Established in Tokyo in 1962, Audio-Technica is world leader in high-performance microphones, headphones, wireless systems, mixers and electronic products. To meet the high demands of capturing the world’s fastest motorcycle racing Championship, Dorna has selected 265 Audio-Technica microphones, headsets and monitoring solutions including 53 track feed microphones, 76 interview and ENG camera microphones, as well as Audio-Technica System 10 2.4GHz wireless microphone solutions for 16 roving ENG cameras, ensuring incredible sound quality on- and off-track.
Whether he does or not, some big rivals will be ready to try and make it three defeats on the bounce. Last year’s winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) – the man responsible for Marquez’ loss in Austria – will be back on track on home turf after his crash out at Silverstone, and the man who took victory in the UK, Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), now has a similar string to his bow after HIS last lap defeat of Marquez. They’re also second and third in the Championship, although for Rins it’s not by much – and it’s Mugello winner Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) doing the lurking in fourth. Can he get back to the form that saw him reign supreme on his first visit to home turf in factory colours? The three seem likely candidates to join Rossi and Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) in that fight at the front.
Before the British Grand Prix, Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was beginning to look infallible. But an uncharacteristic error as he crashed out of the lead early at Silverstone left an open goal for those on the chase, and it was Augusto Fernandez (Flexbox HP 40) who scored the full 25 points for a win. What that does is shake up everything near the front, as Fernandez is now second in the Championship but equal on points with Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) in P3 and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) in P4, with each of the three now 35 points off the top. Will it be a switch of momentum at Misano or a bounce back?
Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), third overall, will have a lot of home support – as will the man just behind him in the standings, Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse). They’re both Grand Prix winners and will be pushing for the top step, keen to mix it up with Dalla Porta and Canet and try to gain back some points. And Silverstone winner Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) has now moved to within a handful of points of Antonelli, so he’s far more than an idle threat. Then there’s the likes of John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers), the latter of which is a previous winner at the venue…
Mike Di Meglio (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) is the man who leads the way before Misano, with 41 points to Bradley Smith’s (One Energy Racing) 36. But that five-point margin is only a tenth of what they’re fighting for this weekend and Smith is definitely set on taking that lead by the time the field leave the venue. Xavier Simeon (Avintia Esponsorama Racing) isn’t far off Smith either, however, with the Belgian on 29 points, and he’s been gaining form as he’s gained experience. Early leader Niki Tuuli (Ajo MotoE), meanwhile, is on 26 points after his mistake in Austria – losing big ground in one fell swoop is easy when the races are so pivotal. The top four seem likely to fight it out at Misano once again, but it’s far from set in stone.
Honda has been busy this past year filing several interesting patents including the most recent for active aero and direct injection, possibly in the Africa Twin (above).
Active aero is like those cars that deploy a rear spoiler at certain speeds, only this deploys MotoGP-style winglets.
Ducati winglets
Direct injection is widely used in diesel engines to improve efficiency and decrease emissions. Basically it squirts the fuel at high pressure directly into the combustion chamber.
These new patents join the following over the past year:
Not all of these may make it into production, but these latest two patents seem more commonsense.
Active aero
The patent drawings for Honda’s active aero system seem to show a new sportsbike with an inline-four engine.
It features winglets with servo motors that deploy at certain speeds to increase downforce.
Several MotoGP bikes, Ducati’s V4, Aprilia’s RSV4 and their upcoming RS660 all have fixed winglets.
Aprilia RS 660
Honda’s active aero idea to have winglets attached to servo motors to deploy them at high speed makes a lot of sense as the winglets are only effective at high speed anyway.
Although we wonder whether the extra weight of the servo motors and cabling will cancel out the added efficiency of the winglets.
“It was a truly great day for us, and for all of Suzuki, both in Europe and Japan. And a good day for me as well because I was able to score some points. I felt good on the bike all weekend but I wasn’t really setting any expectations for myself, I just wanted to complete a good race. In the end I got a better result than I thought I would, and I’m really happy with the 12th place finish. Alex’s win was absolutely brilliant, I’m so happy I was there to celebrate with him and the team.
It has been a difficult year so far, first with the collarbone injury and then with the arm pump. It was also difficult to get to the races in perfect condition in this first half of the season. When I finally got back to full fitness, I then injured my pelvis and collarbone – which hit me hard confidence-wise. Of this 2019 there is very little to save, apart from an incredible team, an extremely-high performing motorcycle and the awareness that I can be quick at every track. This step forward should have been accompanied by important results, which didn’t come due to some bad luck.
It has been a difficult year so far, first with the collarbone injury and then with the arm pump. It was also difficult to get to the races in perfect condition in this first half of the season. When I finally got back to full fitness, I then injured my pelvis and collarbone – which hit me hard confidence-wise. Of this 2019 there is very little to save, apart from an incredible team, an extremely-high performing motorcycle and the awareness that I can be quick at every track. This step forward should have been accompanied by important results, which didn’t come due to some bad luck.
Sam Lowes will join the Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS in 2020, which will be his sixth season in the intermediate category. Born in Lincoln (England) on September 14, 1990, the Briton arrived in the MotoGP World Championship in 2014 after being crowned World Supersport Champion in 2013 with Yamaha. After three seasons in Moto2, Lowes made the leap to MotoGP with Aprilia in 2017 before returning to the intermediate category one year later. He has raced a Kalex chassis during the 2019 campaign, which saw the introduction of the new Triumph 765cc three-cylinder motor.
