Motourage

The Motourage crew would like to thank the team at Salt Lake Motorsports for all their hospitality during our visit today on the way from the airport.

Everyone was so helpful and even let us into the stock room to rummage through the merchandise that had not been on the shelves. The shop has a great selection of Ducati apparel, helmets, boots, gloves and leathers not to mention a wide variety of accessories and the latest Ducati motorcycles.

We all stocked up on more than our share of Ducati gear, and – with some great prices and even better clearance deals – we go out of there for cheap – well – when compared to other Duc shops.  With the helmet sale they currently have going on, we very likely will be stopping back before the weekend is over to grab a couple new Shoeis we had our eyes on.

The consensus of the group is that Salt Lake Motorsports is one of the best Ducati dealers we’ve ever visited. Unfortunately, due to standing partnerships between Ducati and another dealership, Salt Lake Motorsports will not be out at the track this weekend. So, if you’re in town for the World Superbike Championship this weekend, make sure to head down and pay them a visit.

You can find them at 916 South Main St., Salt Lake City, UT 84101or follow them on Twitter at twitter.com/slmotorsports.

Yamaha Sterilgarda riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland are gearing up for the U.S round of the World Superbike Championship this coming Monday at the Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City. Last year the team saw a double victory here at the hands of rider Ben Spies, success they will be looking to repeat in 2010 with British riders Crutchlow and Toseland.

The Salt Lake City round is the seventh of the 2010 Championship, with six rounds now remaining before the finale in Magny Cours in October. Toseland heads into this weekend in fifth place in the championship on 125 points, 16 points behind Carlos Checa in fourth. Team mate Crutchlow sits in ninth with 86 points, nine points behind Michele Fabrizio in eighth.

“I’m really looking forward to Salt Lake City,” said James Toseland. “It’s a brand new track for me. I got to drive a couple of laps in one of the Miller Racing School’s Mustang’s this week which has given me an idea of the track layout, but there’s nothing like actually riding it on a bike to understand it. I’ve always enjoyed coming to American tracks to race, I love Laguna Seca and Indianapolis so I’m looking forward to the challenge of learning this one and getting up to speed as quickly as possible. I hope we don’t have the grip level problems as we did in Kyalami.”

“It’s great to be back here again,” said Cal Crutchlow. “I loved racing here last year on the Supersport bike; it’s a great track so I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into it on the R1. I know the bike works well here, so I’m confident we can get up there and fight to be at the front to finish the weekend on the podium.”

Miller technically speaking according to Frankie Carchedi, James Toseland’s Crew Chief
“Kyalami proved to be a tough weekend for the team, but James gained some valuable points towards the championship. Miller is a new track for James, so the key will be for him to do as many laps as possible in the first few sessions and learn the track. The second day we will work hard on the setting so that James can again fight for the top three places. Miller racetrack is very different to Kyalami and has hardly any change of elevations. We will work hard on making sure we can also maintain good grip levels for the whole race, as this is a key factor for us. We have some good data from last year and we will use this to our advantage to work towards an optimum set up as quickly as possible.”

Miller technically speaking according to Marcus Eschenbacher, Cal Crutchlow’s Crew Chief
“The circuit has two or three different characters, and at least two different tarmac surfaces to deal with. You have the fast flowing part and then the last part which is more twisty with a different tarmac surface so we have to see what the grip situation is and what our level of traction is. We will start with one bike on our base set up and the second bike we will try something new. We want to have more dynamic transfer on the bike so we will adjust the bike to achieve this which will hopefully give us more traction without compromising steering. We will also try a new clutch to see if we can improve on our starts.”

Massimo Meregalli, Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team Manager
“Miller Motorsports circuit seems to be one of the good circuits for us, last year we ran very well here with no problems so we’re preparing for the weekend with confidence and determination, we believe we can achieve good results. After South Africa we haven’t worked on our bikes as they came directly from Kyalami to here but we are ready with a good base set up to begin on Saturday with the first session.”

The Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team riders will be looking to build on the current run of victories by both the R1 and the R6 in the USA national championships. Team Graves Yamaha R1 rider Josh Hayes took double AMA Superbike wins in California two weeks ago, with fellow Yamaha Pat Clark Motorsports R1 rider Ben Bostrom taking two second places behind him to make it a double Yamaha one-two on the podium. The R6 was also dominating the AMA weekend, with podiums by Tommy Aquino, Josh Herrin and Dane Westby. In AMA Pro Supersport, the Saturday saw five of the top six places taken by the R6 whilst Sunday saw it take the checkered flag.

