As announced, here is a collection of pics starring some of the nice ladies who attended the latest World Superbike round in Donington, UK. Not too many pictures from Donington Park this time around, but nonetheless the gallery features some of the most charming English roses we have ever seen. Don’t feel like taking our word for that? Check it out for yourself.

View the full Paddock Girls SBK - Donington 2012 photo gallery

Before heading to Japan to take part in the 35th edition of the iconic Suzuka 8 Hours Noriyuki Haga will be racing in the second round of FIM Endurance World Championship at Losail, Qatar in the 8 Hours of Doha on June 9th.

NitroNori who currently races in the British Superbike Championship replacing injured Ian Hutchinson in Swan Yamaha and is 10th in the series, will be get to know his Monster Yamaha YART Team (ex Yamaha Austria Racing Team) prepared YZF-R1 ahead of the Suzuka race.

The three-time World Superbike runner-up (2000, 2007, 2009) and Suzuka 8 Hours winner (1996) will be fielded next to Gwen Giabbani, Steve Martin and Igor Jerman, while at Suzuki his team mates will be his own BSB team mate Tommy Hill and two-time champion and current leader of the All Japan Superbike series, Katsuyuki Nakasuga.

A few weeks ago we went to Miami, Florida, to attend Harley-Davidson’s traditional Press Experience, which this year has been dubbed “The Art Of Custom” in order to underline the strong connection between the Milwaukee-based manufacturer and the custom world, something that has always been at the core of the ‘magic’ surronding this legendary brand. There can be no denial in fact that the custom culture as we know it today basically took off in the US in the 50s and 60s thanks to the famous H-D Twins of that era, and from there it spread all over the world. However, this is something we will delve into later on. Base of operations for the whole event is a nice hotel in Miami Beach, where a demo-fleet made of almost every model of the current H-D range silently awaits.

On the first day of the event, the Harley-Davidson staff greeted us in a nice conference room where we were given a short overview of the glorious H-D history, from the humble beginning in a barn in Milwaukee in 1903 till the grandeur of today, proven by the fact that the famous bar-and-shield logo is the only motorcycle-related brand that made it in the highly rated ‘Top 100 Best Global Brands’ chart, published at the beginning of the year by Interbrand, one of the world’s leading brand consultancy. Then we got introduced to the two most important additions to H-D’s 2012 line-up: the wicked Softail Slim, powered by the brand new 1690 cc (103 cubic inches) air cooled twin that is bound to become H-D main engine for the forthcoming years, and the slightly quieter Sportster Seventy-Two (pictured above), equipped with a 1200 cc V-Twin engine with electronic injection.

After a quick briefing concerning the schedule of the event, it is finally time to jump on the bikes and move to what will be the first stop of our ‘Press Experience’, Wynwood Walls, an outdoor mural permanent exhibit within the well-known Wynwood Art District of Miami. The demo-fleet that Harley-Davidson provided for this event was nothing short of ‘impressive’: the aforementioned new models as well as several variants of Sportster, Dyna, Softail, Touring, V-Rod etc etc. Basically all models from the current H-D line up were there, and seeing this whole lot lined up under the sun, with all the chrome bits shining, really was a pretty evocative view. Read the rest of the article and see all the pictures after the jump.

The Art Of Custom: Wynwood Walls

As Europeans, riding in Miami on a Harley is quite an inspiring experience, although you cannot help but feel a little estranged seeing all the locals riding with no helmet on. We could actually smile when running into a long-bearded fellow H-D rider with bare chest, bandana and sun-glasses, but seeing exactly the same thing on a Ducati 848 or a Gixer (and with the girlfriend in a bikini sitting at the back) was actually a little shocking.

Once in Wynwood we parked the bikes in front of an art center where H-D had set a nice exposition focusing on the link between their motorcycles and the world of customization. Introducing us to the nuances of this relationship are some of the most important executives of the company, namely Mark-Hans Richer (Senior Vice President and Global Chief Marketing Officer for Harley-Davidson) and, especially, the legendary Willie G. Davidson.

For those into H-D things, this charismatic character needs no introduction, but to the benefit of those who aren’t, let’s just say that Willie G. - as he likes to be called - is one of the key figures in H-D history: grandson to William A. Davidson (one of the founders of the company) and son to William H. Davidson (the second president in H-D history), in 1981 he basically saved the brand from bankruptcy, leading a squad of 13 other executives who bought it back from the previous owner and led it to the worldwide success that it still enjoys today. At that time we did not know that Willie G. was about to retire (a decision that was made public a few weeks later), but we will get back to that when we’ll publish the interview we conducted with the man himself.

View Harley-Davidson in Wynwood - Art Of Custom 2012 photo gallery

Right after the meetings with H-D big boys, we got introduced to David “Lebo” Le Batard, a famed local artist who is also responsable for the exposition that emphasizes the bond between Harley Davidson and art. And, by extension, the custom world. Lebo is one of the street artists that 20 years ago was at the forefront of the artistic revolution that turned Wynwood from a dodgy and disreputable neighborhood (as he described it) into the modern, bohemian area full of art centers, studios and museums it is today. Just to put that into the right perspective, graffitism was illegal there two decades ago, while now the local administration encourages it by offering the various buildings of the area to the artists, as ‘empty canvas’.

Lebo also explained the evident relationship linking art and customization, two forms of expression meant to underline the creativity and personality of the individual. One perfect example of this relationship is the collection of customized H-D tanks on display at the center, some of which were decorated by Lebo himself. He spent quite some time introducing us to each and every piece, that you can also admire in our dedicated photo gallery.

The rest of the day is dedicated to the pictures, and we have to say that H-D and Wynwood Walls surely makes for a perfect match (as you can see in the shots). Then it is time for a quick visit to downtown Miami for more pictures, but there is not much time to linger on that as the following day we are supposed to go to Key West, the most southern island of the Florida Keys and home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States. Program says departure is scheduled at 6:30 am, so we better get some rest.

View the full 2012 Art of Custom speakers photo gallery
View the full Harely-Davidson - Wynwood fuel tanks photo gallery

From Miami Beach to Key West

Miami Beach looks and sounds pretty quiet on early mornings: just a handful of bathers and a couple of panda cars can be spotted on the white sand of its gorgeous beach while something like thirty dedicated bikers are heading toward an impressive row of glossy and untarnished Harley-Davidson motorcycles, once again lined up under the hot Florida sun. As previously pointed out, the destination of our trip is Key West, the last island of the Florida Keys that is roughly 270 km away from Miami (about 168 miles) and can be reached through the Overseas Highway, the lower parts of the U.S. Route 1 that connects all of the islands making up the Florida Keys and then goes up for 3,800 km (2,360 miles) reaching the Canadian border.

