Sometimes you get the bear, and sometimes the bear gets you. That was the case for Chaz Davies at Donington Park today, as the Ducati rider found his Panigale R race bike going up in flames during FP2.
An unknown mechanical issue forced Davies to pull off the track, and not long after getting his bike to a stop did flames started erupting out of his Ducati Panigale R.
The bike was a total loss, and the whole ordeal cost Davies a valuable time during the practice session, but at least Davies didn’t have to abandon ship at full-speed – like Colin Edwards did on the Aprilia RS Cube.
If you are a regular reader of Asphalt & Rubber, then you surely have seen our banners supporting Riders for Health, one of the great charities to come out of the motorcycle industry.
The non-profit organization, based out of the UK, provides healthcare services to remote locations in Africa, utilizing motorcycles to traverse the uncertain terrain.
Started by Andrea and Barry Coleman, along with Randy Mamola (yes, that Randy Mamola), Riders for Health even had HRH Princess Anne as its patron, with major support from the FIM and the MotoGP Championship as well.
If you attended a MotoGP round in the US or UK, then you may have seen the Riders for Health auctions, or participated in the Day of Stars or Day of Champions events.
Therefore, it is unfortunate for us to report that Riders for Health will be closing its UK offices, effectively ending the charity’s operations.
Thankfully, some of Riders’ operations in a number of African countries will continue on despite this closure, as their operations have already transferred to local actors, governments, or organizations.
American race fans will see a familiar face during next weekend’s World Superbike races at Donington Park, as its has just been announced that MotoAmerica’s Cameron Beaubier will be ridng with the Pata Yamaha factory team.
Cameron Beaubier will be filling in for the injured Sylvain Guintoli, who fractured his ankle during the Superpole session at the Imola round – an injury that is taking longer to heal than expected.
While it’s bad news for the Guintoli, the move is a boon for Beaubier, as the weekend will likely serve as a public audition for the young American in the World Superbike paddock.
As expected from earlier sales reports, Ducati Motor Holding is posting a banner year for 2015. The Italian motorcycle maker says that it sold 54,800 bikes last year, a 9,683 unit (+22%) increase over the number of bikes sold in 2014.
Helping break the 50,000 units barrier, the Ducati Scrambler line accounted for virtually all of Ducati’s sales growth in 2015, with over 16,000 Scrambler models sold worldwide. As we have reported before, this paints an interesting picture of what is going on behind Borgo Panigale’s walls.
“The record sales of 2015 are the result of our company’s courage and skill,” said Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding.
“Ducati closes 2015 with record volumes and also a substantial growth of 22% over 2014. During the year Ducati not only launched successful new motorcycles, but also a new brand, Ducati Scrambler, which immediately won global acclaim with over 16,000 sales worldwide.”
MV Agusta reports today that the company’s annual unit sales are up 30% for 2015, continuing the growth that the Italian brand has seen over the past years.
With nearly 9,000 units sold worldwide in 2015, MV Agusta is seeing the most growth outside of Italy, with a 140% increase in the UK, 54% increase in Spain, 26% increase in Germany, and 20% increase in France.
MV Agusta also saw strong gains in the United States, with a 50% increase in units sales reported. Interestingly, sales in Italy remained fairly flat, with a 0.1% decrease when compared to figures from 2014.
While most consumers will say that the company’s big news at EICMA was the finalized version of the Energica Eva electric streetfighter, it is really Energica’s aim to be on the London Stock Market that should be dominating the conversations in Milan, Italy.
The news is an extension to our earlier report that Energica hired UBS to help the Italian electric motorcycle company navigate the financial waters of investment.
At EICMA, Energica provided more details on its plan, saying that it would look for private investment to raise the necessary free capital in order to be listed on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Italia sub-market, a special market that caters to small and medium-sized businesses, usually in the technology sector.
It seems Guy Martin won’t be a BBC Top Gear host after all, according to Britain’s Commercial Motor magazine, as the mechanic from Lincolnshire has seemingly turned down the job offer to be one of the hosts of the infamous British show.
Though a disappointment, Martin has seemingly reached this decision because the rigors of hosting Top Gear would have required him to quit his day job of being a mechanic, and interfered with hit motor bike racing pursuits.
The key to success in motorcycle racing is to control the variables which you can control, and adapt to the ones which you can’t.
The British round of MotoGP at Silverstone turned out to be all about those variables, the controllable and the uncontrollable, about right and wrong choices, and about adapting to the conditions.
The one variable over which those involved in motorcycle racing have any control is the weather. Especially at Silverstone, especially at the end of summer. That it should rain is utterly unsurprising. That it should rain during a MotoGP race even more so.
The outcome of the MotoGP race – and in fact, the outcome of all three races at Silverstone – was entirely predictable: the rider who was both best prepared and best able to adapt to the conditions won.
Scott Redding is to ride for Pramac Ducati in 2016. The Pramac squad announced today that the British rider will be riding alongside Danilo Petrucci on board a Ducati Desmosedici GP15.
The news means that Redding is to leave the Marc VDS squad, who had moved up to MotoGP to form a team around the English rider.
Redding never gelled with the Honda RC213V that he has been racing this year, as he found it difficult to get any feeling with the bike. He only occasionally showed flashes of his potential, struggling outside of the top ten for most of the season.
Redding had made no secret of his desire to leave. At Assen, he told reporters of his regrets about choosing the Honda, letting slip that he was keeping an eye on the Pramac team, and the performance of the bike.