moto-vation

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wordpress is easier to use and i liked this theme. i’m currently migrating the posts over so there may be some broken links and formatting irregularities.

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motogp will be kicking off this season in a rather unique way. qatar will be the first track to hold a premier class motorsports event under the lights (nascar has been doing this for years but they are far from premier let alone class). teams will have a chance to acclimate to the new conditions this thurs during an official two day test.  

losail international circuit teamed up with american lighting specialists musco sports lighting to accomplish this enormous challenge. they basically had to light the whole facility but without causing shadows. this required 3700 lighting sources and enough electricity to power 3000 homes or 5.4 megawatts. that's a shit ton of energy!!! only in qatar...

last year, several riders have already had a crack at the circuit albeit under partial lighting conditions and they seemed to be happy with it. teams will have to adjust to the change in time, lower track temps, and the lights. the race will be held around midnight, ten hours later than usual. and since the track is in the middle of a desert, the temps will be lower with higher humidity than a day race which means grip could be an issue. hopefully, riders will be able to adapt to the lights and all will be well.

to me, motogp under the lights is a gimmick. it cheapens the sport making it more of a spectacle. the unique conditions will either influence or worse overshadow the racing. and why spend all this money and energy to hold a race at night? at a time when global warming and recession are on everyone's minds, qatar rubs their frivolity and extravagance in our face.

(man, this turned into a depressing post...)

all things aside, i'm just happy to see motogp racing is only 12 days away!!! hit the switch, carmelo!!!

what a fantastic day of racing in the desert!!! so many things to cover...

ducati's 1098rs faired fairly well in its debut. no engines self-destructed and they somewhere between more-than-competitive and dominant. 

former wsbk champ troy bayliss on the factory ducati took race 1 (on the last lap no less) with max biaggi and troy corser rounding out the podium. this was a great result since this is the only track that ducati hasn't won at. in race 2, alstare suzuki rider fonsi nieto captured his first wsbk win followed by a trio of ducati's (ruben xaus, biaggi, and bayliss, respectively). 

3 out of the top 4 bikes were italian in both races. will these results give officials a reason to penalize the duc's? probably not. but if we see them dominate phillip island next week we could see the bologna bullets get a pack on some pounds.

i was surprised to the suzuki battling at the sharp end. in both races, an alstare suzukis was was leading the race at one point. they looked incredibly fast down the 1200m main straight besting both the ducati's and yamaha's.

the yamaha's got off to great starts in both races but faded at the midpoint. corser managed a disappointing 3rd in race 1 but couldn't muster anything in the second. haga, in race 1, uncharacteristically overreacted to biaggi's hard pass and duffed it as a result. just get on with it. he was an also-run in race 2.

speaking of also-runs... honda and kawasaki made no impression on me this weekend. they looked to be struggling with setup as soon as they took the bikes off the trailer. i guess i shouldn't be surprised. for some reason both manufactures delivered bikes late which impeded testing.

best moment: bayliss staring down biaggi's desperate counterattack in the last corner. priceless.

what can i say, supersport is unpredictable. there's always plenty of action!!!

the factory r6's were 1-2 for the most of the race with a hodgepodge of bikes behind. fabien foret had a commanding lead until he ran out of petrol on final lap. talk about frustrating. then it was a dash to the finish between foret's teammate broc parkes and honda rider joan lascroz. parkes narrowly took the win with an incredible draft pass down the main straight. craig jones took the final podium position.

an incredible crash on the 2nd lap between hannspree ten kate teammates jonathon rea and andrew pitt. rea's rear tire stepped out as he was exiting turn 3 (i think) and consequently viscously flicked him off. pitt was closely following and there was no way to avoid the carnage. he was punted over the bars and looked in bad shape.

it wouldn't be a proper moto-vation article if there was no mention of the 675. briefly, triumph scored their first wss points with be1 racing's ivan clementi's 12th place finish. garry mccoy on the factory bike looked impressive climbing his way up to a best 5th position but subsequently suffered engine failure (overheating???). in addition, mark aitchison was doing well until he crashed out. all in all, the 675 is raceworthy but it's still in development.

best moment: parkes pipping lascroz on the last lap.

next week is phillip island. can't wait. the motorcycling season hath begun which means spring is right around the corner!!!

