The SSR knockoff versus the real deal Honda
Source: MotorCyclistOnline.com
This has been a really positive test and we have been able to analyse a lot of items and changing things in the bike to see exactly what the track requests. This track is so unique because of the energy and load we put into the rear tyre, because of those fourth and fifth gear corners. Now we have a lot of data but unfortunately today there were a lot of red flags and we were not able to complete a long run or maximise a time attack. So this has been a huge data gathering two day test and it will prove very valuable for race weekend. With three races this year we need to be clever with the timetable and Sunday will be very a tight day for many reasons. The racing itself, trying to take on board food and – being in a factory team – the media commitments. So Sunday will be busy. From a racing point of view, I am quite happy. http://jonathan-rea.com/news/positive-final-test-rea
Source: Jonathan Rea On Facebook
Alvaro Bautista has used the power and poise of the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, and a hefty dose of skill and bravery, to top every session of the two-day official World Superbike pre-season test at Phillip Island this week.
Come conclusion of the afternoon session on Day 2, there was five riders under the lap record in an impressive turn of events, while some problems with tyres had been noted, with blistering occurring.
The new Ducati was also fastest through the speed traps by a considerable margin. That might cause organisers to question their recently released RPM limits for season 2019. If a single brand of machine looks to have much of an advantage these limits will be reduced further during the season, as has happened to Kawasaki in recent seasons due to their domination of the class.
The new BMW will start season 2019 with a 14,900 rpm limit while the Kawasaki will be pegged to 14,600 rpm. The new Ducati Panigale V4 R will start with a 16,350 rpm limit, but with both Bautista and Davies clocking by far the fastest speeds during this Phillip Island test, one would expect that the Ducati rev limit to be reduced in due course…
Somewhat curiously BMW’s Tom Sykes and Markus Reiterberger are amongst the slowest bikes in the field through the speed trap. One would imagine that lack of top end speed would stem from poor drive off turn 12, and thus a deficit of rear grip from their current set-up with the new bike, with Tom Sykes claiming he’s still got a standard engine in their current test machines, and has given him inspiration for when the bike’s fully spec’d.
It is early days yet with the new bike though and the lap-times are already quite encouraging, for Sykes in particular, who completed the final session of the day in second place, after putting in a 1’30.539 late in the session.
Many of the fastest times over the two days were set this morning, despite a few red flags because of Cape Barren Geese on circuit. This afternoon though there was wind, along with a few fine sprinkles of rain from time to time, with only a late push by Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam propelling them up the charts into second and third respectively, while Rea shaved his best time down to 1’30.722, a 0.038s improvement and retaining the number four position. Bautista also noted that he was going for race distance this afternoon, rather than outright fastest time.
Yamaha have looked strong across the two days with Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes quick out of the box on Monday, but it was Marco Melandri that ended up quickest overall for the tuning fork brand on a GRT Yamaha.
The weather this afternoon put dampers on any sort of time attack from Jonathan Rea to gain bragging rights but he has been right there across both days, and on race pace it would be a brave man to bet against him, especially after he shaved down his time in the afternoon session. Leon Haslam also looks to be adapting to the WorldSBK spec’ ZX-10RR well and is in the hunt, coming in just ahead of Rea on the sheets.
The new Althea Moriwaki Honda squad will, I think, be mainly satisfied with the pace of Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari at this early stage of the game. The pair have started behind the eight-ball as the new look team did not have bikes ready for the earlier test sessions this year, thus it was the first real hit-out for the team and their riders.
