Honda
MotoGP grid set to swell to 28 bikes in 2014
Source: | Motorcycle Sport | MotoGP - Monday, 10th June 2013, 14:38 GMTThe MotoGP grid could swell to its largest size in years with the potential for a 28-strong entry in 2014.With Honda, Yamaha and Ducati all contracted to supply four factory prototypes each, there is the possibility that 16 additional entries... Read article
JOHN McGUINNESS TAKES 20TH ISLE OF MAN TT RACES VICTORY AFTER POKERSTARS SENIOR TT IS RESTARTED
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Monday, 10th June 2013, 11:17 GMTJohn McGuinness took his 20th Isle of Man TT race victory on Friday when he won the Pokerstars Senior race by ten seconds from team-mate Michael Dunlop, to make it a record 41 podiums in total. Bruce Anstey took third place, and set the fastest lap of the race at 131.531mph, as he got the better of Lightweight TT race winner James Hillier by 0.978s on the final run down the Mountain. After the initial race was red flagged due to an incident at Bray Hill involving rider Jonathan Howarth in which ten spectators were injured, the race got underway at 4.30pm and the first few laps were nothing short of superb as the gaps between the leading riders were minimal. It was Gary Johnson who grabbed the lead at Glen Helen by 0.5s from William Dunlop with Michael Dunlop just 0.05s further back! Michael Rutter slotted into fourth as McGuinness found himself down in fifth. It was all change at Ramsey though as Michael Dunlop hit the front for the first time, Johnson now second and McGuinness third. At the end of the lap, the order was still with the first five riders all over 130mph and only seven seconds between them, Dunlop leading from McGuinness, Johnson, Rutter and Guy Martin. McGuinness began to make his move on the second lap and, after edging ahead by just five hundredths of a second at Ballaugh, he completed his second lap at 131.272mph to open up a 2.4s lead. Dunlop was 4.8s ahead of Martin with Bruce Anstey up to fourth and ahead of Rutter as Johnson was forced to retire with a broken foot assembly. Another slick pit stop by McGuinness’ Honda TT Legends crew saw him leave the pits with a bigger lead but by Glen Helen the gap was down to half a second although McGuinness had double this by Ramsey. It was nip and tuck all the way and at half race distance there was two seconds between the duo, Anstey in third ahead of Martin and Hillier, who had relegated Rutter to sixth. On the fourth lap, McGuiness appeared to have broken Dunlop slightly and, for the first time, his lead increased the whole way round. Leading on the road with Hillier right in his wheeltracks, the pair lapped at over 131mph as they came into their second pit stop and whilst it allowed McGuinness to go seven seconds clear of Dunlop, it also allowed Hillier to not only move up to fourth but also close up on Anstey. Fifth time around and McGuinness’ lead crept up to the ten second mark, Hillier continued to have a great education behind the current King of the Mountain whilst the thousands of fans around the track were also being treated to an on-track duel between Anstey and Donald. McGuinness and Dunlop looked safe in third but third place was anyone’s and as the riders headed into their sixth and final lap, Hillier had nosed ahead albeit by the tiny margin of 0.16s! The final lap saw the leading four riders all lap in excess of 131mph, Hillier and Anstey both setting personal best laps, but it was McGuinness who was celebrating the most as he took his 20th TT win, and his 41st podium, by 10.1s. Dunlop ended his phenomenal week with a second place and, in a thrilling last lap, Anstey set the fastest lap of the race, 131.531mph, to get the better of Hillier for third. Martin took fifth with Rutter in sixth, the Midlands rider delighted with his first 130mph+ laps. William Dunlop took seventh from Dean Harrison and Dan Stewart with Australian David Johnson securing his best TT result in tenth. Lee Johnston was the best of the Privateer’s in 11th and that allowed him to take that particular Championship by ten points from Dan Kneen, who took 12th in today’s race. The race was delayed by 3 1/2 hours following the incident on Bray Hill. The Race organisers issued the following statement "ACU Events Ltd can confirm that 10 spectators were injured during an incident in the Senior TT Race. The rider Jonathan Howarth sustained a minor fracture. The race was red flagged and emergency services were immediately in attendance at the scene. The ten spectators and the rider were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from slight to serious but not life threatening. Four of the spectators have been discharged, five of the injured have been kept in hospital and one remains under observation in the emergency department. " Read article
Morbidelli wins after thrilling finale
