Motorcycles
MotoGP Japan: Rossi crashes, Ducati wins
Image Gallery (28 images)
September 18, 2005 Loris Capirossi took the Ducati Desmosedici to its second Grand Prix win at Motegi here today, winning at Honda’s own circuit, and relegating the Honda RC211Vs of Max Biaggi (Repsol) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta) into second and third place in front of 68,000 fans. The race was one of massive attrition with nine of the 20 starters failing to finish, among them championship leader Valentino Rossi, and leading contenders Marco Melandri, Alex Barros, Sete Gibernau and Shinya Nakano. For Capirossi, it was a dream weekend – he qualified on pole, half a second faster than anyone else in the field, and a full 1.2 seconds faster than Rossi, prompting the champion elect to pay the ultimate compliment to his friend and countryman when he said after practice, “I think all the riders can only dream about the pace Capirossi had today.” In the race, Capirossi and the Ducati were the best combination on the day and unlike his prior win where he was clearly not as quick as Rossi, this time he would have won the race regardless of Rossi's crash. Congratulations to Loris and Ducati. Read More
The Supersport 1000cc class of 2006
Image Gallery (20 images)
September 14, 2005 The supersport category is a key category in motorcycle sales in most countries, creating a chicken and egg relationship with Supersport, Superbike and more recently Superstock racing. Since 2003, the emphasis has increasingly been focused on 1,000cc models and in 2004, all four of the big Japanese manufacturers launched new 1000 supersport bikes for the 2005 model year. All have sold well, though the biggest sales went to Suzuki due to the company’s early season dominance of World Superbike Racing and its success in the American Superbike Championships. For 2006, all but Suzuki will again offer completely new machines and this article covers the specifications of the first two to be made public - the Yamaha and Honda. The evolution of the 2006 Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade makes an interesting story – it is a lighter, faster and more visually refined machine than the current machine. The surprise though is the Yamaha 2006 R1 SP – this is a special very exclusive, limited edition bike with special Ohlins suspension, lightweight rims and a host of refinements designed to ensure the bike wins on the racetrack. Suzuki's contender will be unveiled in the next few weeks but is essentially a new coat of paint. And Kawasaki's new beastie can be seen in fine detail here. Read More
German WSBK: Vermeulen wins, Corser falters, Lanzi stars
Image Gallery (15 images)
September 12, 2005 Winston Ten Kate Honda rider Chris Vermeulen won one race and finished second in another at Lausitz in Germany on the weekend, with Troy Corser’s championship point lead being cut to just 60 points with two rounds (four races) of the championship remaining. The race meeting will be remembered though for the birth of a new star in superbike ranks. Although he has featured in cameo appearances at the pointy end of major events a few times, Lorenzo Lanzi completed a sensational weekend for the Ducati Xerox Team as he stormed to the win in race two after being penalized with a ride-through in the first race. The 23-year-old Italian rider, made his debut for the factory team at the weekend in place of the injured Regis Laconi, took superpole in a blaze of glory and might even had a double win today, but for a mistake in the opening corner of the first race. Lanzi becomes the first Italian rider to win on a Ducati factory machine since Pierfrancesco Chili at Assen in 1998. Read More
Dutch World Superbikes: Honda double reduces Suzuki lead
Image Gallery (22 images)
September 4, 2005 Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Chris Vermeulen achieved his second World Superbike double by winning both races in this afternoon’s ninth round at Assen in Holland. The Australian enjoyed a fierce on-track battle with Japan’s Noriyuki Haga, who finished second in the 16-lap race ahead of British rider James Toseland. Toseland and Haga shared the podium in the first race, and runaway series leader Troy Corser finished fourth in both races having his worst weekend of the season. Now the only rider with a mathematical possibility of stopping Corser from winning the championship, Vermeulen trails Corser by 86 points with three rounds (six races) and 150 points still up for grabs. Vermeulen paid tribute to the team’s effort and his opponents, and refuses to believe that he cannot catch championship leader Troy Corser (Suzuki). “James and Nori made me work for it today, but it's a great weekend for the team, and we took a good double,” said Vermeulen. “From half season onwards we started to get some results and there are six races left. Troy still has a big lead, but I will be trying my best to pull it back.” Read More