Getting out of Miami early in the morning - and with little traffic - gives us the chance to better appreciate the beauty of this city, which offers tall skyscrapers (usually white), palms, and an unbelievable sea that couldn’t get any more blue than that. Getting around Miami in order to reach its south side also allowed us to take a look at the American life away from the big city lights, while we could not help but notice how many of the vehicles we met on our way are basically either rare or pretty unknown in Europe. The first refuelling stop happened in Key Biscayne: in Florida petrol is priced at about 3.50-3.60 $ per gallon, which is approximately 0.75 € per litre, and hearing an American member of the H-D staff complaining about the recent rises (”which have crippled the local economy”) just brings a smile on our faces.

As its name suggests, the Overseas Highway is actually a long motorway suspended over the sea that every now and then bumps into the occasional little island with its own little town. We got split in two groups - to make the whole thing easier to handle and less of a hassle for the other motorists - and told to follow a powerful Harley-Davidson Touring Electra Glide Classic ridden by a member of the H-D crew, who will make sure that nobody will speed up. Another two members of the crew close the group, ready to help whoever will lose ground or get lost.

Riding with the sea on both sides it’s a pretty unusual experience, but the fact that the Overseas Highway is basically a neverending straight (as well as the strict speed limits) did not allow us to really test the various models that we rode. On the other hand though, this is exactly the kind of habitat for which these machines were designed in the first place: just the fact that our road-trip was so long helped us to better understand some of H-D key features: comfort is always there, thanks to a riding position that is absolutely ergonomic and not tiring, the saddle feels great and the bike (any of them) is as reactive as this kind of conditions require.

Last but not least, there’s also that H-D magic, that is made of pride, history and that trademark sound that comes out of its iconic V-Twins: more than once we got greeted on the streets by the bypassers, and at almost every traffic light we could see somebody picking up his mobile or camera to take a pic of our noisy parade, not to mention all the other Harley-Davidson riders we met on our way to Key West, who never failed to show us some sign of approval. What’s really interesting about this is that Harley-Davidson riders really are a motley bunch: we saw long haired, tattoed machos and hot blondes, old bald fatties and fine, athletic youngsters, the demographics of the H-D enthusiasts are so variegated that it would be pointless to associate this brand to a certain limited category of people. And this fact alone says a lot about how much Harley-Davidson is entrenched in the American culture.

Key West is a cheerful and quiet holiday resort that is just perfect to get some rest after a four-hour long ride (not consecutive, of course). Surrounded by a jaw-dropping sea and dotted with plenty of palm-trees, with amazing white beaches and a warm weather throughout the whole year, we can now understand what spurred Ernest Hemingway to make it his home place for so many years. After lunch, a visit to the famous Key West Buoy (that marks the most southern place in the US) is simply mandatory: thinking that from there Cuba is just 90 miles away is kind of odd, but we have no time to think too much about that as we would like to make it back to Miami by the sunset.

View the full Harley-Davidson in Key West - Art Of Custom 2012 photo gallery
View the full H-D on the way to Key West - Art Of Custom 2012

By the time we got there to sun was already gone, but that wasn’t too bad as driving by night in a very illuminated Miami turned out to be one of the highlights of the day. After so much straight you just cannot help but feel a little bored, but the slightly twisty motorways around Miami made for a nice change of pace. Once we recognized the surroundings and figured out how to make it back to the hotel, the time to leave the Electra Glide behind had finally come: it was time to try some proper acceleration, some chicane, something similar to a leanig angle and so forth. Not much perhaps, but enough to get our much desevred happy ending.

We would like to thank the whole Harley-Davidson staff of the 2012 Art of Custom.

Dorna and Sky Italia have signed a new deal that will see MotoGP broadcasted exclusively by Sky in 2014, giving Mediaset the finger after 10 years of broadcasting and making MotoGP the fifth most watched sport in Italy, while broadcasting not only all three races but also all the three classes free practice and qualifying sessions, and all for free.

Apparently only eight out of the eighteen races on the calendar will be televised free-to-air by Sky, while the others will be pay for view in one of their multiple and costly sports packages, but if Sky is expecting to see a rush of those 4 to 5 million odd viewers that currently watch MotoGP on Mediaset to become new subscribers they can forget, because it isn’t going to happen, at least judging from the very strong reactions from Italians on various blogs and websites that we’ve checked out following the press release.

Sky Italy at the present has between 5 to 5.5 million subscribers, and with the current economic climate in the country, with a growing recession, rising unemployment, spending cuts, massive tax hikes not only from the state but also from the regions and provinces that is causing a rise in social unrest and suicides, no one wants to pull out extra cash just to watch MotoGP, especially not to watch processional races where the outcome is more or less decided after a couple of laps and not even to watch Valentino Rossi, especially a lagging one. To think that Carmelo Ezpeleta not so long ago had stated that he prefered that MotoGP be broadcasted free-to-air to give the championship a larger viewing audience, but that evidently was before the global economic crisis.

What will be MotoGPs loss will be World Superbikes gain, as Mediaset has turned around and just signed a three-year contract (2013-2015) acquiring the broadcasting rights to the popular and highly battled championship, that will with no doubt see a large increase in viewing audiences. WSBK is currently being aired by the smaller LA7 (owned by Telecom Italy) and they currently average between 1.1 to 1.5 million viewers per race weekend, but this is also due to the fact that their digital terrestial TV signal doesn’t reach every home in the country, while Berlusconi’s TV channels reaches everyone.

As usual, in the wake of a major event, we present a huge collection of pics coming from paddock, pits, podium and everywhere else where you can see some action even if the bikes are not moving, and the 5th round of the World Superbike Championship held in Donington Park last weekend makes no exception. As usual, another gallery featuring some of the nicest hostesses attending the race is also in the works, so stay tuned..

Luckily it looks like the beginning of 2012 racing season is the year of motorcycle saves, because after Ivan Silva’s massive save at Estoril and Jakub Kornfeil’s at Jerez we can head across the ocean to a catch a big eyeful of AMA Pro Supersport rider Genki Hagata’s highside save at Sears Point from his onboard rear camera.

Hagata has now officially been added to our own personal list videos of ‘how in the hell did he save that’ riders.

Source | asphaltandrubber.com

Following the big online success that Valentino Rossi and Dainese had last December where over 5000 fans submitted questions to the former World Champion, Monster Energy has decided to repeat the idea and will have Rossi answering fans’ questions during a special live broadcast on motogp.com, which will be hosted by MotoGP commentator and After the Flag host Gavin Emmett

You can send your questions via twitter using the #AskValentino hashtag or at Facebook.com/MonsterEnergy.

