Yes, it's true. Dani Pedrosa has made it be known that he doesn't want Michelins on his bike and the young Spaniard has got his way. In an astonishing 'mutual' decision which bodes ill for the rest of the season. And who would bet against a single-make tyre championship in 2009? And it looks like his decision was the right one (at Misano anyway) when on his first day of testing, he went almost a second a lap quicker on the Japanese brand than. Pedrosa did a total of 81 laps, working mainly on setting his Repsol Honda up for the Bridgestone's characteristics and went eight-tenths faster than his best race lap on Sunday.
Here's the wee man's quote from the press release:
Dani Pedrosa, Repsol Honda: 1m 34.652s – on lap 76 of 81.
“I'm happy starting this new challenge and I would like to thank Bridgestone. Today we also made an important step forward in developing the 2009 bike, but now my first priority is to be fully competitive again. Of course, there is a lot of work to do but I am determined to win again this year. Today we worked hard on bike set-up. The feeling with the new tyres on my RC212V is different, both for settings and for riding style, but I just tried to follow my feelings and adjust the set-up accordingly.
“Today was only my first day riding on Bridgestone tyres but I am happy. I also tested the pneumatic-valve engine. The engine character is different, the power delivery is a bit more aggressive, but the engine has some good points. I have no experience on this latest bike, so I had to test many new things today. This has been an important test. Now we will analyse all the data and we look forward to the next race at Indianapolis.”
Here's the earlier press release:
'For 24 years Michelin and Honda have worked together at the highest level of motorcycle racing. Together the two companies have won 14 premier-class World Championships.
The two companies fully understand the importance of the “feeling” between the rider and the equipment he has at his disposal, especially tyres.
Despite making an excellent start to the season and leading the World Championship going into the German GP, during the last few races Dani Pedrosa has made it know to both Michelin and Honda that he doesn't feel at ease with the tyres that Michelin have offered him.
Honda and Michelin believe that rider confidence needs to be at its maximum if the rider is to fully exploit the tactical potential of the tyres.
In these circumstances Michelin and Honda have therefore decided not to equip Pedrosa with Michelin tyres for the remainder of the 2008 season.
Pedrosa comments: “I thank Michelin and Honda for their mutual understanding and for agreeing to my personal demands. I am very conscious of the fact that I have made some excessively negative comments about Michelin tyres, even though Michelin helped me make an exceptional start to the season.”
Both Honda and Michelin hope that MotoGP World Championship will continue with a multi-tyre brand regulation in 2009, Michelin will equip one of the Repsol Honda's two riders for the remainder of the 2008 season.'
And what the hell is Nicky Hayden going to be doing, riding around on Michelins while his team mate creams him for the rest of the season? What a disaster for the French firm.
Britain's James Ellison will be lining up as a wild-card ride at this weekend's Donington Park round of the HANNspree FIM Superbike World Championship despite still feeling the effects of a recent wrist injury that forced him to sit out the last round of the Bennetts British Superbike Championship at Cadwell Park.The 27 year-old from Kendal had scored points in every round of the BSB championship on his Shaun Muir Racing 1000cc Honda Fireblade, but had to miss Cadwell, and is now looking forward to racing in World Superbike once again, after two years in MotoGP and a year in AMA Superbike.
"I'm so looking forward to racing at Donington, it's unreal!" declared Ellison. "I was so frustrated at Cadwell but my wrist is fine and I have no concerns about it at all now. All it needed was a little bit of rest and now I'm raring to go. We had a good run in the BSB races at Donington and I'm hopeful we can give a good account of ourselves once again. We know our bike is good, we have got the electronics working a lot better and I'm really up for this one. Top ten would be a great result, but I'm hoping for a top six if I'm being honest and despite it being probably the strongest field of the year what with all the British wild cards, I'm feeling very confident".
Ellison is familiar with the World Superbike paddock, having won the European Superstock Championship in 2000 and 2001, before embarking on a season in World Supersport in 2002. He scored his best WSB results in 2004, taking his Yamaha to fifth and sixth at Brands Hatch.