MotoGP Brno: Rossi and Yamaha again
Image Gallery (24 images)
August 29, 2005 Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi became the first rider in the history of the MotoGP World Championship to score nine wins for five consecutive seasons, as he clinched victory in the eleventh round of the 2005 campaign at Brno yesterday. Rossi’s record-breaking ride featured an intense battle with Sete Gibernau (Honda) that again came down to a dramatic finale, with Rossi making his definitive pass at the end of the penultimate lap. Gibernau tried to fight back but as Rossi edged clear through the final series of sweeping corners, the Spaniard’s slim hope of a victorious response disappeared completely as he suffered a “fuel starvation” problem and was forced to retire. Read More
Team KTM and Team Roberts acrimonious MotoGP split
Image Gallery (10 images)
August 21, 2005 Sadly, black litigious clouds have formed over the MotoGP paddock, specifically directly over the pits of KTM and Team KR, whose interpretations of what their relationship has been until now differ enormously. KTM announced a dissolution of the relationship on August 12, stating it was no longer intending to provide engines for the team’s grand prix effort and was cancelling all its activities with the team. Though it had been no secret that KTM was on the verge of pulling out for some time, Team Roberts has subsequently issued a statement refuting a number of KTM’s claims and claiming that it had been informed of the decision simultaneously with the public announcement. Read both parties' conflicting statements inside. Photo: O.Bergamaschi
World Superbike Brands Hatch: Corser 1 & 2 and extends lead, Haga & Yamaha 2 & 1
Image Gallery (17 images)
August 7, 2005 Team Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra rider Troy Corser placed first and second in the two fiercely-contested 25-lap battles at Brands Hatch today, swapping positions with Yamaha’s Noriyuki Haga in the final race to take 45 points away from the weekend and further extend his championship lead to 110 points. Corser and Haga were wheel to wheel from the start to the finish of the races and served up a feast of closely-fought action in front of more than 100,000 spectators. Read More
MotoGP: Yamaha and Rossi sign for 2006
Image Gallery (21 images)
August 2, 2005 Yamaha Motor and Valentino Rossi signed a contract extension yesterday, ensuring that Valentino will stay with Yamaha for the 2006 MotoGP World Championship. Rossi won the 2004 MotoGP World Championship with Yamaha and is currently competing in his second season with the Japanese manufacturer's factory team. The Italian leads the 2005 MotoGP World Championship by 120 points, following his 8th victory of the season at last weekend's German Grand Prix. Significantly, it was Rossi’s 76th Grand prix victory and moved the 26-year old into equal third place in the all-time victory list alongside the late Mike Hailwood. Rossi rode his victory lap with a flag that read, “Rossi 76, Hailwood 76, I'm sorry Mike,” in deference to Hailwood. Only the greats Angel Nieto (90) and Giacomo Agostini (122) remain for “The Doctor” to conquer should he be able to remain focused for that long given the constant enticements to move to four wheeled motorsport. That said, Rossi’s 76th win last weekend had all the hallmarks of Rossi magic. Read More
The Buell Ulysses: an Adventure Sportbike with long-travel suspension
Image Gallery (6 images)
August 1, 2005 Buell has announced its 2006 range and the big news is a whole new on and off-road machine. The new Ulysses XB12X is an Adventure Sportbike with long-travel suspension and aggressive tires designed to offer outstanding performance on paved and unpaved roads. With a dry weight of just 425 pounds and the broad powerband of the 103-hp Buell Thunderstorm 1203 V-Twin engine, the Ulysses will offer an outstanding power-to-weight ratio and sporting performance on the tight-and-twisty back roads that often lead to dirt roads. It’s one of two new Buells that will added to the company’s product line in 2006. The other is the Lightning Long XB12Ss, a longer version of the original Lightning XB12S designed to offer more comfort. In addition, all 2006 Buell Lightning and Firebolt models are enhanced with a new swingarm design, a new transmission and a redesigned intake system. Read More
