It is a rarity that an A&R reader is better informed than us on a topic, but one of the…
While the United States has always been a center for custom motorcycle fabrication, a biker renaissance is currently underway on Spanish soil. It shouldn’t surprise us that one of the largest and most rabid places for motorcycling is fostering some of the most beautiful motorcycle masterpieces in the world, this is after all the same country that brought us Dalí, Goya, & Picasso. Truly two-wheeled artistry, our love affair first started with the Sbay started with the company’s Flying 1800, but now we find ourselves in serious motorcycling lust with the firm’s latest creation: the Sbay Jerry.
It is pretty rare that a mere mortal can buy an actual MotoGP race bike, since at best machines of this caliber end up under lock & key in a museum somewhere, or at worse, in various pieces in the race department’s dumpster. But available directly from Ducati Corse at RM Auction’s Monaco event, lucky bidders will have a chance at buyingCasey Stoner’s race-winning Ducati Desmosedici GP10 and Valentino Rossi’s ill-fated Ducati Desmosedici GP11.
While the day’s earlier sessions were relatively unaffected, the AMA Supercross main event at Daytona looked like it was held in the bogs of the Florida Everglades, rather than the Daytona International Speedway. With the AMA shortening the 450 race by four laps, many competitors still dropped out mid-race, leaving James Stewart to win with a comfortable seven and a half second lead. Similarly, the lites-class ran the course with three fewer laps than previously planned, with Justin Barcia continuing his dominance of the 2012 season. While virtually every sport is more fun when played in the mud, after looking at the photos from Daytona, we are sure many racers will be glad to be leaving Florida behind them.
It has been almost a year now since we broke the news that Ducati Motor Holding was up for sale, and I still can’t tell if the appropriate metaphor for the ongoing acquisition is a game of musical chairs or Russian roulette. Vying for a seat or putting the chamber to its temple, our latest contestant in “Who Wants to Buy Ducati” is Audi, the four-ringed German car manufacturer. Reported to have a right of first refusal, Audi allegedly has until mid-April to finalize a deal with Investindustrial (Ducati’s main investor) to buy Ducati from the Italian investment group.
News of a possible MotoGP round in Austin, Texas sent GP fans in the United Stats into a flurry, but…