So you want to watch AMA Pro Road Racing and AMA Pro Flat Track this year, but because DMG screwed the pooch on securing any form of TV deal, you think you’re up an apex without a kneepuck, right? Not so fast there speed racer.
To its credit, the Daytona Motorsports Group has created its own live streaming site for AMA Pro Racing, IMSA, and NASCAR content that is not on television: FansChoice.tv, which will be your go-to destination for watching the Daytona 200 live this weekend.
“Get them while they’re young” — it worked for the cigarette industry, and the maxim holds true for motorcycle racing as well. Creating an effective system to cultivate and train young riders is the single largest reason that today we see Spanish riders dominating Grand Prix racing.
A system built in large part by the Godfather of Roadracing, Kenny Roberts Sr. himself, Spanish riders have enjoyed a federation that supports young riders and paces them throughout their career. The process has been so effective that the Italians have recently set to copying it, with their star pupil being Moto3’s Romano Fenati.
For the 2014 season, Fenati will be aboard the SKY Racing Team by VR|46, so it should come as little surprise that the personal brand of Valentino Rossi is lending its weight further to finding the next G.O.A.T. As such, the VR|46 Riders Academy has been established by Rossi and a crew of top-level instructors.
When AMA Pro Road Racing released its 2014 calendar, there were no tracks out west, and there were only five race weekends schedule. The folks at DMG hinted a possible sixth round though, with Laguna Seca heavily rumored to be venue.
When Mid-Ohio reshuffled its schedule to accommodate AMA Pro Racing’s desire to race at Laguna Seca on the World Superbike weekend, it seemed like we were only moments away from an update to the provisional calendar. And then nothing happened.
Since then we’ve see John Ulrich put together his still unnamed “Triple Crown” event, which will bring three races, for AMA riders, west of the Mississippi. News of a complete lack of a TV deal has hit the AMA paddock shores, as even the Daytona 200 will be without a TV contract for 2014.
But, today we do have some good news for American motorcycle race fans: AMA Pro Road Racing will compete as the support class for the World Superbike stop at Laguna Seca, this coming July 11th-13th.
In the wake of the tragic death of factory road racing prodigy Tommy Aquino, AMA Pro Racing has announced the introduction of the Tommy Aquino Spirit Award. In order to honor and preserve Aquino’s memory and positive attitude, the award will be given to the rider “who best embodies the spirit of the paddock during the 2014 season.”
According to AMA Pro Racing, “the paddock will vote for the rider who exemplifies qualities mirroring those of Tommy including passion for the sport, fan engagement and team interaction. The award will be presented on behalf of Cortech and Shoei at the conclusion of the 2014 AMA Pro Road Racing season.”
You don’t need a good excuse to watch a motorcycle pit crew practice their pit stop maneuvers, but the upcoming Daytona 200 certainly helps.
Common place in the four-wheeled realm, the pit stop is still a bit of a novelty in two-wheeled racing. Outside of the Endurance World Championship and Isle of Man TT, you would be hard pressed to see a team refuel and change tires on a bike mid-race.
Of course at Phillip Island last year, MotoGP riders had to try their hand at a pit stop. Though the GP riders had a simpler go of things than most, only having to switch bikes instead of servicing one.
Even with that relatively easy task, that Australian pit lane was like armageddon for the MotoGP paddock — so much so, photographers were banned from entering pit lane for that race, and we’ll say nothing about Marc Marquez’s snafu.
So with that all said, enjoy our yearly “pit stop practice video” for the Daytona 200. This year, Benny Solis and his crew show us how it’s done. Looking good boys.
Honda’s road-going V4 superbike project has seemingly stalled, for the umptenth time in the past decade. While the bike has been rumored for years, the project just a year and a half ago was confirmed by Honda CEO Takanobu Ito.
Since that confirmation, the project’s delivery time has been pushed back, thought the Japanese motorcycle manufacturer has committed itself to building the MotoGP-inspired road bike.
With reports speculating on a possible price tag well into the six-figure range, the rumormill is on the rev limiter regarding this superbike, so if there is one thing we actually know about the machine, it is that we don’t actually know much about it.
A 1,000cc displacement is of course expected, along with a four-cylinder v-angle cylinder configuration. If we can presume a setup similar to what is found on the Honda RC213V MotoGP race bike, then make that a 90° cylinder head arrangement.
If we had really been on the ball though, we likely could have told you all this, six months ahead of Ito’s confirmation, as patent documents discovered by Spanish magazine SoloMoto shows the V4 superbike engine in line-drawing form, from as early as March 2012.
The start of the AMA Pro Road Racing calendar is just around the corner, and that means manufacturers, teams, and riders are getting their PR machines in full swing. Unfortunately, it’s hard to get excited about our venerable national racing series (DMG’s shenanigans aside), but duds like this don’t help in whetting our two-wheeled racing appetite here at Asphalt & Rubber.
Just when we were about to lose all hope though, Triumph shows up and saves the day…with a little help from Jason DiSalvo and Elena Myers. Kneedragging, wheelie popping, backwheel drifting two-wheeled fun, all packaged in a well-done YouTube video that even manages to show a little personality from the riders.
We dig it, we dig it hard. A quick warning though: several orange cones were hurt during the filming of this video. Some footage may not be suitable for adult-sized children with a history of brrraaappptitus. Thanks for the tip Matt!
After three years of uncertainty, the Nürburgring has finally been sold, and not to an American investment group as had been rumored, but instead to a German real estate development group: Capricorn Development.
Capricorn is said to have paid €77 million for the iconic race course and its surrounding facilities, with the Düsseldorf-based firm promising to pump another €25 million into the property once they take full-ownership of it on January 1, 2015.
Not that there was anything but a strong expectation for World Superbike racing to return to Laguna Seca in 2014, but the World Superbike Championship has issued a press release confirming the July race.
With American road racing fans having been through a lot, both at the national and international level, the past few years, the announcement helps ease the concerns of many race fans, who may have been on the fence about making plans for Coastal California weekend.
The Schwantz School will be on hiatus for the 2014 riding season, says the riding instruction school. The press release for the track school lists Kevin Schwantz’s “travel/racing schedule and other factors” as the reason for the school’s hiatus. Schwantz is slated to compete in the Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race with the Yoshimura Suzuki Legends team in July.
The MotoGP Legend also is to be a “Guest of Honor” at the Classic Motorcycle Festival at Donington Park in August, and there is possibility Schwantz will be racing in England in September as well. As for the “other factors” mentioned, Schwantz is quoted as wanting to spend time in his recently remodeled home in Austin, Texas.
Keith Code is right, riding a motorcycle is all about learning the art of cornering. Any idiot can grip a ton of throttle, and blast down a straightaway; but when it comes to tipping a bike over into the corner entry, hitting the apex, and gassing out of the exit, a bit more finesse is required.
That is why the California Superbike School curriculum focuses so much on taking a motorcycle through a race track corner. Making a short video at the Willow Springs Raceway, Code gives a preview into his classroom and two-wheeled philosophy.
It’s an interesting watch, even if it is a glorified commercial. After all, we are pretty sure the “Twist of the Wrist” author has forgotten more about motorcycle control than we will ever learn.