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
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Quad-vent above eye-poirt
Soft fleece helmet bag
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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.
Motocross champion confident of lining up at Port Adelaide.
Image: Foremost Media.
Dual MX2 champion Wilson Todd has revealed he re-cracked a rib ahead of the night show at Brisbane’s opening round of the 2019 Australian Supercross Championship.
It’s understood Todd initially injured his rib and shoulder in the weeks leading up to Brisbane, however a crash during practice on Saturday saw the DPH Motorsport Husqvarna rider re-injure himself before having to transfer to the main event via the B main.
“Even though I was still sore, I was confident I could race against these guys and do well, and I still feel that way,” Todd explained. “The results on paper don’t look that strong, but I dropped the bike in practice and re-cracked my rib and I raced through the pain.
“With only a few days until we head to Adelaide for round two, it’s not ideal. But if anything, I’m even more confident that I have what it takes, and I’ll be doing everything I can to be ready for next Saturday.”
The Australian Supercross Championship heads to Port Adelaide this weekend for round two, where a traditional format will take place on a full-size circuit.
Police are mystified why a motorcyclist riding with two colleagues suddenly swerved before crashing into a ditch in Far North Queensland yesterday afternoon (14 October 2019).
The 54-year-old man from Kuranda was pronounced deceased at the scene.
He was riding with two other motorcyclists when the incident happened on a dirt road at Mutchilba, near Mareeba, about 12.10pm.
Cairns Police say their preliminary investigations indicate that the three motorcycles were travelling together when the motorcycle involved swerved before leaving the road and crashed into a culvert on Middle Creek Road.
“No other vehicles were involved in the crash,” a Cairns Police spokeswoman says.
However, she confirmed they had interviewed the other two riders.
“The Forensic Crash Unit is still investigating but we are not ruling out a medical condition,” she says.
If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.
You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, by calling 1800 333 000 or via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.
Quote this reference number: QP1902004246
Our sincere condolences to the rider’s friends and family.
So far this year there have been 34 riders and pillions killed on Queensland roads, which is the same number as last year at the same time.
It is down on the previous three years where rider/pillion fatalities were in the 40s.
Last week’s Melbourne future transport strategy suggested a system that would use number plate recognition for all vehicles.
No fee amounts have yet been suggested, but report author Marion Terrill says Melbourne should follow cities such as London, Stockholm and Singapore.
However, two of those cities have some exemptions for motorcycles and scooters.
Stockholm has no fees for motorcycles and scoters as London did initially.
However, since April 2019 the new London Ultra Low Emissions Zone charges £12.50 (about $A23) a day for motorcycles and scooters that do not meet Euro 3 emissions standards.
Singapore has CBD road-user charges for all vehicles and plans to ban pre-2003 motorcycles throughout the city in 10 years.
Calls rejected
Melbourne Council first suggested a CBD congestion tax last year, but made no mention of motorcycles and scooters.
It cited a 2017 Grattan Institute report that said tax should be introduced in Sydney and Melbourne during peak hours within five years.
However, Melbourne Council cannot legislate the changes as is is a state matter and the State Government has previously rejected such calls.
The Victorian Motorcycle Council and Australian Motorcycle Council reject any moves for motorcycles and scooters to be included in any congestion tax.
“We are the solution to the congestion issue, not the problem,” says VMC media spokesman John Eacott.
“You’re quite right that council can’t change State legislation but they are driving a discussion which has, so far, been rejected by Victorian State Government.
“Any references to motorcycles may benefit from instead using the term PTWs (powered two-wheelers) should a broader audience become engaged.
“Experience has shown that the greener elements tend to change their tune when it’s pointed out that PTW includes scooters.”
The Motorcycle Riders Association of Victoria also says PTWs should be exempt because riders “contribute financially paying similar road fees and CTP premiums to car owners and motorcycles do less damage to infrastructure and the environment”.
John says the VMC is pleased the report notes that altering road design to include narrow lanes dedicated to small traffic such as micro and light cars and motorbikes would have a beneficial effect on congestion.
Congestion charges
Calls for CBD congestion charges are not new. They have been around for years.
In March this year, Sydney University transport economist Professor David Hensher had a novel twist on the idea.
He said motorists should be able to choose to pay a 5c-per-kilometre congestion tax in return for lower rego.
Other cities have various fee systems not only to reduce traffic congestion but also air pollution:
Milan’s Ecopass charges all vehicles entering a designated traffic restricted zone and bans old cars and bikes that do not meet set emissions standards;
China and Brazil are considering congestion charges in various cities; and
Oregon, USA, has trialled a voluntary pay-per-mile distance charge resulting in a 22% drop in traffic in peak hours and a 91% approval by participants.
Rider concern
Riders should be concerned because these taxes and bans could spread to other congested cities.
Singapore traffic congestion
The Singapore ban on older motorcycles seems harsh but may be warranted as the city is choked by thousands of two-stroke scooters that have since ceased production.
But powered two-wheelers should be exempt because they not only free up traffic, they can also reduce pollution as stricter European emissions standards have made them much cleaner.
Also, the coming wave of electric models will make them even more attractive for easing CBD congestion and pollution woes.
Melbourne City Council once had an exemplary motorcycle plan.