Rossi will be answering questions live on the eve of the Le Mans GP on Thursday 17 May and you’ll be able to follow the interview exclusively on motogp.com via a free video stream at 18:45 local time.

Back in 2010 at the Indianapolis GP, GPTech entered Jason DiSalvo as wild card in Moto2 with a FTR M210, and DiSalvo finished in a highly respectable 9th place, two years later GPTech has obtained another wildcard entry, but this time it will be in MotoGP, with a CRT machine.

Their CRT will have BCL Motorsports aluminum frame and as Vesrah Suzuki/MCJ Motorsports is their technical partner on the project, the GPTech bike will house a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 engine.

The project has been in the works since January, but they’ve kept quiet until they received an okay from Dorna. The newly formed team has yet to announce who will be riding the first MotoGP CRT bike with a Suzuki engine.

“The new CRT rules have allowed us the freedom to develop a complete program that is worthy of being on the Moto GP grid. A big thanks goes out to everyone behind the scenes helping!” said GPtech owner Geoff Maloney. While Mark Junge, owner Vesrah Suzuki/MCJ Motorsports said, “Being able to develop a Suzuki GSXR 1000 engine under the CRT rules of MotoGP is a huge opportunity and I look forward to building a competitive engine package.”

This will be the second MotoGP CRT wild card entry, as Attack Performance has already announced they’ll be entering Steve Rapp on CRT bike with a CNC chassis and Kawasaki ZX-10R engine and they’ll be doing both US races.

Source | roadracingworld.com

Replacing injured John Hopkins in Fixi Crescent Suzuki has cost Peter Hickman his ride with British Superbike team MSS Bathams Kawasaki.

The Kawasaki team had issued a previous statement reporting that they did not release their rider to compete in the World Superbike event despite Fixi Suzuki’s team manager Jack Valentine’s saying otherwise, “I would like to thank the MSS BSB team for allowing him to ride this weekend.”

Apparently Hickman decided to personally take the opportunity of riding at an international level and seeing Hickman on a Suzuki (and a former BSB rivals bike at that) pissed Kawasaki off enough to send Hickman packing.

“Following his decision to ride a rival manufacturer’s machine at the Donington Park World Superbike event, Peter Hickman has breached his agreement with MSS Bathams Kawasaki. Neither the team nor Kawasaki Motors UK agreed to release the rider and the decision has been made to dispense with his services with immediate effect

MSS team manager Nick Morgan also added, “I have always believed that an agreement - whether in written form or even a handshake between two parties - is binding and, in my opinion, implies a high degree of mutual respect, in breaking this, we regard our agreement as void. We will now actively look for a replacement rider to compete alongside Michael Rutter to continue to give the Ninja ZX-10R good results and exposure. As a team we wish Peter every success for the future.”

Hickman scored a DNF and a 9th place yesterday at Donington and Suzuki’s Paul Denning had this reaction on Twitter when he heard about Hickman losing his ride, “MSS firing Hickman is a joke - how can you get fired from a job that doesn’t pay you a single penny and for which you have no contract??”

It is still unknown whether John Hopkins will recover enough from his Monza injuries to compete in the upcoming round at Miller Motorsports as he tweeted a couple of hours ago, “The condition of the Hip is unfortunately quite serious but further test results will determine just how serious ! More news to come soon..” and if Hopper isn’t fit enough, Fixi Suzuki already has a rider free from any binding contracts.

We hope nobody missed out on the incredible show that the World Superbike guys delivered yesterday in front of a delighted British crowd: the boys surely did not pull any punches and both races were absolutely amazing. The battle raged on till the very last corner, and here is a massive collection of pictures taken right on the spot in Donington Park to help us recalling those unforgettable moments. We just cannot wait for the next round in Utah.

Valentino Rossi has always been tipped to finish his racing career in World Superbikes and the former World champion has always followed the ‘other’ championship with close interest and almost every year rides down from Tavullia (and causing a small ruckus) to see the Superbike round at Misano.

The Italian yesterday commented Race 2 at Donington via Twitter and said “Che razza di gara la Superbike!Che bagarre,bravi tutti,peccato per le BMW all’ultima curva.” (What a Superbike race! What a battle, everyone is so good, too bad about the BMWs at the last turn) but it was his next tweet that will have Carmelo Ezpeleta who has been trying to spice up MotoGP groaning and all racing fans agreeing on “Purtroppo le nostre gare sono diventate molto più noiose” (Unfortunately our races have become much more boring) however after realizing that he personally started even more speculation on his upcoming future, he had to backpedal and tweeted “Ma,detto questo,io voglio correre in MotoGp per altri anni.ci vorrebbe solo un po’ più di bagarre,ecco tutto (Having said this, I want to race in MotoGP for several more years. We just need more battles that’s all).

The Flammini brothers, Maurizo and Paolo who run the Superbike championship are still hoping that Rossi gets bored out of his mind and that not having any results in MotoGP will make him make the switch sooner than later.

Source | valeyellow46@twitter.com

How popular is a motorcycle racer in Spain? And how much does personality and racking up wins count when it comes to selling products?

Last year, Personality Media, a marketing consultancy agency, who indicates to advertising companies which celebrity personality, in this case motorcycle racers has more clout over consumers. Last season Dani Pedrosa outscored everyone else, but this year the always fickle public has decided that Moto2 rider Marc Marquez is better giving him high scores in most of the categories, as more and more people are recognizing his name and face.

Only Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi beat him in the recognition category as Pedrosa and Lorenzo are known by 88% of the public while Rossi is at 87% (in the past he’s done a couple of commercials in Spain for Nutella) and Marquez is now at 63%, jumping a big 20% over the year.

Acccording to Personality Media, Marquez elicits more consumer confidence scoring a 7.3 out of 10 compared to Pedrosa’s 6.3, while Rossi is still popular enough to beat all the Spanish riders in the two of the fourteen categories studied and Jorge Lorenzo continues not to be very ’simpàtico’ to the Spanish public.

Source | personalitymedia.es via motogp.com

Last March it was announced that Ducati was getting rid of two of their recent family heirlooms, Casey Stoner’s GP1o and one of Valentino Rossi’s GP11s and that they would be auctioned at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco by RM Auctions, well the two bikes went under the hammer last Friday and once again Stoner’s machine beat Rossi’s machine, as the GP10 fetched more than the GP11.

