Auto Club Top Onnes

New A1-Ring gets go ahead

2008-09-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz has been given the green light by the local authority to begin rebuilding the A1-Ring circuit in Austria.

The Styrian government approved plans for the new track and motorsports centre, which will be called Spielberg New and is scheduled to open in the Spring of 2010.

The new circuit will follow the layout of the A1-Ring, which held seven grands prix between 1997 and 2003, with the addition of a loop using the old Flatschach straight - part of the old Osterreichring, which hosted Formula One from 1970 to 1987.

It was originally hoped that the new circuit would be finished in time to hold a DTM round next season, but environmental protests delayed the project's approval until now.

Mateschitz is reported to be investing 70 million Euros into the facility, along with a nine million Euro subsidy from the Styrian government.

The Red Bull boss also stated that he has no intention to bring Formula One back to the circuit.

Gallery Auto Club Top Onnes

2008-09-24T11:43:00.000-07:00

Auto Club Top Onnes Gallery Cars Sport

Symonds Renault car better than Toyota's

2008-09-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Renault's director of engineering Pat Symonds believes the French team will have the upper hand over rivals Toyota in their fight for fourth place in the championship.

Renault have scored two consecutive four places in Belgium and Monza which, aided by Toyota's failure to score in those races, have allowed the former champions to be equal on points with the Japanese squad with four races left.

And Symonds reckons Renault's car is now generally stronger than Toyota's, although he admits he is expecting a very close fight in the remaining races.

"You can't get any closer than equality. Obviously, as the number of races decreases, even a constant gap becomes more difficult to deal with and so it's nice to have made up the ground we needed to so quickly," said Symonds.

"I do believe that on balance our car is better than the Toyota; it's very close and there are certainly days when they might be stronger than us and days when we are stronger than them.

"We beat them in Monza by out racing them as a team, but it's far from over and we know we are going to have a tough fight on our hands through to the end of the season."

Symonds also revealed the team will run a few new components at this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix as part of their final push for development in 2008.

"We will have the final updates for the R28 in Singapore, including a new front wing," he added.

"In previous years when we have been working on the new car in the wind tunnel, we have always hoped to see developments that we can use on the current car, but it's not the case this year because the aerodynamics for next season are so different.

"So this really is the end of the updates, other than any changes that may be made for reliability."

The Briton reckons Formula One's first night race will be a big challenge, especially for all team members, who will have to work on European times.

"I think it will have an impact on us and perhaps the biggest challenge will be managing the human performance of the team," Symonds added. "We've been working with our medical guys to make sure we are all prepared for it because travelling to the Far East is always quite hard and taxing on our bodies.

"The fact that we will be more or less operating on a European time zone will add a further dimension and confuse our body clocks even more. It's not something I'm worried about, but we need to keep it in mind as we're well aware that it's asking a lot of our mechanics and engineers.

"When we look back on Singapore, I think we will be talking mainly about how we coped with the logistical challenge."

Kawasaki hope for strong home form

2008-09-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

John Hopkins is determined to turn around his string of poor results at Motegi to give Kawasaki a strong showing on home soil.

The American hasn't bettered his fifth place finish at Motegi in 2005 in the last two seasons, but says he likes the circuit and hopes his worst luck is already behind him this season after missing three races in the middle of the year through injury.

"Motegi has never been a circuit that's been kind to me, even last year, which was my best season so far, Motegi was definitely my worst round," said Hopkins. "However, maybe this is the year we can turn it around after all of the bad luck we've had with injury."

But the Kawasaki team have a good record at Motegi following Randy de Puniet's second-place finish in last year's race.

"It's a track I actually enjoy, the fans and atmosphere are all a lot of fun, and the circuit layout is good too.

"This is Kawasaki's second home round so it would be really nice if we can do well here. It would be great to finish the final few rounds of 2008 with strong results."

Vermeulen positive for Japanese GP

2008-09-24T11:23:00.000-07:00

Chris Vermeulen feels his Rizla Suzuki team are making good progress with their new chassis and the Australian is in a positive mood for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Although neither Vermeulen nor teammate Loris Capirossi managed a good result in the previous race at Indianapolis, both men had showed strong form in the previous races.

And despite the result in the US, Vermeulen feels his team are getting stronger and stronger and he reckons the new chassis should suit the Motegi circuit.

"I had a good ride at Motegi last year despite stalling on the grid," said Vermeulen in a team preview. "I feel that every time I go out on the track I am getting faster and faster and the new chassis that we have been using for the last couple of races should certainly help us at this track.

"I am in a good state of mind going into this event and confident of a strong performance. I am just outside the top five at the moment and with the races we have left I am sure I can make a serious challenge to improve my position in the championship."

Capirossi will be also aiming for a good result at a track where he has won for the last three years.

"I have great memories from Motegi, I have won the last three races there and it will be good to go back and try to do my best again - especially now that I am riding for a Japanese factory on its home track," he said.

"We had a tough time at Indianapolis for a number of reasons, but that is now behind us and we have to make the most of the rest of the season and Motegi is a good place to start that. I can still fight with the best guys out there and that has to be my goal!"

Vermeulen and Capirossi will be joined by wild card rider Kousuke Akiyoshi this weekend

Rossi No pressure to win title in Japan

2008-09-24T11:22:00.001-07:00

Valentino Rossi says he is not putting himself under pressure to clinch the title at this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.

The Yamaha rider is 87 points ahead of Casey Stoner with just 100 points left to be won in the four races remaining.

Rossi needs to finish in fourth place at Motegi to secure the title regardless of what Stoner does.

The Italian, however, says he is is no hurry to clinch his eighth title and will approach the Japanese race as usual.

"We have had a fantastic run of race and now here we are finally, with a 'match point' for the championship, and in Motegi once again," said Rossi in a team preview.

"In 2005 I was in the same situation but I crashed and had to wait for Malaysia to win the title, and then last year we lost the championship in Japan.

"I really would like to win in Motegi, especially as it's such an important race for Yamaha and it would be a great reward for them for all of the work they have done.

"However, we cannot put too much pressure on ourselves and I will try to treat it like another normal race. We have a good margin of points, but there are still four more races so it is still not over."

Suzuki to run third bike at Motegi

2008-09-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

The Rizla Suzuki team will run a third bike in the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi for Kousuke Akiyoshi.

The team ran a third GSV-R for American Ben Spies at Indianapolis last weekend and at Laguna Seca in July, and will call on marque regular Akiyoshi for his home round.

The 33-year-old Japanese made previous MotoGP outings for Suzuki at Motegi in 2006 and 2007, and also at Jerez in 2007, with his best finish being 13th in the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix.

Elias set for Gresini return

2008-09-24T11:19:00.001-07:00

Toni Elias is set to return to the Honda Gresini team next year after deciding to leave the Alice Ducati squad.

The Spaniard looked unlikely to be offered an extension to his Alice contract mid-way through what began as a disappointing season, but podium finishes at Brno and Misano raised his stock and brought about an offer from team boss Paolo Campinoti.

Both Campinoti and factory Ducati team boss Livio Suppo were happy to retain Elias for at least another season, but he is believed to have turned down the offer in favour of a return to Honda and Gresini, the team he rode for in 2007.

"The contract with Toni stipulated that he would be automatically confirmed if he was within the top eight in the championship after Brno," Suppo told Italian magazine Motosprint. "He wasn't, but we told him that if he carried on going the way he had been, then we would have confirmed him no problem.

"On Sunday Campinoti said 'if he goes on the podium again, we'll keep him'. He was third in the race (at Misano) so it was sorted for us. But after the race he said he had other offers and in the end he decided to go elsewhere."

Gresini's commercial director Carlo Merlini would not confirm that a deal with Elias had been completed, but he did say: "I can confirm that we are in talks and we have made up our mind about next year's riders."

Stoner could undergo early surgery

2008-09-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Ducati team boss Livio Suppo has suggested world champion Casey Stoner could miss the end of the season if his wrist injury continues to hinder him.

The Australian aggravated an old wrist injury - suffered in 2003 - during the San Marino Grand Prix weekend and has been in pain while riding since then.

Suppo said Stoner is likely to undergo surgery eventually, and the Italian claimed his rider was in a lot of pain during the Indianapolis Grand Prix last weekend.

With his championship chances now gone, Suppo has not ruled out the possibility of Stoner sitting out some of the remaining four races of the season in order to have surgery and be ready for winter testing.

"Casey keeps quiet because he doesn't want to be labeled a whiner, but I can reveal that, besides the problem with the hand, he had great pains in his shoulder and ribs from Friday's crash," Suppo was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport.

"We got checked by several doctors and the common prognosis is that it's the old fracture from 2003 opening up again. Surgery would require two and a half months of convalescence.

"If the pain remains tolerable, then Stoner will complete the season, otherwise..."

Stoner is 87 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi, with just 100 available in the remaining races.

Melandri Kawasaki will suit my style

2008-09-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Marco Melandri is confident the Kawasaki bike he will race with next season will suit his riding style.

The Italian has endured a miserable year with Ducati, struggling to get the GP8 to his liking all year long.

Melandri announced he will leave Ducati at the end of the season to join Kawasaki, who have also endured a difficult year themselves.

But Melandri admits he is looking forward to the challenge and is convinced he will not have the same problems to adapt to the bike.

"It will be easier to criticise me than to agree with my decision," Melandri was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I liked Kawasaki already in 2007, and I think they have great growth potential.

"It's a bike that suits my riding style well. It will be difficult, but I know that with Kawasaki I will finally be able to work for myself, and that's something I've never done before."

He added: "I would have gone back to Fausto (Gresini) for the human relationship, but I'm convinced of this challenge at Kawasaki: if you finish third with a Honda then it's normal, but if you go quick with the Ninja then it means you've worked well."

Hayden confirmed at Ducati for 2009

2008-09-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

Ducati have confirmed 2006 MotoGP world champion Nicky Hayden will partner Casey Stoner at the team next season.

The 29-year-old American had already announced his plans to leave Repsol Honda at the end of the year, after six seasons at the Japanese team.

Hayden will replace Marco Melandri at Ducati, and he will make his debut on the Desmosedici GP9 on 27 October right at the end of the season in Valencia.

"We are really happy to have Nicky join us," said Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse CEO. "We are certain that his never-say-die attitude, riding style and character will be great additions to our team in 2009.

"I would like to thank HRC for allowing Nicky to start testing our bike immediately after the Valencia Grand Prix.

"I would also like to thank Marco Melandri for his professionalism during a difficult year, which was below all our expectations.

"Unfortunately his feeling with the Desmosedici was never good enough to allow him to ride as well as he can. We wish him all the best for the future."

Honda officially confirm Hayden's exit

2008-09-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

Nicky Hayden and Repsol Honda have officially confirmed they are parting at the end of the 2008 season.

The confirmation has been awaited for some time, but an announcement of Hayden joining Ducati is expected this week.

The move will mean that Hayden will not ride a Honda for the first time in ten seasons after winning two AMA championships and the 2006 MotoGP title with the marque.

Hayden has had a difficult past two seasons adapting to the smaller 800cc RC 212V Honda, but got onto the podium for the first time in 2008 with the bike yesterday at Indianapolis.

The 'Kentucky Kid' said: "Sure, it hasn't just been one big holiday, along the way there's been some tough days but a lot of good days too.

Winning the World Championship was by far the highlight of my career so far, plus I won a couple championships in America with Honda, the Supersport championship, the Superbike title and the Daytona 200. And I won some dirt track with Honda too: I won Springfield short track twice, the Peoria TT, in all four Grand National dirt tracks.

"Winning MotoGP rookie of the year in 2003 was quite an achievement against Bayliss, Edwards and Melandri, that was something I was pretty proud of. And of course my two MotoGP wins at Laguna were awesome experiences. I'd just like to thank everyone, and the best way to thank them is to put up some results these last few races. That's the plan."

HRC president Masumi Hamane said: "We wish to thank Nicky for all he has achieved for Honda both as a rider and a man. Nicky and Honda have shared much success and a few disappointing days but in each case Nicky has always behaved cheerfully and has led the team in a positive way. His warm-hearted character has been much loved by all who have worked with him."

Repsol Honda team manager Kazuhiko Yamano, speaking on behalf of HRC said Hayden had been "an excellent ambassador for Honda, his genuine polite and friendly personality has made him a favourite with racing people, the media and race fans wherever he goes.

