On-Track Off-Road Issue 176

June 2018 No 176

MotoGP

over the hump?

Valentino Rossi erased memories of a disastrous 2017 Catalan Grand Prix with his fourth podium appearance of the season last Sunday and third in a row. He’s yet to rise higher than the third step of the box but is currently Marc Marquez’s closest pursuer Photo by CormacGP

AMA-MX

soaring free

Reigning 450MX Champion Eli Tomac had his hegemony rattled at High Point for the fourth round of the 2018 Lucas Oil AMA Pro National series but still emerged ontop to remain undefeated overall this season Photo by Monster Energy/Swanberg

IoM TT

get closer

The 2018 IoM TT was all about the names of Hickman, Harrison and, of course, Dunlop. Could the new generation be planting their feet? Regardless of the owners of the silverware lap times were blasted yet again and roadside walls and hedges received their annual wind blast Photo by Monster Energy

MXGP

oooops A narrow escape for Australian Honda star Hunter Lawrence at a memorable British Grand Prix at Matterley Basin.

The luckless AMA-bound racer was just able to get out of the way of this tumbling CRF Photo by Ray Archer

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mxgp

grand prix of lombardia

ottobiano · june 17 · Rnd 11 of 20 MXGP winner: Tony Cairoli, KTM MX2 winner: Jorge Prado, KTM

mxgp lombardia

timely?

Blog by Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

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MXGP BLOG

When to slack off...?

Twenty Grands Prix and forty motos (sixty starts including the qualification heat races) meant that the odds of 2018 MXGP maintaining any kind of status quo was going to be slim.

Jeffrey Herlings’ crash and collarbone fracture last week was a shock but maybe not such a surprise. The previous day the world’s fastest rider in the sand had posted a video on his Instagram stories where he was hitting a sandy leap with ferocious intent.

The clip summed up Herlings’ 2018 so far: confident, dominant, accomplished, slightly frightening.

It was another message to Grand Prix rivals ahead of Ottobiano that 50 points (what might have been a eighth 1-1 of the term) was firmly on the cards.

And then the spill and a break to the collarbone that already housed a plate and screws. It is an injury that dates back to 2015 and a fall while scrubbing the highest hill at Teutschenthal in Germany.

A year later and Herlings aggravated the collarbone and missed three MX2 Grands Prix when he had a lead in the MX2 series of more than 150 points.

He returned for the final three rounds and grabbed top three results and four moto wins from the six outings.

So history has kinda repeated, and with a third strike to the surgically enhanced bone. Is there a difference this time? The stakes are higher. Herlings would have had a momentary panic in 2016 but also knew returning to the MX2 fold (and a competition where he had won 23 out of 24 races until the injury drama) meant he was still the Alpha. On this occasion the MXGP throng will be quick to capitalise.

Herlings also has timing on his side. Sure, missing Ottobiano meant losing another ‘banker’ and a ‘fracture’ of his momentum but is was also the third of a back-toback GP triple. He has two weeks before Free Practice starts in Indonesia and the initial diagnosis after surgery was a forced ten-day hiatus from the motorcycle.

The accident would be been far more costly if it had occurred prior to Matterley Basin and potentially there would have been a dent of two ‘0’s in his championship card.

Herlings’ Instagram changed from that display of motocross magnificence to a black screen and just the digits of a clock later on Wednesday afternoon. It was a harsh extreme. Jeffrey is a sensitive guy; so do not underestimate how much this setback will have affected him. If anything it was a reminder of his (and every rider’s) fragility and the way that motocross will always punish at any given moment. The toes of those Alpinestars boots have now made contact with the ground once more.

Herlings’s 62 points was chopped to 12 at Ottobiano and the inevitable question of ‘what if?’ rears its head. Did he really need to be pushing at such a hard rate in

By Adam Wheeler

training and before the second authentic sand race of the season?

The answer is two-pronged: firstly he was looking to maintain optimum form to potentially upstage Tony Cairoli again on home turf and secondly this is Herlings’ MO. #84 is a racing animal and talks openly about the sacrifices he makes to chase his level of performance and superiority in the sport.

Entering round 11 of 20 in 2018 is a weird moment of the season.

Herlings did have a cushion of a grand prix over Cairoli however it was not enough to consider backing down from a practice schedule and approach that has worked so emphatically (while perhaps puts Herlings towards the sharper end of the knife-edge).

Cairoli is the master of world championship title campaign construction with nine gongs in fourteen seasons and he spoke repeatedly in the latter phases of 2017 of tapering-off his training to reduce risk. The Sicilian rode less and less as the calendar wound down. It reduced his competitiveness and he only took one podium

finish in the last four fixtures but he massaged a points advantage for a happy ending.

It is hard to imagine Jeffrey Herlings taking the same approach, even for all his talk of being prepared to accept positions and results away from the glare of the podium. We’re talking about an athlete who has only missed a champagne shower three times in the last calendar year (and one of those was due to a broken chain in Sweden). It’s hard to judge, simply because Jeffrey had a big but not mountainous margin in the championship and was arguably at the peak of his form, happiness and sync with the 450 SX-F. Why meddle with a formula that is functioning to the point of near perfection?

Herlings’ 23 years might invite more impetuosity in comparison to a wizened Cairoli but such is the zest of the many aspects that constitute his racing existence (and you can only but admire it) that it seems unfathomable to imagine him giving anything less than the maximum.

The issue is whether he has ‘paid’ for that. And whether that kind of ‘win every Sunday’ underlying philosophy has a place in MXGP now where attrition is arguably the most valuable commodity.

As an example Herlings’ former teammate Jordi Tixer only won his first Grand Prix once Herlings had broken his femur deep into 2014 and his consistency helped him prevail and enter the record books by just 8 points. Frustratingly, being able to win almost every week is almost not enough.

The Red Bull KTM we see in Indonesia in two weeks will be fascinating. Like a coiled Cobra, Cairoli could well be poised to spit more venom into the face of his rival.

Herlings will return to action and might want to stick the music pipe straight back into his mouth or remain an observer to the show in order to wrestle control back into his favour.

2018 has been orange across the board but after the mash in Matterley and this latest twist there is a throbbing story within that wider narrative and the season just became that little bit more engaging.

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Feature

racing the paddock

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by Ray Archer

A conversation with Steve Dixon: a man who tries to outgun the factories from the work bay

Feature

Motocross

is still one of the simpler forms of Grand Prix motorsport. While the rulebook allows room for interpretation and the existence of ‘prototypes’ in MXGP (and is far more lenient that the strict production basis for AMA competition) it is also fixed in place to ensure the emphasis is still on the rider rather than the ride.

For three decades Steve Dixon has dedicated his existence (and all this entails and costs with his personal life and resources) to make a difference in the Grand Prix paddock. He has overseen some amazing talent in his multidecade tenure as a mechanic and team owner with just Yamaha and Kawasaki since 2015 but has also pioneered technical ideas and small innovations that forges the Brit in the mould of the ‘garagistes’ of the golden age of F1: in other words a man looking to outthink and outwit the factories.

