Motogp 2011

[Atmos]

away from M GP for a few minutes; my New Zealand road racer post!

Bruce Anstey

a year ago at the Ulster Grand Prix he won, with an average speed of 133.977mph - 215.615 km/h (fastest man on a planet quiet an exaggeration though!)

Last year he faced criticism that he was too old to be road racing (he'll turn 42 next Sunday 21 August). He won his 8th Isle of Man race this year (SuperSport), suggests he's not finished yet.

Ulster Grand Prix: Anstey celebrates being fastest man on planet

Tuesday, 17 August 2010.

New Zealander Bruce Anstey re-wrote the record books during his winning ride in the final Superbike race at the Ulster Grand Prix on Saturday when he took his Relentless Suzuki by TAS around the 7.4mile Dundrod Circuit in three minutes 18.870 seconds — a speed of 133.977mph. And with it he became the fastest man in the world on the fastest circuit in the world.

Read more

won again yesterday - but didn't break his 2010 speed record.

It means Anstey, who enjoyed lots of clear road, has equalled Giacomo Agostini's record as the most successful overseas rider at the UGP with seven wins.

Ulster Grand Prix 2011

Padgett's Honda's Bruce Anstey won an amazing first Superbike race at the Ulster Grand Prix when he came through from the second wave to clinch victory by almost five seconds. Problems in qualifying saw the Kiwi way down on the grid but he utilised the clear road in front of him to shock the four riders who were fighting it out at the head of the field. The race had been delayed by almost an hour when rain fell but when it was restarted, over the shorter distance of five laps, conditions were dry all round.

“It was an awesome race for me and starting from the second wave played into my hands as it gave me plenty of clear road and it allowed me to do my own thing, which is what I do best. “ admitted Anstey. “The bike’s the smoothest thing I’ve ever ridden and we had a new engine which was really strong so it couldn’t have worked out any better. I got into a nice rhythm early on, put some fast laps in early on and pulled it off.”

1 Bruce Anstey (Honda)

2 Guy Martin (Suzuki) +4.828s

3 Keith Amor (Honda) +4.989s

4 Gary Johnson (Honda) +5.254s

5 William Dunlop (Honda) +5.599s

6 Cameron Donald (Honda) +6.859s

7 Michael Dunlop (Kawasaki) +9.295s

8 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki) +16.511s

9 Stephen Thompson (BMW) +24.228s

10 Adrian Archibald (BMW) + 24.454s

Fastest lap: Anstey (131.88mph)

OK, back to M GP now.

[soihok]

Well done Bruce.

Awesome.

Moto2 race today was also awesome, incredible racing, so close to tiers for A.D.Angelis and Marc.

Dani falling has now gifted Casey a great lead, not a good day for Jorge but a cracker for Marco. At last he has managed to get on pofdium.

Cheers

[Atmos]

just been reading about the Mid Antrim 150, another Irish road race meeting that was to be held 6 August - practice/qualifying was held OK but they had to cancel the whole race meeting as vandals poured oil around the course on the racing lines the night before race day. May ruin the future of the event - costs £80,000-£100,000 t run it each year.

Mid-Antrim 150: ‘Sabotage’ means an uncertain future

Oil Spillage at Mid Antrim 150, Reward being offered

_______________________

Moto GP

two groups now, 1-3 and 4-7, and quite a gap between them.

Moto GP Standings

Stoner 218

Lorenzo 186

Dovizioso 163

Rossi 118

Pedrosa 110

Spies 109

Hayden 103

[soihok]

Who the hell would want to do this?

It's easy to jump to conclusions but we are above this.

This must be the first time I have heard of a bike racing event being hijacked.

Very sad.

[Atmos]

as we saw, plenty of mindless morons across the sea in England last week, be some idiot who thought it'd be 'a laugh', sad for the organisers, spectators and of course the professional teams - no small expense turning up for two days practice and qualifying, all for nothing.

**********

First Lorenzo and Stoner (maybe), now maybe Rossi too.

Motorsport: Nuke-shy Rossi may skip Japan

9:43 AM Tuesday Aug 16, 2011

Nine-time motorcycling world champion Valentino Rossi is considering skipping the Japanese Grand Prix because of radiation concerns following the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.

