MotoGP News - MotoGP News: Miller says 2016 Dutch TT 'shoey' was a “dig” at Honda
https://ift.tt/2x6yECU Jack Miller says his famous 'shoey' celebration after winning the 2016 MotoGP Dutch TT was a "dig" at Honda for fining him over a similar act at a party. Miller was signed directly to Honda on a three-year deal to join the satellite LCR squad in MotoGP for 2015, after finishing as runner-up in the Moto3 class the year before. But he struggled aboard the Open class RC213V-RS, and also built up a negative reputation within Honda for his off-track demeanour. A move to Marc VDS for 2016 and onto a proper prototype RC213V proved to be difficult for Miller, though he would sensationally score a maiden win - the first in a decade for a satellite rider - in that year's Assen race. On the podium, he celebrated by drinking champagne from his race boot - a stunt that was soon picked up by Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo. When commenting on that celebration following a rerun of the 2016 Dutch TT as part of BT Sport's Greatest Races series, Miller said: "[The shoey] was a slight dig, because I was having trouble in my first year in MotoGP with misbehaving and whatnot. "I got a fine off Honda one night doing a shoey at one of the after parties. When I won, [I thought] 'well, they can't give me a fine for this!'." Heavy rain forced the 2016 Dutch TT to be halted, and Miller now admits he was not too keen to resume despite running in a career-best seventh place. "When we got that rain in the centre part of the race, there was so much of it," he recalled. "I've never seen rain like it apart from maybe up here in tropical North Queensland where we get the proper rainforest rain. "But down the back straight at Assen, we probably had two inches of standing water on the track. "Being on a GP bike with a heap of power, she was just [wheelspinning], you couldn't open the gas. So that was pretty dodgy. "Honestly, I was stoked with the result when they threw the red flag. I was seventh or whatever and was like 'yeah, I'll take that, I'm happy as Larry'. "Then they told me I had to go back out again, I was like 'I don't want to go back out again, I'm stoked with seventh, I'll keep it'." Miller scored five podiums last year on the works-supported Pramac Ducati on his way to eighth in the standings. He is one of the favourites to ride one of the factory team Desmosedicis in 2021. Watch The Greatest Race live every Sunday at 10am on BT Sport 1, as Neil Hodgson and Gavin Emmett continue their quest to find the greatest MotoGP race of all time. Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei April 25, 2020 at 04:41AM
Motorcycle News - Readers Rides: 1990 Honda NS144F Part II: Fate, Flowers, and Fifties
https://ift.tt/3bBNujV Remember Robert Perkins and his hopped-up 1990 Honda NS144F? Well, due to popular demand, he’s back with the creation story of his Frankenbike. Picture a rosebush ablaze with pink and teal blooms. If you dared to do so, you just captured half the absurdity of how this double-engine fifty sprung to life. Back when I first beheld this diminutive motorcycle in 2013, it appeared to have been dragged through a rose sticker garden headlight first. I should have seen the thorns then… Of course, it all started out innocently enough with a 2,000-mile round trip from Alabama to West Virginia. Having recently sold one of eight motorcycles, I swore to the immortal gods that never again would I own more bikes than our week has days. Just maybe, peer pressure from the non-motorcycling public had taken its toll. When co-workers would question the sanity of polygamous motorcycle ownership, I learned to simply drop my eyes, unwilling to explain. Yes, I have been one acquainted with the bike. Peer pressure or not, I was doing well maintaining my pledge until the stars aligned against me. Riding out that unusually cool August morning from my home in Alabama, I could not see the invisible game pieces of fate being ushered into motion. Regardless of the omens, my trip up to Blowing Rock, North Carolina was the paradigm of a beautiful late summer tour. By some temporary reversal in global warming, the weather had shifted from a heat wave to an unusual cool spell. Not all was perfect, though. The gods were watching, and as a mortal capable of mistakes, I perceived early in the trip that my routing was a bit off. Too romantic to employ a GPS, I had been relying on my trusty maps of the papyrus variety and my inability to add and subtract. And yet somehow those extra fifty miles kept creeping in at the end of each day’s ride . . . It was not until the return trip home, though, that I fell inextricably into the hands of fate. Due to my precision navigation techniques outlined above, I ended up riding from the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, after a full day of tedious backroads. I pulled into a hotel around midnight only to discover that the one bed remaining was in a smoking room. How bad could it be, I mused? In truth, I would have been better off sleeping under the table of a high stakes poker game sponsored by a cigar company. By the time I made Dahlonega, Georgia, the following day, I was already feeling the effects of multiple 500-mile days and a bad night’s sleep. In this weakened state, I was fortune’s fool. And so I began to hear mythical Sirens luring me to a motorcycle dealership that appeared like a mirage on Georgia’s snaking Highway 60. I should have strapped my hands to the handlebars of my Honda 919 and kept on motoring. Instead, I hung an immediate right, dismounted, and moseyed on in to check out the rarer brands for sale: MV Agusta, Moto Guzzi, Aprilia, and Motus. After avoiding the unobtainable hardware and sitting on a Moto Guzzi V7, frugality directed me even further to some older Hondas taken as trade-ins. As I wheeled around to face what would ultimately be my fate, I beheld a bone stock Honda NS50F, complete with its OEM decals of teal and hot pink applied to a rather pedestrian white. Just in case you are not old enough to know, those colors were pretty dope back when I walked the halls of Jurassic High. And if those decals were not sick enough in 2013, let us not forget this particular motorbike had been blinged out with rose stickers. Of course, most sane individuals would have taken a quaint interest in this little fifty and politely walked on. Two minutes later, I found myself riding the flowered fifty around the parking lot. I do concede the gods had their way with yet another puny mortal. Shortly after returning home from my tour, I found myself taking another nine-hour round trip to pick up the bike. I still remember the salesman handing me the key and inauspiciously asking if I had ever heard of the True Grits 50cc Fun Run . . . Having broken my sacred oath by once again possessing more than seven motorcycles, I knew I better fly straight. I