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MotoGP

Marc Marquez Winning the Superprestigio, A Video

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Not too many MotoGP racers have their own YouTube channel, which is interesting in its own right, but it doesn’t surprise us to see that the two biggest personalities in the GP paddock are constantly churning out content for their fans: Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez.

Just recently, the 2016 MotoGP World Champion won his own event, the Superprestigio Dirt Track race in Barcelona. That victory might not have been as big of a deal as winning again the MotoGP title, but make no mistake, Marquez’s victory over Brad Baker & Co. was very important to the Spaniard.

To celebrate that win, Marquez and his crew have made a little video celebrating the occasion. Whether you love or hate Marc Marquez, we are sure the video will only fuel those feelings further. Enjoy!

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Dirt

2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 2: Toby Price Takes Over the Lead

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Today marks the real start of the 2017 Dakar Rally, with Stage 2 taking competitors on a 803km trip (275km on the timed special) through the Chaco region of Argentina. Navigation wasn’t too hard on the racers for this stage, though the heat and humidity persisted and road hazards abounded.

This allowed KTM’s Toby Price to pull out a small lead over the competition, which doesn’t mean much in the standings, but sets him up with clear road for tomorrow’s stage start, which could prove to be a strong advantage as the Dakar Rally gains in elevation.

Finishing behind Price was KTM teammate Matthias Walkner, who got caught speeding during the liaison section and suffered a five-minute penalty for it. This dropped Walkner to 15th for the day, and put Paulo Gonçalves into the day’s #2 spot – a good position for the Honda rider.

Yamaha’s Xaiver de Soultrait has another strong day, as he rounded out the third-place position on Stage 2. KTM’s Sam Sunderland finished the day fourth, and Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla finished fifth.

In the overall standings, there is less than five minutes covering the Top 7 riders, showing that there is still some sifting left to do, in order to separate the wheat from the chaff. Tomorrow’s 364km special stage should do just that.

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Bikes

Mike’s Carbon Fiber Motus MSTR

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The Motus MSTR is a beast of a machine, it just oozes raw power and torque from its 1,650cc V4 engine; and to compliment all that grunt, the MSTR also comes tastefully wrapped in painted carbon fiber fairings.

But when a composites expert wants one of your motorcycles, painting those carbon fiber body panels might not be the best of choices – it may even be an affront the Gods of Internal Combustion.

When customer “Mike M.” wanted to see show off the weave of the Motus MSTR’s carbon fiber bodywork, he opted for his machine to come sans the livery. We think that was a pretty good choice, and the gods are surely pleased as well.

So, to help get the New Year off to a proper start, and to return to the appreciation of all things two-wheeled, we give you Mike M.’s Motus MSTR motorcycle (how’s that for alliteration?) – we think you will enjoy it.

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MotoGP

Paddock Pass Podcast #44 – MotoGP Season Review

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Episode 44 of the Paddock Pass Podcast finishes up the 2016 racing season, and takes a look back on what last year had to offer from the MotoGP, Moto2, and Moto3 classes.

As such, hosts Neil Morrison, Steve English, and David Emmett discuss their favorite moments from the 2016 MotoGP Championship, which riders stood out from the rest, which races they will remember for the ages, and how met or failed their expectations. 

If the winter doldrums have you down, this is a great way to remember that the racing season starts back up in only a couple months’ time. We think you will enjoy this special episode immensely.

As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

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Dirt

2017 Dakar Rally – Stage 1: A Half-Hour in Paraguay

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Short and sweet, that’s how the opening day of the 2017 Dakar Rally went down. The stage may have been 454km long, but the timed special was a paltry 39km. This means not much separates the top riders, with many treating the day as a shakedown before the long to come.

The weather was hot and humid, showing just one of the extremes that riders can expect from this year’s edition of The Dakar. Thankfully, the 39km special only took about half an hour for riders to complete, limiting their exertion.

