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MotoGP

MotoGP: Forward Racing Looking for Solutions for Indy

By David Emmett 07/24/2015 2 Comments

Forward Racing boss Giovanni Cuzari remains under arrest in Lugano, Switzerland, and the team remain in doubt whether they will be able to participate in the next MotoGP round, scheduled for Indianapolis on August 9th.

The biggest problem the team faces is that their bank accounts have been frozen, as part of the ongoing investigation into tax evasion, fraud, and corruption which Cuzari and Libero Galli have been charged with by the Swiss authorities.

The Open class Yamaha M1s and equipment belonging to the team are already in Indianapolis, having been flown there by IRTA after the German round of MotoGP at the Sachsenring.

But without access to money to be able to pay for flights, hotels, car rental, and all of the other sundry expenses that are necessary to allow a MotoGP team to actually go racing, Forward Racing team manager Marco Curioni has called on the series organizers to help them make the race at Indy.

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Event

At the Laguna Seca World Superbike Race Weekend

By Andrew Kohn 07/22/2015 No Comments

A race is more than just a race. This past weekend, both the World Superbike and MotoAmerica motorcycle road racing series came to one of the most fabled tracks in America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The racing was exciting, yet the crowd was not nearly as big as you would think. Maybe it was the threat of rain. Maybe it was the lack of TV coverage. Or maybe it was the fact that a lot of American riders have never been exposed to motorcycle racing and don’t know what a race weekend is all about.

Do folks think a race weekend is just sitting in the hot sun watching bikes droning around the track in endless, boring circles? Of course it’s not! Sure, there’s lots of racing, and as in any outdoor event, Mother Nature can be a factor, but there is so much more to a race weekend.

Many riders who didn’t grow up as race fans may not realize that a motorcycle race is more than just a race; it’s an event – a gathering of the motorcycling community. It doesn’t matter if you ride a cruiser, a tourer, or a sportbike. A race weekend offers something for everyone.

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Racing

52,704 Attendees at the Laguna Seca WSBK Round

By Jensen Beeler 07/21/2015 8 Comments

Under normal circumstances, I would say that if you missed the World Superbike / MotoAmerica round at Laguna Seca this weekend, then you missed a great weekend of motorcycle racing.

Of course, the deaths of Daniel Rivas and Bernat Martinez have written a tragic ending to an otherwise great story, and their passing is still being felt around the industry, both here and in Spain.

Before that tragic race started though, Dorna released the attendance figures for American round, quoting 52,704 people in attendance over the race weekend. Breaking things down by day, that’s 12,436 fans on Friday, 18,559 fans on Saturday, and 21,709 fans on Sunday.

This accordingly means that World Superbike fan attendance for 2015 is up 6.7% over last year’s total attendance, which was 49,408. It should be noted that attendance in 2014 was up 20% over 2013, the first year of WSBK’s return to Laguna Seca.

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Racing

Friday at Laguna Seca with Jensen Beeler

By Jensen Beeler 07/17/2015 12 Comments

Alex Lowes, twin brother to Sam Lowes, was perhaps the quickest learner of The Corkscrew today…some other riders are going to have a think on it.

Chaz Davies was looking fast out there on the Ducati Panigale R. The red bike and red leathers really pop on the track too.

Rizmayer saved this off-road excursion. I believe the on-track announcers called it an “agricultural endevour” — I just liked the way he made the pebbles go fly. The Corkscrew crowd applauded his efforts, as well.

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WSBK

Come Meet WSBK Riders in San Francisco Tomorrow

By Jensen Beeler 07/14/2015 6 Comments

We doubt that we have to remind you that World Superbike is coming to the USA this week, but just in case…well…it is. Hosted by one of America’s best race tracks, WSBK riders will once again enjoy the undulating design of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Those in attendance last year know that WSBK isn’t drawing the crowd that MotoGP once did for Laguna Seca, and the officials at SCRAMP want to change that.

Accordingly, the pre-event press conference this year will be held in San Francisco, and will double as an opportunity for fans to meet the top WSBK and MotoAmerica riders. This should be good news for just about every motorcycle racing superfan in The Bay Area.

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News

Ducati North America Sales Up 12% for First-Half 2015

By Jensen Beeler 07/09/2015 6 Comments

With global Ducati sales up 22% in the first six months of the year, it comes with no surprise then that Ducati North America has some sales growth to report as well.

