Sunday, June 21, 2009

Rossi Replica YZF-R125


2009 Rossi Replica Yamaha YZF-R125

2009 Rossi Replica yamaha YZF-R125

Fans of the MotoGP champion will be thrilled to hear about the launching of the new 125cc sportbike. The smaller brother of the R1 and R6 features the official Team yamaha graphics and specs, as well as Rossi’s well-know 46 race number and Doctor logo.

Actually, the replica paintscheme is the only difference over the standard bike.The design of the new YZF-R125 Team yamaha Race Replica was highly influenced by the racetrack, featuring striking blue and white paint and graphics to match Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP bike.

MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing, and multiple World Champion Valentino Rossi is one of the sport’s biggest names, so the Rossi replica 125 cc bike should be a hit on the motorcycle market.

According to a press release from the Japanese manufacturer, the bike’s free-revving, liquid-cooled 4-stroke single cylinder SOHC engine is fuel injected for near-instant throttle response, while a 6-speed gearbox harnesses the power for optimum acceleration and top speed.

Breaking and cornering are improved through its 17-inch tyres on the lightweight 10-spoke wheels, as well as by large diameter 292mm front disc and 230mm rear disc brakes. Handling is also easier thanks to the lightweight Deltabox frame combined with a cast aluminium swinging-arm.

The sporty look is given by the low drag cowling, twin headlights, a slim tail with LED rear lights and the mid-ship exhaust muffler (a feature the R125 shares with the larger R6).

A full range of accessories are available for the replica model, such as a smoked Double Bubble windscreen, roller protectors, Resin or yamaha tank pad, and a city tank bag. Unfortunately, no pricing was announced yet, but it should be a bit more than the standard model’s price, which is about $5,000.

Sources: www.cmsnl.com

Monday, June 15, 2009

Rossi Takes 99th Triumph On Final Corner

An amazing head-to-head battle between Yamaha team-mates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo saw the Italian take his 99th Grand Prix victory by a 0.095s margin at Catalunya.

Catalunya 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights

Catalunya 2009 - MotoGP Race Highlights

In front of nearly 90,000 fans in Barcelona the reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi took a superb win, battling with his Fiat Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo throughout the 25 lap MotoGP race to secure the win on the last corner.

Despite some slight cloud cover close to the Mediterranean coast, air temperatures of 40°C meant it was a draining experience for the premier class riders but Rossi and Lorenzo threw everything into their duel, with The Doctor executing a superb move right at the death to take maximum points.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro) was on the podium again, to maintain his World Championship challenge, with the result leaving Rossi, Lorenzo and the Australian all tied on 106 points at the head of the standings – the Italian on top as the possessor of the most recent victory.

Stoner was absolutely exhausted after the race having worked extremely hard to fend off a strong challenge from Andrea Dovizioso. The Repsol Honda rider produced another consistent display to finish in fourth place for the third round in succession, having started in fourth on the grid, this time missing the podium by 0.052s.

Meanwhile, an excellent battle between Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) and the brave Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) for fifth place eventually saw an Italian emerge in front of a Spaniard again, Capirossi crossing the line just over two seconds ahead.

With two-way fights for positions going on throughout the order, Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) used all his experience to overcome Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) for seventh.

Ducati riders Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing) and Nicky Hayden crossed the line close together in ninth and tenth respectively, giving Hayden his best result of his first season with the Italian factory so far.

New MotoGP arrival Gabor Talmacsi had a better time in his very first premier class race than new Scot Racing team-mate Yuki Takahashi - who crashed out on the first lap – as the Hungarian gained experience coming home in last place. The unfortunate Toni Elías meanwhile was also unable to finish as his miserable home record continued.

Sources: www.motogp.com

MotoGP De Catalunya Race Day Result

Pos. Points Num. Rider Nation Team Motorcycle Total time Km/h Gap
1 25 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 43'11.897 164.138
2 20 99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Fiat Yamaha Team Yamaha 43'11.992 164.132 0.095
3 16 27 Casey STONER AUS Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 43'20.781 163.577 8.884
4 13 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Repsol Honda Team Honda 43'20.833 163.574 8.936
5 11 65 Loris CAPIROSSI ITA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 43'31.728 162.892 19.831
6 10 3 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 43'34.079 162.745 22.182
7 9 5 Colin EDWARDS USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 43'35.444 162.660 23.547
8 8 14 Randy DE PUNIET FRA LCR Honda MotoGP Honda 43'37.162 162.553 25.265
9 7 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Pramac Racing Ducati 43'43.694 162.149 31.797
10 6 69 Nicky HAYDEN USA Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 43'45.490 162.038 33.593
11 5 7 Chris VERMEULEN AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki 43'48.580 161.847 36.683
12 4 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 43'48.771 161.836 36.874
13 3 52 James TOSELAND GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 43'51.330 161.678 39.433
14 2 33 Marco MELANDRI ITA Hayate Racing Team Kawasaki 43'56.685 161.350 44.788
15 1 59 Sete GIBERNAU SPA Grupo Francisco Hernando Ducati 43'58.651 161.230 46.754
16
88 Niccolo CANEPA ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 44'07.770 160.674 55.873
17
41 Gabor TALMACSI HUN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda 44'39.537 158.769 1'27.640
Not classified


