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Photos: Nicky Hayden’s Laguna Seca Helmet

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The Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca, fan favorite Nicky Hayden will be sporting a new lid. Themed after Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, the Arai helmet has another clever use of Nicky’s face in the livery, giving the impression that the Kentucky Kid is wearing a combat helmet while on his Ducati Demsosedici GP13.

When we asked about any meaning behind the helmet design for the US GP Hayden said he simply liked the camo paint scheme, and that his helmet designer, Roby Marchionni of Starline, had thought of the design for the race. However, it is hard not to make some connections between Nicky’s time at Ducati Corse and some of the themes portrayed in Full Metal Jacket. After all, the former World Champion certainly has that thousand-yard stare down pat.

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Andrea Antonelli Dies During World Supersport Race – Second WSBK Race & Other Events Cancelled

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It’s with our deepest regret that Asphalt & Rubber reports the passing of Team Goeleven Kawasaki Rider Andrea Antonelli, who was involved in a serious accident during the opening lap of today’s World Supersport race.

Crashing on the straight between Turns 14 & 15 at the Moscow Raceway, Antonelli then collided with another machine, and as a result, suffered a fatal cranium base fracture.

The race was red flagged, and Antonelli was immediately taken to an ambulance where the medical staff worked to resuscitate him. Despite their efforts, Andrea sadly succumbed to his injuries at 2:10pm local time.

With the World Superbike paddock mourning the loss of the 25-year-old from Castiglione del Lago in Italy, the day’s remaining races and events have been cancelled. A&R‘s best thoughts are with his friends and family.

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Saturday Summary at Laguna Seca: Of Surprise Front Rows, Record Books, & Qualifying Shake-Ups

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After free practice at Laguna Seca, things looked pretty well sewn up. Marc Marquez was on another planet, with his fourth pole position a mere formality. Alongside him on the front row would be Cal Crutchlow and Valentino Rossi, with Crutchlow looking like having the stronger pace after free practice, while Rossi possessing more sheer outright speed. The rest? Well, they were irrelevant, and would be even more so once qualifying had proved the pundits right.

Only it didn’t quite work out that way. A hectic and eventful qualifying saw Stefan Bradl take his first ever pole position, ahead of Marc Marquez and another surprise package in Alvaro Bautista. Rossi and Crutchlow were left on the second row, just ahead of the walking wounded pair of Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, the Repsol Honda rider heading up the third row.

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WSBK: Kawasaki Racing Re-Signs Tom Sykes

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Tom Sykes may be having a tough time of things on the track in Moscow this weekend with WSBK, but off the track with Kawasaki Racing, the Brit has some good news. Signing up for another year with Team Green, Tom Sykes has his 2014 racing plans sorted out, and can get back to overcoming his 0.5 point let-down on last year’s World Superbike Championship.

Soon to make it five years in a row with Kawasaki Racing, Sykes currently leads the 2013 FIM Superbike World Championship by six points, though he will start Sunday’s races in the 9th grid position, after falling during the third round of the Superpole qualifying event.

Kawasaki says that with the rule changes coming down from Dorna, it was important for the team to shore up its lead rider. We think they made a fine choice, though the move may mean the offer is off the table for Nicky Hayden, as the American looks for a home outside of Ducati Corse’s MotoGP campaign. There has been no word on a contract for Loris Baz though.

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MotoGP: Yamaha Up’s the Ante with Non-MSMA Race Bike

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When Yamaha announced they would be leasing their M1 engines to ex-CRT teams for 2014, the first wave of reaction was overwhelmingly positive. With 24 liters of fuel allowed, and 12 engines instead of 5, the Yamaha engine package looked like being the best thing on offer to the so-called non-MSMA teams, as CRT is to be called from next year.

Then doubt set in. Looking at the Yamaha M1 package, what you’d want from Yamaha was the chassis rather than the motor. The engine is the least powerful of the MotoGP prototypes, but its chassis was by far the best of the bunch. Both the Honda and the Yamaha non-MSMA packages appeared to be offering the worst part of each bike: Honda offering their chassis (good, but not great) and a dumbed-down version of their superlative engine.

Yamaha offering a full-fat engine (the weakest of the bunch), for teams to have someone build a chassis around without Yamaha’s 20+ years of experience building Deltabox frames. Perhaps the Yamaha M1 lease package – a lot of money, just for some engines – was not the bargain it at first appeared.

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KTM 1290 Super Duke R Prototype Rides at Goodwood — There’s a Reason Why They Call It ‘The Beast’

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Set to debut at the 2013 EICMA show, we best know the KTM 1290 Super Duke from the prototype concept that zie Austrians showed at the Milan trade show last year, though the bevy of spy photos that have cropped up on the internet also hels to form the bike in our minds. While much will be said about KTM’s RC8-powered streetfighter later this year, the buzz on the 1290cc v-twin machine is just how much of a beast it is in real life.

Taking to the world’s most famous driveway for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the “Beast” was put through its paces by none other than Jeremy McWilliams — and the former MotoGP racer certainly had his work cutout for him. Really more of an exhibition than a race, McWilliams still showed how fast the new Super Duke will be…in every direction.

We have been really looking forward to riding the KTM 1290 Super Duke R when it comes out, but after watching this video…well…we’ll takeout a bit more life insurance, that’s for sure. Watch the bucking, sliding, dragging, wheelieing machine at Goodwood after the jump.

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