PPIHC: Carlin Dunne Sets Outright Best Motorcycle Time at Pikes Peak Tire Test on a Lightning Motorcycle

The competitors for the 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb have just concluded a two-day tire test at the Colorado road course, and it should perhaps come as no surprise that our boy Carlin Dunne has posted the outright fastest lap for a motorcycle during the tire test (the Santa Barbara native set the outright two-wheeled course record last year on his Ducati Multistrada 1200 S). What is surprising about Carlin’s result at the tire test is that he was on the Lightning Motorcycles electric superbike. That’s right, the fastest bike so far for 2013′s Race to the Clouds is a 200+ hp electric superbike that is refueled with solar energy. Petrol heads, eat your heart out.

Report: Indianapolis “Opting-Out” of 2014 MotoGP Race?

Talking to the Indy Star, Mark Miles (CEO of Hulman & Co, the parent company to Indianapolis Motor Speedway) has put some doubt into the historic venue’s commitment to host the MotoGP Championship. Having a contract to run the race through the 2014 season, Miles said that IMS might opt-out of the final year in its agreement with Dorna (IMS apparently has this option for a brief window after the 2013 Indianapolis GP). However while the news has focused so far on IMS’s ability to opt-out, both Dorna and Indianapolis Motor Speedway have options in their contract to go through with the 2014 round, and with a bevy of variables in the air, we may or may not see three American GP rounds next year.

2014 Yamaha FZ-09 – Three Cylinders of Naked

Surprise! America will be getting a 847cc three-cylinder naked bike for the 2014 model year, the 2014 Yamaha FZ-09. Replacing the Yamaha FZ8 in the Japanese company’s line-up, the FZ-09 is the first motorcycle from the tuning fork brand to sport the Yamaha’s new line of three-cylinder engines. The Yamaha FZ-09 comes about as the MIC is reporting its second-consecutive year of growth in the 751+cc sport bike segment, as well as increase in commuter riding over short-distance sport riding. With those trends in mind, Yamaha has punched out the displacement on its middleweight naked bike, and focused on giving riders a comfortable, yet stout, motorcycle. Priced at $7,990 MSRP, we think Yamaha hit the nail pretty much on the head with this one.

Trackside Tuesday: The Mind-Killer

In the past few years I’ve come to believe that, while superior physical differences (their reflexes and fine motor skills) are significant, it’s the mental differences that are the most interesting. I suppose anyone who has ridden a motorcycle even a bit beyond one’s comfort zone can appreciate some part of the physical aspect of riding a racing bike. For most of us, even the speed of racers in local events is impressive compared to our street riding. While the skills with throttle, brakes, and balance are on a level similar to the best athletes in other sports, I think that what really sets motorcycle racers apart is their ability to overcome fear.

Video: Still Think Electric Motorcycles Are Slow?

The progress in the last five years on electric motorcycles has been astounding. Taking their first laps around the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, a 87.434 mph pace was the best an electric motorcycle could do at the prestigious road race in 2009 — a pace that was on par with the 50cc record set in 1971. In just five years after the first laps were taken by electric motorcycles at Snaefell, these machines have grown their average lap speeds by over 20 mph at the TT Zero race, setting a new record of 109.675 mph in 2013, and boasting a rate of improvement of roughly 5 mph each year since 2009. If hitting 142.2 mph down the Sulby Straight speed trap wasn’t further proof of the speeds these bikes are achieving, maybe some visual evidence will help support the notion.

Here’s Your Feel Good Moment of the Week — Now, What’s Your Excuse for Not Riding Today?

Darius Glover is a dirt bike racer. Like you and me, he lives to ride, and when he is on two-wheels he feels the freedom that only other motorcyclists can truly understand. The thing is though, Darius is paralyzed from the waist down. Where others would give up their dreams and this sport, Darius at the age of 15 instead pushed onward. No pity parties, no excuses, just simply a daily example of where there is a will, there is a way, and a reminder that you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. It’s hard not to get a bit choked up listening to Darius tell his story, but you walk away feeling uplifted after feeling his attitude come across the screen.

Erzberg Rodeo – Red Bull’s S&M Playhouse for Motorcycles

Any race where 1,500 riders start, 500 qualify, and only 14 finish, has got to be an epic competition, and considering the fact that the Erzberg Rodeo starts in the excavation pit of an Austrian mine…well, it takes a special rider to be enticed by such an event. One such special rider is Graham Jarvis, who was the first of the fourteen men to reach the 20th and final checkpoint. Taking 2 hours and 52 seconds to complete the course, Jarvis made the 2013 Erzberg Rodeo look downright easy. However, with one look at the race-day conditions from this past weekend, we know it was anything but.

Controlling the Uncontrollable – The Role of Ritual in Racing

While normally, MotoGP fans never get enough of seeing Valentino Rossi on TV, there is one shot they would (for the most part) gladly be spared. As he leaves the pits, Rossi stands on the footpegs, and pulls his leathers from between his buttocks, before sitting back down again and leaving. These rituals – part useful limbering up, part invocation of Lady Luck – are something many riders perform, in their attempt to exert control over themselves, and over their environment. In a fascinating press release – by far the most interesting we have received in many months – the Aspar team today provided a discussion and explanation of what riders are trying to achieve through the use of these rituals.