Selling 6,961 motorcycles in the first-half of the year, Ducati North America is up 12% over last year’s same time period. Helping fuel that increase was an incredibly strong June, where 1,981 motorcycles sold — for a 106% growth over June 2014.

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News

California Lane-Splitting Stalls before Senate Vote

By Jensen Beeler 07/08/2015 3 Comments

Just last May, California seemed set to be the first state in the USA to codify a lane-splitting law. That effort seems to have stalled though, with Assembly Bill 51 being pulled by the bill’s authors, after the California State Senate didn’t seem to have the same support for the law that the State Assembly had shown.

This action doesn’t change much for Californian motorcyclists, who can still legally lane-split through traffic, though they do so under the state’s more nebulous “safe and prudent” catch-all driving provision.

The news, however, is a huge blow for lane-splitting advocates in the rest of the country, who hoped that California’s codification of its lane-splitting practice could be a model law for the rest of the United States.

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News

Ducati Sales Up 22% in First Half of 2015, With an Asterisk

By Jensen Beeler 07/03/2015 19 Comments

Ducati Motor Holdings is happy to report that its 2015 sales are off to a great start: up 22% over the first half of 2014. In total, 32,600 motorcycles have been sold by Ducati since January, the most ever sold by Ducati during that time period.

Ducati is also saying that 9,000 of the machines sold were Scrambler models, making the model the most popular in Ducati’s lineup by a strong margin.

For reference, the sales of the other models are as follow: Multistrada 1200 (4,700), Monster 821 (3,700), 1299 Panigale (3,000), the remaining 12,000 units come from the Diavel, 899 Panigale, Hypermotard, and Monster 1200

Ducati says it grew across all of its sales territories, with the USA still the company’s #1 market, and sporting a 10% growth figure so far this year. The USA didn’t post the biggest numbers though, with following countries showing strong sales growth: Italy (+51%), Spain (+38%), the UK (+36%), Germany (+24%), and France (+23%).

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Racing

2015 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Motorcycle Results

By Jensen Beeler 06/28/2015 22 Comments

The 93rd running of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is in the bag, with thankfully no further major incidents after the loss of Carl Sorensen during Thursday’s practice session. That doesn’t mean this year’s Race to the Clouds was without drama though, as the weather played a major factor.

A hail storm hit the 14,000 foot peak during today’s racing, which meant some competitors were not able to race all the way to the official finish line at the summit. Instead, they had to stop lower finishing point on the mountain.

While this issue mostly affected the car classes, it did mean that the sidecars and ATVs did not finish the full course as well. In our results table, their times reflect the course to its second checkpoint. Please keep that in mind when looking at the race results, after the jump.

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News

Dainese D-Air Racing Suits Coming to the USA*

By Jensen Beeler 06/01/2015 1 Comment

*For reals this time.

For those looking for more protection from their racing leathers, Dainese D-Air Racing suits are finally coming to the USA. Already bringing the technology in Europe last year, Dainese is set finally to bring the D-Air Racing technology to the USA, in September 2015.

Riders interested in the airbag-equipped leather suit have two options: 1) the top-of-the-line off-the-rack Misano D-Air cow leather suit ($2,499), or 2) the made-to-measure Mugello D-Air custom kangaroo leather suit (Price TBD).

This announcement represents the first airbag-equipped motorcycle race suits to go on sale in the USA (Alpinestars Tech-Air system is still not available, though the rival Italian brand is close to coming to market), and offers track riders the same level of protection as Dainese’s MotoGP riders, like Valentino Rossi.

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News

California Close to Formalizing Legal Lane-Splitting, And What It Means for the Rest of the United States

By Jensen Beeler 05/29/2015 12 Comments

Out of the 50 states in The Union, only California allows lane-splitting on public roads and highways. California’s position on lane-splitting has always been a bit nebulous though, falling only under the “safe and prudent” provision of the California Vehicle Code.

Several attempts to demystify California’s policy on lane-splitting have come and gone, including the very public kerfuffle with the California Highway Patrol’s riding “guidelines” for lane-splitting.

Most recent attempts to “legalize” lane-splitting have seen laws that were even more restrictive than the CHP’s frankly fair provisions, and created much ire in California’s vocal riding community.

On the table now though is Assembly Bill 51, which would actually grant more privileges than what the CHP deemed reasonable, and could set the tone for a larger national push of lane-splitting.

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