Dixon has benefitted from manufacturer support and come near to ‘factory’ status but is also a fiercely independent set-up and one of only two British teams in MXGP today. He machines and produces his own parts and with Darian Sanayei’s KX250F in the MX2 class has managed to sculpt one of the few Japanese motorcycles that can currently match the speed and performance of the KTMs and Husqvarnas in Grand Prix.

Around 2011-2013 his Yamaha YZ250F was labelled by 2012 EMX250 European Champion Mel Pocock as “one of the fastest 250s ever built”. Dixon counts on a loyal crew, passion for the sport and a technical mind that never ceases (he brought F1-spec thinking to motocross with his alliance with engineering giants Cosworth at the beginning of the decade and also mixes his own race fuel) but also battles limited means, tight development windows

and the never-ending struggle to meet the costs of contesting a twenty round MXGP season. Sometimes the bikes have proved quick but delicate, or the latest engine upgrade has arrive mid-season rather than at the start. Despite the constant travails of trying to compete Dixon has succeeded and keeps on pursuing excellence because that period of discovery and what can happen on the track is an addiction.

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“Steve is a one-of-a-kind person and you won’t find someone more committed to his team and the people he believes in,” says Zach Osborne; the current AMA 250 SX and 250MX Champion who rode Dixon’s Yamaha machinery to GP wins and the 2010 British Championship. “His bikes and ways have been cutting edge for the better part of ten years. Sometimes ‘over the edge’ but nevertheless he tries so hard.”

“When I was on his team if I told him Steve I need pink plastic for the weekend and he genuinely believed it would help us he was going to do everything in his power to get me pink plastic,” he adds. “I love this sport but if you know Steve well enough you know it’s hard to say you love it more than him.

He’s a special case and he will always do everything in his power for his team and himself to be the best they can possibly be no matter the financial or emotional implications. His commitment to excellence is inspiring.”

Feature Curious as to the motivation, the riskversus-reward, the transition from twostroke Grand Prix success with the likes of Paul Malin to four-strokes with Billy Mackenzie, Osborne, Arnaud Tonus, Max Anstie and more we decided to start a conversation…

Steve: why make life harder for yourself?

I don’t like to make life hard for myself… but competition is there for the rider to be better and also the team. If you are only going to give a rider standard or aftermarket parts then you are only going to go so fast. You have to remember that we are starting with a Japanese production bike that anyone can buy and we are in an open class of racing where you don’t have any boundaries apart from fuel, noise and a weight limit. Due to the competition you need to improve everything…and you never stop. I’m here because I enjoy seeing my riders do well, but also to try and beat the other teams technically. I cannot do that with money so it has to be with hard work and ideas.

The easy option would be to have a team and go with ‘orange’ or ‘white’ machinery at the moment, but that is another thing that goes in cycles. Back in the day we were on a 125cc Rinaldi Yamaha and everybody was at the front…[Sebastien] Tortelli still won because he had better corner speed. Ultimately you are still reliant on the rider.

When did your philosophy to go-it-alone really begin?

I guess it started with Zach [Osborne].

[But] I was always trying to push the envelope with the 125s. I’d go down to DEP exhausts for what should have been an afternoon and stayed there ten days and went straight from the Dyno to Canada Heights where Maler [Paul Malin] won both races and finished second in the open class against the 500s. [pauses]. It does leave me open to criticismWhy? Because people might see the odd breakdown. But when you see how many staff they have at F1 or MotoGP teams who are trying to push as well, they also have problems.

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Even with thousands of people and unlimited budgets it still happens. They push up to the last second because they don’t know what the others are doing, and that attitude breeds competition and development. It’s the same in any sport.

I think if you took a relaxed view and just turned up to see what the rider can do then you won’t get anywhere. If you were on the best bike then it might be easier.

But, like I said, things move in cycles and I remember a time when nobody thought a Honda could be beaten. So, back to Zach. That was in 2009. He kept blowing the engines up. He said he didn’t feel safe with the engine support we had then and he was told to change his riding style. I think he made me change my approach because I really enjoyed working with him. We were struggling to qualify with Martin Barr, who was learning at the time, and when Ashley Kane brought Zach over from the U.S. we were suddenly winning with the same bike.

Why didn’t you have that motivation to pursue your own technical direction with a rider like Billy Mackenzie or Carl Nunn?

We had that with Billy and we were pushing with the 125, but it is pretty simple with that bike. You have compression, which is easy to obtain by skimming and there is maximum, and then port height.

I used to sit on the side of the truck tuning the cylinder for Malin to test and it would be so simple. But a four-stroke has so many moving parts. At first I really hated the change to four-stroke… although it is so sophisticated. Right now I am trying to get as far away from the reliance on electronics as possible. Why? I know I cannot compete with it because you need another huge budget for the specialist and then you need to react to

the data. So I’m trying to go the other way and eliminate as many sensors as possible and go racing with knowledge – not blind – and reducing the electrical parts that could fail.

Isn’t that risky with the advanced state of four-strokes now?

Well, no. Most feedback from racing is for factories to progress, whereas our progression is from what we see every week from stripping the bike down. None of the riders have been brought up with a system of looking at data to understand what is faster and what works. A motocross track changes so much and they cannot take that information onboard and apply it while racing from one corner to the next, a one that will be a bit different the next lap or the line is different. At this point in time I still see the rider as a ‘simple’ commodity. There hasn’t been any schooling for them with electronics, data and feedback and it hasn’t become second-nature.

However you tried having a data/electronics specialist for two years and encouraged someone like Chris Hay to use LitPro with the riders…

Yeah, I’m not oblivious to what is out there but it is dependent on the understanding and the resources we can really plough into them. I think there can be a certain amount of ‘brainwashing’ as into what is really necessary. ‘Set-up’ can mean input from a coach, a manager, a mechanic, an electronics guy, a suspension technician and then the rider with his own thoughts! You can end up taking minutes rather than seconds to make a decision. And that counts. Riders are brought up through schoolboy racing and then chucked into an adult environment or the professionalism of MXGP and

Feature need to try and understand all this stuff. I’m concentrating on what we know, what we can afford and what we can see is working.

Going back to Zach…

Yeah, so he said if we don’t change what we were doing with the engine supplier then he was going to head back to the States. I then went to Cosworth and the timing was just right because they were looking to expand with their piston work. Most people think ‘oh, that’s F1 or MotoGP technology, it won’t work’ but those guys are hugely intelligent and very diverse with their R&D. They understand an engine from top to bottom and have millions of pounds of computer technology that design and work out and take away a lot of the finger-in-the-air risk. In the end though it comes down to working with the standard production stuff. If they had to build a motocross engine from scratch then we’d be light years ahead but budget restraints means we have to work with the bits we can afford and the rest is production. That’s what holds us back in a way.

Did that mix of production and prototype let you down sometimes?

It does let you down. Lets say that a typical Japanese bike is built with a 20% excess of capability from standard before they start breaking. We’re pushing way more than that in terms of RPM and where the power is.

Having said that, a production bike is designed to last years and years and for what it was intended to do. If you are making cylinder heads and crankcases for one day Firmaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx you could adjust the blend of aluminium to make it stronger by 30% by adding magnesium and pieces of copper. Aluminium has an array of materials, from monkey metal to solid aircraft-type metal.

Did the collaboration with Cosworth bring more ideas and inspiration or did you sometimes feel a bit out of your depth?