*Please note that this Weekend’s World Superbike races at Salt Lake City will take place on the Monday, not the Sunday. First qualifying sessions will be Saturday and second qualifying and Superpole on Sunday.


Despite winning the Mirror.co.uk Privateer Cup with Gary Mason in 2009 and consistently finishing in the top 10 in British Superbike Championship competition with Tommy Bridewell this season, the now-Quay Garage Honda team has struggled to find a title sponsor for 2010. Although Quay Garage officially stepped down as the team’s title sponsor at the end of last season, the organization has continued to support race efforts into 2010.  Unfortunately, that support is about to come to an end.

Tommy Bridewell could be without a ride if a title sponsor isn't found quickly (Photo courtesy of Full Throttle Imaging)

The engine on the team’s Honda CBR 1000RR Fireblade now needs a rebuild, and team representatives have told Motourage they’re not very far from the stage where they’ll reluctantly have to pull out of the championship. More than 100 sponsorship proposals have so far gone unanswered, and the team is reaching the desperation stage.

Full title, rights and branding to the team for the rest of the season can be had for £25k. According to the team, this is an excellent opportunity for any company considering what it will get for its money.

If you’re interested in becoming the title sponsor for a competitive privateer British Superbike team, please send an email to sponsorship@quaygarageracing.com.

For more information on costs involved in running a Superbike team, download the sponsorship packet PDF at http://sponsorship.quaygarageracing.com.

A handful of Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship riders will look to re-assert themselves as field frontrunners when the series visits Queensland Raceway, the host of the season’s third round, from June 5-6.

ASBK’s inaugural Top End trip during April resulted in frustration for the KTM Superbike Team, and experienced pilot Shannon Johnson has focused all his efforts on a strong weekend in the Sunshine State. The Victorian rode the new KTM RC8R to a podium placing at Phillip Island, but changeable conditions at Hidden Valley saw him fall well short of his own expectations. Johnson was optimistic about progress made on the new bike, both in the workshop and on track last week.

KTM's Shannon Johnson sits in eighth position after a disappointing weekend at Hidden Valley

“We spent much of our time on track last week kick starting the development program on the new MoTec system the bike is running, its a significant change from what we used at the first two rounds,” explained Johnson. “The team has been hard at work and completed close to 140 dyno runs with the KTM, but nothing beats getting out onto the track and getting that all-important feedback. It was a little tedious as we could only make small changes, take the bike for a run and then come back in. In terms of lap times we weren’t there to set the world on fire but have made good ground in terms of how the bike produces its power. As a team we’re really looking forward to getting out on track on Thursday and Friday and converting what we have learnt into practice pace.”

Johnson sits eighth in the race for Superbike class honors, on 43 points.

Another rider quietly confident of scaling the standings next weekend is The Natural Aprilia Racing Team’s Dan Stauffer. His Gold Coast-based team has been hard at work since a disappointing showing at the previous round and came away from the second day of testing with a much better understanding of the new factory Aprilia RSV4.

“All the effort off-track and time spent learning more about the RSV4 translated to some really quick lap times at Queensland Raceway,” said Stauffer. “We left Darwin with lots to do and seeing the bike up there where it should be has been a real shot in the arm. We wrapped things up as one of the fastest teams on track last Tuesday, and more importantly, the bike is feeling good both in delivery of power and handling. The bike is back on the dyno for the next week before we head to Ipswich, any gains which can be made from here will be a bonus.”

Scoring points in just one of 2010’s four races to date, Stauffer can make measurable inroads on his current placing of 20th at next weekend’s event.

The Viking Group Australian Superbike Championship standings are headed by Demolition Plus GAS Honda’s Wayne Maxwell with 73.5 points, followed by Team Suzuki’s Josh Waters’ 65.5. Gold Coast-based rider Bryan Staring of the Cougar Bourbon Honda Racing team rounds out the top three, just half a point shy of Waters’ score.

Next weekend’s event will feature a packed schedule of racing from a number of exciting classes. Visit asbk.com.au for the schedule and ticketing details.

Team Suzuki Alstare riders Leon Haslam and Sylvain Guintoli have their own reasons for wanting to do well in the seventh round of this year’s Superbike World Championship at the Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City, Utah.

After his superb performance in the last round in Kyalami, Haslam is fired up and ready to claim another pair of podiums and make up for last year’s result at the circuit when he finished 10th in race one and scored a DNF in race two.

