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Jensen Beeler

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In the United States, race track corners don’t get much more iconic than Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew, but for our brothers and sisters across the pond, two-wheeled spectacle perhaps reaches its zenith at “The Mountain” at Cadwell Park. Known for launching riders off the tarmac with its short and steep incline, The Mountain has been conquered by many a rider, but no one puts on a better show at Cadwell than Tyco Suzuki’s Josh Brookes.

Treating the small hill as the motocross jump that it is, Brookes puts on a show for fans with his long and high leaps. When put to task for the reasoning behind his approach, Brookes shrugs off the questions. “Simple, I do it because its the fastest way I know how to get over there.”

If Brookes is an example on how to properly take the leap at Cadwell, his new teammate, American transplant PJ Jacobsen, perhaps gives us the converse approach of how not to tackle the famous section of British track. Not to worry though, we’re sure PJ got some tips from Josh after his close encounter — found after the jump.

Celebrating 50 years in the United States, Suzuki has a “special edition limited production” Suzuki GSX-R1000 for the 2014 model year. Only fifty units of this machine will be sold to brand enthusiasts in the USA (100 units worldwide), with the 2014 Suzuki GSX-R1000 SE Limited Production debuting today at the Indianapolis GP.

Like the 2013 Suzuki GSX-R1000 “One Millionth” Special Edition we saw late last year, the machine is mostly a cosmetic exercise. Highlights include a chrome-plated frame, and a polished chrome rims that have blue spokes. Other blue bits abound, for +1,000 biker boyz bling points.

If this sort of thing gets you going, you’ll have to check with your local Suzuki dealer about getting one. As of this moment, pricing and availability have not been announced. An attractive, though entirely unmoving, machine — you will find photos after the jump.

When it comes to turning the contract season into as arduous of a process as possible, the MotoGP Championship is king. The silly season seems to stretch from Qatar to Valencia, and we’re sure that if we checked at the time of this posting, we could find some intrigue for contracts in 2016. Oy vey.

That’s not how Guy Martin rolls though. If you didn’t know that the truck mechanic, and sometimes TT racer, beats to the sound of his own drum, well…then you probably didn’t know jack about the man from Lincolnshire to begin with.

It seems Martin is just starting to get wind of this whole internet thing, and found out that people were talking about him on it. This lead to his revelation that people were also talking about where he was racing for the 2014 season, and that just did not sit well with Mr. Martin.

Putting rumors to a dead-stop, Guy took matters into his own hands. Long story short, he’s with the TAS Suzuki boys (and girls) for next season, and believes he’ll be on the necessary package to find his elusive first Isle of Man TT race win.

If you don’t speak mouth-full-of-marbles, you might have to watch the video after the jump more than once — it might be the best contract announcement we’ve ever seen.

MotoGP is back in the United States this race weekend, giving American GP fans their third installment of two-wheeled prototype racing this year. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is playing host to the MotoGP traveling circus, with Asphalt & Rubber included in that statement.

It’s not clear at the time of this writing if The Brickyard will be on the 2014 MotoGP Championship calendar, as the iconic racetrack is rumored to be contemplating the use of its exit option in its contract with Dorna.

Probably one of the least favorite courses with the riders, IMS plays host to a fantastic facility, and is staffed with a great crew of workers. Downtown Indianapolis is also a draw during the weekend, but the fact remains that the infield course, with its mercurial low-grip asphalt and unnatural corner flow is a sore spot for the racers.

Always taking the full-length of the race weekend to come into form, Indy often catches out unsuspecting riders, who have ventured too far off the racing line. We’re not sure if this weekend is Indy’s swan song, but here is one more glimpse of MotoGP course, courtesy of James Rispoli on the GP Tech Moto2 wild card entry. Enjoy.

With MotoGP’s summer break officially underway (and just days away from now concluding), Asphalt & Rubber sat down with Randy Mamola at the finish of the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, to get the Grand Prix legend’s perspective on how the 2013 MotoGP Championship was shaping up so far in his eyes.

Obviously, the man of the hour at the time of our discussion was Marc Marquez, who had just recreated one the most talked about passes in motorcycle racing history, and had won at one of the most enigmatic tracks on the GP calendar…after having never been to Laguna Seca before, naturally.

Sharing his insights on Marquez and the talent that the Repsol Honda rider exudes, Mamola gave us his unique perspective on the leaders for this year’s MotoGP title, amongst other issues in the paddock. Read the Q&A from our dialogue after the jump.

Just the other day we were wondering what was going on with Horex, as we haven’t heard from the German brand in nearly nine months. Finally shipping its first bike, the Horex VR6 Roadster, Horex has now announced a second model that is geared more towards mass consumption, the Horex VR6 Classic.

A re-styled, and apparently de-tuned version of the Roadster model, from what we can gather from Horex’s press release, the big changes for the Classic are its new aesthetic and reworked motor, which produces 124hp compared to the roadster’s 161hp peak figure.

Jonathan Rea may be the latest rider to move out from World Superbike Championship and into the elite ranks of the MotoGP paddock, as according to MCN the Northern Irish rider has confirmed that he is in talks via HRC to move into the premier class for next season.

Currently riding for Ten Kate’s factory-backed Pata Honda team in WSBK, Rea has been virtually the only rider in World Superbike able to ride the Honda CBR1000RR race bike with any success, as Honda struggles to make its race package more approachable for other riders, and more competitive against the competition.

Carrying a torch for Honda’s WSBK effort, it looks like Rea’s efforts will finally be rewarded, if all goes according to plan, with a bump into MotoGP being the ultimate prize — likely on a Honda Production Racer.

Getting on the track one out of the two planned days at the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit last week (Day One was hampered by rain), Suzuki Racing got some more time on the track with its MotoGP race bike. With test rider Randy de Puniet on the track, the Frenchman posted a 1’48:60 as his best lap time of the day, about the same pace as his previous outings in Japan, though on par with the less grippy post-rain conditions.

Able to push the Suzuki to a GP race pace, De Puniet’s input has helped steer the Japanese manufacturer. As a result, Suzuki Racing has chosen to further develop one of the two chassis configurations it brought to Motegi, and will test that chassis again next month in Misano, as the company ramps up its efforts for a 2015 re-entry into the premier class.

MotoGP fans will be pleased to hear that Suzuki Racing has been getting pressure from Dorna to enter as many wild card races as possible in 2014, which will help bolster the grid at a select number of events. If you haven’t already seen the interview videos with Davide Brivio and Randy de Puniet, we suggest you check those out. Otherwise, there are 47 high-resolution photos waiting for you after the jump. Enjoy.