With a bit of confusion from the ASO about who finished where, it seems that Stage 1 belongs to an unexpected name, with Joan Pedrero taking the top honors on his Sherco TVS Rally Factory bike, once the day’s times had been calculated.

The reason for that confusion comes down to Yamaha’s Xavier de Soultrait. Despite being the fastest during the timed special stage, the Frenchman will finish 10th for Stage 1, 58 seconds back, as he was a bit too fast through one of the speed-controlled sections, and suffered a one-minute penalty for his carelessness.

For the rest of the top riders, Toby Price finished 17th overall – a 1’23 behind – despite leading the charge out of the starting gates in Paraguay. Meanwhile, Honda’s Joan Barreda was thirty seconds back, 5th overall, with Husqvarna’s Pablo Quintanilla finishing 12th, a minute and one second back.

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Bikes

Too Many Photos of the 2017 KTM 450 Rally

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The 2017 Dakar Rally starts today, and over the next 13 days we will be bringing you all the news of this grueling race for cars, trucks, quads, and of course motorcycles.

Toby Price is favored to win in 2017, the Australian once again on a KTM 450 Rally. He won’t have an easy time of it though, with riders from Honda, Husqvarna, Yamaha, and even within his own KTM Racing team all having a shot at this year’s addition.

To hoist the winner’s trophy though, riders will be tested over 12 stages, seven of which have timed sections of 400km or more. As fans should be well aware of, anything can happen over those 12 stages.

For 2017, the Dakar Rally will start in Paraguay for the first time ever (the race’s 29th host country), before it heads to Bolivia, and then ends in Argentina.

Six days will be spent above 3,000 meters in elevation, and Dakar Sporting Director Marc Coma says it will be the most grueling Dakar Rally ever – as a five-time winner himself, Coma’s words should be taken with a heavy burden.

To get you in the mood for the 38th running of the Dakar Rally (the 9th in South America), we bring you a bevy of photos of the bike that everyone wants to beat: the 2017 KTM 450 Rally.

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News

Two Enthusiasts Podcast #41 – Brappy Holidays

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Brappy Holidays from the Two Enthusiasts Podcast crew, as we bring you Episode 41 – our penultimate show of the 2016 season.

To help get through the winter doldrums, we catch up on several recent news items, namely the changes to the World Superbike Championship rules, the management shuffle at KTM North America, and the AMA anointing WERA as its amateur motorcycle racing league of choice.

It is an interesting and entertaining show…and our apologies in advance to any of our French listeners. If we can be so bold to say, the rabbit holes on this episode are especially choice. Tis the season to be brappy!

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

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News

MAG Merging Motorcycle-Superstore into J&P Cycles

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There is more movement in the online retail space for motorcycles, as the Motorsport Aftermarket Group (MAG) is reported to be merging its two online stores: Motorcycle-Superstore and J&P Cycles.

According to Powersports Business, the Motorcycle-Superstore will be merged into J&P Cycles some time in 2017, consolidating its two online stores into one. It is expected that many of the staff at Motorcycle-Superstore will be let go during the merger.

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Bikes

XXX: 21 Hi-Res Shots of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera

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Did Santa forget to put a certain carbon fiber superbike under the tree this Christmas? Us too.

Since we aren’t one of the lucky 500 people who will be receiving the Ducati 1299 Superleggera in 2017, we will have to make do with appreciating Ducati’s latest halo bike from a distance.

Ducati officially lists the 1299 Superleggera as making 215hp and weighing 156kg dry, though with the installation of the included race kit that peak horsepower figure pops to 220hp, while the dry weight drops to a near-nothing 150kg. OMGWTFBBQ.

Numbers aside, the truly astounding part of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera is its carbon fiber chassis, a first for a production motorcycle.

Make no mistake, the Bologna firm has been continuously pushing the boundaries of what defines a superbike, and it has been interesting to watch other brands react to their creations.

There might be a lot of talk about the death of sport bikes, but we argue that they have never been more intriguing.

You won’t find any photos of the Ducati 1299 Superleggera at a higher resolution than the ones after the jump. Enjoy!

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