Guintoli campaigned in BSB last year and therefore didn’t race at Miller, so once again he will have to learn a new circuit and try and get down to competitive business right from day one. It’s a task that has caused a few problems for the Frenchman this season, but Miller is a more straightforward track than Kyalami, and Guintoli is looking for a big improvement in qualifying and on race day. Like Kyalami in the last round, the similarly high altitude will affect the performance of all the bikes, so a good set-up will be crucial.

The race in Miller on May 31st will be unique because it will be the first time in WSBK history that a race takes place on a Monday. Monday is Memorial Day in America and commemorates the United States men and women who died in military service.

Leon Haslam:
“Kyalami was a tough one and I’m looking forward to Miller because it is an easier circuit to deal with. Having said that, the altitude will make our bikes feel slow and we need to get them dialed in as soon as we can for the track and then push hard. Last year Miller was not such a good event for me, so I am really looking forward to showing what I and the Suzuki can do and hopefully get another couple of podiums. Max Biaggi is a threat and I want to make sure I either beat him or at least leave USA still in the championship lead. May is a busy month for us, with three races on three different continents, so it will be good to end it on top of the standings – with a good lead maybe? – and have a good break before the next round.”

Sylvain Guintoli:
“Obviously I need to improve, especially in practice and qualifying and be in a better position on race day. I have never been to Miller before, so it will be another new track for me to learn. But it looks less difficult than Kyalami in the last round, so I think I will be able to get on with it much better on the first two days of practice and qualifying and then be on the first two rows of the grid on race day. As I said before, this Championship is so competitive that the smallest of errors in qualifying can make a big difference to your grid position come. Starting from way down the gird is never easy, but with so many good riders and good bikes it is almost impossible to get a good result if you begin from the third or fourth row. Hopefully, this time I will not be in that position!”

2009 Miller Motorsport Park results:

Race 1: 1 Spies (USA-Yamaha), 2 Checa (ESP-Honda)), 3 Fabrizio (ITA-Ducati). 10 Leon Haslam (GBR-Honda). Sylvain Guintoli DNS.

Race 2: 1 Spies, 2 Fabrizio, 3 Rea (GBR-Honda). Leon Haslam DNF. Sylvain Guintoli DNS.

A difficult night of racing at the third round of the FIM World Speedway Grand Prix Series at Marketa Stadium in Prague on May 22 saw defending Champion Jason Crump finish eighth and drop to fourth in the World Championship standings.

The Australian struggled with his bike throughout the first heat and opted to switch to his spare for the next race. The second heat yielded a third placing, but he lost control of the bike in his third heat while sitting second, sliding into the air fence and out of the points.

Ironically, Crump changed to the bike he felt least comfortable on during practice and won his final two heats in emphatic style, leading from start to finish. The two wins put him through to the semi-final race but he was unable to capitalize and progress to the final.

“I am struggling at the moment,” Crump admitted. “I am not riding great and to be honest I feel I am out of form.  It was really disappointing tonight, I went from the bike I thought would work best at this track to my favorite engine then to the one I was least comfortable on during practice and everything ran opposite. I am just genuinely having a rough run, it happens to everyone at some point, and the only way out of it is too keep riding.”

The FIM Czech Republic Speedway Grand Prix was won by Tomasz Gollob ahead of Nicky Pedersen and Jaroslaw Hampel.

Severe flooding throughout Europe saw Crump’s Polish league race scheduled for Sunday postponed. There are three league races scheduled between now and the Danish Grand Prix on Saturday June 5.

Rossi takes pole with Lorenzo hot on his heels in France

Reigning World Champion Valentino Rossi took the 59th pole position of his career and his first of the season today with an authoritative performance in sunny Le Mans. His team-mate Jorge Lorenzo was just five hundredths of a second off his time, as the Fiat Yamaha pair put up a commanding display ahead of tomorrow’s French Grand Prix.

After topping the time sheets yesterday, Rossi was third this morning with Lorenzo ahead of him in second. This afternoon temperatures once again soared into the high twenties and both riders looked in menacing form, having already found excellent base settings for their M1s yesterday. Both had spent time at the top of the standings before the session entered its final quarter and with ten minutes to go Lorenzo went top again, becoming the first man to dip into the 1’33s. The Mallorcan held out for a few minutes before Casey Stoner and then Dani Pedrosa took over but it was Rossi who had the most still hidden up his sleeve, the 31-year-old maestro pulling out a brilliant lap in a time of 1’33.408, a target that proved unassailable in the final two minutes.