"Nicky is a racer, a tough man on track and always a gentleman with whom it has been a pleasure to work. We all wish Nicky good luck and success with his new challenge he will be a fierce rival for our team in 2009."

Hayden boosted by Indy performance

2008-09-24T11:08:00.001-07:00

Nicky Hayden says he has been boosted by his performance at the Indianapolis Grand Prix, although the American claims he never doubted his abilities.

Hayden, world champion in 2006, had not climbed onto the podium since the 2007 season following a dismal 2008 campaign with Repsol Honda.

But the American fought for victory in the first Indianapolis race on Sunday, although he eventually had to settle for second place behind Valentino Rossi.

Hayden admitted the result was a big boost for his whole crew.

"It's great for my confidence, but honestly I don't doubt my skills," said Hayden. "I know it's been a tough year, as I said the other day, I came into this race having the worst season I've had in my career, although I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me because I've had it pretty good.

"It seemed like I couldn't do anything right. I was making some mistakes, and some things that went on in the team have just been tough on everybody. My team needed a boost. They deserved it, because my guys have worked really hard."

The 'Kentucky kid' took the lead of the race early on and stayed there until Rossi charged back following a shaky start from pole position.

Hayden finished nearly six seconds behind Rossi after the race was shortened due to the poor weather.

"It was never like I had a big lead, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy," Hayden added. "But it felt great to be up front and I felt comfortable there. I felt like I was in control.

"I knew it was going to be tough. I was a little bit worried that I was too soft on the tyres and might be in trouble. She started to spin a little bit early on, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

"The podium's good, but I'm greedy - I've been a world champion and I want to win. When you're leading your home GP and the laps are clicking away, I'm not thinking 'ah, be cool, let's stay on the podium', I'm thinking 'let's go for it...'"

Stoner blames tyre troubles for slump

2008-09-24T11:06:00.000-07:00

Casey Stoner said a fading rear tyre prevented him from pushing harder in the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

The reigning world champion grabbed the lead at the start but then lost pace and ultimately finished a distant fourth in the red-flagged and rain-affected race.

"I'm never going to be satisfied with fourth place but it would have been foolish to push harder in those conditions and I made the right decision not to do so," Stoner said.

"I got a good start but I quickly lost confidence because the rear tyre was tearing up quickly and by the time they stopped the race I was struggling to hold my lap times."

Team boss Livio Suppo wasn't sure why Stoner had encountered tyre problems, but was relieved that he brought the bike home fourth despite his issues.

"It was a tough race for Casey but he showed grit and determination to bring home a decent result," Suppo said.

"It may be to do with the power delivery of our engine or the set-up of the bike but the rear tyre went off quicker than expected and Casey couldn't ride on the attack, as we're used to seeing. It's a shame it wasn't a dry race because in the warm-up we saw Casey was in good shape for those conditions."

With Valentino Rossi winning the race, Stoner is now 87 points behind his title rival in the standings with only four rounds remaining.

Spies satisfied with career-best result

2008-09-24T11:04:00.000-07:00

Rizla Suzuki rider Ben Spies was satisfied with his career-best result in today's inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix, his third ever MotoGP race.

In extremely wet conditions, the new AMA Superbike champion impressed on his way to sixth place, a result that betters his previous best of eighth at Laguna Seca, the other race in which he was entered as a wild card this year.

"It was a good race today for me because my goal was to better my result at Laguna and I did that," said the 24-year-old American.

"I know that I had a fourth place bike today though because the crew had got it working great, but after ten laps I couldn't see anything through my visor and that was why I never made an attack because I had to follow the other guys around me to see where I was going - I think if I had lost them I would have got caught by everybody!

"I rode as hard as I could and ended the race with a good sixth place. I wish we could have done a bit better, but every time I'm getting on a GP bike I'm getting better results so who knows what's to come!"

Regular Suzuki race riders Chris Vermeulen and Loris Capirossi today could do no better than ninth and 16th respectively.

Dovizioso hints at works Honda deal

2008-09-24T11:01:00.000-07:00

Andrea Dovizioso has strongly hinted that he will replace Nicky Hayden in the factory Repsol Honda team next year.

The Italian, who currently rides for the satellite JiR team and has impressed throughout his rookie season in MotoGP, has been repeatedly linked with the works team in recent weeks, and is expected to be announced as Dani Pedrosa's 2009 teammate in due course.

When asked by television station Italia1 if he had signed a Repsol Honda deal, Dovizioso replied: "No, not yet, but I hope I will. You can't say what you're not allowed to..."

Hayden has had an increasingly fractious relationship with Pedrosa, and Dovizioso admitted that he is expecting similar problems when he is paired with the Spaniard.

"Yes, I think they'll try that in every way," Dovizioso replied when asked if he thought Pedrosa and manager Alberto Puig would make his life 'difficult'.

"No-one knows Pedrosa, in my opinion. He doesn't want to be known, he wants to live MotoGP in a different way compared to the others. That's the way he is.

"I don't think anything will change, but we'll see. I'd like to get to know him..."

Dovizioso led a MotoGP race for the first time today at Indianapolis, when he burst through from seventh on the grid to head the field on the opening lap, before later falling back to finish fifth. Hayden and Pedrosa took second and eighth respectively on the factory Hondas.

Tyre gamble doesn't pay off for Dovizioso

2008-09-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

Andrea Dovizioso reckons he should have been able to fight for the podium at Indianapolis today, had he not taken a gamble with his Michelin tyres.

The JiR Honda rider admitted after the race that his bike had been fitted with tyres he had not previously tried in previous sessions, and the rear was not to his satisfaction.

The Italian rookie managed to get in the lead for the first time in his career during the first lap after starting seventh, but was soon overtaken by Repsol Honda's Nicky Hayden - also on Michelins - and Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi.

He ultimately finished the race in a distant fifth place, while the other two former world champions finished second and first respectively.

"I wanted at all costs to lead at least a lap before the end of the season, so I made it," Dovizioso told Italia1 television.

"In these conditions a fifth place is fine because it was really hard, especially after ten laps when a strong wind came.

"I can't be 100 percent happy, however, because we started the race with two tyres we never tried before, we risked a lot, and unfortunately the rear wasn't going very well. At the start it was ok, but as soon as Hayden and especially Valentino started to go quick, there was nothing I could do.

"It's a shame, because I think I could have given trouble at least to Hayden. By contrast the front tyre was good, but I couldn't get into corners aggressively because I was losing grip."

Rossi glad race was stopped

2008-09-24T10:58:00.001-07:00

Race winner Valentino Rossi reckons that red-flagging the Indianapolis MotoGP event eight laps before the end was absolutely the correct decision.

The race was halted on lap 21 as increasing wind and rain made conditions too dangerous to continue.

At first there were suggestions that it would be restarted, causing leader Rossi and title rival Casey Stoner to lobby Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta to get the race result declared, and eventually the officials deemed that the results could be taken from lap 20.

"When I got in the lead I was a tad quicker in certain spots and I tried to push hard, but an incredible wind started, it began to rain a lot and you couldn't see anything anymore, on the straight there were gusts making the bike uncontrollable," Rossi told Italia1 television.

"I didn't raise my arm up because otherwise they would have said 'he raised it up because he's ahead', but every lap I was hoping to see the red flag and in the end I saw it.

"To win here is incredible. Today I've had plenty of different emotions. At one point I honestly thought we wouldn't race, because when the downpour started the track was impossible to use. I think they've been very good because they cleared all the water that was standing on the track.

"With the same conditions elsewhere we wouldn't have raced, but they had these trucks to remove the water. So from there I started finding my focus again and to prepare for the race.

"The problem then was the wind, it was incredible, inconsistent, with gusts. You couldn't go over the front straight, with beer cans, paper cups, plastic bags going over the track. It was a mess, the artificial grass was coming off."

Rossi's Indianapolis win was his fourth straight victory, and puts him 87 points ahead of Stoner in the championship. He can therefore clinch the 2008 title at Motegi in a fortnight.

"Things are very good for the championship, we have a lot of points," he said. "Today we finished in front and then we'll go to Motegi. We'll see.

"I can't remember when was the last time I won four races in a row. I'm extremely happy, I hadn't won a wet race for a very long time.

"I feel in shape, I'm riding well. We are working hard with the entire team, with Yamaha, and Bridgestone. Even though we have some problems, we always try to solve them calmly and we never give up.

"The advantage is 87 points, I need to leave Motegi with 76 ahead, so I can also finish behind Stoner there. In 2005 I could win the championship in Japan but I crashed and brought (Marco) Melandri down with me, so history isn't very positive. So we need to keep focused and try to do a good race there too, and then we'll see."

The Italian dedicated today's win to his grandfather, who passed away this weekend.

"I've just received the news that my grandfather, who was very sick, has died," Rossi said. "It's a shame, because I would have liked to show him whether I could win the title because he cared for it. But he was very sick, these things happen, he was very old. I'm happy to have a victory to dedicate to him."

Lorenzo thrilled with rain breakthrough

2008-09-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Jorge Lorenzo hailed his third place at Indianapolis as the best wet weather performance of his entire racing career.

The Fiat Yamaha rider said he had never managed to reach the podium in a wet race before.

"This is my first podium in wet conditions in all my life, so I'm so happy," said Lorenzo.

"In the Spanish championship, I never took a podium (in the wet). So for me it's a very good result."

Lorenzo added that his only regret was that the race was red-flagged before he had a chance to overtake Nicky Hayden for second place.

He had closed rapidly on the Honda rider as the rain returned in the final laps, and was putting Hayden under heavy pressure when the officials decided to halt the race due to the worsening rain and wind.

"It's not perfect, because with maybe one or two laps more I could have passed Nicky," said Lorenzo.

"He was so fast at the beginning, but with the wind and his worn tyres, he reduced his pace. Next time I hope to do better."

The result was Yamaha's second double podium in a row, as Lorenzo's championship-leading teammate Valentino Rossi clinched his fourth consecutive victory

Hayden says he had 'nothing to lose

2008-09-24T10:52:00.000-07:00

Nicky Hayden admitted that he threw caution to the wind in his home race at Indianapolis.

The former world champion charged through from fourth on the grid to take the lead early on in the very wet race, and stayed ahead until Valentino Rossi overtook him on lap 15. Factory Honda rider Hayden then resisted a strong challenge from Rossi's Yamaha teammate Jorge Lorenzo to take second place.

"I had nothing to lose here and just had to go for it," said Hayden.

"The bike felt pretty good in the wet when it wasn't heavy water, and I felt confident before the race. Up front, leading early, it's been a long time since I led a race and it felt really good coming out of the last corner and seeing nobody. I was thinking 'man, this is only supposed to happen in the movies', especially being at my home GP."

With the track drying slightly between showers in the middle of the race, Hayden felt he had taken too much out of his wet tyres by the time Rossi caught him.

"Unfortunately Valentino came through and had a little bit more speed than me," said the American. "I made a little run at him, but towards the end, when the track dried out, we used a lot of rubber off the tyre.

"When it rained again, on the edge I'd lost so much tread pattern and it went 'gnarly'. But still I pushed till the end, to the maximum, and I really left nothing on the table. I was riding as hard as I could, taking a few chances and I felt good up front."

The second place was Hayden's best result since he won at Laguna Seca in 2006, and his first podium of a difficult 2008 season, which has seen his relationship with the Repsol Honda team decline, and a foot injury sustained at the X-Games sideline him for two races.

"I really want to thank my team, my family, my fans and everybody for sticking behind me," said Hayden, who had to walk onto the podium with the aid of a stick due to his injured heel. "It's not been a really easy road lately, but that's how it goes."

Hayden is set to leave Honda at the end of the season, and should soon be confirmed as Casey Stoner's new teammate in the works Ducati squad.

Indianapolis 250cc race cancelled

2008-09-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

The Indianapolis round of the 250cc series has been cancelled due to the poor weather conditions at the American track.

The race had already been postponed three hours from its originally scheduled start as a downpour had hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the 250cc runners lined up on the grid.

The officials had hoped to run the 250cc race after the MotoGP event, but when that had to be red-flagged eight laps from the end due to the worsening wind and rain, the decision was taken to abandon the 250cc round as well.

Championship leader Marco Simoncelli had qualified on pole before the race was cancelled.

Rossi wins first ever Indy MotoGP race

2008-09-24T10:50:00.001-07:00

MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi beat crowd favourite Nicky Hayden to win the inaugural, rain-shortened Indianapolis Grand Prix.

