Last week Oberdan Bezzi inked his concept for a Triumph-powered Bimota, dubbed the Bimota TB-1. That fully-faired alternative to the MV Agusta F3 naturally needs a naked streetfighter variant, and accordingly Bezzi has penned today’s latest concept sketch, which he calls the Bimota TB-2 675. Featuring the Triumph 675cc three-cylinder motor, the Bimota TB-2 675 competes against its donor the Triumph Street Triple, and goes head-to-head with the heavily anticipated MV Agusta Brutale 675 B3.
Despite raining last night, Monday’s Isle of Man TT Monster Energy Supersport race started under promising skies, as the sun was mostly out through the cloudy skies. Though John McGuinness won the weekend’s Dainese Superbike TT, the Padgetts Motorcycles’ rider was not a favorite to win this year’s Supersport races, though still considered a strong competitor. Instead eyes were on Michael Dunlop, Cameron Donald, and Gary Johnson, with Guy Martin always a crowd favorite.
With racing starting well enough, it sadly did not last long as the race was red flagged as the race leaders entered into Ramsey. Though several competitors had crashed in the first lap, news soon spread that Derek Brien had crashed and died on the extremely fast Gorse Lea section of the course, where speeds are in excess of 140 mph.
With the Isle of Man TT officials giving riders a chance to restart the race, several crashers were given a second opportunity to tackle the Mountain Course with their 600cc machinery, one of whom was local hero Guy Martin. Though off to a rocky start, find out how the restarted Monster Energy Supersport Race unfolded after the jump.
Dunlop, the IRTA, and Dorna inked a deal this weekend that sees the British tire manufacturer as the sole-supplier of tires for the upcoming Moto3 Championship, which will replace the 125GP series in 2012. With the deal good through the 2014 season, Moto3 teams will run Dunlops for the next three seasons, just as the Moto2 Championship has done. Speaking of Moto2, Dunlop saw its contract in that series extended to 2014 as well, and we wouldn’t be surprised if the two items were part of Dunlop’s ability to put together a more competitive bid than other tire manufacturers.
With Bridgestone set to supply tires in the 2012 season for MotoGP, Dunlop still only accounts for two of the three GP series, but we expect that a sole-supplier for Moto3, Moto2, and MotoGP will emerge in the coming years. Single-tire rules were put in place not only to help level the playing field between competitors, but also to help reduce development costs for manufacturers, and logistical costs for tire suppliers. If a single tire company provided all the grid’s tires, that overall cost would likely drop further, something Dorna has been keen on lately. Whether it makes for better racing though, we’ll let you decide in the comments.
Popular KMR Kawasaki rider Ryan Farquhar has been ruled out of further 2011 Isle of Man TT participation, as the Irishman crashed at Keppel Gate during Friday’s practice sessions. Hitting a false neutral in the closing stages of the session, Farquhar managed to escape having any broken bones in the incident, but says he is too battered and bruised to compete this year in the TT. The event marks another blemish for the 2011 Kawasaki ZX-10R’s record here at the Isle of Man TT, which has more than a few competitors eying their green machines in leery ways.
“The final evening of practice was going well and we were certainly heading in the right way after the problems we’d had earlier in the week but it all went wrong when I went through Keppel Gate,” explained Farquhar. “I was back down for two gears for the right hander and then down one more gear for the left but I hit a false neutral in between the two corners and ran off the track. I managed to save the bike and was skirting the barriers but just when I thought I’d saved it, the final barrier came back out towards the course and I hit it head on and down I went.”
If there’s a Cal Ripken Jr. of MotoGP, it would have to be the Texan Tornado himself, Colin Edwards III. For the past 141 MotoGP races, the American has been on the starting line come Sunday morning (and Saturday morning if it’s for the Dutch TT).
This weekend’s race at Catalunya would have been Edwards’ 142nd GP start, but medical officials were not too keen on Colin’s idea of gridding-up with the MotoGP field, and doing a single lap to maintain his streak (CEIII broke his collarbone on Friday). Thus, Edwards’ record for consecutive GP starts will have to stand at 141 races.
When the Catalan fans’ eyes weren’t on polesitter Marco Simoncelli, they were looking up at the clouds in Barcelona, to see if they would rain on the Spanish track during today’s MotoGP racing action. With the Catalan track damp in some sections, riders started out on slick Bridgestone tires, hoping for the best in what would fall from the heavens in the coming laps.
Disappointing for American fans, was the news that Colin Edwards had broken his collarbone on Friday, and unfortunately MotoGP medical would not let the Texan start today’s race, thus making the 2011 Catalan GP the first time the Texan Tornado has missed a race since 2003. Edwards seemed confident he’d be back for Silverstone though.
Also absent from the grid was the injured Dani Pedrosa, who broke his shoulder in an incident at the French GP with Simoncelli, making the Italian persona non grata in Spain this weekend. Luckily for Spanish fans, Jorge Lorenzo was on the front row for the start and appeased the masses, but he was behind Casey Stoner who had been consistently quick all week long.
MotoGP comes to us this weekend from Catalunya country, just outside of Barcelona, Spain for the Catalan GP. One of the centers of GP racing, local favorite Dani Pedrosa decided to sit out his home GP, and instead try and recover from his broken collarbone, which he broke two weeks ago at the French GP. The man many blame for Pedrosa’s injuries, Marco Simoncelli, was also under close scrutinty, as the Italian had to go to the principal’s office in the form of a chat with MotoGP Race Direction.
With the weather constantly variable throughout the week, yesterday’s sessions saw a mix of rain and sunshine, which caught-out Monster Yamaha Tech 3 ride Colin Edwards. The American crashed on cold slick tires on the semi-damp track, also breaking his collarbone. His participation in the Catalan GP is out, and question marks hang over his return by the time of the British GP. With qualifying action underway, we saw a few surprises in the results. Read on after the jump.
MotoCzysz was out at Jurby Airfield yesterday, turning a wheel for the first time on the Portland company’s 2011 MotoCzysz E1pc electric superbike. With TT Zero’s first practice session tonight on the Mountain Course, the team has been busy getting ready to field two bikes for riders Mark Miller and Michael Rutter.
While Miller will ride the updated 2010.5 MotoCzysz E1pc, Rutter will be on MotoCzysz’s new machine that features the 200+ hp MotoCzysz D1-11 VDR D1g1tal Dr1ve electric motor. With more power at the motor, more battery on-board, and a lighter overall package, MotoCzysz has its eyes on the 100 mph mark, and the £10,000 check the Isle of Man TT has put up as bounty for the milestone. Photos after the jump.
