The returning Mattia Pasini got life at Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 off to a great start, the Italian led for periods of FP1 but eventually finished P4, 0.177 from P1. Championship contender Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) had a solid morning, the Swiss rider closed out the top five while title rival Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) could only manage P19.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
It was Marquez who led for most of the first session as the premier class riders got back into the swing of things after a three-week summer break. One rider who didn’t get much of a summer break though was Team Suzuki Ecstar test rider Sylvain Guintoli but that didn’t seem to affect the veteran Frenchman. Guintoli went second in the latter stages before being shuffled back to fifth by the end of the session, with Dovizioso, Viñales and Oliveira all improving late in FP1 – the latter sitting quickest in the final two sectors.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
With the session starting under cloudy skies, there was an array of changes throughout the order. Having had a relatively quiet session, Masia hit the top in the final ten minutes, whilst Rodrigo came on strong in the closing moments. It was a strong showing for the KTM of Jakub Kornfeil (Redox Prustel GP), who was ninth after leading his teammate Filip Salac round for most of the session.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
After a break to take in some of the European summer break this weekend it is time to burn some Michelins again as MotoGP gets set to light up Brno.
Championship leader Marc Marquez was first to speak at the pre-event press conference.
“The second part of the season will be the most important. Summer break has been very good. Time to relax, disconnect but also time to prepare for the second part of the season together with my brother and yeah, it’s time to rejoin the Championship. We will try to restart the same way we finished. We will see here in Brno and let’s enjoy it on the track! The first part of the season has been interesting. At some tracks it was one manufacturer, at others it was another but the main thing is we were always there. We were always there to have a small chance of victory or second place and this will be the target for the rest of the season. Here we will see which rider and which manufacturer will be there, but our goal is to fight for the podium, try to fight for the victory until the end of the race and yeah this is the way. If that’s impossible then it’s time to survive and time to take points for the Championship.”
Andrea Dovizioso
Andrea Dovizioso is currently second in the championship, 58-points behind Marquez, and has collected five podiums in total at Brno and is keen to take advantage of the characteristics of both the track and the Desmosedici GP to cut the gap from the leader.
“The summer break is always a good time to recharge and put things into perspective. Despite the fact that our position on the finish line at Assen and Sachsenring was acceptable, our feeling on the bike wasn’t been the best in those circuits. Without a doubt, we need to stay positive in this moment: we’ve worked hard under each aspect during these three weeks and we’re ready to tackle the second half of the season with great motivation. We’ll race on tracks where we should be very competitive and able to show our full potential.”
Maverick Viñales
Maverick Viñales was on the podium last time out in Germany and is looking forward to an even stronger second half of season 2019.
“I am full of energy because I finished the last two races in a good way. For me, this summer break was very long because I was waiting to be on the bike, the mood I had was really good. With the same mentality, we have nothing to lose and we will try to push at the maximum from the first lap on Friday. I feel good, calm and we need to keep trying to take the maximum from the bike, try and be at the front and understand and a learnt a lot. I think it will be very different, we will try a different way, as the bike is different to last year. I feel like we can profit from this layout and I am curious to see and I hope in the second half of the season we can prove our potential.”
Valentino Rossi
Team-mate Rossi spoke next, a man who was on a more difficult run heading into the holidays. He’s now ready to start trying to unlock the secret to speed on the 2019 machine, having already taken podiums but then started to struggle a little more of late.
“For sure the break is a good chance to recharge the battery and take the right energy for the second half. The last races of the first part were very tough and very difficult. We expected to be stronger, so we need to concentrate and work better to be stronger for this second part. From Jerez, Quartararo and Maverick were very strong so this means the bike is competitive. We need to find another way to find the good feeling with the bike to ride at the limit.”
For Crutchlow, 2019 has also been more of a challenge at times. But the Brit dug deep and impressed in Germany to take a rostrum finish despite carrying a cycling injury, and Brno holds good memories of his first Grand Prix win.
Cal Crutchlow
“I went into the summer break obviously very happy with the result in the Sachsenring. I took a few days off and then me and Lucy had a few days away in London, so it was nice to be able to do that, then I went back to the Isle of Man and was in training. It was typical summer weather over there, raining most days, but I enjoyed the three weeks off overall. Now I’m looking forward to getting back riding again, but Brno is a strange circuit. I always expect to go well here, some years I go really well and some years I don’t go great. Last year I went quite well until the last three or four laps, but didn’t manage my rear tyre well enough at the start of the race, so we’ll look to try and improve that. We’re happy with the setting we got in the Sachsenring, but whether that will work here we’ll have to see as it’s a completely different circuit. But we’ll try our best and I’m definitely looking forward to the second half of the year.”