Ultimately my background is metallurgy and welding and I qualified in destructive and non-destructive testing so I understand metals inside out, like grain structure and how they work. I have a broad approach and understanding of raw material right through to full production. I know what can be achieved and it’s my strength and gives me confidence to go for things.

Clearly you have failures but any successful thing that has been built has come from failuresThe compromise with racing is that those mechanical risks and failures are very visual…

Yes, but if you could get the rider to twist the throttle the same in practice as he does the race – and from week to week – then it would change. As well as how the rider tackles the track. It affects what happens with the bike. With Zach sometimes the bike graphics would be scrubbed off in one session! If he was riding smoothly they would last a whole weekend. Talking about Zach: he didn’t want to change his style and that was a turning point for me.

We’d had wins with [Andrew] McFarlane and Billy but he was living with us, was always enthusiastic, so was his Dad – who was doing hotrod racing and who’d strip the bike after a quarter of a mile and throw thousands and thousands at it. Zach asked us to build him a bike according to how he rode and we did that and it revved higher.

When [Arnaud] Tonus joined we had the same bike but completely different riders.

Cosworth got the five valve Yamaha working when nobody else could and whether it was Dean Ferris, Mel Pocock or Michael Lieb the bike was phenomenal. Everyone wanted to ride it.

racing the paddock: steve dixon

Feature How did you feel about the resources you had at the time?

It wasn’t so bad at the time because we had sponsors like Bike it and Wild Wolf and Cosworth were involved and doing us parts for free. The Yamaha budget was also good. Those were nice days. We had to rely on people like Neil Sheppard at L A Tooling and we’d invested into our workshop with the lathe and the mills to be able to make the bike lighter. From Zach we led into Tonus and he brought another dimension in that he was a smooth, calculating rider that did not rev the bike. We were still able to produce a racebike for each from the same parts.

We had test journalists telling us that it was the best bike they’d ever ridden and they could not believe the difference in the personal set-up between the riders we had. We tried to make it so that it suited the rider.

Cosworth could only do so much without being given a budget to build a head engine, which is what they would have liked to have done.

What did you produce for Osborne with that Yamaha? What were you doing differently for him?

We built a whole valve train so he’d be able to ride with higher RPM, which is always where he wanted to be. It was a major ask because normally things go ‘bang’ with those demands. At the time, until we got different coatings and buckets, the buckets themselves were not even lasting twentyfive minutes. It was tough. We took a big risk in leaving the Rinaldi group.

Zach should have been in contention for the 2012 title but the mechanical problem at the Fatcat circuit in the UK led to injury. Was that the low point for the project? Technically as well?

That was a valve. It was unfortunately a manufacturing problem and the firm that were doing the parts. Sometimes you are victim to the manufacturing processes of others. But it was something we cleared up. I’ve been at Yamaha when bikes were recalled because of valves and something like excessive product hardening can lead to that occurring. When something is standard then you have something to blame. The difference is standing up and admitting some blame or you can stand behind a ‘wall’ and say ‘it was stock’.

If you take the second option then you don’t move forward.

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Things will never improve to the level where you can take a stock bike and go GP racing. You will always have to modify things.

Max had started the year with the 2013 model and took podiums and it was hard to be told by Yamaha we had to run the 2014 bike; it took longer.

You had other concepts as well, like the three-speed gearbox…

That was about reducing weight and how the riders were using the power. If you have a broad spread – as with an automatic – then you can have less gear changes and that affects many things, like corner speed. We used to be able to do the whole start straight at Valkenswaard in first gear. When we did those wild-card Supercross races with Zach in 2012 - and he left the series in second place - he could do a whole lap before the triple jump in one gear. He only had to use two for the race. There’s a reduction in friction and weight and all the little bits that add up.

It meant moving from the carburettor to the fuel-injected model. How was that?

If we look at the school-of-thought in going from two-stroke to four-stroke and carburettor to FI then everyone was saying the carb was better and the FI didn’t provide enough power. Cosworth said to us that FI is light years ahead of a carburettor! You couldn’t even consider a carburettor if you were doing any tuning and that was true.

Pretty much everyone was inexperienced because it was so new. It’s like changing a computer operating system: at first it seems crap but then you see there are more features and possibilities. Human nature is slow in adapting and doesn’t like too much change. On a carburettor you can basically change five things: a needle, a slider, a pilot jet, an air cutaway and a main jet, as well as the needle position. With fuel injection you have infinite. Whilst it is very difficult to start from scratch – but nobody does that because you have basic info from the factory as a startpoint and then you map accordingly – our guys have been with us a long time and quickly learned how do arrange the mapping. Andy from Cosworth has taught them a lot. Technically the guys have taken onboard a huge amount over the years thanks to Cosworth.

Was that difficult to do and to get right?

No – touch wood – we haven’t really had any issues with the three-speed and we transferred it from the Yamaha to the Kawasaki. In 2015 we basically build the Yamaha into the Kawasaki and went racing. We had a podium in the first two GPs and finished third in the world with Max [Anstie]. The only thing that bugs me is that if we breakdown then it tends to be bigger news than with other teams.

Max had ridden a Honda and Suzuki and commented that the power was reduced in order to be reliable but he said he’d rather push a bike back to the paddock rather than finish fifth or sixth. In 2014, with Yamaha, Cosworth said it would take until May to be ready because we only received the new bike in September/ October. We worked on it and were constantly developing it at the track until we won.

Feature

If fans look at your bikes now then they’ll see ideas like those carbon intakes…

I started with that in 2012 with the Yamaha and had it all finished for 2013.

Cosworth said the ideal engine would involve turning around the cylinder and bring air in from the front and Yamaha came out with it for 2014. Yamaha were brave enough to do that but is has taken quite a few evolutions to get people happy with it. It’s fine having power and the torque but to make a rider feel comfortable took a bit longer. Yamaha are a bit more ‘out in the open’; as well as the cylinder they were the first with the fourstroke. I would say they are pretty…innovative. Some others are more reserved. It [the bike] is there just to do a job.

So why develop the intakes?

If you want power then you need a lot of air and good, cold air. Especially in hot countries. For every revolution it wants 250cc of air; one litre per four revs.

When you start thinking of how many litres it needs in one minute and it has to come through a few holes and be dragged from a hot exhaust area…there is no point putting big valves and steeper angles for the throttle if you cannot get the air in. Motocross engines now have become such a tight technical package.

It is quite a simple build because the cylinder has a lot of air around it so the heat can dissipate. Heat is the killer to efficiency. So there is a reason for what we are doing.

racing the paddock: steve dixon

Why are you trying to simplify the bike?

Everything has become so compact as in you have the fuel tank, a lot of electrical gadgets and wiring looms and they all have to be packaged somewhere. So you have wires and hoses in the way of radiators, smaller airboxes to accommodate other components. Everything is a compromise for cost, speed of production and to suit 99% of the market. The 1% of the market that is racing or the 0.01% that is racing at Grand Prix level are not buying their bikes anyway. A ten year old Kawasaki will still be going, and still serving its purpose. It is not that the manufacturers are neglecting their job…but we need that production bike to reach a new requirement. With the demand for the bikes to have electric starts means they are getting heavier. A company like KTM/Husqvarna can focus mainly on off-road and that’s why their feedback is very quick. They are not producing jetskis or four cylinder superbikes. The Japanese are making a huge amount of machinery.