Troy Herfoss had a disastrous day one with teething problems on the freshly built Penrite Honda on Monday but did make some headway this morning and at least now has a direction to follow. Herfoss though is yet to match the times he did here a few weeks ago on his lesser spec’ ASBK Superbike. Their eager anticipation towards this wildcard appearance may have waned a little on the back of their problems this week.
| Thursday 21 February 2019 | ||||||
| Time | Duration | Category | Schedule | |||
| 9:00 | 10:00 | 1:00 | World SSP | Riders Briefing | ||
| 10:00 | FIM Track Safety Inspection | |||||
| 10:00 | 11:30 | 1:30 | All Riders | Riders Track Familiarization | ||
| 12:00 | 13:00 | 1:00 | Safety Car Test | Track closed | ||
| 13:50 | 14:20 | 0:30 | Aus SS 300 | Free Practice 1 | ||
| 14:25 | 14:55 | 0:30 | Aus SS | Free Practice 1 | ||
| 15:00 | 15:30 | 0:30 | Australian Sup | Free Practice 1 | ||
| 15:40 | 15:50 | 0:10 | Parade Laps | Black Dog Ride | ||
| 14:30 | 15:30 | 1:00 | WorldSBK | Riders Briefing | ||
| 16:00 | 17:00 | 1:00 | WorldSBK | Official Photo | Start/Finish Straight | |
| 16:00 | 17:00 | 1:00 | WorldSSP | Technical/Sporting Checks | Pit Garages | |
| 17:00 | 18:00 | 1:00 | WorldSSP | Official Photo | Start/Finish Straight | |
| 17:00 | 18:00 | 1:00 | WorldSBK | Technical/Sporting Checks | Pit Garages | |
| 18:00 | All 1st Time Riders | Riders Briefing | ||||
| TBC | All Classes | Tyre Stickers Distribution | Technical Bay | |||
| Friday 22 February 2019 | ||||||
| Time | Duration | Category | Schedule | |||
| 8:30 | 8:40 | 0:10 | Timekeeping | Racing Track System Test | ||
| 9:10 | 9:25 | 0:15 | Aus SS | Free Practice 2 | ||
| 9:30 | 9:45 | 0:15 | Aus SBK | Free Practice 2 | ||
| 9:50 | FIM Medical Inspection | |||||
| 10:00 | FIM Track Inspection | |||||
| 10:30 | 11:20 | 0:50 | WorldSBK | Free Practice 1 | ||
| 11:30 | 12:15 | 0:45 | WorldSSP | Free Practice 1 | ||
| 12:25 | 12:55 | 0:30 | Pit Walk 1 | |||
| 13:15 | 13:30 | 0:15 | Aus SS 300 | Free Practice 2 | ||
| 13:35 | 13:50 | 0:15 | Aus SBK | Qualifying | ||
| 13:55 | 14:10 | 0:15 | Aus SS | Qualifying | ||
| 14:15 | 14:30 | 0:15 | Aus SS300 | Qualifying | ||
| 15:00 | 15:50 | 0:50 | WorldSBK | Free Practice 2 | ||
| 16:00 | 16:45 | 0:45 | WorldSSP | Free Practice 2 | ||
| Saturday 23 February 2019 | ||||||
| Time | Duration | Category | Schedule | |||
| 8:15 | 8:25 | 0:10 | Timekeeping | Racing Track System Test | ||
| 8:45 | 9:15 | 0:30 | Australian SSP | Race 1 | 10 Laps | |
| 9:20 | FIM Medical Inspection | |||||
| 9:30 | FIM Track Inspection | |||||
| 10:00 | 10:20 | 0:20 | WorldSBK | Free Practice 3 | ||
| 10:35 | 10:55 | 0:20 | WorldSSP | Free Practice 3 | ||
| 11:05 | 11:25 | 0:20 | Aus SS 300 | Race 1 | 8 Laps – | |
| 11:30 | 12:00 | 0:30 | Aus SBK | Race 1 | 12 Laps | |
| 12:15 | 12:40 | 0:25 | WorldSBK | Tissot Superpole | ||
| 12:55 | 13:20 | 0:25 | WorldSSP | Tissot Superpole | ||
| 13:40 | 14:10 | 0:30 | Pit Walk 2 & Safety Car Laps | |||
| 15:00 | WorldSBK | RACE 1 | 22 Laps | Pit Opens: 14:40 | ||
| 16:15 | 16:45 | 0:30 | Aus SBK | Race 2 | 12 Laps | |
| 16:50 | 17:10 | 0:20 | Aus SS 300 | Race 2 | 8 Laps | |
| 17:15 | 17:45 | 0:30 | Aus SSP | Race 2 | 10 Laps | |
| Sunday 24 February 2019 | ||||||
| Time | Duration | Category | Schedule | |||
| 7:45 | 7:55 | 0:10 | Timekeeping | Racing Track System Test | ||
| 8:15 | 8:45 | 0:30 | Aus SSP | Race 3 | 10 Laps | |
| 8:50 | FIM Medical Inspection | |||||
| 9:00 | FIM Track Inspection | |||||
| 09:30 | 09:45 | 0:15 | WorldSBK | Warm Up | ||
| 09:55 | 10:10 | 0:15 | WorldSSP | Warm Up | ||
| 10:30 | 11:00 | 0:30 | Aus SBK | Race 3 | 12 Laps | |
