Motourage

In honor of Nicky Hayden’s birthday today, the Motourage Video of the Day is this tribute to the Kentucky Kid.

Born July 30, 1981, Nicholas Patrick Hayden’s racing resume is quite impressive.  In 1999, he won the AMA Supersport championship and earned the Rookie-of-the-Year title in AMA Flat Track in a season that also saw him named the AMA Athlete of the Year.  In his first full season as an AMA Superbike racer, he finished in third place.   In 2002, he won the Daytona 200, the AMA Superbike championship and placed fourth as a World Superbike wild card rider at Laguna Seca.  That same year, he won four AMA Flat Track races, beating Chris Carr’s string of 13 consecutive wins at the Peoria TT.

He was drafted into Honda’s MotoGP team, alongside reigning world champion Valentino Rossi, immediately following his Superbike championship.  He finished in fifth place and earned Rookie-of-the-Year honors.  Three years later, he won the MotoGP championship, breaking Valentino Rossi’s string of five titles.

The seasons since Nicky’s MotoGP championship have been unremarkable at best; however, since his move to the Factory Ducati squad, he has begun to make improvements on a machine that, until now, no one other than Casey Stoner has been able to tame.  A failed tire-selection gamble at Donington may have hindered Nicky’s quest for improvement, but we at Motourage hope for the best for the Kentucky Kid and wish him a speedy rise back to glory.

Happy Birthday, Nicky.

In time for this weekend’s AMA Pro Racing Tornado Nationals presented by BriggsAuto.com, Heartland Park Topeka has undergone a full range of track modifications and safety improvements. A list of projects slated to be undertaken in 2009 has been completed, and a major 2010 modification – the removal of the turn 1 wall – has been finished ahead of schedule. The wall has been a safety concern among riders, and the decision was made to begin removal this year instead of waiting until after the season to begin the project.

This weekend’s Tornado Nationals will mark the first time an AMA event has been held in Topeka since 1991. Kawasaki’s Scott Russell won the Superbike race that year and finished the season only two points behind series champion Tomas Stephens.  The previous year, Miguel Duhamel won his first AMA Superbike race at Heartland park and earned rookie-of-the-year honors.

If you’re planning on heading out to Topeka, here’s your event schedule for the remainder of the week:

AMA Pro Racing Tornado Nationals
Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, KS
July 31-August 3, 2009

Wednesday, July 29
8am-5pm: Move-In & Set-Up – Big Rig Transporters Only
10am-5pm: Move-In & Set-Up – All Transporters/Service Providers

Thursday, July 30
8am-5pm: Team Hammer Practice / Track Day
1pm: Pit Lane Assignments
5-6pm: Track Inspection

Friday, July 31
7-8am: Track Inspection
8-8:30am: Practice, SuperSport w/ Safety Car
8:40-9:30am: Practice, Moto-GT w/ Safety Car
9:40-10:30am: Practice, American Superbike w/ Safety Car
10:40-11:30am: Practice, Daytona SportBike w/ Safety Car
11:30am-12:30pm: Lunch Break
12:30-1:10pm: Basic Qualifying, American Superbike
1:20-1:50pm: Basic Qualifying, Daytona SportBike Group A
2-2:30pm: Basic Qualifying, Daytona SportBike Group B
2:40-3:10pm: Practice, SuperSport
3:20-3:50pm: Qualifying, Moto-GT
4-4:30pm: Superpole, American Superbike
4:30-5pm: Superpole, Daytona SportBike

Saturday, August 1
7:30-8am: Track Inspection
8-8:30am: Warm-Up, Moto-GT
8:40-9am: Qualifying, SuperSport
9:10-9:40am: Final Qualifying, American Superbike
9:50-10:10am: Final Qualifying, Daytona SportBike Group A
10:20-10:40am:Final Qualifying, Daytona SportBike Group B
11am-1pm: Moto-GT 2 Hour Team Race
1-2pm: Lunch Break
1-1:45pm: Autograph Session (Mandatory)
1:45pm: American Superbikes on Grid
2pm: Fan Walk/Opening Ceremonies
3pm: American Superbike Race #1, 20 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
4pm: Daytona SportBike Race #1, 20 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km