Why persist with straining the 250 and MX2? Is it just the technical challenge?

Yeah and because it is what we feel comfortable with and what we can afford. A 450 is about the rider and those riders are damn expensive! If I got offered to ‘go factory’ and given bikes – and I have done in the past with Rinaldi – then I have no problem with that. I’d enjoy it and would want to try and give my best to the rider. People can easily be negative and question motivations for improvement when they think standard [equipment] is fine. If Darian posts fast times then they’ll think ‘oh, something must be different..’

What did you think about KTM’s 350 and why didn’t it catch-on?

I think the 350 concept came about because KTM were struggling to get their 450 right. They knew how to get a 250 going good so it was not too hard to turn that into a 350 and have the advantage of less weight and nimbleness. But as time progressed they have had more input and have perfected a 450 that can go even quicker. It still comes down to rider preference and knowledge. I think most production 450s work very well now.

Tommy’s race bike doesn’t have more than a thousand euros of engine work on it and he finds it very competitive and is happy. I have a lot of wider opinions now about the reasons we go racing. Before I was quite narrow-minded about what we should have for what we do. I’m more aware now that we are just a promotional tool for whoever pays.

How do you see your position in this paddock? Are you like the last of a dying breed?

I guess I am. I’m not jealous of anyone and I’m as happy now as in all of my twenty-nine years of doing this. To be able to come to work every day, always look forward to it and always challenge yourself and your mind is something that not many have. At the moment I see people in the paddock who love motocross, are passionate about it and have money and they can afford a team by partnering with a manufacturer. I think only KTM and TM have their own factory team. Everyone else is partnered. I think I am one of the last where ‘what goes in the left hand goes out with the right’ for racing. I’ve managed to find a way to keep going. I might spend 5000 euros in a flyaway where others have spent 10,000. I’m not resentful.

Feature We need teams for competition and if there were no teams then no jobs and no racing.

Are the results that much more satisfying on a motorcycle that you’ve taken time and effort to craft?

100%. When Darian got to the front in Argentina – because it was a hard and long winter of making changes and the bike was a bit of a Diva for a while – it was fantastic. There are no half-measures. He led in Argentina and it was a massive high that turned into a massive low when he split the fuel pipe. I’ll never forget Max winning at Lommel because it was a traumatic period of getting the bike in a position to do that. Those moments are still great. I think I’ve missed seven GPs in almost thirty years. You need something to drive you and it

doesn’t have to be money. Self-success in anything is enough to keep the brain going. I’m conscious that if we do fail then it stands out but I think that’s the same at Pro Circuit and if you get to the top then people will try to knock you down or you’re there to be shot at. Stability is key and a lot of money will help you do bike development a lot better but you don’t see the long-established teams waste money. It is easy to throw away money in this paddock. I’m the only British-based team doing GPs and this is where the sport started! Kawasaki, HRC and Suzuki were run from the UK. Now it’s just us and it’s difficult. The technology is in the UK but everything moves in circles.

racing the paddock: steve dixon

Bike it Dixon Racing Team Kawasaki’s ability to attract sponsors depends on several factors: the potential for results, their British status, Steve Dixon’s image of the team, and the drive of the man himself. Major Brazilian product company ASW were attracted by the exposure and the allure of being part of MXGP with DRT and were a new name to the paddock for 2018.

asw

the boys from brazil

The reason ASW features in these pages are two-fold: the Brazilian angle is something different in a what is normally a very Euro/US-centric industry and the look and quality of the race gear is refreshingly good. They also have one or two advantages compared to their competitors in a very busy market. “It is a different perspective on what race gear should be and I’d say that ASW are a unique company in the sector; not only are they a brand but also a manufacturer and I feel that is a massive plus,” says Team Consultant Ashley Kane. “They control the quality from A-Z whereas the vast majority of other brands work with external vendors. I think the level of quality control when you have your own product is an important element.”

We spoke to General Director of ASW, Leandro Mattos, to learn a bit more about their story.

“The brand is 32 years old now and it was founded by my father and uncle in 1986 because at the time it was forbidden to import products into Brazil,” he explains. “There was some off-road motorcycling going on and there was demand for some products. My father was an engineer so created gloves for motorcycling and started to build up from there with jerseys and pants. By

Feature It’s a big obstacle but it helps to build homegrown industry. Brazil is a huge country with so many people. When you see the volumes [we sell] then it is impressive compared to international brands.

1992 they were starting to import some important brands – Smith goggles was the first major company – and then Fox followed and it built from there.”

“We never really looked at exportation because the main goal was to make a strong distribution channel in Brazil.

Now we are in a new position. I took over as director and my goal is to really focus on our own brand and look international and global. We are putting a plan together to come to Europe. We are already selling through all of South America, Columbia, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru.

We were only missing Argentina. Now we are looking to start in England.”

“A positive thing is that we own the factory in Brazil so the gear is manufactured by us. We have it very well structured so we also produce material for other guys that help us a lot and to be able to be flexible for other markets.”

Brazil can be seen as quite an insular market. Why is that?

The import duties really. To get those products means 60% of tax. That opens the market to locally made produce. Not only motocross stuff but everything like casual clothing.

Why look outwards now?

We feel that it is the right time because before we used to carry too many brands. I think it was in 2006 where we had 12-13 brands and we focussed too much on their distribution: Acerbis, Fox, Shift, One Industries, Tag Metals, Shift goggles; we dealt with them for a long time and we just feel that the biggest thing we own is our brand. I feel that we need to build that up and be proud of it.

We have such good quality and there are no excuses not to do it.

It’s a crazily busy market…

Yes, and everyone is kinda going in the same direction in terms of lighter gear, simpler colours and design. We don’t want to be just another brand. We want to build our own DNA and get people to understand that ASW isn’t just another brand put together in Asia. It is designed and produced in Brazil and for that it’s unique. So we’ll push that. Thanks to our own factory there are a lot of cool things we can do, like customising stuff. We’re doing in Brazil but I believe we can do it internationally and have success.

So MXGP and DRT was a good route?

It is a dream come true to find a deal with such a cool team and one at a high level. It came along because of the UK link and it made a lot of sense to go along with the Dixon Racing Team. We’ve been talking for almost a year now to get the deal done and we are very happy

racing the paddock: steve dixon xxxxxxxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

with it and the people involved that also have a lot of passion. I believe it will be a longterm partnership.

Darian Sanayei and Tommy Searle have given ASW some outlets both in MXGP and the MX2 classes (with the American sadly now on the sidelines after knee surgery) and the team have done presentation events in Brazil as well as a comprehensive photoshoot for the 2019 catalogue. “We live in a global economy and I think brands have to do things on a global scale. I think it is a good thing for MXGP that a brand like this has taken its first steps outside of its home market and looking at the race series in that light,” says Kane. “I always say Rome wasn’t built in a day and

if you look at other Brazilian brands like Reef and Havanas which have made it on a global level then it is about getting the basics right. I think it is nice now to have something that is a bit different, that is well-made and proven at the highest level with Tommy and Darian and Steve’s team, which is associated with innovation. It is a very good step for the brand.”