reasoned it was now very pertinent to stay true to my first commandment of motorcycle ownership: “Thou shalt not own any bike thou canst not commute on.” Sounds easy, right? Well, a 50cc really pushes one’s faith when commuting in a mountainous town of the Appalachian variety. Luckily, the mighty NS is equipped with a six-speed gearbox and a razor thin power band, so you are basically given a 5-mph window in each gear to maintain forward momentum. On the bright side, it does turn my 10-mile commute into a heart-pounding track day just keeping up with the flow of traffic. I do confess though to slightly altering my route home to tame a monster incline up a local mountain. In Florida the NS50F would probably be perfect. Following my first trip to the fabled True Grits Fun Run and considering my commandment to commute on all my bikes, I rationalized a modified 50cc was primarily a safety consideration. My first alteration was to remove those flower stickers. Yes, I probably lost some street cred with this move, but I figured, flowers or not, with a top speed of 58 mph, high stakes street racing was not in the NS’s future. Thus, I was on my way to becoming a disciple of the small bore. Having modified several motorcycles in the past, I always wanted to lean full in by modifying a bike past any reasonable usefulness. I figured the NS was as good a bike as any with its cheap buy-in, limited utility, and relatively inexpensive performance parts. Famous last words . . . As described in my earlier article, I ordered performance parts from Japan and a cafe seat from a local supplier. The front fender was replaced with a Honda MB5 fender and subsequently bobbed. A local painter provided some much needed updating to the 1990s color scheme. To gain more top-end speed, I changed the final-drive gearing and swapped the ignition module for a performance item that eliminated the rev limiter. With a 72cc kit and its matching head, flatslide carburetor, and performance exhaust, I could pull nearly 14,000 rpm downhill and see a true 72 mph. Of course, I had to add a tachometer and change out the stock speedometer, which signed off at 70 mph, to see these humbling numbers. In this form I took the NS72F to the first Smoky Mountain Crawl and rode out to Deals Gap. I believe the 125 miles I rode that day remain the longest I have ever spent in any motorcycle saddle. Trust me; you will not mistake an NS for a tourer. After running with some “big-displacement” motorcycles like the Honda Groms I encountered at the Crawl and my third True Grits that year, I knew the writing was on the wall. Despite managing my commute better, the NS72F needed more power. It was time to near triple the stock displacement by adding a second 72cc engine! Before this sordid tale continues, please understand I have always enjoyed tinkering in the garage as much as riding, so the pursuit of such mechanical absurdity was more a mental puzzle than a quest for any real or practical gains. (I felt that disclaimer necessary before you read further and considered calling the appropriate psychiatric services on me.) To attach the second NS motor, I first had to solve the problem of a vertically split crankcase. Allen Millyard, a man I greatly admire, was able to create his four-and five-cylinder Kawasaki two-strokes because they employ a horizontally split crankcase that allowed him to build up the crankshafts and combine the necessary crankcase pieces. If the NS was a four-stroke engine, I could have created a V- twin engine by mating the two connecting rods. Unfortunately, a liquid-cooled, vertically split two-stroke made the task of combining engines a bit more complicated because it was necessary to retain each engine’s crankcase as a sealed unit for the requisite induction process. Therefore, I chose to link the two engines via an external crankshaft coupler. Of course, the real work involved in this process would be learning to use a lathe and mill, something I had zero experience in. Fortunately, Joe, a good friend from our local classic motorcycle scene, stepped up as a mentor and taught me basic machining on his century old Hendey lathe and slightly newer Bridgeport mill. I am forever indebted for his kindness and patience in this arduous process. Most of the genius behind the design is Joe’s, with me acting as Dr. Watson to his Sherlock Holmes. To combine these two separate engines, I machined a ring to attach to the flywheel side of the first engine’s crankcase using the bolt pattern that held its crankcase together. Then, I bolted a second ring to the first ring as a spacer, machined down the second engine’s crankcase so the spacer could sit flat against the primary drive side of the second engine, and used the bolt pattern for this second engine’s crankcase to secure it to the spacer ring. This ring spacer, along with some external engine mounting points, accomplished the task of linking the two engine crankcases. To make the crankshaft coupler, I first shortened the mating side of each engine’s crankshaft to keep the motors as close as possible to one another. I also machined a keyway in each crankshaft to accurately time them, and I threaded the center of each crankshaft to allow a bolt to keep each half of the coupler secured. Both halves of the coupler were also machined with a keyway. Each coupler half was then pressed onto its respective crankshaft while carefully aligning the keyways, and secured with a bolt. This process is similar to the primary gear’s installation on the drive side of the engine. One coupler half also employs a dowel pin for correct timing, and the coupler halves are bolted together using nuts that can be accessed through a small hole machined in the underside of one engine case. Following the assembly of the coupled engines, the flywheel simply needs to be attached to the outer engine. A 360 degree big-bang firing order was used to simplify the ignition and also because it provides torque characteristics similar to a single cylinder engine. Thus, both pistons fire at exactly the same time. A larger radiator was used to upgrade the cooling system. One problem I quickly found when running the second engine was that vibration had increased considerably without a second counter balancer. This problem was solved by machining a hole in the first engine to accommodate an oil seal and a small shaft that connects its counter balancer to the second engine’s counter balancer. I will confess it is very difficult to time the crankshaft coupler and counter balancers when assembling both motors. All done, I would say the NS144F probably has a curb weight of around 200 pounds, and I contribute another 200 pounds when wearing ATGATT. For those who wonder just how low a dyno can measure rear wheel power, please note the NS144F pumped out 17.89 horsepower and 10.20 lb-ft of torque. Unfortunately, this relatively paltry power outmatches the stock bike’s drum brakes. Moreover, the corner speeds it can now obtain fully overwhelm the motorcycle’s bicycle-like chassis. I would say the saga continues, but sanity recognizes quite a bit of time has been lavished upon such a limited motorcycle. Plus, other creations lurk in the corner of the garage… and my mind’s eye. We’re suckers for nice photos and descriptive words and reasonably decent pics of your favorite motorcycle, or maybe just your most memorable one for all the wrong reasons? Send yours to contact@motorcycle.com, title it “Readers’ Rides,” and see yourself in this spot one of these weeks. The post Readers’ Rides: 1990 Honda NS144F Part II: Fate, Flowers, and Fifties appeared first on Motorcycle.com. Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com https://ift.tt/2Std7JO April 24, 2020 at 04:46PM