The rain that shortened the 125cc race, and forced a rescheduling of the 250cc round, came back with 16 laps of the 28-lap MotoGP race gone, and caused the red flag to be shown on lap 22.

By then Rossi, who had a major moment with his Fiat Yamaha on lap 17 but managed to save it, had already overtaken Hayden's Repsol Honda on lap 14 and kept edging away from him, after the Kentucky rider took the lead at the end of lap two.

Rossi didn't have the best of starts from pole as he dropped to fourth, with title rival Casey Stoner taking the lead immediately with his Ducati Marlboro and followed by Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.

In the space of a few corners the JiR Honda rider, who started in seventh, overtook both men ahead, but Hayden was soon back on his tail and from the beginning of third lap he was ahead and chased by Rossi.

Rossi and Hayden exchanged fastest laps for ten consecutive laps, while the rest of the field, led by the Italian's teammate Jorge Lorenzo, dropped back. The Spaniard, however, opened up a wide gap over a fighting trio composed of Stoner, Dovizioso, and Rizla Suzuki wild card Ben Spies.

In the end, the top six positions were classified exactly in that order, which was taken at the end of lap 20.

Sylvain Guintoli finished seventh with his Alice Ducati, ahead of Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, eighth in his racing debut with Bridgestone tyres, Chris Vermeulen's Rizla Suzuki, and Alex de Angelis's Honda Gresini.

Pos  Rider             Bike           Time
1.  Valentino Rossi   Yamaha    (B)  37:20.095
2.  Nicky Hayden      Honda     (M)  +   5.972
3.  Jorge Lorenzo     Yamaha    (M)  +   7.858
4.  Casey Stoner      Ducati    (B)  +  28.162
5.  Andrea Dovizioso  Honda     (M)  +  28.824
6.  Ben Spies         Suzuki    (B)  +  29.645
7.  Sylvain Guintoli  Ducati    (B)  +  36.223
8.  Dani Pedrosa      Honda     (B)  +  37.258
9.  Chris Vermeulen   Suzuki    (B)  +  38.442
10.  Alex de Angelis   Honda     (B)  +  42.437
11.  Anthony West      Kawasaki  (B)  +  47.179
12.  Toni Elias        Ducati    (B)  +  55.962
13.  Randy de Puniet   Honda     (M)  +  57.366
14.  John Hopkins      Kawasaki  (B)  +  58.353
15.  Colin Edwards     Yamaha    (M)  +1:00.613
16.  Loris Capirossi   Suzuki    (B)  +1:05.620
17.  Shinya Nakano     Honda     (B)  +1:05.854
18.  James Toseland    Yamaha    (M)  +1:07.968
19.  Marco Melandri    Ducati    (B)  +1:21.023

De Puniet to stay on at LCR

2008-09-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Randy de Puniet is to stay with the LCR Honda team for the 2009 season.

The Frenchman joined the satellite Honda squad from Kawasaki this year, and the team have confirmed that they will take up their 2009 option on him as part of a deal that also confirms their continued customer deal with Honda.

"I think that Randy and Honda have big potential," said team boss Lucio Cecchinello. "Our aim was to continue with Randy and thanks to Honda HRC support we will co-operate together for next season as well. Besides I am happy to say that we have retained all our present team staff for our 2009 project with Randy."

De Puniet has yet to finish higher than sixth for LCR Honda, having often qualified higher only to fall in the races.

But he is confident that he can do better with the team in 2009.

"The 2009 season will be my fourth year in the MotoGP class; Honda is working hard to improve the RCV machine and the LCR team is very professional and they are like a family for me," said de Puniet.

"We have got the potential to make special results and we will do our best to achieve important goals."

A race weekend with… Jarno Trulli

2008-08-12T10:08:00.000-07:00

After 12 years as a Formula One driver, and with 192 Grand Prix starts and eight podium finishes under his belt, Toyota’s Jarno Trulli is an old pro when it comes to his race routine. We caught up with Trulli in Hungary, following Sunday's event, to find out about his time in Budapest and discover a little more about how he likes to spend his time ‘in the office’ over a race weekend…

Q: We were in Budapest this weekend, what do you associate with this circuit?
Jarno Trulli: Heat and dust. Most of the time - I only can remember one race, some years ago, when it was surprisingly cool - it is really, really hot here and the track is usually quite dusty because it isn’t used very often. That means that if you go off line you lose a lot of time. Still, it’s a track that I like and I’ve enjoyed many good races here.

Q: You don’t take to the track until Friday morning, but when do you like to fly in?
JT: For European races like Hungary I try to arrive on Thursday morning. That means I am able to spend as much time as possible with my family. Obviously for the flyaway races it is better to spend a little time in the country before to acclimatise, so I arrive a day or two earlier.

Q: Do you make an effort to discover your surroundings at a race, or do you stick to the airport-hotel-track-airport itinerary?
JT: To be honest, it’s not really possible to see much of the city when we are here in Budapest because I am so busy at the track. When I arrive on Thursday, I go directly to the track to meet with my engineers and do some media work and I am busy from that moment on. In the evening maybe I have the chance to have a meal in the city but I am here to race so I don’t like to stay up late. That means sightseeing is out of the question but this is my 12th season coming to Budapest so I have seen a decent amount of the city over the years.

Q: What’s your exercise regime over a race weekend? Does it vary according to the race location, demands of the circuit etc?
JT: I don’t do any intensive exercise during the race weekend because there isn’t the time and I am already in good shape from my training away from the track. But, depending on the circuit, I might go for a run around the track on Thursday night, or even take my rollerblades out and have a go on them.

Q: What’s your preferred accommodation at races - city hotel, hotel near the circuit, your own motorhome near the paddock?
JT: I like to have a good hotel near the circuit so the travelling time is as small as possible.

Q: Anything you have to have provided in your hotel room or any luxuries you always bring with you from home?
JT: I don’t have any fancy tastes so I’m quite an easy guest! I have everything I need so I don’t normally ask for anything special, but an internet connection helps.

Q: Do you enjoy entertaining friends and family during a race weekend?
JT: Normally my family stay at home during the race weekend because I don’t have much time to spend with them. I am always completely focused on racing when I am at the track so it’s not the best environment to bring my wife and children to. Sometimes I have friends at a Grand Prix and in that case it’s nice to spend a little bit of time with them, maybe have dinner together or whatever.

Q: Do you get the chance to go out and socialize on Friday and Saturday night?
JT: Not really, no. Often I have PR or marketing commitments, such as media dinners, that kind of thing, or I may need to stay late at the track with my engineers to study data from the car and decide what to do next. If I have the spare time, I prefer to relax, perhaps have a quiet meal but nothing too lively.

Q: Any drivers you particularly like hanging out with?
JT: For most drivers the weekend is really busy and usually we don’t stay in the same hotels, so it’s hard to spend time together. If I get the chance, I like to catch up with my old team mate Fernando Alonso.

Q: Your favourite race for nightlife?
JT: I’m not really a nightlife sort of person!

Q: What’s the best night out you’ve had at a Grand Prix? And have you ever overslept the next morning?
JT: Sometimes you do get the chance to have some fun - but only really ever after the race and as long as you’re not flying out the same evening. I’ve had some good meals out. The first place that springs to mind is the Le Latini restaurant in Montreal. And no, I’m always early for appointments so I never oversleep!

Q: What do you have for breakfast on a race Sunday?
JT: I don’t have any breakfast on a Sunday but instead I have an early lunch of pasta at around 10am.

Q: How much do you drink over a race weekend? And what?
JT: For a hot race like Hungary you have to be careful to drink a lot of fluid. My doctor provides me with a mineral drink which has everything in it that my body needs. I don’t know exactly how much but in a hot climate it is many, many litres because re-hydration is very important.

Q: How do you spend the morning on race Sunday?
JT: I try to relax as much as possible but that’s not always easy. I usually have an appearance to make at the Paddock Club or at the merchandise booth, then there’s the drivers’ parade and I also spend time with my engineers discussing the coming race. If I get the chance I also like to catch some of the GP2 race.

Q: How do you like to get to the circuit on Sunday morning? Do you drive yourself?
JT: I prefer not to drive myself so usually my manager will drive me, although at some races, like Turkey and China, we have our own driver.

Q: How do you like to spend the hour or so before the race? Any superstitions or pre-race rituals you always go through to bring you luck?
JT: I have a short sleep and then I do some stretches and get into my overalls in time to take the car to the grid 30 minutes before the race starts. I don’t have any superstitions but I generally go to the bathroom soon after I have taken the car to the grid - I find that is a good strategy!

Q: Do you have a lucky charm?
JT: No.

Q: What do you do to stay calm as you’re sat on the grid awaiting the formation lap?
JT: I have a programme of mental exercises which I do all year round with the team doctor, Dr Ceccarelli, so I am well prepared for this moment. I just try to think about what I am doing and try not to make any mistakes on the formation lap, because if you are not concentrating then you never know what can happen.

Q: How do you wind down after the race?
JT: That’s quite easy. I talk to my engineers and we discuss what happened, then after that, the race for me is finished and I don’t worry about it; my focus is on the next race. I take a shower and change into more comfortable clothes, and then I am calm. I just have a chat to my manager and any friends at the track and probably I am a bit hungry so I will eat something.

Q: If things don’t go your way and you retire early, do you prefer to get away as soon as possible, or hang out and watch the rest of the race?
JT: If that happens I stay at the track and watch the rest of the race. That way I have the chance to do a proper debrief with my engineers when the race has finished.

Exclusive - Theissen on KERS, Valencia and BMW

2008-08-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

The Hungarian Grand Prix was a race to forget for BMW Sauber. For a team that had surprised the paddock by leading the constructors’ championship earlier in the season, their Budapest performance came as a bitter blow. BMW Motorsport director Mario Theissen may not yet understand the reasons for the poor showing, but he is determined the team

will improve over the summer break. Theissen is also being kept busy with preparations for the arrival of KERS in '09 - and for a new track at the forthcoming European Grand Prix. Here he explains more…

Q: Mario, in comparison to your recent podium results, Hungary was not a great race for BMW Sauber. What happened?
Mario Theissen: Well, this race has to be seen differently. Our performance on Friday was reasonable, the performance on Saturday in qualifying was good to very good, but our performance in the race was completely different. It looked like we weren’t there, that the race went on without us. At no point did Robert (Kubica) or Nick (Heidfeld) come close to the lap times they did in qualifying. And I have to admit that I don’t know the reason yet. What we certainly will look into is the equation of car, set-up, tyres and track conditions. If you look at Robert’s qualifying time he should have been able to fight at the front but in reality, in certain phases of the race, he was the slowest car on the track. What happened in the race was completely unexpected.

Q: Robert said that even on the first lap it was bad, but during the race it went from bad to worse. How did it look to you from the pit wall?
MT: It was the same for all of us.

Q: Could it be that the Hungaroring simply isn’t BMW Sauber’s track?
MT: I would not agree with that. In the last two years we have been on the podium, so there must be another explanation behind this disappointing performance. We were not just slow, we were also inconsistent. Like at Ferrari, we also witnessed that one car was doing much better than the other. There was something out there that we did not understand.

Q: BMW Sauber has now been relegated to third place in the constructors’ championship. Do you think you can regain your second position?
MT: Based on the performance and points yield of the Budapest weekend, you’d say certainly not. But naturally we will not twiddle our thumbs, as we still have developments in the pipeline - aerodynamic as well as mechanical - and we will definitely not stop the development of the F1.08 because of one unsatisfying result.

Q: Not so long ago one of your drivers seemed to be in trouble - now it seems it is the car…
MT: Well, Nick’s qualifying was certainly not what he had expected and it was the reason why he could not score points in the race. But what we saw in the race definitely had nothing to do with the drivers.

Q: Robert was on a two-stop strategy, while Nick was one-stopping. In reality, neither made much difference…
MT: The two stops were absolutely the right strategy for Robert, whereas in Nick’s case we opted for a one stop, reasoning that if we saw a safety-car phase, he would have the chance to move closer to the front. Without a safety car, however, it was quite clear that he would not be able to score points.

Q: There were two team principal meetings last week: one in Maranello and one during the Budapest weekend, with KERS one of the main topics. Regarding its introduction next year, is it still the case that three teams are behind it 100 percent, two teams are 50-50 and five teams are against it?
MT: That is not entirely wrong.

