Moto GP News and Stuff

Bautista to Gresini Honda in 2012

The San Carlo Gresini Honda MotoGP team confirmed much anticipated rumours today that Alvaro Bautista will ride for the Honda satellite team in 2012. The parties have reached an agreement for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship season, which will see Bautista campaign the Honda RC213V.

With Suzuki unable to confirm their plans for MotoGP beyond December 31, 2011 Bautista held out for as long as he could before he accepted the offer from Gresini. According to Bautista, "I am very sad to be leaving Suzuki after the two great years that I have had here. It has been a great team to work in and I have learnt a lot of things from everyone in the team...I don't feel like I am leaving a team, but a group of friends that I hope I will know for a long time."

Gresini's boss, Fausto Gresini noted, "I'm particularly satisfied that Alvaro Bautista will ride a Honda R213V in the San Carlo Gresini team colours next year. He is a very fast rider and I hold him in high regard for his personality and pleasant nature."

While Bautista has had his fair share of ups and downs during the 2011 season, he has demonstrated his talent in the latter half of the season with some strong results in qualifying and practice and indeed has become a sought-after rider in the paddock. He hasn't had the greatest of luck during Sunday's races, but perhaps that will all change in 2012 aboard the Honda machinery.

Bautista tested the RC212V Honda in Valencia this morning, where he rode the motorcycle of Hiroshi Aoyama in the Valencia MotoGP test.

Source: http://insidemotorcycles.blogspot.com/2011/11/bautista-to-gresini-honda-in-2012.html

Akiyasu Motohashi Alan Barnett Alan Carter Alan North Alan Shepherd

Audi readers? evening podcast

Audi readers’ evening podcast

On Saturday October 8, Motor Sport hosted a readers? evening in association with Audi UK at the Audi quattro rooms ...

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Source: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/sports-cars/audi-readers-evening-podcast/

Dirk Heidolf Dirk Raudies Discussion Domenico Brigaglia Dominique Aegerter

MotoGP ? San Carlo Gresini Honda to Enter CRT

The San Carlo Gresini Honda MotoGP Team has announced that it will enter a privately developed 1000cc bike in the inaugural 1000cc season next year. They are already leasing a prototype RC213V from Honda for the talented Spanish rider Alvaro Bautista. Bautista enjoyed the testing session on the bike last week at Valencia. Yesterday it [...]

Source: http://www.philipbroadhead.org/motogp-san-carlo-gresini/

Efren VAzquez Emilio Alzamora Emilio Mendogni Enrico Lorenzetti Eric Saul

IndyCar to visit China in 2012

Randy Bernard has confirmed four international IndyCar race dates for 2012, including a new event on a 3.87-mile street circuit ...

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Source: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/race/us-scene/indycar/indycar-to-visit-china-in-2012/

Herri Torrontegui Hideo Kanaya Hiroshi Aoyama Hiroshi Hasegawa Horst Fugner

Test Drive: AC Schnitzer 99d Concept

The folks over at GTSpirit got their hands again on European-only vehicle. This time, the AC Schnitzer 99d ...

Source: http://www.bmwblog.com/2011/11/16/test-drive-ac-schnitzer-99d-concept/

Hugh Anderson Isamu Kasuya Isao Morishita Ivan Carlsson Ivan Goi

2011 Indian Grand Prix report

Seventeen races into the 2011 Grand Prix season, and the scorecard reads thus: Sebastian Vettel 11, The Rest 6.� At ...

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Source: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/reports/indian-grand-prix-report/

Giacomo Agostini Gianluigi Scalvini Gianni Leoni Gilberto Milani Gilberto Parlotti

First Look: 2012 BMW S1000RR Superbike

When BMW first introduced the S1000RR superbike in 2009, it quickly became one of the best selling superbikes on the market; and it was no slouch on the racetrack either, proving itself right out of the box in the Canadian Superbike championship, and taking the 2011 Championship title.

So how does a company take a top selling, near perfect sportbike and make it even better? We caught up with Markus Poshner, Head of Model Lines 2, BMW Motorrad at the EICMA trade show in Milan. Poshner oversees the development of all of the "S" and "K" series BMW motorcycles, and admits that the S1000RR is "his baby".

For 2012, BMW brought about some refinements to the S1000RR; small changes that would bring about a significantly improved and easier to handle ride. For starters, BMW addressed some concerns about a hyper-sensitive throttle in "race" and "slick" power modes. New maps were introduced for the different power modes, and a new throttle tube was installed with a shorter pull for better handling. The throttle also gets heated grips, the first superbike ever to do so, and something Canadian consumers may well appreciate!

A new exhaust pipe was also installed, giving the S1000RR more mid-range power and a more linear power curve, ultimately making the BMW's powerful superbike easier to handle.

The chassis was also modified with changes to the swingarm and pivot point, as well as the geometry of the front forks. The front end of the motorcycle was raised 5mm, while the shock length was decreased by 4mm. The engine and mainframe are turned slightly backwards and the wheelbase was shortened by 9mm as the rear sprocket was replaced with one-tooth smaller sprocket. The 2012 model also gets a 10-way adjustable steering damper for better control and smoother operation.

According to Poshner, the electronics package on the S1000RR has totally changed. The Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) system was updated significantly and the traction control is now much smoother than the first generation S1000RR. The instrumentation panel is much easier to read and more features are available. One new feature in particular is the "Best Lap in Progress" option that records a rider's best lap on given markers on the racetrack. A green light is displayed if you went faster than your previous lap. The brightness of the display is also adjustable in five settings.

Aesthetically, the BMW S1000RR got some re-shaped side panels and a smaller, more streamlined tail section to help with aerodynamics. The 2012 model is also available in 4 sharp colour options- Racing Red with Alpine White, Bluefire, Sapphire Black Metallic and BMW's traditional BMW Motorrad Motorport colours.

The overall refinements should lead to a much smoother, easier handling ride and will make the BMW S1000RR superbike more comfortable to handle for riders of all levels. Judging from the line-ups at EICMA to see the new S1000RR, we're certain that BMW is going to continue to top the charts with this best-selling superbike.

Source: http://insidemotorcycles.blogspot.com/2011/11/first-look-2012-bmw-s1000rr-superbike.html

Ernesto Brambilla Ernie Lyons Ernst Degner Eskil Suter Esteve Rabat

Friday, November 18, 2011