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Dunlop Introduces RFID Tags into Tires for Moto2 & Moto3

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Electronics are to take a further step in the world of motorcycle racing this season. In addition to being abundant throughout engine and chassis, Moto2 and Moto3 official tire supplier Dunlop is to introduce them into the tires. In an official press release issued today, Dunlop announced that they will be using RFID chips in the spec-tires used in Moto2 and Moto3, to keep precise track of the tires used in both classes.

For the moment, the technology will be used solely to track tire usage in Moto2 and Moto3. Tiny RFID chips will be built into the official Dunlop tires during the manufacturing process, each programmed with a unique identifying code.

Sensors in pit lane (shown in the photo here on the Dunlop website) will monitor when each tire leaves pit lane, and when they return. Using the database which maps which tires have been allocated to which riders, Dunlop can keep precise track of which tires have been used when, and for how long.

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Racing

Colin Edwards Explains How to Ride COTA

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We don’t know how many regular track day enthusiasts will get to ride the new Circuit of the Americas race course in Austin, Texas — what with its $50,000 rental fee and all — but, for lucky journalists like us, who will be riding COTA for the Ducati 1199 Panigale R press launch, or motorcycle racers whose series makes a stop at the purpose-built grand prix circuit, you may want to jot down the few notes that MotoGP racer Colin Edwards has on the facility’s 20 turns.

Getting a chance to scope out the new race track built in his backyard, the Texas Tornado takes a ride with Jonathan Green (of WSBK commentary fame), and walks us through his favorite sections, as well as giving away a few tips on how to ride America’s new racing venue. Pretty interesting stuff (we’ll surely use his advice in a couple days), though the wind isn’t doing anyone any favors with the audio quality. Check it out after the jump.

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Racing

Moto2 & Moto3 2013 Jerez Test Preview

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In three weeks’ time, the 2013 season gets underway for all three Grand Prix classes, and motorcycle racing’s winter will finally be over. Before that, there is a week of testing at Jerez, where first the Moto2 and Moto3 classes get their final run out on the track from Monday through Thursday, before MotoGP takes to the track on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.

Testing at Jerez may be affordable for GP’s junior classes, but it does not come without risk. Moto2 and Moto3 tested at both Valencia and Jerez in February, and while conditions were sunny and dry, if a little cool at Valencia, the test at Jerez was very mixed indeed, with rain disrupting two of the three days of testing. This test looks just as likely to be disrupted by rain: while good weather is forecast for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Tuesday looks like being a total washout.

That will leave the riders with two full days of dry testing – for some arcane reason, IRTA has decided to spread the three days of Moto2 and Moto3 testing over four days, with the test starting on Monday afternoon, and concluding on Thursday lunchtime.

There is surely method to this madness, but unfortunately, IRTA does not have a press office, and so nobody to explain it. In the absence of an IRTA – the International Roadracing Teams Association, the official body representing the teams – press officer, the media are left to scratch their heads, speculate, and all too often, concoct explanations for themselves.

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Racing

Q&A with Nicky Hayden: “If I’m Honest, the Flight Home after the First Test Was Pretty Rough”

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In a teleconference hosted by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Nicky Hayden hopped on a phone with a bunch of paddock journalists to talk about the pre-season testing, the plan for the 2013 season, and the changes to the Ducati Corse MotoGP team.

A development year for the Italian team, Ducati will have four riders on factory equipment to pull data and input from, as the the Bologna Brand hopes to take the fight back to the Japanese OEMs in coming seasons.

Candid as always, you can read the full transcript of the teleconference after the jump.

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Opinion/Editorial

Motorcycle Racing vs. Social Media: How Dorna Could Turn Losing the Battle into Winning the War

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When the news that Dorna would be taking over World Superbikes broke, there was a wave of outrage among fans, expressing the fear that the Spanish company would set about destroying the series they had grown to love.

So far, Dorna has been careful not to get involved in debates about the technical regulations which seem to be so close to fans’ hearts, its only criteria so far appearing to be a demand that bikes should cost 250,000 euros for an entire season.

Yet it has already make one move which has a serious negative impact on the series: it is clamping down on video footage from inside the paddock.

There was some consternation – and there is still some confusion – about the situation at the first round of WSBK at Phillip Island at the end of February. Where previously, teams and journalists had been free to shoot various videos inside the paddock, there were mixed signals coming from Dorna management, with some people told there was an outright and immediate ban, with threats of serious consequences should it be ignored, while others were saying that they had heard nothing on the subject.

That Dorna is determined to reduce the amount of free material on YouTube became immediately clear after the race weekend was over: in previous years, brief, two-minute race summaries would appear on the official World Superbike Youtube channel after every weekend. After the first race of 2013, only the post-race interviews were posted on the site. It is a long-standing Dorna policy to try to strictly control what ends up on YouTube and what doesn’t. It is its most serious mistake, and one which could end up badly damaging the sport unless it is changed very soon.

