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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

Following Fillmore – A Web Series

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It is good to see the AMA Pro Road Racing paddock getting some love this month, the series desperately needs it. With more than a few video projects going on in the AMA, fans should have a bevy of good media to consume this year, even with all the shenanigans going on with TV rights this year.

Our latest attention turns to a new web series, Following Fillmore, which as the name implies, follows KTM factory rider Chris Fillmore as he trains with the Bostrom Brothers, gets some chalk-talk from Jason Pridmore, and hits on Cal Crutchlow, among other things.

Coming to a YouTube channel near you starting March 7th, if the show is anything like the trailer, we should be in for a real treat…especially the ladies, who tell me “Chris is so dreamy” all…the…time. The trailer is after the jump, enjoy.

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Bikes

Audi e-bike Wörthersee – More than an Electric Bicycle

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We have already shown you Julien Dupont playing around on the Audi e-bike Wörthersee, but now we have got some more details about the German brand’s electric bicycle. Designed to be a fun and sporty urban two-wheeler, the Audi e-bike Wörthersee resides somewhere between the growing electric motorcycle trend and a moped, but boasts some impressive technology no matter what segment you think it hails from.

At the heart of the electric drivetrain is a synchronous permanent magnet motor that puts out 3 hp, and a 48-volt .53 kWh lithium-ion battery pack. With the whole cycle weighing 46 lbs (21 kg), the package is heavy by bicycling standards, though very light in practical application. Charging in 2.5 hours off European electricity, the pack itself being detachable from the e-bike for charging (presumably allowing for pack swapping).

While electric bike/mopeds are nothing new, the Audi e-bike Wörthersee certainly brings a level of build and spec to the space that has never been seen before, but the real secret sauce is the electronics package the German automaker has included with its design, and how it has adapted the two-wheeler to fit our daily lifestyles.

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Racing

Welcome to Twitter Casey Stoner

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Not too long ago I gave a presentation at the San Francisco Dainese Store about MotoGP & social media, and one of the interesting points that came up from the discussion was the fact that Casey Stoner did not have a Twitter account. With former-World Champions Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi racking up 400,000 & 600,000 follower respectfully, the current-MotoGP World Champion was voiceless in the online space, which only fueled further the perception that Stoner’s interests in MotoGP resided only with racing on Sunday afternoons.

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Racing

HRC Makes the Comparison: Stoner vs. Rossi

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It may still be the pre-season, but the banter regarding MotoGP on Twitter is certainly getting us ready for the start of the 2012 MotoGP Championship. Sending out a simple infographic this morning with the message, “this picture says it all,” HRC’s official Twitter account posted some interesting statistics that compared Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner to Ducati Corse’s Valentino Rossi.

Breaking down Stoner’s win percentage over the past five years, the results of course paint an interesting picture. Of course the image “didn’t say it all” as the reaction on Twitter is about what you’d expect from a world widely divided by international boundaries. This of course lead to the image’s immediate removal, but alas nothing truly dies in the digital age.

In case you aren’t already aware, Valentino Rossi is a nine-time World Champion, and also happens to be the favorite son the of MotoGP Championship. Casey Stoner on the other hand…well, the Australian has at best a tumultuous relationship with the public. Naturally, backlash ensued, and HRC finally removed the graphic from its Twitter account.

Asserting that it was all in good fun and simply pointing out some statistics about the last five years, HRC surely was trying to bolster Stoner’s record, and remove the Repsol Honda rider from the “Most Underrated” list in MotoGP — a hard thing to do, even on the heels of a World Championship.

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Racing

Valentino Rossi Finally Joins the 21st Century & Twitter

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For being a motorcycle mega-brand in his own right, Valentino Rossi has been slow to adapt to this crazy new thing called the internet. A series of tubes, the internet has been a remarkable breakthrough on a variety of levels, changing the paradigm of how we eat, sleep, and waste our lunch breaks at work. Helping teenage girls gossip about their latest crushes, aiding in the massive distribution of pornography to middle-aged men who hide in their basements from their wives and children, and allowing no-talent journalistic hacks to masquerade around as proper motorcycle journalists, there is literally no telling how the internet will change our lives next, and what industries it will turn on their head.

