After the US GP in Laguna Seca, Casey Stoner stayed over in the California for medical analysis to try and get to the bottom of his fatigue and sickness after racing.
Stoner worked with Clinica Mobile and the Fremont Surgery Center in assessing his condition, and the doctors have declared that Stoner is suffering from slight gastritis and mild anaemia.
You might remember that we teased you last month with the petite sportbike of Megelli, that we’d never get to see here in the states. Well, all that has changed now. Megelli has confirmed with Asphalt & Rubber that a 250cc version of its road bike is scheduled to land on American soil soon.
The Megelli 250r will be distributed through QLINK, which means you can order it from the convience of your computer screen. No word on shipping times yet, as Megelli is still waiting for the green light from the EPA (how much smog can a 250cc motor make?), but the 250r is expected to sell for $3,500, with another $220 to ship it to your doorstep.
If you have any hopes of seeing Aprilia in the upcoming Moto2 series, you may have to be get over them if early reports are to be believed. While official word is expected later this August, it would appear that Aprilia will not develop a custom chassis and compete in the Moto2 series, which is scheduled to replace the 250GP next year.
Jorge “Aspar” Martinez had been linked to the team earlier as possibly being on board with the Italian company to continue his involvement in the middle-tier GP series. This rumor now seems to be denied, as there has been no movement in the Aprilia camp towards developing a chassis around the Honda CBR 600cc powerplant the new series is slated to use.
Convinced they had cracked the code of the cork screw, Bridgestone arrived at the US GP with a single compound tire. Relying on data from last year’s GP, the tire manufacturer was only expecting a marginal variance in tire temperature between the left and right sides of their racing slicks. As such, they did not develop an asymetrical tire compound like they did for the Catalan GP.
As we now well know from the high-sides of Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo, as well as the plethora of riders that ended up in the gravel that week, this single-compound design wasn’t up to the task of handling the track that many riders described as “one big turn”.
This week, the Piaggio group, which owns several brands including Aprilia & Gilera released its 2009-2012 strategic plan, where it told investors that the company intends to develop a range of sports bikes with mid-sized engines for the American market.
What that means exactly is fairly vague, as no other details beyond this simple statment were given, “The Group intends to work on the growth of different brand names, also through the development of sport bikes with mid-sized engines.”
Many have speculated that this means that Aprilia will be releasing a 600cc sport bike to go along side its , and that seems like a fairly logical conclusion.
And then, we remembered this rumor from last year, Gilera 600cc Supersport 2009 Fact or Fiction?
With Jorge Lorenzo’s contract up at the end of this season, rumors are beginning to make their way through the MotoGP paddock about where the Spaniard will be racing next season. While Lorenzo has stated he would prefer to stay at Yamaha, he has also stated that he “knows what he’s worth.” For anyone playing MotoGP silly season, that’s an open invitation to assume that offers from Honda could have potential of becoming true.
After being cancelled as a stop for this year’s World Championship, the Hungarian GP is back on for 2010 at the Balatonring. The new track has been plagued with development problems in acquiring the land and necessary permits for its construction, leaving its planned September debut to be scrapped.
Hungary will be MotoGP’s second stop in Eastern Europe once the Balatonring is finished. When completed the new course will be 2.8 miles long, have 16 turns, and a straightaway where riders can expect speeds of 195 mph.
Ducati certainly has been taking its time in releasing details on its alleged BMW GS killer enduro bike. So until we get official reports, we’ll have to suffice with spy shots from Italy that seem to keep pouring in. This time around a pair of bikes was spotted in Costa of Rovigo, in between Padova (near Venice) and Bologna, by Andrea Böhm.
While far-away, this photo does reveal more about the bike than we have previously seen. For starters the front is more exposed, with less tape hiding the lines of the front fairings and fender. The effect is an almost sinister view from the side, with the headlights just coming above the bulge that is supposedly a part of the ram-air tubing
It looks like Kenny Roberts will be returning to premiere motorcycle racing, this time in the upcoming Moto2 series. The new Moto2 series is almost a replay of Roberts’ earlier endevours into MotoGP, a honda motor and a custom chassis.ÊRoberts bowed out of MotoGP in 2007 after money dried up for his Proton backed team, and they were not able to remain competitive.
However, with the expected lower costs of running in the Moto2 series, Roberts may have found the perfect fit for his tight budget, and custom chassis making experience. Also, with Robert’s team already in place loosely, working on a 600cc track bike, the conversion over to the Moto2 should be fairly painless.
Ducati has released its official photos of the 2010 Ducati 848 Nicky Hayden Edition, which was unveiled this weekend at Laguna Seca. For more on the unveiling, . Ducati has also released a video of Nicky talking about his 848, view that above.
Source: Ducati
Possibly the best car show on television…ever, Top Gear has been at it again. This time the boys have sent Capt. Slow, James May, out to an airport to meet rally driver Ken Block and his Subaru Impreza rally car for a little Sunday drive.
Queue a few well-timed turns, some great photography, and toss Ricky Carmichael into the mix to see what happens. While not quite our area of focus, we thought any gearhead would appreciate this find.