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Racing

Moto2: Gino Rea Launches Self-Sponsored Wildcard Effort

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Despite losing his Moto2 ride after the withdrawal of a major sponsor from the ESGP team, Gino Rea is to contest selected Moto2 rounds in 2013. The young Englishman has received the go-ahead from Dorna and IRTA to enter as a wildcard at as many races as he can raise funds for in the 2013 season.

With material support from FTR, Rea will be testing and racing the 2013 version of the FTR Moto2 chassis. The team, run by Gino Rea and his father David, currently intend to race at 11 rounds of the Moto2 championship – basically, all of the European rounds. The exact number of races they will appear at will depend on the amount of money they can raise.

That is the big question for Rea. The young Londoner still needs to raise some £20,000 to contest each round. Rea has received strong support from his fan base, raising money from individual donations through the Gino Rea Club website. That effort continues, while Rea is also searching for more traditional sponsors. After the jump is a press release issued by Gino Rea, complete with contact details for potential sponsors.

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Racing

WSBK: Silverstone Confirmed & Istanbul Added to Calendar

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It would appear fears that the World Superbike round at Silverstone is to be dropped are misplaced, as paddock rumors that Silverstone was back on the calendar emerged last night, with confirmation coming from Silverstone today, from the circuit’s Facebook page.

Accordingly, the race at Silverstone will take place on August 4th, and will see World Superbike, World Supersport, and the Superstock 1000 and 600 classes compete.

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Racing

NGM Forward Talking with Kawasaki for a MotoGP Return?

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The NGM Forward racing team was a pioneer of the CRT concept. It was the NGM Forward team who was the first to present its plans to race the bikes presented as an alternative to the cripplingly expensive factory prototypes, launching their 2012 campaign with Colin Edwards at Misano in 2011 — though Edwards had an excruciating year aboard the Suter BMW, jumping ship to the Kawasaki-powered FTR for the 2013 season.

Now, Forward is preparing the ground for its 2014 campaign even earlier. In an interview with GPOne, NGM Forward boss Giovanni Cuzari revealed that the team is already in talks with several manufacturers for the season after this one.

Cuzari said he had had a recent meeting with Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta to discuss 2014, when major changes will take place in MotoGP, with the dropping of the CRT category and the introduction of a new division, between the MSMA entries and the non-MSMA entries. Cuzari told GPOne that he had discussed the projects proposed by Honda (the production version of the RC213V) and Yamaha (leasing M1 engines for use in custom-built chassis), but he also said he had had contacts with both Suzuki and Kawasaki.

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Racing

Interview: Scott Redding On Aiming For The Championship, Not Going To MotoGP, & Weight Rules

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One of the more intriguing things about spending a few years in a racing paddock is watching people grow and mature. Young riders come in to the Grand Prix paddock as exuberant 15 and 16-year-olds, certainly with the anachronistic maturity of all dedicated sportsmen and women; but still clearly young teenagers, that explosive mixture of energy, hormones, and sheer joy driving them into paroxysms of hyperactivity. A few years later, those young boys (and now girls as well) turn into young men, and a fuller, more mature personality emerges.

Such is the case with Scott Redding. Three years ago, when he first moved to Moto2, he was still a teenager with an impish grin on his face, looking like he was either planning trouble, or just returning from it. At the launch of the Marc VDS Racing program last night, at the Belgian team’s workshop a stone’s throw from Charleroi airport, a different Scott Redding was on display, calmer, more mature, more serious but without having lost his sense of fun. More focused, too.

Redding knows that this year, he is playing for keeps. The goal is to either win the Championship, or go down trying. This is his best chance, perhaps, with the introduction of a combined rider/bike minimum weight removing some of the advantage of the lighter riders, though the new limit of 215kg for both rider and bike still favors riders closer to 60 kg than to 70kg. His preparation has changed, spending the winter in Spain, riding, rather than in the dull English winter, where MX tracks are open on Saturdays and Sundays only, for a couple of hours each day.

Scott Redding is ready to become Moto2 champion. A conversation with the young Englishman follows after the jump.

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Racing

Watch Dani Pedrosa & Marc Marquez Lap at Sepang

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With the second test at Sepang International Circuit completed, Repsol has released a short video of Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez that is packed with on-board footage. Jarring at times, it is clear to see which sections of the Malaysian circuit are rough and bumpy, though we think the most interesting aspect is the blacked-out dash on the video.

Not wanting to give away any secrets, like the Honda RC213V’s 90° V4 engine configuration for example, HRC has made sure that no one can guess the revolution figures of its engines. With Dani Pedrosa looking extremely potent for the 2013 MotoGP Championship, we can understand why. Check the video out after the jump.

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News

Cycle News Editor Henny Ray Abrams Has Died

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More sad news in the motorcycle-journalism world today, as we learn that Cycle News Contributing Editor Henny Ray Abrams was found dead at his computer in his Brooklyn apartment, passing from apparent natural causes.

At 57 years of age, Abrams was the longest-serving journalist at Cycle News, and though he worked in virtually every paddock at one time or another, we here at Asphalt & Rubber knew him best for his time in AMA and MotoGP paddocks.

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