SC1 compound slicks come to low-displacement racers
Source: MotorCyclistOnline.com
Motivation still high for Malaysian talent despite enduring difficulties.
Image: Supplied.
Hafizh Syahrin admits he’s ‘still quite slow’ after day two of MotoGP testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, continuing his transition to the Austrian manufacturer with Red Bull KTM Tech3.
The Malaysian local was 25th on the timesheets on Thursday, 2.962s off from pace-setter Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing), who was half a second clear of the field.
Syahrin is aiming for improvements in today’s final outing, expressing his motivation isn’t lacking despite not gathering the results he’s after.
“To be honest, I’m still quite slow at the moment and far from the top, especially because Maverick improved in the end,” Syahrin commented. “But now I start to understand many things when I was on the track. When I followed some riders like my teammate Miguel and also Pol Espargaro and Mika Kallio I tried to understand how they can do such good turning.
“Now we found out where the point is and we’ll improve it for the last day tomorrow. I keep my motivation and work hard and also try to give my best for my team.”
Sepang’s test will wrap up this evening as one more test is scheduled at Losail International Circuit in Qatar on 23 February.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Current Australian women’s champion fundraising for season-opener.
Image: Foremost Media.
Reigning Australian women’s motocross champion Meghan Rutledge will make a return to the FIM Women’s Motocross World Championship (WMX) at Valkenswaard’s MXGP of The Netherlands.
Rutledge previously contested the series in 2013 and 2014, finishing up with vice champion honours on both occasions before a thumb injury derailed her career during the 2015 season.
With the support of Kawasaki Europe and BUD Racing, the three-time Australian champion will target round one of the WMX, with hopes of a strong performance resulting in an invite to complete the five-stop series.
“It all came around randomly and unexpectedly,” Rutledge admitted to MotoOnline.com.au. “I had no intentions of going back to Europe – obviously I raced there in 2013 and 2014. During 2015 I suffered a pretty intense injury to my thumb, which pretty much put me out of competitive racing for three years.
“The start of 2018 was the first year I stepped onto a bike rode pain free, thanks to my local doctor. That brought my love for the sport back, and last year was a super successful year for me.
“I went down to Thredbo mountain bike riding during the off-season, and my partner Aaron said ‘why don’t we try and get back over there?’ – I just laughed at him and thought ‘like that’s going to happen’. I sent an email to just see what happens, and no more than a week later, I had an email from Kawasaki Europe that BUD Racing would take me on for round one of the world championship.”
The number 66 has been running multiple fundraising campaigns to assist with the associated costs of travelling to the 31 March event, which can be accessed through her Facebook page.
“The biggest thing that people don’t understand is that I don’t get any financial support,” she added. “I work five days a week as a personal trainer to cover my costs to go racing. I’ve had negative and positive comments from the fundraisers, but literally every cent made from them goes into racing.
“The first round itself is going to cost me pretty close to $10,000 to get over there. I actually just sold my car to fund this trip, so I’m without a car, but I’ve done what I’ve needed to do to give myself one last chance to show what I’ve got.”
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
Multi-time world champion satisfied with Thursday results.
Image: Supplied.
Valentino Rossi has uncovered a performance boost on day two of Sepang’s official MotoGP World Championship test in Malaysia, ultimately winding up sixth on the timesheets.
The upgraded YZR-M1 powerplant has been a key focus of the new-look Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team, which has evidently played out positively with a satisfied nine-time world champion.
With new components still to be rolled out during today’s final outing, the popular Italian is optimistic in the final result he’ll extract from the first pre-season test.
“We continued to work because we had some other items to improve and also today was not so bad,” Rossi explained. “We found something that improved the performance and I think we did a good job.
“At the end my pace was always quite strong. So, it was a quite positive second day and we still have something to test tomorrow. We will try to continue to work and we’ll see what our situation is like at the end of the three days.”
Rossi’s teammate Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) topped the times on day two, clocking up a lap that was half a second faster than Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Australian Jack Miller (Pramac Racing).
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
The offender who strung wire at neck height across a Queensland forestry trail to “trap” riders faces a three-year jail sentence if caught.
Gympie trail rider Ben Bird, 25, says he could have been decapitated if he was riding any faster when he hit the wire in Amamoor State Forest earlier this week.