aprilia has been on hard times lately but the italian bike maker is slowly making a comeback. scooter giant piaggio acquired the struggling company several years ago and the investment appears to be paying off... big time.

aprilia is revamping its product line. they just released the much anticipated shiver 750 streetfighter and today they unveiled the successor to the flagship rsv 1000 - the rsv 4.

the rsv 4 is bad ass. 

bold statement, i know. but it's a bold looking bike. like a cross between a stealth fighter and motocycle.

developed in aprilia's skunk works, the 1000cc v-4 engine is a technological powerhouse. u know what other bike has this same type 

of engine? the ultra-exotic ducati desmosedici rr motogp repli-racer (oh and the honda vfr1000, but that's besides the point). aprilia claim it'll be making at least 200hp and employ ride-by-wire, aka traction control. hope the engine management is better than their failed rs^cube motogp machine. it'll make it's debut late this season in wsbk and be ready for the street in '09. homologation rulz!!!

from marcello's picasa album:

and click here for the movie!

it's not that big of a deal for most of u but it is for me so :P

the factory boys finally unveiled their paint scheme in qatar during fri practice. gone is the monotone silver of preseason testing. triumph-sc are sporting a classy blue-silver-black paint job. triumph stickers must've been on sale because there are about a bajillion of them all over the bike. "lookin' good, billy ray!"

furthermore, franco farne went with tried and trued temignoni for the exhaust. amazing the influence this guy has. the whole triumph675.net community couldn't get akra to develop a can... franco gets what franco wants. i want one too!

in related news, garry mccoy lead the triumph charge in qualifying setting the 7th fastest time of the day. he was closely followed by fellow triumph and be-1 racing rider ivan clementi who was a tenth behind. atcho brought up the rear in 11th ahead of some reasonable talent. amazing that all triumph bikes qualified ahead of suzuki and kawasaki. booyah suckas!!! the race will be held sat instead of the normal sunday (crazy muslims) and hopefully we'll see a little of this from mr mccoy: 

so a few days ago i posted on how much better the race version of the honda cbr1000rr looks compared to the street. to say the least, the stock exhaust was horrendous.

the same goes for the kawasaki zx-10r. a humungous unwieldy exhaust scarred the bike's aesthetics. factory wsbk team psg-1 racing fixed this by installing a custom akrapovic exhaust (no '08 zx10r  product on the site yet) and it looks good. zx-10r owners will be clamoring for this exhaust as soon as it's released.

too bad looks don't count in racing. kawasaki is struggling to find a setup for this weekend's race in qatar. not a good way to start the season.

current world champ, casey stoner, started off this season like he ended the last one - on top of the podium and winning a bmw.

the motogp season officially kicked off this weekend with the jerez irta test that extends until monday. stuck in the middle is the bmw m award, a mini-competition to set the fastest lap during the sunday afternoon session. the winner gets the keys to a brand new z4 m roadster and bragging rights for the rest of season.

heading into the weekend, michelin looked extremely competitive locking in the top 5 spots in the saturday session. nicky hayden, randy de puniet, and james toseland impressed me the most setting a quick pace on less than ideal equipment. remember, all these riders are using last year's spring-valve engines while the likes of rossi and stoner are riding the latest kit. rossi and stoner were down in 8th and 9th, respectively, which was perplexing.

conditions deteriorated over night and rains soaked the track for sundays' test sessions. the wet track made for a rather boring m award competition. riders were tip-toeing the bikes around trying to avoid an off and injury. stoner set the fastest lap of the day with a 1'49.263 on his 5th lap (of only 9) with 26 mins left in the session. it was then a matter of the field playing catch up. rossi managed a 1'50.580 in the tricky conditions as a dry line was slowly developing. it boggles my mind (and probably the rest of the field's) that stoner can run so few laps yet be so fast. as rossi and melandri said earlier this week, stoner is the master of traction control and it showed sunday afternoon.

even though there's still a day left in the test, my faith in randy de puniet was restored saturday with a stupendously fast time on qualifiers that was almost 2 sec quicker than last year's pole. furthermore, his pace on race tires wasn't too shabby either. i'm calling it right now that the "crash king" will be the most improved rider for '08 and will be at the sharp end of the grid. lucio cecchinello may have another ace in his hand like he did 2 two years ago.

