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A Lap Around the Isle of Man TT with Michael Dunlop

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Stop what you’re doing for the next 18 minutes — just stop right now. Take a ride with Michael Dunlop on his Honda CBR600RR during the Isle of Man TT’s second Supersport race.

We enter the race on lap three of four, Michael Dunlop has just finished his pit stop, and is in second place on corrected time — Bruce Anstey is leading. On the course, Michael is behind John McGuinness and Cameron Donald, who serve as his carrot.

At this point in the TT fortnight, Dunlop has already won three races and the nephew of Joey is looking for win number four as he puts the hammer down coming down Bray Hill. This is more than a video of an epic lap around Snaefell Mountain Course, it’s a lap of Michael Dunlop’s determination. There should be no doubt about Michael being a force to be reckond with in 2014.

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Racing

AMA Pro Road Racing Modifies Classes & Rules for 2015

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AMA Pro Racing  announced today that by 2015 it will overhaul the racing class structure and rules for the AMA Pro Road Racing series. The changes are designed to make America’s premier road racing series more cost-effective, and to bring AMA Pro Road Racing inline with other national and international racing divisions.

Perhaps the most important change to the racing structure, AMA Pro Racing says that the Superbike class will see incremental changes made to the technical rules package over the next two seasons “in the interest of rule commonality, performance parity, and cost containment.”

This likely means that AMA Pro Superbike will adopt rules similar to the rules progression seen in World Superbike, with EVO-spec bikes that more akin to Superstock series motorcycles being the mode du jour from 2015 and onward.

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Opinion/Editorial

Ducati, Sometimes It’s Like I Don’t Even Know You

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I had a good chuckle last week, you see one of my Facebook groups posted up some rumors they heard about the upcoming Ducati middleweight sport bike — namely that it would have a double-sided swingarm. “That’s ludicrous,” I said to myself, as I posted an even snarkier reply to the Facebook (oh sweet internet, how you bring the asshole out in all of us).

Hrmm…well, it appears I was wrong, as spy photos of the “Ducati 899 Panigale” surfaced just days later, and sure enough, there is a double-sided swinger bolted onto the Babigale™.

While it surely gets my goat that I was pie-in-the-face wrong on this rumor (on Facebook no less), what really grinds my gears was that the new model from Borgo Panigale flies in the face of my basic understanding of how Italy’s iconic motorcycle brand even thinks.

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Rumors

Are You the Ducati 899 Panigale?

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With the 2013 EICMA show just a couple months away, it is unsurprising to see next year’s bikes cropping up on the internet — case in point, this photo of the Ducati 899 Panigale.

Rumored since the Ducati 1199 Panigale broke cover two years ago, the Bologna Brand’s supersport-class sport bike appears to be mostly as expected, though it is surprising to see Ducati fitting a standard-style swingarm to the machine instead of continuing its iconic single-sided design.

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Racing

IOMTT: Monster Energy Supersport Race 1 Results

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Like the sidecars, the Isle of Man TT features two Supersport races during the TT fortnight, and the Supersport TT has riders taking their600cc class machinery for a shorter four-lap race.

A stepping stone from the Lightweight class, which is limited to sub-650cc twins, the Supersports serve as a gateway to the bigger bikes, and usually have a different mix of riders filling vying for the front.

With the foul weather from the practice week behind them, the TT riders were treated with a perfect day for racing on The Rock, and we have a full report on who made it into the winner’s circle after the jump.

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Racing

AMA Pro Racing Homologates the Aprilia RSV4 Factory

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Looking to add more manufacturers to the traveling circus, AMA Pro Road Racing has homologated the Aprilia RSV4 Factory ABS for racing duty, though with one interesting caveat. Instead of giving the 999cc Italian V4 a birth in the AMA Pro Superbike class, the RSV4 Factory has been homologated instead to race in the AMA Pro Supersport.

With Aprilia USA lacking a 600cc machine and the budget necessary to race at the factory level in the Superbike class, AMA Pro Road Racing officials have come to a compromise with the Italian company on how it can enter the American road racing scene with its current equipment, and hopefully thus spur its sport bike sales.

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Racing

Oh, Good Grief: AMA Homologates the 636cc 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R for Supersport Class Racing

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AMA Pro Racing continues to show that it’s homolo-flexible when it comes to supersport regulations, as America’s premier road racing series has homologated the 2013 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R and its 636cc engine displacement to compete in the supersport class (the new ZX-6R is also homologated for the Daytona Sport Bike class as well).

“Kawasaki has a strong racing heritage,” said Kawasaki Racing Senior Manager Reid Nordin. “Our Ninja brand is synonymous with success on the track. When we brought back the 636cc engine we knew there would be interest in racing and we have taken the steps necessary to have the new Ninja ZX-6R on the track and out front in 2013.”

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Racing

MV Agusta Returns to the Isle of Man TT, in Proper

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A factory-supported MV Agusta team will be present at the 2013 Isle of Man TT, as Jack Valentine (former Team Manager of the Crescent Suzuki World Superbike team) has lined up TT race-winner Gary Johnson to race the MV Agusta F3 675 in the TT’s two Supersport races.

A well-respected team operator, Valentine’s ValMoto team was responsible for the successful return of the Triumph’s presence in the Supersport class at the Isle of Man, and the Brit has the same designs in store for MV Agusta — with Gary Johnson tapped to ride the F3, ValMoto comes to the Isle of Man TT as a potent entry.

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Racing

This is the MV Agusta Corse ParkinGO Supersport Race Bike

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Debuting today at the MV Agusta HQ in Varese, Italy, the MV Agusta Corse ParkinGO supersport team has unveiled its MV Agusta F3 race bike. The Italian company’s formal return to the World Superbike paddock, MV Agusta Corse will begin its racing project in supersport, though a return to WSBK racing with the MV Agusta F4RR is featured on the team’s road map.

To do the riding duty, the the MV Agusta Corse ParkinGO team has tapped Roberto Rolfo and Christian Iddon to do the honors. The two riders will have their work cutout for them in the World Supersport Championship, having to develop a brand new race bike, but at least its a very good looking one.

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