Awards
Pirelli Notes from Brno
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Tuesday, 13th July 2010, 15:25 GMTGiorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto, had this to say about the Brno race weekend: "The scorching heat of the Automotodrom Brno presented a suitable challenge for Pirelli's race tyre solutions, with asphalt temperatures reaching as much as 57°C (135°F) during Race 2. The majority of the grid adopted the reference medium-soft ‘B' front along with a new soft ‘A' rear performance solution developed in testing sessions just two weeks ago." "This combination was notably successful in Superbike Race 1 for Suzuki rider Sylvain Guintoli, who tied his best result of the year (4th - Australia), while BMW rider Ruben Xaus had his best result ever on the S1000RR with a fifth place. A third win of the year for Jonathan Rea (Honda) and a return to the podium for Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) gave additional testimony to the new soft solution compound, even considering the incredible heat. A new Superpole time of 1'58.018 was set by Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) in the final session, a blazing pace which was duplicated again in Race 2 of SBK when he set a new lap record of 1'59.291." "An incredible battle between Sofuoglu (Honda) and Lascorz (Kawasaki) offered an excellent demonstration of the new ‘A' soft compound Diablo Supercorsa, with Lascorz recording the fastest time on lap 16 of 20, crossing the finish line just 0.1 secs behind the new championship leader." "The 4,200 Pirelli tyres supplied for the weekend consisted of 4 front and 4 rear Diablo Superbike solutions in the SBK class, three of which are new for Brno, along with 3 front and 2 rear Diablo Supercorsa solutions in the Supersport class." Pirelli Performance Awards: SuperbikeRace 1 - Pirelli BEST LAP: Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) 1'59.964 (Lap 3)Race 2 - Pirelli BEST LAP: Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) 1'59.291 (Lap 12)Total BEST LAP: Checa (Althea Racing) 6; Crutchlow (Yamaha Sterilgarda) 4; Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 3; Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) 2; Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 1 SupersportPirelli BEST LAP: Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) 2'03.998 (Lap 16)Total BEST LAP: Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 4; Laverty (Parkalgar Honda) & Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com) 2; Pirro (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1 Superstock 1000 Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARD: Beretta (BMW Motorrad Italia STK) from 18th to 4th (14 positions) Superstock 600Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARD: De Tourney (ASPI Yamaha) from 17th to 10th (7 positions) Read article
Paul Owen wins inaugural PokerStars ‘Spirit of the TT’ Award
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Monday, 14th June 2010, 9:16 GMTTT rider Paul Owen, from Llangollen, Wales, has won the inaugural PokerStars ‘Spirit of the TT’ Award. The ‘Spirit of TT’ award is given to recognise a selfless contribution by an individual to the event’s success. The criteria for the award are based on key qualities such as innovation, leadership, teamwork, respect and integrity. The award is open to anyone who contributes to the event, such as riders, marshals and volunteers. The award is judged by representatives from the ACU, Isle of Man Government, TT sponsor PokerStars, Isle of Man Newspapers and Manx Radio. Paul was following close friend New Zealander Paul Dobbs on the track during the Supersport Two Race. Following Paul Dobbs’ accident at Ballagarey, Paul Owen dismounted and assisted the marshals in controlling the incident. He took a flag and told the marshal waving it to go and attend to the rider and he would wave the flag. In doing this, Paul gave up his own race ambitions and also withdrew from the TT Zero Electric bike race. Geoff Corkish, MBE, MHK, The political member for Isle of Man Tourism, commented: “Paul’s actions typified the sense of community spirit that we value at the TT and on the Isle of Man and he is a very deserving winner of this inaugural award.” Read article
Pirelli notes from Kyalami