The
Kawasaki Racing Team has taken delivery of a super-stylish John Hopkins
replica ZX-10R, kindly supplied by Motoradd Höly for display at each of
the remaining European Grand Prix races.
The road version of the extra special Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP
race machine features a custom paint job created by Lucas Designs and
has caused quite a stir around the paddock, where it is on display
outside of the team’s hospitality unit.
Motoradd Höly, one of Germany’s biggest Kawasaki dealerships, joined
forces with Lucas Designs to produce these special creations using many
of the road-going models in the Japanese manufacturer’s range. The
‘Hopper’ replica superbike features numerous upgraded parts along with
the Monster Energy race design in four different colours, including the
signature Kawasaki lime green.
Lucas Designs has supplied stickers and graphics for all of the
Kawasaki Racing Team’s vehicles for the past two years, which includes
the paddock scooters used by team members for getting around at each of
the European MotoGP rounds.
“The Ninja ZX-RR design looks really cool on a road bike,” said Hopkins. “There’s
been a lot of interest in it already and it looks exactly like my race
machine. The guys at Lucas Designs and Motoradd Höly have done a great
job in making these custom bikes,” concluded the Kawasaki MotoGP star.
Ronny Schnepf from Motoradd Höly also recently presented both of the
Kawasaki race pilots with a KX250F motocross machine, each complete
with customised graphics. Anthony West received his ‘trick’ off-road
bike at Sachsenring, and he was delighted with the ultra-cool design
based on his Ninja ZX-RR race machine.
If you're based in German then you can find out more about Motorrad
Höly’s range of Kawasaki road bikes, including the John Hopkins Ninja
ZX-RR replica, by logging on to their website at www.hoely.de.
I
n the eight months since BMW’s announcement that they wouldenter the Superbike World Championship in 2009, the project has
gathered pace and race fans everywhere have now been able to see the
tangible aspects of the project properly for the first time. The new
BMW S 1000 RR has been tested at various racetracks in Spain, but it
has now had its first test at a track used by the Superbike World
Championship - the Eurospeedway Lausitzring.
The German
circuit was on the WSBK calendar up to last season and the recent two
day test gave the team a chance to compare their lap times and
performance with last year’s race weekend. At the end of the
test, the team and the three test riders were all happy with the
progress of the bike and eager to work on analysing all the data before
moving on to the next stage in the bike’s development.
The three riders, Steve Martin, Kevin Curtain and Jeremy McWilliams, said;
“The
basics of the S 1000 RR are very good, the engine has good power, the
chassis and suspension are working well and the bike has the basis of a
Superbike racer already.”
This sentiment was echoed by BMW Motorrad Motorsport’s General Manager Berti Hauser, who added;
“I
am very happy with the professional way all three riders worked and the
amount of feedback they have given us. We are under no illusions of the
amount of work we have to do before the start of the season next year,
but we are ready and looking forward to facing this huge challenge. Up
to now, we have done very little work on the electronics and have
preferred to get the bike’s basics working well and I think we
have achieved that. If our project continues at this good pace, I think
we could surprise a few people next year.”
Whilst the main
focus of attention has been at the track, a lot of work has been going
on near Rosenheim, a small town about sixty or so kilometres south east
of BMW’s headquarters in Munich. It is here that BMW Motorrad and
their partners, Alpha Technik, will prepare the Superbike racebikes in
a brand new state of the art facility, incorporating 7,000 square
metres of workshops and offices. The main workshop area is split into
three parts and has two dynos - one for the whole bike and another
which can simulate any racetrack in the world. One of the three
buildings will house BMW Motorrad´s Off-Road and Enduro team,
whilst the other two will be for the Superbike project and for spares
and parts. The progress of the facility's construction has been rapid
and eight months ago there was nothing but grassland where there are
now workshops, offices, meeting rooms and a canteen for all the
employees.
The new facility marks just another step of BMW
Motorrad and Alpha Technik on their way towards the 2009 Superbike
World Championship season.
Honda CB 1000R XESS - eXtreme European Streetfighter Styling
1 Comment Author Tristan time: 10:56 AM
The XESS (eXtreme European Streetfighter Styling) version of the CB1000R draws on the most extreme potential of this new Naked streetfighter’s intensely aggressive power. It focuses the customer’s attention on the eventual possibilities for modifying the production model to make it even more stunning.