[UPDATE] randy continued his quick pace on race and qualifying tires on mon. he had the fastest 5 lap stint and the 4th fastest single lap time.

don't get me wrong, honda's cbr1000rr aka fireblade is some serious kit. it has been given a major update this year and journo's have given it stellar reviews despite the stiff competition. great engine, great suspension, great controls, great styl... fuck no!!! the styling is atrocious!!! it makes cream-of-wheat seem interesting. the bike lost all the aggressiveness and sportiness of the previous generation. gone is the underseat exaust and cat-like mug. now we have a bike with a bulbous erect prick for an exhaust, featureless side fairings, and droopy-eyed headlights. totally disappointed.

that is until i peeped the race-prepped version...

the short motogp-inspired exhaust looks great and clearing off the license plate assembly cleans up the tail.

below is a video from mcn that show a little more detail of the ten kate bikes. looks like they're sporting an arrow exhaust that will hopefully trickle down to the consumer. sexy. sexy.

earlier this week in qatar, triumph be1 racing fired a warning shot across the wss paddock's bow. they took part in a preseason test just 10 days before the start of the 2008 season to work on bike setup and tire testing. one would think the 675 would behind in development but it looks like it'll be competitive right from the get go.

rookie rider, mark aitchison, posted the fastest time of 2'03.1 ahead of some notable riders like fujiwara, walker, and notably his teammate, ivan clementi (1+ sec back). respect!!! [/ali_g]

mark aitchison

[translated/google]"Although the work has been to prepare for the race, I managed to pull an excellent time which I repeated on several occasions. I'm really satisfied with the team and the team are working very good and I hope to continue on this path. I have reached a good basic set up that gives me confidence prior to my debut."

ivan clementi

[translated/google]"We worked very hard to get useful data to understand the reactions of the bike on this track, the right relationship and the wear on tires. This data will help us tackle the race. Unfortunately at the end day when I had the track to myself to put some fast laps in, I encountered a technical problem that forced me into the pits."

i can hear it now. yamaha's engineering gm, masao furasawa, dressed in drag and talking in a jewpanese-brooklyn accent. i swear it's the weather... 

is it me or does it seem that the teams in the motogp paddock have been unusually candid during the preseason tests? 

ducati said they didn't really change anything while yamaha and honda are looking for a little more power out of their pneumatic valve engines. are the teams trying to psych each other out or is this for realz???

furusawa revealed that they picked up 5 hp since last year but they want/need 3-4 more by the jerez test. he also confessed that the use of pneumatic-valves is far from an obvious engineering choice.

so why did they go with the pneumatic valve system? are they looking to push the rev-limit past 20k or increase reliability?

furasawa also adamantly denied development of a "screamer" engine due to the "noise" it generates at high rpm. allegedly the rider can't feel what the engine is doing with this firing pattern.

most of the info about the '08 honda rc212v has come from former world champ, nicky hayden. according to him, "every nut and bolt is new." but new isn't always good. honda is still working the kinks out of their pneumatic engine. in fact, hayden has only ridden this engine publicly once this year at sepang II - day 2.

on the flip side, kawasaki and suzuki are staying out of the limelight only exposing their new liveries. not too much technical information has been gathered from these two teams.

after a great start to the year, lcr-honda rider randy de puniet has been off the mark lately. at the sepang II preseason test, he led the first two days and wasn't far behind on the final day. he looked consistently fast. de puniet was well off the pace at phillip island just a week later. it's not like he wasn't work hard. he put in 115 laps on the final day trying to sort his issues. what happened, randy??? i had high hopes for you this season but alas u dashed them :(

the motogp paddock split up after the january's sepang preseason test and either stayed or flew south (waaaay south) for the phillip island test. fiat-yamaha "took the week off" and hung around the the malaysian circuit while the rest of the paddock did work on the island. note the quotes as i'm sure fiat yamaha didn't sit back and relax.

in phillip island, casey stoner dominated the three day test and crushed the circuit lap record set by dani pedrosa last year during qualifying. not only is he good on qualifiers but his race pace is scary fast. casey and ducati are firing on all cylinders and look to be a formidable team beat. wish i could say the same for marco and the pramac crew who can't seem to get to grips with the gp8.

