Tag

Victoria

Browsing

The long-term future of MotoGP and World Superbike in Australia has been secured. Earlier this week, Dorna signed an agreement with the Victorian government and the Phillip Island circuit that will see both world championship motorcycle racing series remain at the circuit for the next ten years, until 2027.

The agreement is great news for motorcycle racing fans and riders, as the Phillip Island circuit is almost universally regarded as one of the best two or three circuits in the world.

Riders praise its fast, flowing layout – it is the fastest track on the calendar, with an average speed of well over 181 km/h – and its location, perched atop a cliff overlooking the Bass Strait which separates mainland Australia from Tasmania, makes for a spectacular setting and dramatic TV images.

The flowing layout always provides fantastic racing, as the 2015 MotoGP race proved.

Good news from down under, as Dorna has decided to extend its contract with Australia’s racing cathedral, Phillip Island. Already set with a contract through the 2014 racing calendar, Dorna’s new contract extension with Phillip Island sees the Victorian track hosting World Superbikes through the 2017 racing season — and thus secures Melbourne’s position as a sports leader in Australia.

The news comes fresh off the commencement of the 2013 World Superbike Championship season, which held its opening round at the Australian circuit. Phillip Island has been the WSBK season-opening round since 2009, and is known for its close-racing in the production-based series.

There you are, riding your dirt bike through the grocery store with reckless abandon, and just as you are bout to weave through the aisles and head for the sliding-door exit, the darn thing doesn’t open in time, and you go crashing into it. You’d think in modern society we could make automated sliding glass doors in supermarkets that can pick up punk kids riding their two-wheelers through the market, but we can’t, and the world is the lesser for it.

While we wait for this pressing technological breakthrough to occur, here comes a video of a kid in Australia who had just this very same problem. We don’t really know the “why” but we’ve got a pretty good glimpse at the “how” in this story, and we’re pretty sure he’ll be ground well into his next lifetime.

Alex Briggs, Valentino Rossi’s mechanic and A&R super friend, has put together the ultimate Ducati MotoGP experience auction, with all proceeds going towards the disaster relief efforts for the flooding in Australia. Called the worst flood in Australia in the past 50 years, the waters have hit the states of Queensland and Victoria with devastating affect since December 2010 (damages are being estimated in the 10’s of billions of dollars), causing Briggs to want to do something for his home country (most of Rossi’s crew hails from Australia as well).

Bringing his cause before Ducati MotoGP Project Director Alessandro Cicognani, the Marlboro Ducati team has gotten behind Briggs’ desire to help his home country, and has put together an attractive offer to help bring awareness to the floods, and raise some money for the disaster relief effort in the form of an eBay auction that will help raise money for the flood victims. Check after the jump for a full description of the auction details.