Rossi tells Italian media "I really don't think I'll go to Japan. ... I was hoping that the championship organisers would make the right decision, but that hasn't been the case and now we've got a serious problem."

The October 2 race is scheduled for Motegi, which lies north of Tokyo but several hundred kilometres south of the worst-affected radiation zones in northeastern Japan. Rossi suggested moving the race further south to the Suzuka circuit.

source

Stoner to be a father, softens Motegi stance

"I'm not saying that I am going [to Japan], but I'm not saying that I'm not now" - Casey Stoner.

On Thursday in the Czech Republic, MotoGP World Championship leader Casey Stoner announced that he is to become a father for the first time.

"There was a period after Silverstone that I felt very strongly that I wasn't going to go there. After things I'd seen and heard," commented the Australian. "But that came from a very strong emotion after we found out that Adriana was pregnant.

"We've discussed it a lot since then and that's a huge thing that's happened in my life and now the most important. I felt that the best thing I could do at that time was to make my mind up. There was no way I was going to risk my wife or my family and it was very tough.

read more

Edited August 16, 2011 by Atmos

[soihok]

Interesting stuff mate.

First off, the idiots across the sea are my countrymen, who don't really have any self respect........very, very disappointing.

Some people don't know what they have when all is handed to them on a plate.

Secondly.

I'm surprised Rossi has come out with this statement. The race should go ahead as planned, although I think that the venue should have been switched, but its all contracts and huge money in the end of the day.

The race should go ahead if all is cleared regarding exposure to the very sad situation there.

We will see >>>>>

[Kwasaki]

Just watched the Czech race after downloading.

Good win for Stoner, no excuses this time.

Strange tyre decision by Lorenzo.

Shame for Dovi probably being dropped next year by the factory team, I would have loved to have seen Dovi catch up with Stoner but there was no chance, he seems dejected to me in someway.

Good on Marco on a podium finish, he looked so funny standing on the 3rd spot with head and hair above all the rest.

Good to see Ducati catching up, but I think next year is what it is all about for them.

Nice comment read from Nicky about people saying Rossi wasn't trying, saying they have no idea what they are talking about.

Like Gerry said before the season start Yamaha have got to find some more speed.

Shame about Rossi saying he thinking of not going Japan, out of repect for him, I would go along with him on saying that it would be better to move it to Suzuka.

I reckon the top three now will be there at the end of the season.

Looks like Honda are running with V4, I would have liked to have seen a V5 again at least one.

Anybody read anything about Kawasaki coming back into MotoGP and Suzuki are still thinking things over.

Edited August 17, 2011 by Kwasaki

[soihok]

Here is a clip from MCN showing the Vyrus and its possiblity of entering into Moto2.

Last time a radical front end was tried was the ELF project with Rocket Ron at the control ( if I,m not mistaken....not sure if Ducati or Bimota have tried racing with a radical front end since).

I saw one of the ELF bikes in the museum of motor racing in Macau ( about 15 years ago,,,,it was along side Kevin Swantzch's Pepsi RGV500 ). You weren't aloud to sit on the bikes but they were close enough to fondle ....oooohhhh missus.

http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/videos/2011/August/aug0311-vyrus-986-m2-the-future-of-moto2/

[Atmos]

Good video clip

was a Bimota with a Ducati engine, thought it was Tesla but looked it up and model was Tesi.

I thought one of the Jap manufacturers tried it too, but maybe only a concept bike.

I remember pics of ELF bikes in magazines, 80s maybe, endurance racers?

Ever been to the Macau races - Nov I think?

[soihok]

I've been to Macau about five times as I lived in Honk Kong for 5 years up to 2000.

Never made it to the races though ( don't know why ).

I have just been gifted a weekend pass ( granstand seat at turn 2 ) to the Singapore F1, through work. I went last year and while it was quite a spectacle, it did become rather boring and I ended up watching half the race on a screen in a bar at the circuit.

Good grief it's loud.

It is great hearing the noise of the cars bounce off the skyscrapers.

[Atmos]

I've seen video of Macau bike races, an insane version of IOM with no room for error.

F1 - I tried to like F1, but recent years . . . rather wait for a 5 minutes highlights video (and have to fast forward through that at times) but would certainly go once if I had the opportunity, or one of the big Indy car events in USA, massive crowds at an oval circuit. Just once though.