24 Toni ELIAS SPA San Carlo Honda Gresini Honda 15'45.214
16 Lap
Not finished 1st lap


72 Yuki TAKAHASHI JPN Scot Racing Team MotoGP Honda

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Lorenzo Beats Rossi To Pole For Barcelona Race

Jorge Lorenzo’s excellent second season in MotoGP continued at his home GP on Saturday as he took pole at the Circuit de Catalunya, the Spaniard qualifying just 0.013s ahead of Valentino Rossi.

The MotoGP qualifying session at the Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya concluded with home rider Jorge Lorenzo securing his third pole position of 2009 in sweltering heat close to the Mediterranean coast.

The Fiat Yamaha star pleased the crowd in his special edition Barcelona FC livery securing the top slot on the grid with a 1’41.974 time on the 28th of 29 laps, putting him just ahead of team-mate Valentino Rossi by a 0.013s margin.

Having never been off the podium in the premier class at Montmeló Rossi will be confident of maintaining that remarkable record on Sunday, though he knows he will have to be at his best to beat his talented young Spanish colleague.

Completing the front row is Casey Stoner as MotoGP’s current trio of form riders showed their strengths once again, the Australian Ducati Marlboro representative lapping just under a half a second down on Lorenzo.

Andrea Dovizioso is the ‘nearly man’ in the premier class at present and he missed out on the front row by just 0.168s on his Repsol Honda factory RC212V. Nonetheless the Italian will try to fight for the podium having just fallen short at the last two rounds.

In fifth place at his home track, not traditionally his strongest circuit, Toni Elías (San Carlo Honda Gresini) will aim to improve his poor Barcelona record from the middle of the front row, whilst Colin Edwards (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) ended up sixth and might have done better had he not crashed towards the end of the session.

Randy de Puniet (LCR Honda) has looked good so far this weekend and he qualified seventh, just in front of home hero Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) who also suffered a crash in the final moments – landing on his injured right hip, but not appearing to sustain any further damage as he walked away from the incident.

The top ten was rounded off by Englishman James Toseland (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) and Finnish rider Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing), both northern Europeans doing well to deal with the ambient temperatures of 38°C.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Yamaha JogRR Plays Key Role In MotoGP

For the fourth consecutive year Yamaha JogRR MotoGP scooters have been supplied as the official scooter of the 2009 MotoGP season.

Thanks to the continuing agreement between Yamaha and MotoGP organiser Dorna Sports, staff at circuits around the world have a quick and reliable scooter to help them in their work.

Quick access to all parts of the track is vital for Dorna’s staff, but MotoGP venues and the public viewing areas around them are expansive places. That’s why Dorna staff need the ever dependable Yamaha scooters.

The Yamaha JogRR plays an important role behind the scenes of the World Championship, enabling Race Direction members to carry out track inspections and helping cameramen to find the best vantage points. The logistics staff who perfect the set-up of safety equipment and advertising boards, and timing staff who install vital recording devices, also rely on the Yamaha JogRR MotoGP at every Grand Prix.

The Yamaha JogRR’s high-output 50cc engine features MotoGP-style liquid cooling to keep the engine performing at its best in the heat of the racetrack. Coupled to V-Belt automatic transmission, the lively engine ensures performance that’s always easy to control. And, because of its lightweight 84kg frame, short wheelbase chassis and disc/drum brakes, the JogRR MotoGP delivers precise and safe handling.

The Yamaha JogRR MotoGP is the perfect bike to move around quickly and efficiently - at MotoGP circuits throughout the world.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Johnny Chop Part 3




Johnny Chop Part 2





Johnny Chop Part 1





Johnny Chop





Johnny Chop
34 Orchid Avenue,
Surfers Paradise QLD 4217
Australia
www.johnnychop.net.au

Triumph Hurricat Concept

You may have read our friend Sr. Garcia's first ride report of Triumph's new Thunderbird 1600 cruiser. He found a powerful, good-handling and functional ride: not surprising, as Triumph hasn't been building a lot of duds lately.


