motogp Archives

MotoGP: Rossi’s Yamaha love letter up for sale!

Valentino Rossi’s Yamaha love letter is now going up for auction in an Australian online website to donate for an initiative called the “A Cure for Freyja”.

The online auction starts tomorrow on 2 August 2017 and the public has the golden opportunity to own some very rare MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 memorabilia being sold off for a good cause.

Other items such as Jonas Folger’s HJC helmet, a pair of Ohlins Racing Moto2 front fork and other great items will be auctioning off soon at www.shannons.com.au.

Valentino Rossi and his 2010 Yamaha M1 (Image source: MCN)

Remember the time when Valentino Rossi left Yamaha at the end of 2010? The nine-time MotoGP world champion got the offer to form the ultimate Italian dream team with Ducati. It was a very emotional time for the Italian and as it turns out, he’s a hopeless romantic as well especially when it comes to his beloved Yamaha M1 race machine. (more…)

HLYM launches 2017 Yamaha Y125ZR Special Limited MotoGP Edition

Hong Leong Yamaha Motor (HLYM) Malaysia has released a very unique 2017 Yamaha Y125ZR Special Limited MotoGP Edition in conjunction with this year’s Malaysian MotoGP round in October.

The Yamaha Y125ZR comes in the Movistar Yamaha colours and all new owners will receive a special limited box that includes a genuine certificate, customised T-shirt, arm sleeves and a special collectible photo card of the bike.

HLYM has set the price at RM8,846.76 (basic price with GST) and the very limited edition Y125ZR is already available in the market now.

Hong Leong Yamaha Motor (HLYM) Malaysia has launched their latest 2017 Yamaha Y125ZR Special Limited MotoGP Edition as we get closer to the Malaysian MotoGP round that’s going to be held at the Sepang International Circuit (SIC) at the end of October. (more…)

MotoGP: Alvaro Bautista will stay with Aspar for 2018 season

The 2018 MotoGP season has confirmed that Alvaro Bautista will continue racing with his current Aspar Team outfit for yet another season next year.

The 32 year old Spaniard has been consistent so far in the first half of 2017 finishing as high as fourth back in Argentina and other top 10 finishes.

Bautista will be riding the Ducati Desmosedici GP17 in the 2018 season with the team’s second rider still waiting to be confirmed.

The MotoGP Aspar Team has confirmed that their star rider Alvaro Bautista will remain with them for another season. It was yesterday when the team has extended their contract with the 32 year old Spaniard who has been quite consistent so far in this year’s 2017 season. (more…)

2017 Yamaha NVX appears in Movistar Yamaha & Monster Yamaha Tech 3 colours

During last weekend’s Malaysian Cub Prix round held at MAEPS Serdang, Hong Leong Yamaha Motors (HLYM) Malaysia proudly displayed their 2017 Yamaha NVX for the first time in public.

The grand booth was dedicated to promoting their latest scooter offering including a stunt show using the modified Yamaha NVX Challenge race scooter by their stunt rider known as Gaban.

The most interesting bikes in display were the Yamaha NVX covered in the Movistar Yamaha as well as the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 colours.

Those who are in the know regarding the Malaysian Cub Prix national race series will also be familiar with the very special ‘Mall Area’ setup for manufacturers, companies and establishments to publicly display and promote all their goods, merchandises and services. (more…)

Suter – The return of two-stroke awesomeness, now available for purchase!

Suter motorcycles are now available for purchase in North America thanks to their newly-formed partnership with Arch Motorcycles.

A variety of Suter race bikes can be bought by the public including the Suter MMX 500 MotoGP, MMX1 MotoGP, MMX2 Moto2 and MMX3 Moto3 race machines.

Arch Motorcycles will also benefit greatly from this technical partnership as Suter will assist in further bike developments and distribution of their models in the European market.

There’s no denying the fact that one of the most technologically advanced two-stroke motorcycles in the world to date is the Suter MMX 500. If you’re major two-stroke fan boys (or girls), the MMX 500 is the perfect bike to be put up as one the greatest room posters ever. But what if you want to own one of your very own? Well, now you can! (more…)

MotoGP: Marquez continues Sachsenring Domination; Folger and Pedrosa Podium

The German MotoGP round saw Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) continue his domination at Sachsenring with a textbook win from pole position.

All the attention however was placed on second place finisher, Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) who gave an impressive performance in front of his home crowd.

The MotoGP rookie gave Marquez a run for his money and even managed to lead the race before having to pull back due to tyre wear.

