Thursday, August 2, 2012

2012 Silverstone World Superbike And World Supersport Press Release Previews

Press release previews from the World Superbike and World Supersport teams ahead of this weekend's race at Silverstone:

Round Number: 
10
Year: 
2012

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Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber

Who Actually Owns Ducati? Lamborghini Paid €747 Million

Audi AG has released its 2012 Interim Financial Report, and in it the German automaker has released some interesting details about its acquisition of Ducati Motor Holding. Confirming our report that the Audi Group has bought 100% of Ducati’s shares, Audi however discloses that it paid much less for the Italian motorcycle brand than was previously reported. Disclosing a buying price of €747 million ($980 million at the exchange rate at the time of sale), ...

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Louis Chiron Joie Chitwood Bob Christie Johnny Claes David Clapham Jim Clark† Kevin Cogan

MotoGP: Ducati Corse’s New “Junior Team” Strategy

Ducati is on the verge of a large-scale overhaul of a major part of its MotoGP strategy. In 2013, its approach to satellite teams is set to change radically, with its satellite structure set to receive factory-spec Desmosedicis that will have a much closer relationship with the Borgo Panigale factory, says Ducati boss Alessandro Cicognani. “The main goal is to have a more competitive bike,” Cicognani said, speaking to us after the race at Mugello. ...

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Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber Skip Barber

Casey Stoner Enjoy the battles with Lorenzo and Pedrosa

Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo, Dani Pedrosa, Laguna Seca 2012

Casey Stoner now is 32 points behind Jorge Lorenzo on the 2012 MotoGP championship. The 2011 world champion told on the interview with MotoGP.com that he made mistakes at Mugello and Sachsenring. Now Stoner have 9 races more to hunt his second title with Honda.

Stoner said, "To be honest, I'm pretty happy with my level, but we made a couple of small errors in Mugello and Sachsenring, which unfortunately left us far behind in the standings. I think if things had been slightly different, if the weather had been different at some races and if we had not made these mistakes, then we would be in a good position. As we are now, we have lost a lot of ground on where we should be."

Stoner also told that Le Mans was not good for him. "As I said, if we had raced at Le Mans in the dry, then I have to think that we were in a good position to win there and if I would have won at Sachsenring we'd probably be leading the championship now. 

Along with Jorge Lorenzo and his teammate Dani Pedrosa, those riders are the frontrunners in MotoGP. Stoner didn't talk much about his competitors, but he said, 
"I think it changes every week. Clearly, Jorge is always up there, always looking very strong and consistent, because obviously he is very happy with this new tyre. That compound is what they preferred in preseason testing and myself and Dani were the ones who didn’t like it at all. Your strengths and weaknesses change at every race and you have to evaluate that over a weekend, which is never easy."

He continue, "I think it has been getting better year after year. The first four from last year have always competed together, we rose up through the lower classes together and I think this season the level has been increasing in strength. It is a great feeling to have been on the podium so many times with Jorge and Dani. We respect each other a lot, we enjoy good battles and races and I am very happy to be taking so many podiums alongside them in my final season."

interview source: MotoGP Official

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/Ecg_LFLTrrE/Casey+Stoner+Enjoy+battles+Lorenzo+Pedrosa

Jose Dolhem Martin Donnelly Carlo Abate George Abecassis Kenny Acheson Andrea de Adamich Philippe Adams

Spidi Carbo-3 Race Gloves

Spidi started life as a glove manufacturer in the 1970’s and they didn’t waste any time in elevating themselves to the world class level. They...

Source: http://www.esportbike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144848&goto=newpost

Peter Broeker Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle

Motoyard Track Day/Wild West Shootout practice event - August 10th at Big Willow

Motoyard Track days invite you to our track day/Wild West Shootout Friday practice event at the 2.5 Mile Road Course of Willow Springs Raceway on...

Source: http://www.esportbike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144834&goto=newpost

Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa Ettore Chimeri Louis Chiron

Bridgestone Press Release: Masao Azuma Talks Racing Hard And Soft Tires At Laguna Seca

Bridgestone issued their usual post-race debrief after the Laguna Seca round of MotoGP. This time, Masao Azuma discusses the different strategies used to make both hard and soft compounds at the US GP. The press release is below:


Laguna Seca MotoGP™ debrief with Masao Azuma

Wednesday 1 August 2012

Bridgestone slick compounds available: Front: Soft, Medium, Hard. Rear: Soft, Medium (Asymmetric)
Bridgestone wet tyre compounds available: Hard (Main), Soft (Alternative)

The 2012 United States Grand Prix was won by Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner, the reigning MotoGP™ champion taking the checkered flag ahead of Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo in second place and teammate Dani Pedrosa who finished third. The race was run at a fierce pace, with the overall race time being over six seconds faster than last year, while Pedrosa set a new record fastest lap on lap five of the thirty-two lap race.