“Brazil is a unique place and culture and they were a bit different with their sports and athletes,” he adds. “It would be great if this could somehow boost the sport over there and bring Brazilian riders into the frame in Grand Prix. The Brazilian motorcycle market in phenomenal in terms of size.”

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JUSTIN BARCIA

motogp

gran premi de catalunya monst

le mans ¡ may 20th ¡ Rnd 7 of 19 MotoGP winner: Jorge Lorenzo, Ducati Moto2 winner: Fabio Quartararo, Speed Up Moto3 winner: Enea Bastianini, Honda

lorenzo land the double

By Adam Wheeler.

& Sienna Wedes. P

ter energy

ds

r. Blogs by David Emmett, Neil Morrison

Photos by CormacGP

motogp catalunya

motogp catalunya

The Lorenzo revival 1 min 40.021 seconds to 40.928. Jorge Lorenzo spent almost forty minutes making 22 laps with less than one second of variation.

Now that’s a rhythm. Any doubts that the 31 year old now has a Desmosedici to do his bidding and permit that astonishing level of precision and robotic efficiency will have been allayed after vintage performances in Mugello and Catalunya. The caveat is that the long speedy corners of both circuits have been ripe feeding grounds for #99 in the past while the next two tracks on the slate – Assen and Sachsenring – propose a different set of parameters.

Still, Lorenzo’s knack for continually providing MotoGP with an engaging storyline continues. How the celebrations must be tinged with some regret and a hint of reflection. Only six weeks previously and the 2015 world champion’s position was quite different both within Ducati and even the paddock as loose talk of retirement, bloated salary demands, links with two other manufacturers and further analysis of his spikiness-connected-with-perfectionism flew aimlessly.

In a period of three weeks Lorenzo has battered Mugello, baffled the sport with his HRC deal and then reinforced emotions at Ducati with his first back-to-back haul of 25 points since Le Mans/Mugello in 2016.

“He’s absolutely on form at the minute,” offered Cal Crutchlow. “When he’s like that it’s horrendous! Honestly, after Mugello, I knew it’d be a difficult weekend here to beat him.”

motogp catalunya

One of the most frequent questions Lorenzo has faced in the last fortnight involves discovery of a competitive package that is allowing him to win rather than just lead or post fleetingly impressive lap-times. He repeatedly talked about the installation of a modified fuel tank that altered his stance and thus lowered his stress on the Ducati. “I think riding in Jerez and Le Mans I was competitive,” he opines. “I have the real speed. I just needed the last step, the last piece to give me the necessary energy to keep this speed for longer. This what happened in Mugello… even if not everybody believes that.”

“It’s not just a lump of plastic, that’s for sure,” says Crutchlow, who was another rider that left Yamaha for Ducati and then joined Honda. “And he’s lucky that he’s riding with a manufacturer that can produce and put something on the bike quite fast like that; to make him feel better in his position.”

“He’s obviously just clicked with the bike a little bit more and is a lot more comfortable,” the Brit adds. “You can see it in the way he brakes. He’s decelerating better. We can’t change our position like that in that short amount of time.

13-3-10-15: the last four years at Assen don’t make for pretty reading for the Majorcan.

3-4-15-11: Sachsenring is not much brighter.

Lorenzo obviously has his tail up and the buzz around the rider meant that talk of a run for the championship (he is still 49 points behind Marc Marquez) did not seem so preposterous at Catalunya but the next two rounds will really give an indication to his overall competitiveness and whether the #99 in red really is a swallow that summer left behind.

motogp catalunya

pedrosa possibilities Where will Dani Pedrosa go next year? Since his debut in Grand Prix in 2001 Pedrosa has been a firm fixture with Honda. Eighteen seasons with the same manufacturer, thirteen of those with Repsol Honda in the premier class. Is there another rider with a longer association with one team? (over to @neilmorrison1987 for the answer). It was amusing to watch the 32 year old walk into his packed media debrief on Thursday with a sheepish, bemused and slightly embarrassed look on his face. There were no more than 7-8 journalists there on Sunday to hear about his eighteenth home grand prix but three days earlier – with fervent rumours that his retirement was going to be announced – HRC needed security on the door of their expansive hospitality unit.

Pedrosa, perhaps enjoying the fact that so many people had been chasing a wild goose, simply talked about having possibilities for 2019 and the future.

For fear of ruffling the feathers further, subsequent talk revolved around a satellite Yamaha (with YMR MD Lin Jarvis saying to Dorna Pitlane reporter Simon Crafar that seeing #26 on a satellite Yamaha would be a “really positive thing and a pleasure”) and even gossip that he could pilot a factory Kawasaki next to Jonathan Rea in WorldSBK. The latter idea was not utterly absurd. The Kawasaki/Provec team are based in the shadow of the main grandstand at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, are largely Catalan/ Spanish and it is hard not to imagine Dorna getting excited about a racer of Pedrosa’s ability making the switch. Biel Roda, one of the co-owners of KRT was quick to dismiss the possibility however and joked that they were also on the lookout for Casey Stoner.

Whatever the bike or the series Pedrosa doesn’t have a slew of options, which makes a well-funded Petronas-backed Yamaha adventure the strongest link.

motogp BLOG

is #26 outstaying his welcome?

How long is too long in the MotoGP paddock? Should older riders be kicked out to make way for fresh young blood? Or is experience vital to the development of what are now incredibly sophisticated racing motorcycles?

The answer, it seems, depends on the name of the rider currently under discussion. Nobody (well, nobody who knows anything about racing) is seriously discussing whether 39-yearold Valentino Rossi should be kicked out of the Movistar Yamaha team. He is second in the championship, has four podiums from the first six races, and is currently the best of the Yamaha riders.

Contrast that with Scott Redding, 25, or Bradley Smith, 27, who both stand to be displaced from MotoGP at the end of the season, if they can’t find a ride.

Redding is on the ill-fated second Aprilia, but has experience with three different MotoGP manufacturers. Smith is feted for his development abilities, and finished top independent rider in 2015. Yet both will probably be gone at the end of the year.

Or…consider Dani Pedrosa.

Especially hated by American fans, for an ill-timed pass in his rookie season which took out Nicky Hayden, for which Pedrosa apologised, and for which Hayden forgave him, especially as he went on to win the world championship that season, 2006, anyway. Even outside of the US, Pedrosa was much maligned. Fans called him boring, and a waste of a factory seat, calling for him to be replaced each time his contract was up.

He was the rider who never managed to win a MotoGP championship, despite being on the Repsol Honda, arguably the most coveted seat in MotoGP. His teammates managed to become champion on that bike, so why hasn’t he?

Those ‘fans’ are finally going to get their way. The arrival of Alberto Puig as manager of the Repsol Honda team meant the

end of Pedrosa’s tenure in the squad, Puig having a score to settle after Pedrosa had sacked him as his personal manager.

Jorge Lorenzo is to take his place alongside Marc Márquez, while Pedrosa is left to look for a job.

He may find it with the newlyto-be-formed Petronas-backed Sepang International Circuit team. That Petronas/Sepang squad will have Yamahas at their disposal, and while Franco Morbidelli will likely take one seat, Dani Pedrosa could well be the rider on the other bike.