Q: You are fully supportive of KERS and its introduction next year. Do you understand why some teams are hesitant?
MT: Yes, I can understand them. There are reasons that have to be considered. On the one hand is the safety aspect and it goes without saying that we will not run KERS unless we are sure that those problems have been solved - and I am very confident that this will be the case. On the other hand there are financial aspects. And here I can understand the viewpoint of the independent teams, as for them KERS means an additional financial burden. But I would not consider this to be an argument for manufacturer teams because the development would continue even if we postponed KERS for one year. A technical development has never got cheaper by postponing it. And there is another side to the matter, which is immensely important even though it is not openly discussed, about the competitiveness of being with or without KERS. That issue must not be underestimated.

Q: Some of the independent teams fear that KERS could be a performance differentiator. Do you share these fears?
MT: I am not sure about that because even some of the manufacturer teams rely on the same supplier, who also offers the product to the independent teams.

Q: Valencia is the next stop on the Formula One calendar. It is virgin soil for all the teams. How do you prepare for such a situation?
MT: Before looking at a new race we will have to analyze what happened this weekend. But of course we will do anything possible to analyze a totally unfamiliar track. We have a track map and we can estimate how fast it is and which aero-settings it requires, but there will be more questions marks than usual before we drive there for the first time on the Friday. I expect much more action on the track during the Friday sessions than is usually the case.

FORMULA 1 TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE 2008

2008-08-12T09:52:00.000-07:00

22 - 24 August
FORMULA 1 TELEFONICA GRAND PRIX OF EUROPE 2008

FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2008

2008-08-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

01 - 03 August
FORMULA 1 ING MAGYAR NAGYDIJ 2008

FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2008

2008-08-12T09:44:00.001-07:00

31 October - 02 November
FORMULA 1 GRANDE PREMIO DO BRASIL 2008

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2008

2008-08-12T09:38:00.000-07:00

12 - 14 September
FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO SANTANDER D'ITALIA 2008

FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX 2008

2008-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

21 - 23 March

2008 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX

FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX 2008

2008-08-12T09:18:00.000-07:00

2008 FORMULA 1 ING AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX

Stoner and Rossi argue over incidents

2008-07-21T01:12:00.000-07:00

Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner exchanged words in parc ferme over a number of incidents in Sunday's MotoGP round at Laguna Seca.
The pair battled for the lead for 24 of the 32 laps, passing and re-passing each other several times. Rossi spent the most time in front and was ahead when Stoner ran wide at the last corner and dropped his bike in the gravel.

That granted Rossi an easy run to his maiden victory at Laguna, while Stoner recovered to finish second but complained about Rossi's riding after the race.

A brief conversation in parc ferme when Rossi attempted to shake hands with Stoner was caught on the BBC's live television coverage:

Rossi: "Great race."
Stoner: "No, you can't race this way."
Rossi: "That's racing, Casey."
Stoner: "That's racing? Ok, we'll see."

Stoner explained his complaint, claiming that some of Rossi's overtaking moves crossed the line between aggressive and 'too much'.

"It was about two or three moves, I think everybody will have seen them," he told the BBC. "A couple of other moves were alright, nice and clean, but there were a couple I wasn't happy with.

"I've been in hard racing all my life, some very aggressive racing, but today was a little bit too much. I nearly went in the gravel so many times and I don't think it was necessary. I was so nearly on the floor it wasn't funny."

The Australian later expanded on his view, and also suggested that Rossi braked earlier than usual at the final corner which caused him to run wide before falling in the gravel.

"I was just trying to find a point where I could get past where I knew he wasn't going to come barreling up the inside and wipe us both out," said Stoner. "We're here to try to score points, not to end a race. Even when I ran wide in the corner I could easily have gone into the back of Valentino and both of us gone down.

"He seemed to brake a lot earlier than normal. I nearly stayed on the track and I'd completely let off the brakes just to get it round to the right of him. I'm disappointed with my mistake. I could have caught it, I suppose. He'd done it a few times in the race so I should have been expecting it, but that time I just couldn't stop quick enough. I felt like I was going to plough into the back of him so I just let the brakes off and went around."

When asked whether the outcome of the race makes him think he should be more aggressive in future, Stoner replied: "I don't know whether I should because I've had problems before. I got fined two years ago for getting slightly in the way of Dani Pedrosa on a qualifying lap. I didn't mean to but I got fined for it.

"Dani or Valentino wouldn't get fined for this, but I get fined for it. So I'm worried if I do the same display I'll have punishment put on me, so I prefer to stay away from this and ride clean, aggressive but clean. If everything's kept fair and square it's alright, but I'm wondering sometimes whether they make decisions for certain reasons.

"But, look, Valentino rode a great race and I have nothing against that, just a couple of his overtaking moves, for me, were past the point. But I spoke to him about it on the podium and we'll just get on with the next weekend."

Rossi dismissed the claims of over-aggression, telling Italia1 television: "What a great race. I'm sorry Stoner complained. I understand our fight was very aggressive, but I think he complained most of all because he ended up behind. I'm very sad that he was angry at the beginning but I think after a race like this it's normal when you arrive behind.

"I think the battle was normal, I never touched him, I never ran wide. The overtaking moves were tough but I always passed under braking, which is where I'm stronger. This is racing and every overtake was very clear for me.

"The only time he tried to pass me he touched me with the wheel on the elbow, so I should be more upset than him!"

He was also quick to deny that he braked earlier than usual at the final corner on the lap of Stoner's fall.

"No, no, no. I never make this type of thinking in my career and I become angry if he says this," said Rossi. "I'm good to overtake, not to brake before. I think he made a mistake and you need to admit when you made a mistake. I didn't brake before, for sure. I didn't even know he crashed, I saw the next lap."

Rossi added that he was genuinely quick enough to win the race and warned Stoner that he is fighting hard to win the championship.

"I was going quick and, except on the front straight where the Ducati is a bit quicker than our bike, I don't think I was slowing him down. I wanted to win, Stoner cannot think we're here to play games: we're fighting to win, this is racing.

"I've been racing for a long time and, except for these last few years, I remember races to be like this and no one ever complained. Casey is very strong, but we are fast and we are ready for the battle."

The Italian went on to describe one of the moves that Stoner wasn't happy with, where Rossi squeezed past Stoner into the Corkscrew and bounced wide over the gravel as he dropped down the hill.

"It was fun, like an old style race with some hard overtaking back to back. That move was fantastic, he braked late but I braked even later. We went a bit wide but that's a peculiar corner so it can happen. When I realised I was going on the gravel I worried a bit, but the gravel here has good grip!

"In the end, it was the most important victory this year and I think I deserved it. Anyway, he made his mistake alone.

Bayliss At The Double

2008-07-21T01:09:00.000-07:00

Series leader Troy Bayliss got back to winning ways in style as he clinched both races in today's World Superbikes round at Brno.

Bayliss had not had a win since April and had never triumphed at the Czech circuit, but the Ducati rider broke his duck with his 47th career victory in race one and then cemented his place at the top of the World Superbike standings by doing the same in race two.

Bayliss beat fellow Australian Troy Corser by 1.5 seconds in the first race of the day and enjoyed victory by even less of a margin in the second as Michel Fabrizio rode across the line less than a second behind him.

The 39-year-old extends his lead at the top of the table to 309 points, 79 ahead of second-placed Max Neukirchner who, after his heroics at Misano, could only manage seventh and fifth places.

Bayliss started in pole position but it was Max Biaggi and Corser who tussled for the lead for more than half the race, before eventually being overtaken by the experienced Australian in a spectacular move that almost ended in disaster.

Corser was attempting to wrest the lead off of Biaggi, who was looking for his ninth successive victory at Brno, but was very nearly taken out by Bayliss who was trying to overtake on the other side of the Sterilgarda rider.

But the three avoided a crash with Bayliss eventually taking the lead and clinging on for a long-awaited victory in his last race at the circuit.

It was more of the same in the second race of the day as Corser got off to a great start before Bayliss snatched the lead off his fellow Australian on lap nine.

It looked a close call whether Corser would manage to retake the lead but the Yamaha rider appeared to be suffering from grip problems and slipped away from Bayliss before being overtaken by Biaggi with two laps of the 20 to go.

Biaggi thought he had secured second spot until a fantastic late surge from Fabrizio, who had finished third in race one, saw him fly from sixth on lap 14 to very nearly claim a stunning victory.

Carlos Checa who started the weekend in third had a day to forget as he finished the first race in eighth place before his bike ground to a halt on lap 10 of the second, with the Spaniard looking to break into the top six.

Edwards Laguna livery.

2008-07-21T01:05:00.000-07:00

First picture of Colin Edwards' special US Grand Prix livery.

This is the special livery with which Tech 3 Yamaha star Colin Edwards will race in his home US Grand Prix, at Laguna Seca this afternoon.

The one-off paint scheme features the traditional Stars and Stripes of the American flag and New York's Statue of Liberty.

France gave the Statue to the United States over one hundred years ago and Edwards chose the theme in honour of his relationship with his French-based Tech 3 outfit, which he will ride for again in 2009 after signing a new contract on the eve of his home race.

The Texas Tornado will start the US GP from seventh on the grid.

Brilliant Hamilton wins in Germany

2008-07-21T00:45:00.000-07:00

Lewis Hamilton overtook Heikki Kovalainen, Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet in the closing stages to win a thrilling German Grand Prix at Hockenheim.

The British McLaren driver won his second successive race to take sole possession of the lead in the drivers' championship, four points ahead of Ferrari's Massa.

Renault's Piquet, operating a one-stop strategy, claimed his first podium finish in Formula One in second, with Massa third and Kimi Raikkonen sixth.

Despite setting a blistering pace throughout, Hamilton nearly lost the race thanks to a tactical blunder by his team.

A big crash involving Timo Glock brought the safety car out but Hamilton, who was leading, opted not to take a pit stop and as a consequence was relegated to fourth after he pitted later in the race.

However, Hamilton used his superior pace to overtake Heikki Kovalained, Massa and Piquet, all at the same hairpin, to secure a magnificent victory.

"I didn't plan on doing that. I'd have much preferred an easy, comfortable afternoon out front," he said.

"Overall it was a very, very good weekend. It's got to be the best weekend up to now," added Hamilton. "I think that we're really on top of our game right now."

Polesitter Hamilton led from pole position and immediately built a commanding advantage over Massa, while world champion Raikkonen continued to struggle with his set up and languished in the lower points positions.

The 23-year-old seemed set for a routine win before Glock's crash just after half distance changed everything.

The German's Toyota suffered suspension failure entering the start-finish straight and smashed into the pit wall. Glock was taken to hospital, although Toyota said he had no visible injuries, and his retirement prompted the safety car to come out.

While the other front-runners all pitted at the first opportunity, McLaren bizarrely decided to keep Hamilton out. Massa emerged from his stop and caught up with the safety car, just 50 metres off the leader who still had to come in.

Hamilton proved unable to build a sufficient gap and emerged from his stop in fourth behind Piquet, Massa and team-mate Kovalainen with 16 laps remaining.

The Briton proved to be a myth the claim that there is no overtaking in Formula One, streaking past all three men and taking a huge step towards a first world championship.

Hamilton moves on to 58 championship points, four clear of Massa, seven ahead of Raikkonen and 10 ahead of BMW's Robert Kubica, who was seventh.

Kubica's BMW team-mate Nick Heidfeld was fourth, while Sebastian Vettel took the final points position for Toro Rosso.

David Coulthard had to settle for 13th following a collision with Honda's Rubens Barrichello, who retired after the incident. Jenson Button was the last finisher in 17th.

Alex Chick / Eurosport

Lorenzo injured in US GP fall

2008-07-21T00:43:00.000-07:00

Jorge Lorenzo breaks two bones in his left foot after a huge opening lap highside in Sunday's US Grand Prix.

Just when MotoGP rookie Jorge Lorenzo looked to have put a spate of accidents behind him, the Spaniard suffered a huge highside on the very first lap of the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca, ending his American debut in the Turn Five gravel.

Lorenzo made a good start and was up to fourth place when the accident, similar in magnitude to his Shanghai fall, happened. It was immediately clear that the Estoril winner had injured himself, a depressing realisation for a rider who has already had to cope with two broken ankles (Shanghai) and a concussion (Catalunya) this season.