The auction of the two prototypes had a lot of fine print in the contract, with a post sale confidentiality agreement and the Bologna manufacturer’s asking price was around €300,000-€350,000 each, but who bought the bikes got a pretty good deal as the GP10 was sold for around €172,430 while the GP11 went for € 168,420, not bad for two prototypes that usually cost millions in R&D to build.

Source | ducati.net

After the Monza debacle, round five of the World Superbike championship at Donington Park was just what the doctor ordered for any red blooded racing fan. Five spectacular riders battling it for the victory in both races, some hard overtaking passes, the celebration of the first ever win for a manufacturer, some costly errors and a bit of controversy to spice up an already action packed weekend.

BMW tried to lodge a protest regarding the last corner incident in Race 2 involving Jonathan Rea, Marco Melandri and Leon Haslam, but the Race Direction deemed it just some hard ‘macho’ racing and the Honda rider came away with no disqualification or penalty, so the witch hunting on who to blame can be laid to rest.

Max Biaggi continues to lead in the standings with 128,5 points despite having only victory ( race 1 at Phillip Island) followed by Tom Sykes with 123,5 points (one half points victory at Monza) and Jonathan Rea is third with 108 points. After a Assen, Monza and Donington, the slumping reigning World Champion Carlos Checa finds himself in fourth and 23 points from rival Biaggi. The Althea Ducati rider will have to pull out another double at Miller Motorsports if he wants to stay in the title hunt.

Marco Melandri (1st and DNF)

“It is an awesome feeling for me to put my name in the history books of a factory like BMW Motorrad. I could not have dreamt of this when I was young. I just want to say thank you to BMW Motorrad in Germany, to the team at the track and to everybody involved in the project. We have been working so hard and we have never been close to giving up, even when we have had some difficulties. We will keep pushing, and I am more than happy. I am disappointed with the result of the second race. I was trying to pass Leon in the final corner, although I knew it would be difficult but I am a racer and I had to try. I ran a little wide and expected Leon to pass me back – finishing second would have been ok for me. Then Leon was hit and he crashed. His bike hit me and I crashed too. I feel sorry for both of us but that’s racing. We now have to keep our heads up high and look forward to Salt Lake City where we hope to be fighting for wins again.”

Jonathan Rea (4th and 1st)

It’s nice to win and, in that second race, everybody wanted to win so bad. It was a crazy race and I made it hard work because I dropped off the group again in the middle stage and then, when I caught the group, I made a big mistake and ran wide at the last corner. To catch up with five laps to go and make up some places and then cap it off with the win was unbelievable. I was quite happy with the fourth in race one as well – the guys gave me a great bike and Chris [Pike – crew chief] and his team were on it all weekend. It’s nice to come here and get a good result because it’s never happened in the past with Superbike. I got on the podium in Supersport but this is nice for the British fans and there were quite a lot of guys out there. On the slowing-down lap everyone was clapping and it’s nice to have a British winner at a British round.

Leon Haslam (2nd and 15th)

“I had a good pace in race one. In the end, I have to say that I am kind of disappointed with the second place. I had a big wobble out of Coppers and it actually put me on the right hand side of Marco instead of the left, and he braked a bit earlier that lap. I had nowhere to go, so I opted for the gravel. It was kind of a combination of things that caught me out but fair play to Marco. A BMW 1-2 result is just fantastic. Right now I just want to forget race two. I feel a bit frustrated because I was going for my first win for BMW Motorrad – at my home round, but we were denied that well deserved victory. The crash was not my fault at all… Anyway, that’s racing, and we’re now looking forward to the next round. Hopefully we can turn things around at the next race meeting at Salt Lake City. I want to dedicate my race one result to Robert Fearnall, who was a close friend of the family.”

Tom Sykes (3rd and 3rd)

“Race one was a fantastic race, I really enjoyed it and it certainly felt like a long one as it seemed to go on for many laps. Overall I think we had a very good show, lots of passing and a little bit too much at some corners, especially at the Foggy Esses, which seemed to claim a few victims. Unfortunately we seemed to struggle at one particular part of the track and that definitely affected our race performance. Yet again we got the holeshot and led for a number of laps in race two, but I was missing a bit of feeling with the wind, which was unfortunate. I managed to stay out front but made one mistake and all the other guys came past at a rate of knots. We didn’t quite have the best setting this weekend but a pole position and two podiums are great for myself and the Kawasaki team. I had the best seat in the house for the last couple of laps of race two, but for me five minus two equals a podium so I’m very happy!”

Max Biaggi (5th and 2nd)

“Two thrilling races. In the first race I had a bit more difficulty. We were losing ground to BMW and Kawasaki coming out of the curves even though we were fast in the straight stretches. In race two things went better. I rode well and was fighting for the podium. The last few laps were just mad. With tyres worn everyone was trying to gain positions, shooting through at every braking zone. The last curve gave us second place which is an important result: now we’ll go to Miller to confirm our performance, but we need to improve on acceleration.”

Carlos Checa (6th and DNF)

“After the result of race 1, which wasn’t bad, I thought I’d be able to do more in the second. I tried to start strong and found a good position but when I got to the apex I saw Laverty in front of me and he braked suddenly, maybe there was a rider in front of him I don’t know. I did everything I could to brake, to stop the bike, but there were riders all around me and I couldn’t avoid a fall. My leg is a bit sore and a little swollen but I’m ok. I need a couple of days to get over this result and then I’ll start preparing for Miller.”

Davide Giugliano (7th and DNF)

“It’s a shame because the day had started out fairly positively. We had seen in race 1 that we had a strong pace and we were certain that we could do better in the second. I started race 2 convinced that I could be up there with the top four but unfortunately what happened at the first corner penalized me too. We have however demonstrated that we have good pace and now we go on to America, a track that I don’t know, to see what we can do there.”

Leon Camier (9th and 4th)

“I had the pace this weekend to be with the top guys and it felt good fighting and catching them today. In race one, there was a problem with the brakes and I couldn’t get into the turns the way I wanted and that prevented me from catching the guys at the front. We changed to a softer rear tyre for race two. My start was OK and if I hadn’t been held up for so long by Laverty and Guintoli I’m sure I would’ve been challenging for the podium at the end. It was a really enjoyable race and great fun catching people and passing them.”

Michel Fabrizio (10th and 13th)

“In race 2 my start was quick, maybe too quick as I got a ride-through. While I was riding into the pit-lane there was a misunderstanding with a marshal. I thought that they wanted me to stop but it was not so, and I lost 5 more useful seconds. It’s a shame about the jump-start. Without that I would have had the chance of a good race. I’m not demoralised. I will be more charged up than ever for the US round.”