Motorcycle News - 2020 KTM 890 Duke R – First Ride Review
https://ift.tt/2VTZ5UJ 2020 KTM 890 Duke REditor Score: 91.0%
Are you sick of us talking about KTM Dukes yet? And by “us” I primarily mean Evans. Anyone who’s followed this space knows he bought a 790 Duke and has modified it to his version of what an R model should be. The list is relatively short and sweet, and covers the primary weaknesses of the 790. So let’s go down the list: – Apex Pro 6500 Cartridges And 6746 Shock – KTM PowerParts Wave Brake Discs – Brembo 19 RCS Corsa Corta Master Cylinder – Dynojet Power Commander V And Rottweiler Performance Power Plate Finally, when taken as a collective whole, here’s Evans’ take on how all of the upgrades work together. Evans says he likes his bike, swearing up and down the modifications have completely transformed the 790 and the wrenching process has been fun, too. He’s even gone on to say things like “it’s the journey, man, not the destination.” HeartbreakerI hope he truly means that, because after spending a day on the new, 2020 KTM 890 Duke R, my only advice to Evans was “whatever you do, DO NOT ride that bike.” I couldn’t stand the thought of seeing Evans in anguish after riding the 890 and realizing, if he’d only waited a year, he would have had a superior machine. It’d break my little heart. Let alone Evans’. If you own a 790 Duke, I mourn for you. Of course, I kid (a little). The 790 Duke is fine, but the 890 is, well, better. As you’re no doubt aware, the Coronavirus pandemic has wreaked havoc on several industries, and the motorcycle business was not immune to those effects. The press launch for the 890 Duke R was supposed to be at some exotic location, with KTM staff on hand to answer questions. Instead, it was canceled. Our consolation prize was an afternoon spent riding a pre-production 890 Duke R up one of our favorite SoCal mountain roads. What we lost in being able to ride at some exotic location we made up for by avoiding jet lag, skipping frustrating airport delays, and by riding KTM’s Super Scalpel through roads we know like the back of our hand. Keeping a socially responsible distance from others would be a piece of cake too, since the 890 carves its way through a canyon road so well it’s hard for others to be anywhere near you. A Super Scalpel indeed. Riding ImpressionsNormally we go in-depth about the technical details of a new model, but we’ve already done that. In case you missed it, here are 6 Things You Need To Know about the 890 Duke R, focusing on the myriad of changes over the 790 KTM employed for 2020. Combined with the links above detailing what Evans did to his 790, you should have a pretty good idea what the technical – and practical – differences are between the two Dukes. For this article, we’re going to skip straight to the riding impressions. Where else to begin, of course, than the engine. A modest 91cc bump in displacement may not sound like much, but in practical terms the extra cc’s amount to a boost of power in the midrange – below 5,000 – where street riders and canyon carvers will spend a lot of their time. The extra rush is felt in the top end too, obviously. I expected that, and it isn’t extreme. In fact, in the short time I had with the bike, it seemed like short-shifting was a better idea. Feeling that little bit more down low was a noticeable and welcome surprise. Also impressive is the fuel mapping, with seemingly little to no hiccups or dips as far as I could feel. Giving it full gas all the time like you would in a track setting doesn’t tell you much about fuel mapping, but street riding and canyon carving gives a more accurate picture, especially in the middle of a corner and driving out. Here, when the 890 is mid-corner, minute throttle adjustments didn’t result in annoying lurches or surges. Just smooth, linear power correlating with the amount of twist you give with your wrist. KTM says the crankshaft has 20% more rotating mass which definitely could account for the smooth power I felt. I don’t know whether to credit the crank, ECU tuning, or both. The 890 gets a nod not only for the extra power, but also for how usable and accessible it is. The reality, though, is that the Duke R’s not just about the engine. In fact, with a name like the Super Scalpel, there’s a very real case for the 890’s handling prowess to be even more noteworthy than the engine. Besides, if you want an engine, go get the 1290 Super Duke… With the 890, the slightly lowered, tapered bars put you in the attack position without being too aggressive. Our particularly sinuous testing road has a good mix of long sweepers and tight, technical twists and turns. The bars are wide enough to give tons of leverage to will the bike to your cornering demands; not that a 24.3º rake angle, 58.3-inch wheelbase, and 366-pound dry weight really require much muscling – but hey, if nothing else, they’ll make it a little easier to stretch your elbows out to the ground at your next trackday for that all-important glory shot you can post on your ‘Gram. Because, let’s be real, #DoItForTheGram is really all that counts anymore. I’m definitely not complaining about the KTM’s bars (and, in fact, Evans let it slip he’ll probably be swapping bars on his 790 for this one…), nor am I complaining about the uprated WP APEX fully adjustable shock and compression/rebound adjustable fork. An upgrade from the non-adjustable WP pieces on the 790 (which really weren’t too bad until you pushed them at the track), they are technically a step down from the APEX Pro pieces Evans swapped on his 790. Still, having adjustability is always a good thing. I remember initially thinking when I first rode the 790 that a non-adjustable suspension could be the bike’s downfall. Turns out it really wasn’t. Of course, I had the opposite mindset this time around; having the ability to change damping was really going to come in handy. Truth is I didn’t touch a clicker all day. Granted, the only bit of riding we did was immediately in the twisty stuff, but the Duke R was well damped throughout