Sunday, August 2
7am-9pm: Garages Open
8:30-9am: Track Inspection
9-9:30am: Warm–Up, Daytona SportBike
9:40-10:10am: Warm–Up, SuperSport
10:20-10:50am: Warm–Up American Superbike
11am-12:30pm: Lunch Break
12:45pm: Daytona SportBikes on Grid
1pm: Fan Walk/Opening Ceremonies
2pm: Daytona SportBike Race #2, 20 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km
3pm: SuperSport Race, 16 Laps – 40 Mi/65 Km
4pm: American Superbike Race #2, 20 Laps – 50 Mi/80 Km

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day features a Motourage favorite, Jordan Motorsports’ Geoff May.  Geoff, the Jordan Motorsports team and the entire AMA Pro Racing roster come to Virginia International Raceway on August 14-16 for the Suzuki Big Kahuna Nationals.  This will also be the first official Motourage event, and we’re proud to be able to offer discounted Pagoda Hospitality Passes for our readers.  For more information about the Motourage Celebrity Weekend and VIR, click HERE.
Hope to see you in Virginia!

The provisional MotoGP 2010 calendar

April 11 * Qatar Doha/Losail
April 25 Japan Motegi
May 2 Spain Jerez de la Frontera
May 16 France Le Mans
May 30 Italy Mugello
June 6 Great Britain Silverstone
June 26 ** Netherlands Assen
July 4 Catalunya Catalunya
July 18 Germany Sachsenring
July 25 *** United States Laguna Seca
August 15 Czech Rep. Brno
August 29 Indianapolis Indianapolis
September 12 San Marino Misano
September 19 Hungary Balatonring
October 10 Malaysia Sepang
October 17 Australia Phillip Island
October 31 Portugal Estoril
November 7 Valencia Ricardo Tormo – Valencia

*: Evening Race
**: Saturday
***: Only MotoGP class

MotoGP is on hiatus until August 16, and World Superbike is taking a break until September 4.  AMA Superbike – er – AMA Pro Racing American Superbike, Daytona SportBike, Supersport and Moto-GT roll into Alton Virginia August 14-16, and if you’re one of the fans who has been paying attention, you know there has been a lot going on in the world of American road racing.

It has been the Mat Mladin show in the American Superbike class, as he leads teammate Tommy Hayden by 126 points. Martin Cardenas on his GSXR600 leads Danny Eslick and his almost-twice-as-big Buell 1125R in the Daytona SportBike class, while the Supersport class finds Josua Day ahead of Leandro Mercado by 13 points.  In the Moto-GT class (those are the bikes that are going around the track when you’re on your way to the hotel on Saturday night), Liberty Waves Racing’s team of Eric Pinson and Eric Haugo (Buell) lead Mark Crozier and Phil Caudill of the Crozier Motorsports team (Triumph) in the GT1 class.  In the GT2 class, the Touring Sport Ducshop Ducati team of Cory Rech and Huntley Nash leads Scotty Ryan and flat track legend Jay Springsteen’s Pair-A-Nines Kawasaki team.

For the next round of AMA Pro Road Racing, Motourage will be descending on Virginia International Raceway en masse for the first official Motourage event in what we hope will become a long-standing tradition of friends, fun and racing. Look HERE for all the information about the Motourage VIR weekend.

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day comes to you courtesy of the Speed Channel and includes AMA American Superbike highlights from the first half of the season.

This week’s motorcycle racing events

Jul 31-Aug 2
AMA Superbike Round 9 – Tornado Nationals presented by BriggsAuto.com
Heartland Park, Topeka, KS, USA
AMA Pro Racing
Download event schedule HERE
Heartland Park website

Aug 1-2
AMA Pro Racing ATV Motocross Round 10
Red Bud MX Course, Buchanan, MI, USA
AMA ATV Motocross
Red Bud MX Course

Aug 1-2
Canadian Motorcycle Association Trials – Championnat Canadienne 2009
Notre-Dame-de-la Merci, Quebec, Canada
Download info and event schedule HERE

Jul 30-Aug 2
AMA Supermoto – Summer X Games
Los Angeles, CA, USA
X Games

On TV

Monday:
9-10pm: Isle of Man TT Superstock Race – Discovery HD Theater
Tuesday:
12-1am: Isle of Man TT Superstock Race – Discovery HD Theater
4-5am: Isle of Man TT Superstock Race – Discovery HD Theater
12-1pm: MotoGP 125cc, Sachsenring Germany – Speed
1-2pm: World Superbike, Brno, Chech Republic – Speed
2-3pm: World Supersport, Brno, Chech Republic – Speed
2-3pm: Isle of Man TT Superstock Race – Discovery HD Theater
Saturday:
10:30pm-12:30am: AMA Pro Prime Time, Tornado Nationals Day 1, Heartland Park, Topeka, KS – Speed

To add your event to the Motourage calendar, send the information along with a link to info@motourage.net.