| 11:05 | 11:35 | 0:30 | Pit Walk 3 & Safety Car Laps | |||
| 12:00 | WorldSBK | S-pole Race | 10 Laps | Pit Opens: 11:45 | ||
| 13:15 | WorldSSP | Race | 18 Laps | Pit Opens: 13:00 | ||
| 15:00 | WorldSBK | Race 2 | 22 Laps | Pit Opens: 14:40 | ||
| 16:15 | 16:35 | 0:20 | Aus SS 300 | Race 3 | 8 laps | |
| 1 Lap 4,445 km | Issued: 28 November 2018 13:00h |
Source: MCNews.com.au
Sykes and Haslam round the top three as Herfoss finishes 19th.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) stormed to the top of the timesheets again on Tuesday at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit with a best lap of 1m30.303s, a whole 0.440s faster than his best from the previous day and nearly half a second quicker than four-time world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who was fourth fastest at the Aussie racetrack.
Tuesday morning saw kinder winds and warmer conditions than the opening day of FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) testing. Despite this, the bar that Ducati’s Spaniard had set on Monday remained unsurpassed by all but three riders.
Bautista has emerged as the early and clear frontrunner for the opening race of the WorldSBK, and it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, can match the hairsplitting pace he’s put on display here.
Nonetheless, six more men did manage to set sub 1m31s laps, with second-placed Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and fifth-placed Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) split by two tenths of a second.
In between them in fourth sat Jonathan Rea, who had previously topped nearly every pre-season testing session in 2018 and 2019. No one will be disregarding the reigning world champion any time soon however. It bears repeating that Rea is still on an 11-race winning streak and when he is on his game there are few, if any riders capable of going the distance with the four-time champion.
But for now, the gap between the two men has been striking – just in the first Tuesday session, Bautista recorded seven laps faster than Rea’s then best of 1m30.761s.
Testing is much more than setting fast lap times however, and there was again much work to be done on Tuesday in Australia. Rea’s teammate Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made great strides on the ZX-10RR, putting in more laps (74) than anyone out on track.
he Englishman’s base setup is very similar to the reigning champion’s, with Haslam’s crew now focused on tweaking it to his own style. It seems to be working well, as a late flurry of times pushed the 35-year-old above Rea on the timesheets.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) meanwhile managed to cut down his best lap time from Monday by a full second, as he continues to find his feet on the Panigale V4 R, although the Welshman was still nearly 1.5s behind his teammate’s pace.
2018 double Aussie winner Marco Melandri closed Tuesday as fifth best after hard work was put in to the front of his Yamaha YZF-R1. With an optimal setup now in place, attention veered towards finetuning in the afternoon. Ditto for the rookie Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), eighth at Phillip Island.
A big midday crash down turn one and a late tumble across turn four for Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) were the main setbacks on Tuesday for the Crescent Racing squad. Neither the Brit – ninth – nor Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) – seventh – were far off the pace, however, with their attention focused on finding a good balance for the always treacherous Aussie track.