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Tuesday, 18th May 2010, 9:01 GMTGiorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto, had this to say about the sixth round of the championship at Kyalami, South Africa: "The Pirelli team worked all weekend with the SBK teams and their suspension engineers to find bike set-ups to handle the very rough racing surface of Kyalami. Some teams utilized quite extreme suspension set-ups, causing the tyres to lose contact with the asphalt in certain sections. Riders demonstrating a consistent pace throughout practice sessions and qualifying led the two very exciting races with competition from every angle. Ducati riders Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) and Checa (Althea Racing) brought strong performances in Race 1, mounting the mid-soft (B) compound on the front and rear for a 1-2 finish, and Fabrizio even took home a Pirelli Best Lap and Kyalami lap record. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) was the only rider who chose the newest soft compound (A) solution for the rear, finding a podium in Race 2. Five different manufacturers in a row for the final SBK race of the weekend is an ideal result for a tyre supplier, and left nearly everyone in the crowd and the paddock with something to celebrate." Pirelli Performance Awards: SBK Race 1 - Pirelli BEST LAP: Michel Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox Team), 1'38.170 (Lap 3)SBK Race 2 - Pirelli BEST LAP: Jonathan Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1'38.658 (Lap 2)Total BEST LAP (SBK): 1. Checa C. (Althea Racing) & Rea J. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 3; 2. Biaggi M. (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) 2; 3. Haslam L. (Suzuki Alstare), Guintoli S. (Suzuki Alstare), Crutchlow C. (Yamaha Sterilgarda), Fabrizio M. (Ducati Xerox Team) 1 WSS - Pirelli BEST LAP: Kenan Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1'41.054 (Lap 3)Total BEST LAP (WSS): 1. Laverty E. (Parkalgar Honda) & Sofuoglu K. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 2; 2. Pirro M. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), Lascorz J. (Kawasaki Motocard.com) 1 Read article
Pirelli Assen Notes
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Monday, 26th April 2010, 13:58 GMTGiorgio Barbier, Racing Director Pirelli Moto: "Pirelli brought nearly 4,500 tyres to the TT Assen Circuit consisting of 4 front tyre solutions and 3 rear solutions. We are delighted with the new SC1 development rear solution, whose performance was proven in Race 1 by Jonathan Rea (Honda), who took the win. After a temperature change of 6°C at the start of Race 2, all riders opted for the B front (SC2) tyre and A rear solution. The second race's final result saw six manufacturers in the top seven positions, a perfect example of the Diablo Superbike tyres' versatility. We work to deliver this versatility into new hypersport tyres like the Diablo Rosso Corsa, which will be presented at the TT Assen Circuit tomorrow (Ed. Monday). The Diablo Rosso Corsa is the first motorcycle tyre with personalisable sidewalls that features WSBK technology, deriving its three zone compound and EPT (Enhanced Patch Technology) from our development efforts last season." Pirelli Performance Awards: Superbike Race 1 Pirelli BEST LAP: Checa (Althea Racing), 1'36.413 (Lap 5)Race 2 Pirelli BEST LAP: Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1'36.312 (Lap 2)Standings: Checa (Althea Racing) 3; Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing) 2; Haslam (Suzuki Alstare), Guintoli (Suzuki Alstare), Rea (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1 Supersport Pirelli BEST LAP: Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1'38.608 (Lap 13)Standings: Laverty (Parkalgar Honda), Pirro (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), Lascorz (Kawasaki Motocard.com), Sofuoglu (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda) 1 Superstock 1000 Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARD: Slettan (MTM Racing), from 24th to 16th (8 positions) Read article
BMW M follows MotoGP into new decade
Source: News RSS on motogp.com - The Official MotoGP Website - Sunday, 11th April 2010, 14:10 GMTThe manufacturer will continue as the Official Car Supplier to MotoGP, with a new range of models on show and another enthralling battle for the BMW M Award in 2010. Read article
Biaggi doubles up after winning two tight races
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Sunday, 28th March 2010, 17:46 GMTIn front of 77.000 people, Max Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia) won each 22-lap race at Portimao today to go second in the championship rankings, behind the rider who took two second places, Leon Haslam (Alstare Suzuki). The margin of victory for Biaggi was 0.200 seconds in race one, and 0.191 seconds in race two, as Max took his career win total to six. He scored his first SBK double win today, having started the race second on the grid. Haslam now has 85 points, Biaggi 69. Race 1 Max Biaggi held off Haslam for the race one win but only after a strong man-to-man fight throughout. Jonathan Rea went third for Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, when Cal Crutchlow fell off his Sterilgarda Yamaha late in the race, remounting to go 14th. Carlos Checa (Althea Ducati) had to work hard to keep Leon Camier (Aprilia Alitalia) behind as he scored fourth place. Shane Byrne (Althea Ducati) rode through the pain of a big crash on Saturday to take sixth. Noriyuki Haga recovered from his fifth row start to take eighth and the first BMW Motorrad machine home belonged to Troy Corser, ninth. Race 