No more rain was falling at the Twin Ring Motegi for the intermediate class qualifying sessions, but the surface was still plenty damp enough for wet Dunlops. And it soon emerged that Marini was the man to beat, the VR46 Academy rider placed himself at the top of the standings, however, Baldassarri was less than a tenth off his compatriot. Fernandez, a Championship hopeful, then put himself in between the Italians on the provisional front row to sit 0.004 off Marini. However, the latter was about to get a wriggle on.
Although the rain had stopped falling at the Twin Ring Motegi, conditions still required maximum focus and attention. So much so that the four riders who progressed through from Q1 used the experience gained in that session to great effect. Antonelli, the Estrella Galicia 0,0 duo of Alonso Lopez and Sergio Garcia, plus Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race), all ended inside the top five.
Riders such as Petrucci, teammate Andrea Dovizioso and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) were slowly chipping away at Marquez’ time and on his final flying lap, Petrux went red in all three sectors to claim P1 in FP3. Behind second place Marquez and third place Morbidelli was Viñales, with Guintoli impressing in the wet conditions to finish P5. Dovizioso was just over a second off Marquez in P6, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Friday pacesetter Quartararo, Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Miguel Oliveira split by less than a tenth in the top 10.
Dixon, despite ending fastest, was one of 12 riders to crash out during what was an incident-filled Moto2™ session. He joined a list containing Idemitsu Honda Team Asia duo Dimas Ekky Pratama and Somkiat Chantra, Dixon’s Gaviota Angel Nieto teammate Xavi Cardelus, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46), Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40), Iker Lecuona (monday.com American Racing), Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP).
Rain was heavily predicted for Saturday morning and it proved to be the case, with the lightweight class heading out to get what may prove to be valuable wet track time if the inclement weather stays for qualifying. Reigning FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Junior World Champion Raul Fernandez (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) was fourth quickest, with Jaume Masia (Mugen Race) completing the top five.
Production of the Harley-Davidson electric LiveWire motorcycle has started again after being stalled a few days this week over a problem with one home charger.
The company says it was only a “single occurrence”. There was no problem with the motorcycle, only the charger.
“We take pride in our rigorous quality assurance measures and our drive to deliver the world’s best motorcycles,” their press statement says.
They had asked owners only to charge their bikes with the DC fast charger supplied at some HD dealerships. However, they say it is now safe to use any method to charge them.
LiveWires on DC fast chargers
Even though it doesn’t arrive in Australia until late next year, Harley-Davidson Australia had issued this statement:
As we lead in the electrification of motorcycles, we have delivered our first LiveWire motorcycles to authorized LiveWire dealers. We recently discovered a non-standard condition during a final quality check; stopped production and deliveries; and began additional testing and analysis, which is progressing well. We are in close contact with our LiveWire dealers and customers and have assured them they can continue to ride LiveWire motorcycles. As usual, we’re keeping high quality as our top priority.
We also asked how many Aussie orders they had and how many dealers were installing the DC fast charger:
We are not in a position to share any specific details and we are currently working closely with our dealer network as we get ready to welcome what will be a very exciting product for Australian and New Zealand customers.
Phone and other electrical devices can have issues with chargers overheating and causing a fire.
Electric vehicle and charger fires can be caused by short-circuits, power surges, impact, excessive discharge or overheating.
They also cause special concerns for fire fighters.
Lithium batteries are obviously made with lithium which is highly flammable and stored in mineral oil.
Tesla goes up in flames
While it is not toxic, it can cause nausea, diarrhoea, dizziness, muscle weakness, fatigue and a dazed feeling.
Electric vehicle and battery fires can also release sulphuric acid, carbon monoxide, copper and cobalt.
Fire fighters can’t douse the flames with water as the high voltage can cause an electric shock or electrocution.
Instead, they have to disconnect the power supply (usually an orange plug) and contain the fire to let it burn itself out.
LiveWire short circuit
Riding the LiveWire in Orgeon
This temporary hiccup with Harley’s electric motorcycle program follows a month delay in deliveries to US dealerships where it has created a lot of interest, but not a lot of sales.