A series of red flags in the morning hindered many a race simulation around the paddock, but it was still a good day’s work for the BMW Motorrad squad as both Sykes and Markus Reiterberger – struggling yesterday with a small shoulder injury – tested different chassis solutions, with both men meeting expectations.
A tricky opening day for Moriwaki Althea Honda Team led to improved performances on Tuesday, as they fight against the clock to find a good base setup for Phillip Island. Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Team) crept into the top 10 throughout most of the day with a best lap of 1m31.443s, eventually falling to 13th,, while Ryuichi Kiyonari ended in 15th position.
A late fastest lap pushed Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) up to a fantastic sixth in the Tuesday standings. The Turkish starlet is still going through the 2019 updates on the ZX-10RR, as was the case for Jordi Torres and Team Pedercini Racing, while Tati Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) focused on improving tyre preservation.
Steps forward were also taken by Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team), although the former suffered a technical problem close to the end of session one. Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) and wildcard Troy Herfoss (Penrite Honda Racing) closed the timesheets.
More to come on WorldSSP.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Riders may soon have peace of mind their helmet is safe to use after a drop or crash, thanks to a new invention that uses a laser to scan your helmet.
The Helmet Doctors who developed the device now want to know if riders would pay $40 for the safety scanning service?
You can take part in their quick 10-question online survey by clicking here.
Early feedback on the poll shows strong support for a helmet scan service.
However, some riders have expressed concern that authorities could make such scanning services compulsory.
The Helmet Doctors is a family venture founded by Brayden Robinson and his father, Scott, of the Sunshine Coast.
“We grew up with the kids and me riding motocross and we would often see kids crash then continue to use their helmets which appeared to be unscathed,” Scott says.
“When Brayden was hospitalised with a fractured skull, we were shocked to see how good the helmet still looked.
“So we started looking for a better way to assure helmets are still in a safe condition after a crash.”
This led Scott and Brayden to invent a helmet laser-scanning technique with the help of a Belgian lab who primarily work in aeronautical and spatial technologies.
This Belgian experimental science lab develops, operates and makes solutions to improve the design, mechanical strength and durability, under a vibratory environment, of equipment and structures.
Scott and Brayden did extensive research and development with this Belgian company and with the help of the Composites Research Group in the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at The University of Queensland.
The father-and-son team investigated sound waves, x-rays and other non-destructive testing techniques.
“We found this laser scanning technique can categorically guarantee that, if there is any damage to the helmet’s outer shell, our technique will identify it.
“It’s ground-breaking, proven science.”
The Helmet Doctors have a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application that allows them to enter their patent application into any of 152 jurisdictions by 23 June 2020. At present the application has been examined by the international PCT body and all but one claim has been found to be novel over identified existing technology .
The Helmet Doctors are keen to turn this into a commercial venture.
Scott says very few riders know exactly when to replace their helmet.
But what if you drop it or have a crash?
“We have all heard how if you drop your helmet once you should replace it. But very few do this,” Scott says.
“No one knows how much impact a composite helmet can tolerate before the shell is critically weakened.
“Composite materials have many layers and tiny fibres that can be damaged in a fall.
“The impact energy is dispersed among the fibres and away from the brain which it is designed to do.
“This is why a dropped helmet may still look ok.
“However, the impact could have led to a small crack or splintering which you can’t see with the naked eye.
“Our device can view, read and record the helmet 100,000 times better than the naked eye and find if there are any cracks, splintering or deformations which would make the helmet defective and unable to withstand another impact.”
The Helmet Doctors plan to test their service first in South East Queensland.
Riders would take their helmet to a participating motorcycle dealer where they would leave it and pick it up a few days later.
The helmet would be sent to the nearest scanner depot where it would be scanned, assessed and returned.
Scott says the Federal Government is considering some funding for the safety service but needs to know if it would be well received by riders, racers and the motorcycle industry.