It was later confirmed that the 21-year-old Fiat Yamaha rider broke the third and fifth metatarsal bones in his left foot and - while he at least has the summer break to recuperate - still faces a race against time to be fully fit for the Czech Republic Grand Prix on August 17.

"I'm very sad today because I had a lot of confidence for the race after the qualifying session yesterday and, above all, after the very start of the race when I was fourth and feeling good," said Lorenzo, who flow home on Sunday night for further assessment in Barcelona this week. "Then I crashed; my tyre was not up to temperature, I lost the rear and the next thing I knew I was in the gravel, with pain in my foot.

"It is one more crash, one more injury and it's another moment that I have to forget as soon as possible. I need to look forward. I am so sad but now I must concentrate on the fact that I have a whole month before Brno in order to be fit and to be able to race in good shape. This is my aim," he added.

"The main problem today was the lack of grip on the rear, which was amplified at the beginning of the race when the tyres were not yet at the optimum temperature," confirmed team manager Daniele Romagnoli. "Now let's hope for a good rest for Jorge; we wish him a good recovery and we look forward to seeing him come back at Brno ready to fight again with the top riders."

Meanwhile, there was at least cause for celebration the other side of the factory Yamaha garage as team-mate Valentino Rossi took his first ever US Grand Prix victory, following a scintillating battle with Casey Stoner.

"I would like to congratulate to Valentino for his great victory and race today, he did a fantastic job," said Lorenzo.

Rossi extends lead after dramatic US win

2008-07-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

Italy's Valentino Rossi stretched his lead atop the MotoGP standings with a triumph in the US Grand Prix.

The Yamaha rider, a seven-time world champion, emerged victorious after a fierce duel with reigning world champ Casey Stoner, who finished second aboard a Ducati, with Stoner's fellow Australian Chris Vermeulen third on a Suzuki.

Britain's James Toseland on his Tech 3 Yamaha finished ninth.

Stoner, winner on the challenging, hilly Laguna Seca layout last year, had dominated all of the free practice and qualifying this week, and had won the last three races from pole position to thrust himself into the title picture.

With the victory, however, Rossi took his total atop the standings to 212 points, 25 points in front of Stoner (187).

The two riders had separated themselves from the field when the deciding moment of the race occurred at the end of the 23rd of 32 laps.

As Rossi and Stoner prepared to enter the home straight, having battled at each corner, Stoner went wide into the gravel and his attempt to push himself back with his foot saw him fall. He resumed in second place, and couldn't catch his Italian rival, finishing 13 seconds adrift.

The runner-up finish did allow the 22-year-old to take over second place in the standings.

Spain's Dani Pedrosa, who was lying second overall coming into the race, withdrew before Saturday's qualifying after his practice runs showed his broken left wrist and injured ankle - suffered in a fall in the German Grand Prix - just wouldn't allow him to compete.

Rossi's victory brought an end to Stoner's storming run of victories at Britain, the Netherlands and Germany.

The Italian, whose seven world titles include five in the premier MotoGP category, added a first career win at Laguna Seca to titles in China, France and Italy already this season.

However, it was not all good news for Yamaha, with Rossi's team-mate Jorge Lorenzo thought to have broken a bone in his foot after coming off in dramatic crash in the first lap of the race.

Unusually, the US stop includes only the premier world championship category. The 125cc and 250cc series will resume alongside the MotoGP at the Czech Grand Prix in Brno on August 17.
Seán Fay & / AFP

Alonso hints he's staying at Renault

2008-07-21T00:32:00.000-07:00

Fernando Alonso at Hockenheim dropped a big hint that he has now decided to stay put at Renault for the 2009 season.

It has been suggested for some time that the Spaniard, under contract to the French team for next year but with escape clauses, was considering moving teams.

But with Red Bull announcing its new driver line-up, and Honda likely to field an unchanged team in 2009, it appears likely that Alonso will simply stay at Renault.

It is believed that, while attractive to teams as a former champion, other teams are reluctant to give the 26-year-old a seat for next year while it is likely he will then move on to Ferrari in 2010.

To the Spanish newspaper Diario AS, Alonso said it is important Renault improves its position in the constructors' championship - currently seventh - by the end of the season.

"It is important for the budget next year," he said, referring to the bonus money provided by FOM on the basis of a team's finishing position
"I want to be with a team next year that has a good ranking from the previous season," Alonso explained, "because you don't want to be far down the pitlane, and you know they would have less budget, less space, and they are not a top team.

"So the team that I am with in 2009 will be among the top teams," he added.

Alonso admits that not being in the fight for this year's title is 'frustrating'.

Referring to qualifying at Hockenheim, he said: "My team-mate was out in the Q1 and I am fifth on the grid.

"It's a little frustrating to know that with only a slightly better car, I could be fighting for wins."

Alittle good fortune finally shines on Piquet

2008-07-21T00:29:00.000-07:00

Renault came away with its best finish of the season today as a brilliant tactical drive saw Brazilian rookie Nelson Piquet take second place in the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. Team-mate Fernando Alonso endured an eventful race coming home in 11th plac
As the race got underway, both Alonso and Piquet had difficult starts, with Alonso dropping to the tail end of the top ten after a combative first stint. Piquet was fuelled heavy for a long first stint as the team adopted a one stop strategy and pitted just after half distance, shortly before the safety car was deployed on lap 36.

The majority of the field, including Alonso, headed for the pits to make their second stops under the safety car, while Piquet remained out on track, gaining track position and rising through the field. When the race resumed, Piquet’s one stop strategy continued to play into the team’s hands as he emerged in the lead of the race in the closing stages.

In an exciting climax to the race Piquet held strong at the front, but the pace of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren proved too much as he passed the Brazilian seven laps from home. Piquet came home in second, taking his first ever podium in Formula One and scoring eight points for the team.

Nelson Piquet
“I am obviously very happy! After qualifying yesterday I was thinking that my weekend was over, but we opted for an aggressive strategy in the race and the team made some great decisions when the safety car came out. Then I had to concentrate to keep my pace up and look after my tyres as much as possible towards the end of the race. I knew that Lewis was much faster than me, so I did not want to take any pointless risks. This second place today is a great reward for the whole team.
”

Fernando Alonso
“That was a difficult race for me. I had a bad start and lost several positions. Then I was on the pace but it was difficult to recover. I think that we were simply out of luck today, but we must now look forward and concentrate on the next Grand Prix.”

Pat Symonds, Executive Director of Engineering
“Today we were lucky, but I still believe we made our own luck and our decision to go long with Nelson paid off as the safety car came out at the ideal moment! Nelson’s driving after that was impeccable. He was under pressure and did everything we asked of him. I’d like to congratulate him and hope this is the start of a better time for him. While Nelson had some luck today, it totally deserted Fernando. He had a difficult race and none of the breaks went his way, but we know Fernando always gives his best. Today’s race will make him even more determined for Hungary.”

Flavio Briatore, Managing Director
“Nelson had an amazing race. He proved to be very fast towards the end of the race and was able to remain strong under enormous pressure. He was not able to hold off Hamilton who was much faster, but he was able to defend his second place strongly. I am delighted for him and for the team who really deserve this result.”

E.A. © CAPSIS International

Strategy pays dividends for Fisichella

2008-07-21T00:18:00.001-07:00

The 2008 German Grand Prix yielded another double finish for the Force India Formula One Team, with Giancarlo Fisichella crossing the line in 14th position and Adrian Sutil in 16th.

The 67 lap race was marked by a heavy crash from Toyota's Timo Glock, which led to the deployment of the safety car on lap 36 and dictated strategy from that point on. Sutil and Fisichella had been running strongly until the safety car period, racing with eventual podium finisher Piquet, Nakajima and Barrichello. After the first round of stops Sutil was 17th and Fisichella 19th, within striking distance of the group in front, but the safety car period turned the order on its head.

Zoom

Force India will now briefly return to its HQ before a three-day test in Jerez next week from Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 July, where it will test its new quick shift gearbox.

Giancarlo Fisichella
"In the first part of the race I was not comfortable with the car as I was struggling with the grip and it was understeering and oversteering with some wheelspin, but then at the end of the run it was getting better. On the soft tyre it was a step forward. The team made a good move for me with the strategy under the safety car and I could make up some places after I pitted and the others went in. I could have finished perhaps one place higher up, but unfortunately I locked up through turn eight and lost a position, but all the same it's nice to get a finish and to be racing again.

Adrian Sutil
"I'm a bit disappointed as I think we had a good race pace but didn't ultimately get anything out of it. We lost some time on the first pit stop and then with the safety car we couldn't pit at the right moment and then couldn't catch up again so I lost 10 seconds or so. In my last stint something didn't feel right in my car, so we will have to investigate what happened, so it was not the best race, but at least we finished it."

Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer
"After a disappointing qualifying yesterday, once again we had a better race pace and performance. Obviously the strategy was dominated by the safety car and we were able to use it to gain some places. Adrian in the first part of the race had a better pace, but unfortunately the way the safety car period panned out meant he dropped behind Giancarlo but, even so, his pace was excellent throughout and he deserved more. Giancarlo struggled more with the balance but did it well to bring it home, but overall we did the best we could do with our car here today. Unfortunately Giancarlo was handed a 25 second penalty for We now we have to move on and look forward to the test next week where we will use the seamless shift gearbox and can look forward to another step in the races to come."

German Grand Prix press conference – Part I

2008-07-21T00:15:00.000-07:00

The German Grand Prix would prove to be quite an eventful affair with Lewis Hamilton rebounding from an error in terms of strategy to record the race victory while Nelson Piquet used strategy to his advantage to finish second for Renault ahead of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa. Here’s what the top three had so say after 67-laps of on track action...

Zoom

Q: Lewis, on behalf of all race fans we have to thank you for making that such an exciting race by not coming in with the safety car. You gave yourself so much work to do in the latter stages of the race.
Lewis HAMILTON: Well, thank you. I didn’t plan on doing that. I would have much preferred an easy comfortable afternoon out in front. But it didn’t work that way. We had got off to a really good start. We had two very comfortable, two very decent stints and the team opted for me to stay out. I guess they thought I could pull out a gap but it was a 23 second gap I needed and I only had seven laps or something, so I don’t know how that worked out. I kind of understood and I just kept pushing. I was over the limit, pushing and pushing trying to get the gap but I came out behind Heikki. I have to say a big thank you to Heikki, he was a great team-mate. He didn’t put up a huge fight and saw that I was quicker and enabled me to get past quicker. And so a big thank you to him. I was able to pull it off. I had good tyres. I guess it was exciting for him and it was exciting for me.

Q: I take it there was not much discussion between you and the team about the decision?
LH: Not really no. I said ‘you sure about this’ and they said ‘fine’. But we all have decisions and opinions on certain things and for sure we will learn from this one and move onto the next race.
But still we had the best car. The quickest car this weekend and we came out on top. That’s due to a lot of hard work from all the guys here. The team is fantastic, here and back home and also in Germany. They have all done a phenomenal job.

Q: And talk about those two great passes on Nelson and Felipe.
LH: With Felipe I saw that I was a lot quicker than him. I was told I was a second quicker than him at the time, so I just tried to keep up the pace. Obviously I was on the early few laps with my tyres and I knew I only had a small window to get past him before they began to grain and before they would slide around. I had to push to get as close to him as possible but the great thing about this track is that you can follow other people. Or so I found. So I was able to get quite close through the last two corners, follow him all the way down to turn two and slipstream him. But again towards the end of the straight he sort of matched my speed and I found it difficult to get past, so I just had to do it on the brakes. He gave me plenty of room. I think it was quite a good battle. It was fun. I think for Nelson, I thought my work was done but they said ‘you still have to get past Nelson.’ I was thinking ‘okay, I’ve just worked my backside off but that’s fine’. Again he put on a good battle but again it was very fair.

Anthony West

2008-06-29T07:14:00.000-07:00

Dutch courage doesn´t pay off for West
Anthony West´s attempts to push for improvement in Assen ended with a crash for the Kawasaki rider.

Riding solo after an injury to Kawasaki teammate John Hopkins, Anthony West was determined to get into the top ten. However, in trying to catch up with the group immediately in front of him, the Australian lost the front end and crashed out of the Dutch date.

