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Officially Official: Gene Banman Steps Down at Zero Motorcycles – Karl Wharton in as CEO

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It’s Tuesday, and in the world of electrics that means another Zero Motorcycles press release, and another weekly confirmation that Asphalt & Rubber is still on the Santa Cruz company’s “ultra double-secret probation” list of publications that no longer get media communiqués and press invites to its media events. That clearly hasn’t stopped us though, as today’s news release confirms what we already knew: Zero Motorcycles CEO Gene Banman has stepped down from his position in the company, although he will continue to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.

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Racing

FIM Reviewing How Rossi/Stoner Crash Was Handled

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The Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) will be reviewing the conduct of track officials regarding their handling of the crash aduring the Spanish GP, which saw Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner crashing out together in Turn 1. After separating the bikes, as Stoner’s had been on top of Rossi’s, a vast majority of the corner workers rushed to Rossi’s aid, leaving Stoner stranded until the Italian was underway.

Stoner in the post-race debriefs was noticeably upset over the favortism shown by the Spanish workers (he did not re-enter the race), a complaint that was also levied by Marco Simoncelli, who also got no assistance in his incident.

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Bikes

Honda CBF1000 by Luca Bar Design

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We must have missed this April Fools render done by Luca Bar Design for the Italian site MotorBox, as Luca has once again flexed his skills with the pixels with his vision for motorcycles. Drawing on the idea that Honda would update its sport-touring line with a new version of the half-faired CBF1000, Bar explains that he has already been pondering the idea of an update for Honda before being set to his task of penning an April Fools bike.

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News

Ducati North America Reports 68% Sales Growth for Q1 2011

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Ducati North America announced today that sales figures for the first quarter of 2011 are up 68% compared to last year’s numbers. The third month in a row of positive sales growth, Ducati’s North American market is clearly recovering from the recession, with all models in the company’s line showing positive growth. “We have had an outstanding start to the year,” said Cristiano Silei, CEO of Ducati North America. “We expect our growth to continue strong for the rest of the year with our most sought out newest product, the Diavel, just hitting dealer showrooms in late March.”

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Racing

MotoGP: Here Come the 1,000’s

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For the 2012 season, MotoGP will be reverting back to its 1,000cc format (actually, it used to be 990cc, but what’s ten cubic centimeters among friends?). While many MotoGP fans have been awaiting the day that the “big bikes” would return to premier racing with their powersliding, rider chewing, wheelie popping ways, it’s hard to get excited when the first two races of the last 800cc season have been so eventful. Nevertheless the die has been cast, and this week should be begin our first glimpse into these two-wheeled monsters.

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Bikes

Pierobon F042 hstreet

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It seems only fitting that a company that takes a Ducati Monster motor, and puts it in its own proprietary frame should also hail from the Italian city of Bologna, as is the case here with Pierobon. Making a bevy of parts to add to your Ducati of choice, Pierobon also makes complete bikes, and has recently done up its F042 hstreet for your motorcycling consumption.

Showing off Pierobon’s aluminum trellis frame, the Pierobon F042 hstreet also features the ability to mount any of the current two-valve v-twins from Ducati (we’d suggest the peppier 1,100cc version, but wouldn’t judge anyone for going after a 796cc or 696cc motor).

While each bike is made to order, you can expect to drop at least €19,980 on a Pierobon F042 hstreet if you want one in your garage. For the more adventurous and mechanically inclined, the frame can be bought as a stand-alone part for the tidy sum of €3,680. Not exactly ridiculous prices for something that looks this good. Photos after the jump.

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Racing

Rossi/Stoner: Cooler Heads Prevail in Jerez, but Tempers Still Simmer When Words Are Exchanged in the Pit Box

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We’d be remiss if we didn’t talk about the incident between Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi at the Spanish GP (if you haven’t seen the race yet, stop reading now). Charging to overtake Stoner at Turn 1, Rossi found himself going too hot into the turn, and too heavy on the brakes. With Stoner swinging wide to let Rossi through, the Italian went up the inside of Casey’s line, tucked the front, and the rest is history.