Next on the mic’ was home hero Karel Abraham. He’s had a tougher year so far but Brno is always a special home race for the Czech rider.
Karel Abraham
“It’s been a very difficult season so far, if we’re scoring points anytime that’s a success and it will be a success for this weekend as well so I think that we have done a lot of work with our team and we have improved, especially on Friday and Saturday but Sunday is where it counts. We need to get better on Sunday but if we score points, as I mentioned, it will be a nice weekend. You can see the field is very close and it’s very difficult for me to get better results, like top ten would be a dream but it’s very hard. We have to work very hard for it, especially to make all the laps constant which is what counts.”
The assembled press at the conference also heard from Brad Binder. The South African has taken two intermediate class podiums in a row after a hard beginning to the season, and he’s also now confirmed as moving to the premier class next year.
Brad Binder
“Looking forward from now, I am super excited to be stepping up to MotoGP next year. I know it is going to be a massive task but all in all, I am ready for the challenge and I am really excited. This year has been a bit of a disaster to say the least, but each weekend we have found a little bit more. Basically, now we have a new bike and looking forward, I hope it is what we are looking for so we can chase after more victories and get some points back.”
The Suzuki riders were not at the press conference but both Alex Rins and Joan Mir spent their holidays enjoying some rest, but also training hard to stay in shape for the remaining races. Likewise, the engineers – both in Hamamatsu and Europe – used the time to revise data and prepare for the second part of the season.
Davide Brivio – Suzuki Team Manager
“It’s good to be back at the races, we’re ready to take advantage of our strong first half of the season and we hope we can continue on this good path. We’ve already shown that we are competitive, and our target now is to continue to prove this potential. Alex is able to fight among the top positions in every race, while Joan is steadily getting closer to the top. The circuit of Brno is a fascinating track – maybe on paper it’s not one of our best tracks, but the progress we’ve made so far in terms of performance give us positivity for this weekend. It will be an important race for moral as well, because it will kick off of the second half of the championship and we want to go to Austria in good spirits too.”
Source: MCNews.com.au
A 21-year-old male rider has been seriously injured in a collision with a truck on Maitland Rd, Hexham, west of Newcastle, about 10am today (2 August 2019).
Police say the 21-year-old rider was trapped under the truck for some time.
A Westpac Rescue Helicopter transported the rider to John Hunter Hospital in a serious, but stable condition.
We offer our sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery.
The male driver of the truck has been taken to hospital for mandatory testing.
Two of three southbound lanes on Maitland Road were closed. For the latest traffic updates, visit www.livetraffic.com.
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.
It is still not yet known what caused these crashes and we do not assume any blame.
Riders should always exercise extreme caution when riding around trucks, especially in heavy traffic.
Trucks have a lot of blind spots and motorcycles can easily disappear from their view.
Click here for more information on lane filtering around trucks and truck blind spots.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Husqvarna Australia is about to offer some massive discounts on the 401 and 701 Svartpilen and Vitpilen motorcycles.
And by “massive” we mean a massive $3000 to $7000, depending on the model!
The official announcement has not yet been made, but we have seen the ride-away prices announced to the dealers recently.
| Model | Old price (+ORC) | New on-road price | (New Zealand) |
| Svartpilen 701 | $A15,995 | $A10,495 | $NZ11,500 |
| Vitpilen 701 | $A16,995 | $A9995 | $NZ10,999 |
| Svartpilen 401 | $A10,495 | $A7495 | $NZ8495 |
| Vitpilen 401 | $A10,495 | $A7495 | $NZ8495 |
Riders who have recently bought one for the full price may be able to get a rebate.
While companies are not legally bound to rebate the difference as it a a case of “buyer beware”, offering a rebate would show good faith with their customers.
However, the only time we can recall a motoring company issuing a full refund after heavily discounting a big-ticket item was in 2004 when Holden slashed the price of its off-road Adventra wagon by $4000.
We have rarely seen such a massive discount in the motorcycle industry. And by comparison, this is much higher than the Holden discount.
Yet we would expect the distributor to be understanding about rebates and retaining customer loyalty.
They may offer cash, or free accessories or service to make up the difference. It could come down to your negotiating skills.
We love the four models with their quirky looks and names.