“As you could imagine this experimental laser camera is very expensive, but our goal is to make this service accessible and cheap enough for everyone to use it,” Scott says.
If the project is successful, they hope to extend the service to other states and overseas.
If you have a few minutes, click here to take this short 10-question survey and help the Helmet Doctors.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Factory Kawasaki pilot crashes out of podium contention.
Image: Supplied.
Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac has described his night at Arlington’s seventh round of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship as a tough pill to swallow.
The number three immediately hit the lead in the main event, presenting himself with the perfect opportunity for victory, however just a number of laps in he was overcome by Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) before going down, relegating him down the order.
Remounting, the two-time Pro Motocross champion Tomac was able to comeback to 12th behind Australia’s Chad Reed (JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing), demoting him to fourth in the standings while increasing the gap of the championship leaders.
“Tonight is a tough pill to swallow,” Tomac declared. “I know the team and I expect better results but I am grateful to be leaving Dallas healthy and without injury, especially after my tip over in the main. This is part of racing, some things are out of my control and other things are completely manageable as well as fixable.
“We’ll get back to work this week and work on those things as we head into the halfway point of the season. I still have a lot left in me and I plan on proving that, starting next week in Detroit.”
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Cooper Webb captured his fourth win of the season to secure the points lead, stealing the win from Roczen by just a slender 0.028s.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
Fan-favourite winds up 11th at the seventh round in Texas.
Image: Supplied.
Chad Reed has expressed his disappointment in finishing 11th at the weekend’s seventh stop of the 2019 Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship in Arlington, Texas.
The JGRMX Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing rider had put together a string of improving top 10 performances in recent weeks, however the Australian fan-favourite admittedly didn’t have the pace to contend with the front-runners on Saturday.
Reed, a two-time AMA Supercross champion, now sits ninth in the points standings as the series heads to Detroit this weekend for round eight of the 17-stop tour.
“It was a tough weekend,” Reed stated. “The speed wasn’t there for some reason – I’m disappointed in my performance. I know that I’m better than 11th place. We will work on some things this week and then hopefully come out swinging in Detroit.”
Arlington’s thriller was taken out by new points leader Cooper Webb (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who made a pass on Ken Roczen (Team Honda HRC) in the final turn to secure victory by a mere0.028s.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
British contender still aiming for improvements with factory CBR1000RR SP2.
Image: Russell Colvin.
Leon Camier is still seeking a ‘definitive step’ of progress in his set-up after taking to Phillip Island’s test for the first time in an official capacity with the all-new Moriwaki Althea Honda Team.
The outfit, which launched at the weekend in a presentation hosted near Phillip Island, has completed private tests in Asia this year, with the Australian test this week marking the first time it’s been amongst the entire FIM Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) field.
Camier wound up 11th on the combined timehsheets on day one of testing, piloting his Honda CBR1000RR SP2 to a best-lap of 1m32.459s.
“There are a few aspects of bike setup that we need to improve, but we were already aware of this and know where we need to work,” said Camier. “I definitely think we have chance to make progress here, though maybe not that definitive step we are looking for.
“We need to bear in mind that it is all new for us and we have no references for this bike at this track. We’ve taken some good steps today in terms of the electronics, but we have room for improvement in this area too. We will now analyse the data we collected during today’s sessions and then see what we can do tomorrow.”
The opening day of testing was topped by WorldSBK newcomer Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), with the today signifying the last chance for improvements ahead this weekend’s season-opener.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
The lack of parking bays in most cities is causing some rude riders to squeeze their bike or scooter between parked bikes like in the photo above.
In areas where the individual bays are not marked with white paint, it is just rude. But in those delineated bays, the rider straddling the line could face a council fine and even a police fine.
We’ve checked around the streets of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and the biggest offenders seem to be riders on small bikes and cheap scooters.
They don’t mind if their machine gets a bit scratched. They also don’t seem to care if they scratch another rider’s expensive pride and joy.
