The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati contender recorded a 4-2 scorecard, lifting the British ace’s spirits after being disappointed by Saturday’s controversy.
“It was a really good way to finish the weekend,” said Davies. “This morning in the Superpole race I was able to finish in fourth place which put me on the second row of the grid for race two. Unfortunately, in the second race I made a bad start and I was swamped by several riders at the first corner.
“I felt comfortable enough however and began to pick my way through the pack. When I got up to second place the gap to Jonathan was almost three seconds, and although I closed it down a bit, it was impossible to get any closer to him. Pity because I think if I had been there from the beginning, it might have been a nice race.
“However, we were competitive on another track, that’s four or five now where we’ve been near or on the podium. A big thanks to the team for their work but also for standing by me yesterday. Hopefully now we can go to Qatar and continue the momentum to finish the season strong.”
Davies sits seventh in the championship standings ahead of Qatar season-finale on 26 October.
Race two crash ‘indoor racing at its finest’ says Metcalfe
Section: Competition
South Australian denied of podium result in Brisbane.
Image: Foremost Media.
Penrite Honda Racing’s Brett Metcalfe has described his race two crash at Brisbane’s supercross opener as ‘indoor racing at its finest’ after the South Australian was pushed wide over a berm, ultimately denying him of a podium following a commanding P2 result in main event one.
The former international immediately picked up the form that took him to runner-up honours in the 2018 championship, and was on target to reach the podium before going down in the early stages of the final encounter. His 2-5 results saw him equal for third, although credited fourth on countback.
The tight nature of Brisbane Entertainment Centre delivered a number of on-track clashes throughout the night as expected, however Metcalfe’s incident has only fuelled his motivation ahead of a home round in Port Adelaide this weekend.
“I qualified well, heat race went good and I had a good start, which was important to get through to the main events,” Metcalfe explained to MotoOnline.com.au. “We missed a little on our set-up going in, so we’ll work on that and improve for the rest of the rounds.
“In the last main event, it was indoor racing at its finest – I got put over a berm and went down. I had to charge from last – it happens. I’m definitely motivated, and I’m pretty angry [laughs].”
The Australian Supercross Championship heads to South Australia this weekend, the same venue Metcalfe heroically won at last year.
It was the only motorcycle plate in the auction which fetched $2.4m, including an auction record $181,000 for a “Q1” car plate.
The “4” motorcycle number plate is not the most expensive in Australia. It is believed the 80-year-old NSW “1” plate may have sold for close to $1 million.
That plate was originally owned by Bennett and Wood in 1918. It was bought by Honda’s General Manager in 1935 and spent time on an MV Agusta in the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Personalised motorcycle number plates are big business, but they are not as valuable as car plates.
The Australian record for the most expensive car number plate was set in 2017 at the Shannons Sydney Autumn Auction where “NSW 29” fetched $745,000, beating the previous 2003 record of $689,000 for “NSW 2”.
World record
But that is nothing compared with world record prices.
The world’s most expensive plate is believed to be “25 O” which is on a Ferrari 250 SWB enviously owned by guitar god Eric Clapton.
The plate is now owned by Ferrari deal principal John Collins who paid £518,480 in 2014 and fitted it to his Ferrari 250 SWB.
Veyron with F1 plate
However, that could be eclipsed by British car mod businessman Afzal Kahn who is asking more than £12m for his “F1” plate which is on his Bugatti Veyron.
He has previously turned down an offer of £6 million.
He bought the plate for £440,000 in 2008, setting a UK record.
Show us your personalised motorcycle number plate! Insert a photo with your comments below.
Instead, Yamaha will unveil two electric scooters, an electric bicycle, an electric mobility scooter and an electric personal scooter at next week’s 46th Tokyo Motor Show.
Yamaha has not revealed many details of its new electric program at the Tokyo show, but they do promise fast-charging, extra range and removable batteries.
Electric program
So far, Yamaha has only produced the electric PES1 (Passion Electric Street) road bike and PED1 (Passion Electric Dirt), but neither is available in Australia.
In Tokyo they will unveil the small E02 scooter and classic-looking E-Vino, both with removable batteries.