Ayrton Badovini (11th and 6th)

“Race 1 started uphill after the collision at the start. That cost me a lot of time and forced me into a catch-up race. For race 2 we tried a soft front tyre but it wore out as soon as we got into the second part of the race, so I raced conservatively to get the best result possible. We come out of this weekend with a clear view of what we have to work on for Miller”.

Loris Baz (16th and 8th)

“Race two was really good, to be eighth is a result even if there were some crashes from other riders. I think it would have been about 13th or 14th without those and that is really positive for a first race. But crashes are part of racing and I took some good opportunities. If you look at my lap times I did nearly all my laps alone in front of a group and if you take off the first lap I was about 0.9 seconds from the pace of the fastest riders, like Tom, Rea or Melandri. Less than one second from the top riders in my first race at this level is pretty good.”

Eugene Laverty (15th and DNF)

“The crash was the worst possible way to end this weekend. After struggling in Race 1 with a technical problem and finishing fifteenth, in the second race I didn’t want to lose contact with the lead pack. Just as I was pushing hardest I lost the back end, demolishing my RSV4. Physically I’m fine, so all we can do is take a lesson from these problems and get back on track with the next round in America”.

Hiroshi Aoyama (17th and 10th)

It was a race track that I know and I was expecting a little bit more result. The first day we started in a good way but on the second day we could not improve in qualifying so we were 17th and missed Superpole. This was a little bit disappointing but for the race we tried to improve the set-up. Somehow, in the first race, we went in the wrong direction, so I was fighting but could not make it. In the second race, we went to the opposite set-up and it seems like this was positive and I could fight for tenth position. Also, as a team, Johnny won the race, so it was not so bad a weekend. Of course I want to be better but I have never ridden at Miller so I have to learn the racetrack but I am thinking positive.

Peter Hickman (NC and 9th)

“I had an electrical problem in race one and had to pull into the pits after just two laps. The guys fixed it and I went out again, but by then I had lost too much time to make any impact on the top 15. Fortunately there were no problems in race two and I was able to run consistently fast and chip away at the people in front of me one by one. My fastest lap was on lap 17 and I am really, really happy with how much I’ve learnt this weekend - getting ninth today was like a win for me! I would like to give huge credit to the team for building such a brilliant bike and working so hard to help me this weekend and I would also like to say a big thank you to everybody at FIXI Crescent Suzuki for giving me this chance.”

Race 2 at Donington Park has left BMW seething and calling for Jonathan Rea to be disqualified after he took his second victory of the season with final corner pile-up, as the Honda rider collided with Haslam causing a domino effect which also wiped out Melandri.

It was a thrilling race with a lot of hard overtaking between the same riders who starred in Race 1, Tom Sykes, Max Biaggi, Leon Haslam, Marco Melandri, but it was on the last lap that changed the final and unexpected outcome of the race.

Leon Haslam was leading into the final corner, when Melandri in a last desperate thrust tried to dive up the inside of his BMW team-mate, only to run wide which let Haslam turn into the corner only to find Rea taking advantage of the small gap, the two made contact with Haslam getting the worst of it crashing down and sliding he wiped out Melandri, and the two BMW riders ended up spitting dust and grass and a lot of anger just a few yards from the finish line, Haslam managed to re-start his bike and finish 15th.

Rea survived the close encounter inheriting the 1st place, with Max Biaggi and Tom Sykes taking second and third.

Leon Camier was fourth followed by Sylvain Guintoli who had lonely ride to fifth while Ayrton Badovini, Chaz Davies, Loris Baz Peter Hickman and Hiroshi Aoyama completed the top ten.

It was another day to forget for Althea Racing who saw Carlos Checa attempt a pass on the Eugene Laverty (who would later have a spectacular crash at the Craners) at the beginning of the first lap and clipped him and in the contact wiped out Effenbert Liberty’s Jakub Smrz and his own team mate Davide Giugliano. Checa is now down fourth in the championship.

WSBK Donington Race 2 results:

01- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – 23 laps in 34’31.847
02- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.508
03- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.029
04- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 4.245
05- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 6.595
06- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 17.469
07- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 17.788
08- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 21.093
09- Peter Hickman – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 21.866
10- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 22.620
11- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 26.764
12- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 27.043
13- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 28.390
14- Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 56.618
15- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 1’20.196

It took BMW three years and couple of crew changes and a former MotoGP rider by the name of Marco Melandri to give the German manufacturer their first ever win in World Superbikes.

As expected it was a tight race 1 at Donington Park with the four front row starters, Tom Sykes, Marco Melandri, Leon Haslam, Max Biaggi battling it over the race distance and never losing touch only to have Jonathan Rea enter the fray in the final exciting paint swapping laps.

Sykes was on pole, but Haslam went on out side to overtake the Kawasaki rider at the first corner, but the Huddersfield man wrestled back the lead, after an error by Haslam with the BMW duo still hot on his tail with Biaggi taking the rear of the fleeing group and Rea more than second arears after battling it out with Carlos Checa.

The race would turn into a double battle, Sykes vs Haslam and Melandri vs Biaggi with the riders exchanging passes until first Haslam and then Biaggi - almost simultaneously - overcooked it at the Foggy’s running off track giving Melandri the lead and 1.8 second breathing space until the finish line. BMW team mate Haslam came in second after he struggled to get past Sykes after his error at Foggy’s, but he managed to take to regain the spot at the Hairpin and hold on to it, while Sykes finished in third after leading a big part of the race.

A hard charging Rea was fourth after he got the better of Biaggi on the final lap, when the Aprilia rider went wide and snuck out from behind him. Reigning champion Carlos Checa after a very prudent start pushed up to sixth after having had to battle not only with Rea but also with Sylvain Guintoli who then faded to 8th. Checa’s Althea team-mate Davide Guigliano came home in 7th, with Fixi Suzuki’s Leon Camier in ninth and clearly suffering Michel Fabrizio rounded out the top ten with his GoldBet BMW.

WSBK Donington Race 1 results:

1. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34′26.736
2. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 34′27.464
3. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 34′28.345
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 34′28.555
5. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34′28.838
6. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 34′31.556
7. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 34′34.256
8. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34′34.663
9. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 34′41.880
10. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 34′42.801
11. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 34′46.541
12. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34′46.906
13. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 34′48.010
14. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 34′48.253
15. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 34′53.656
16. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 35′01.761
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 35′05.929
18. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 35′09.070
19. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 35′10.290
NC. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 35′50.353
NC. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 35′17.985
RT. Gary Mason (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 22′08.892
RT. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 

Tom Sykes took his fourth Superpole of the season at Donington Park, while Leon Haslam was right behind him and they were the only two riders to go under the 1.28 barrier, but in tomorrow’s races - if it stays dry - and on race tires it will be a very close battle and we actually might see a factory BMW on the top podium for the first time.