Does Pedrosa deserve it? Or should he, as some fans and one prominent team manager told me, be put out to pasture at the grand old age of 33 (by season’s end)?

?

By David Emmett

There is no doubt in my mind that Dani Pedrosa is still one of the best riders on the grid, and among the best riders of all time. He is probably not Valentino Rossi or Giacomo Agostini, Freddie Spencer or Kenny Roberts, or even Marc Márquez or Jorge Lorenzo. But he has 54 Grand Prix victories, as many as Mick Doohan and more than Phil Read, Casey Stoner, or John Surtees. He has 31 premier class victories, more than Freddie Spencer, Kenny Roberts, Wayne Rainey, or Kevin Schwantz. 30 of his 31 victories have come by beating Valentino Rossi. He has beaten Marc Márquez 9 times, and Jorge Lorenzo 25 times. He finished runner up in 2007, 2010, and 2012, and could have been champion in 2012 if it hadn’t been for a mechanic accidentally melting a tire warmer onto a carbon brake disc, forcing him to be taken off the grid at Misano.

The main criticism aimed at Pedrosa is that he never managed to win a title on the Repsol Honda, whereas his teammates did.

This is both slightly inaccurate, and grossly unfair. Sure, Pedrosa failed where Nicky Hayden, Casey Stoner, and Marc Márquez succeeded, all of them as his teammate. But when he had Andrea Dovizioso as a teammate, from 2009 to 2011, he finished ahead of him every year except 2011, when he missed three races after breaking a collarbone at Le Mans, where he was knocked off his bike by Marco Simoncelli.

Nor is Pedrosa unique in not winning a title on a Repsol Honda. Max Biaggi, Tohru Ukawa and Tadayuki Okada all failed to bag a championship in that team. And in Márquez and Stoner, he has had two of the top four or five best racers of all time as his teammate.

Cal Crutchlow always says that if Pedrosa had been on a Yamaha, he would have had multiple titles by now. Even Yamaha racing boss Lin Jarvis wants to see Pedrosa on a Yamaha.

“I’ve always been personally very curious to see how Dani would go on a Yamaha,” he told Simon Crafar in Barcelona.

He even went so far as to nearly sign Pedrosa instead of Maverick Viñales in 2016.

So Pedrosa haters, know this: You are wrong. Dani Pedrosa is still a formidable rider, and can beat anyone on the grid on his day. If anyone deserves a seat in MotoGP, it is him.

testing times There was a lot of ‘non-racing’ activity in the air at Catalunya. Most of the teams had run the new layout and asphalt several weeks before the Grand Prix and the circuit was the scene of more post-race testing on Monday where Michelin also introduced a new front tyre with a wider profile and contact patch.

Testing was one of the topics that Race Director Mike Webb and Technical Director Danny Aldridge talked about in a new initiative by Dorna to open access to race officials and convey/explain information, largely in the wake of the controversial events at the Grand Prix of Argentina that led to rulebook consternation.

“As we know the number of races is going up and the teams requested and agreed together with DORNA [that] more racing means less testing,” said Webb in reference to the nineteen round calendar in 2018 and possibility to jump to twenty in 2019 (something that Marc Marquez publicly admitted was too many). “It’s just simple logistics and costs.

With more races [it was the] perfect opportunity to revise the testing for MotoGP, both for cost, for everything. It’s been agreed that for the 2018 season we’ll have the traditional test in Valencia following the last grand prix.

What was normally a three-day test somewhere outside of Europe will now be a twoday test in Europe in November, [then] the traditional three-day test in Malaysia, and a three-day test prior to the first grand prix in Doha. The normal Monday tests that were done during the season will continue next year. What was five days of testing for each MotoGP team now becomes a two-day test during the season.

So the total reduction compared to this season is four days of testing in line with the number of races going up. The really good thing about this is now all the MotoGP tests are official tests, so a nice cost saving from the teams’ point of view. But more importantly we have the full safety facilities, we have Race Direction, we have medical, everybody on-hand. It’s safer. It’s more cost-efficient and reduces the total number of days.”

“If the calendar is what it is, and is getting bigger and bigger, for sure we need to cut down on testing throughout the season,” said Alma Pramac Racing’s Jack Miller. “I mean, for test riders, it’s OK, but for GP riders it needs to be stronger. ‘No testing’ or if not, the minimum: the one day after the Grand Prix that we have here and at Jerez.”

The officials also discussed revised rules for airbags (compulsory for wild-cards), extra tyre allocation in qualification, grid procedures and revealed a couple of interesting developments when it comes to track limits. MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 practice and qualification sessions are now littered with cancelled lap-times and notifications of riders hitting the outskirts of the asphalt and missing their desired mark by centimetres.

There isn’t a beady-eyed crew studying each and every racer’s trajectory. At least, not any more. A combination of timing loops and camera technology has changed a form of policing that Webb describes as previously being “a nightmare”.

“Course cutting is becoming as automated as possible, he says. “So the man-hours are becoming much, much less, but it’s a huge investment as far as equipment and programming from the timekeeping staff to be able to do that. It was visual - or manual - at Silverstone last year, and we’ve got to the point where now it’s almost all automatic.

The riders are identified, the time difference is identified, and a suggested penalty is identified. We confirm it by video. So it’s getting there, but track limits remains a labour-intensive operation.”

Labour on the track continued on Monday and where KTM were again busy trying to extract the last potential of their current racebike while also looking what to cherrypick from Mika Kallio’s 2019 version and the basis of the machine that should be in Pol Espargaro and Johann Zarco’s hands come Qatar 2019. Espargaro was exasperated by his inability to turn faster with the RC16 during the race (“I was cruising and just having to wait until I could pick the bike up and open the throttle”) while Bradley Smith was enthused by his rapier start that saw him running in the top ten and until he was torpedoed by Taka Nakagami. “To be honest we’re not struggling. We’re just extracting the maximum that we can with the package we have,” he said on Saturday and as the KTM’s took slots on the last three rows of the grid. “Being three seconds off the lap; that’s struggling. Being 1.3 is not. KTM did a tremendous job last year and a tremendous job at the moment but it is just this last little bit that is going to be the niggling factor for us.

It will take time and effort.”

“If we are able to find 0.3-4 with this new bike then we start sniffing more inside the top fifteen-twelve in qualifying and can race to a top ten finish…but not more,” he added.

“There isn’t much more than that the other guys have too much experience and knowledge. We have to be realistic. That’s my viewpoint. I think some people’s expectations were too high and thought it might be too easy and are a bit disappointed. Mine are more realistic.”

KTM are used to doing things in a hurry and the team keep some perspective by pointing out the reduced time limits and positions to the winner compared to 2017 and their debut (Espargaro has finished 11th five times in 2018) but there is still a big appetite for more gains and rumours circulated that the Spaniard and Smith could have yet more new material by the time of the Czech Republic Grand Prix at the beginning of August.

motogp catalunya

motogp BLOG

Banking on a Mir-acle?

Another race. Another romp. Another slightly awkward parc fermé standoff. For the second round running, a victorious Jorge Lorenzo swaggered, pranced and waved in front of Ducati’s team of technicians while making a point of not acknowledging CEO Claudio Domenicali.