The master of Sachsenring Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) extended his unbeatable eighth straight win at Sachsenring halfway through the 2017 MotoGP season. This eighth straight win also marked his impressive stat of winning all these races from pole position. The win also puts Marquez ahead of the 2017 championship with a total of 129 points. (more…)

Confirmed: MotoGP and Moto3 dashboard text messages approved!

Unlike Formula 1 teams who enjoy being able to communicate with their drivers in the thick of a race (with some heated and sometimes hilarious responses from the drivers), MotoGP teams on the other have always tried to find ways to be able to better communicate with the riders.

Riders say they often miss the outboards as they concentrate on staying ahead of their rivals. And in Moto3 races where riders are often bunched up together and everyone is trying to get a tow in the slipstream, riders say it is difficult to read the plt board and stay focused at the same time.

Teams were previously given permission to place a system to tell the rider when he has been red or black-flagged, and it is already in place. But it is no secret that Race Directions and the teams want a more thorough system that lets them communicate with the rider rather than just inform him of the colour of the flag.

According to popular MotoGP website Moto Matters, they have apparently been given the go ahead. The spec ECU and the dashboard in use in MotoGP and in Moto3 is already capable in a mode called the ‘duplex mode’, where messages can be sent and received via timing loops around the track. This will allow Race Direction to send messages to one or more riders, but whether or not the rider sees the message, reads it and actually understands the message is a different thing altogether.

Apparently at the Sachsenring MotoGP race last year multiple riders missed their pit boards, therefore missed out on the perfect time to swap bikes from wet tyres to slick tyres. It was then that some riders shared some opinions on receiving messages from their team.

And so, at the recently concluded Dutch GP, the Grand Prix Commission had met to discuss some revisions to the MotoGP rules, including permitting the use of dashboard messages by the teams from 2018. The rules have been changed, and MotoGP as well as Moto3 teams will adopt the dashboard message system that lets teams and riders share more than just the colour of the flag. Moto2 will follow in 2019 when Triumph begins supplying engines and Magneti Marelli will supply the electronics. There will be no limitations or restrictions to the messages sent.

The following is the statement from the FIM:

Dashboard Displays and Messages:  It has already been confirmed that machines in the Moto3 and MotoGP class must have the dashboard facility to display text messages, linked to the current warning lights, with effect from 2018. This will also apply to the Moto2 class from 2019. The GPC have now confirmed the precise list of messages that will be sent with the warning lights by Race Direction.

Some teams already have the facility on their machine dashboards to receive text messages and, following approval from the Safety Commission, the GPC confirmed that such teams may already use this facility as a “virtual pit board”. This does not require any amendments to existing regulations.

Good-bye Panigale: Say hello to the next generation Ducati superbike, the V4!

Ducati has been making waves recently after it announced that it will be making a huge announcement coming July 7th at the Laguna Seca round of MotoGP (read what the big news is here).

There is no doubt that the time is up for the Ducati Panigale, and a replacement is right around the corner. UK based motorcycling media and all-round cool guys MCN (Motorcycle News) got their hands on these set of photos showing what could be the replacement to the Panigale.

There have been rumours flying around for awhile now that the next Ducati superbike will be powered by a V4 engine, just as the Ducati MotoGP race bike. It is no secret that the Ducati Superquaddro L-Twin has shown its limitations over the years in terms of power, efficiency and emissions. And Ducati needs to introduce something faster, gnarlier and all out better than the Panigale. A bike that does a better job at bridging the gap between race and road.

The report by MCN quoted Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali as saying, “I confirm Ducati is working on a four-cylinder engine project for a road bike,” a few months ago.

This is also huge news for the Ducati WSB team, who will also get the new V4 but not until 2019. Paulo Ciabati confirmed this, “We will race the Panigale for 2017 and 2018, so obviously we will keep developing the engine to be competitive.”

The next generation Ducati road bike will undoubtedly receive even more motorsport know how than the Panigale. Speaking about the new bike, Domenicali continued to say, “the engine development that we have made in MotoGP is exceptional – we have an engine that is very light, very reliable, and with a lot of very interesting technology. We are seriously thinking about making that available to regular customers because it is really a masterpiece of engineering – of course translated into something that can be sold at a reasonable, but premium, price – so it will not be exotic like the Desmosedici, but a more regular high-end sports bike. We would absolutely race this in WSB.”