Round Number: 
10
Year: 
2012

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/GeHVb3Fb_7s/bridgestone_press_release_masao_azuma_ta.html

Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel Menato Boffa Bob Bondurant Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier

2012 Laguna Seca Saturday Round Up: Lorenzo's Blistering Pace, Stoner's Traffic Problems and Rossi's Ducati Offer

Despite dominating the championship so far, Jorge Lorenzo does not get a lot of pole positions. Except at Laguna: though this was only his third of the season, Saturday's pole position was Lorenzo's fourth in a row at the circuit, and he secured it in convincing style. The circuit record tumbled - it had stood since 2008, set by Casey Stoner when he looked on his way to dominating the US GP at Laguna, before his run in with Valentino Rossi. There has been much complaining about the Bridgestone tires of late, yet both Lorenzo and Stoner beat the pole record on the tire they will probably race on, a pole record set on super-soft special qualifiers, which at a track like Laguna Seca you could just about eke two laps out of before they were finished. In reality, there's not so much wrong with these tires.

The pole record could have been beaten by a lot more, but Casey Stoner kept running into traffic each time he went for a fast lap. Up by a tenth or more at each split a number of times, he would suddenly run into a rider cruising, or a CRT machine on a hot lap, and lose out. On his last attempt, he ran into Danilo Petrucci just before the final corner, working his way swiftly past to take pole from Lorenzo with a couple of minutes to go. But Lorenzo would not be denied, pushing hard in the final sector to get pole back from Stoner in the dying moments.

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Karun Chandhok Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever

World Superbike riders aiming for Silverstone gold

The eni FIM Superbike World Championship returns to the United Kingdom for its second of two appeara...

Source: http://www.fim-live.com/en/media/news/news-detail/article/1343751484-world-superbike-riders-aiming-for-silverstone-gold/

Sebastien Buemi Luiz Bueno Ian Burgess Luciano Burti Roberto Bussinello Jenson Button Tommy Byrne

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix | F1 pictures

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Ten of the best pictures that tell the story of the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/0w65MXqLmy8/

Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza

WSBK: World Superbike Philip Island Highlights 2011

Source: http://sportbikeblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/wsbk-world-superbike-philip-island.html

Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham† Bill Brack

Lappi gets set for career take off

Story from www.wrc.com

The 21-year-old rising Finnish star has won all five rounds of this season’s Finnish championship and has all but been...

Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/wrc-news/154182-lappi-gets-set-career-take-off.html

Peter Broeker Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix | F1 pictures

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Ten of the best pictures that tell the story of the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix.

Top ten pictures from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/0w65MXqLmy8/

Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa

Goggles for the four eyed folk?

I'm looking for MX or snowboard...etc goggles that fit over normal glasses. Does anyone here any experience with them, preferably with helmet use? ...

Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/chit-chat/154187-goggles-four-eyed-folk.html

Chuck Daigh Yannick Dalmas Derek Daly Christian Danner Jorge Daponte Anthony Davidson Jimmy Davies

Ben Spies Got a Technical Failure with His Swingarm

Ben Spies Laguna Seca 2012

Ben Spies continued to experience his run of bad luck for his home race. Spies made a strong start from the grid, slotting in behind Casey Stoner in fourth through the first turn. Although unable to stay with the front pack the Texan was looking comfortable holding fourth ahead of Andrea Dovizioso until a dramatic crash in the corkscrew on the 22nd lap caused by a technical failure with his swingarm.

Ben Spies
"We had a technical failure in the swingarm. I was feeling really good, I didn’t have the grip that I had in the earlier sessions with the harder tyre but in the last ten laps I was starting to pull away and I had a little left up my sleeve. We started to stretch out a lead over Dovi then all of a sudden at the bottom of the corkscrew the bike went out from underneath me. I had no control, it didn’t slide or anything just completely went. At first I thought I’d hit a bump but there isn’t one there. It’s nobody’s fault but it’s more bad luck.”

Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/XltLg8XDUF2/Ben+Spies+Got+Technical+Failure+Swingarm

Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini

Jorge Lorenzo Increases Championship Lead in Laguna Seca

Jorge Lorenzo Laguna Seca 2012

Yamaha Factory Racing rider Jorge Lorenzo put in an impressive performance today at Laguna Seca to take second in the Grand Prix of USA. Having started from pole, Lorenzo took the hole shot closely followed by rival Dani Pedrosa into turn one. He held the lead until a small incident in the corkscrew allowed Casey Stoner to close the already small gap, the Australian then passing him on the main straight on lap 21. Lorenzo tucked in behind in second, crossing the line just 3.429 seconds later.