Adelaide rider Duncan Haller, who sent us the above photo, says it’s not only rude and illegal, but makes it difficult for him to mount his Honda CBR500RR.
“Thanks to a slightly bung hip, without the room to swing my leg freely from the correct position I find it hard to get on the bike, and certainly painful when I can’t move my hip in the correct way,” he says.
“Add to that the number of times my mirrors are knocked out of position by parking-bay splitters.
“Here in Adelaide the council have in the past couple of years provided a number of new motorcycle and scooter parking places, including on Victoria Square, Hindmarsh Square and in a number of the side streets.
“With a bit of searching, I’ve never had an issue even if I have to go a little further out than planned.
“Personally, I think it’s inconsiderate and bad manners.”
Duncan says he usually prefers designated parking bays, but says when he parks in the unmarked area on Victoria Square “99% of my fellow riders are considerate and leave room”.
“It seems to be the same minority of repeat offenders.”
Illegally parked bikes and scooters are never ticketed, he says.
“I’m not one to go reporting stuff to the Council, however I’m becoming tempted.”
But it may not be worth his effort.
An Adelaide City Council spokesman tells us the fine is only $50.
“However, we would usually issue a warning to scooters because sometimes people will move the small scooters out of the space so they can use the space themselves,” the council spokesman says.
Adelaide City Council acknowledges that motorcycles are a “space-saving, convenient and lower-cost alternative to private cars, and are well-suited to the city landscape”.
“They play an important role in supporting Adelaide’s liveability by reducing traffic congestion and travel time for all road users,” they say on their website.
Adelaide CBD and in North Adelaide have more than 1000 free on-street parking spaces with no time limit.
Riders can also park free in 140 spaces on eight designated footpaths.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
American Rodbell wins main support package alongside Prutti.
Image: Supplied.
KSF Suzuki Racing has confirmed its line-up for the 2019 Pirelli MX Nationals after hosting a selection event and trials process at the beginning of the year, indicating it will support three riders in different capacities.
Victor of the competition, which is set to be aired as a mini-series titled Thirty 5 Drop, American Justin Rodbell, will receive a paid ride in the premier class alongside complete support for John Prutti, while the team has also extended its assistance to Western Australian Jayden Rykers, who’ll graduate to the MX1 class with backing from Suzuki and local dealership Byrners.
Utilising an elimination model documented in a reality TV style production, a two-day selection event saw participating riders analysed by a number of specialists and professionals before being shortlisted to a dozen applicants, with the final evaluation taking place in the following weeks, consisting of rigorous physical, mental and skills testing.
“Throughout the trials, we looked at our criteria which included speed, endurance, fitness, mental approach, interaction and social interaction within the team,” explained KSF Suzuki Racing’s Scott Fischer. “We selected the riders, Justin Rodbell and John Prutti. We were looking for something different than to just pick up anybody who was on the market, and we did approach a few riders, but they decided they didn’t want to ride outdoors.
“We’ll field a MX1 team only this year, and we’re proud run Suzuki again this year as KSF Suzuki Racing, but we’ve also teamed up with MXstore, and we have a bit of a different concept with them that no one else has done – we’ll represent MXstore and the brands they sell, as opposed to running one brand.
“Both riders are fully supported by us, and Rodbell will receive a wage on top of that, but the support for Prutti and Rodbell is exactly the same – it’s all the gear, all the bikes, all the engine work, transport, accomodation, entries – it costs them zero to go racing, and on top of that, they have the Suzuki contingency program.
“We’re also backing Jayden Rykers, who has a deal with dealership Byrners Suzuki, and we’ll support him in MX1. He has support from Suzuki and the dealer, and we’ll assist with everything else to keep him in the sport.”
A platform for Thirty 5 Drop series is currently being shopped around, with hopes of being broadcasted both domestically and internationally. Round one of the Pirelli MX Nationals is scheduled for 17 March at Appin in New South Wales.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au