Make yourself more visible to drivers behind you with the innovative inView wireless helmet brake light and turn signal from Third Eye Design ($249.95). The inView attaches via ultra-strong hook-and-loop to the back of your helmet and integrates via a wireless controller that taps into your bike’s taillight and turn signals. Then it simply replicates what your bike does, adding an additional, higher light that helps ensure drivers notice your brake light and turn signals, reducing the chance of a rear-end collision.
The Grand Prix Commission have announced new sporting regulations for the 2020 season and beyond
The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Paul Duparc (FIM), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Takanao Tsubouchi (MSMA), in an electronic meeting held on 7 October 2019, made the following decision:
Sporting Regulations MotoGP™ CLASS – TEST RESTRICTIONS
With the introduction of additional events in the Grand Prix calendar, the MotoGP class teams have been examining ways to offset the additional workload on riders and team staff by reducing the number of tests.
Agreement was reached between the teams to propose cancellation of the November 2020 test after the Valencia GP and the traditional March 2021 test prior to the Qatar GP.
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 GP.
Implementation of the new regulations will result in the following programme of MotoGP class tests:
SEASON 2020 (STARTING 18 NOVEMBER 2019)
19-20 November, Valencia: Two-day official test.
25-26 November, Jerez: Two-day joint private test
02-04 February, Sepang: Three-day shakedown test.
07-09 February, Sepang: Three-day official test.
22-24 February, Qatar: Three-day official test
04 May, Jerez: One-day official test after the GP
08 June, Barcelona: One-day official test after the GP
15-16 June, Finland: Two-day Michelin tyre test – test teams only
15-16 September, Misano: Two-day joint private test
SEASON 2021 (STARTING 16 NOVEMBER 2020)
On dates to be confirmed when 2021 calendar is known: Possible three-day, pre-season test at Lombok, Indonesia if circuit is in 2021 calendar. Two of one-day official tests on Mondays after events. Circuits to be confirmed. Two-day official test at a circuit to be confirmed – probably Misano.
CDR duo downplay inner-team rivalry after Brisbane contact
Section: Competition
Both Clout and Reardon deny any ongoing rift following opening round.
Image: Foremost Media.
New CDR Yamaha Monster Energy Yamaha teammates Luke Clout and Dan Reardon have played down suggestions that sparks flew between the pair after contact was made in the Brisbane main event on Saturday night.
Former multi-time champion Reardon was runner-up in his return to CDR, directly ahead of Clout in third place on the podium as the Australian Supercross Championship opened in Queensland.
It was lap seven of the second SX1 final when Clout was lining a move up on Reardon for position when the pair was running in second and third, however, a minor clash saw Clout crash and remount to salvage a podium without losing any positions.
Clout – rumoured to be departing CDR for 2020 – was understood to be in a heated mood directly following the main events, but both have denied there will be any intensifying rift as the series travels south to Port Adelaide for round two this weekend.
“There wasn’t really anything in it,” Clout told MotoOnline.com.au. “I was about to make a pass, we kind of came into the turn together and there was a bit of contact – more of a racing incident. I don’t really want to go into it… it is what it is.”
Despite not racing competitively since rupturing his achilles tendon in Auckland’s S-X Open last November, Reardon impressed on his way to second behind triple defending champion Justin Brayton (Penrite Honda Racing) at round one.
The media-savvy Queenslander delivered an encouraging 3-2 scorecard to edge heat race winner Clout’s 4-3 finishes in the double-header format, making for an intriguing factory Yamaha combination that are both bidding to dethrone the dominant Brayton.
A mistake from Reardon in the rhythm section prior to where the incident happened allowed Clout to strike, however Reardon’s experience enabled him to anticipate the passing attempt, which ultimately resulted in them coming together as both turned sharply.
“We made small contact, but more just a racing incident than anything else,” Reardon commented when queried this afternoon. “We spoke about it and it was all fine – just one of those things in racing where you touch each-other, but nothing intentional.
“I wanted that line, he wanted that line, one of those deals… there was nothing in it. I think he was frustrated that he went down and I would be too, but he tried to make a manoeuvre on me, I anticipated it and then it didn’t work out.”
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team), meanwhile, will be hoping to make more of a fight of it at Motegi. The venue has been a good one for the Italian and he is a man who’s been on pole before: the track was where Dovizioso took his first pole in the premier class in 2010, and he did it again in 2014 and 2018. He also won the 2017 showdown with Marquez in the rain – one of the most stunning duels of recent years, and there have been a few – and he’s been on the podium in the dry, so it makes for good reading. And there’s no home race pressure for the number 04, although the team and constructor standings add some back in. On that count, however, there could be more for teammate Danilo Petrucci, as the Italian is now fifth overall – although only a handful of points off Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in third and one point behind Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). He’ll want more from Motegi and the final four rounds overall.