There will also be a YPJ-YZ pedal-assisted e-bike, an electric tilting three-wheelers mobility scooter, and the electric Land Link Concept.
The latter uses artificial intelligence image recognition technology to autonomously move over “vast” outdoor terrain. It is likely designed to transport cargo.
Riding style not compatible with the bike insists Melandri
Difficulties continue for the GRT Yamaha rider in Argentina.
Image: Supplied.
Retiring Marco Melandri has stated his riding style seems to be incompatible with the GRT Yamaha YZF-R1 after another weekend of difficulties at Argentina’s penultimate round of the 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK).
Melandri suggests the bike and himself are ‘working in opposite directions’, despite many efforts from the squad in endeavouring to adapt the bike to his style.
“This has been another weekend where I’ve struggled a lot,” Melandri admitted. “My main strength is my riding style and, unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to be compatible with the bike.
“Every time I tried to push harder after a few laps I made a lot of mistakes and lost ground. It looks like me and the bike are working in opposite directions still. I’ve tried many things with the team to find a solution this season but, as the results show, we’re still looking.”
Harley-Davidson’s electric LiveWire motorcycle has hit a short circuit with production stopped for a “nonstandard condition” involving the home charger.
The company has asked owners only to charge their bikes with the DC fast charger supplied at some HD dealerships.
LIveWires on DC fast chargers
There is no other information from the company.
Even though it doesn’t arrive in Australia until late next year, we asked Harley-Davidson Australia for comment and received an unusual stoney silence.
Which leaves us speculating.
The strongest possibility is that the home chargers overheat which could cause 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 short circuit to 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.
The most technologically advanced MX helmet is about to hit the Australian market, with the Formula Helmet set to redefine helmet performance and safety expectations worldwide according to McLeod Accessories, and they have independent testing to back up those claims that prove it leads the class.
Fly Racing Formula Helmet – Vector Red/White/Black
The Fly Racing Formula Helmet is the absolute in total head protection. The Adaptive Impact System (AIS) is a high-performance ecosystem of structural design and energy mitigating materials. Each layer of the AIS, from RHEON enhanced Energy Cells, to the dual-density EPS liner, and the 12k carbon fibre shell, was carefully fine-tuned to achieve the goal of creating the highest performing helmet possible.
Fly Racing Formula Helmet – Vector Matte Hi-Vis/Grey/Black
Fly Racing are serious about rider safety and have incorporated the Formula helmet with many safety features, some never before seen on a motocross helmet.
A 12K carbon fibre shell, dual density EPS liner with Cone head technology and Fly’s own Active Impact System featuring RHEON enhanced energy cells, this is the best helmet that Fly has ever produced.
The Fly Racing Formula Helmet offered the best overall performance
Tested independently at SATRA in the UK to EEC standards, alongside at the Rheon Labs, the Fly Racing Formula helmet outperformed all the competition in the front side test, and was one of the top three testing at the crown, offering the greatest probability of being able to prevent and reduce severe brain injury.
Rheon Labs also test for a variety of real world-type situations, with the Formula helmet recording the best (lowest) peak scores across both high and low speed tests.
Extensive testing shows how the Fly Racing Formula helmet can out-perform the competition across a variety of tests
Fly Racing Formula Helmet features
ECE/DOT Approved
MIPS Brain Protection System
Carbon Matrix composite shell
Dual-density EPS liner
Custom rubber trim with integrated nose guard
Lightweight machined almunium visor screws
Stainless steel rivets and D-rings
Two shells and three EPS sizes for the perfect fit
Removable/washable Coolmax liner and cheekpads
True Functional Ventilation
Quad-vent above eye-poirt
Soft fleece helmet bag
From $749.95 RRP
Fly Racing Formula Helmet – Vector Blue/White/Black
Tanti breaks podium drought in AUS Supercross opener
Section: Competition
Serco Yamaha ace on the box for the first time since May.
Image: Foremost Media.
Serco Yamaha’s Aaron Tanti saw his podium drought come to an end at the first round of the Australian Supercross Championship in Brisbane, the New South Welshman appearing on the rostrum for the first time since Murray Bridge’s fifth round of the Pirelli MX Nationals in May.