and gave great feedback and communication from both ends. I might change my tune once I have a chance to slog some miles on the highway, but really, the only time you should be putting lots of highway miles on the Super Scalpel is so you can make your way to the curvy roads and do some Super Scalpel-ing. Sometimes an overlooked component of going fast is slowing fast. This hasn’t been much of an issue with any sporty bike in quite a while, but in upgrading the 790 Duke to the 890 Duke R, KTM quit messing around and upgraded everything to Brembo bits. A Brembo MCS master cylinder replaces the 790’s J.Juan piece and lets the rider adjust the lever ratio, while the KTM-branded J.Juan calipers are ditched for top-shelf Brembo Stylema calipers, squeezing on 320mm discs (up from 300mm). Apart from the engine, the braking system is probably the most significant upgrade over the 790. The Duke R scrubs off speed at an incredible rate, with great levels of bite, feel, and modulation at the lever. The MCS master cylinder is the underrated star of the show here, and being able to adjust the leverage ratio will suit a lot of different riding styles. Although, I figure, once you find the setting (of three) you like, wouldn’t you just leave it there? Personally, I opted for the 21mm leverage ratio (20mm and 19mm are the other options), as I like having the immediacy of the brakes right when I pull the lever. Cornering-ABS comes standard as part of the upgraded electronics suite (more on that in a minute), and with the optional Track package our test unit was equipped with, allows the rider to switch the ABS to Supermoto mode. And when you switch to S-Moto, you know what that means – rear wheel slides! As should probably be a surprise to nobody considering KTM’s success in supermoto, the 890 is excellent at sliding into a corner. Just pop a couple downshifts, feather the clutch and brake, and let the rear wag while the slipper clutch takes care of wheel hop. To be fair, the riding conditions on our day of riding were just about perfect, save for a little bit of dirt in the road in certain spots. So testing ABS wasn’t in the cards, and I still haven’t built up the confidence to test Cornering ABS. Back on the subject of electronics, KTM upgraded the 890’s brains to include a 6-Axis IMU and what it calls a “wheelslip controller” (two improvements over the 790) for more refined traction control intervention. Sport, Street, and Rain modes are the standard riding modes offered. Our test bike was upgraded with the Track package which, along with the Supermoto ABS mode, also includes a fourth ride mode: Track. While not an official cost from KTM, owners groups online are reporting buyers paying around $750-ish for the Tech Pack, which includes the Quickshifter+ and Track Mode. By now you’re probably familiar with ride modes and what they do in regards to power delivery (they get progressively more immediate as you step up from Rain mode). With that in mind, I spent the majority of my time in Track mode since the conditions were perfect. And it’s in Track mode that I based my earlier assessment of the power delivery and smoothness a few paragraphs earlier. Track mode also gives the rider more freedom to tailor the Duke’s settings to their liking. With some simple button presses on the left switchgear, you can change the throttle response to behave like any of the other three ride modes, as well as change the ABS, and turn off launch control and wheelie control. Keep the 890 in Rain, Street, or Sport and you’re stuck in its predetermined settings – not that that’s a bad thing. In Track mode you can change the nine-level traction control settings on-the-fly with a simple tap on the up or down arrows on the left bar. To be honest, I’m really not sure if I ever dipped into activating the TC on our short day ride. I doubt it though; the Michelin Power Cup tires fitted stock on the bike have tons of grip (they better, they look almost like slicks!). Combined with the excellent power delivery and clean roads, the conditions were just about perfect for getting traction. However, having experienced the TC on Evans’ 790 at the track and being impressed with how non-intrusively it operates, if KTM says it has improved the system on the 890, I’m confident in its ability to save my bacon often without me noticing. In case it wasn’t obvious already, the 890 Duke R is a damn good motorcycle. However, it’s certainly not perfect, and there was one glaring sour spot I had: the transmission. I distinctly remember being impressed with the standard quickshifter setup on the 790, but with the 890 shifting from first to second using only the optional quickshifter required a decent amount of pull from your foot and was notchy and abrupt every time, no matter the rpm. The feeling was less pronounced, but still noticeable, from second to third, then fine after that. If you use the clutch then none of this applies, but then, what’s the point of a quickshifter? To give KTM the benefit of doubt, the particular test bike I rode was a pre-production unit with only a handful of miles on the clock. With only a day to ride the bike, it’s hard to say if more miles would improve things or if I just got a dud. On a much less serious note, my only other gripe was the seat. The rearward portion is fairly flat, and it’s where I sat for those times I was cruising and not going full ham (the front is nicely scalloped and helps keep you in place). Padding here felt cushy at first, but it almost feels like the base layer of seat foam under the top layer is a little on the hard side.
The Middleweight KingIf you’ve come this far, then it’s pretty clear where I stand on the 890 Duke R. It’s an absolute ripper of a motorcycle. I’ve always been a fan of middleweights for giving the Goldilocks amount of power, and the recipe KTM whipped up for the 890 is spot on. Having it accessible so early on, and in such smooth, linear fashion just sweetens the deal. In short, it goes, stops, and turns in a way that invites you to push a little more. It brings out every hooligan instinct in you, with the electronics safety net to save your bacon – should you decide to leave it on. (I feel this is a good spot to mention the disclaimer that no amount of rider aids can completely keep you from crashing…) It’s too bad we only had a day with the bike, as this is one motorcycle I’m sure the entire MO staff will be fighting over. We’ll get one to test on a longer basis eventually, and when we do we’ll throw it on the dyno, on the scales, and in the back of one of our trucks as we head off to a trackday with it (assuming Coronavirus restrictions ease up by then). Until then, we leave you with a very favorable early impression of KTM’s 890 Duke R. It’s one hell of a motorcycle, and for a starting price of $11,699, could very well be 2020’s biggest bang for the buck. Sorry 790 owners.
Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com https://ift.tt/2Std7JO April 24, 2020 at 01:55PM 4/24/2020 Matching Lauda charging drives and making history - John Watson's five of the best - F1 News
F1 News - Matching Lauda, charging drives and making history - John Watson's five of the best
https://ift.tt/2VzNhIn From going to-to-toe with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, to some of the most scintillating and memorable drives in Formula 1 - John Watson's record in the sport certainly isn't a bad one. The Northern Irishman's F1 career spanned a twelve-year period from his first Grand Prix entry, at Silverstone in 1973, to his last appearance at the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch in 1985. He made over 150 starts, notching up twenty podium finishes and taking the chequered flag on five occasions. In times of both triumph and tragedy, Watson recalls each of his five victories in a stellar career. 1976 - Austrian Grand Prix - OsterreichringJohn Watson's first victory in Formula 1 came in Austria during a troubling period in Formula One, just two weeks after Niki Lauda's near-fatal accident at the Nurburgring. Watson was driving for the American team Penske, who had themselves faced tragedy a year earlier at the Osterreichring circuit. "Certainly the Seventies were a period when there were a number of accidents, some of them fatal," recalled Watson. "In the Austrian GP in 1975, the iconic Penske driver Mark Donohue had lost his life and that had led me to take over that seat at the team. "A year later, Team Penske and myself were in a position where we had a competitive car, in part because we had the perfect set of Goodyear tyres that transformed its performance. "The race had started on a damp track, with four or five of us jockeying for position on the opening few laps but, eventually, I took control of the race and took the chequered flag to score my first victory. "It was the only victory for Penske in Formula One and it was the last Grand Prix win for an American-owned team." Team owner Roger Penske pulled the team out of F1 at the end of that season to concentrate on Indycar in the States. "Roger Penske made a pragmatic call - but a great shame in my opinion," added Watson. "It left me in the situation at the end of 1976 where I was without a drive. The best option, with most drives allocated, was to move back to Brabham, who I was happy to team up with as I'd had a good relationship with them earlier in my career." The 1976 Austrian Grand Prix was also notable as the last time a female driver completed a Grand Prix, as the Italian Lella Lombardi finished in 12th for Brabham. "The fact is that there simply hasn't been, subsequently, another female driver who justified a place on a team," Watson remarks. "There's still a yawning gap there for a woman driver to step into." 1981 British Grand Prix - SilverstoneWatson would wait five years to taste victory once more. After two seasons driving for Brabham, including a sixth place finish in the Drivers' Championship in 1978, he moved to McLaren and, after some lean years, the 1981 British Grand Prix at Silverstone would be one to savour. "My home Grand Prix was, of course, very important for both me and the team. My family were present that day," Watson remembers. "In the previous two races that year, I had finished third in Jerez and then second in France. So, come Silverstone, the press were predicting a win. "Silverstone is a high-speed circuit, tending to favour the turbo-charged cars of Renault and Ferrari at the time, but that McLaren was also a great car." "I had a setback mid-race when I just managed to avoid a tangle between Gilles Villeneuve and Alan Jones ahead of me but the engine had stalled. I had just enough momentum to get it back into gear, switch the fuel pump back on again and bump start but I'd lost five or six positions. "As the race progressed, the McLaren was faultless, while the Renaults ahead suffered mechanical problems. "I was able to pass Rene Arnoux for the lead and then there was a real reaction around the circuit from the fans because of the prospect of a British driver in a British car winning the British Grand Prix. I had to deal with all that. "I didn't want to just assume the win at that point, so those closing laps were like walking on eggshells. "The team was telling me to slow down from the pitwall but I did it my way. I was in control and certainly didn't need those instructions - but their nerves were understandable. "They needed the victory so badly. McLaren had been in a lean period." Indeed, Watson's win was McLaren's first for four years and it was also significant for being the first time a car with a carbon fibre composite chassis had recorded a victory. "That win was an endorsement of Ron Dennis and John Barnard, and the technology the pair had brought to McLaren," added the Belfast-born driver. "The introduction of carbon fibre technology in the manufacture of a race chassis was a seismic moment for motorsport. All of a sudden this new material had, in effect, stamped its future with that victory at Silverstone." 1982 Belgian Grand Prix - ZolderWatson again finished sixth in the drivers' standings in 1981 but the following year enjoyed his best season in the competitive McLaren, taking third place overall. He enjoyed two victories, starting with the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder but pre-race was totally overshadowed by the death of a popular fellow driver: "On the Saturday, Gilles Villeneuve had been in a collision and lost his life," said Watson. "He was a charismatic driver and had been exciting to watch race - the kind of driver a lot of race fans flocked to watch." Villeneuve's team, Ferrari, withdrew but the race would go ahead despite the tragedy. "Somebody had to win the race on the Sunday," Watson said. "Starting mid-grid, I remember making progress through the field. "We'd made some very good decisions about the car on the Sunday morning, and those decisions played out in my favour and gave me a great car in an attritional race. My third world championship win gave me immense pleasure - in a certain context." Watson adds it was a victory that owed much to strategy: "Keke Rosberg simply wore his tyres out ahead of me. I'd looked after mine better and so by the tail of the race I was in a much better position and was able to catch him. "At the end of the day, it's about who takes the chequered flag first and not how you get to the penultimate lap leading, but then lose victory." 