Vitpilen means white arrow and is the road bike while Svartpilen means black arrow and is a scrambler semi-off-roader.
They are all fun and agile motorcycles with quality components.
For example, the 701 comes with a lot of standard “goodies” such as Bi-Directional Quick Shifter, Brembo Brakes with braided lines, LED lighting and WP Suspension.
However, we always said they would be a hard sell at the prices they were asking, especially for single-cylinder motorcycles.
Click on the following model names to read our full road tests: Vitpilen 701 and Vitpilen 401.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
As in previous years, the top twenty is made of a combination of regular TT front runners and Classic Racing specialists on a variety of single cylinder machines such as Norton and Matchless, twin cylinder bikes including Honda and Paton, plus hi-revving triples and four-cylinder bikes from MV Agusta and Honda.
First away is 2018 and 2016 winner, John McGuinness, who lines up on the Team Winfield Paton once again. With the exception of 2017 when he was forced out by injury, the 23-time TT winner has campaigned Roger Winfield’s machine every year since the inaugural Classic TT in 2013. With 4 valves per cylinder, the twin cylinder Paton’s enjoy a significant power advantage over the rest of the field and with McGuinness onboard, will start as hot favourite for the race win.
Dean Harrison, the reigning Dunlop Senior TT champion, returns to the 500cc class following his absence in 2018 and will start at number 2 on board the LSS Waste Management Norton for the first time, having previously won the 2015 encounter onboard an MV Agusta.
He’s followed by the experienced pairing of 2015 race winner Ian Lougher (John Chapman Racing/MV Agusta) and Michael Rutter (Ripley Land Racing/Matchless) at number 3 and number 4 respectively.
James Hillier starts from number 5 with his regular CSC Racing team on their Honda 500-4 and is set to be followed by Michael Dunlop at his customary number 6, but the four-time Classic TT race winner has yet to announce what machine he will ride.
Number 7 is Maria Costello onboard the Beugger Racing Paton. Costello finished third in the 2017 edition of the race and was battling for a podium position in 2018, before dropping down the order and retiring on the final lap.
Jamie Coward follows Costello at number 8, riding the Ted Woof/Craven Manx Norton on which he has taken three of his five previous Classic TT podiums. Coward has enjoyed a scintillating season so far, breaking the 130mph barrier for the first time at the Isle of Man TT Races fuelled by Monster Energy, taking his first TT podium in the Bennetts Lightweight Race, and winning the 2019 TT Privateer’s Championship following a string of top ten results.
Dominic Herbertson, winner of the 2018 Locate.im Junior Classic TT, starts at number 8 for Davies Motorsport onboard the only Yamaha TX500 in the field. His team mate, Lee Johnston, is onboard a Honda 500-4 and is back to his usual start number of 13 having started from 11 for the TT Races in June.
The top ten is completed by Chris Swallow on the Flitwick Motorcycles Royal Enfield, who finished less than four seconds off the podium in last year’s encounter.
Numbers 11 to 20 feature further classic racing talent in Alan Oversby (Ireland Honda/Honda) starting at number 11, the vastly experienced Bill Swallow onboard the only 500 Ducati for Gleve Racing/John Poyner at 14, and Michael Russell (Izzard Racing/Norton) starting from number 15.
Danny Webb (Dunnell Racing) makes a return to TT Mountain Course action having missed the TT Races earlier this year and starts from number 12. Honda Racing’s David Johnson is at number 14 but, like Dunlop, has yet to confirm what machine he will take to the start line on. Horst Saiger (Egli Motorradtechnik) and Derek Sheils (Greenhall Racing) start at 17 and 18, with Rob Hodson (Geoff Bates Racing) completing the top 20.
Joey Thompson makes a return to Road Racing onboard the second John Chapman Racing MV Agusta, and slots in at 19.
Source: MCNews.com.au
Spaniard hopeful of maintaining mid-season form following summer break.
Image: Supplied.
Monster Energy Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales has ‘nothing to lose’ entering the back-half of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship season, confident he can maintain his recent upswing of form.
Vinales rode to a brilliant victory at Assen and then backed that effort up with second in Germany, boosting him to fifth in the point-standings entering the Czech grand prix.
“I am full of energy because I finished the last two races in a good way,” Vinales stated. “For me, this summer break was very long because I was waiting to be on the bike, the mood I had was really good. With the same mentality, we have nothing to lose and we will try to push at the maximum from the first lap on Friday.