Tanti consistently fell shy of the podium throughout the second half of the MX Nationals, leaving the title contender extremely frustrated with a string of fourth place results.
Earning second on Saturday night with a 2-3 scorecard, Tanti expressed relief to land on the box in the very first round of supercross.
“It feels good to get back up on the podium again,” said Tanti. “In the MX Nationals I finished fourth more times than I can remember. so it was good to reset for supercross and then come out strong at the opening round and get on the box.
“My day was pretty smooth all round as I was able to qualify in third, was in the top three for my heat race and then finished 2-3 in the main events, so it was a really consistent night for me and my starts allowed me to be up the front every time.
“Anything can happen on a tight track like this but I’m happy to finish second tonight and look forward to getting on the bigger circuits in the coming rounds.”
Port Adelaide will host round two of the Australian Supercross Championship this weekend on a traditional sized circuit.
Three pivotal days for Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup hopefuls
The Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Selection Event for the 2020 season is underway at the Guadix track in Spain with talented young riders looking to join those carrying on from this year.
Billy Van Eerde is one of the 11 riders that have automatically gained selection for 2020 off the back of their performances in the series this year. Van Eerde finished the season on a high with a win and a podium at the final round to finish sixth in 2019 and will be aiming for top spot in 2020.
Billy van Eerde
Aiming to join him in the Red Bull Rookies ranks for 2020 are over 100 young hopefuls from 37 nations that will be put through the wringer this week as they compete for only 12 slots on the grid.
Senna Agius was a winner in the Supersport 300 category at Phillip Island earlier this month – Image by Rob Mott
Three Aussie kids and a young New Zealander are aiming to bolster the ANZAC ranks amongst the Rookies with Angus Grenfell, Senna Agius and Cros Francis joined by young Kiwi Cormac Buchanan at the selection event.
Angus Grenfell was on the Oceania Junior Cup podium at Phillip Island earlier this month – Rob Mott Image
The first half of the huge Selection Event field starts on day one with seven groups riding around the Guadix track in seven groups on identical PreMoto3 250cc machines with each group of 8 riders riding for 15 minutes in front of four experienced judges.
Cros Francis testing at Winton – Image by Rob Mott
The afternoon session gives the youngsters another opportunity and, at the end of the day, the Selection Committee draws up a list of riders to be invited back for Day 3. The second day repeats the format for the second half of the riders.
The last day sees the remaining riders out to impress the judges again, with the final choice made that afternoon concerning who is invited to join the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for 2020.
Young Kiwi Cormac Buchanan is aiming to join the Red Bull Rookies Cup
This was the route taken by World Champions including Brad Binder and Joan Mir who, along with other ex-Rookies, are heading toward achieving 100 GP victories.
South African Binder raced in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup for three years before graduating to the Moto3 World Championship which he won in 2016. Stepping up to Moto2 for two strong, GP winning seasons, he now graduates to MotoGP with Tech 3 KTM for the 2020 season alongside another ex Rookie, Miguel Oliveira.