Anthony West – DNF

`I got a good start to the race, although it was difficult from so far back on the grid because the first turn is quite tight. I had made up a few places when Alex de Angelis highsided in front of me and I had to almost stop the machine to avoid hitting him. The bike was feeling good and in the next few laps I managed to pass a few people into 11th place. I was sure I could catch the group ahead of me and be well within the top ten, but we were lapping at a similar pace and with the incident at the start, I had to push just that little bit harder. Unfortunately I lost the front of the bike and crashed out, which is a real disappointment because we were quite strong today. The new engine upgrades have made a difference and we still have more grip than previously, despite struggling a little bit in places with cornering. We just need some luck on our side and, hopefully, we'll be fighting for good positions next time out at Sachsenring.´

Valentino Rossi

2008-06-29T07:04:00.000-07:00

Rossi´s Assen post-mortem: `I made a mistake´
Valentino Rossi was left bitterly disappointed after a first lap crash in the A-Style TT Assen

Valentino Rossi, for all his undoubted talents, has never been the best of starters in MotoGP races. Identifying this as an area for improvement, and with the prospect of Assen poleman Casey Stoner making a breakaway at the head of the race, the Fiat Yamaha rider was going all-out in the Netherlands.

Unfortunately for the five-time World Champion, the gamble didn´t quite pay off, as on the opening lap he came unstuck due to a combination of over-exuberance a cold tyre and the tricky first left hander of the race.

`Unfortunately I made a mistake on the first lap, on the first left corner,´ admitted Rossi frankly after the A-Style TT Assen. `I went in too fast with a cold tyre and lost the rear.´

The Italian remounted his M1 and fought his way back to eleventh place after overtaking Marco Melandri and Toni Elias, but the rider taken out in his first lap fall was unable to do so. Rossi extended his apologies to LCR Honda´s Randy de Puniet, holding up his hand for the collision between the two.

`I took De Puniet with me when I crashed, so I have to say sorry to him. It was a bad mistake, because today we improved the setting of the bike and had great pace, and could even have challenged for the win,´ lamented the rider, having conceded the lead in the World Championship to Dani Pedrosa.

`It was an important mistake for the championship, but we are on the pace, we are fast and the championship is very long. One mistake in a year is possible after seven races on the podium

Toni Elias

2008-06-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

Tough morning for Toni

As otolive.blogspot.com follows home rider Toni Elias on day one at the Catalunya circuit the Alice Team man runs into problems in the opening free practice session.

The first session of the Gran Premio Cinzano de Catalunya weekend sees Toni Elias find the going tough as he crashes early in the practice run. Nonetheless he still has time for a quick word with motogp.com and looks forward to improving the situation on Friday afternoon.

Alex de Angelis

2008-06-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

Best and worst for San Carlo Honda Gresini in Assen
Shinya Nakano´s best result of the year was evened out by an early crash for Alex de Angelis.

A best start of the season for Shinya Nakano enabled the San Carlo Honda Gresini rider to collect his best race finish of the year in Assen, whilst teammate Alex de Angelis had a rather different first lap. He crashed out and was unable to remount.
Shinya Nakano – Eighth

`I´ve finished ninth for the last three races and our objective today was to improve on that! Eighth place isn´t a fantastic result but the most positive thing about this race was the start. I got away really well and managed to get straight into a good pace. Unfortunately after a few laps my rhythm dropped off and I lost positions, from fourth back to seventh. I would have liked to finish higher but I´m still happy because eighth isn't bad and I think we´ve taken a step forward today.´

Alex de Angelis – DNF

`I started quite well but Valentino and De Puniet crashed in front of me coming onto the back straight and I had to slam the brakes on, allowing a couple of riders past. In the next corner I´d barely opened the throttle when the bike lost grip and threw me into the air. It was probably the tyre that wasn´t up to temperature and I just lost control, the rear came around and I crashed. Luckily I´m not hurt and I´m looking forward to the next race´

Loris Capirossi

2008-06-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

OnBoard with Capirossi at Mugello
A guided tour of the Mugello circuit with Loris Capirossi.

The first Italian premier class racewinner at Mugello, Rizla Suzuki´s Loris Capirossi gives an OnBoard guide to his famous home circuit. The veteran was most recently on the Mugello podium in 2006, and will be making his 18th Grand Prix appearance at the track this weekend.

FIA Buka Pintu F2

2008-06-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

PARIS Federasi Otomotif Internasional (FIA) berencana menghidupkan kembali ajang balap Formula Two (F2) tahun depan. FIA merasa F2 bisa dipakai sebagai batu loncatan pembalap berbakat, sebelum berkecimpung di Formula One (F1).
FIA mengeluarkan pernyataan resmi tersebut, Kamis (26/6/2008), menyusul pertemuan Komite Dunia FIA di Paris. Lebih lanjut, badan tertinggi otomotif dunia itu juga mengundang calon investor untuk melakukan penawaran pendanaan F2.

"FIA akan menundang penawaran� untuk seri pengumpan F1. Kejuaraan ini, yang disebut F2, bisa diluncurkan 2009 dan digunakan sebagai acuan pengembangan pembalap berbakat untuk berlaga di F1. Diharapkan rencana ini bisa digapai dengan anggaran sebesar 200.000 Euro per mobil setiap musimnya," demikian isi pernyataan FIA yang dikutip Eurosport, Kamis (26/6/2008).
Bagaimana FIA menetapkan nilai 200.000 Euro masih perlu ditelaah lebih jauh. Yang pasti, FIA berupaya menekan biaya. Seri GP 2 dan F3 yang selama ini menjadi ajang pemantapan pembalap, dirasa FIA terlalu memakan dana.
Namun, uang senilai 200.000 Euro yang ditetapkan FIA, bagi sebagian pelaku otomotif dirasa kurang realistis.
"Saya tidak habis pikir, mobil apa yang mereka harapkan bisa jalan dengan 200.000 Euro. Di Eropa banyak orang menghabiskan uang senilai itu hanya untuk berlaga di balap gokart," ujar salah seorang bos GP2

Pedrosa Kecewa

2008-06-29T06:01:00.000-07:00

Dani Pedrosa cukup puas dengan posisi finis kedua yang diraihnya di GP Belanda kemarin. Cuma jarak finis dengan juara pertama Casey Stoner saja lah yang disesalinya.

Pembalap Repsol Honda itu menyesal, karena sebenarnya dia sempat memimpin di awal-awal balap. Namun, mesin Hondanya tak kuasa menahan laju motor GP8 Ducati Stoner, yang dengan gagah perkasa tiba di garis finis dengan keunggulan 11.3 detik atas Pedrosa.

Defisit kekalahan di atas 10 detik dari Stoner, terang saja membuat Pedrosa gamang.
"Saya sedikit kecewa karena tertinggal sangat jauh dari Casey. Saya bahkan tidak bisa melihatnya di akhir balap, jadi dia benar-benar cepat," ujar Pedrosa kepada BBC dan dilansir Autosport, Minggu (29/6/2008).

Walau kalah telak, pembalap asal Spanyol itu masih bisa mensyukuri hasil finis kedua yang didapatnya di Sirkuit Assen. Berkat podium kedua GP Belanda, Pedrosa mampu menyalip posisi pimpinan klasemen dari The Doctor Valentino Rossi.

San Carlo Honda Gresini

2008-06-29T05:56:00.000-07:00

Nakano and Aoyama anticipate challenges on familiar ground

Former Barcelona resident Shinya Nakano is back in the Catalan capital for this weekend´s Catalunya race, which is on home turf for his 250cc compatriot Hiroshi Aoyama who still lives locally.

Dovizioso pinpoints start as crucial to Assen

2008-06-29T05:45:00.000-07:00

Dovizioso pinpoints start as crucial to Assen prospects
JiR Team Scot rider qualifies eleventh on the grid after front end problems in Assen.

Andrea Dovizioso is targeting a top five spot in the Netherlands after qualifying on the fourth row, although he has identified a good start as the key to his chances.

Andrea Dovizioso - Eleventh

`Tomorrow I think I can battle for the fourth or fifth position. Although I will have to make a good start, not make any errors and get to the first corner in a good position, because in the first part of the circuit it´s difficult to overtake! Many other riders are able to run a race-pace near to mine, and I believe that I can still improve a few things during the warm-up session tomorrow. A consistent lap time of around 1m 37.5s is what I'm aiming for, and with this in mind I think we can be in the top five. It seems that I cannot improve my performance on the qualifying tyres, because I do not have the confidence with the front tyre that I need and also a little vibration also disturbed my pace. We still have to do some development on the setting of the suspension before the race, to get it to work a little better during the fast corners on the track, where you really need to have good support from the front tyre.

Sturla hangs on to Red Bull MotoGP

2008-06-29T05:35:00.000-07:00

Sturla hangs on to Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup pole in the wind
Sturla Fagerhaug planted a metaphorical flag on the head of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup in Assen, despite battling with blustery conditions.

In blustery conditions few improved their lap times in the final 30 minute qualifying session so Sturla Fagerhaug, Luis Salom, Daniel Kartheininger and Daijiro Hiura remain the front row for Saturday´s Dutch round of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup.

Lying second in the Cup standings, JD Beach did better his time but the sixteen year old American was still frustrated to be in 7th place, less than 1.2 seconds off pole. `It just isn´t really coming to me like it did earlier in the season. Then at the end I was on a pretty good lap and the engine cut out. Tomorrow I´ve just got to get away with the guys at the start and make a race of it.´

Beach was bettered in lap time by Donington winner Miguel Oliveira who took 6th with a time less than a second slower than Fagerhaug's pole time from Thursday. `I enjoyed that,´ said the thirteen year old Portuguese. `It's a difficult track and I think that 6th is not bad for the first time here. I want to get away with the leaders and race with them. Then in the last few laps I will do everything I can.´

Cup leader Salom was typically smiling, yet saying he was unhappy to be second. `I´m not on pole, so I shouldn´t be happy. On my fast lap a couple of guys got in the way. The race is tomorrow though and I feel good about that,´ said the 16 year old Spaniard who leads Beach by 9 points with 6 of the 10 races already run.

Salom won last year´s race at Assen after a six man battle for the lead that lasted almost the entire difference and this time it is likely to be a similar event. Pole man Fagerhaug is looking for his 1st victory. `I didn´t improve my lap time in that session because early on everyone seemed to want to follow me as they did yesterday. Then towards the end I did some pretty good laps even though the tyre was well worn so I´m pretty happy,´ concluded the 16 year old Norwegian.

Randy de Puniet in action in Assen

2008-06-29T05:26:00.000-07:00

Randy de Puniet in action in Assen (MotoGP)

Kemenangan Casey Stoner dan kegagalan pembalap Yamaha Valentino Rossi di Sirkuit Assen Belanda, diyakini Ducati sebagai awal kebangkitan pabrikan motor asal Italia itu.

Harley Road Glide

2008-06-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

2004 Road Glide - FLTRI
Hard to find concord purple colors, hooker sup-on exhaust, air cleaner upgr..
$14,995.00
Color : Concord Purple
Bags : Yes
Engine Displacement: 88ci
Wheels : Cast
Transmission : 5 Speed
Condition: Very Good
Mileage: 25318

Harley Electra Glidem

2008-06-26T21:26:00.000-07:00

2005 Electra Glidem, Classic - FLHTCI
This is a nice Electra Glide with slip on performance pipes, hi-flow air fi..
$17,995.00

Color : Sierra Red
Bags : Yes
Engine Displacement : 88ci
Wheels : Cast
Transmission : 5 Speed
Condition : Very Good
Mileage: 41097

Harley Ultra Classic - FLHTCU

2008-06-26T21:20:00.000-07:00

2002 Electra Glide Ultra Classic - FLHTCU
Price: $16,995.00
Color: Blue / Silver
Seat : Stock
Bags : Yes
Engine Displacement: 88ci
Wheels : Cast
Transmission : 5 Speed
Condition : Very Good
Mileage : 66303
With custom pin striping, chrome luggage rack, so many extras a must see!!..

Yamaha Team Type R6

2008-06-24T06:05:00.000-07:00

Motor Bike Team Yamaha R6 2008

Type Liquid Silver

Type Cadmium Yellow w/Flames

Team Yamaha Blue/White

Team Motor Bike Raven

Motorbike racing collection

2008-06-21T04:03:00.000-07:00

Motor Cycle Kawasaki

2008-06-08T15:29:00.000-07:00

Kawasaki ZX10R New Sexiness New

2008 ZX10R New Sexiness
2005 ZX6R RIP 4/25/08

Anyone have a handlebar weight for 06 gix 600?

