A tough day for Valentino Rossi who struggled with a lack of front end feel on his M1 Yamaha.
Marc Marquez finished Day 1 as second fastest and only 0.003 secs behind fastest man Jorge Lorenzo.
Shortly after qualifying for the recent German Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Asphalt & Rubber photographer Tony Goldsmith sat down with Aspar MotoGP Team rider and class rookie Eugene Laverty, to get some insight into how a MotoGP rider prepares for a race.
On race day I also had the opportunity to photograph Eugene in the build up to the race, talk to him about his routine, and discuss the special tribute helmet he was wearing for the late Dr. John Hinds.
Marc Marquez completed a perfect weekend with a comfortable win, his 6th consecutive victory at the Sachsenring circuit.
The start of the race, and Dani Pedrosa grabbed the advantage going into Turn 1.
Valentino Rossi didn’t win the race, but he did finish ahead of his teammate and championship rival Jorge Lorenzo to extend his lead to 13 points.
With global Ducati sales up 22% in the first six months of the year, it comes with no surprise then that Ducati North America has some sales growth to report as well.
Selling 6,961 motorcycles in the first-half of the year, Ducati North America is up 12% over last year’s same time period. Helping fuel that increase was an incredibly strong June, where 1,981 motorcycles sold — for a 106% growth over June 2014.
Not to let Ducati have all the half-year fun, BMW Motorrad too is posting impressive sales figures for the first half of the year, with the German marque reporting a 10.5% sales increase in the first six month of 2015, compared to the equivalent time period last year.
BMW has sold 78,418 motorcycles and maxi-scooters, from January to June, with sales up 31% in June alone (15,490 units) — another record month for BMW Motorrad.
With last year being the best ever for BMW Motorrad, this news of course means that the German company is on-track to have another record-setting year of sales.
Ducati Motor Holdings is happy to report that its 2015 sales are off to a great start: up 22% over the first half of 2014. In total, 32,600 motorcycles have been sold by Ducati since January, the most ever sold by Ducati during that time period.
Ducati is also saying that 9,000 of the machines sold were Scrambler models, making the model the most popular in Ducati’s lineup by a strong margin.
For reference, the sales of the other models are as follow: Multistrada 1200 (4,700), Monster 821 (3,700), 1299 Panigale (3,000), the remaining 12,000 units come from the Diavel, 899 Panigale, Hypermotard, and Monster 1200
Ducati says it grew across all of its sales territories, with the USA still the company’s #1 market, and sporting a 10% growth figure so far this year. The USA didn’t post the biggest numbers though, with following countries showing strong sales growth: Italy (+51%), Spain (+38%), the UK (+36%), Germany (+24%), and France (+23%).
Valentino Rossi celebrates his first victory from pole position since San Marino in 2009.
Jorge Lorenzo got a great start from 8th on the grid, but never looked liked troubling Rossi and Marquez at the front.
Marc Marquez felt aggrieved not to be credited with the win after the last lap move into the final chicane, which pushed Valentino Rossi wide and across the gravel trap.
Valentino Rossi broke the outright lap record on his way to pole for tomorrow’s Dutch TT at Assen.
Aleix Espargaro backed up his pole in Catalunya with another front row start.
Marc Marquez claimed the final spot on the front row.
Dani Pedrosa set a new outright lap record on his way to the fastest time on the opening day at Assen.
Jorge Lorenzo was unhappy with his pace at the end of the first day complaining of excessive corner exit wheelie and a lack of edge grip.
Valentino Rossi was quickest during this morning FP1 session.
We were treated to the best conditions of the 2015 Isle of Man TT for Wednesday’s racing. With that in mind, I decided to head for the hills and to Keppel Gate/Kate’s Cottage. Around three miles from the finish of the lap, Keppel Gate marks the point the riders start to descend from the mountain section.
As I’ve already mentioned the conditions were great with very little wind and warm sunshine. With the perfect conditions came the photographers worse nightmare, heat haze. I will therefore use that excuse for any pictures that look a little soft.
Above: The hard working volunteer marshalls at Kate’s Cottage, without them there would be no racing.
I headed to Quarry Bends today for the delayed Superstock race.
Just after the famous Ballacrye jump and about a mile from Ballaugh Bridge, the Quarry Bends series of corners are amongst the most important on the track as any speed lost through here will effect the riders’ speed onto the Sulby Straight and vital seconds can be lost.
Above: Lee Johnston took his debut TT podium in today’s Superstock TT race. He pipped James Hillier to third place by 3/10sec which is staggering statistic after 151 miles of high-speed racing.