Fresh from a ride of immeasurable brilliance - including a dazzling seven-lap spell in which the difference in his times was measured by hundredths of a second, not tenths – this was another timely reminder of what Ducati would be missing in 2019.

But enough of the men in red.

At least Ducati and Domenicali, who had previously engaged in the ultimate sin of questioning the Majorcan’s adaptability to the Bologna bikes, had a victory to savour. What of Suzuki, whose nimble, sweet-handling GSX-RR was touted as a possible destination for the five-time world champion in the weeks before the Honda move sent shockwaves and reverberations a good deal stronger than Lorenzo’s replica celebratory hammer could summon.

expense of spectacle as 2019 team leader Alex Rins endured his most anonymous weekend in MotoGP since returning from a wrist injury last June? Joan Mir, Rins’ future teammate and the man Suzuki bosses moved to sign when Lorenzo was under consideration, had his own day to forget, crashing out of ninth in a surprising Moto2 outing. A first DNF of the year surely negates any chances of the 20-year old progressing to the premier class as a reigning world champion.

How must project leader Shinichi Sahara and team boss Davide Brivio have felt, witnessing the 31-year old strive for metronomic perfection at the

For right or wrong, much of the post-race fallout focussed on Ducati’s mistake, and how it had let a prized twelve million Euro asset get away.

But, it is right to posit how Suzuki had done the same.

The Hamamatsu factory was among the viable alternatives if the Ducati gamble did not work out. Indeed, Lorenzo’s personal manager Albert Valera was in contact with Brivio, considering how the GSX-RR is tailor made for those languid movements, arching lines and ever-so-delicate feathering of the throttle.

Had Suzuki pushed for Lorenzo’s signature, that call to Repsol Honda team boss Alberto Puig in the wake of heading Ducati management’s comments in France may not have been necessary. Surely it was crazy not to get the deal across the line.

By Neil Morrison

After all, how often does Japan’s third factory have the chance to sign a rider capable of the kind of on-bike genius Lorenzo displayed on Sunday?

This was a unique opening to sign a ready-made race winner and, probably, title contender.

This may come as a surprise, but, speaking to those involved in the decision, Suzuki holds a different view. For in Joan Mir, the factory is convinced it is welcoming grand prix racing’s next big thing into its arms. In teaming him up with Rins, a rider ex-500cc world champion Kevin Schwantz believes to be “one of the guys that could give Marquez a run for his money” in the coming years, Suzuki believes it will possess two readymade challengers within a year of investment. “It looks quite challenging,” admits Brivio. “It looks risky. But that’s the way we like to go.”

Way we like to go? Opting for raw talent over three premier class titles, 46 wins (more than half the number of Suzuki’s win-

ning total – 91 – in the Class of Kings) and one of the top three riders of all-time, if Lorenzo’s post-race assertion (thankfully for all concerned he refused to talk of himself in third person on this occasion) that he is one “of the best in history”, is to be believed. Has the factory lost its mind?

Well, firstly, to Lorenzo’s assertion. Unflinching self-belief is a requisite to be considered among the very best. But a certain level of ego is needed to make such a claim. Suzuki has one of those already in Andrea Iannone and that relationship has been far from straightforward. Lorenzo would be one of the first to admit he is a total perfectionist. Anything that falls below his immaculate standards would be met with a raised voice and waved arms.

Reading between the lines, Suzuki was not only seeking a talent, but a rider who buys into the project, and whose temper does not sour its open, friendly air.

Brivio’s comments are revealing when he states, “One of our strategies has always been to get the rider that really wanted to be at Suzuki; not the rider that must go to Suzuki, because there was no other choice, or no better choice.” Just look at Maverick Viñales’ feats in 2015 and ’16, a rider forever grateful he had been given full backing on the biggest stage of all.

“It’s very important that he considers being in Suzuki an achievement,” Brivio says. “That is when you get the maximum effort and the maximum satisfaction.” Conversations with Lorenzo’s management didn’t convey as much. Interactions with Mir did.

Fostering a young talent is nothing new to Brivio. Compared to HRC’s vast and near-limitless resources, Suzuki is a small factory with a racing department that pales in comparison its principle Japanese competitors.

motogp BLOG

It has experience helping riders “grow up”, as he says, and operating relatively free of ego - a characteristic that sets it apart.

And while Suzuki has not signed a ready-made race winner to join Rins in ‘19, it’s not as though Mir is a dud. Far from it. The reigning Moto3 world champion is surely destined to become one of the class’ leading lights in the coming years, a rider who combines supreme natural ability with a clearness of thought, a decisiveness that is rarely evident among riders of 20 years of age, and a rigorous work ethic. Rossi may have scored one win more during his cruise to the junior class title in 1997 to hold the outright record.

But he did so on one of only a handful of full factory Aprilias.

Mir’s ten Moto3 wins in 2017 were achieved at the expense of half the field on identical Honda NSF250RWs. Claiming his signature was a considerable coup with Honda, and to a lesser extent Ducati, sniffing around. Unassuming but utterly forthright, it was he that told Christian Lundberg,

Leopard Racing’s team manager, he would leave at the close of 2016 if they did not switch from KTM to Honda hardware.

‘We made a big effort,” Lundberg recently told me. “We had to buy everything new again.

But in the end we were world champions, so…” That conviction, shown at such a tender age, is crucial to make it at the very top.

He also works at it. So much so that Mir recently revealed relentless training has caused tendonitis in his left arm. Lundberg sees similarities in his approach to MotoGP’s current champion.

“When Joan’s training he’s always trying to save the front closing, to save the high-side.

He’s pushing on the limit his bikes – supermotos, motocross, every bike. This helps. He feels the limit much more than every other rider that I had before. His way of training is with this goal; to manage really complicated situations on the bike, the same as Marquez does in MotoGP.” I

n just his third Moto2 race in Austin, Mir was already showing race winning potential.

After forging a similar path to the top, Viñales needed just seven outings in MotoGP to be challenging the top six. If his younger countryman is afforded the same support and the same belief, Mir’s impact on the premier class should be along the same lines. Lundberg’s in little doubt: “MotoGP is difficult. But I’m sure he will be there fighting very, very soon.”

Brivio and his Japanese bosses agree. In choosing Mir, Suzuki has stuck to what it knows, saved on Iannone’s salary (a reported 3 million euros), and hired a talent that could be challenging team-leader Rins by the season’s end. Who knows how high a level Mir will be hitting by 2020. But going off recent history, surely a Hondamounted Lorenzo won’t be a million miles away.

Monster Energy/Photos AD

the marquez myth More evidence that Marc Marquez’ deft feel for the limits of motorcycle racing are shaping a ‘MotoGP of the future’ and changing the way to compete like the great rearwheel steering shift of the 1980s and 1990s was seen with his remarkable save into the 140mph Turn 14 on Friday.

“The worst thing is that we have to deal with the situation of Marc saving them every week,” said fellow HRC man Cal Crutchlow.

“It makes the rest of us on Honda look like idiots. Imagine how many he has saved this year compared to how many we have we crashed? He saves fifteen a weekend.”