2 A close four-rider fight for the win went to Biaggi again, from Leon Haslam, who was not quite able to overtake Biaggi and make it stick, as Max used his superior drive out of the final corner to pass Leon when it mattered. Cal Crutchlow scored his second career SBK podium, and his first as a series regular, running his Yamaha to third. Carlos Checa was fourth - and only 1.015 seconds covered the whole top four after another tense race. In the championship Haslam leads with 85 points, Biaggi is second on 69 and Checa third with 60. FOUR MANUFACTURERS IN EACH TOP FOUR In each race today there were four different manufacturers in the top four - Aprilia, Suzuki, Honda and Ducati in race one, and Aprilia, Suzuki, Yamaha and Ducati in race two. The second race saw a vee-four, a conventional ‘screamer' four, a cross-plane crankshaft four and a 1200cc vee-twin fill the top four places - all the engine configurations competing in SBK this year within a second of each other after 22 laps and almost 160km of close racing. VAST IMPROVEMENT It was only last October that the previous Portimao round was run, but in those short months the progress has been amazing. Race one today was 16 seconds faster than it's equivalent in October and race two was 13 seconds faster this year compared to last. RIDER COMMENTS Max Biaggi: "It is great to get my first double win in World Superbike. The feeling is great and the first double win of anybody this year so I feel confident and we are in a good rhythm. We go to Valencia next and we will ask very much of ourselves there as well. We had good speed down the straight today but if you saw how fast we could exit the last corner then you would know it was not just the engine. Our bike is fast but other bikes are also fast." Leon Haslam: "I was trying everything to pass Max and in race two I timed it so I could be in the lead with a few laps to go and make a break, but Max came back past me on the straight. It was hard racing today from lap one right to the end. We got two podiums and although I was disappointed not to get another win, we are still leading the championship. That puts a smile back on my face." Jonathan Rea: "Somebody ran me a bit wide on the first turn of race one and I was held up a lot after that, so when I picked up some pace it opened my eyes to what I could do. In race one I think I made one mistake and had to catch up quite a few riders, but I still finished third." Cal Crutchlow: "The places where I was losing time where the places I was using the tyre a lot, and I was making a few small mistakes as well. I had Carlos right behind me for most of the second race and that kept me on my toes. Fortunately Max and Leon made a few little mistakes running wide and that allowed me to hang on in there until the end." World Supersport - Sofuoglu supreme in Portugal Kenan Sofuoglu (Ten Kate Honda) won a thrilling Supersport race by 0.031 seconds from Joan Lascorz (Motocard.com Kawasaki) and Sofuoglu's team-mate Michele Pirro. Long time leader Eugene Laverty was caught and passed by both Sofuoglu and Lascorz with a few laps left to run and soon after lost the front, falling but restarting to finish 11th. Chas Davies (ParkinGO Triumph BE1) was fourth on his three-cylinder machine. Local rider Miguel Praia was forced to stop on his Parkalgar Honda. After the second round, Sofuoglu leads the championship, 41 points to Lascorz' 40. Laverty has 30 points in third. Superstock 1000 FIM Cup - Badovini wins debut race for BMW The arrival in Superstock 1000 of the S1000RR was an immediately successful one, as Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) took the win after race long rival Maxime Berger (Ten Kate Racing Junior) ran off track and lost 2.5 seconds on the final lap. Third was Loris Baz (MRS Racing Yamaha) meaning there were three different machines on the podium. Pirelli (Official Tyre Supplier) "Back in Portimão after just five months allows for some incredible tyre developments, seen already in Race 1 when six riders on five different bikes quickened the lap record as much as 0.75 seconds and the final race time by 16 seconds. After just one year from the start of Aprilia's renewed SBK project, Biaggi has found the ideal tyre performances to take his first double win. All these impressive results come from Diablo Superbike SC2 front and SC1 rear tyres recently inserted in the Pirelli racing range, based on confirmed solutions from the previous season. The eventful races and diverse podiums filled by the four manufacturer's bikes of Aprilia, Suzuki, Honda and Yamaha were no surprise, as starting from the 2nd Superbike practice, the first 18 riders were seperated by only 1.27 seconds. The FIM Superstock 1000 was also notable as congratulations to BMW Motorrad Italia on their first win in the class, to Berger (Honda) who brought down the Lap Record by 1 second, and the final podium filled with three different manufacturers - BMW Honda Yamaha -" Giorgio Barbier, Racing Director, Pirelli Moto Performance Awards: SBK Race 1 - Pirelli BEST LAPMax Biaggi (Aprilia Alitalia Racing), 1'42.774 (Lap 4) SBK Race 2 - Pirelli BEST LAPCarlos Checa (Althea Racing), 1'43.285 (Lap 2) Total BEST LAP (SBK): Haslam L. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Guintoli S. (Suzuki Alstare): 1, Biaggi M. (Aprilia Alitalia Racing): 1, Checa C. (Althea Racing): 1 WSS - Pirelli BEST LAPMichele Pirro (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda), 1'45.180 (Lap 2) Total BEST LAP (WSS): Laverty E. (Parkalgar Honda): 1, Pirro M. (HANNspree Ten Kate Honda): 1 Stk1000 - Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARDOndrej Jezek (MS Racing), From 19th to 12th (7 positions) Stk600 - Pirelli BEST JUMP FORWARDRiccardo Cecchini (Azione Corse), From 11th to 6th (5 positions) Read article
BSB agrees Nissan deal
Source: Insidebikes | Carole Nash » BSB - Saturday, 27th March 2010, 1:00 GMTNissan, the UK’s largest car producer, has become the official support vehicle supplier to the British Superbike Championship for 2010 and 2011. The agreement between BSB promoter MSVR and Nissan Motor GB will see 12 Nissan vehicles provided to support every round of the 2010 and 2011 championships, with the pick being two 190mph Nissan GTRs to act as safety cars. The fleet will also include two Qashqai+2 medical cars, a 3.7 V6 370Z and a 3.5 Murano to act as course cars for the Race Director and other track officials, Navara parade vehicle and a series of vehicles from Nissan’s light commercials range. “Nissan are delighted to be associated with the UK’s premier motorsport series,” said Nissan Motor GB Corporate Sales Director Tony Lewis. “The BSB Championship’s choice of Nissan demonstrates the suitability of the Nissan product range to any situation. Nissan GT-R will be a fantastic safety car, with its outstanding performance and technology. Our newly introduced Nissan NV200 compact van, which recently received the International Van of the Year Award, will provide excellent logistics support to the series, as it is already doing to hundreds of customers throughout the UK.” “We are delighted to announce this new partnership with Nissan, particularly given their position as the largest producer of vehicles in the UK,” added BSB Series Director Stuart Higgs. “The BSB vehicle fleet covers the critical role of safety cars requiring reliability and high performance through to the capability of hauling our extensive amount of equipment around the country. All of the vehicles are highly suited to their roles and will be a prominent feature of each event.” Read article
MCN readers vote Honda most reliable
Source: Insidebikes | Carole Nash » Bike News - Monday, 22nd March 2010, 11:53 GMTHonda has dominated a motorcycle rider survey once again – this time to find the UK’s most reliable motorcycles – with Honda machines taking eight positions in the top ten. Models spanning Honda’s broad range of bikes, including touring favourites such as the Deauville and Pan European, sports-tourers such as the Super Blackbird and VFR and sportsbikes including the CBR600RR and Fireblade, all made it into the Motor Cycle News reader survey. Taking the No.1 spot in the survey to find the ‘Top Ten Most Reliable Motorcycles’ was Honda’s NT700V Deauville, with a reliability rating of 98%. Second place went to the CBR600RR with 97%, while in third the ST1300 Pan European featured with a 96% rating. Honda’s CBR1100XX Blackbird was in fourth and the seventh to tenth places were filled by the CBR1000RR Fireblade, VFR800, VFR800 VTEC and the CBF1000. The survey is based on the votes of more than 12,000 readers as part of MCN’s ‘Biking Britain Survey’. A total of 1.5 million questions have been answered in total since the surveys began, with each reader answering 100 questions about their motorcycle covering such wide characteristics as rider comfort, build quality, reliability, handling, as well as style, running costs, engine and braking performance. Dominating such a survey isn’t unusual for Honda, as in February the manufacturer scooped the top eight positions in another rider survey, that time focusing on build quality. Also, in January, MCN’s ‘100 Best Bikes’ survey featured 25 Hondas – the highest percentage for any manufacturer. All these survey successes echo the further victory for the CBR600F/RR family of machines in the British Dealer News Industry Awards in January, where the evergreen family of middleweight sportsbikes scooped ‘Used Machine of 2009’ – as voted for by more than 500 motorcycle dealers around the UK. Steve Martindale, General Manager of Honda (UK) Motorcycles commented, “This praise keeps coming and it means a lot to Honda, because it is the opinion of riders - our customers – that really means something. You can see from this latest survey that Honda’s dedication to producing reliable and quality motorcycles isn’t just applicable to our flagship machines, but it’s something that comes as standard across the whole range, right