC for 2011 #MotoGP? – http://bit.ly/bxaq20 #motorcycle #Ducati
Silvercbr says:
May 5, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Pedrosa out…..Stoner in at HRC. Does that mean the rumors of Rossi finishing his career with Ducati come to fruition? Then Spies jumps to full sponsored Fiat Yamaha? The chess pieces are beginning to move.
Jaybond says:
May 6, 2010 at 2:22 AM
Still quite early to speculate, in some ways it depends on the performance and it will be at least the next 4-5 rounds to gauge Stoner’s performance on the GP10, but also on Pedrosa’s performance as well on the RC212V. Both riders have been with their respective teams for the past 4-5 years, so it could be possible they will look to another teams.
Dr. Gellar says:
May 6, 2010 at 10:11 PM
Interesting. It may not happen, but I could easily see Stoner at Honda, with Dani off to other pastures. Not only that (and this is pure fantasy), but I could see a change in team sponsorship too. If you’ve seen the 125cc Derbi of Marc Marquez this season, the team is sponsored by Repsol and Red Bull. For some reason I can easily imagine such a combination sponsoring the factory Honda squad with Stoner and either Dovisioso or a Spanish rider (other than Pedrosa) somewhere down the road. Again…pure fantasy, but still.
Ooooh…and should Rossi ever leave Yamaha for Ducati, don’t expect to see Fiat stay as a sponsor with the factory Yamaha team. I’m guessing Rossi is the reason Fiat is painted on a Yamaha fairing at all in the first place. No Rossi…no real reason to stick around.
Jaybond says:
May 7, 2010 at 2:38 AM
Yeap..that’ll be the perfect dream team combination, A superstar Italian rider on an Italian machine sponsored by an Italian corporate giant, that could drive Italy mad!