The original CB1000R was intended to stimulate Honda Emotion; to be number one in the Sports-Naked category and the ultimate bike for two-wheel enthusiasts. This was achieved through its innovative and challenging design and through such impressive technology as the ex-Fireblade inline-4 engine, the long-and-low underslung exhaust and the hybrid aluminium swingarm. Incorporating impressive handling and a sporty nature, our plan for this model is to become the big Naked queen of the long and winding roads.
Our goal with the XESS is to allow CB1000R customers to shine out in the crowd (even more!) and give them really breathtaking added value. It is similar to our much-appreciated initiative with the Hornet 600 in early 2006. It’s clear that Naked customers like to customise their bikes, so we decided to sow the seeds of imagination with a reality model.
The XESS represents the most radical and extreme styling of the new Italian-designed CB1000R. Just as Honda represents “The Power of Dreams,” the CB1000R should be considered “The Model of Dreams” in the Naked category – a dream bike starting with a unique Honda basis and cutomised with the most impressively designed accessories.*
If the CB1000R is a spectacularly emotional bike, the velvet-red XESS builds even more on that emotion - aggressive as a panther and ready to holeshot with a premium motorcycle image. That’s why the tank is graced with the new Honda Wing emblem that only decorates top-end models like the RC212V, the Fireblade and the DN-01.
This impressive customization of a brand-new motorcycle model with quality custom parts is yet another unique and visionary initiative from Honda.
*The names of the after-market providers can be obtained on request from your local Honda sales company.
The XESS project was carried out by a local workgroup in Italy. Vito Cicchetti (General Manager, Honda Italy) proposed the initial concept and positioning, while Fausto Giancristofaro sought out suppliers of the most passionate parts and coordinated the realisation of the special model’s.
The many parts that have been added or changed include: a special Showa-signed and anodized massive front fork, Hanabira front discs with radial-mounted front callipers, a titanium twin-exhaust, lighter and race-ready footpegs, an aggressive red transmission chain, reversed levers, a velvet seat and several carbon fibre elements (such as the front mudguard, front light cowl, rear hugger, side covers and rear seat cowl).
The concept, drawings and development of the mass production model were established by R&D headquarters in Roma with the support of the Italian Sales Division. With its already sensational design, it provided an ideal basis from which to develop such an impressive and aggressive prototype. The result is a model that celebrates traditional Honda quality with 100% Italian design.
Here’s a little taster of our forthcoming 1000cc group test. First MCN senior road tester Michael Neeves pushes the GSXR1000 and Honda Fireblade to the limit around Almeria. .
ONBOARD GSX-R 1000
All right, so the speculation has come to an end - what you see here isn't some computer-generated rendering, but the real deal, the brand-new, 2008 Honda CBR1000RR. Wet weight is 199 kilos, while power output is 178bhp at 12,000rpm. As you can see, the bike has been heavily restyled - the fairing is all new, as is the MotoGP-inspired rear end and the stubby exhaust system
. The wheels are new, the chassis and swingarm have been redesigned, turn-signals at the front have been integrated into the rear-view mirrors, and the air-intakes ducts have been reworked and repositioned. The 2008 Fireblade also gets a slipper clutch (finally...!) and a new, sophisticated steering damper. This is a big, big makeover for the CBR1000RR, and Honda must be hoping the new Fireblade will not only be able to take on the R1, GSX-R1000 and ZX-10R but also beat those bikes in sheer performance terms.
Honda have also shown their 2008 VFR800, and surprisingly, it carries on unchanged from the 2007 model. We had earlier reported that Honda are likely to replace the VFR800 with a brand-new, high-tech VFR1000. However, that may indeed still happen. Honda might have two sports-tourers in their range and the VFR1000 may be the range-topper. It's also almost 100% certain that the inline-four-powered 2008 Fireblade will be the last of its ilk. Honda are expected to replace the CBR1000RR with an all-new, V4-powered 1000cc superbike in 2009, which will also be their WSBK contender.
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