Jorge Lorenzo
“I tried my best the beginning to open a gap and I managed it but then in the corkscrew I almost crashed. For Casey maybe that was a motivation and he caught me in one lap. After that I couldn’t keep the pace I had in the beginning, maybe the soft tyre was the best option for this race. Without a doubt Casey was riding in an excellent form today and it wasn’t possible to beat him.”

Yamaha Factory Racing Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/lPe5K-AGWWf/Jorge+Lorenzo+Increases+Championship+Lead

Bill Aston Richard Attwood Manny Ayulo Luca Badoer Giancarlo Baghetti Julian Bailey Mauro Baldi

Casey Stoner tames the corkscrew

Casey Stoner Laguna Seca 2012

Repsol Honda rider Casey Stoner heads into the summer break on a high after winning his fourth race of the year by making a wise tyre choice on a sunny day at the U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. 

The win was Stoner’s second in a row and third overall at the tortuous circuit within sight of the Pacific Ocean east of Monterey, California, making him the winningest rider at the track.

And it also allowed him to take five points out of the championship lead of Lorenzo. Stoner, who will spend his summer break traveling around the U.S. with his family, now has 173 points to 182 for Pedrosa and 205 for Lorenzo.

Casey Stoner, Repsol Honda: Race winner
“It's been a difficult weekend for us in general, especially trying to make the hard tyre work. So for the race I decided to go with the soft option and be a little more careful with the tyre, keep a little more traction and not spin so much. At the beginning of the race I tried to move to the front, but Dani and Jorge were riding very good lines and it was impossible to get past. I decided to slow the lap times a little and try to save the tyres until the end and then we could start to come back. I was confident for the entire race that I had enough pace for the win, we just needed to make sure the tyre would last until the end. When we got to the front we put in some good laps and pulled some small advantage and just continued from there. I'm very, very happy and a big thanks to all the team.”

Repsol Honda Team Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/PrAZCvshfXE/Casey+Stoner+tames+corkscrew

Christijan Albers Michele Alboreto Jean Alesi Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso

Favorite Drivers?

Hey everyone wanted to know who are some of your favorite drivers in Indy Car? Being a Chevy fan I would say mine is J.R Hildebrand. Wanted to know...

Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/indycar/154168-favorite-drivers.html

Mauro Baldi Bobby Ball Marcel Balsa Lorenzo Bandini Henry Banks Fabrizio Barbazza John Barber

Vote for the best driver of the Hungarian GP weekend | 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix

Vote for the best driver of the Hungarian GP weekend is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Compare all the drivers' performances and vote for who you think was the best driver of the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend.

Vote for the best driver of the Hungarian GP weekend is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/f1fanatic/~3/pFtrGzDMjC8/

Art Bisch Harry Blanchard Michael Bleekemolen Alex Blignaut Trevor Blokdyk Mark Blundell Raul Boesel

F1 testing

so F1 is dropping mid season testing in 2013
F1 drops mid-season test for 2013 - Yahoo! Eurosport UK...

Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/f1/154174-f1-testing.html

Tony Brooks Alan Brown Walt Brown Warwick Brown Adolf Brudes Martin Brundle Gianmaria Bruni

Battery Tender Jr for 28% Off

Image: http://s7d2.scene7.com/is/image/Motosport/BAT-TEND-JR-12V_is?$product_large_1000$

The Battery Tender Junior is much more than a trickle...

Source: http://www.esportbike.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144829&goto=newpost

Alex Caffi John CampbellJones Adrián Campos John Cannon Eitel Cantoni Bill Cantrell Ivan Capelli

New BMW S1000RR Roadbike Officially Revealed

Source: http://sportbikeblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/new-bmw-s1000rr-roadbike-officially.html

Alain de Changy Colin Chapman Dave Charlton Pedro Matos Chaves Bill Cheesbourg Eddie Cheever Andrea Chiesa

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Honda Q2 2012 Motorcycle Sales up 12%

Honda’s Q2 report is out (the report is technically Honda’s Q1 fiscal report), and Big Red is showing some positive gains in 2012 thus far. With unit sales up 12% in Q2 2012 over Q2 2011, Honda is also posting a tidy revenue increase of 42% (¥2,435.9 billion, or $31 billion), while net income is also up 315% to ¥131.7 billion ($405 million). Honda doesn’t breakout its consolidated financial report into regional figures, though it ...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AsphaltandRubber/~3/OMruF7Y-SeE/

Gerhard Berger Eric Bernard Enrique Bernoldi Enrico Bertaggia Tony Bettenhausen Mike Beuttler Birabongse Bhanubandh