Since there's no bike racing right now, here's my top news item:

Blind Colin's motorbike challenge

By Richard Wright - Wednesday, August 17, 2011

BLIND stunt-fundraiser Colin McArthur is to ride a motorcycle around the Isle of Wight's speedway track for his latest challenge.

During the interval at the Wightlink Islanders meeting on Tuesday, 60-year-old Colin will take the controls of his friend Dave Richmond's classic 1979 Suzuki GS 850.

Dave will be on the bike giving instructions but

there is space in the Watsonian Squire sidecar for anyone wanting to join in the challenge.

Colin said: "I have never ridden a motorbike before so I have been practising at the track.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Atmos

[soihok]

Way to go Colin.

Never ridden a bike before either.

It would be cool to donate to his cause and take that empty seat in the sidecar.

I,m convinced that most of the car drivers in Singapore also blind.

[Kwasaki]

Good video clip

was a Bimota with a Ducati engine, thought it was Tesla but looked it up and model was Tesi.

I thought one of the Jap manufacturers tried it too, but maybe only a concept bike.

I remember pics of ELF bikes in magazines, 80s maybe, endurance racers?

Ever been to the Macau races - Nov I think?

Good clip from ' soihok ' don't think Vyrus will go well in MotoGP or Honda would use now but would do well I think I.O.M.

Bimota Tesi uses the Ducati 1000 DS engine.

The Santamonica uses a Suzuki TL engine and only £28,000. no picture there boring.

Ron rode a Elf 500 Swissauto V4 - 2stroke and was a world record speed holder it just had inverted tele forks.

He also rode the front swingarm Elf Honda 500 for three years in MotoGP helping them develop it.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Kwasaki

[Kwasaki]

Sorry love the history stuff.

Here's a Ron's Elf Honda from the other side.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Kwasaki

[soihok]

Great.

Ron used to get the the bottom of the front strut down in corners( they used a Macpherson Strut set up rather than a swinging arm and shock ).

I've seen Ron in action on the Elf in its various stages of development. He did finish fourth in the world championship one year as about half of season was spent on a conventional tele fork front end.

Think if he had just gone the whole of his GP career with a conventional front end, he may have been a world champ.

Then again, non of the then dominant US riders would have touched the Elf with a barge pole, giving him an opportunity to race.

Can't see the Vyrus in Moto2 but the idea is very exciting.

[Kwasaki]

Great.

Ron used to get the the bottom of the front strut down in corners( they used a Macpherson Strut set up rather than a swinging arm and shock ).

I've seen Ron in action on the Elf in its various stages of development. He did finish fourth in the world championship one year as about half of season was spent on a conventional tele fork front end.

Think if he had just gone the whole of his GP career with a conventional front end, he may have been a world champ.

Then again, non of the then dominant US riders would have touched the Elf with a barge pole, giving him an opportunity to race.

Can't see the Vyrus in Moto2 but the idea is very exciting.

I thought you would of been to young to see Ron. I think I would of liked to do what he did rather than stick to one specific class.

Yeah !!! I also think he liked doing different things, he did well in other type of races won 6 times in China at Macau.

After Honda in MotoGP the following four years on different bikes, Suzuki, Cagiva, Norton, and finally on a Yamaha.

The Norton he rode was a rotary wankel engine, Steve Hislop won on one in the I.O.M.

If I remember correctly you have a Speed Triple he raced them as well.

Edited August 21, 2011 by Kwasaki

[soihok]

Ron is one of the greatest British bike racers and a legend in his own right.

When I raced the old GS1000 he was at a practice day at Mallory Park and stood at the pit exit to the track. The look on his face as I passed by onto the track was a mixture of suprise and sympathy.

I saw him do the business on a stock VFR750 in the rain at the 1984 ( i think ) Transatlantic Challenge at Donnington. The , wet and sodden, crowd were all cheering.

I,m no spring chicken mate, at 46.

[Bluetongue]

Rocket Ron came to Australia too, I saw him race at Surfers Paradise in the Swann Series on a Honda Superbike as pictured. 1979 it was apparently. The idea was to get some international stars to race against the locals, I seem to remember the internationals didn't usually win, being up against it, without the full support of teams etc, plus against local knowledge of tracks. An indication of this in reverse - Greg Pretty (now decd) who won the Swann Series that year went in the IOM unlimited race in 1980 and ran 25th although he could have got higher if he didn't break his steering damper.