Rossi is still worried about his damaged shoulder over race distance tomorrow but he will be doing all he can to take a second win of the year, as will his championship-leading team-mate Lorenzo, when the third round of the season gets underway at 1400 CET tomorrow.

Valentino Rossi – Position: 1st, Time: 1’33.408Laps: 30
“This weather is really making me very happy, because for once in Le Mans we have been able to use all of the sessions properly and now here we are on pole. My setting is good, I feel comfortable on my M1 and Bridgestone tires and my race pace is not bad either so everything is working out. It’s a great pleasure to be on pole and when I looked and saw the lap time I was very pleased with my performance and with how well we had worked, so thanks to all my team. I am still worried about my shoulder because sincerely today after ten or fifteen laps I started to lose power, but I hope adrenaline will take over in the race and that I will be able to arrive fast right to the end.”

Jorge Lorenzo – Position: 2nd, Time: 1’33.462Laps: 31
“This was another good session and we are very strong, although there are quite a few riders here who are fast with a good race pace. Today I was consistent and I can ride happily at around 1’34.5 so if I can keep this up during the race then we have a good chance. I need to try to get a good start tomorrow and be stronger during the first few laps, then I think I can fight for victory.”
Read more…

MSS Colchester Kawasaki’s Gary Mason has been declared unfit for tomorrow’s Cadwell Park British Superbike meeting after a medical inspection showed he had received a concussion during a qualifying crash.

Gary had been running strongly all weekend and was actually in second position in the second stage of qualifying when he fell heavily at Charlie’s. The Lichfield rider was particularly disappointed after such positive practice session times.

The team’s other rider, Chris Walker, qualified in a strong eighth position for tomorrow’s two BSB races as the sun beat down at the Lincolnshire circuit.

Howie Mainwaring could only manage 14th in the Superstock class, but the team is confident that he has a strong race set-up.

With a win and a podium each so far this season, Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi will arrive at Le Mans this weekend with high hopes of continuing their victorious start to the season. The Fiat Yamaha pair are first and second in the championship after two races, with Lorenzo four points ahead of Rossi following his magnificent home victory two weeks ago at Jerez.

The Spaniard turned 23 two days after Jerez, and the memory of his first home MotoGP win was still fresh in his mind as he celebrated his birthday at home in Barcelona, following a successful one-day test. He cannot help but feel confident for another good weekend in Le Mans, where last year he kept his head to win by 17 seconds as the weather wreaked havoc on all around him, and the season before he finished second despite riding with two broken ankles. The Mallorcan has one other win at Le Mans, in 2007 on the way to his second 250cc title.

On the other hand, the 2009 French Grand Prix is one that nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi would rather forget, plagued as he was by a catalogue of mishaps and visits to pit lane before limping home in 16th position. His previous record at the famous French track is exemplary however, with two wins for Yamaha in 2005 and 2008, as well as one other win and six podiums in all classes. Another two weeks off has given him time to fully recover from the shoulder injury that hampered him in Jerez and he will be back on top form and shooting for the top this time out.

Le Mans is most famous as home to the iconic 24-Hour race, but the MotoGP also draws a huge crowd every year. The first part of the track is the most difficult in what is not a particularly technical circuit, with the high-speed, uphill turn one giving way to several tight chicanes. The remainder of the track is made up of short straights and hairpins calling for a set up that yields both balance and control under hard and repeated braking and a quick transfer from full braking to full acceleration on the exit of the corners.

Jorge Lorenzo – “An amazing and crazy race!”
“Despite our victory in Jerez and taking the lead in the world standings I continue to think that I am not the favorite because the season is very long and it has only just started! I am very proud however because Jerez was my first victory at home in MotoGP. Last year I won in Le Mans in an amazing and crazy race. It was a very complicated because of the rain and drying track, but I think that everybody in our team did an unbelievable job, above all on Sunday. I know that I used everything I had, from the very first laps right to the end. I hope the fans aren’t waiting for a repeat this weekend! Of course the weather is always a risk in Le Mans, but I hope for sun. I’ve been on the podium twice there, last season and when I won my second 250cc title, so I am looking forward to trying again. I’ve had almost three weeks since Jerez and I know that I am ready for this second European race.”

