Latest Posts:
Asphalt & Rubber
Tag

Moto3

Browsing
Racing

Friday Summary at Catalunya: On Weather, Ducati Upgrades, And The Cost Of Monopolies

By 2 Comments

After the fickle weather which has dogged the first three European rounds of MotoGP, the first day of practice at Barcelona weekend got off to a dry, warm and sunny start. It was just what the teams and riders needed, some dry track time to work on the issues they face: for Honda, the chatter which they have suffered since the introduction of the RCV213V in the middle of last year, for Ducati, the lack of rear grip and poor drive out of corners, and for Yamaha, well, nothing really, it’s a pretty good bike as it is.

Conditions were pretty near ideal, though the blazing afternoon sun made the track a little too hot to get the best out of the tires, and it showed in the times. In the MotoGP class, Jorge Lorenzo posted a time well inside the race lap record, while in Moto2, Thomas Luthi obliterated the outright lap record in the morning session. Only Moto3 lagged behind, the brand new four-stroke class still a way off the times set by the 125cc bikes which they replaced.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Saturday at Estoril Round-Up: On Sunday Looking Good For Some Racing

By No Comments

The rain, which has been chasing motorcycle races around this season, finally got bored and moved off on Saturday, giving the track at Estoril a chance to dry. The final corner, which proved so treacherous on Friday, was greatly improved – and made even better by the addition of a cone on the inside of Turn 13, marking where the wet patches were so the riders could take a line inside them. But the wet patches were still there, with water apparently seeping up from the ground to be sucked to the surface. The repairs to the track had been half the problem; the new asphalt was still so fresh that the bitumen was sucking up water from below. Not a lot the track can do about such a problem, and rather cruel to be punished for trying to fix the track in the first place.

While their resurfacing attempts may not have paid off as intended, the circuit management’s bargain basement approach to ticket pricing made a huge difference. The track was busier on a Saturday than any time I have ever been here, with many fans deciding that for the price of a tank of gas and a cheap hotel, they would head for Estoril. With tickets selling for between 2 euros for the cheapest single-day entrance to 20 euros for a three-day grandstand pass, the entertainment is also a little limited. Jumbotrons around the track are few and far between, the only one I have seen has been opposite the main grandstand. But for 2 euros, and with some great seating around Estoril, who is going to complain?

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Sunday at Jerez Round Up: Of Rising Stars

By 9 Comments

The weather may have tried to claim the leading role at Jerez on Sunday, but after three fascinating races, there are still a few stars which easily outshone it. First and foremost is surely Romano Fenati: the Italian teenager won a Moto3 race at just the second attempt, going one better than his first race. Winning was impressive enough – you had to go back to 1991 and Nobby Ueda to find a rookie with a better debut, and Fenati’s victory made him the 3rd youngest winner behind Scott Redding and Marc Marquez – but it was the manner of his victory which impressed most.

Not only did the 16-year-old keep his head in the treacherous conditions while all around him fell, ran off track or made other serious mistakes, he also managed to run at a pace simply inconceivable to the rest of the field. Fenati was over 1.5 seconds a lap quicker than the rest, and he went on to win by over 36 seconds. This was just his second ever race in the rain (he won the first one, naturally) and he still felt he lacked experience in the wet. His victory received the loudest round of applause in the media center all day.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Saturday at Jerez Round Up: Of Fresh Excitement and Fallen Heroes

By 5 Comments

Writing about MotoGP is hard at the moment. There are so many great stories to tell – the astonishing rise of Romano Fenati out of nowhere in Moto3, the legion of Kalexes taking on Marc Marquez in Moto2, the frenetic pace of development among the CRT machines, the ascendancy of Dani Pedrosa as a challenger for Jorge Lorenzo and Casey Stoner, the rebirth of Cal Crutchlow as a serious force to be reckoned with, the HRC design gaffe that left the RC213V seriously afflicted by chatter, just to name a few – but it is hard to get around to telling them. Because the vast majority of fans only want to read about one single subject: the enigma of Valentino Rossi’s continuing battle with the Ducati Desmosedici, and his fall from championship contender to mid-pack straggler.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Sunday at Qatar Round Up: Of Exhaustion, Arm Pump, & Failed Marriages

By 19 Comments

The night schedule at Qatar means that writers and journalists end the weekend in a state of utter exhaustion. To bed at dawn for a few hours fitful sleep, up around noon, off the to the track for a full day’s – or night’s – work, then do the same thing over again. Race day is worse, the schedule is tougher, the adrenaline rush greater, the comedown even bigger. And there’s usually about twice as much work to do as well. It is still the greatest job in the world, of course, but it makes you long for sleep a couple of times a year. Qatar race-night round ups tend to be terse, and given my usual verbosity, this is no bad thing.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

MotoGP: Friday at Qatar Round Up: Of Tires, Talent, Swan Songs, & Sandbagging

By 3 Comments

After the euphoria of the first day at Qatar, it was back to work on Friday, with riders, teams and even journalists turning their focus back to the task at hand. While most of the attention was focused on MotoGP, the premier class seeing fascinating stories start to develop in the two sessions of free practice the class had in the irregular and rather confusing schedule which the night race at Qatar forces on the paddock, a pattern is also starting to emerge in both Moto2 and Moto3.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Listen to the KTM Moto3 Race Bike Purr

By 23 Comments

The KTM Moto3 racer is a thing of beauty, and for bonus points, it comes in two varieties. One is the orange-trellis framed factory-built KTM, which will be campaigned by the three-rider factory team of Sandro Cortese, Danny Kent, and Arthur Sissis for 2012.