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 8th June 2013, 19:25 GMTFranco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) has won a spectacular and unpredictable Superstock 600 race at Portimao, following a close 4-way battle for the victory in the closing stages. The maiden STK600 victory for the 19 year old Italian - who was warmly cheered by WSBK rider Michel Fabrizio at Parc Fermé later on - was a pure example of perfect race craft, especially on the last lap, as he fought side by side with Tony Covena for the lead until the Dutchman went wide at Turn 13, allowing Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda) and Gauthier Duwelz (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) to get through. While Morbidelli managed to defend his small margin to cross the line as race winner, Duwelz was able to make a last second pass over Chesaux on the finish straight for 2nd, with a clearly disappointed Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki) to follow in 4th place after an exciting performance on track. Pole-sitter Adrian Nestorovic's race drew to a very early end at the first turn of the race after high-siding and landing badly on the tarmac. The MTM-MVR Racing Team rider is currently being checked over at the Medical Centre. Read article
Nestorovic maintains pole in wet Q2
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Saturday, 8th June 2013, 12:24 GMTAs a slight drizzle began to fall a few minutes after the start, Superstock 600 riders had to face a wet Qualifying 2, missing a chance to better their lap-times. The combined results saw no changes from yesterday as Adrian Nestorovic (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) will start this afternoon's 10-lap race from pole position with Franco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) and team mate Gauthier Duwelz to complete the first row. Fourth on the grid will be Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda), who ended up qualifying ahead Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki), Christian Gamarino (Team Goeleven Kawasaki), fellow Swiss Robin Mulhauser (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) and Alessandro Nocco (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki), the fastest rider in the second qualifying session. Read article
Nestorovic gets the lead in Q1
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Friday, 7th June 2013, 14:13 GMTThe sun popped out from behind the clouds before the start of Qualifying 1 meaning the STK600 riders could perform at their very best at the spectacular Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao. Australia's Adrian Nestorovic (MTM-MVR Racing Team Yamaha) - who scored his maiden podium finish in the series last year at Portimao - and Franco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) were able to get ahead of early leader Gauthier Duwelz, to finish 1st and 2nd respectively within 0.057 seconds of each other. Duwelz, current Championship leader onboard his MTM-MVR Racing YZF-R6, was followed closely by Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda), the young Swiss rider completing a very tight top-4. Nito Racing Kawasaki's Tony Covena return to the series after his World Supersport debut resulted in a 5th place in the very first qualifying session for the Portuguese round to precede Christian Gamarino (Team Goeleven Kawasaki), Robin Mulhauser (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) and Alessandro Nocco (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki). Read article
STK series back on track at Portimao
Source: WORLDSBK.COM | NEWS - Thursday, 6th June 2013, 16:11 GMTThis year's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup is proving to be extremely challenging, as the top-4 in the standings is within 8 points of each other and there have been three different race winners out of the three rounds held so far - all on different machinery. Championship leader Niccolò Canepa (Barni Racing Ducati) is looking forward to taking his first victory of the season - the last one was in 2007 at Brands Hatch - following the excellent results of his One Event participation at Donington Park, with Team Ducati Alstare, in the Superbike class. The 23 year old Italian will have to defend his position by team mate Eddi La Marra and Frenchmen duo of defending Champion Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki). Latest race winner Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini Kawasaki) will aim for a repeat performance to keep his title chances alive. Superstock 600 After seeing his winning streak coming to an end on the soaked wet Monza track three weeks ago, Gauthier Duwelz (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) hopes to reinstate himself as the man to beat in 2013 Superstock 600 European Championship. Last year the Belgian talent was edged out from 3rd place at Portimao by team mate Adrian Nestorovic, as the Australian rode to his first ever STK600 podium finish. Supersport debutant at Donington Park Tony Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki) is looking forward to mixing up at the front too, as well as Italian round winner Nicola Morrentino (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) and Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda). Read article
Dunlop doubles up with victory in Monster Energy Supersport Race 1