British MotoGP: Rossi in a class of his own
Image Gallery (18 images)
July 24, 2005 Gauloises Yamaha rider Valentino Rossi extended his advantage at the top of the MotoGP World Championship to 104 points, with his seventh victory from nine races this season in the British Grand Prix today. The Italian splashed his way through several centimetres of standing water and lashings of torrential rain to clinch his fourth MotoGP win at Donington Park after a treacherous race that saw no fewer than eleven riders crash. Read More
Incredible debut for 250 KTM
Image Gallery (15 images)
July 26, 2005 Austrian motorcycle manufacturer KTM had one of the most remarkable debuts of any racing machine in history when it gave its new KTM Grand Prix 250 its first outing in the hands of Australian rider Anthony West at the British MotoGP round. The 250 class is highly competitive with any one of a dozen riders capable of winning on any day, and a machinery war between Honda and Aprilia that keeps improving the two-stroke breed, minute-by-minute, making it nigh-on-impossible for a new bike to break into the top echelon of 250 racing. So despite KTM’s illustrious off-road racing pedigree, and a fine showing from its recently created 125 roadracer, it was not expected to be competitive for some time yet, given that it had only been ridden ONCE prior to arriving at the Grand Prix. Then West had the new 110 bhp motor seize up in practice at over 200km/h. Then, on race day it rained, LOTS!! But West had won an Australian dirt track title when he was 15 years old, and is comfortable with a bike sliding at very high speeds. What happened? Read More
Corser increases WSB lead, while Yamaha takes first win
Image Gallery (26 images)
July 17, 2005 The last time Troy Corser went to the Brno circuit in Czechoslovakia for a superbike round, he left with a superpole victory, fastest race lap and two wins and but for a small electronic problem in the second race history almost repeated itself today. In the end, he was not to repeat his 1996 glory, but he did have the satisfaction of increasing his lead in the championship. Without doubt the surprise of the round was the performance of Noriyuki Haga, who gave Yamaha its first victory with the R1-based superbike and brought to four the number of marques which have won so far this year - Suzuki, Honda, Ducati and now Yamaha. Kawasaki’s best so far is third with Chris Walker almost adding a podium on the weekend with a fourth in Leg One. Read More
The first Diesel Superbike: the Star Twin ThunderStar 1200 TDI
Image Gallery (26 images)
July 18, 2005 Our recent articles on The coming of the electric motorcycle and the Electric superbike brought a flurry of response from our readers pointing out that the diesel motorcycle was a far more viable alternative to the petrol-engined motorcycle than the electric bike at this point in time. indeed, our readers were quick to point to a number of prototype diesel sports motorcycles that look awesomely promising: bikes such as the Neander 1400 turbodiesel, the TrackDiesel One Litre TurbuDiesel, the Dieselfighter, the AVL Boost and the Dutch ThunderStar 1200 TDI diesel motorcycle - all of them motorcycles of immense potential and all of them readying themselves for market. In this the first of a series of articles on diesel motorcycles, we take a close look at the ThunderStar 1200 TDI - a sports motorcycle with a stronger midrange than Triumph's 2.3 litre Rocket III. Read More
The World's Only Production Diesel Motorcycle
Image Gallery (7 images)
July 18, 2005 The concept of a diesel motorcycle is not one that has occurred to a lot of people – at least not many have thought about it for long because despite a rich century of innovation in motorcycling, only a handful of diesel motorcycles have existed and until very recently, they have all been utility vehicles – bikes designed to get great economy on fuel of questionable quality in rugged and remote regions and said diesel two-wheelers had no performance pretensions. As we all know, diesel technology has come a long way in recent times and now the sans-sparkplug engine promises a renaissance thanks to its low emissions, good power output and low consumption ... and like so many aspects of technology, it was the muscle of the military dollar that brought the world's first modern production diesel motorcycle into being. Read More
