For those who haven’t noticed, Riders for Health is our go-to charity here at Asphalt & Rubber, and in case you’re not familiar with Riders (that’s what the hip kids call it), the organization is a registered not-for-profit charity that was started by Andrea and Barry Coleman, along with some guy named Randy Mamola, and provides critical health care services to millions of people in Africa — all on the back of a motorcycle (health care workers on motorcycles can reach six-times as many people as their counterparts in SUVs and cars, booyah).

Also, the official charity of the MotoGP Championship, the two big fundraisers for Riders for Health are the Day of Champions, which is held on the Thursday before the British GP, and the Day of Stars, which is held on the Thursday before the US GP. Whereas the Day of Champions is a massive event held at the Silverstone Circuit that is attended by thousands of two-wheeled enthusiasts, the Day of Stars is a smaller, more intimate, affair that is open to only 50 lucky participants.

A chance to spend time with current GP riders and past GP legends, you really won’t get a better racing experience ahead of the Laguna Seca round (don’t miss the auction too, where you can buy all sorts of rider gear and memorabilia). We highly recommend signing up for the event if you are in town ahead of the Laguna Seca round. A full press release with all the details is after the jump.

The official charity of MotoGP, and an example of motorcycles making the world a better place, Riders for Health is an organization Asphalt & Rubber truly enjoys supporting. For those still not familiar with the work being done by Riders for Health, the charity was founded by Andrea & Barry Coleman, along with some guy named Randy Mamola. Providing motorcycles to health workers in Africa, Riders for Health has helped bring vital and reliable (this point being key) medical care to remote locations in DRC, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Being here in Silverstone for MotoGP’s British GP has meant the unique opportunity to participate in the Day of Champions, the trackside Thursday event that helps raise money for Riders for Health. The event is perhaps most well known for its rider auction, which has forever been immortalized with the antics of then teammates Cal Cructhlow and Colin Edwards.

For an added bonus this year, the British government has graciously agreed to match any funds raised by Rider for Health at the Day of Champions, which means yesterday’s event helped raise in total £254,989 for the organization. British readers, if you want to help support Riders (and get a gold star in our book), you can donate 3 by texting the letters “RFH” to  70303 (your donation will also be doubled by the Crown). US readers, you can go to Riders.org to make a donation (I’m told the text message donation system doesn’t work abroad).

NBC has announced its cast for the next installment of Celebrity Apprentice, the game show where b-list celebrities supplicate themselves to the marrow-sucking Donald Trump (it’s actually great television if you’ve never caught an episode). Joining a cast comprised of Adam Carolla, Arsenio Hall, Clay Aiken, Tia Carrere, and others, Celebrity Apprentice will also see Orange County Choppers’ Paul Teutul Sr. take on the challenges of Mr. Trump.

Talking to some friends the other day, who had recently watched Mark Neale’s latest MotoGP documentary Fastest, it was clear to me that the loss of SuperSic still runs deep with fans and the GP paddock alike. Gearing up for the 2012 MotoGP season, it would appear to be a done-deal that Rossi will use his Simoncelli Tribute helmet at least one or more times next season, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Italian included a special tribute to SuperSic on his bike somewhere (along with his dogs of course).

While it will take sometime for the wounds of his passing to heal with his closest friends and family, the efforts to immortalize Marco Simoncelli have progressed well so far in this off-season. After the untimely death of Marco, it was announced that the non-profit Marco Simoncelli Foundation would be created to honor the lovable MotoGP racer. At the time, details of the organization, and its mission were vague, but now with its official formation, details about the charity are starting to come together.

If you follow my Facebook page, you may have seen a similar image a few weeks ago, and read the story about how many tries it took to get an instance of the blue fire. Here it is again for those who missed it.

On Saturday night of the 2011 season opener, I was working in the pit lane when I noticed something visually striking. When some bikes were revved up by the mechanics in front of the pit boxes, every now and then some blue flame would appear deep within the exhaust pipe. This blue fire was visible for a tiny fraction of a second, but I thought if I could capture one appearance it would be an interesting image. We often see unburned fuel escape from engines and flame out from exhaust pipes, but during the day this fire is orange. But there is something about the night lighting in Qatar that makes it this distinctive blue.

As we sit halfway around the world, essentially powerless to change the events unfolding in Japan, there still comes the feeling that we should be doing something, anything, to aid the people affected by the recent 9.0 earthquake, subsequent tsunami, and unfolding nuclear disaster.

Rising to a call of action, Moto for Japan is an effort by a group of motorcyclists that donates money to the American Red Cross via an inspired charitable platform developed by none other than Hollywood’s Edward Norton. The effort has been making the rounds on the internet the past two days, and its creators, Greg Hatton and Jon Bekefy, should be praised for their thoughtful thinking.

Perhaps a different take on how to best bring aid to Japan, I got an interesting message from Mark Gardiner, who pointed out “Japan is not Haiti. By the time we can actually deliver bottled water and blankets to the scene, people will have walked to parts of Japan that are relatively unscathed. If you want to help Japan, buy Honda stock.” I think ‘The Backmarker’ is grasping a key point here, and with permission, we’ve reproduced his article on the subject as a guest post after the jump. – Jensen

When it comes to Ducati motorcycles, none stands apart from the rest quite like the MH900e. Designed by the one and only Pierre Terblanche, the MH900e is more like art that you can ride than it is a motorcycle that looks good, which might explain the ridiculously high price tag on an eBay auction that is currently offering two low mileage machines for the measly sum of $995,000.

Before you spit your coffee out, that high price tag comes with a guarantee that 50% of the auction proceeds will end up going to charity (the auctioneer seems to prefer Habit for Humanity, but for that kind of money we’re sure you can pick the charity of your choosing despite words that he’ll “consider it”), which comes out to be at least a $497,500 donation because of the high starting price on the auction.

Of course that still means you are paying half a million dollars for two motorcycles that normally retail for about $20,000 each…but the author seems to think it could get you on TV for your efforts (let’s imagine the on-screen title to that one)…ok, now spit your coffee out. To us it all just seems like a ploy to use a charitable cause to make you forget about the fact you’re overpaying for two motorcycles by about $450,000. Greed is good, but apparently vanity is better.

The USGP at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca kicked off on Thursday with the Riders for Health Day of Stars, a fundraising event that included a group ride along the scenic Monterrey Peninsula and private tours of the MotoGP pit boxes lead by American Grand Prix legend, Randy Mamola.

One of the highlights of the day’s events was the signing of the Rossi Yamaha M1. A project conceived by Daytona 200 winner Don Emde, the one of a kind street bike was signed by Valentino Rossi and will be auctioned this fall, all proceeds from the sale going to benefit Riders for Health.