Luckily Ben was only travelling about 15km/h when he hit the wire trap.
“Normally in that spot of the track it’s a flat straight. I could be going up to 60 to 70km/h there,” he says.
“The wire had been tied in a slip knot so when you hit it, it pulls tighter.”
The offender who set the wire “man trap” could face up to three years in jail.
Queensland Police are investigating with the Department of Environment and Science as the offence took place in a state forest.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Science says they take public safety matters in national parks and state forests “extremely seriously”.
“Rangers work closely with QPS to patrol national parks and any instances of dangerous and illegal behaviour will be dealt with,” she says.
“It is an offence under the Forestry Regulations to do something that interferes with the health and safety of a person.”
It is also an offence under the Criminal Code 1899 – Section 327, namely “setting mantraps”, with a maximum sentence of three years.
Police are appealing for anyone with information on the offence to contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24 hours a day.
Motorcyclists have long been vulnerable to “man traps” such as rope or wire strung across a road, and oil or tacks strewn on the road surface.
Sometimes it is done by misguided and angry residents trying to slow down or deter riders in their area.
The last time we heard of a similar incident was in December 2015 when a Perth rider hit a rope strung across a forest trail.
Lawson Mills, 19, believed it was set by “skylarking teenagers”.
Luckily the rope was not tied off at both ends, although he still suffered severe rope burns on the neck.
Other cases involve a Sunshine Coast farmer throwing oil on a road to stop speeding riders and tacks deliberately thrown on a Brisbane road shoulder to puncture the tyres of riders. (Edge or shoulder filtering is legal in Queensland only.)
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Italian extracts positives from physically demanding day.
Image: Supplied.
Completing two race distance stints on day two of MotoGP testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia has offered Danilo Petrucci answers on his set-up and fitness.
The Mission Winnow Ducati Team newcomer lodged a total of 65 laps, setting the ninth fastest lap-time behind reigning world champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team).
Despite a setback during proceedings, the Italian ace believes many positives were extracted from the second day of three in the official test, even though he didn’t lap a time in the lead group of the classification.
“It’s been a very intense day from a physical standpoint, because we clocked a lot of laps and we even rode over the race distance in two consecutive runs during the hottest hours,” Petrucci commented. “I have to say we gathered a positive feedback, both from a technical and physical standpoint, and the team did an excellent job.
“A small setback prevented us from further improving our lap times, but the rankings are certainly not our priority at this point of the year. Compared with yesterday, we’ve been a lot more competitive with higher temperatures, which makes me really confident ahead of tomorrow.”
The second day of testing was mastered by Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), who was half a second fast than Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Australian Jack Miller (Pramac Racing).
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Reigning world champion to sport traditional number 61 this season.
Image: Supplied.
Words: Adam Wheeler
MX2 world champion Jorge Prado reached the ripe age of 18 last week but is already talking like a seasoned grand prix pro as he vies to become KTM’s third double title winner since the inception of the MX2 class in 2004.
Prado is working under the tutelage and guidance of Tony Cairoli, Claudio De Carli and his staff in the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team for the second year in a row and for his third as an official KTM athlete.
Even though his championship campaign involved impressive consistency with 17 podiums and 12 wins, rapier starts and uncatchable speed in the opening laps of motos, Prado insists he is still ‘in progress’.
“I’m working hard to improve and make the right steps,” said Prado. “I’m training hard again and the big difference is this time I don’t have to handle an injury so I can be better prepared. 2018 was tough at the start and hopefully I can be more careful up until the start of the world championship.
“To be better in every way – that’s the job. I can get faster and I can be stronger, especially physically. Then it is about working on the small things. I made mistakes last year.”
Prado has only just become old enough to vote and hold a driver’s licence, but is now charged with leading KTM’s effort in a category they have dominated and with the class-leading 250 SX-F technology.
“KTM is always looking for a better bike,” he commented on the development programme for 2019 and a task that technical co-ordinator Dirk Gruebel admitted would be ‘difficult to make big steps’. “Last year it was already on a high level so to improve is tricky but the factory and the team are working hard.
“I basically used the same suspension all through last season, and the power of the bike was good but there are small details to be able to improve more.”