2020 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup qualified riders
1. Phillip Tonn (GER) 2. Alex Escrig (SPA) 3. Matteo Bertelle (ITA) 4. Billy van Eerde (AUS) 5. Mario Aji (IDN) 6. Pedro Acosta (SPA) 7. David Salvador (SPA) 8. Gabin Planques (FRA) 9. Zonta van den Goorbergh (NED) 10. Artem Maraev (RUS) 11. Marcos Uriarte (SPA)
Selection Event Entry List
Angus Grenfell (Australia) Senna Agius (Australia) Cros Francis (Australia) Cormac Buchanan (New Zealand) Tomás Acevedo (Argentina) Fermín Aldeguer Mengual (Spain) Boudin Alexis (France) Oscar Almonacil (Spain) David Alonso (Colombia) Raquel Ananda Nogueira Vaz (Brazil) Facundo Andrés Llambias Rosas (Uruguay) Felipe Arredondo (Colombia) Julen Ávila Cortes (Spain) Levi Badie (Belgium) Cristian Basso (Italy) Pedro Enrique Benito Fraga (Spain) Dean Berta Viñales (Spain) Dinis Borges (Portugal) Franco Reub Bourne (Great Britain) Michal Búlik (Slovakia) Unai Calatayud Pascual (Spain) Maxime Cappelle (France) Ido Chen (Israel) Torin Collins (Canada) Davide Conte (Italy) Rafael Damásio (Portugal) Adon Davie (Great Britain) Bryan-Kim Dupasquier (Switzerland) Fazlı Ercelik (Turkey) Jorke Erwig (Germany) Vincent Falcone (France) Mattia Falzone (Italy) Filippo Farioli (Italy) Adrian Fernandez Gonzalez (Spain) Tetsuya Fujita (Japan) Leungo Gaorekwe (South Africa) Drew Gates (South Africa) George Gerakianakis (Greece) Clément Giabbani (France) Sergio Gómez-Caro López-Hermoso (Spain) Soma Görbe (Hungary) Luca Göttlicher (Germany) Izan Guevara Bonnin (Spain) Aryan Gurav (India) Jack Hart (Great Britain) Daniel Holgado Miralles (Spain) Jacopo Adriano Hosciuc (Romania) Muhammad Izam Ikmal (Malaysia) Gábor Bence Kecskés (Hungary) Toby Khamsouk (United States) Lenni Klemetti (Finland) Andreas Kofler (Austria) Maksym Kovalov (Ukraine) Aditi Krishnan (India) Raphael Kuberesky Ramos (Brazil) Rocco Landers (United States) Caique Lanna de Menezes (Brazil) Lennox Lehmann (Germany) Alfonso Gustavo Linares Ochoa (Venezuela) Linus Lundin (Denmark) Luca Lunetta (Italy) Jamie Lyons (Ireland) Ross Maguire (Great Britain) Humberto Cezar Maier Neto (Brazil) Kiko Maria (Portugal) Juan Andres Marin Arango (Colombia) Valentina Martinez Trujillo (Colombia) Gabriele Mastroluca (Italy) Mario Mayor Francés (Spain) Mateo Jesús Mayorga Salazar (Argentina) Ido Menaged (Israel) Alex Millan Gomez (Spain) Facundo Martin Mora Allis (Argentina) Guillermo Marcel Moreno Crail (Mexico) Alessandro Morosi (Italy) Max Muckle (Germany) Daniel Muñoz Fernandez (Spain) David Muñoz Rodríguez (Spain) Scott Ogden (Great Britain) Barnabas Olah (Hungary) Unai Orradre Abad (Spain) Ivan Ortolá Díez (Spain) Milan Pawelec (Poland) Victor Pérez de León Fermann (Mexico) Ioannis-Konstantinos Peristeras (Greece) Bartholomé Perrin (France) João Pedro Pires Campos Arratia (Brazil) Mattia Rato (Italy) David Real Perez (Spain) Maxim Repák (Slovakia) Oriol Rodriguez Vives (Spain) Nick Roelfsema (Netherlands) Marcos Rol Alvarez (Spain) Elie Rousselot (France) Marcos Ruda (Spain) Galip Satici (Turkey) Errol Sullivan (United States) Angelo Tagliarini (Switzerland) Jesús Torres Cabrera (Spain) Maxwell Toth (United States) Blai Trias Molas (Spain) Enzo Valentim Garcia (Brazil) Ilya Vasilevsky (Russia) Collin Veijer (Netherlands) Bastiaan Visser (Netherlands) Ondrej Vostatek (Czech Republic) Noel Willemsen (Germany) Chris Wright (South Africa) Štěpán Zuda (Czech Republic)
The decision comes after MotoGP teams examined ways to offset the additional workload on riders and team staff by reducing the number of tests.
An agreement was reached between the teams to propose cancellation of the November 2020 Valencia test following the grand prix, and the traditional March 2021 test prior to the Qatar grand prix.
The proposal was approved by the GPC and will become effective in the regulations from season 2020, which starts the day after the 2019 Valencia grand prix. Nine tests will still be rolled out in the 2020 season.