US MotoGP: Hayden leads American 1-2
Image Gallery (21 images)
July 10, 2005 Americans Nicky Hayden and Colin Edwards struck a major blow for the sport of motorcycle road racing when they finished 1-2 and demoted the world’s best rider into third spot at the Red Bull United States Grand Prix here today. In showcasing the world’s best motorcycle racing event to the American public, Hayden and Edwards did their home country proud and will surely have enhanced the prospects for greater acceptance and coverage of MotoGP in the world’s biggest and most important motorcycle marketplace. For Hayden, with a career just beginning and a rockstar’s good looks and persona, his first MotoGP win is expected by many to move him into the elite and make him a regular contender for the win. For Rossi, it was business as usual because although he finish in third place, he extended his points lead to 79 points, giving him a three race lead (at 25 points for a win) with nine races remaining in the title chase. Read More
Alpine Stars Motorcycle leather cooling system details
Image Gallery (6 images)
July 19, 2005 A few weeks back we reported rumours of AlpineStars developing a motorcycle leather “cooling system” and our belief that the system was used by American Renegade Koji Honda rider Ben Bostrom at the Misano (Italy) round of the World Superbike Championships. Now further details have come to light and we can confirm that prototypes of a new Alpinestars cooling system incorporated into Alpinestars Tech back protector were used by United States MotoGP winner Nicky Hayden 10 days ago. Codenamed Embedded Air, the innovative project is part of Alpinestars’ on-going ‘Cool Rush’ program, which is looking at many new technologies specifically targetting the area of rider cooling. The entire Embedded Air system adds only 200g to the weight of the Tech back protector, while tests have shown the level of protection it offers isn’t adversely affected. Read More
Limited Edition Titanium Fireblade
Image Gallery (7 images)
July 4, 2005 Honda is releasing a limited edition Titanium version of the CBR1000RR – while it comes with all the breathtaking performance of the MotoGP RC211V-derived 2005 Fireblade, the only difference to the standard machine is the Titanium paint job gracing the latest Fireblade’s bodywork which is quite distinctive in 2005 with a sharper and more aggressively angled nose with a lower windscreen. The new Titanium model will be available from July in extremely limited quantities. Read More
World Superbike Championships Rd 6: Ducati fights back
Image Gallery (23 images)
June 27, 2005 A splendid double win for Regis Laconi thrilled a large Santamonica crowd yesterday to rejuventate the Ducati Xerox Team’s manufacturers championship ambitions but title leader Troy Corser appears safely in control of the riders championship. In a sweltering Misano (air temperature hovering around 32 degrees and track temperature at around 53 degrees), the French rider scored two dominant wins, finishing twice on the top of the podium together with Australians Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Corser (Suzuki) in that order. Team-mate James Toseland also rode two determined races but had to settle for two fourth places. Read More
MotoGP: Dutch TT to Rossi and Yamaha
Image Gallery (29 images)
June 26, 2005 Valentino Rossi claimed another win, another record and staked another claim to being the greatest ever when he won the 75th anniversary Gauloises Dutch TT at the famous Assen circuit on Saturday afternoon. In doing so, he became the first Yamaha rider ever to win five consecutive premier-class races and fought off a new challenger to his crown in the form of an ever-improving Marco Melandri. Rossi has always had the ability to find something extra when it counts, but he seems to be regularly performing remarkable feats this year, coming up with several stunners on the weekend to increase his points lead in the 2005 title to 63 points – a buffer of more than two race wins. Read More
KTM 950 SUPERMOTO: the international Press raves!
