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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Another installment in the life of AMA Pro Superbike’s Chris Fillmore, and we see the KTM rider head down to Deus Ex Machina for some “coffee and café racers” as he calls it in this episode of Following Fillmore. Checking out the work of Michael “Woolie” Woolaway, Chris sheds some insight into his failed career in retails sales, as well as the early period of his motorcycle racing career.
Episode 3 of Following Fillmore finds us out in the California desert, as Chris takes part in a track day to benefit paralyzed road racer Rocco Horvath. Joining Fillmore at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway are some familiar AMA paddock names like Jason Pridmore, Josh Hayes, Melissa Paris, James Rispoli, and Benny Solis. If you are wondering what professional riders do in their spare time, here is your chance.
I have to say, in the three episodes we have shown so far of Following Fillmore (click to watch Episode 1 & Episode 2), this latest installment has to be a staff favorite here at A&R. Not only do we get a real human moment from Chris towards the end of the video, but we get to see his rationalization on the inevitability of crashing and possibly getting seriously hurt from the sport he loves. Something to chew on — good stuff.
The second installment to the AMA’s favorite web series, this time on Following Fillmore Chris sits down with his new KTM/HMC Racing teammate Taylor Knapp.
The two AMA Pro Road Racing Superbike riders talk what it’s like to come from racing families, growing up in Michigan, and finding a solid teammate in the paddock.
It’s pretty clear from their interactions on the camera that Chris and Taylor get on well together, and it’s interesting to see how the pair’s fathers played a role in shaping the riders they are today.
The first episode of Following Fillmore is out, as the web series tracks KTM’s AMA Pro Superbike rider Chris Fillmore out to Pala Raceway for some motocross riding.
Joining Fillmore are a couple familiar faces, namely 2012 AMA Pro Superbike Champion Josh Hayes and Monster Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow…we see photographer Andrea Wilson was also there as well, trying to steal the show, as usual.
Three professional motorcycle racers on one race course, how could things not get competitive?
It is good to see the AMA Pro Road Racing paddock getting some love this month, the series desperately needs it. With more than a few video projects going on in the AMA, fans should have a bevy of good media to consume this year, even with all the shenanigans going on with TV rights this year.
Our latest attention turns to a new web series, Following Fillmore, which as the name implies, follows KTM factory rider Chris Fillmore as he trains with the Bostrom Brothers, gets some chalk-talk from Jason Pridmore, and hits on Cal Crutchlow, among other things.
Coming to a YouTube channel near you starting March 7th, if the show is anything like the trailer, we should be in for a real treat…especially the ladies, who tell me “Chris is so dreamy” all…the…time. The trailer is after the jump, enjoy.
Things looked dubious reagrding the KTM/HMC Superbike Racing Team competing in the 2012 AMA Pro Racing season, but despite talk of the opposite before the season, the factory-backed squad is now on the race card. Someone must have tipped off KTM that its “Ready to Race” slogan really carried no water in the American street-bike scene unless the Austrian manufacturer actually raced here in the United States. That is just fine by us, as it means that KTM has committed itself to the AMA racing ranks, adding another competitive manufacturer to the struggling series’ roster.
It also bodes well for Chris Fillmore, Stefan Nebel, and the rest of the HMC Racing crew, who were out testing at Homestead-Miami Speedway after the Daytona 200. With Fillmore taking 12th & 14th finishes in the two races of AMA Pro Racing’s first Superbike round, KTM/HMC Superbike Racing is aiming for Top 5 finishes this season, as the squad continues to build its American road-racing program. You can meet the factory-supported AMA Superbike crew in the video after the jump.
Mid-Ohio is a great destination if you’re looking to do a track day (we’d recommend riding with these guys), and Mid-Ohio is an even better place to leave if you don’t have a motorcycle with you. However, once a year, the Buckeye State redeems itself by playing host to an AMA Pro Racing weekend. The AMA Superbike races at Mid-Ohio were extra special this year, as KTM debuted Chris Fillmore on its factory-backed KTM 1190 RC8 R Superbike, bringing the Austrian company into a more active relationship with the American Motorcyclist Association.
Also making its first racing debut was the Erik Buell Racing 1190RS Superbike, the race version of Erik Buell’s latest street machine (or is it the 1190RS the street bike version of Buell’s latest race bike?). However which way you read that development process, this weekend was the first time Geoff May got to flog the EBR 1190RS in anger on a track with other racers present.
The much anticipated bigger horsepower Superbike was supposed to put Erik Buell Racing on an even playing field with the other manufacturers, as the team had previously been cobbled with its 1125cc homologated Buell 1125R, and accordingly the EBR team tent saw it’s fair share of visitors..
With KTM making its first AMA race outing on its otherwise tried and tested RC8 R platform, and Buell banking on several AMA season’s worth of racing experience to launch its previously un-raced 1190RS Superbike, and interesting contrast comes out from AMA Pro Racing’s latest stop at Lexington, Ohio.
KTM Motorsports is teaming up with HMC Racing to field a factory-backed KTM effort in the AMA Pro Superbike Road Racing Championship Series (say that three times fast). KTM & HMC will enter in three races on the AMA Pro Racing calendar: Mid-Ohio, VIR, and NJMP, with rider Chris Fillmore at the helm of the KTM 1190 RC8 R Race Spec. With the team headed by Mitch Hansen of HMC Racing, KTM is trusting old partners with its first official foray into AMA road racing.