Here’s what some of the riders had to say after today’s Superpole session:

Tom Sykes - 1st

“I am looking forward to tomorrow and we can use any rear tyre. It is just a matter of how we feel, what the conditions are and we will take it from there. The track here feels bumpier this year, some of the white lines are greasy, and it feels like more of a challenge. At the start of the weekend we had quite a harsh feeling with the set-up on the bike but we have improved it. You have to get every last bit out of the motorcycle. I was missing a bit of feeling but we kept working in Superpole 1 and 2, making some very small changes and finally in Superpole 3 those changes made all the difference. Small things make a difference at this level. I’m confident with the race set-up and hopefully we can have some good consistent weather to put on a good show for spectators. It was also nice to get the pole award from Roger Burnett who scored the first ever SBK pole right here at Donington. Twenty-five years on it’s happened to me!”

Leon Haslam - 2nd

“I am really happy to be on the front row at my home race! A big thank you to my team. In Superpole 1, we had a small issue with the bike. After fixing that, we put on a qualifying tyre. Then in Superpole 2, I clocked a new best lap on race tyres and was on P1. In Superpole 3, we decided to use the qualifying tyre right at the end, but Tom was quicker. He keeps going and getting his pole positions! In general, the race tyres were working really well, but we were struggling a bit with the qualifying tyres. The times are very close and I think it is going to be an exciting race. There are a lot of riders who can be fast and for sure racing is always close at Donington. We have been working quite hard on race set-up and are pretty consistent. Now we have to see what the weather does but at the moment I’m pretty happy. ”

Marco Melandri - 3rd

“I am very happy. The team and the people back at the BMW Motorrad factory did a great job. To be on the front row again in a dry Superpole here at Donington, a completely different track to Monza, is very important for us. It is great to be back after the issues we had yesterday. Today, I was happy with the race tyre and I felt good. I kept the qualifying tyres for the last Superpole but unfortunately they were not working perfectly; I had some chattering with them although the time was not too bad. Thank you to my team for the good work they did. Now I am looking forward to tomorrow. I will try to be on the podium.”

Max Biaggi - 4th

“Compared to Friday we have definitely improved, but there is still something missing because we are still struggling too hard to get everything to fall into place. The others are ahead of us. They’ve demonstrated speed on the fast lap and good race pace again today. In order to keep up with them we need better management of the bike which will allow me to be quicker and more consistent right from the start: if we want to be in it to the end, we cannot afford to lose contact with the front runners.”

Jonathan Rea - 6th

Firstly, we achieved our target which was to make Superpole 3, and the bike’s still working really well. I’m having some problems with the wheelie control on the straights and some aggressive power. We’ll try to smooth that off for tomorrow but, at the moment, the race looks a little strange because everyone’s found a little bit of pace with the softer tyre, which is quite fast. We’ve had one looking pretty good after some distance and one looking terrible so we need to evaluate the risk to go with that one, or run with the harder tyre, which is a lot slower, but we know it’ll complete the race in good shape. The bike’s working a lot better than last year so we’re definitely making progress with the CBR and the whole team is working well.

Leon Camier - 7th

“That was pretty close to getting our first front-row start of the year and I am a little disappointed that I didn’t quite manage it. It’s been good to put in a decent number of laps and because of that we’ve been able to improve the bike and the electronics. I did a long stint on a hard tyre and set some good and consistent lap times. Although the front row of the grid would’ve been great, as long as I make good starts, I expect to be mixing it with the leaders going into turn one.”

Carlos Checa - 9th

“We had tried the qualifying tyre at the start of the second Superpole phase but when I saw that I needed to go out again, I opted for the race tyre. I thought I’d be able to make a low 1m28. I gave it all I had but it seemed like I didn’t have the same level of grip that I had had in the morning, and I couldn’t do quite enough. Anyway, it went like that and tomorrow I’ll need to make a really strong start.”

Eugene Laverty - 12th

“We struggled once again in Superpole. We had some difficulties in all the sessions, but in the last free practice we made significant progress with some changes to the bike’s set-up. Unfortunately the soft qualifier caused some annoying chattering that created quite a few problems for me. We’ll start from the third row, but I’m encouraged by the fact that I’ve got a good race pace even after the tyre starts to wear,” he said.

Davide Giugliano - 13th

“In the morning things were going ok but then in Superpole, with the race tyre, I wasn’t able to put together a lap like I had been doing in the morning. Perhaps I was a little on edge, I don’t know, but it’s a shame because I missed out on phase two by just a tenth of a second. We need to make a strong start tomorrow, which won’t be easy from the fourth row but I’ll do my best.”

Hiroshi Aoyama - 17th

This morning we weren’t able to improve and the time between me and Berger was very close but, unfortunately, he made it to Superpole and I did not, so I am very disappointed. We have problems in quite a lot of areas, which I hope we can improve for tomorrow’s races. It’s a pity because we started with quite a good feeling on the first day, but today the others kept improving and we were not able to. I can’t push in the areas I want to and it’s quite difficult to pass other riders here, but I’ll do my best in the races and see what happens.

Loris Baz - 18th

“I think things have gone quite well so far and step by step I have been learning the bike. It took some time to get a good feeling on the Superbike, especially from the front, but I found it today. Qualifying went well, I think. I was 18th and only 1.5 seconds from the fastest lap after combined qualifying, so I think that is really good for my first time at a race on the bike. In the final free session I matched my fastest time from the morning qualifying session and then we put on a harder rear tyre, but I crashed in the last corner. That is a shame as I feel I could have improved my best time again in that session. I have no objective for raceday, if I finish 20th I will be happy and if I finish 15th or better I will be really happy!”

Peter Hickman - 19th

“Of course I am disappointed not to get into Superpole, but I always knew it would be a tough ask. I am still learning how the FIXI Crescent Suzuki behaves and each time I get on it my experience grows. I’m really happy with everything and I’m looking forward to racing against the top guys in the Championship. I generally make good starts, so I will do my best tomorrow to make up some places early on and see what happens as the race progresses.”

Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes has taken his fourth Superpole the season at Donington Park (what is he going to do with all those Tissot watches?) after Sylvain Guintoli broke his run at Monza.

The Huddersfield man stopped the clock in the third stint in 1.27.716 and broke Carlos Checa’s previous hold on the fastest lap record (2011) by three tenths of a second, while Leon Haslam maintained his second spot he came very close to giving BMW their first ever Superpole as he was less than a tenth of second from the Kawasaki rider.