Prado lifted his FIM gold medal at the final round of 2018 in Imola. He admitted that the week after the Italian race and around the ’18 Motocross of Nations was ‘crazy’, but the thoughts of 2019 swiftly enabled the fuss and distraction of realising a lifetime dream to subside.
The rider from Galicia will not run the coveted number one in 2019. Amazingly he doesn’t feel worthy of the plate. “I’m going to stick with the number 61 because I think I don’t quite deserve the number one,” he candidly admitted. “I think the big ‘one’ is for the very best in motocross and that’s not me – it’s for the guy in the next category, the highest category.
“One day when, if, I can manage it in MXGP then I’ll change! I don’t have any official merchandise yet so it is not a big problem for me to have another number, but even so many people now know me with the 61.”
Prado is currently testing and training in Sardinia ahead of planned pre-season races in the 2019 Italian motocross championship.
Source: MotoOnline.com.au
Repsol Honda rider completes just 37 laps on day two of testing.
Image: Supplied.
Marc Marquez’s recently repaired shoulder hindered his track time on day two of three in the 2019 MotoGP World Championship test at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
The reigning champion, who set the fastest time on day one, mustered up the eighth quickest lap on Thursday after only completing 37 laps due to difficulties with his shoulder.
Marquez routinely completed over 90 laps per test day last season, with yesterday’s lighter load an intended measure to ensure he can take to the track in today’s final day of testing.
“Today we worked much the same as yesterday and tried a few new things, the most important ones for Honda,” Marquez explained. “I started the day well but then the shoulder started to get a bit worse so we stopped to be able to run well again tomorrow.
“I can’t ride exactly how I’d want, normally I’m a rider who brakes very late and deep but I can’t do that at the moment and have to brake earlier and smoother. In regards to the bike, we’ve been working mostly on corner exit but sometimes at this circuit the grip can change a lot.”
Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) topped the timesheets on day two by over half a second, as Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Australian Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) closed out the top three.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Rins second again as Australia’s Miller charges to third in Malaysia.
Image: Supplied.
Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) got within just 0.067s of Jorge Lorenzo’s fastest ever lap of Sepang on day two of MotoGP testing, with the 1m58.830s set by Lorenzo last season – although not an official lap record – now surely under threat on day three.
Vinales had been hovering in third for much of the latter part of the day and left his vie at record breaking late as the final few minutes saw time attacks light up the timesheets.
More than three tenths up before the final sector, the Spaniard eventually crossed the line 0.527s ahead of nearest rival Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), setting both a supreme lap and a serious benchmark.
That built on a positive first day on the timesheets for Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP and Valentino Rossi in sixth added to the good vibes. The veteran Italian did 51 laps and was only two tenths off second, although the distance to his teammate stretched out from there.
The Iwata marque confirmed they have a busy agenda, with different winglets and chassis items on the menu. Happy with progress since November, Team Director Massimo Meregalli says the biggest focus from Sepang is the last part of the corner and specifically, acceleration.
Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli ended the day in P14 and P15 respectively – and the Frenchman had a 2019 bike as he made that key step forward. They both did 58 laps.
Alex Rins was the man who lost his top spot to Vinales after seeming set to end the day fastest, but the Spaniard’s 1m59.424s was nevertheless an incredible lap-time and he did 61 laps on Thursday. Team Manager Davide Brivio said it’s going well and they have different swingarms, new aerodynamics with both riders and some different combinations.
The Italian said their focus is fitting together the ‘puzzle’ correctly for the first race, and the timesheets seem to bode well for Rins despite the Hamamatsu factory losing their concessions in 2019. Rookie teammate Joan Mir ended the day in P21 after 64 laps.
On Rins’ tail was the fastest Ducati on day two and once again it was an Independent Team rider – this time Jack Miller (Pramac Racing). The Australian was a late mover like those above him and was only a tenth off Rins by the end of play, putting in 49 laps.
Just behind him came Andrea Dovizioso, who was the fastest Mission Winnow Ducati and looked set to top the day’s action until the late flurry of fast laps saw him pushed down to fourth. Initially the number 04 was working on frames, and team manager Davide Tardozzi confirmed that teammate Danilo Petrucci was focused on finding a better connection between the throttle and the rear tyre – working on the electronics and engine.