1982 Detroit Grand Prix - Detroit City, USAWithin a month, Watson claimed his second win that season at the Detroit Grand Prix. Three races were held in the States in 1982 and the Michigan venue would provide one of Watson's finest moments, claiming first place after starting seventeenth on the grid. Not everyone was impressed with the venue but Watson won friends for his enthusiasm: "It was a brand new circuit, a bumpy street circuit," he recalls. "In the build-up, some of my peers were, bluntly, rude about inner-city Detroit. I was delighted to come to the 'Motor City', the home of Motown and the heart of the motor industry in America, and said I was looking forward to the Grand Prix. "I think the media over there picked up on it - someone saying something positive." The Grand Prix was held on what Watson refers to as a 'matrix' circuit - "all ninety degree corners and straights" - and ended up being something of a two-part race. "The race was red-flagged after Roberto Guerrero and Ricardo Patrese came off - and then recommenced an hour or so later," he explains. "The strength of the McLaren, yet again, was in a racing context. Good intelligent preparation and the right grade of tyre gave me a car I was able to drive well pretty much anywhere on the circuit and, as the race progressed, I found I was the quickest by a country mile." Watson quite simply carved through the field, at one point memorably overtaking Eddie Cheever, Didier Pironi and team-mate Niki Lauda, all in the same lap, to move up into second place. "Keke Rosberg was now leading and had posted the fastest lap, only to be told over his radio that I'd taken 3.5 seconds off that," Watson muses. "I caught him, overtook him and pulled away - but because it was a two-part race, with times counting from both 'halves', I still had to extend my lead to ensure I took first place with the combined times. "The car performed flawlessly and it may sound strange to say it but I could then have completed another Grand Prix distance. "It was easy in terms of physical effort because the car did all the work. If the driver has to do all the work then there is something wrong with the car." 1983 US Grand Prix West - Long BeachThe following year would be Watson's last full season with McLaren. Again the States proved to be his happy hunting ground, with an historic win on the Long Beach circuit in California. Watson was again forced to perform his race-day heroics after a poor qualifying which left him and team-mate Lauda began 22nd and 23rd respectively on the starting grid. "Long Beach was a street circuit but was configured with a more natural feel," he remembers. "Again, it was an example of the McLaren being an outstanding racing car. "We weren't able to get the best out of it in qualifying, largely because it was light on tyres with a light fuel load. However, come the race, we got more energy into the tyres because of the fuel load we were carrying and the car just came alive." In warm, sunny conditions, the McLaren pair tore through the field and Watson romped to victory, almost thirty seconds ahead of his team-mate by the finish: "Niki just dropped away, shame he didn't do that more often. That said, Niki and I were team-mates in 1978 at Brabham and then at McLaren in '82 and '83. "Over those three seasons, we scored identical total championship points (84). So, there you go - a driver from Northern Ireland and a three-time World Champion had the same score in total over three years with two different teams." Watson's win was a record in the modern F1 era - twenty-second was the farthest back a driver had ever come from on the grid to go on and win a race. It proved to be the last time the popular Long Beach held an F1 Grand Prix, as the circuit turned its attentions to the CART championship from 1984 onwards - but Watson regrets its exit from the calendar: "Long Beach had all the qualities for a Grand Prix," he explains. "South of Los Angeles, it was always sunny, it looked good on TV, what with the bay and marina. "But it came down to a commercial decision between Bernie Ecclestone and those running the circuit. It was CART's and then IndyCar's gain, but I think it was also one of Formula One's great losses." As for pressing John Watson to pick a favourite win out of those five memorable Grand Prix victories, it's rather like asking a father to pick his favourite child: "I didn't win a huge number but each one of them is special," he concludes. "Your first win is like your first child - but each victory had a unique quality. "Silverstone was important for McLaren's future and Belgium was an excellent team effort to get the car to perform with a strong finish. "Detroit had a novelty factor, as we didn't know what to expect and Long Beach - that just gave me great satisfaction." John Watson was speaking to BBC Sport's Haydn Parry. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://ift.tt/OHg7x6 April 24, 2020 at 12:45PM
Motorcycle News - The Sabbatical: Taking a break to build a CB750 cafe racer
https://ift.tt/3eQ9N7h
Brent originally bought his 1973 CB750K, already partially modified, from Flying Tiger Motorcycles in Maplewood, Missouri. His career prevented him from investing the necessary time to keep a vintage bike running smoothly, so he became a regular customer at Flying Tiger.
“I don’t think they knew what to make of me, but as Eric pointed out, they knew at least that I was ‘not an asshole,’ and we planned for me to come in the following Tuesday after my last day with my company. My journey and time as an ‘intern’ began.”
“We knew that with the time I had, the resources of the shop and their guidance, doing a full restoration and modification would be an opportunity I might not get again. Just like that, with the support of my family, my planned six week break was adjusted to six months.”
Brent’s commitment shows. His CB750 is not only one of the cleanest around, but it’s also sporting some well-judged upgrades.
There’s also a mod we don’t see a lot of—a wet sump conversion from Sump Thing, designed to ditch the auxiliary oil tank and hoses. Brent installed it so that he could clean out the triangle under the seat completely.
There’s a CB400 Super Sport fuel tank up front, with the battery, coils and key electronics all hiding under it.
Black 19F/18R rims were laced up with stainless steel spokes. The rear brake disc setup is stock, but Brent did some restoration work on it with contrasting finishes and red mesh accents. Road-biased Avon tires round out the package.
Brent’s last hurdle was figuring out a livery for the CB. “Throughout the process I was constantly searching, reading, and studying cafe builds and designs,” Brent tells us. “I was looking both inside the motorcycle industry and outside at graphic design and art to find inspiration.”
Brent also wanted to incorporate his three daughters into the build, so he designed a logo for his new moniker: Three Daughter Moto. Appropriately, the graphics also include Japanese characters that read ‘attack life.’
Brent eventually got another job after the project, but life looks different now. “While I have had to focus a lot of time in the new venture,” he explains, “I have prioritized things in my life differently in a way that I would not have had the awareness to do, without my internship and meeting the gang at Flying Tiger.”