Marco Melandri will be on the front row in third with his BMW performing better on race tires than on qualifiers, which happened to several riders. Max Biaggi managed to push out Silvain Guintoli from fourth in the final seconds of the session, but he’s suffering in the final two sectors of the track.

Next to Effenbert Liberty’s Guintoli will be Jonathan Rea who bettered his FP2 time by only three tenths, but it was enough to put him on the second row in sixth. Leon Camier took 7th in his best qualifying session so far this season, and since Donington doesn’t have super long straights his less powerful Fixi Suzuki isn’t losing in top speed.

Jakub Smrz who shone all weekend long ended up in 8th and one second from Sykes, he’ll have to fix that final sector which slowed him down during the final stint. For the first time in a year, Carlos Checa didn’t make it into SP3 and was 9th - his problem seemed to be at the Foggy Esses and he ran out of qualifying tires in the two previous stints, so he posted his best time on race tires which wasn’t enough to qualify on the two front rows.

Closing out the top ten was GoldBet’s BMW Ayrton Badovini ahead of team mate Michel Fabrizio who suffered a crash earlier in the day due to weakness in his arm (he underwent surgery before the start of the season) that came back with a vengeance with the cold temperatures at the English circuit, while Eugene Laverty was only 12th

WSBK Donington Superpole results:

1. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′27.716
2. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′27.864
3. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′28.177
4. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′28.340
5. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′28.420
6. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′28.546
7. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′28.551
8. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1′28.785
9. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′28.497
10. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′28.614
11. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′28.683
12. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′29.032
13. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′29.236
14. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1′29.319
15. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′29.371
16. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′29.493
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′30.008
18. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′30.237
19. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′30.296
20. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′30.402
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′31.102
22. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′31.540
23. Gary Mason (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′33.103

The last time that Provec Racing (Kawasaki Superbike team) released a health update on Joan Lascorz was about fifteen days ago when they reported that the Spaniard who suffered a serious spinal injury (fractured 6th vertebra) during the post race test at Imola had left the Vall d’Hebron Intensive Care Trauma Unit and had been transferred to the spinal lesion ward and was waiting to be transferred to the Guttmann Institute to being his long rehabilitation.

The team has issued a new statement which says that the doctors have removed his tracheostomy tube as he is breathing on his own and that Lascorz is fully conscious and can talk with no problems and that he remembers everything about his crash at Imola - which will be in due time analyzed and explained publicly.

Joan has regained feeling and mobility in his arms and hands, however at the present has none in his abdomen or legs but when he’s transferred to the Guttmann Institute (on Monday May 14th) his spinal injury will be re-evalutated by his new doctors and therapists to program the recovery plan.

The team and family also thanked the doctors and nurses of the Vall d’Hebron hospital for the dedication and attention and all those who have been supporting then up to now, and thanking fellow riders Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam who mentioned Joan during the Monza podium ceremony, and also Lorenzo, Espargaro e Marquez and all the riders who supported Joan with their stickers in last week’s MotoGP race, and saying it was expecially moving seeing Espargaro and Marquez fight for the victory in Portugal with the banner “Animo Joan” on their fairings.

Source | motocuatro.com

This afternoon’s World Superbike second free practice at Donington Park saw Jonathan Rea pip Carlos Checa by just 0.049s to take the top of the timesheets in his last flying lap and the two were the only ones to dip under the 1.29 barrier in another very tight session.

Taking third was Leon Haslam with his factory BMW who finished ahead of Effenbert’s Jakub Smrz who has shone all weekend so far. Tom Sykes was ‘only’ fifth after being foiled on his last flying lap by Pedercini’s substitute rider Gary Mason with the Kawasaki rider having to run off track to avoid hitting him.

Marco Melandri was sixth, followed by Leon Camier and Aprilia’s Max Biaggi, while Sylvain Guintoli made a jump forward to 9th and was just a little more than three tenths from Rea. Eugene Laverty also made raced down the charts to 10th with a little less than half a second from the top of the timesheet.

Despite the stable weather - which means it itsn’t raining - Ayrton Badovini and Loris Baz both suffered crashes during the session, which will make Badovini’s mechanics work over time to order to prepare his BMW for Superpole.

WSBK Donington FP2 Results:

01- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – 1’28.856
02- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.049
03- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.235
04- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.283
05- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.288
06- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.292
07- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.297
08- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.338
09- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.347
10- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.476
11- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.614
12- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.723
13- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 0.857
14- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.871
15- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.338
16- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 1.527
17- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.576
18- Peter Hickman – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.634
19- Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.826
20- Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 2.108
21- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 3.145
22- Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.411
23- Gary Mason – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.825

Even if yet has to be officialized, it looks like India is set to become the next country to host MotoGP next season and they could also become the season opener with the championship to start in March.

Sameer Gaur, managing director and chief executive officer of Jaypee Sports who runs the International Buddh International Circuit, besides hosting F1 he also wants to add a round of the World Superbike championship in the very near future.

“We want to accommodate all of these races, but India has only five months of good weather (October-March) when they can be held,” said Gaur.

Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has already broadly hinted that India is going to be the next circuit on the MotoGP calendar and that the season should start earlier. MotoGP has opened later over these last few years mainly to avoid the dew and dampness that the Losail circuit suffers during the night race.

The photo above is Jorge Lorenzo who lapped the 5140 meter Buddh circuit last January as part of a Yamaha promotional tour.

Source | bikeracing.it

Paolo “Tex” Tesio is an Italian car designer who got started with his career in 1995 and has always shown a taste for high performance motorbikes. Today we are going to talk about his Ms4R concept, a project that rose from the ashes of a previous 2004 concept code-named S2-Braida that entered a Ducati design competition a few years back. When Mr. Tesio replaced hid old Ducati Monster (still with carburettors) with a ‘03 S4R, he felt that something has to be done in order to update the old model, that became irreparably ‘old’ as soon as the new one came out.

First off, it had to lose weight and become more ‘compact’, more streamlined and more aggressive too, as it also had to live up to its menacing name. So enter the QD ex-Box exhaust system, a small underbelly end-can which freed the tail of the model from its standard and bulky mufflers and gave it a decidedly more modern outlook. The obsolete head lamp of the original model had to go as well in favour of one lifted from the Ducati MH 900, smaller and more modern, which got embedded closer to the body in between the forks. The instrumentation cluster moves closer to the yoke, while the handlebars got replaced as well.

However, the real icing on the cake here is that pair of fork covers: designed to not interfere with the actual work of the front suspension, these original covers (sporting the glorious Ducati logo of the 80s) provide the model with an extra oomph that surely set the MS4R apart from most Monster’s renditions out there. We think that this model is actually quite fascinating, and Tex says that if the response will be good enough, he might actually put this kit into production. To find out more about this designer and his work, check his facebook page out.