from scooters to cruisers, sports-tourers, sportsbikes, adventure machines, commuters and off-roaders alike.” Honda has dominated a motorcycle rider survey once again – this time to find the UK’s most reliable motorcycles – with Honda machines taking eight positions in the top ten. Models spanning Honda’s broad range of bikes, including touring favourites such as the Deauville and Pan European, sports-tourers such as the Super Blackbird and VFR and awesome sportsbikes including the CBR600RR and Fireblade, all made it into the Motor Cycle News reader survey. Taking the No.1 spot in the survey to find the ‘Top Ten Most Reliable Motorcycles’ was Honda’s NT700V Deauville, with a reliability rating of 98%. Second place went to the CBR600RR with 97%, while in third the ST1300 Pan European featured with a 96% rating. Honda’s CBR1100XX Blackbird was in fourth and the seventh to tenth places were filled by the CBR1000RR Fireblade, VFR800, VFR800 VTEC and the CBF1000. The survey itself is voted for by more than 12,000 readers as part of MCN’s ‘Biking Britain Survey’. A total of 1.5 million questions have been answered in total since the surveys began, with each reader answering 100 questions about their motorcycle covering such wide characteristics as rider comfort, build quality, reliability, handling, as well as style, running costs, engine and braking performance. Dominating such a survey isn’t unusual for Honda, as in February the manufacturer scooped the top eight positions in another rider survey, that time focusing on build quality. Also, in January, MCN’s ‘100 Best Bikes’ survey featured 25 Hondas – the highest percentage for any manufacturer. All these survey successes echo the further victory for the CBR600F/RR family of machines in the British Dealer News Industry Awards in January, where the evergreen family of middleweight sportsbikes scooped ‘Used Machine of 2009’ – as voted for by more than 500 motorcycle dealers around the UK. Steve Martindale, General Manager of Honda (UK) Motorcycles commented, “This praise keeps coming and it means a lot to Honda, because it is the opinion of riders - our customers – that really means something. You can see from this latest survey that Honda’s dedication to producing reliable and quality motorcycles isn’t just applicable to our flagship machines, but it’s something that comes as standard across the whole range, right from scooters to cruisers, sports-tourers, sportsbikes, adventure machines, commuters and off-roaders alike.” Read article
2009 Marshal of the Year Award
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Friday, 19th March 2010, 15:49 GMT“Lockton Award for Outstanding Contribution to ACU Motorcycle Marshalling” THE ACU is pleased to announce that the winner of the 2009 Marshal of the Year Award is Derek Archer. Derek is a very dedicated marshal who, like many other marshals, volunteers his free time to help support British Motorcycle Sport at both Club and National events. In choosing this year’s winner the judging panel were hoping to find someone who has gone that ‘extra mile’ in their service to the sport. The thing that caught the judges’ eyes was the fact that, despite being without his own transport, Derek regularly travels by train or bus to events all over the country, completing the final leg of his journey, often in our appalling British weather conditions, by foot. The award was presented to Derek at the ACU Awards Presentation on 30th January 2010 at the Park Inn Hotel, Northampton. Derek will also receive two complimentary tickets for the 2010 Moto GP Round at Assen and Read article
Rossi: “I Would Feel Like A Traitor Going To Ducati”
Source: MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks - ... that the winter is now officially over for racing fans - Friday, 12th March 2010, 13:51 GMTJust over a month ago today, Valentino Rossi vowed to stop talking about his future in the press. But like everyone who has vowed to give up smoking or lose weight at the start of a new year, Rossi has found that such resolutions can be incredibly difficult to maintain. For at the ceremony on Thursday night where Rossi was presented with the "Winning Italy Award" in recognition of his work in improving Italy's public image abroad, Rossi was once again tempted into making statements on where he will be riding next season. In response to questions about how much longer he will stay in MotoGP, the Italian living legend put the fears of MotoGP fans and organizers to rest: "I am again enjoying the sport and the desire to compete, so I think I will continue for some more years," Rossi told the press. Rossi could not avoid the question on all of Italy's mind, either. When asked about a potential switch to Ducati, Rossi was very clear: "An Italian on an Italian bike would be nice, yes. But I think I want to stay with Yamaha, which is also a little bit Italian. I would feel like a traitor if I acted any other way, because I feel very good with them." read more Read article