“I feel good, calm and we need to keep trying to take the maximum from the bike, try and be at the front and understand and a learnt a lot. I think it will be very different, we will try a different way, as the bike is different to last year. I feel like we can profit from this layout and I am curious to see and I hope in the second half of the season we can prove our potential.”
Last year at Brno saw Vinales involved in a three-rider incident on the opening lap alongside Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith. Pain in his shoulders on that occasion ultimately ruled him out of the post-race test one year ago.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
With Phil Aynsley
Ducati began its motorcycle history with a single cylinder motor, the Cucciolo, in 1946 – and they continued making them until 1974, although their Spanish affiliate Mototrans kept production going until 1982.
Then, in 1992, a new single appeared – the Supermono!
The brainchild of Massimo Bordi the Supermono was intended for the highly competitive Sounds of Singles race class (there were however later rumours of a road going model being developed, even one with a supercharged motor! Sadly nothing came of this and the only road going Supermonos available are Alister Wager’s offerings (link).
After several years of development it was first displayed (with a 487cc capacity) at the 1992 Cologne Show and went into limited production the following year. Only 40 of original 550cc bikes were made in 1993-1994, with a further 27 572cc versions in 1995.
Bordi’s ingenious concept saw him basically using the bottom half of the 888 Corsa V-twin with the vertical cylinder’s (modified) conrod connected to a pivoting lever which rotated on a pin fixed to the crankcase.
He called it “doppia bielletta” (double conrod) and it provided perfect primary balance eliminating the single’s vibration without using counterweights. A small bulge in the top of the crankcase was the only exterior sign of the system. Unlike the 888 motor plain main bearings were used.
The water pump was driven from the exhaust camshaft. A dry clutch, six-speed gearbox and Weber fuel-injection completed the engine specifications.
Due to the camshaft timing being more radical than the 888’s the power band was much narrower – 8,000 to 10,500rpm – with the motor not really running under 4,000rpm.
Claudio Domenicali (now Ducati’s CEO) designed the tubular steel chassis which was constructed at Cagiva’s Varese factory. The swingarm was by Verlicchi and Pierre Terblanche penned the fabulous bodywork.
Unless you have the opportunity to stand next to one it is hard to comprehend how small the Supermono is. The wheelbase is 1,360mm and the seat height only 760mm. As a guide, with the bodywork removed, I measured the top of the rear shock as only knee high (about 550mm)!
The 550cc version made 78hp (crankshaft) at 10,000rpm and weighed 122kg dry, while top speed was 232km/h.
The 572cc version used a 2mm larger diameter piston (102mm) with the same 70mm stroke as the earlier model. Power was up to 81hp at the same 10,000rpm.
The 572cc model also used a twin outlet muffler, 10mm longer rear shock, slightly different front forks and modified electronics. The bike I photographed is No.02 of the second (’95) production run and was originally exported to the Netherlands before finding its way to the USA.
The Supermono was highly competitive in races around the world. Notable results were Robert Holden’s second at the IOM in 1994, followed by victory the next year (fastest lap 111.66mph).
John Barton finished second in 1997 and third in 2000. Well known bike journalist Alan Cathcart won both the Japanese and British Supermono Championships as well as the 1994 Singles event at Bathurst on the 550 seen here (No.09 – imported by Frasers and photographed in 1993 before it first raced in the hands of Roy Leslie).
The Supermono was eventually overpowered by larger engined competition but remains a very highly sort after bike with prices approaching US$200,000 when one makes a rare auction appearance!
Source: MCNews.com.au
The second day in the mountains at Red Bull Romaniacs saw competitors face the longest course of the week. The Gold class completed 151 kilometres, covering a mix of difficult rocky climbs in the morning and high-speed grassy trails in the afternoon. With over 100 kilometres of riding before the mid-day service, it would prove a physical and energy-sapping start to the day for all.
While Graham Jarvis led the field away at 6.30am, drama would quickly strike Sherco Factory Racing’s Wade Young (RSA) who followed behind him in second. A technical issue on the first climb saw the 2018 winner return to the start line for hasty repairs, hoping to fix a gear selector issue. Despite losing almost one hour, Young re-joined the race, but he was ultimately forced to retire and call time on his bid to defend his Red Bull Romaniacs crown.
At the head of the field, Jarvis looked strong through the morning’s Gold class sections and maintained his position as first on the road until service. Behind him, Gomez was on a charge and worked his way up to the wheel tracks of Lettenbichler, but was hungry for more.