While Stoner would later call the crash a “racing incident” in his press debrief, he still chastised his counterpart for making a rash move and an apology that seemed more like a media stunt than a sincere gesture. For the Australian that got shunned by the marshals in the gravel trap, and watched a few laps from behind the guardrail, this weekend certainly seemed like a rough result because of an incident where he made no fault.

Insult was perhaps added to injury as Rossi continued on with his race (Stoner clapping as the Italian came by Turn 1 the very next lap, a sarcastic gesture for Rossi’s move and outcome), and then went on to finish the race with a fifth place result. Coming into the Repsol Honda garage with several TV cameras in tow, Rossi apologized to Stoner, with the following interaction occurring between the two riders (find it after the jump).

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Racing

MotoGP: Who Didn’t Crash in the Spanish GP?

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The sunny Spanish weather gave way to rain this Sunday, as the Spanish GP got underway with 123,750 rain soaked MotoGP fans in attendance. While the practice sessions and qualifying showed the usual suspects at the top of the time sheets, the slippery conditions in the rain saw some new faces posting up strong times in the Sunday morning warm-up session.

Clearly the change in weather meant all bets were off for the MotoGP racing at Jerez, but the racing that took place certainly wasn’t what fans were expecting — as the rain relented, so did the tires. Add into the mix that this was the 2011 MotoGP Championship’s first wet race, and you’ve got a recipe that means more than just a few riders (nine total) ended up in Jerez’s gravel traps by the day’s conclusion. Find out all about it after the jump.

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Racing

MotoGP: The Spanish GP Could Get Interesting – Valentino Rossi Second Fastest in Warm Up as Rain Hits Jerez

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We knew as the rain hit Jerez this weeks that the weather would be a significant factor at the Spanish GP, and the added moisture on the track has already affted the MotoGP riders as they took to the track for their warm-up session this morning. If you placed your money on Casey Stoner to win the Spanish GP, your money might be safe, as the Australian is still eclipsing the field with his lap times.

However with Valentino Rossi slotting in as second quickest this morning, and Nicky Hayden a not-so-distant fourth, it would appear that the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 favors the wet weather a bit more than their counterparts (check out Ben Spies down in the fourteenth position).

As for the other Repsol Honda front-man Dani Pedrosa, you’ll find him down in the timesheets somewhere around the seventh position. There’s of course a whole race still to be run before we’ll see the results of the Spanish GP, but Rossi/Ducati fans have at least some glimmer of sunshine in an otherwise rainy day at Jerez.

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MotoGP: Crashes Shake-Up Qualifying at Jerez

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Qualifying for the Spanish GP got underway today under the sunny, but windy skies of Jerez, Spain. Unsurprising to just about anyone, the Repsol Hondas of Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa were on the top of the time sheets, with local Jorge Lorenzo completing the front row and only 0.16 seconds off the qualifying pace. While the rank and order surprises few, all eyes will be on the latter stages of tomorrow’s race to see how Dani Pedrosa can manage with his ailing shoulder, which the Spaniard will have operated on immediately after the GP

The qualifying session saw a total of six riders hitting the tarmac and gravel traps, with many blaming the wind as a contributing factor. The list of riders crashing includes Valentino Rossi, Ben Spies, Colin Edwards, Randy de Puniet, Karel Abraham, and Hiroshi Aoyama. Thankfully no one was injured, but in the case of Rossi, it meant trashing his preferred bike for the session, causing him to qualify on his other machine, and landing 12th on the starting grid.

He’ll be joined on the fourth row by teammate Nicky Hayden, who has been having a miserable season thus far on the Desmosedici GP11, and once again Randy de Puniet proved himself to be the fastest Ducati, qualifying seventh. Honorable mentions go out to John Hopkins, who continued his progress filling in for the injured Alvaro Bautista this weekend with a fourteenth grid position for tomorrow’s race. With a good start we could see a mid-pack finish for Hopper, who has shown marked improvement with each session on the Suzuki GSV-R.

With the rain very likely to make an appearance for tomorrow’s race, all bets are off for how the Spanish GP will shape-up.

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