In World Superbike race #1 yesterday from Brno, Czech Republic, Ben Spies took the lead before Michel Fabrizio on the #84 Ducati made his move on lap #4. Fabrizio, going inside of Spies for the lead, lost his front end, lowsiding his Ducati and taking out himself and Spies. Spies was understandably upset, as was Michel. Before race #2, Fabrizio, sitting inside his garage, held up a hand-made sign that read “Ben Spies I Love You.” Max Biaggi took the opportunity to give Aprilia its first race win since 2001.
It was all Ben Spies in race #2, as Ben took to the front and never let up as Fabrizio and Biaggi fought for the second spot. Biaggi beat Fabrizio for second, and Rea, Checa, Haga, Sykes, Byrne, Smrz and Corser rounded out the top 10.
World Superbike will enjoy more than a month off before they take to Germany’s Nurbugring on Sep 4-6.

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day features Casey Stoner’s crash during qualifying for the MotoGP 2009 British Grand Prix at Donington Park.  This is the final year Donington will be included on the MotoGP schedule, as the British GP moves to Silverstone, swapping places with Formula 1 for 2010.

Motourage is dedicated to cultivating the growth of the sport of motorcycle racing throughout the United States.  We all share a love of racing, but also of motorcycles in general.  More than once I’ve found myself travelling – for business or pleasure – and trying to find a place to watch a race.  I’d thought about how cool it would be to have a database of like-minded fans around the country who’d be willing to help out a traveling biker by giving him the inside scoop on where to find the best place to grab a beer and watch the action.  I was away on business last week, and although I was lucky enough to make it back home in time to watch the AMA Mid-Ohio and the MotoGP German Grand Prix, there have been times when I’ve found myself sitting in my hotel room frantically searching for the Speed Channel (In all fairness, I’ve also found myself sitting in a bar with a bunch of Englishmen watching BSB on Eurosport via satellite).

Twitter has allowed us to create a great network of motorcycle aficionados and bikers from all walks of life.  Many of us have already met for races, rallies and other events, and it’s always nice to put a face with a tweet – er – name.  I’ve decided to combine these two and create the Motourage Twitter Map.

If you’re a biker or a race fan (or dream of becoming either) and wish to connect with traveling friends or while traveling yourself, please add your location to the map.  You can do so by emailing info@motourage.net for a map invite or simply by emailing your address (if you prefer not to have your entire address listed, simply provide your city and state or zip/postal code.  Your location and Twitter handle will be listed on the map.  Not on Twitter? No problem.  We can list your name and email beside your location so you can be contacted.
NOTE: This is an international map. You don’t have to live in the States to be included.

The motorcycle community is a unique group of people who share the same passion. Help share our love of two wheels by spreading the word about Motourage.

Dave

–>View Motourage Twitter Map<–

Originally part of Donington Hill estate, Donington Park motor racing circuit was the first permanent race course in England.  Donington Park hosted its first motorcycle race in 1931, and it has been home to the MotoGP British Grand Prix since 1987.  This weekend, the MotoGP circus rolls into Donington Park for the final time, as the race will return to Silverstone next year after a 22-year absence.  Formula 1 will move from Silverstone to take MotoGP’s place at Donington.

Valentino Rossi has won at Donington Park seven times; however, he hasn’t graced the top of the podium there since 2005.  Defending winner Casey Stoner is hoping for a repeat, but he’s still suffering from health problems for the past few weeks.  The 250cc class is guaranteed a new winner, as none of the riders currently on the roster has ever won at Donington.

Today’s Motourage Video of the Day includes highlights form last year’s MotoGP British Grand Prix at Donington Park.

Since embedding has been disabled by the powers that be at MotoGP, you’ll have to go HERE to watch the video.