Buyers are apparently baulking at the $US29,990 price (about $A44,000).
Some dealers are even rejecting the expensive DC fast-charger installation which is a requirement of being able to sell the bike.
PR exercise
So Harley has two major PR exercises going at the moment to rescue the LiveWire.
Charley Boorman and Ewan McGregor are currently shooting Long Way Up from the bottom to the top of the Americas, riding LiveWire motorcycles.
Ewan and Charley pack their LiveWire bikes for the trip
And now HD has brought in Hollywood action star Jason Momoa who plays Aquaman and Khal Drogo to test ride the bike.
“Harley wanted me to test one of the new LiveWires, I was kind of like ehhh. I like the idea of it but I wanted to hear it,” says Jason who is more at home on pushrod fuel burners.
A male rider in his 50s has died after a car and his motorcycle collided on Waterfall Way, south-west of Coffs Harbour yesterday (Friday 18 October 2019).
Police say the motorcycle was heading east on Waterfall Way when it collided with a car coming in the opposite direction shortly after 4pm about 13km west of Bellingen.
The rider, who is yet to be formally identified but believed to from Coffs Harbour, died at the scene.
Three people travelling in the car were taken to the Coffs Harbour Health Campus with minor injuries.
The driver, a 31-year-old woman from Armidale, has undergone mandatory blood and urine testing.
Waterfall Way was closed in both directions for four hours, re-opening at 8pm.
All images from NSW Transport Why We Ride video
A report will be prepared for the information of the Coroner.
Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.
Our condolences to the rider’s family and friends and our best wishes for the injured passengers for a full and speedy recopvery.
No charges have been laid.
Waterfall Way
Waterfall Way is one of many “motorcycling roads” featured in the NSW Transport video series Roads We Ride.
It is one of the most popular roads in the region for motorcyclists.
Waterfall Way is both scenic and winding. However, it is also narrow, challenging and dangerous.
Your chance to catch all the MotoAmerica Superbike races from 2019.
Begin press release:
If you missed any of the MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike rounds on Fox Sports 2 or you just want to re-watch them, MotoAmerica is offering its fans the opportunity to do just that as the races will be available beginning this weekend on MotoAmerica’s Facebook page and on the MotoAmerica YouTube channel.
The replays of the popular Fox Sports 2 shows will begin with this weekend with Road Atlanta race one set to be released on both Facebook and YouTube on Sunday, October 20. The rest of the races will be shown chronologically through to the end of the year.
“I think it’s great that we can bring our Superbike races to our fans who missed them the first time around on Fox Sports 2 or for those who just want the chance to see them again,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “Having some of our other races and highlights on Facebook and YouTube have proven to be extremely popular with our fans and this is just another step in making our Superbike races readily available for viewing on different platforms.”
The other classes will also be featured on Facebook and YouTube beginning on January 1, 2020.
The following is the online viewing schedule for the 2019 MotoAmerica EBC Brakes Superbike rounds:
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Race 1 Sunday, October 20
Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta Race 2 Wednesday, October 23
Circuit of the Americas Race 1 Sunday, October 17
Circuit of the Americas Race 2 Friday, November 1
VIRginia International Raceway Race 1 Sunday, November 3
VIRginia International Raceway Race 2 Friday, November 8
Road America Race 1 Sunday, November 10
Road America Race 2 Wednesday, November 13
Utah Motorsports Campus Race 1 Sunday, November 17
Utah Motorsports Campus Race 2 Wednesday, November 20
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Race 1 Tuesday, November 26
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Race 2 Friday, November 29
Sonoma Raceway Race 1 Sunday, December 1
Sonoma Raceway Race 2 Wednesday, December 4
Pittsburgh International Race Complex Race 1 Sunday, December 8
Pittsburgh International Race Complex Race 2 Wednesday, December 11
New Jersey Motorsports Park Race 1 Sunday, December 15
New Jersey Motorsports Park Race 2 Wednesday, December 18
Barber Motorsports Park Race 1 Sunday, December 22
Barber Motorsports Park Race 2 Friday, December 27
