Emtech Yamaha racing team returns to local Superbike series

Photo: Yamaha South Africa

Team Emtek Yamaha rolled their  R1’s and R6’s out of the pits to line up for the start of the 2013 National Superbike and National Supersport Championships at Kyalami this past weekend after more than three years off the National racing circuit.

The team consists of riders Rob Portman and Dylan White on the Yamaha R1’s, and Dean Vos and Janine Mitchell on the Yamaha R6’s, backed by Technical Director Ricky Morias and Team Manager John Mitchell.

According to Yamaha, the team will partner with Yamaha Distributors South Africa and Track-Daze to host a track day at Killarney the day after the National there on 17 March. If you are in Cape Town and would like to ride with and learn from the pro’s, you can enter online at www.track-daze.co.za.

SBK: Philip Island belongs to Aprilia

Photo: http://www.worldsbk.com

Italian manufacturer Aprilia came within an inch of achieving back-to-back 1-2-3 finishes in the Philip Island World Superbike round. A last-minute attempt by Michel Fabrizio in the second race to pass fellow Italian Marco Melandri’s BMW failed, allowing the latter the opportunity to be the only non-Aprilia rider on the podium.

In the first race, Eugene Laverty moved off well from second position, trying to run away from his opponents. The Irishman was able to keep the gap between himself and the rest of the field until he was caught up by French team mate Sylvain Guintoli, who overtook Laverty on lap 15 and led the race until the chequered flag. Laverty finished second, and Fabrizio took the 3^rd spot on the grid.

Two potential contenders for podium positions got out of the race during lap 13, as Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare), accidentally hit Marco Melandri’s BMW from behind after outbraking himself while entering Turn 4.

The second race again seemed to go Guintoli’s way, but a blistering lap towards the end of the race allowed Laverty  to get the better of both Guintoli and Melandri to take the chequered flag. After successfully catching up with the front runners, Fabrizio ran wide during the last lap in a desperate attempt to overtake Melandri for 3rd position. With Guintoli finishing in second place, Fabrizio’s slip allowed the BMW rider to take remaining podium spot.

Pirelli ready to take on Superbike Championship with new 17” tyres

Pirelli says it is ready to take to the track for the first round of the eni FIM World Superbike Championship season with the new 17 inch Diablo Superbike tyres for dry, Diablo Wet for intermediate and Diablo Rain for wet.

Pirelli has been present at the factory derivative races since the Championship’s inception in the late 1980s, but with the season which is about to start, this will be 10 consecutive years of presence for the Milanese manufacturer as sole tyre supplier for all the classes that are part of the World Superbike Championship. The first round of 2013 also marks an era-making milestone in the history of two-wheel racing because of the switch from 16.5″ tyres to the new 17″ tyres.

As usual, the first round of the eni FIM World Superbike Championship season will take place at the spectacular Phillip Island circuit, located in Victoria 150 kilometres south of Melbourne.

The 2011 Pirelli statistics for Phillip Island:

• Total number of tyres Pirelli brought: 3874
• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 6 rear
• Number of solutions for the Supersport class (dry, intermediate and wet): 5 front and 5 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 33 front and 34 rear
• Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 31 front and 29 rear
• Superbike Best Lap Awards won by: Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) in 1′ 31.785 (Race 1, 4th lap) and Carlos Checa (Althea Racing) in 1’ 32.846 (Race 2, 6th lap)
• Supersport Best Lap Awards won by: Fabien Foret (Kawasaki Intermoto Step) in 1’ 35.274 (2nd lap)
• Temperature in Race 1: air 31° C, asphalt 42° C
• Temperature in Race 2: air 34° C, asphalt 54° C
• Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli tyres: 324.6 km/h, Max Biaggi in Race 1, 5th lap

TomTom introduces new Rider

TomTom has introduced a new version of the Rider, a portable navigation device created especially for bikers. Following feedback from the motorcyclist community, the Rider now gives bikers the ability to choose the type of route they want to ride; from the fastest; to the most scenic; to their own personalised route.

In addition, the Rider includes a feature that feeds audio instructions directly to the user’s helmet via Bluetooth®, as well as a new 4.3″ glove-friendly screen, which is designed for riding in any weather conditions, including rain or bright sunlight. The device also comes with a new charging dock that turns it on or off with the ignition of the bike.

PIRELLI SCORPION MX CLEANS UP IN SECOND ROUND OF INTERNAZIONALI D’ITALIA

In the second round of the Internazionali d’Italia championship held on the Roman track of Malagrotta Pirelli Scorpion MX MidSoft 32 tyres triumphed in all four classes, starting from the Elite where Antonio Cairoli consolidated his lead, crossing the finish line five seconds ahead of the official Yamaha rider Steven Frossard. Pirelli riders Ken De Dycker, Shaun Simpson, David Philippaerts, Joel Roelants and Christophe Charlier took fourth to eighth positions

Cairoli only just missed the victory in the MX1 class because of a stone that blocked his rear brake, forcing him to settle for second place behind his team mate De Dycker.

After a spate of crashes that denied him the top of the podium in the previous round, Yamaha’s Christophe Charlier made no mistakes and cruised to victory in MX2, followed by Giacomo Del Segato in third place. Latvian Tomass Sileika won the 125 class, with Riccardo Righi taking the lead in the overall ranking.
 
The Internazionali d’Italia championship will end on February 17th on the Arco di Trento track.