Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner have lobbied Dorna to start the season opener at Qatar at least an hour earlier than was previously scheduled. Scheduled to start at 11pm local time, MotoGP’s night race at Qatar benefits from hitting the European market during prime time television hours, and hits American shores during reasonable daylight hours.

The evening start also means that riders don’t have to compete during the hot daytime desert weather, but the downside with that is the evening temperatures rapidly change as the night progresses and evening dew forms on the Losail track. With riders crashing later in the Qatar testing times this past week, Rossi and Stoner think the MotoGP race would be better served starting earlier in the evening.

Rumors

It’s been our long standing view that Volkswagen entering into the motorcycle realm after it’s 20% stake in Suzuki is purely a work of fiction fabricated by bored journalists. The majority opinion is that Volkswagen acquired an interest in Suzuki (who also makes cars) to gain a better foothold in developing countries where smaller vehicles with smaller displacements are king.

This sentiment hasn’t stopped others from believing that there could be more collaboration between the two marks in making a two-wheeled vehicle, and the latest rumor pegs Volkswagen’s Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Director of Management of Volkswagen AG, as saying explicitly saying just that…of course, no one actually has him on the record with that statement.

Bikes

AC Schnitzer is better known in the automotive world for making fine BMW parts and automobiles, but the little German tuning shop also tries its hand at motorcycles from time to time. Unfortunately the company’s prowess at making four-wheeled BMW’s look good and run fast does not translate over well to its two-wheel endeavors. A great example of this is the disappointment we had with the recently released 2010 AC Schnitzer BWM S1000RR, which leaves us here at A&R wanting more schnitzel and less Schnitzer in our Bavarian bikes.

Rumors

Paolo Berlusconi, brother to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, is rumored to be making a play for MV Agusta as Harley-Davidson continues to look for a purchases of the iconic Italian brand. According to Motociclismo, Berlusconi’s name continues to be mentioned in the same sentence as the Italian company, as the purchase would play well into Belusconi’s holdings in scooter manufacturer Garelli.

Racing

Despite not making the entry list into the 2010 MotoGP season (yet?), we have to admit it’s a welcomed sound to hear a triple taking off from the pits at Valencia. We here at Asphalt & Rubber were big fans of the Aprilia RS3 Cube, despite its propensity to catch fire. And while FB Corse may have drawn our ire for less than truthful media communications, their Oral Engineering designed three cylinder motor leaves us hoping the team can get their act together and make it into MotoGP so we can continue to hear its throaty tune.

News

Modular motorcycle design is the wave of the future, and it would seem Ducati agrees with this same sentiment that we’ve been harping on for the past 9 months or so. Perusing through the USPTO’s records for patent applications, we found this interesting nugget submitted by Ducati Motor Holdings S.p.A. Known better as Patent Application #US 2009/0308677 A1, or “Simplified Motorcycle”, Ducati’s patent application outlines a motorcycle that is devoid of a frame, and instead has all the components of the motorcycle bolt on directly onto the motor.