There is not a lot of betting that goes on in Utah, but Miller Motorsports Park has a good feeling about its upcoming World Superbike round. The only American venue on the WSBK calendar, track officials are hoping to see the 200 mph barrier be broken on Miller’s long straightaway by the production race machines. Standing over 3,500 feet long, Miller’s front straight makes for some daunting first-corner entries, which will challenge WSBK and AMA Pro Racing riders alike during the BigM Weekend.
Our good friend Dan Lo is trying to get to this year’s Isle of Man TT, hoping to cover Guy Martin’s first TT race win. Many of you have already enjoyed Dan’s work, as he has been our featured photographer for the last two photos of the week (here & here). Creating photos that have always been a stark contrast to the norm, I first met Dan way back in the early days of Asphalt & Rubber, where his truly unique style of photography was the first professional work to grace this site’s pages.
A young and humble man, Dan can barely get to his seat at any given media center, as a bevy of journalists and photographers always greet him upon his entry to the room. Dan is popular with the riders too, which is probably why Ben Bostrom wrote the prologue to Dan’s book: American Superbike X, a collection of AMA Pro Racing photos from the 2011 season — Elena Myers wrote the epilogue by the way. If you haven’t done so, you should pick up a copy of his book. I’m not here typing to plug Dan’s photojournal, though I am here to solicit some Kickstarter support to get Dan on the Isle of Man, and bring his unique skill set to recording the TT.
More reports are starting to surface about Audi’s pending purchase of Ducati Motor Holding from Investindustrial. Said last month to have offered the private equity firm somewhere in the neighborhood of €750 million, Reuters is now reporting the figure to have been closer to the €870 million to €875 million range, which is closer to the original rumored offer of €850 million by the German automaker. What is most interesting in the report by Reuters is the notion that Audi is not making an offer to buy all of Investindustrial’s financial position in Ducati Motor Holding, which accounts for about 70% of the company.
Ben Bostrom signed on to ride for a certain AMA Superbike team owner by the name of Michael Jordan in 2011, trading in his signature number 155 for his employer’s legendary 23. “I think having MJ as a boss is awesome!” he enthused, when speaking about his then-upcoming debut.
As with any new rider and team pairing, there were rough patches to work through, but it was clear early on that the combination had potential. By the second round of the season Ben had put the Jumpman bike on the front row of the starting grid, outpaced only by proven factory machines.
We aren’t really interested in publishing the tabloid pages of MotoGP, but this story is so ridiculous it was too hard to resist. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa doesn’t seem like the yachting type, but the Spaniard was arrested last week by the Spanish Guardia Civil in connection with a network of people responsible for helping people cheat on their yachtsman exam, a test which would let the bearer of the certificate operate a yacht under Spanish authority.
According to the reports, 21 people in total were arrested by the Spanish Guardia Civil for cheating on the exam — ten were caught wearing ear pieces during the exam, which included Pedrosa, seven people were charged with false identity, and four were members of the gang were also arrested. Arrested on Friday, Pedrosa has already been released by the Guardia Civil, and has issued an apology for his actions. It is not anticipated that this incident will affect Pedrosa’s participation in the Qatar GP this coming weekend.
Factory Kawasaki World Superbike rider Joan Lascorz has been airlifted from the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari at Imola today, after the young Spanish rider crashed his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R during a post-race test. Treated first at the circuit’s medical center, it was decided to airlift Lascorz to Bologna when it was suspected the WSBK rider had fractured a vertebra.
Scoring a 7th and 9th place in Sunday’s two World Superbike races, Lascorz lost control of his Kawasaki in the final minutes of the today’s testing session. Unconfirmed reports say the Spaniard hit a wall on the outside of the track, fracturing either his 5th or 6th vertebra. According to the Spanish press, Lascorz is currently in surgery for his injuries. A&R hopes for the best for the young WSBK rider, and that he has a full and speedy recovery from this incident. A statement from World Superbike is after the jump.
It looks like Moto Morini gave up on its month-long teasing of the new Moto Morini Rebello 1200 Giubileo, with the company’s latest bike breaking cover today — two weeks ahead of schedule. That is just fine by us, since we had already forgotten about the Rebello 1200 Giubileo and its painful jigsaw puzzle reveal strategy, and the move is even better for the motorcycle public because Moto Morini has quite an interesting bike to show here.
A street-standard with some café racer touches, the Moto Morini Rebello 1200 Giubileo looks like quite an elegant bike with some very nice finishing touches being shown in the company’s limited photo set.
Easily our favorite detail is the unique “electric moveable saddle” that takes the Rebello 1200 Giubileo from monoposto to biposto with a simple flick of switch, while maintaing the bike’s rear-cowling look. It would seem gone are the days of having to remove a rear seat cover, or swapping out a rear cowl for a padded seat. Molto bene.
With the sun peaking through the clouds over Imola, ambient and track temperatures warmed up a bit for World Superbike’s Race 2. With the Ducatisti lining the stands at the Italian track, race fans present at Imola looked for a strong showing from Carlos Checa and his Althea Ducati. The old Spaniard would have to contend with a tough grid though, and one especially quick Tom Sykes on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R. Continue reading for spoilers for race results.
“As an online discussion about motorcycles grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Erik Buell or Buell Motorcycles entering the conversation approaches a value of one.” — Beeler’s Law
Round 2 of the 2012 World Superbike Championship comes from Imola today, and features six manufacturers in the top seven qualifying positions. With weather conditions favorable for racing, Italian motorcycle fans were treated to a great competition between the WSBK riders. Favored to win was the man on the local machine, Carlos Checa, but he would have to contest with pole-sitter Tom Sykes and his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Also always a crowd favorite in Italy is former-WSBK Champion Max Biaggi, who qualified a disappointing fifth, but still could not be counted out from a good result. Continue reading for spoilers and race results from World Superbike Race 1 at Imola.