Valentino Rossi – “Back to full strength”
“My shoulder is more or less recovered now so I hope I will be back to full strength in Le Mans. Despite the disaster of last year’s race, Le Mans is a good track for me and the Yamaha always goes well there. The biggest problem is the weather, but after last year I think we deserve a sunny French GP! We’ve made a good start to the season, with the win in Qatar and then another podium, but we have also struggled with the bike in some areas and so we need to try to improve our performance. We had a good test after Jerez so I hope that we will be able to use that information to start strongly here.”

Wilco Zeelenberg – “Looking to carry on our good start”
“After Jorge’s brilliant win in Jerez everyone has had another long rest and now we’re excited to get back to work and carry on our good start to the season. There is a very long way to go and we won’t get too excited, but just try to continue in the same way. Le Mans has been a good track for Yamaha in the past and last year Jorge had a great win there in very difficult circumstances. Hopefully the race will be a little more simple this year, without the rain!”

Davide Brivio – “Something to forget”
“We have something to forget in Le Mans after last year, when it rained, we had some difficulties and took no points! In general however Le Mans is always a very good track for Yamaha and we have had some good results there in the past. We hope for good weather this time. We have started the championship very strongly and our aim now is to continue this trend and remaining close or at the top by taking as many points as possible. We really hope to do well here in order to put us on a good footing for the busy period of June and July, when the championship will really start to take shape.”

Valentino Rossi: Information
Age: 31
Lives: Tavullia, Italy
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 104 (78 x MotoGP/500cc, 14 x 250cc, 12 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Czech Republic, 1996 (125cc)
First GP: Malaysia, 1996 (125cc)
GP starts: 229 (169 x MotoGP/500cc, 30 x 250cc, 30 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 58 (48 x MotoGP/500cc, 5 x 250cc, 5 x 125cc)
World Championships: 9 Grand Prix (1 x 125cc, 1 x 250cc, 1 x 500cc, 6 x MotoGP)

Jorge Lorenzo: Information
Age: 23
Lives: Barcelona, Spain
Bike: Yamaha
GP victories: 27 (6 x MotoGP, 17 x 250cc, 4 x 125cc)
First GP victory: Brazil, 2003 (125cc)
First GP: Jerez, Spain, 2002 (125cc)
GP starts: 130 (35 x MotoGP, 48 x 250cc, 46 x 125cc)
Pole positions: 35 (9 x MotoGP, 23 x 250cc, 3 x 125cc)
World Championships: 2 (250cc, 2006/7)

Le Mans: Record Lap
V. Rossi (Yamaha) 2008, 1’34.215

Le Mans: Best Lap
D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2008, 1’32.647

Grand Prix Results: Le Mans 2009
1. J. Lorenzo (Yamaha) 47’52.678
2. M. Melandri (Kawasaki) +17.710
3. D. Pedrosa (Honda) +19.893
16. V. Rossi (Yamaha) +2 Lap

Monday testing wrap up!

hey guys, so today we were out for half a day testing at QLD raceway. We had a load of things planned to test today and tomorrow and the direction we are taking and the plan that has been set out sounds great, the bike is working nicely. Myself in that equation is also getting there, besides yet another untimely get-off at turn one after my bike failed to select any gears at the end of the straight, which saw me eat dirt and jarred my back a bit when i tried to lift it up! just another niggling injury to add to the list haha! I’m good to go for tomorrow though and look forward to testing a few more things and trying to navigate the bumps here tomorrow on this bumpy bumpy track! our times today were promising, having changed the fork setting quite a lot and tomorrow have some other things to try out so it will be a good chance to properly test before this round coming up and get things sorted!!! we had the guys from SP tools come out today and jamie gave the motorsport marketing manager (a nice looking female) a 2 seater ride which he got all excited about and we struggled to get him to come back in off the track. he he.

Anyways, i also got the opportunity to go and meet up with my OGK helmet sponsor Chris Lynis from Moto National accessories at Banyo, near Brisbane today and got the tour of the warehouse and a good look through all there products. They distribute most things bike riders are after like helmets (OGK), gloves, boots, MX and harley accessories. They are a great bunch of people.

Tomorrow i will get the chance to do some filming with a good quality camera for a change so ill string something cool together and have it up on the site in the next coming days. Ill give you all a tour of the truck and pits, a look at the two up rides we are doing at the moment and we’ll have a bit of a chat to a few team members and some other riders! happy times!!

peace!

jordy #33

Motourage note:
For more information about Ducati Motologic Australian Superbike rider Jordy Burgess, check out his website, jordyburgess.com or follow him on twitter at twitter.com/@jordyburgess33.