Fernandez, certainly, took the gloves off last time out and showed he’s more than willing to fight for this Championship; aggressive and leaving everything on the track. And he remains consistently impressive but now he has to remain consistently ahead of Marquez and by some margin, as does Binder, who is 44 points off the leader. The South African seems to have more been sneaking his way up the table as he’s gained some serious traction in the latter half of the season, and if 40 points doesn’t put Fernandez out of contention, a few more doesn’t do the same for Binder. Will Marquez crack? Does he need to? A maximum 100 points remain on the table…
Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), meanwhile, needs even more. After suffering from an issue with his arm in Thailand and, like Canet, losing ground, it’s fast approaching crunch time for the Italian if he’s to stay in with a shout. Arbolino needs to start winning races and could need the likes of Albert Arenas (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team), Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) and John McPhee (Petronas Yamaha SRT) to come into play…
In the ETC, Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 teammates José Antonio Rueda, Diogo Moreira and Adrián Cruces took the podium together after a race which was interrupted on the first lap by a multiple fall. In the new race, set at 12 laps, José Antonio Rueda and Diogo Moreira placed themselves in front of poleman Izan Guevara, who was riding injured after suffering a fall in the qualifying session on Saturday. The new champion began to fall back while Fermín Aldeguer (Bester Capital Dubai), despite also riding with an injury, moved up to the Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0 riders. Behind, Daijiro Sako (Cuna de Campeones) reeled in the chasing group which included Adrián Cruces (Junior Team Estrella Galicia 0.0) – and it was Cruces who ended up taking third place after Fermín Aldeguer and Daijiro Sako were penalised. The winner of the race, José Antonio Rueda, taking his first win of the season, received the Repsol free fuel cheque. Second place went to Diogo Moreira. Finally, the injured Izan Guevara, champion and winner of six races this year, crossed the finish line in ninth position.
Fabio Quartararo will arrive in Melbourne later this month for the Pramac Generac Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix 2019 held over the October 26-27 weekend as one of the men to watch for this year’s main event at Phillip Island. Given his CV before he even made it to the world championship, that’s no surprise.
Fabio Quartararo
But progression in top-line sport, no matter how prodigious your talent, is rarely linear, and the fast Frenchman has taken a circuitous path before arriving at a place towards the top of MotoGP he always seemed destined for.
Rewind six years, and a 14-year-old Quartararo was doing things never before seen in the Spanish CEV championship, the national series that’s proven to be a springboard into Moto3 for so many of the sport’s current stars.
Quartararo and his family had their sights on the Spanish title for years – they moved from France when he was seven after he’d begun racing at age four – and with three wins from pole in the final three races of 2013, he took the title at the age of just 14 years and 218 days.
The following season, 2014, was even more impressive; nine wins and two second places from the 11 races saw him repeat as champion, a run of success that broke all records, saw him mentioned in the same breath as Marc Marquez, and demanded a re-write of the rules.
Fabio Quartararo claimed his maiden Moto3 pole position in a two-way battle with Danny Kent during Qualifying at the Circuito de Jerez in 2015
Signed to compete in the Moto3 World Championship for 2015, Quartararo had to receive special dispensation just to compete in the first round in Qatar as he wasn’t yet 16-years-old, the minimum age for the series.
One race later, in Austin, Quartararo finished a stunning second, taking his first podium eight days before his 16th birthday. His march to the top was, surely, only a matter of time.
All of which begs the question, why has it taken this long for the 20-year-old to make his way to, let alone his name in, MotoGP?
Injury, instability and circumstance conspired against Quartararo for several seasons before one standout result in 2018 set him on the path to put things right.
2015 Dutch TT Assen – Fabio Quartararo – Injury put the brakes on Quartararo’s ascension in 2015
Quartararo’s 2015 debut season, which featured two podiums and two pole positions, came to a screeching halt after a nasty spill at Misano left him with a broken ankle, while a second year in Moto3 on a KTM produced only occasional flashes, and a 13th-place championship finish, which he repeated in 2017 after moving up to Moto2 on a Kalex.
A 10th-place Moto2 championship finish in 2018 on Speed Up machinery wasn’t the stuff of headlines, but on one magical weekend at Montmelo in Spain, Quartararo reminded the world of his prodigious, yet unfulfilled, talent.
Fabio Quartararo in Moto2 in 2018
A first pole position in 50 world championship starts came on the Saturday at Catalunya, which he converted the next day for his maiden victory. The relief – and the lifting of the weight off his shoulders – was obvious.
“In 2015, a lot of people were comparing me to Marc,” he reminisced after that breakthrough victory. “That was a lot of pressure, and especially at that age I didn’t really realise. I don’t think I could take it anymore.”