Three Daughter Moto | Flying Tiger Motorcycles | Images and video by Brian Cummings Motorcycles via Bike EXIF https://ift.tt/2Mf9b0c April 24, 2020 at 12:17PM
MotoGP News - Finnish MotoGP return put on hold due to coronavirus
https://ift.tt/2KxSPg4 MotoGP's return to Finland for the first time since 1982 has been put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the total number of scrapped races up to 11. The 11th round of the 2020 season was due to take place at the newly-constructed KymiRing 100km outside of Helsinki on 12 July, marking MotoGP's first visit to the country in almost 40 years. The race was originally scheduled to come onto the calendar in 2018, though numerous delays in construction meant it would not have a confirmed slot until this year. However, the outbreak of COVID-19 put the event under serious doubt, with MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports' CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta recently confirming in an interview with Spanish media that the event would not be going ahead as the circuit couldn't be given approval. Though an official communication from Dorna on the postponement of the Finnish GP, race organisers released a statement on Friday. "The decision to postpone the Finnish MotoGP race is made by Dorna Sports, which owns rights of the competition," the statement began. "The Finnish government has recommended that events for more than 500 people not be held before August due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Decision of postponement of the MotoGP Finland competition is made by Dorna Sports and race track owner KymiRing in accordance with the instructions of the Finnish Government. "Dorna Sports has promised to announce the future of MotoGP in Finland as soon as possible." Though the last Finnish GP was in 1982, the last premier class race in the country - staged at the Imatra circuit - was held the year before. Test riders from all six MotoGP manufacturers took to the circuit last year to evaluate the layout, after an official test had to be cancelled as the circuit had yet to be completed. The circuit was met with mixed feelings, with most agreeing that sections of the KymiRing were too slow. Modifications to these parts were expected to be made ahead of the race. The news follows a day after organisers for the Dutch TT at Assen confirmed its 28 June race was postponed. The earliest the season can now start is 9 August with the Czech Grand Prix at Brno. Recently, Ezpeleta stated the best-case scenario would be a resumption of racing at Brno, and said he'd be "delighted" with a 10-race championship. Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei April 24, 2020 at 09:24AM
MotoGP News - MotoGP 20 review: Early release gamble pays off
https://ift.tt/2S7t5LY MotoGP 20 marks Milestone's most ambitious instalment in the franchise so far, with an April release date, a revamped career mode and the return of historic bikes. This unprecedented early release date - just days after the fourth round of the real-life MotoGP season was supposed to take place prior to its cancellation - immediately raised concerns over the quality of the title. Fortunately for fans, Milestone's boldness has paid off with a redesigned handling model and extra content that makes this far more than MotoGP 19 with 2020 bikes and riders. The handling model - as with any racing game - will not be to everyone's liking but it does a good job of balancing simulation with accessibility. There is a lot more feel to the way the bikes move, especially in the low-speed corners of the 20 current MotoGP circuits as well as two classic tracks - Donington Park and Laguna Seca. Career mode has earned the biggest attention from the developers and the results are evident from the off. Gamers can start in the frenetic Moto3 series and work their way up to the top class, or you can just jump straight on the top machinery. As in real life, this would be inadvisable, given the steep learning curve of the MotoGP bikes. With the addition of options to control your fuel, brakes and level of traction control while riding, it can be a little overwhelming for casual gamers new to the franchise. The game, unfortunately, does little to shallow this learning curve, and it runs a slight risk of alienating new fans just moments into them picking up the game. There are, of course, a range of riding aids available and, as expected in all racing games now, a difficulty slider. The problem with the AI difficulty however is its consistency, and the fuel mapping has a similar issue. From the track to track, both are inconsistent, with the former especially frustrating - you must sometimes regularly change the difficulty each weekend once you have done a practice session. On the positive side, those practice sessions now have development tests that make practice sessions far more useful, as you earn research points to develop your bike, similar to what Codemasters has implemented in its Formula 1 franchise in recent years. You can also take part in test sessions prior to and during the season, adding a further element of immersion not common in other annually released racing game series - with the addition of testing liveries for this section a neat touch. The enhanced career mode also contains a personal manager, who will manage negotiations with other teams across the three classes. Picking the right manager with the correct skills has a genuine impact on how you progress up the ranks. Your technical staff management is also critical and allows gamers to influence the direction of the development of the bike in-between races. You have the choice of where to allocate your available staff in the research and development section, whether that be to your engine, frame, aerodynamic or electronics department. It gives gamers the great dilemma of staying on a KTM or Aprilia and developing it to the front or just switching to ride a Honda or a Ducati. All the riders, unfortunately, remain with their original team throughout the career. Sadly, there is no Red Bull Rookies Cup, and perhaps more disappointingly, a lack of MotoE at launch considering its MotoGP support status and future potential. Milestone has confirmed this will be added at a later date, however. The historic mode makes a welcome return to the franchise, with a multitude of bikes and riders from the 2-stroke and 4-stroke eras. These feature in a separate game mode, where gamers play randomly generated challenges ranging in difficulty to unlock more historic content. Developers often struggle to properly utilise historic content in games, but Milestone's effort in MotoGP 20 is solid compared to its competitors. The customisation elements of the game are also strong with editable liveries, helmets, and other rider gear. Gamers can also search for user-created content to apply to their in-game rider. Graphical details have minor improvements, with a big leap expected for the next title, which should be releasing on the next-generation of consoles next year. Multiplayer also seemed solid at the time of release, with the dedicated servers, which will be particularly important for the first Virtual GP in May and the upcoming fourth MotoGP Esports season. The quality of this game will be particularly important to motorcycle fans devastated that half of the real-life season has already been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Milestone has delivered another solid entry into the series, which will provide fans with plenty to do until the racing action gets underway again. MotoGP 20 is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Steam, Google Stadia and Nintendo Switch. Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei April 24, 2020 at 07:52AM
MotoGP News - Rins began Suzuki MotoGP talks in Argentina last year
