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Max Biaggi Breaks the Electric Motorcycle Land Speed Record on the Voxan Wattman

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Earlier this summer, we wrote about the efforts of the Voxan brand to break the land-speed record for an electric motorcycle.

The company’s plans included the services of six-time world champion Max Biaggi, and a land-speed record course on the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia. That was, of course, until the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Having to relocate their plans to the Châteauroux Airfield ‘Marcel Dassault’ in France, last week Biaggi set not just one FIM record, but 11 of them, on the Voxan Wattman electric motorcycle.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #168 – French GP

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Episode 168 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one sees David Emmett and Neil Morrison  on the mics, as the pair discusses the French GP at Le Mans.

The guys kickoff the show with a discussion of how the weather affected the race, and especially how it turned tire choice into a gamble, but one that produced a popular winner.

Of course, there has to be a conversation about Danilo Petrucci’s victory, along with Alex Marquez getting on the podium.

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MotoGP

Friday MotoGP Summary at the French GP: Mixed Conditions, Miller’s Trick, & KTM’s Holeshot

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“It was a very tricky day in Le Mans, like always,” was the verdict of Fabio Quartararo on Friday evening, after a wet morning session and afternoon practice on a track which was rapidly drying, but never quite dry.”

“He spoke for just about everyone, the track proving especially treacherous in the afternoon, ending FP2 almost completely dry with a few damp patches, enough to catch a few riders out, including Aprilia’s Bradley Smith and Aleix Espargaro, Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso, KTM rookie Brad Binder, and the LCR Honda of Takaaki Nakagami.

Most were just harmless falls, the front washing out on a damp patch, but Bradley Smith found himself propelled into the air when the traction control on his Aprilia RS-GP couldn’t react quickly enough to the rear spinning up when he hit a damp patch on track.

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MotoGP

MotoGP Preview of the French GP: High Grip, Wet Weather, & A Wide Open Field

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And so we enter the final stretch of the 2020 MotoGP season – and the fact that six Yamaha engineers are stuck in Andorra due to one of them contracting Covid-19 is a reminder that the end of the 2020 season might come sooner than expected.

MotoGP heads to Le Mans, for the French Grand Prix, not in May, when the series usually heads there. That means cooler temperatures, not just in terms of air temperatures, but in solar intensity as well.

Le Mans in early October gets four hours less sunshine than in mid May, and with the sun much lower in the sky, it doesn’t heat the asphalt as much even when it is hidden by curtains of cloud, or drenched in rain.

But Le Mans has some saving graces. Firstly, the weather in October is pretty much as you might expect, something which proved problematic in Barcelona, where temperatures were about 10°C colder than expected.

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MotoGP

MotoGP Riders Will Test at Portimao Before Le Mans Round

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MotoGP is set to make its debut at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao in November, as the last race of the 2020 season, and as a brand new track on the calendar, the teams, factories, and riders have no data on the circuit.

To help them prepare for the race, Dorna has organized a test at the circuit ahead of the race.

The timing of the test is a little unfortunate. The test is due to take place on October 7th and 8th, directly before the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.

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MotoGP

A Decision on the French MotoGP Round Is Due by May 15th

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When the COVID-19 pandemic first forced Dorna to start moving races, they postponed them to later in the year. First Thailand, then Austin, and finally Argentina were moved to new slots in October and November.

But, when it became clear that Jerez and Le Mans could not take place on their planned dates, those races were postponed indefinitely, with no new date given for when they might be held. Now, the first signs of races being canceled are appearing.

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MotoGP

Another One Down: French GP Postponed Until Further Notice

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The COVID-19 outbreak continues to wreak havoc on the 2020 MotoGP calendar. Today, Dorna announced that the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, due to be held on 15th-17th May, has been postponed until further notice.

As happened with Jerez, no new date for Le Mans has been announced. MotoGP, like all other international sports, faces a huge problem in putting together a calendar, in the face of uncertainty over how long restrictions on travel and events will continue.

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WSBK

2020 WorldSBK Calendar Reshuffled Because of the Coronavirus

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The novel coronavirus outbreak is touching all forms of motorcycle racing. After MotoGP had to change its calendar twice in the past two days, the WorldSBK series has also had to change its plans. With the Spanish round at Jerez scheduled for the end of the month, that became untenable.

So the Jerez round of WorldSBK has been pushed back to the end of the year, and is due to be held on the weekend of October 25th.

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Podcast

Paddock Pass Podcast #118 – WorldSBK at Magny-Cours

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Episode 118 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a WorldSBK show, as the production championship comes to us from Magny-Cours, France.

As such, this means that we see Steve English joined by Gordon Ritchie on the mics, as they are our World Superbike reporting duo for the 2019 season.

Recording straight from trackside at the French track, the guys give some conversation about the on-track action at Magny-Cours, as well as what is happening off the track.

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