Fabio Quartararo – Image AJRN
The result heralded the beginning of Fabio 2.0, the rebooted Frenchman finding new consistency as he finished inside the top 10 in all but one race for the remainder of the season.
It was then that new-found momentum combined with a smattering of luck to create an opening; the new Petronas Yamaha SRT MotoGP team for 2019 came calling in August after failed attempts to woo Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, signing Quartararo to partner 2018 MotoGP rookie Franco Morbidelli for its first season in the premier class. He wasn’t the team’s first choice, far from it, but the big opportunity on a bigger bike was all Quartararo needed.
Fabio Quartararo testing for the Petronas Yamaha SRT MotoGP team
Under the floodlights in Qatar – the same Losail International Circuit where he’d made his World Championship debut as a pimply-faced kid four years earlier – Quartararo stunned the MotoGP establishment in March this year when he qualified fifth for his top-flight debut.
Better looked set to come, and it came quickly; by round four in Spain he was on pole for the first time, and he took his first podium at Catalunya in June, qualifying on pole again and beaten only by Marquez just a week after arm pump surgery. By mid-season, he was comfortably the fastest – if not the most consistent – of the quartet of Yamaha riders on the grid, a succession of front-row starts on a 2018-spec bike leaving factory stablemates Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi in his wake.
And then came the first of what seems destined to be many head-to-head battles with Marquez at Misano, Quartararo taking the lead on lap three and staying there for 23 laps with Marquez breathing all over him before the world champion bullied his way by on the final lap.
Why has Quartararo been so fast so quickly on a MotoGP bike after a so-so career in the junior classes? It’s a combination of environment and machinery, he feels.
“To be fast in this category you don’t only need a good bike, you need a good bike and good people around you: good mechanics, a good crew chief, everyone must be a family,” he told Motorsport Magazine in July.
“Also, the Yamaha suits my riding style – it’s the bike that needs to be ridden really smoothly. I remember Jorge Lorenzo rode the Yamaha really smoothly and that’s why he won a lot of races. I think I’m quite a smooth rider, so that’s why it’s all going well.”
Far from being crestfallen with seeing a maiden victory slip through his fingers at Misano, Quartararo was thrilled to be mixing it with the modern-day master’s of MotoGP, and a rider mentioned in the same sentence as him for so long. A bold re-pass of Marquez on the final lap before the Honda rider reasserted his authority gave him belief for the future, and, for seasoned paddock observers, was something of a line in the sand.
“I’m really happy about what we did … (it’s) the best moment not only of my career, but of my life,” Quartararo said. “When you have a seven-time world champion behind you for 20 laps and he overtake you at the first corner, you overtake him back on corner four, I was so happy to have a fight with him. The good thing was I could overtake him back, and this gives me a lot of confidence, to say ‘he’s a seven-time world champion, but we can overtake him’. He’s a human like us.”
The stats would seem to suggest otherwise with Marquez, but of all the riders on the grid, perhaps it’s Quartararo who can give the Spaniard the sternest test as he attempts to re-write the sport’s records. Especially as despite Phillip Island being a fast track it is not a circuit where outright horsepower decides the victor, and the Frenchman’s smooth flowing style could be key around the back of the circuit.
Whoever emerges victorious in their head-to head battles in the years to come, the winners will be MotoGP fans the world over if Quartararo’s star continues to ascend as it has so rapidly in 2019.
A motorcycle insurance scheme where policy holders install a tracking system in their bike in return for cheap premiums as low as $A11 a month has started in Europe.
Now they have invented a telematic product called a Vigobox that sits under your seat and tracks your motorcycle.
It informs the owner via a phone app if your motorcycle has been moved and even sends an emergency call for help if it senses you have crashed.
Vigobox is installed under your bike seat when you buy their Vigo Insurance policy and comes with an online portal to track your riding.
Cheaper policy
Some may say this is the thin edge of the wedge of privacy invasion with insurance companies able to cancel your insurance if you speed or ride at night.
Others may find it a safety device that can track a stolen vehicle and also reduce your insurance premium.
The monthly costs of the insurance (with monitoring) are from €7 (about $A11) a month.
As usual, the price depends on the motorcycle brand and type.
Market chief Petra Zagmajster says Vigo Insurance has only been available in Slovenia and Croatia a few months but is valid in all parts of Europe. It has already reached 4.6% of the market share.
“Soon we’ll enter to other EU markets,” Petra says.
C-founder Rok Upelj says the motorcycle they use to test their products was stolen from a locked garage.
“In that moment we activated the police and hoped for the best, but we had no luck,” Rok says.
“Back then the vehicle wasn’t insured, because the insurance premiums were too high. We interviewed many motorcyclists, what the most important thing in owning a motorcycle was. The end result was, that safety and theft prevention come first – and that’s when the idea for VIGO was born.”
Would you install a tracker if you got cheaper motorcycle insurance? Leave your comments below.