Image Gallery (29 images)
June 25, 2005 The launch of the new KTM 950 SUPERMOTO was one of KTM’s biggest gambles yet. The Austrian marque has been undergoing the transition from niche purveyor of premium off-road competition machinery to fully-fledged motorcycle manufacturer and has its eyes set firmly on the road bike market with a 990 Supersport motorcycle set to spearhead its road machinery charge and successful forays into (125 and soon 250cc) Grand Prix racing set to give it credibility. So why it would choose to release such an oddball motorcycle as the 950cc supermotard to such great fanfare was a complete mystery … until the press rode the bike, which turned out to be a sensation. Our favourite quote on the KTM comes from Two Wheels Only: “The motorcycling equivalent of a man with a 1000 yard stare, a disturbing twitch and an unhealthy interest in firearms ...” Read More
Futuristic BMW off-road helmet and body armour
Image Gallery (10 images)
June 21, 2005 With the forthcoming release of the new cross-country BMW HP2 motorcycle, BMW has put together some fancy new off-road gear, and the pick of the bunch is carbon fibre, Kevlar and fibreglass off-road helmet that’s also aerodynamic and aesthetic enough to be seen anywhere. Indeed, we’re predicting that when the helmet becomes available it will be a best seller, particularly if the company decides to fit its Bluetooth and noise cancellation technologies which will enable it to work with a mobile phone and eventually with other Bluetooth devices such as MP3 players and the like. Now there’s a promising thought – imagine trail riding whilst listening to crystal-clear classical music. The new off-road helmet is reconfigurable, and can be used with or without both the visor or the screen and adds to an impressive BMW helmet line-up which also includes the featherweight SportIntegral carbon fibre helmet that weighs just 999 grams. Read More
BMW HP2 wins on debut at Erzberg Rodeo
Image Gallery (14 images)
June 15, 2005 The new high performance BMW HP2 off road machine got off to a dream start when it won its first competition start at the legendary Erzberg Rodeo in Styria, Austria. The heavenly peace and glorious panorama of Erzberg erupted as more than 1500 riders on all matter of machinery were cheered on by thousands of on-lookers as amateurs and weekend riders battled it out with the likes of enduro world champions, Dakar racers and even freestyle motocrossers! The Iron Road, as it is known, is one of the most prestigious and highly contended enduro-sports events in the European racing calendar. Read More
MotoGP: The Yamaha M1 wins its fifth race from six starts
Image Gallery (34 images)
June 12, 2005 Less than two years ago the Yamaha M1 factory prototype racing machine was not considered competitive – indeed, it was considered by most to be a dog. It struggled throughout the 2003 Moto Grand Prix racing year, and in the hands of two of the finest professional motorcycle racers in the world, Spaniard Carlos Checa and Brazilian Alex Barros, it finished an entire season with just one third place as its sole podium from 32 starts. In 2004, Yamaha was fortunate to be able to obtain a rare and frightfully expensive throttle controller for one of its machines (also known as Valentino Rossi), making the machine far more competitive – from 16 starts in 2004, the Rossi-fitted machine won nine times and placed second twice and won the world championship. It’s win, with Rossi aboard this afternoon, is its fifth win from six starts this season and Rossi is now 58 points clear of his nearest rival. A look back at the results makes interesting reading – though the bike is reportedly far better than it was, no-one else is making it go fast enough to be competitive. Read More
MotoGP engine capacity to be reduced to 800cc in 2007
Image Gallery (4 images)
June 6, 2005 The biggest news of recent years in motorcycle racing broke over the weekend at the Italian GP when it was announced that the engine capacity for MotoGP would be reduced from 990cc to 800cc from 2007. The aim of the rule change is to slow the machines down, though in effect, it is unlikely to slow the bikes down much, and it will certainly make them more difficult to ride, though not nearly to the degree of the 500cc two-strokes which could only be mastered by a handful of riders in the world. If anything, the rule changes are likely to make it more rather than less difficult for the smaller manufacturers to compete with the engineering prowess and financial power of Honda. Honda promoted the rule change, and had a large say in having it passed, as it provides seven of the 21 bikes on the grid each race. Read More