Still, there are those who want more. Many Europeans - and a (very) few Americans as well - have no use for cruisers, craving something with a more aggressive, urban style. Italian designer Oberdan Bezzi wouldn't mind seeing a streetfighter based around the new 1597cc, Parallel-Twin, 8-valve motor. Think of his bike as Old Blighty's answer to the VMAX: hulking muscle and minimal bodywork, topped off with high-spec suspension bits and radial-mount brake calipers.

Sources: www.motorcycledaily.com

Top Three Tyre Variations Give Bridgestone Satisfaction

Varied choices also confirm wide operating range of 2009 rubber.

For the first time since the introduction of the single-tyre rule, the podium finishers each used a different combination of tyre compounds for their dry laps last Sunday. Casey Stoner, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi all finished the race with different slick tyre amalgamations, a product of their confidence in each compound and the time at which they entered the pits to switch to their dry bike.

“We can put this down to two things: riding style and the individual characteristics of the bikes,” analysed Tohru Ubukata, Bridgestone’s Motorcycle Race Tyre Development Manager. “At Mugello the characteristics of each machine and the differences in riding style are more pronounced because of the layout of the circuit – very fast and flowing. This means that the different compounds have more of an effect on each rider and bike package so individual preference is even more important.

“The slick Bridgestone compound choices were based on the teams’ experience from Saturday’s free practice and qualifying, on the tyre compounds that they found worked for them then. What we have seen though is that our wet tyre performs until riders can swap straight to our slick tyres.”

The Gran Premio d’Italia Alice saw the debut of a hard rear tyre, used by eight riders during the dry part of the flag-to-flag race, but it was the hard front that particularly impressed Ubukata. The varied conditions over the weekend showed the operating range of the rubber to be sufficient for any demanding condition and safer for the riders.

“Even in the damp and cold conditions we saw in the race, the hard compound Bridgestone slick worked well and consistently, so this shows that the working temperature range of even the medium and hard compound slick tyres is enough to cover all conditions from damp to dry,” said the Japanese manager.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya Given Grand Prix Presentation

MotoGP’s Spanish contingent –minus Dani Pedrosa- attend event in Barcelona’s ‘Esferic’ building.

The Gran Premio Cinzano de Catalunya was officially presented on Wednesday afternoon in Barcelona, giving details on the event that will take place in Spain on the 12th-14th of June.

Circuit de Cataunya Director General Ramón Praderas, Catalonian Govenrment Vice President Josep Lluís Carod-Rovira and General Sport Secretary Anna Pruna welcomed all but one of the Spanish riders competing in the 2009 MotoGP World Championship, with the exception of injured Repsol Honda man Dani Pedrosa. Jorge Lorenzo, Toni Eliás and Sete Gibernau –who himself returns from a spell on the sidelines for his home race- were all present, alongside riders from the 125cc and 250cc class.

It was announced that two riders from outside of the region would be honoured over the course of the Grand Prix weekend, with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden lined up to unveil commemorative plaques on the ‘Avenida de los Campeones’ in recognition of their respective MotoGP World Championship triumphs.

Mr. Carod-Rovira also revealed that a collaboration with a local bloodbank means that all those donating on 9th June will be given two tickets to attend the race.

Sources: www.motogp.com

Pedrosa Officially MotoGP Top Speed Record Holder

Repsol Honda rider’s 349.288kph Mugello speed confirmed.

It probably comes as little consolation to Dani Pedrosa after his abject Gran Premio d’Italia Alice weekend, but on the Mugello straight the Spaniard became officially the fastest rider ever on a MotoGP bike.

The Repsol Honda rider was clocked in the speed trap at a phenomenal 349.288kph, a top speed some 6kph quicker than the previous record for a Grand Prix round, held by Makoto Tamada on a 990cc Honda at the Shanghai circuit back in 2006. There had initially been doubt over the accuracy of the speed measurement, but Pedrosa’s achievement was quickly confirmed ahead of the MotoGP race. Loris Capirossi had been the unofficial record holder for his 347.4kph straight line speed at the 2004 Official Test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The highest top speed at the Mugello circuit before last weekend was 342.966kph, recorded by Alex Barros in 2004.

Pedrosa has been diagnosed with a small fracture to his right thigh, picked up on Saturday morning in the second practice session for round five of the MotoGP World Championship. His weekend ended with an early crash on raceday.

Sources: www.motogp.com