The other variety is the one engineered by Kalex Engineering, which features the same 250cc KTM motor as the factory version, but takes the German company’s prowess at chassis design, and uses a twin-spar aluminum frame instead of the factory team’s trellis variant. The venerable Team Aspar is one of the teams signed on to use the Kalex/KTM, and will have riders Alberto Moncayo & Hector Faubel aiming to beat the factory KTM squad at their own game.

With no Americans in Moto3, the entry-level GP series won’t get too much attention here in the US, but the machinery certainly looks pretty good to our eyes. Still clad in carbon fiber for the testing season, the KTM and KTM/Kalex machines are like tiny pieces of motorcycling art.

Though some are lamenting the passing of the two-stroke era, and its unmistakable buzzing sound on the track, we think the newest four-stroke GP class will please motorcycling’s audiophiles. Listen to the KTM Moto3 race bike warm up after the jump, and enjoy some eyecandy.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

KTM Fielding Three-Rider Factory Moto3 Team

By 4 Comments

It would be safe to say that KTM is making a serious commitment to the new Moto3 racing format, which replaces the two-stroke 125GP class in 2012 GP racing. Not only is the Austrian firm developing its own Moto3 race bike from scratch, but KTM is also helping engineering firm Kalex develop a Moto3 platform which uses KTM’s purpose-built Moto3 motor for its power plant.

Announcing that it will also field a factory team in the inaugural Moto3 season, KTM has named three riders for its factory squad. Signing Sandro Cortese, Danny Kent, and Arthur Sissis, KTM is making its debut back into entry-level GP racing a big one. The Austrian company last raced in 125GP in 2009, and with its departure, left the series to be dominated by the Piaggio Group’s Aprilia and Derbi-badged machines.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

FIM Announces Official Moto2 & Moto3 Entries for 2012

By 4 Comments

The Selection Committe, comprised of the FIM, IRTA, and Dorna, has released its official list of entrants for the 2012 Moto2 & Moto3 World Championships. Subject still to the final confirmation of riders contracted to the teams, we can initially see that Moto2 will get a slight grid reduction for 2012, as the middle-child of Grand Prix racing will have 32 riders from 20 teams competing on any given Sunday.

That number will also hold for the new Moto3 class, which will replace 125GP in the upcoming season. Notable team entries come from Bankia Aspar, which is currently leading the 125GP class, and Gresini Racing, which will have a stake in each of the three GP classes. Also present is Marc Marquez’s Monlau Competicion team, which adds some fodder to the increasing debate as to whether the talented Spaniard will ride in MotoGP for next season, though we expect to hear more on that at Valencia, if not at Sepang.

Though an official list, a final selection meeting will be held by the Selection Committee at the Valencia GP, after which a final list of teams and riders accepted will be published. Check the official Moto2 & Moto3 entries after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

Moto3 Technical Regulations Released

By 2 Comments

Two-stroke racing has been living in a four-stroke world, and the death blow to the smokers in GP racing has already been dealt by the GP Racing Commission. With 2012 set to see Moto3 replace 125GP as MotoGP’s introductory class, the FIM has released the full technical specifications of the up-coming, 2500cc, single-cylinder, four-stroke racing class. Designed not only to bring GP racing into the 21st century, Moto3 also aims to end the Aprilia domination that’s currently taking place in the class’s two-stroke predecessor. With companies like Honda and KTM building complete Moto3 machines, and engineering firms like Kalex working on custom chassis for the prototype 250cc engines, there certainly looks to be a bit of diversity coming to the introductory GP series.

Another issue plaguing 125GP, and GP racing as a whole, is the rising costs of competing in the sport, as evidenced by the diminishing grid size in MotoGP. With Moto2 boasting a healthy 40 bike grid, Dorna and IRTA believe they have found the secret recipe to making prototype racing work, and have applied that methodology to the new Moto3 class. Unsurprisingly then, the vast majority of Moto3’s technical regulations concern keeping costs down, especially when it comes to the series’ claiming-rule style engine & parts restrictions. It’s actually interesting to read the level of detail the GP Commission has gone through in order to head-off attempts to circumnavigate the spirit of the cheaper four-stroke series, though we might point out that water always finds its level. Check out the full Moto3 technical regulations after the jump.

Keep Reading
By
Racing

First Look: KTM Moto3 Race Bike

By 34 Comments

KTM has finally given us a glimpse into its Moto3 class race bike, showing renders of the bike to journalists assembled at the company’s Hangar 7 press event. The Austrian company also officially showed its Moto3 race motor, and for those expecting to see a repurposed SX motor for the 250cc four-stroke Grand Prix racing series, abolish that thought. For the inaugural 2012 racing season for GP racing’s entry-level series, the Austrian company has started from scratch when approaching its Moto3 development.

Keep Reading
By