Well get ready for another shockwave ladies and gentlemen, as the G.O.A.T. himself, Valentino Rossi, has hopped on this interweb bandwagon with full 0 & 1 force, first by finally creating his own official website, and now by signing up for a thing called Twitter. Tweeting, twatting, twittering so far in only Italian, Rossi was one of the last hold-outs of MotoGP riders to embrace the micro-blogging service (Randy de Puniet just got on Twitter this week too we might add. Thanks Lauren). Rossi’s move is sure to create a stir with the VR46 crowd, as his legion of fans can now take time out from their busy days of lathering neon yellow paint all of their bodies, and hang onto every one of Rossi’s 140 character messages.

So far, Rossi has tweeted about go-karting, his injured finger, and traveling to Melbourne. We wait with bated breath to see what photo the nine-time World Champion first tweets from his account. Bellissima.

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News

First Glimpse of the Ducati Desmosedici GP11

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Remember the good old days when the print saturated media that cover MotoGP would take months to show us the first photos of the new season’s race bikes? If a magazine wasn’t on its game, there used to be a good chance you’d get your first glimpse of a team’s new race livery at the season opener before you’d see it in your next issue of (insert publication name here).

Well the internet is changing all that, and now do we not only get near-live coverage of Ducati & Ferrari’s Wrooom event with press releases and media photos, but tools like Facebook and Twitter are adding a dimension to the experience that not only brings us information and media faster, but adds an element of depth to the single-perspective reports we’d normally receive.

Such is the case with Valentino Rossi’s Ducati Desmosedici GP11 race bike (first teased here), as MotoGP commentator Toby Moody snapped this camera phone photo of the bike as it was being carted around at Wrooom. Neon seems to be the name of the game, which is probably due to a combination of making the bike TV ready (there’s an interesting discussion on Wikipedia about how the standard Rosso Corsa red color scheme has changed over the years because of TV quality and saturation), and integrating Valentino Rossi’ unhealthy obsession with the color neon yellow into the Ducati Corse style. A shot of Nicky’s bike awaits you in the gallery after the jump.

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Banter

Jorge Lorenzo Goes Rockstar

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Two interesting things to note today: 1) the internet is an endless source of entertainment, especially when MotoGP Champions take to social media like Facebook & Twitter, and 2) when Jorge Lorenzo starts dressing up like Kid Rock, we can finally see how ridiculous us Americans must look to other people of the world. Observations on life aside, Lorenzo appears to have quietly picked up sponsorship with Rockstar Energy Drink, which resulted in this photo being sent out to his Twitter followers.

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Banter

Aprilia Continues to Fail So Hard at Social Media

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If one were to grade the marketing efforts in the motorcycle industry, you’d be hard pressed to hand out a grade better than a B- to one of the major OEMs. While some companies have produced some brand value, carved out a defensible niche for themselves, or caught on to this whole internet fad thing, none of the OEMs really do a bang-up job of hitting all the standard marketing best practices.

If we had to single out one company that needs a letter sent home to mom, it has to be Aprilia, as the Italian company constantly proves itself to be the pants-on-head retarded (sorry Sarah Palin) window-licking moron (sorry again Sarah Palin) paste-eating buffoon (we’re not sorry for that one) of motorcycling media. Report card: F with a “does not play well with others” note attached.

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Racing

What Do You Tweet When You Win the FIM MotoGP World Championship?

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One of the great things about Twitter is that it often gives you unfiltered access to people who generally have several layers of public relations officers between them and the fans. No stranger to the interwebs, Jorge Lorenzo is probably one of the most avid Twitter users in the MotoGP paddock, blasting out a steady stream of tweets during a race weekend. So what does the Spanish rider send out to his followers after clinching the MotoGP Championship? Stay classy Jorge.

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Banter

Who Says Lorenzo Doesn’t Have a Sense of Humor?

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Be careful the next time you heckle a MotoGP rider on Twitter, because they might just respond. Such was the case when a fan chastised Lorenzo, who was upset about his performance during the Aragon GP. Catching the attention of Lorenzo, the fan promptly found himself on the wrong end of a retweet from the Spanish rider. Zinger! Thanks for the tip David!

Source: Jorge Lorenzo (Twitter)

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