https://ift.tt/2Vzzt0w Alex Rins has revealed he began talks about remaining with Suzuki in MotoGP for 2021 during last year's Argentine Grand Prix weekend. The double MotoGP race winner announced last Sunday that he has signed a new two-year deal to remain with Suzuki beginning next season, with team boss Davide Brivio admitting to Autosport beforehand that everything was already in place. Speaking in an online press conference on Thursday, Rins revealed how long talks with Suzuki had gone on for and had hoped to announced the deal following a podium finish in the early part of the now-delayed 2020 season. "Sincerely, we started to talk with Suzuki in Argentina 2019," Rins said. "So there we started to talk about the next two years and the final contract we signed maybe one week ago, or two weeks ago. "We needed to wait because of the Japanese factory mentality, there are a lot of people to say 'ok now'. "The COVID-19 [situation] for changed things. "I wanted to announce the continuation with Suzuki at a race, and if possible on the podium. "But this is the situation now." Expanding on his decision to remain with Suzuki, Rins says the team is like his "second family", and was convinced by the team's "growing up" for 2020 after a strong winter testing phase. He also admits there were options outside of Suzuki available to him, but he never held any discussions. "Well, I signed with Suzuki because in the end now it's the team I want to be with, with the same people, same mechanics," he added. "For sure, when I go out [racing] I miss home, I miss my dogs, my girlfriend. "But when I go racing it's not difficult for me, because I have there [in Suzuki] my second family, the relationship is so nice. "So, this is one thing. Another thing is because they are growing up for 2020. "What I test in the pre-season was the things that I asked them to develop. So, I'm quite happy for this. "We didn't sit with any teams. I had more options, for sure. "I can say I'm lucky to have more options. But we didn't sit with another team to talk [about 2021]." Suzuki is expected to confirm Joan Mir's contract renewal for the next two years imminently. Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei April 24, 2020 at 06:41AM
F1 News - Formula E esports series to be broadcast on BBC
https://ift.tt/2KrEbah Formula E's new esports series will be streamed live across BBC platforms. The Race At Home Challenge will take eight weeks and include the drivers and teams from the regular season, which was postponed due to the coronavirus. Coverage starts this Saturday 25 April at 16:20 on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and the BBC Sport website, with a race on a virtual Hong Kong Harbour front. BMW iAndretti's Max Gunther won a test race last Saturday ahead of Mercedes' Stoffel Vandoorne. There was as much incident as there is in the real series during the test race. Unlike Formula 1's Virtual esports series, which features several drivers and guest entrants, Formula E's virtual alternative features the jeopardy of competitors damaging their cars if they crash, instead of bouncing off the wall and carrying on. Also the races will be run a in 'race royale' format, meaning the last-placed car will be eliminated from the race at the end of every lap, after two full laps have been completed. After 12 laps the top 12 cars will then have two final flying laps to fight for the points-scoring positions. A title winner will be decided at the end of the eight-week championship, and to help launch this weekend singer Rita Ora will be alongside presenter Nicki Shields to show her support. "We miss racing and I cannot wait to get back on track," said current 'real life' title leader Antonio Felix da Costa. "Motor racing is actually one of only a few sports with transferrable skills across both the real and gaming world. So it will be interesting to see how we get acclimatised to the conditions." Portugese Da Costa leads the regular season title after winning the last round of the series in Marrakesh before the postponement due to the coronavirus crisis. Organisers intend to use the event to raise money for charity. There will also be a championship for the fastest gamers and "influencers", which runs at the same time. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://ift.tt/OHg7x6 April 24, 2020 at 04:33AM
MotoGP News - Iannone regrets departure from Ducati's MotoGP team in 2016
https://ift.tt/2KwnkTW Andrea Iannone admitted in a social media Q&A with Max Biaggi that he regrets his exit from the Ducati MotoGP team at the end of the 2016 season. Iannone made his MotoGP debut with Ducati at the Pramac squad in 2013 and graduated to the works team in '15 before winning his so far only premier class race in Austria in '16 - ending Ducati's six-year win drought. The Italian switched to Suzuki for '17, but struggled for form after selecting the wrong engine pre-season, and would lose his place at the end of the following season. In a Q&A on Instagram with four-time 250cc world champion Biaggi last month, Iannone says he "shouldn't have gone away from Ducati". Iannone was actually ousted from Ducati at the end of '16 - a decision partly made for his part in wiping out Andrea Dovizioso in Argentina at the last corner and costing the team a double podium. "In hindsight, you would always change something from your past," Iannone wrote. "In my case, I shouldn't have gone away from Ducati. "The seasons of 2015 and 2016 had been very good for me. "The bike in particular was frightening in acceleration and braking, while suffering on entry to corners. "I switched to Suzuki [in '17] and found the opposite. "Today we need a compromise to make well a bike that brakes and has traction." Iannone moved to Aprilia last year, and though he scored the team's best result of sixth and put an Aprilia in the lead of a race for the first time in Australia, he endured a low-key campaign. Having been under suspension following a failed drugs test during last year's Malaysian Grand Prix weekend, Iannone was handed an 18-month ban by the FIM last month. An FIM disciplinary ruling found Iannone did ingest the offending steroid through contaminated food, but this wasn't enough to fully acquit him. Iannone is set to appeal the decision, with Aprilia fully backing him. Door open for a Ducati return?In a recent interview with Sky Italia, Pramac boss Fracesco Guidotti didn't rule out the possibility of a Iannone return to the team. "There is a very strong emotional bond between us, because we have spent two intense years together," Guidotti told Sky Italia. "Who knows, maybe if the occasion came up again we would discuss it for sure. "It's clear that with him, unlike with others, we didn't reap the benefits of our work because in the two years he was with us we were in a very difficult technical situation. Ducati wasn't as competitive as it is today. "It would be nice to close the circle with Andrea. He took his own path, but there's still a bond." Ducati sporting director Paolo Ciabatti is also open to the idea, though admits it would go against the ethos of the Pramac set up. "It is clear that on the one hand the main task of the Pramac team is to raise promising young riders to be a kind of 'nursery', as was the case for Iannone, [Danilo] Petrucci, [Jack] Miller and [Francesco] Bagnaia," Ciabatti told Sky Italia. "From this point of view Iannone is 30 years old and would not be perfectly positioned in such a programme. "Having said that, why not? Never say never. "I think Iannone has great talent, he is a very fast rider. "He has lost his way a bit for a lot of reasons; I think he is perfectly aware that he made mistakes in his career at decisive moments." Motogp Motorcycle Racing News via MotoGP news - Autosport https://ift.tt/2uOa9Ei April 24, 2020 at 04:05AM |
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