Phillip Island served up another nail-biter for WSBK fans this Sunday. With the race winner making a last lap pass, no one could have guessed the top four finishers in this race. With a few familiar faces, along with a few new hopefuls, wrapping up the first stop on the World Superbike Championship only wets the appetite further for the rest of the WSBK season. Rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings after the jump.
The wait is over, World Superbike racing action is back as Race 1 was underway at Phillip Island today. Perhaps a glimpse into the racing year, the action from down under did not disappoint race fans, and sets up WSBK to have a excitingly close season. Click past the jump for all the racing news of Race 1 at Phillip Island, including rider quotes, video highlights, and race standings.
We’re not ones to post eBay auctions although we have done it from time to time, but as usual the lot we’ve found is worth a little reader attention. Up for sale is an ex-works 1986 Buell RR1000R that has found its way across the pond onto English land. This one of a kind Buell racer pre-dates the Harley funded XR1000 powered RR1000R Battle Twins that ran in 1987 & 1988, and looks to be in great shape.
Today MotoCzysz is announcing its Electric D1g1tal Dr1ve (eDD), better known to us as “the suitcase”, which is essentially the housing for the E1pc’s proprietary controller, motor, and batteries. MotoCzysz will be using the eDD on their 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, and intends on letting other teams use the suitcase as well, helping fill the grid at electric motorcycle races.
This announcement is important on a variety of levels, and most electric motorcycling enthusiasts will be interested to get their first glimpse at technology beind Michael Czysz’s 2010 E1pc D1g1tal Superbike, which will for sure be at the TT Zero race at the Isle of Man this year. The suitcase contains MotoCzysz proprietary battery, motor, and controller designs, which are setting the bar higher in electric motorcycle racing.
Despite being buried behind a thinly veiled dramatic buildup, this announcement is much more important than just the release of a new motorcycle design, the musings about race in the Isle of Man, the competition with Mavizen for privateer sales, or the battle for electric racing supremacy against Team Agni.
Instead this announcement has everything to do with why electric motorcycles are changing this industry, and the way this industry does business.
Zero Motorcycles and other electric manufacturers are rising stars in the motorcycle industry where few American companies have seen large scale success. Late last year one of the most loved to hate American motorcycle companies in history closed it’s doors just as it was starting to win AMA races and claimed an AMA Daytona Superbike Championship.
Years of motorcycle experience hit the streets after Buell closed it’s doors and it appears Zero was able to grab 14 years of it by bringing on Abe Askenazi as Vice President of Engineering. With that much knowledge of motorcycles under his belt, it is a great sign companies like Zero are on the right track. Check out the press release after the break for more details.
The World Superbike Championship has returned to us, helping fill the winter snow & rain blues. Coming to us this weekend from Phillip Island, Australia, WSBK shows some new faces in the Superpole mix now that Ben Spies has left World Superbike for greener pastures. With the weather holding out, Superpole at PI had some surprising results, and some not so surprising results. Click past the break to get the low down.
Erik Buell Racing has just updated its website, and releasd the first real clear shot of what the EBR 1190RR will look like it in its racing form. With 185hp being made at the rear-wheel (according to the optimistic DynoJet dynamometer), the EBR 1190RR sits at the top of the Buell totem poll. Erik Buell Racing has spec’d the machine to be legal in both the AMA and WSBK, but the 1190RR is not homologated for neither the AMA American Superbike class (yet?), nor for WSBK (even bigger question mark).
Based off the 1125R chassis, the 1190RR is virtually anorexic, dropping 30lbs off the AMA Daytona Superbike racing machine, while still bumping up displacement by 65cc’s. With 93lb•ft of torque on hand at 9,500 RPM, the EBR 1190RR is sure to sling your eye balls into the back of your head…if you can find a racing series to race it in. Full technical specifications after the jump.
Team Agni took first place at the 2009 TTXGP at Isle Of Man by a large margin upsetting many favorites. Many eyes have been on Arvind Rabadia to see where his team would go racing for 2010. There are currently three separate electric race organizations, TT Zero (Isle of Man), e-Power (FIM) and TTXGP (eGrandPrix). For those new to the electric race landscape don’t confuse these 3 separate organizations with the 3 separate regional series that make up the 2010 TTXGP. The 8 highest placing teams from each of these regional series meet in Albacete, Spain for a final to decide the champion for 2010.
At this point not many of the major electric race teams have revealed their 2010 plans. Team Agni competing at all three TTXGP regionals could be a big draw for teams who want to beat the 2009 champions. It will be interesting to see if Team Agni signs on for e-Power as well. It seems Team Agni will not be at TT Zero as it falls on the same weekend as the second stop of the North American TTXGP round at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin as they fall on the same date. MCN mentions some feel Team Agni will soon sign on for the TT. It is very possible they will just skip Elkhart Lake or if they have the budget a team at both events. Stay tuned, we should learn more shortly. See the full press release after the break.
With the announcement that MotoGP would “allow up to” a 1000cc format in 2012, there was a hinting that manufacturers would be allowed to use their current 800cc machines in the coming years. The provision comes from the concern that another switch in engine rules will mean another financial blow to the teams that have already spent so much time developing their 800cc race bikes. We’ll skip the economic dissertation on what a sunk cost is, and go straight into the news that Yamaha will reportedly not make the jump to 1000cc’s, and instead continue to use its 800cc M1 in 2012.
“Greed, for lack of a better word…is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms: greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save motorcycling, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA.”
Those words were first uttered in 1987 by capitalism’s very own Gordon Gekko, and now 23 years later Michael Douglas’ character will once again take to the silver screen to espouse not only more of his economic viewpoints, but also ride a motorcycle or two.
The bikes in question are of course only the best, and the only two MotoGP spec machines available to mortal man: the Ducati Desmosedici and MotoCzysz C1. Check past the jump for a brief trailer that teases a scene featuring both motorcycles, and click here for Michael Czysz’s own account of the filming process. Yes, he does all of his own stunts.
UPDATE: The 2010 Yamaha Fazer8 ABS has officially been released.
Here’s another bike we’re not likely to see in the United States, the 2010 Yamaha Fazer8. Yamaha has been teasing us with the Fazer8 and its more naked variant, the FZ8 for several months now, and now the tuning fork brand has finally shown the Fazer8 in all its glory.