2012 MotoGP Championship Standings After Round 10, Laguna Seca

MotoGP Championship standings for round 10, 2012

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MotoGPMatters/~3/YUOcCtwXrwY/2012_motogp_championship_standings_after.html

Felice Bonetto Jo Bonnier Roberto Bonomi Juan Manuel Bordeu Slim Borgudd Luki Botha JeanChristophe Boullion

2012 Laguna Seca MotoGP FP2 Result: Pedrosa Takes Charge

Dani Pedrosa continued his reign of the MotoGP class at Laguna Seca this afternoon, adding the fastest time in FP2 to his quickest time in FP1 this morning. Where the Repsol Honda man only just held off Jorge Lorenzo in FP1, he stretched his advantage to a much more comfortable third of a second in the afternoon, getting under the race lap record and closing in on the pole record as well. Lorenzo took 2nd again, just as he did this morning, while Casey Stoner was also once again 3rd fastest, though the Australian closed the gap on Lorenzo significantly. 

Ben Spies was 4th, and just as this morning the Factory Yamaha rider led a brace of Monster Tech 3 Yamahas, Andrea Dovizioso ahead of Cal Crutchlow. Crutchlow took a very nasty tumble towards the end of the session, destroying his Yamaha M1 and ripping his leathers, causing him to lose some skin on his upper right leg. After Valentino Rossi also crashed in the same place a few minutes later, the session had to be red flagged, Rossi's Ducati sliding into the air fence, causing it to deflate. Rossi walked away from that crash unhurt, though. 

Race Details
Round Number: 
10
2012

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Ivan Capelli Piero Carini Duane Carter Eugenio Castellotti Johnny Cecotto Andrea de Cesaris Francois Cevert

New look for Ford's fast Fiestas

Story from www.wrc.com

Rather than the familiar mainly blue and white colour scheme that has adorned the Fiestas so far this season, in Finland...

Source: http://www.motorsportforums.com/wrc-news/154160-new-look-fords-fast-fiestas.html

JeanChristophe Boullion Sebastien Bourdais Thierry Boutsen Johnny Boyd David Brabham Gary Brabham Jack Brabham†

Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaro on top CRT Laguna Seca QP

Randy De Puniet Laguna Seca 2012

Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaró again the fastest two riders on new concept MotoGP machinery, qualifying eleventh and twelfth on the grid for tomorrow's race

After an opening day dominated by Dani Pedrosa at Laguna Seca yesterday, today it was the turn of the man he trails in the championship to take over, Jorge Lorenzo setting the pace in the final free practice session this morning before taking pole position with a last lap effort this afternoon. Heavy fog made the second day's opening session virtually useless until it lifted for the final few moments but there were no such setbacks or indeed surprises in qualifying practice after lunch, when the top three riders in the current points standings took the three front row positions for tomorrow's race.

It was always going to take more than a little fog to stop the Power Electronics Aspar Team from continuing their domination of the CRT revolution, with Randy De Puniet and Aleix Espargaró getting to grips with the Laguna Seca layout on their second day here with the ART machine. Qualifying proved to be a two-way battle between the pair for the top CRT position on the grid, Randy sealing it with a lap of 1'22.886 to edge out his team-mate by two tenths after Aleix was baulked by another rider on his final lap.

11th Randy De Puniet 1.22.886 (29 laps): “I am really happy with the result from qualifying. The electronic problems we had yesterday morning and the fog this morning have basically cost us two sessions but we made the most of the time we had. We made some changes for this afternoon and thankfully they were all in the right direction. I'm happy because my race pace gives me plenty of optimism for tomorrow. I was consistently in the low 1'23s and that is going to be important. I am sure we can improve the set-up of the bike in the warm-up tomorrow and after three really good races the objective for the race is to continue in the same way and if possible finish as the top CRT again.”

12th Aleix Espargaró 1.23.075 (25 laps): “I didn't manage to get the bike set-up as good as I would have liked today. We couldn't get it turning as I wanted and I struggled for confidence in the front. Luckily at the end of the session I managed to improve a little. Rear tyre wear is quite severe here and after seven or eight laps it was sliding around a lot. On the last lap of qualifying I was on a hot lap behind Valentino but Elías got in my way and I lost my chance. It was a shame because I think it would have been enough to qualify as the top CRT but anyway I am happy with the way we're progressing. In the last few races I have qualified as the top CRT only for Randy to beat me in the race so hopefully this weekend works out the other way around.”

Aspar Power Electronics Press Release

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Source: http://www.zimbio.com/MotoGP/articles/S4-Jh6rNk9x/Randy+De+Puniet+Aleix+Espargaro+top+CRT+Laguna

Jaime Alguersuari Philippe Alliot Cliff Allison Fernando Alonso Giovanna Amati George Amick Red Amick