Finding a second wind as they exited service, the Spaniard went on a charge. Catching and overtaking Jarvis late in the day, Gomez was first past the post to ultimately win the day, but more importantly take control of the race lead. Admitting to not having the pace in the afternoon on the faster going, Jarvis placed second on the day. Keeping a consistently fast pace going, Lettenbichler ended his day in third.
Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna – ESP)
“I was on the hunt today – chasing down the boys in front. I had a very good pace and really enjoyed my riding today. After the service it was a little bit scary going so fast on the grass, but all-in-all it was a very good day for me and I hope I can keep this pace up for the next couple of days.”
Behind the leading trio, Sherco Factory Racing’s Mario Roman (ESP) rode a lonely race for fourth, while the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo of Jonny Walker (GB) and Taddy Blazusiak (POL) placed fifth and sixth respectively.
Building on his day one performance, Billy Bolt (Husqvarna – GB) improved to seventh, while JD Gunnex KTM Racing’s David Cyprian (CZ) continued to impress with eighth. Spain’s Josep Garcia (KTM) enjoyed a strong day with the Classic Enduro specialist placing ninth, while TTR Officine Rigamonti’s Pol Tarres (ESP) was 10th.
Josep Garcia (KTM – ESP)
“I’m really happy to be here at the finish line once again. Today was a really hard day, we hit some rain in the mountains and it made the uphills really slippery and difficult. We’ve got two more days to go so hopefully the weather will be ok with no rain. I really enjoyed my riding yesterday, the course was tough but flowed quite well, today was tougher with a lot of pushing and that isn’t as much fun. Overall, I’m feeling good and making some steady progress, so we’ll see what happens over the next couple of days.”
Stepping up to the Gold class as the 2018 Silver class winner, Austria’s Dieter Rudolf (KTM) is fast adapting to the challenge. The Austrian backed up his 10th place on Off Road Day One with 11th on Day Two and currently lies 10th overall in the race.
His compatriot Michael Walkner (KTM – AUT), Silver Class runner-up in 2018, is also performing well in his debut Gold class ride. The 21-year-old has ended both days in 13th to sit 12th overall at the halfway point in the race.
The three Aussies taking on the Gold Class are led by Anthony Solar who was 25th on Day Two ahead of Adam Giles who was 29th on stage and Chris Perry who was 32nd.
Gomez’ win on Off Road Day Two sees him move to the top of the Gold Class standings with two days still remaining. Jarvis slips down to second and is five-minutes behind his team-mate. Just over one minute behind Jarvis, Lettenbichler maintains third overall. With Roman in fourth, 10 minutes currently separate the top four.
In the Silver Class it’s Spain’s Josu Artola who continues to set the pace securing his second victory of the week. Behind him Josef Westgarth (GB) took second, ahead of Alberto Aramburu (ESP) and Sam Winterburn (GB). Winterburn is second overall to Artola, with Westgarth less than two minutes behind in third.
Shane Moss (23rd) was the quickest Aussie to complete Day Two in Silver Class ahead of countrymen Adam Poole (27th), Tim Gibson (46th) and Sam Preece (55th).
The Bronze category saw France’s Jean Michel Vigand push through for victory. The win sees him take control of the standings ahead of Marcin Welglarz (POL) who placed sixth today. USA’s Eric Slominski holds third overall thanks to his second-place ride on Off Road Day Two.
Brent Brady was the leading Aussie in the Bronze category on Day Two with a fifth place result ahead of countrymen Cameron Bice (32nd), Raymond Borg (45th), Christian Barrett (50th), Jason Beaton (55th), Marc Grillis (64th), Nicholas Kirk (68th), Robert Kingston (81st), Brendon Cousins (93rd), Paul Mapperson (96th), Dwayne Affleck (105th), Craig Roberts (115th), and John Cockings (165th).
In the Iron class it was Russia’s Vadim Tagirov who won the day to move into the lead in the overall classification. Germany’s Anna Schmolzl continues to show great form, second on Off Road Day Two moves her up to the second overall. Mexico’s Eduardo Martinez ended day two in third. Placing fifth on day two, day one leader Agostino Crema (ITA) slips to third position.
Aaron Mcfadzen is 36th in the Iron Class ahead of countrymen Domenic Dercole (43rd), Aaron Panozza (44th), Brenden Murphy (72nd), Andrew Donnelly (80th), Josh Devine (84th) and Christopher Withers (96th).
Source: MCNews.com.au