like sepang a few weeks ago, nicky was again fast on qualifiers but the michelin package can't hang during race simulation. he was around 1.5 secs slower than the world champ. rookie, james toseland, also impressed on the final day with a nice time on qualifiers that would've landed him on the outside of the first row. and his tech-3 teammate, colin edwards, showed some speed on the first day taking fastest time.

the paddock returned to sepang circuit until next fall's race minus a couple red duc's. fiat-yamaha brought in reinforcements for this test to help rossi develop the m1/bridgestone package. poor jorge... he must feel all alone in the neighboring garage :( but it looks like the japanese rubber is paying dividends as rossi lit the tarmac up with a devastatingly quick qualifying lap on the first day and the circuit lap record was once again broken. this is very good news for bridgestone since their qualifiers couldn't match michelin last year. rossi seems to have the bike sorted as well on race tires. teammate, lorenzo, was also quick on his michelin-shod m1 taking the fastest time on the third day of testing. yoink!!!

honda factory rider, nicky hayden, also hung in there trailing fiat-yamaha's coattails. surprisingly, the honda seems down on power compared to yamaha and ducati. they'll be looking to make progress in the engine dept as the first race is looming in the not-so-far distance (about 30 days).

next up, the official irta test in jerez, spain from feb 16-18. this year is shaping up to be a good one (knock on wood). factory ducati and yamaha seem to be on point while honda is struggling to make up ground. the fact that pedrosa is out doesn't help either. and it's anyone guess which satellite team will scrap it out with the leaders. damn it feels good to be a gangster!!!

oy!!! it looks like triumph is racing in a bunch of series this year thanks to the fim allowing 675cc triples to race supersport. yeah, capitalism [/austin_powers]!!!

seems like there's some animosity between honda hrc teammates dani pedrosa and nicky hayden. in a press conference discussing his fractured hand, dani talked shit on both his boss (honda) and his co-worker (nicky):

talk about hurting feelings... remember when pedrosa torpedo'ed nicky in the penultimate round at estoril almost ruining hayden's championship in 2006??? even though you could see hayden was pissed, he never trash talked his teammate.

nicky hayden, the hardest working man in motogp, finished the sepang preseason test with the fastest time of the day and overall. this time was faster than last year's pole by more than a second and even bested the circuit lap record by almost 3-tenths of a second. granted, nicky was on qualifiers but so were most of the riders today.

as reported yesterday, hayden was testing a pneumatic-valve engine but it turns out that he was in fact running the traditional spring-valve engine today. he was running the '07 engine in the '08 chassis which led to the record breaking laps along with setting his fastest lap on a race tire. when hayden spoke to crash.net, he stated that  "the pneumatic-valve engine - as much as I hate to say it, because i know it's the future and where we need to be - is just not fast enough. i mean the engine performance is not fast enough to check anything." however, he's hoping that honda will figure it out by the season-opener.

rossi was undeterred by his teammates faster pace and felt that his bike (new chassis + new engine + new tires) is more balanced on the whole... except on qualifiers. "this afternoon i tried out different rear qualifying tires and wasn't particularly quick. in my opinion that's the area we need to work on the most with bridgestone." has rossi's gamble with bridgestone rubber paid off??? not yet as he's got several michelin riders ahead of him and more importantly his main rival for 2008, casey stoner.

one other development that came to light on the final day of testing came from kawasaki. they are not only developing a pneumatic-valve system but also a "screamer" engine. kawasaki have been using the gas-charged valvetrain since the start of the 2007 and haven't had any real problems with it. instead of retrofitting it to an existing engine, they developed the engine from ground up around the system. they've also been sending out their test riders (jacque and serizawa) on "screamer" engines. motogp inline-4's are typically operate on "big-bang" timing where a pair of cylinders fire, followed by a long break, and then the second pair of cylinders fire, followed by a long break. this helps with traction giving the rear tire time to recover from the power pulses. a screamer engine fires each cyclinder one after the other. advantages according to kawasaki are higher revs, smaller package, and lower cg.

next week brings the second preseason test at phillip island. it'll give us three more days to scrutinize and speculate on the season to come.

lcr honda's randy de puniet topped the time sheets on day 2 of the sepang test. maybe he's onto something. but testing is testing...