2008-06-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

Motor Cycle Ducati unveils GP8

2008-06-08T15:22:00.000-07:00

Motor Ducati unveils GP8

Ducati Monster

2008-06-08T15:18:00.000-07:00

Cycles Motor Ducati Monster
Notice Tank Decal, and umm, full fairings... THe fairings are only a mock-up for another Flight Cycle customer, but I thought I'd share with OC moto....

(BEFORE)

Motor Cycle TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE

2008-06-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

2008 TRIUMPH STREET TRIPLE
HEY GUYS, HOW ARE YOU DOING? FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WERE INTERESTED IN THE NEW STREET TRIPLE....JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE GOT ONE IN BY SURPRISE. . YEAH WE WERENT EXPEXTING IT, BUT IT CAME. SO WE ARE INTRODUCING IT FRIDAY @ 6 :30PM FREE PIZZA AND SODA .IF UR INTERESTED IN SEEING IT. LET ME KNOW or EMAIL US.

Yamaha Tesseract concept

2008-06-08T15:10:00.000-07:00

Motor CyYamaha Tesseract concept

And it's a hybrid!

Looks like it may use a similar technology to those piaggio scooters with the two front wheel steering.

Honda CBR 1000RR White Fireblade

2008-06-08T14:49:00.000-07:00

Motor CBR 1000RR White Fireblade

2006 Honda CBR 1000RR White Fireblade

Scott Speed Earns SIM Factory Pole Award

2008-06-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

Speed Earns SIM Factory Pole Award for the Pocono 200

LONG POND PA (6-6-08)—Charter planes, helicopters and rental cars have become familiar territory for Scott Speed, especially this weekend as the ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie plans to pull double duty by competing in both the Pocono 200 ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Pocono Raceway and the Sam’s Town 400k NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. He’s off to a pretty good start.

Speed qualified Eddie Sharp Racing’s No. 2 Red Bull Toyota on the pole during Friday afternoon’s ARCA RE/MAX Series SIM Factory qualifying session at Pocono, posting a 167.094 mph (53.862 seconds) lap around the 2.5-mile triangle. He will start alongside Justin Allgaier for Saturday’s Pocono 200 ARCA RE/MAX Series race, which is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and airs on SPEED at 10 p.m. Eastern Saturday.

"I'm really happy with the pole," said Speed. "We knew we were bringing a good car. We were tight throughout most of practice today but Patty Patrick Donahue, crew chief]and the team made a bunch of adjustments that put us on the top of the practice chart for our mock run. We knew we had a good car for qualifying. When I went out for the qualifying lap the track was definitely slick with the sun out. Honestly, I just held on and hoped it wouldn't get away from me. We have a busy day. We're leaving from here (Pocono Media Center) to go catch a plane to Texas."

"The switch from trucks to cars where we doubled up last time (Kansas Speedway) was challenging because it was the same track on the same day. And to get out of the ARCA car that was not flat around the corner and to get in the truck that you need to run flat. This shouldn't be a problem tonight. Two totaly different tracks. The car should be really good tomorrow for the race. Tonight we'll go start at the back of the pack (for the truck race) and we'll see what we can do there."

Speed and Allgaier will lead off an ARCA RE/MAX Series starting grid that includes Shelby Township, Michigan’s Robb Brent in the No. 00 Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Chevrolet and current ARCA RE/MAX Series point leader Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the No. 99 Con-Way Freight Ford, who start third and fourth, respectively. Justin Lofton starts fifth, followed by John Wes Townley, Tayler Malsam, Matt Carter and Jesse Smith.

18-year old Chase Mattioli of Long Pondbecame thefirst memebr of his famous family to start a race on the 2.5-mile tri oval. He will start his Liquid Fence/WHUR-Haines & Kibblehouse Chevy from postion 21 in the Pocono ARCA 200. The grandson of Pocono CEO Dr. Joe Mattioli qualified with arespectable speed of 159.866.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series heads into Saturday’s Pocono 200 on the strength of a competitive season in which there have been no repeat winners and five first time series winners in eight of 21 races. The race will mark the ARCA RE/MAX Series’ 47th appearance to the 2.5-mile triangle since 1983.

Tickets for the ARCA RE/MAX Series Pocono 200, the NASCAR Sprint Cups Series event and the entire 2008 Pocono Raceway season are available by contacting the Pocono Raceway Ticket Office at 1-800-RACEWAY (1-800-722-3929)

Ferrari 599GTB Fiorano

2008-06-08T05:10:00.000-07:00

Car Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano - Specs 2006

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 2-passenger, 2-door coupe

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE: $250,000

ENGINE TYPE: DOHC 48-valve V-12, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 366 cu in, 5999cc
Power (SAE net): 611 bhp @ 7600 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 448 lb-ft @ 5600 rpm

TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed manual, 6-speed manual with automated shifting and clutch

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.3 in Length: 183.7 in Width: 77.2 in Height: 52.6 in
Curb weight: 3750 lb

PERFORMANCE RATINGS (MFR'S EST):
Zero to 62 mph: 3.7 sec
Zero to 124 mph: 11.0 sec
Top speed (drag limited): 205 mph

PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (MFR'S EST):
European combined: 11 mpg

Formula Ones

2008-06-04T04:22:00.000-07:00

As outside observers of the NASCAR racing scene, we guess a lot. We watch and read and mostly put our own spin on what we have watched and read. But we don't know what's going on for the most part. You can get closer to the truth by talking and listening to others who are nearer to the action but rarely will you get the real, whole truth.

Scene Daily has this headline on one of it's posts today:

Junior not sure how he'll fit in with teammates

It's another attempt by those that cover the sport to find the "Kumbaya" moments in the story of a racecar driver. Here's the lead in;

Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't expect too many big bonding sessions between him and his new Hendrick Motorsports teammates, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears.
My favorite racing film is the John Frankenheimer directed Grand Prix that came out in 1966. The movie is based upon the Robert Daley book, The Cruel Sport. The sub-title of the book is Grand Prix racing 1959-1957 and it is Daley's chronicle in words and pictures of those seasons from a very up close perspective. It is a fascinating read and I don't feel qualified to write a proper review. If you have any interest in auto racing and the people who drive the cars, read it.

One of Daley's many profiles is of America's first World Champion, Phil Hill. Hill is portrayed as "a gentle man in a profession devoid of gentleness." But when asked why he was not very friendly with other drivers he says:

"How can you be friends with a racing driver? You try to beat them all day on the circuit, and then at night you're supposed to forget all that? I think all racing drivers secretly hate each other anyway."

I believe that attitude is probably closer to reality than any notion of real closeness among teammates. People seemed shocked that, during his last seasons with Penske, Rusty Wallace couldn't seem to get along with Ryan Newman. Rusty was a guest ON PIT ROW last week. I wish I had asked him the same question that Daley asked Hill.

Track Position is Sprint Cup's

2008-06-04T03:44:00.000-07:00

Position Track is Sprint Cup's Trump Card
So how does a "Top-5" car run in the middle of the pack for nearly an entire race?

Just ask Jeff Gordon.

Following last Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway , Gordon found himself with a fourth-place finish in NASCAR's longest event after stretching his fuel mileage late in the race. That finish, though, wasn't an accurate picture of Gordon's night at LMS.

According to NASCAR's loop data, Gordon had an average running position throughout the race of 19th. Winner Kasey Kahne however averaged a 5th-place effort.

In years past, statistics like that and Gordon pulling out a fourth-place finish would be indicative of a car that just wasn't performing throughout the event, but that simply wasn't true. Instead, what kept Gordon -- and plenty of other drivers -- from moving through the field was his track position.

"...When we got up front there and got our lap back, I thought hey, you know, we've got a pretty decent car. We just need track position," said Gordon after the race. "Once we got our lap back, we were back in the back again and there were cars all over the place."

"You just can't go anywhere and you can't pass anybody."

As a race fan, I'm not particularly fond of a driver saying "you can't pass anybody"

"Monster" No Match

2008-06-04T03:34:00.000-07:00

Busch at Dover "Monster" No Match

Kyle Busch should be sponsored by a lawn mowing company, because he is simply mowing down the NASCAR world.

Crappy one-liners aside, Busch took his fourth Sprint Cup series win of 2008 after flat dominating the field during the last half of the race in Sunday's Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway.

It also tallied as his 10th overall among NASCAR's top three divisions this season

FanHouse Warmup

2008-06-04T03:28:00.000-07:00

Best Buy 400 FanHouse Warmup
The Warmup makes a triumphant return after two weeks on the bench...

What: Best Buy 400 benefiting Student Clubs for Autism Speaks
Where: Dover International Raceway , Dover, Delaware.
When: Sunday, June 1 (Green Flag: 2:00pm/et TV Coverage: 1:30pm/et)
Distance: 400 laps, 400 miles
Weather: 20% Chance of Isolated showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 83.
2007 Winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Predictions: Keep Reading

Top Weekend Stories from Dover international Raceway

Kyle Busch is Still Kyle Busch
Greg Biffle Starts on Pole for 2nd time in 2008
Scott Speed is Now a Winner in NASCAR
Haas-CNC Slapped Huge Penalities

Little Bit of 'Dis, Little Bit of 'Dat from Dover

Autism Speaks - For the second-straight year, the spring Sprint Cup race at Dover has partnered with Autism Speaks as a way to promote the organization's cause. For more about the program, check out the Autism Speaks web site.

Large Concrete Monster

2008-06-04T03:24:00.000-07:00

Concrete Monster Complete at Dover

Yes, Dover International Raceway has a new guest on its property for this weekend's NASCAR events at the speedway.

The monster, named "Miles", has come to shape over the past few months as the 1-mile speedway has renovated its main entry way. Unveiled for the first time on May 14, the 46-foot tall beast is officially called the "Monster Monument at Victory Plaza, presented by AAA."

The base of the monster lists all of the drivers that have won at Dover in the history of the track.

I think we can chalk this one up to the "If you've got the money..." scenario. It won't make me want to buy tickets to the track, but if I had a 5-year old kid, he might get a kick out of it.

Racing Wednesday Not Good for Haas

2008-06-04T03:18:00.000-07:00

CNC Racing
They probably knew it was coming, but probably not to this extent.

Haas-CNC Racing , which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup cars No. 66 and No. 77, had more than just a book thrown at them Wednesday as NASCAR levied the penalties for rear-wing mount infractions stemming from last weekend's race at Lowe's Motor Speedway .

The penalties, for both teams, included:

150 Driver points from Johnny Sauter and Scott Riggs
150 Owner points from the No. 66 and No. 70
Six week suspensions from Sprint Cup Series racing for both crew chiefs and car chiefs
$100,000 fine for crew chiefs "Bootie" Barker and Dave Skog, each
Both race cars will not be returned after NASCAR confiscated them Friday at LMS

I think you can call that getting the entire library thrown at you.

In all, having rear-wing brackets that weren't correct -- Barker maintains he's used them all season -- just cost the team roughly a three-quarters of a million dollars.

I understand NASCAR's desire to clean up the sport and prevent teams from skirting the rules, but costing a team $750,000 seems a little overwhelming, considering the stats the Haas-CNC teams have put together in 2008.

Trapster exposes speed

2008-06-04T03:08:00.000-07:00

Trapster exposes speed traps on your mobile device

"Your mobile phone alerts you as you approach speed traps." That's the idea behind Trapster , an innovative service that uses technology, not the age-old flashing headlamps approach, to notify other drivers of a police speed trap. Motorists who come across an enforced speed zone are encouraged to report the location via an application running on their cell phone, PDA, and other types of devices. The notification is then broadcast to other Trapster members who receive audio or text message warnings as they approach the area.

There are four default alerts: police, speed camera, red light camera, and usual hiding place. Each is displayed in a color that alters from green to yellow to red, based on the "confidence" of the trap (more reports on a single trap increase the confidence). In a helpful move, known traps can be viewed on a Google-powered map on the Trapster web site before you leave the house or office and jump behind the wheel.

According to the inventors, Trapster works with any kind of phone. However, it is optimized with devices that support GPS or WiFi. While you'd think law enforcement would oppose the exposure of their speed traps, it hasn't been met with much resistance, as it actually encourages motorists to slow down. Unfortunately, as others point out, it also requires drivers to take their eyes off the road as they fumble to send alerts with their electronic devices.