Italian MotoGP - Italian tour de force
Image Gallery (24 images)
June 5, 2005 World Champion and Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi produced one of the best performances of his career today as he outwitted a trio of Italian compatriots to take a stunning home victory at Mugello. Starting from pole position, Rossi was in turn passed by a handful of riders, despatching each in turn until he was left to battle for the victory with his old arch-rival Max Biaggi, eventually finding enough to greet the chequered flag four tenths of a second ahead of his main adversary. Biaggi was Rossi’s main protagonist and antagonist for the early part of his career in the premier class, but had faded from the spotlight in recent years and Rossi’s new arch rival Sete Gibernau crashed out early in the race after fading from the front of the pack to fourth and looking like he was going to finish much further down the points. Read More
World Superbike Champs - Ducati fights back
Image Gallery (18 images)
May 29, 2005 Regis Laconi and James Toseland took a win apiece for the Ducati Xerox Team in the fifth round of the World Superbike championship in front of a 70,000 strong crowd at the Silverstone circuit. Frenchman Laconi scored his ninth career triumph and Ducati’s first win of the year when he took the chequered flag in race one, but it was Toseland who really set the home fans alight with a controlled but aggressive display of riding in race 2 to seal the reigning champion’s first win of the year. In the pointscore though, runaway championship leader Troy Corser on the Suzuki GSXR1000R finished second in both races, extending his lead to 78 points – more than three clear race wins. Read More
World Supersport Rd 5, Ten Kate Honda again
Image Gallery (7 images)
May 29, 2005 Winston Ten Kate Honda’s Sebastien Charpentier (CBR600RR) roared to his third win of the season with another front running display, this time not from team-mate Katsuaki Fujiwara but from Yamaha Motor Germany rider Kevin Curtain (R6), who recorded his third podium finish of the season at Silverstone. Curtain shadowed Charpentier for two thirds of the 28 lap race before a lack of grip forced him to settle for second in the closing stages. Even despite this easing of pace, Curtain finished a huge 18 seconds ahead of third placed finisher Fabien Foret (Honda) to close in on Katsuaki Fujiwara (Honda) for second place in the championship. Read More
The coming of the electric motorcycle
Image Gallery (30 images)
UPDATED May 31, 2005 Electric motorcycles are in their infancy but there’s a realistic promise of electric motor performance that is more suited for the racetrack than that of internal combustion engines and infinitely better suited for the road. As the first electric bikes find their way onto racetracks and begin mixing it with two and four strokes, it appears you need three times the horsepower in a gas-powered motor to get a bike as fast as an electric bike. And then there’s the new 500bhp 67 Kg Symetron electric motor which should really kickstart performance electric automobiles and bikes. Read More
Tyre Down: a smarter, more secure alternative to motorcycle tie-downs
Image Gallery (10 images)
May 23, 2005 Anybody who has ever transported motorcycles knows the problem. The traditional tie-downs used to secure motorcycles on a trailer are a pain-in-the-bum. To make the bikes secure, you need to compress the forks to such an extent that you’re forever damaging the fork seals and the system is far from foolproof as many an expensive toy has jumped off a trailer with no prompting. It was a major problem awaiting a solution and we can honestly say we have seen the solution. Hallelujah brothers and sisters, let us present the TYRE DOWN. Read More
MotoGP Rd 4: Gibernau close but Rossi again
Image Gallery (27 images)