[Kwasaki]

Good stuff on Ron, here's the latest update on Motegi seeing as there's Three riders as said before not wanting to go.

Just read the 15 page report on radiation levels at Motegi which is 120kms from the Fukushima plant, when I woke up, I continued reading it.

In the main its scientific gobbledygook but it's pretty clear that the riders thinking of not going do not have much grounds on the evidence findings of the research report.

e.g. Rome has a radiation reading of 0.330usv/h and Motegi has a average reading now of 0.144usv/h the highest being 0.197usv/h, and before the accident, Motegi had a highest reading of 0.064usv/h.

It finishes with the final statement :-

Based on the estimated dose it can be said with no doubt that the radiation risk during the race event is negligible.

I suppose they could argue it's only an estimate but when in Rome.

Edited August 24, 2011 by Kwasaki

[soihok]

Interesting stuff.

It would be a sad day for the sport if any of the riders refuse to go.

Great photo of the Honda.

[soihok]

Going back to racing greats.

When I frequented the BSB rounds across the north east and midlands of England in the 80's, the leading guys were Jamie Whitham ( top guy on a GSXR...I was so impressed I bought a brand new GSXR750J, toured France, Spain and Portugal on it twice ...including Benedorm ). Then it was stolen from my Mum's garage.

Phil Mellor ( GSXR 750- RIP Isle of Man ).

Brian Morrison ( flying scotsman on an RC30 ).

Steve Spray ( Norton 588 ).

Trevor Nation ( Norton 588 ).

Darren Dixon ( RG500 ).

Many more guys, too many to remember off the top of my head.

American greats I have seen race who left a massive impression on me.

Randy mamola ( completely sideways most of the time ).

Freddie Spencer.

Fred Merkel.

Kenny Roberts.

Eddie Lawson.

Revvin Kevin ( never forget him riding a wild, out of control GSXR around Redgate at Donnington, balls the size of the moon ).

Wayne Rainey.

Greatest Aussies.

Wayne Gardner

Kevin Magee

( Never seen Micky D race though )

Italian greats.

Frankie Chili ( pretty much as sideways as Randy around Coppice at Donnington on a Honda, to the huge appreciation of us, the paying crowd ).

G. Falapa

Greats from Spain.

Sito Pons.

J. Martinez.

Loads of riders I,m sure I have missed.

I will probably not see the race from Indy this weekend as the hours are too wierd to fit into the need to go to work for a living.

I hope Marco wins

[Atmos]

while we wait for racing to start again, follow up from BBC Sport to post #311

24 August 2011 Last updated at 12:23 GMT

Blind fundraiser, Colin McArthur rides motorbike

A 60-year-old blind man has ridden a motorbike around Smallbrook speedway track on the Isle of Wight. Colin McArthur, from Sandown carried out the challenge on his friend Dave Richmond's 1979 Suzuki GS 850. He rode the bike with sidecar around the oval track at about 20mph (32km) guided by Mr Richmond who rode pillion on the bike giving instructions.

Mr McArthur, who had never ridden a motorbike before, raised more than £500 for the RP Fighting Blindness charity.

He said: "I had to think of a lot of things at the same time, controlling the throttle was hard so I went a bit too fast at the beginning and I was screamed at to slow down."

His lap took place during the interval of the track meeting of the Isle of Wight Islanders and the Newport Hornets with the Islanders team's chairman Brian Ginders in the sidecar.

[soihok]

24 August 2011 Last updated at 12:23 GMT

He said: "I had to think of a lot of things at the same time, controlling the throttle was hard so I went a bit too fast at the beginning and I was screamed at to slow down."

Nice one Collin!

Never ridden a bike before, an inspiration to many of us.

Makes me think of how many times I have heard the phrase " I / You can't do that. "

[Atmos]

lost track of time (it happens) thought there was another week to M GP at Indy . . .

Stoner leads day one at Indy

Friday, 26 August 2011

Casey Stoner was the fastest man on the opening day of the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix weekend. Ben Spies and Dani Pedrosa followed in second and third in the times.

. . . . Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) improved on his FP1 time by just under two seconds, a good improvement but not enough to keep him within the top ten times, moving the Italian into eleventh for the day.

Race times (Thailand)

125cc 22:00

Moto2 23:15

MotoGP (Mon) 01:00

[soihok]

Just watched qualifying.

Casey Stoner is just awesome to watch when he is on a charge. He grabs the bike and shows it who's the boss, outstanding.

Spirited shows by Lorenzo and Spies should make the race an exciting event. I won't be watching it though due to the strange timing ( and work ).

What the h*ll is going on with the Doctor?

[Atmos]

the pain . . . if you thought Rossi may be frustrated with his Ducati, then . . .

30+ min wasted trying to buy a ticket for Sepang

tried through Firefox and Chrome, f-d about registering, re-registering, passwords and changing passwords as requested, and credit card info etc, every time a different error message, password, credit card details, doesn't like NZ address for CC . . . . when I delete ticket bookings/purchase they disappear ok, then reappear when I log-in again - at one stage showed me buying 3 tickets in separate transactions when I only want one, delete them and they are back again on payment screen

no one answering their helpline today (Sunday, to be expected I suppose) so will try and call tomorrow

aaaaagh!

[Bluetongue]

I agree, the way Stoner was squaring off that corner before the straight was terrific to watch, I dont see the how anyone could drag him to the line the way he's doing that, but he would win anyway all things being equal. Lorenzo and Spies should make an early race of it. The Doctor, well who knows, that's another crash early in Qualifying, I think he was pushing too hard too soon and then on his second bike had no confidence. He will finish better than that obviously and will probably end up top Ducati but Hayden and Barbera were going much better.

With Sepang are you booking in the Corporate area, coz I thought the stands were first in best dressed.

Tips Stoner Lorenzo Spies

Zarco Terol Vinales I feel sorry for Zarco so reckon he can do it finally

Iannone Marquez Bradl, didn't see qualifying though so repeating Brno seems like an idea

Get back to you Soihok about the Aussie greats, but Gregg Hansford, whilst probably not in Ron or Barry's class was a fine rider, just looking him up to confirm some facts

[Lickey]

Indy, not bad, but some bad tyre choices? Simple,Rossi,Hayden, to name a few, Moto 2 was brilliant as usual, well done Bradley and somebody must of had a word with Scott, Willyrot crashed out of 22nd? place, Bradley done his four stroke traing with Rocket Ron, which takes me to a little story,,,,

Think it was 1978, had my brand new Honda CX500, with mrs younger brother and a mate we went to 500gp at Spa Francorchamps, camped near the circuit, Race day we were walking along the perimeter fence, just in front of us were some german bikers, out came the bolt croppers and they cut a hole in the fence, in we went free, cant remember who won the race but Ron was on the NSR, pretty sure it conked out, will go check on Moto Gp site soon,

Bluetongue, if you cut my head off, my neck is like a stick of rock, you would read Kawasaki, Gregg Hansford was a great rider, Rob Phillis and Anthony Gobert are also great Kwaker riders, See them all on Youtube,

Next weekend, weve got Moto GP Italy and WSB Germany,

Just checked about RH, got that wrong!! was 1982, blimey, dont remeber mrs leaving our kids with mum for a weekend, sorry, was NR 500..

Edited August 28, 2011 by Lickey

[Lickey]

Concerning the sabotage of the Mid Antrim 150 races, Ireland, its true, why on earth would anybody want to do this?

Perhaps its one or the same people that have learning difficulties [being polite] that smashed up the late great Joey Dunlops gravestone a few days after he was buried, theres some sad sick people about...

[Atmos]

Stoner captures Indy MotoGP

August 29, 2011

Australian Casey Stoner rode away from the pack at the Indianapolis Moto Grand Prix on Sunday for his third consecutive victory and seventh overall this year.

Placings

1. Stoner
2. Pedrosa
3. Spies
4. Lorenzo
5. Dovizioso

Standings

1. Stoner 243
2. Lorenzo 199
3. Dovizioso 174
4. Pedrosa 130
5. Spies 125
6. Rossi 124
7. Hayden 105
8. Edwards 84
9. Simoncelli 80
10. Aoyama 77

Edited August 29, 2011 by Atmos