Roles were then reversed, and Tardozzi also confirmed the Borgo Panigale factory also had some work on aero planned. That’s expected tomorrow. Today, it was two red machines in tandem as the two were on track together on some longer runs in the afternoon, with Petrucci saying he has ‘more to learn’ than his teammate and ending the day in ninth.
Tito Rabat (Reale Avintia Racing) pipped him on his GP18 to end Thursday in P7, with Francesco Bagnaia fastest rookie in P12 for Alma Pramac Racing. Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) put in a good showing on Thursday to take fifth overall and end the day as fastest Honda. The Brit is returning from a badly broken ankle sustained at Phillip Island last season but managed 53 laps to end the session within just 0.004s of Dovizioso. He also suffered a crash.
Next up for Honda was eighth placed Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team), who downed tools early once again and put in 37 laps on day two – although some of those were a longer run in the afternoon. The team confirmed they’re on schedule despite the lighter lap load for the reigning champion, too – with Marquez routinely having done over 90 laps per test day last season – and were working on the new bike, new engine and electronics, with a lot to get through including some different fairings.
Crutchlow’s teammate Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) took P10 after 60 laps, with Stefan Bradl (Honda Test Team) taking P16 after 59 laps. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing saw some tables turned on day two as Johann Zarco ended the day as fastest Austrian machine for the first time since his switch to the marque.
He said he outstripped his expected progress for the day and it made him smile to dip below the two minute mark for the first time, and he ended the day in P11 after 58 laps. Teammate Pol Espargaro was P17 and just over three tenths off the Frenchman. KTM test rider Mika Kallio was a couple of places back, and just pipped Red Bull KTM Tech 3 rookie Miguel Oliveira. Malaysian Hafizh Syahrin had a tougher day, outside the top 20.
Aprilia Racing Team Gresini, meanwhile, had a race simulation fairly early on day two for Aleix Espargaro as Andrea Iannone remained focused on adaptation. Bike balance, electronics and torque control were a focus for the Noale factory. Espargaro ended the day in P13 after 54 laps, Iannone in P18 after 39. Romano Albesiano, Technical Manager, also confirmed that it’s not just the immediate future the marque are working towards, with plans made to make some big changes in testing in order to set up some more radical development later in the season.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
If you’ve ever been a witness at a motorcycle crash scene you may have noticed that medics (ambulance officers and paramedics) do not seem to be in any rush.
I was at the scene of a crash on Abercrombie Rd near Obern, NSW, and several riders were anxious and expressed concern because the first responders did not seem to be in any hurry.
Some other riders have also complained that nurses and hospital staff are sometimes flippant about injured riders who “drain their resources”. Read about the concerns of a safety expert.
It’s not because medics believe all motorcyclists have a death wish and don’t deserve immediate attention.
There are several very good reasons for the calm and almost painstakingly slow attitude of first responders at a crash scene.
Most American cop shows depict medics rushing to a crash scene, but that is not how it is in real life.
If you are ever at a motorcycle accident scene, the best advice is to stay clam, keep others calm and let the professionals do their job.
Click here to find out what you should do after a minor motorcycle crash.
Michael Beak from First Bike on the Scene crash scene training says he believes that if he rushes at a crash scene “people could think things are a lot worse than they may be” .
“One of our first priorities is to bring calm to chaos,” he says.
“Some of my more experienced colleagues and I even like to crack jokes with patients (where appropriate of course) and some think we are not talking it seriously,” he says.
“But personally if I were a patient and the para was cracking jokes with me it would reassure me I’m not about to die.”
Michael is an Army Reserve Combat Paramedic of 10 years, operational paramedic for 25 years, has been teaching first aid for almost 30 years and is a Public Information Officer with the Rural Fire Service. He’s also a VFR750F rider!
“My advice to any first-care provider is to be slow and methodical,” he says.
“I apply the old saying ‘slow is smooth and smooth is fast’. It works for riding motorcycles and it works for attending a crash scene.”
Michael says it is a common misbelief that paramedics attend traumatic cases every shift.
“So sometimes when they arrive on scene and appear to be slow off the mark, they may be just taking a breath, having a ‘mental cigarette’, taking in the scene and working out the best plan of attack before just blundering in,” he says.
“To the observer, it may appear that we are not rushing to crashed riders, but we are doing a rapid scene size-up on arrival.”
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com