Nicky Hayden practices what he preaches, that is to say he wears all his gear all the time. In this PSA for Indiana riders, Hayden gets a little tongue in cheek when he laments about some crashes not being your fault, with the appropriate footage of Hayden getting taken out by de Angelis at the San Marino GP showing on the screen. The message of course is clear and important, and Hayden has certainly seen some nasty crashes in just one year’s time. Check the video after the jump.
The clock is ticking on how long this video will last (although WSBK is noticably better about social media this season compared to last year), but here is what little footage that shows the Simon Andrews/Vittorio Iannuzzo crash from Race 2 at Valencia. Both riders were invovled in an incident down the Valencian front straight on the 4th lap of the race. With Andrews being thrown into the pit wall, and Iannuzzo collapsing off his bike further down the track, race officials made the prudent decision to flag the race moments later. Check the video after the jump.
After discovering his knee injury to be more extensive than previously though, Christopher Vermeulen will miss World Superbike’s stop at Valencia this weekend, but is expected to be back on the saddle at Assen. Vermeulen injured his knee during a bad highside at Phillip Island, and was unable to rejoin the series at Portimao despite making an attempt during the free practice. As such, it looks like the Australian rider will be replaced this weekend at Valencia.
Max Neukirchner was a unlucky (or is it lucky?) man this weekend while World Superbike made a race weekend at Portimao. While racing during the Superpole event at the Portugese track, the German rider found himself and his Ten Kate Honda on the wrong end of a nasty highside. Cresting over the hill, you can see Neukirchner spin like a top, while his Honda CBR gets its rear wheel crushed. As you’ll see in the video after the jump, Neukirchner came out of the crash relatively unscathed, and was able to start Race 1 at Portimao.
Seeing a low-speed lowside crash on Mulholland isn’t exactly a rare event with so many inexperienced riders taking to the infamous twisty SoCal roadway. Caught on video though, this Kawasaki ZX-6R was surprised to see one of CHP’s finest waiting for him around the apex of a turn. Showing his greeness to trail braking, our protaganist grabs a fistfull of brake, and promptly tucks the front tire in front of the officer. Check out the video after the jump.
After a nasty crash during Race 2 of World Superbike’s stop at Phillip Island, Christopher Vermeulen will not have to undergo surgery on his knee, meaning the Australian rider could compete in the upcoming Portimao race that is on March 28th. Vermeulen reportedly doesn’t have full movement of his leg, but the he still hopes to be on his PBM Kawasaki at the Portugese track, gobbling up points in what he hopes could be a run for the WSBK Championship. See Chris talk about his condition after the jump.
After hearing the hubbub about Ruben Xaus, his four crashes, and his rumored early departure from World Superbike if he doesn’t get his act together, we thought we’d share this video that the folks at WSBK put together that highlights all the off’s at Phillip Island. Right up front you’ll get a chance to see Xaus taking out Haga from a variety of angles, and you can also see why Xaus didn’t participate in PI’s races because of disorientation. Check it out after the jump.
After crashing four S1000RR’s during WSBK’s stop at Phillip Island, and then missing the race entirely, Ruben Xaus hasn’t exactly put his best foot forward in the 2010 World Superbike Championship season. For some the continuation of the Spanish rider’s career on a factory supported Superbike seems to have a death clock already running, and the rumor is that Xaus has to prove his worth or risk being shown the door from the BMW WSBK team.
UPDATE #1: Well, Dorna got their mitts on YouTube and the video is gone. Sorry Folks.
UPDATE #2: Ok, found a new video from a different angle that shows more of the aftermath.
The life expectancy of this video, isnt’ foreseen to be very long, but we thought we’d bring it to you because it sets up some of the best quotes you’ll find in MotoGP racing. Both by the Uber-Italian commentators, and from the rider involved.
Americans Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards may not be podium regulars, but they certainly bring the down-to-Earth, good old boy, tell it how you see it mentality to an otherwise very rigid sport, and the events of the San Marino GP are certainly a shining example of those character traits.
Mika Kallio filled in for the absent Casey Stoner this weekend, and finally got his shot riding with the factory Ducati team. Kallio’s big break would be cut short though, as he had an “incident” with Marco Melandri on the second to last lap, which took both riders out of the race.
In a classic he said, she said, Kallio and Melandri have very different views on what exactly went down. Read the quotes below, watch the video above, and decide for yourself what you saw happen.