So with that said, it is clear that the new V4 engine will be below the 1000cc mark due to WSB engine regulations, but bike makers usually create a special homologation edition. Just like the current Panigale, there could be a 1000cc V4 model carrying an R somewhere in its name. And just like the current Panigale, there will likely be two more models – a standard and probably an S model – which could be powered by a 1200cc V4 engine.

And the bike in these pictures is quite clearly a well developed test mule, and is most definitely the upcoming V4. Featuring styling that can be used both on road and on track, and quite obviously an evolution to the styling of the Panigale, and with news that the final edition Panigale is just a few days away from its global introduction, this is surely the next generation Ducati superbike.

So what is known about this bike? Well firstly it ditches the Panigale’s monocoque ‘frameless’ design for a conventional twin-spar cast frame. It is around half the size of a normal frame. Also the design of the new bike is obviously different but similar, stalkier than the Panigale but different to the Ducati race bikes, the new Ducati sports bike is a lot beefier than ever, and similar to the width of four-cylindered Japanese bikes.

The lights too are completely different and the headlamps together with the sidelights have been repositioned inside the air intake ports, apparently given away by one of the LED headlamps seen in the photo below and above. The photos also show that the rear shock has been repositioned and is now placed behind the rider’s left ankle.

We will bring you the latest on this bike as news hits the internet.

UPDATE:
Sister site to MCN, Australian based AMCN (Australian Motorcycle News) has released the rendering below of the upcoming Ducati V4 Superbike. It is not known how close it is to the real bike, but it looks pretty damn good!

Story and photo credits: MCN

Harley-Davidson wants to buy Ducati? RM7.2 billion, please!

According to latest reports, Harley-Davidson has been rumoured to make a bid to buy over Ducati from Volkswagen Group.

Volkwagen has been planning to liquidate some of their major assets including Ducati ever since the great emissions scandal back in 2015.

The biddings to purchase Ducati has been set at €1.5 billion (around RM7.2 billion) in which VW will start accepting bids from potential owners starting July.

According to a recent report made by Reuters, the latest high profile name that has been thrown in to bid over as the new owner of Ducati is none other than Harley-Davidson. Ever since Volkswagen Group has been slapped in the face with the emissions cheating drama, they’ve been looking into liquidating some of their assets and Ducati falls in that very list for sale. (more…)

MotoGP: Cal Crutchlow signs new two-year deal with HRC

Cal Crutchlow has signed a brand new MotoGP two-year contract with HRC to remain with LCR Honda for the 2018 and 2019 seasons.

The brand new deal with HRC will promote Crutchlow to factory rider status which will get full support from HRC and of course, the latest Honda RC213V machinery.

The 31 year old Brit rider has so far obtained two victories and four podium finishes and at the same time assisted the Honda factory team in developing their wild Honda race bike.

MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow has signed a new two-year agreement with HRC just a few days before the next round at the Dutch GP in Assen earlier today. The two-year extension to remain with his current LCR Honda squad will see him being promoted as a factory rider which is fully supported by Honda Racing Corporation. (more…)

Alpinestars Tech-Air wins 2017 CES Asia Top Innovation Award

Alpinestars Tech-Air has been honoured with an award for best ‘Wearables’ category in this year’s Consumer Electronics Show Asia Innovations Awards.

The motorcycle riding gear expert was the best nominee for the award in Shanghai, China last week where they came out on top for their innovative product.

There are two distinct versions of the Tech-Air™ systems; Tech-Air™ Street which was released back in 2014 and Tech-Air™ Race in 2016.

One of the pioneers of active airbag technology for motorcycle racing suits and safety gear has been awarded at the Consumer Electronics Show Asia Innovations Awards earlier this week. The award was given to Alpinestars in Shanghai, China for the best nominee in the ‘Wearable’ category for their Tech-Air™ active airbag system. (more…)

Moto3: Joan Mir will move up to Moto2 next year with EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Current Moto3 championship leader Joan Mir will move up to Moto2 in 2018 to race with the EG 0,0 Marc VDS squad.

Mir and his newly-acquired Moto2 team have signed a three-year agreement to race from 2018 to 2020 in the Moto2 category.

Joan Mir and his current Moto3 Leopard Racing team is leading the championship with three race wins and two podium finishes in the past seven rounds.

The current Moto3 championship leader Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) will get a big promotion for next year after signing an agreement to race in the Moto2 middleweight category together with the EG 0,0 Marc VDS squad for 2018. (more…)

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