Up-Close with the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc

Hoping to make it four wins in a row, it goes without saying that the MotoCzysz crew is working hard to close the gap to the John McGuinness and the Mugen team. However, having Team Principal Michael Czysz stuck back in the US, undergoing cancer treatments, must certainly add another level of motivation for the on-island MotoCzysz crew. Making time in their busy schedule, Asphalt & Rubber got to take some up-close photos of the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc. The most obvious changes made to the MotoCzysz E1pc for the 2013 TT Zero race are the use conventional suspension pieces. Of course, it’s not a completely standard suspension setup, as MotoCzysz has developed its own adjustable triple clamp that incorporates tunable lateral flex parameters.

MotoGP: Max Biaggi To Test Ben Spies’s Ducati at Mugello, Michele Pirro To Replace Spies at Barcelona

Max Biaggi is to make a surprise return to riding a MotoGP machine. The former 250 and World Superbike champion will take a seat on Ben Spies’ Ignite Pramac Ducati as part of a one-day test at Mugello, as part of Ducati’s testing program, according to Italian site GPOne. Spies was scheduled to stay on at Mugello to take part in a two-day test, but after the first day of practice at last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, it was clear to both Spies and Ducati that his shoulder was still too weak to ride a MotoGP machine. With work continuing on the Desmosedici, it was important for Ducati to get as much data as possible on their bike, and so Biaggi was offered the chance to ride the machine.

Rumor: Colin Edwards to World Superbike?

08/23/2011 @ 9:43 am, by Jensen Beeler7 COMMENTS

Make no mistake about the fact that we are well into the 2011 Silly Season, a festive time where paddock gossip is rife with the movings and rumors of where riders and teams will land for the following season. With MotoGP set this weekend to make its second American appearance for the year, we are kicking off the rumormill reports properly with talk of where Colin Edwards will race in 2012. Rumored to be in World Superbike for 2012, the Texan Tornado has been linked to both a factory Ducati ride in WSBK and a factory seat at BMW Motorrad.

Speaking to Asphalt & Rubber and other journalists at a conference call hosted by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway yesterday (a transcript of that is in the works), Edwards alluded to the fact that we wouldn’t hear about his future plans at Indy, and likely not at the San Marino GP as well. The Texan did clue the assembled press into the fact that he wasn’t ready to retire his racing spurs yet, and would likely be racing in some form or another for the 2012 season.

With most of the paddock gossip regarding Edwards linking him to a ride with Ducati (Edwards has acknowledged talking to BMW Motorrad as well), there is at least a precedent for the news as Edwards was close to signing a deal with the Ducati Corse World Superbike team for the 2011 season. Of course that deal dematerialized when Ducati pulled out of WSBK, leaving Edwards to ride another season in MotoGP with Tech3 Yamaha.

Knowing that his children have never seen him on the top-step of the podium box, and that the old dogs of MotoGP are dominating the World Superbike Championship series right now, the Texan Tornado surely must be eyeing WSBK as a place where he can once again race for the front. With Ducati set to debut the 2012 Ducati Superbike 1199 Superquadrata later this year, Edwards could have a stout machine at his disposal as well.

Adding more fuel to the fire is Yamaha’s not-so-discrete overtures towards wanting Eugene Laverty in the MotoGP Championship, who would presumably join Cal Crutchlow in the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 garage. With motorcycle racing’s unofficial official game of musical chairs now kicking off, we expect we’ll see a great deal of chatter, speculation, and insight as to where all the riders will land for next year. Stay tuned.

Tagged under: BMW, BMW Motorrad, Colin Edwards, Ducati, Ducati Corse, Eugene Laverty, Lin Jarvis, Monster Tech3 Yamaha, MotoGP, rumor, silly season, Silly Season 2011, world superbike, WSBK, Yamaha

Comment:

Kirby says:
August 23, 2011 at 10:45 AM
I’d love to see Colin Edwards winning again but I hate goodbyes. Huge loss for MotoGP if it turns out to be true.
Ricardo says:
August 23, 2011 at 10:58 AM
BMW? Win on it? He better does a good day’s testing and has a looooooong talk with the bosses there before signing to ride that bike. The BMW team is always playing deaf ears to its riders, an attitude that can destroy dreams in a second.
loki says:
August 24, 2011 at 1:47 AM
OK. Let’s see…
MotoGP World Standing 2011:
9 Colin EDWARDS Yamaha USA 75
———————————————————————-
15 Cal CRUTCHLOW Yamaha GBR 34
… Now, how wise would it be to keep Cal and let Colin go, monsieur Poncharal?
Joe says:
August 24, 2011 at 7:05 AM
Castrol Honda FTW!
John says:
August 24, 2011 at 8:09 AM
Edwards can always be counted on to turn in a great performance and give 100% to any race. The best and I mean best race of any kind I have ever see was the last race of the 2001 series in WSBK with Troy Bayliss where those two races like demons the whole time.
Edwards’ value to Yamaha should not be overlooked in terms of his popularity here in the USA either.
Crutchlow has been an expensive failure for the Tech 3 team. They would be well served to keep Edwards around as he does not cost them a lot of money and his value in development and publicity are well worth it.
That being said, I would not mind seeing him on a Castrol Honda CBR1000 in WSBK taking on Biaggi and Checa. The title is probably his for the taking.
One of my favorite guys in GP and a real class act (Texas style!) all the way.
John says:
August 24, 2011 at 8:30 AM
Darn, I meant 2002.
Frankie says:
August 27, 2011 at 3:35 PM
Castrol Honda?
Just as bad as BMW. If I was in his shoes I wouldn’t go near either of the 2.

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