Gasoline theft in Hawaii on the rise

2008-06-04T02:58:00.000-07:00

Gasoline theft in

With the cost of gasoline skyrocketing, thieves in Hawaii -- where the average price easily exceeds $4 per gallon -- have taken extraordinary measures to steal fuel. Only mildly deterred by locking gas caps, bandits have been cutting fuel lines to circumvent the common preventatives. With nothing more than a straight edge blade, a piece of garden hose, and a bucket, the lawless make easy work of the plastic fuel lines under cars as they cut them to gain simple access to the tank and its flammable yet valuable liquid contents.

So far, most of the victims have been businesses or commercial ventures with several large trucks in their fleet. Parked unattended in lots overnight, their 20-30 gallon fuel tanks and raised ride height make them easy targets with larger yields than the average passenger vehicle. To deter the theft, business owners have installed sophisticated video surveillance cameras on their property and outfitted some vehicles with steel gas lines. "If they're crazy enough to go cut a steel line to steal the gas, they should be welcome to it," says George Nitta, owner of Nitta Auto Repair. "All they need is one spark from that saw and that's it, you're done." Thanks for the tip, catgirlshyla!

Cost of vehicle maintenance is escalading

2008-06-04T02:53:00.000-07:00

Maintenance is escalading

The pains many automobile owners are feeling at their local service station isn't just at the pump -- prices for general maintenance is also increasing. Petroleum based products, such as oil and tires, are heading north with the price of gasoline. Demand for steel has also pushed up prices on various automotive parts. That means consumers are seeing larger bills from their auto repair specialists, even when their exhaust doesn't require three people to install. Instead, many are choosing to squeeze pennies and skimp on elaborate repairs in order to stay on the road. AAA says in 2008 the average vehicle owner will spend $8,121 to operate their automobile. That is up nearly $300 from last year. The only ease in operational expenses could come from the insurance industry. As costs increase, people drive less and less, which should subsequently lead to fewer accidents and lower premiums.

Nearly 100 cars sink in Daytona Beach sand

2008-06-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

Cars sink in Daytona Beach sand Nearly 100
Those of us who live in the Snow Belt know what it's like to have Mother Nature not let go of your vehicle. There's just no dislodging a car under its own power when the tires dig in and make ruts in the white stuff. Although snow isn't a problem for drivers in Florida, the sands at Daytona Beach are causing headaches for a large number of Floridians. On Sunday, there were nearly 100 vehicles stuck on the beach, and officers suggest that these conditions will not be improving any time soon. According to Daytona Beach patrol Captain Tim Cunningham, "I have not seen it this bad in my lifetime. Right now, the sand is like powder. It is just months and months of no rain." The worst time to drive on the beach is just before high tide. We don't imagine that you want your car stuck in the sand with high tide approaching. With this in mind, may we politely suggest parking a bit further away and walking? Thanks for the tip, everyone!

Yamaha branded Deus Ex Machina

2008-06-04T02:24:00.000-07:00

Machina concept shatters convention Yamaha branded Deus Ex

Click on the image to see more renderings of the Deus Ex Machina concept

If somebody asked us what an environmentally-friendly motorcycle of the future would look like, our best answer would be nowhere near as awesome as what Jake Loniak, a student at Art Center Pasadena , came up with. Perhaps that's why we are just bloggers who write about cool stuff instead of the actual designers. Called Deus Ex Machina, which means God Out of a Machine, the vehicle is a blend between a motorcycle and an exoskeleton.

Featuring seven artificial vertebrae, thirty-six pneumatic muscles and a head of its own, the Yamaha-branded concept looks like something out a child's worst nightmare. As speed increases, though, the two front wheels move outward, forcing the rider into a proper forward lean which resembles a current motorcycle stance more closely. In-wheel electric motors get their juice from a hybrid power pack made from Doped NanoPhosphate batteries and ultracapacitors. The designer believes that the machine could accelerate to sixty in three seconds and reach a top speed of seventy-five miles per hour. Sure, we're not likely to see anything like this in production in the near future, but it sure is cool to look at.

GG Quadster

2008-06-04T01:55:00.000-07:00

Impending doom on four wheels

click above for high-res gallery of the GG Quadster

We took a look at the original GG Quad a little while back and poked fun at its piddly 106-mph top speed, which is primarily due to its mild-mannered 85-horsepower air-cooled boxer engine that displaces 1150cc. Consider that small problem resolved . The new GG Quadster utilizes Bavaria's latest liquid-cooled inline four-cylinder engine, which displaces just a bit more at 1200cc but offers a heck of a lot more grunt: 167 horses to be exact. Yep, that's just about double the ponies, and it has the desired effect on the quad; 0 to 60 drops from about five seconds to just three and a half. With its super-fat rubber, six-speed sequential gearbox and reverse gear, this latest version of the quad-of-death should offer plenty of pants peeing performance. As much as we'd love to have one of these machines, getting it registered for street use in the States would likely be an exercise in frustration. Too bad, because the fuel mileage is probably pretty good, which is exactly the purpose for this machine, right?

Volkswagen-eBay Find of the Day:

2008-06-04T01:45:00.000-07:00

Volkswagen Touareg Harley-Davidson edition

Click to view the Harley edition Touareg in our gallery

Volkswagen and Harley-Davidson are two motor companies with highly recognized images, but those images don't much overlap. That is, until now: someone has cooked up his own Harley edition Touareg. But while the special badging might look at home on a Ford F-150 , it doesn't quite fit on a VW.

Aside from the emblems affixed to the wheels, grille, tailgate, sill plates and steering wheel, there's really nothing that makes this any different from any other 2004 model Touareg. It's got 42k miles on the odometer and a rich brown saddle leather interior, and with four days remaining 'till the digital hammer drops, bidding is up to $13,600. An actual Harley, and any measure of good taste, are not included.

Buell to offer Ulysses Police bike

2008-06-04T01:38:00.000-07:00

Bike Police Buell to offer Ulysses

Click to view the Harley edition Touareg in our gallery

Generally, when you see the boys in blue riding on two wheels, it's either on an air-cooled V-Twin Harley-Davidson or on a BMW road bike. Neither of these vehicles is appropriate when the road goes away, which could cause a few potential problems when giving chase. Buell, makers of the Ulysses, a bike which falls smack-dab into the center of the burgeoning Adventure Touring category, has decided to rectify the potential problem by offering a version of its on-or-off-road machine to the police. Differences between the Ulysses Police and the standard version amount to different standard side cases, a standard tall windshield, heated hand grips (which are available for the standard model as well), handlebar deflectors and an emergency response kit which includes the obligatory flashing lights and siren.

We wouldn't recommend trying a getaway under any circumstances, but the chances of shaking the Ulysses Police with its 103 horsepower V-Twin and off-road credentials seems pretty slim. As a bonus to the officers on board, the EPA rates the machine at 51 mpg urban/64 mpg highway. Seems like a pretty decent package, we'd say.

Motorbike race debut-Schumacher

2008-06-04T01:29:00.000-07:00

Schumacher falls - literally - in motorbike race debut

Click on the image for more high-res shots of the Night Rod Special

As was reported earlier , Michael Schumacher made an appearance racing on a Honda at the Oschersleben circuit of the German Superbike Championship last weekend. On the surface, his twenty-eighth place finish seems rather disappointing, but upon further examination, it was a pretty good weekend overall for the ex-Formula 1 champ. Technical issues kept Schumacher from starting well, with only two racers behind him at position thirty-seven on the grid. Finishing all the way up to number 28 in the first race is a rather good outing considering the competition he was up against. In race two, Schumacher charged his way to position 21 before crashing out.

Despite the accident, Schumacher seems to have enjoyed his time on the track, saying, "I am a racer. I find motorcycles such a lot of fun, but I do not have any plans to enter a race series properly. Perhaps I will race from time to time, but always as a guest runner and without ambitions for another career." Good for you, Schumie. Thanks for the tip, Erik!

Harley-Davidson Night Rod Special Sport

2008-06-04T01:20:00.000-07:00

Rod Special Harley-Davidson Night

Click on the image for more high-res shots of the Night Rod Special

Harley-Davidson and the cruiser segment in general is currently being forced into the realization that such bikes are often considered playthings by their owners. Sure, there are plenty of die-hard HD fanatics who ride their bikes thousands of miles annually and attend faraway rallies to gather with other enthusiasts who share their passion. Many owners, though, spend more time polishing their chrome than out riding. Such weekend warriors make up a large portion of the cruiser market, and those owners are being forced to hold onto their current rides a bit longer than normal due to the slowing economy in the U.S. -- a country which easily makes up the bulk of cruiser sales.

Harley-Davidson and the rest of the industry could see this change coming long ago, and the V-Rod was its opening defense to this looming issue... and it was a good one by most accounts. The Motor Company, though, has not been content to rest on the original V-Rod as the only alternative to its classic line of air-cooled V-twin powered bikes. Thankfully, we have machines such as the Night Rod Special to provide a welcome diversion from the rolling pieces of nostalgia that make up the majority of HD's line. Does the Night Rod Special's riding experience live up to the promise made by its menacing looks? Read on to find out.

Mahindra joins Tata as interested party

2008-06-04T01:07:00.000-07:00

MV Agusta Tata as interested party to purchase

Click on the image above for pictures of the Brutale 910 R

Tata Motors, rumored to have been interested in purchasing a large chunk of Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta, could have some competition. Another large Indian conglomerate, Mahindra & Mahindra may now be interested in a controlling stake in the storied company. According to India Automotive , the potential exists to gain instant traction in the global motorcycle market by picking up MV Agusta, and the Italian company could use the extra funds from a large and profitable company to release a new line of more competitive machines.

Volkswagen, are you paying attention to all of this? As we've previously reported, the German automaker has expressed interest in purchasing an established motorcycle brand, even going so far as to mention Ducati by name. MV Agusta would offer instant credibility and would be a rather easy entrance into the marketplace.

Yamaha Assisted early look at the 2009 V-Max

2008-06-04T00:52:00.000-07:00

Yamaha V-Max Essisted 2009

Click above for more early shots of the 2009 V-Max

Since the very first Yamaha V-Max was introduced way back in 1984, the motorcycle scene has seen countless changes. The V-Max, though, has remained steadfast in its ways, surviving right on through the break off of Star Motorcycles from its Yamaha parent. A look at Star Motorcycle's current website shows a V-Max from 2007 that is almost exactly the same as the first edition was all those years ago. That will soon change. Although the official unveiling of the machine that started the muscle-bike category is still a week or so away, the internet has struck out with a few early shots of the new 2009 Max. Early specifications point to around 210 horsepower from a new 1800cc V-Four engine, which ought to have no problem establishing Mr. Max as the new quarter mile king. Just how quick will the new V-Max be? We, along with just about everybody else, predict a trip down the 1320 to take a little over nine seconds. Yeah, it'll be the new bike to be seen on.

Bike produces 1,200 horsepower

2008-06-04T00:46:00.000-07:00

Horsepower and loose bowels Rapom V8 bike produces 1,200

What to do with that spare Mopar big block you've got left over from your monster truck project? Why, let's build a motorcycle! We're not using our arms that much, anyway, so we might as well just tear 'em right out of the sockets; it's not like we perform manual labor, we're keyboard jockeys. Voice-recognition software will ensure our job security once the old extremities are history, anyway.

Bike owner and builder Nick Argyle got out of the monster-truck business but still wanted a nice toy. He'd downsized his shop, so the available space dictated a motorcycle. Nick's wife was down with it as long as he used the engine he had sitting around -- an 8.2-liter supercharged Mopar V8. Whooee! That's a lotta iron to climb over just to get to the drag strip. It's road legal, and some ingenuity led to the engine being used as a stressed member of the frame. Note also the routing of the supercharger drive belt through the front forks.

Basically, the bike looks like a couple of wheels bolted onto an engine. Sure, that describes essentially every motorcycle on the road. In this instance, however, it's supremely cool (and strange) to see an engine sitting there looking just as it would under the hood of a car, but with a set of handlebars and a drive chain connected to it. There's no performance data, but some rough math assuming a 1500lb total weight (blown Mopar big blocks aren't light -- the engine alone probably weighs 1000 pounds) and using the provided horsepower figure of 1200 gives an estimated quarter-mile ET of 6.27 seconds with a trap speed of 217 MPH.

Damn.

We'd be curious to see actual ETs, as we just scratched a few things out on paper without knowing gearing or the actual weight using the handy formulas in our Auto Math Handbook. Even if it didn't go fast, it looks mean, and we bet it sounds even meaner with those wide open headers. WHAT!?