View the full Ducati Monster MS4R by Paolo Tesio photo gallery

It was still pretty cold at Donington Park for the second qualifying practice ahead of this afternoon’s Superpole and Jakub Smrz once again showed his love for the British track by taking the top spot again. The Effenbert Liberty rider posted the fastest lap in 1.280.740, bettering his yesterday’s Qp1 top lap time by almost half a second.

Coming in second and just a little more than a tenth of second adrift was Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes with Carlos Checa right on his tail - despite complaints of not being able to turn his Ducati in certain sectors of the track. BMW factory riders Leon Haslam and Marco Melandri were fourth and fifth respectively - evidently Melandri’s machine is no longer nervous, while Leon Camier continues to show his strong form by taking the sixth position.

GoldBet’s Michel Fabrizio was seventh despite a crash at the Melbourne Hairpin followed by Jonathan Rea none the worse following his two crashes yesterday. Chaz Davies qualified in 9th and outpaced Aprilia factory rider Max Biaggi by a whisker.

Also making it into Superpole will be Davide Giugliano, Sylvain Guintoli, Ayrton Badovini, Eugene Laverty who yesterday had trouble with the crosswinds, Niccolò Canepa and Maxime Berger, making it sixteen riders in 1.2 seconds.

Hiroshi Aoyama was 17th and has never qualified for a Superpole session so far this season, while Kawasaki replacement rider Loris Baz was 18th. John Hopkin’s replacement Peter Hickman took the 19th spot on his debut with the Suzuki machine. The British rider seems to have done a big no-no, as his BSB team MSS Bathams Kawasaki is very pissed off with him, as it seems that they didn’t give him permission to ride for Fixi Suzuki this weekend (and he is wearing his green and black Kawasaki leathers as he didn’t have time to have a new set made up)

WSBK Donington QP2 results:

1. Jakub Smrz (Liberty Racing Team Effenbert) Ducati 1098R 1′28.740
2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′28.877
3. Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′28.935
4. Leon Haslam (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′29.011
5. Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad Motorsport) BMW S1000 RR 1′29.028
6. Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′29.101
7. Michel Fabrizio (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′29.280
8. Jonathan Rea (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′29.305
9. Chaz Davies (ParkinGO MTC Racing) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′29.310
10. Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′29.313
11. Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′29.354
12. Sylvain Guintoli (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′29.411
13. Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet) BMW S1000 RR 1′29.557
14. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1′29.696
15. Niccolò Canepa (Red Devils Roma) Ducati 1098R 1′29.746
16. Maxime Berger (Team Effenbert Liberty Racing) Ducati 1098R 1′29.950
17. Hiroshi Aoyama (Honda World Superbike Team) Honda CBR1000RR 1′30.008
18. Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′30.237
19. Peter Hickman (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) Suzuki GSX-R1000 1′30.296
20. Lorenzo Zanetti (PATA Racing Team) Ducati 1098R 1′30.402
21. Mark Aitchison (Grillini Progea Superbike Team) BMW S1000 RR 1′31.102
22. Leandro Mercado (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′31.540
23. Gary Mason (Team Pedercini) Kawasaki ZX-10R 1′33.103

Since it first appeared at the end of 2011, we all got mesmerized by the jaw-dropping beauty of the new Ducati 1199 Panigale, the new flagship model from the legendary Italian manufacturer. In order to emphasize its fascinating lines, USA’s biggest Ducati dealership MotoCorsa has come up with a set of pretty arty pictures featuring the beautiful Panigale with an equally gorgeous model, whose name remains unfortunately undisclosed. Excellent set of pics though, check them out.

View the full seDUCATIve 1199 Panigale photo gallery

via | MotoCorsa.com

No doubt Liberty Racing’s sponsor Effenbert will be happy that in this afternoon’s first qualifying practice at Donington Park was lead by Jakub Smrz. The Czech rider in the final minutes of the session upped his game and posted a best lap of 1.29.336 that left Jonathan Rea (check out his crash sequence from this morning over at Motoblog.it) in second and just 0.057s adrift, but the Honda rider suffered another crash at the Foggy Esses that ruled him out of another chance of bettering himself.

Lap times dropped considerably from this morning with Carlos Checa racing up to 3rd after this morning’s 11th spot and spill and he was followed by two Leon’s, Haslam and Camier who provisionally qualified fourth and fifth respectively. This morning’s leader Tom Sykes dropped to sixth, but he was just 0.383s from Smrz.

Michel Fabrizio finished in seventh with Aprilia’s Max Biaggi right behind him. Two other Italian’s closed out the top ten, Davide Giugliano and Ayrton Badovini on their Ducati and BMW machines. The GoldBet rider also suffered an a crash in the session

Marco Melandri finished 11th after an error on his last flying lap dropped him out of the top ten and he was the last rider to be within a second from Smrz, while Eugene Laverty was only 16th.

WSBK Donington Park QP1 Results:

01- Jakub Smrz – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – 1’29.336
02- Jonathan Rea – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 0.058
03- Carlos Checa – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.171
04- Leon Haslam – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.268
05- Leon Camier – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 0.278
06- Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 0.383
07- Michel Fabrizio – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.582
08- Max Biaggi – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 0.637
09- Davide Giugliano – Althea Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.641
10- Ayrton Badovini – BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet – BMW S1000RR – + 0.650
11- Sylvain Guintoli – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 0.889
12- Marco Melandri – BMW Motorrad Motorsport – BMW S1000RR – + 0.909
13- Chaz Davies – ParkinGO MTC Racing – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.056
14- Hiroshi Aoyama – Honda World Superbike Team – Honda CBR 1000RR – + 1.186
15- Maxime Berger – Team Effenbert Liberty Racing – Ducati 1198 – + 1.203
16- Eugene Laverty – Aprilia Racing Team – Aprilia RSV4 Factory – + 1.241
17- Peter Hickman – FIXI Crescent Suzuki – Suzuki GSX-R 1000 – + 1.568
18- Lorenzo Zanetti – PATA Racing Team – Ducati 1198 – + 1.699
19- Niccolò Canepa – Red Devils Roma – Ducati 1198 – + 1.863
20- Loris Baz – Kawasaki Racing Team – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 2.289
21- Mark Aitchison – Grillini Progea Superbike Team – BMW S1000RR – + 2.667
22- Leandro Mercado – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 3.470
23- Gary Mason – Team Pedercini – Kawasaki ZX-10R – + 4.748