Source: Latest News Articles from ACU.org.uk - Tuesday, 4th June 2013, 11:26 GMTMichael Dunlop made it two wins from two at the 2013 Isle of Man TT Races, fuelled by Monster Energy, when he took the opening Monster Energy Supersport race on Monday morning, the day after his stunning race win in the Dainese Superbike Race. Riding the MD Racing Honda, Dunlop took the lead at Ballaugh on the opening lap from brother William and with a 127.525mph lap on his second lap, he caught Bruce Anstey on the road and eventually took the win from the Kiwi by 10.3s. With perfect conditions on the Island, the race got underway as scheduled at 10.45am and it was William Dunlop who led through Glen Helen on the opening lap, his advantage over Anstey 1.6s, with Michael a further 0.1s back. Indeed, it was tight all the way down the leaderboard with less than four seconds covering the top ten. On the run to Ramsey though, Michael turned his deficit into a 1.5s lead, with Anstey now in third, a further 0.5s back from William but by the Grandstand, an opening lap of 126.431mph extended his lead to 4.2s. Anstey had moved back into second by two seconds with Cameron Donald in fourth, just ahead of Guy Martin and a flying Dean Harrison. On the second lap, Dunlop pressed on and could now see Anstey ahead on the road, his lap of 127.525mph only a fraction outside his own lap record. The lead was now close to ten seconds with William still holding onto third although the rest of the leaderboard was shuffling somewhat with Martin up to fourth ahead of Donald, John McGuinness, Harrison, Gary Johnson on the MV Agusta and James Hillier. As they left the solitary pit stop, Dunlop and Anstey were together and the pair of them had caught McGuinness, Donald and Hillier on the road giving the thousands of fans around the course a tremendous sight and the dice allowed the battle for fourth to go all the way to the line. The top three positions were all but secure on the final lap, McGuinness giving William Dunlop a brief scare for third as he closed to within four and half seconds although the latter responded to take the final podium spot by over seven seconds. It all meant Michael Dunlop took his fifth TT victory, equalling the total of his father Robert, with Anstey and William rounding out the podium, the first time the two siblings have shared a TT rostrum. McGuinness took a strong fourth with Hillier having another excellent ride into fifth as he overhauled Martin on the final lap. Donald slipped back to seventh with Harrison, Dan Stewart and Dan Cooper rounding out the top ten. Cooper’s tenth place made him the first privateer home ahead of Dan Kneen (11th) and Robert Wilson (13th) but Kneen has now taken over the lead in the overall TT Privateers Championship. Read article
Dunlop wins TT Superbike race
Source: Visordown - Monday, 3rd June 2013, 8:27 GMTDunlop proved unstoppable MICHAEL Dunlop has won the six-lap Superbike race at the TT.This was Dunlop's first win on the 'big bike', dominating from lap one with an opening lap of 130.842mph. Gary Johnson provided the early challenge to Dunlop but Johnson later retired having run out of fuel.Guy Martin, John McGuinness, Cameron Donald and Bruce Anstey were all in the running for podium finishes in the first three laps while Dunlop carved out a small lead.At the end of lapfour, Dunlop had stretched his lead to 30-seconds over his team mate McGuinness but McGuinness was hit with a 1-minute penalty for speeding in pitlane, dropping him back to fourth place behind Guy Martin.McGuinness piled on the pressure and went after the gap to Martin, taking a second off him at every sector. Meanwhile Dunlop could afford to ease off a touch on the last lap to bring the bike home. Of course, he didn't ease off and set his fastest ever lap of the Mountain Course on the last lap. The same can be said for Cameron Donald who fought a long and lonely race in second position but he too set his fastest lap on the last lap.McGuinness closed the gap to Martin on the last lap, pushing harder than ever. The Morecambe Missile was determined to get back on the podium after losing position with his 1-minute penalty and his last lap of the Superbike race set a new lap record for the Mountain Course, 131.671mph, robbing Martin of the last step on the podium and making it a Honda 1-2-3. Related Content Onboard with Joey. Isle of Man TT '83 Road Racing: Dunlop to ride factory Kawasakis McGuinness' tribute to Joey Dunlop Michael Dunlop: I will race TT in memory of Dad Norton back at the Island in 2009 Read article
Alpinestars releases Marquez crash telemetry
Source: news RSS on motogp.com - The Official MotoGP Website - Saturday, 1st June 2013, 15:15 GMTIt was a minor miracle that Marc Marquez did not suffer major injury in his Friday crash at the end of the Mugello start/finish straight. The Spaniard, who made the conscious decision to jump off his Honda, was saved by his Alpinestars race suit. Read article
2013 Mugello MotoGP FP2 Result: Lorenzo Edges Rossi As Marquez Suffers Big Crash
Source: MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks - Friday, 31st May 2013, 13:00 GMTThe factory Yamaha riders have redeemed themselves after a difficult morning at Mugello, taking a one-two in the afternoon session of practice for the MotoGP session. Valentino Rossi looked back to his old form, leading for nearly all of the session, before Jorge Lorenzo challenged him for top position at the end. Lorenzo just ended the session ahead of his teammate, just a few thousandths of a second faster than Rossi. Monster Tech 3 Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow took 3rd, making it a clean sweep for the Yamahas. It was a strong showing for Ducati as well. Nicky Hayden took 4th, ending fractionally ahead of Dani Pedrosa, while Andrea Iannone and Andrea Dovizioso took 6th and 7th. Stefan Bradl ended the day in 8th on the LCR Honda, while Randy de Puniet put in an impressive lap to grab 9th, ahead of Michele Pirro. Race Details Round Number: Read article