May 15, 2005 World Champion Valentino Rossi extended his lead at the top of the MotoGP World Championship with a victory from pole position at the French Grand Prix this afternoon. The Italian World Champion recorded the fastest ever motorcycle lap of Le Mans in qualifying yesterday and followed it up with a new lap record on the very last lap of the today's 28-lap race in order to hold out fast-finishing rival Sete Gibernau. Rossi’s win makes it three wins and a second from four starts so far this season, and particularly heartening for Yamaha was the competitiveness of Rossi’s team-mate Colin Edwards who started from second place on the grid, led the race until the final laps when he was mown down by the Rossi/Gibernau juggernaut but easily finished ahead of the field to make up the podium. Read More
World Superbikes Rd 4: Suzuki & Honda share spoils
Image Gallery (28 images)
May 8, 2005 Team Alstare Suzuki Corona rider Troy Corser (GSXR1000) took a win and a third place in the fourth round of the World Superbike Championships at Monza today extending his lead to 52 points over team mate Yukio Kagayama. Honda’s Chris Vermeulen (CBR1000RR) scored a second race win to revive Honda’s chances in the series and Ducati showed a return to form with podiums in both races. Read More
MotoGP Rd 3 - Rossi wins rain-swept Chinese GP
Image Gallery (26 images)
May 1, 2005 Gauloises Yamaha Team rider Valentino Rossi made history once again today, becoming the first rider to take a MotoGP victory at Shanghai, with a stunning performance in torrentially wet conditions at the inaugural Grand Prix of China. Despite starting from sixth place on the grid Rossi took control of the race on the fifth lap, taking over from early leader Kenny Roberts (Suzuki) and opening up a clear gap over the chasing pack.
It was an advantage the reigning World Champion would never let slip, holding his concentration for the next 17 laps despite the attentions of surprise challenger Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki), riding in place of the injured Alex Hofmann. Jacque passed Sete Gibernau (Honda) for second place with seven laps to go and closed in on Rossi at the front, but was unable to seriously threaten the Italian's second victory from the opening three rounds of the championship. Read More
BMW's 1200GS gets (very) serious!
Image Gallery (37 images)
It’s now a quarter of a century since BMW released the R 80 G/S and in so doing created a new class of motorcycle – the large capacity off-roader. An ideal off-road tourer with great manners on a dirt road ithas not really had much more sporting pretence than that. Yes, it did win the Paris-Dakar Rally at different times but only through superhuman riders and massive machine development. Though the showroom machine has evolved through massive engine redesigns and a capacity increase to 1200cc, no-one in their right mind would seriously contemplate going into a harsh off-road environment on a BMW GS model for fun until now. The new BMW HP2 is a genuine large capacity, lightweight boxer-engined high performance off-road machine. How lightweight? VERY - try 175 kg dry!!!! Read More
World Superbike Championships: Suzuki Dominates again
Image Gallery (34 images)
April 24, 2005 World Superbike Championship leader Troy Corser raced his Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSX-R1000 to a double race victory at the third round in Valencia today as his main rivals dropped away in the championship chase. Only Honda CBR1000RR-mounted Chris Vermeulen and Corser’s Suzuki team-mate Yukio Kagayama now look to stand any chance of remaining in touch with the runaway points leader. In the World SuperSport race, Winston Ten Kate Honda CBR600RR team again streeted the field. Read More
MotoGP Rd 2: Gibernau crashes, Barros/Honda win, Rossi extends title lead
Image Gallery (14 images)
April 17, 2005 A Honda won the Portugeuse Grand Prix today with World Champion Valentino Rossi second, but it was the Honda of Alex Barros that greeted the chequered flag first not the expected Honda of Sete Gibernau. Gibernau crashed out in light rain while leading the race at mid distance in the first MotoGP race run under the new rain rules which do not allow for race restarts due to rain during the race. Barros’ win was not entirely unexpected. He was the fastest rider in all sessions throughout the weekend, fastest qualifier and appears to have regained the form he last showed at the end of 2002 when he beat Valentino Rossi several times on equal machinery. Read More