In a growing catalogue of near-misses and remarkable reactions in the past two years (coupled with valuable information and feeling gained when the factory Honda does break free and skid into the gravel) this seemed like the most extreme. More impactful even that the Turn 1 pick-up at Valencia last November that almost certainly saved his world championship.

“The way he rides is different to us,” he adds. “Most riders sit a lot more central on the bike, and to try and teach yourself after fifteen years to suddenly start leaning off like him [then] you don’t do it. Your natural style is your natural style. If you look at Valentino when he used to race a 500 his style is the same as it is now, to an extent. You adapt a little bit to the situation of the tyres and the bikes but that’s just him.”

Being asked for an explanation around his antics has now become a regular feature of the 25 year old’s media work. The regularity of his saves and the range (from a small front end tuck saved by an elbow to manfully holding onto the Honda in hope of a ‘return to equilibrium’ to a full blown, tyre/leathersmoking escape) is turning into something more than a sideshow wonder. A crazy as it seems a Marquez-style capacity to be the fulcrum between bike and asphalt is another tool in the box for a MotoGP rider.

“We definitely have some sort of problem because we cannot keep explaining how this is happening. We cannot keep looking like mugs every week with our manufacturer. But Honda know the situation, they are not stupid and probably the cleverest people in the paddock. So we need to continue to work.”

Understandably Honda have drifted in a general direction with the RCV that lets their envelope-pushing athlete maximise his style.

Even if every Honda rider will consistently claim that the bike is far from an easy ride.

motogp catalunya

motogp catalunya

“We have better speed this year but our main problem is that the bike doesn’t turn and we don’t have great rear grip,” Crutchlow explained in Barcelona. “We have a bike that is amazing in braking so we just take advantage of it all the time. And then evidently we crash on the brake and in the middle of the corners because we brake so deep and hard that we have overheated the front tyre and it doesn’t hold out.”

“He’s willing to lay it all out there and be able to get away with it,” says Smith. “It must make him a bit nervous but it doesn’t bite him whereas some other guys push and push and it bites. When you go down then that’s when your confidence is knocked. When you keep on saving it week-in week-out then you think ‘that’s my little warning sign’ or ‘my clip around the ear’. You get away with it and you are almost giggling to yourself.”

It is fast emerging as accepted practice but Marquez is quick to remind people that his miracle-work is a consequence of something going wrong. “It means that we are pushing, we are struggling, especially we are struggling with confidence in the front…but we are able to save. Every time the save is better and better so we will see where we can arrive!”

“One of the strong things in my body is a lot of flexibility and this is important for crashing and saves on the bike,” Marquez says.

“My brother does the same training as me but doesn’t have the same flexibility.”

“I think Marc is a smart guy and has set up his bike in a way that makes it easy for him to push the front into the corner and safe for him to push, which is why he gets confidence, confidence and confidence but when he lets go then it’s at breaking point,” offers the always-astute Bradley Smith. “The fact that it is so safe instead of tucking underneath or pushing away kinda reminds me of an open-angle bike. It is almost like a triangle and just stays there. For me that’s a bike with quite a close head pipe and allows him to ride in that style. He’s developed that over the years with Honda to push harder and harder on the front and if it does go a little bit wrong then he is able to pick it back up.

Sometimes he saves on his elbow but today [Friday] that was on the knee.”

Is there a cost? Motorcycle racers must be used to the sudden jarring, shock and perhaps pain of a crash or near-crash by the time they reach MotoGP level and anything like the standard to compete with Marquez.

‘Saving’ has to be a stressful part of the job both for physically and for the nerves.

What about the odds? Inevitably a certain amount of saves will mean greater chances of meeting the gravel fast. There has to be a point where Marquez will simply tire or lose the wilful disregard to throw abandon to physics. “Of course it’s dangerous,” he admits. “But if I crash, I crash slower. Because if you lose in the first part and you crash, you crash faster. It’s something I don’t create. If you ask me why or how: I don’t know.

It’s something that comes naturally. But I’m always riding on the limit and try to feel the limit and this maybe gives a special feeling.”

Flexibility is one aspect where Marquez likes to narrow the gap to disaster but he can also count on other little ‘assists’. “Alpinestars is also working hard,” he says. “We made the elbow slider a little bigger because in Mugello when I lost the front and I tried to save it I was pushing with the leather and when you touch [the ground] with the leather it just stops your arm and it is so difficult to recover. Now we have increased that area to have that slide and try to save in another way. But this time I saved with the knee not the elbow, so maybe we need to work on the knee too!”

motogp BLOG

special curves...

The inevitable fate of a MotoGP rider is to overtake or be overtaken.

It is the primary move (aside from crashing or making an error) that enables them to challenge for a position. This key component of racing has helped make the Catalan Grand Prix one of the most exciting on the calendar still to this day.

A mere 32km from the architecturally stunning city of Barcelona, the Circuit de BarcelonaCatalunya possesses an array of fast and slow corners and elevation changes. There are fourteen corners in total and a minimum of four (1, 4, 5 and 10) that hold strong potential for riders to out-rival one another. This, as you can imagine (I would suggest you take that device you have in your hands right now and watch a few previous races if you need a refresher) makes for a thrilling event.

On Friday afternoon in Yamaha’s hospitality I sat amongst fellow media and waited for Maverick Vinales’ debrief. It felt like the perfect time to put forth the query as to why this track generates so many exciting scenes.

Amid the screech of Moto2 engines, I was handed the microphone and went ahead with my

question. Maverick’s response was short and sweet “there are many places to overtake, many places. I think in every corner there is an opportunity to overtake”. It was perceived as an overly transparent statement but like its simplicity, it made sense. The more corners, the more available opportunities and therefore more confidence to strike. This ladies and gentleman is the ideal concoction for a riveting race.

I took a trip into the past during the weekend, researching and re-living a variety of dramatic moments caught on camera at Catalunya. In 2004, 2007, 2009 and 2016 we were blessed with fierce spats of combat and intoxicating triumph. The one common denominator in all these clashes you may ask?

Unsurprisingly the one and only Valentino Rossi.

As I began typing each race into Youtube, headings started appearing with hyperbolic statements ‘the best of all time’ and ‘a historical battle’. In 2004 it was Rossi and Sete Gibernau who chased one another, weaving in and out until Gibernau crumbled. 2007 was the Rossi, Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner show which ultimately showcased a well balanced Yamaha and a passionate Australian clashing till the chequered flag flew. 2009 Yamaha teammates Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo prolonged the tension, taking it to the final lap leaving spectators to catch their breath and in 2016 the controversial duo Rossi and Marc Marquez fuelled their rivalry with a tremendous fight to finish line. In each of these seasons Catalunya has acted as a playground for the riders to let their hair down.

By Sienna Wedes

When you strip down to the bare basics, these men are consumed purely by the adrenaline and thirst running through their veins. Like all mortals, they have fallen victim to collisions or mistakes when undertaking a risky bid and more often than not an innocent error.

During the 2006 Catalunya GP there was an incident between Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau. Capirossi’s Ducati innocently shifted its way over to Gibernau before it quickly clipped his front break leaver and abruptly sent him soaring mid air. Like an immediate knock-on effect, John Hopkins, Dani Pedrosa, Marco Melandri and Randy de Puniet followed like a set of dominos.

Chaos appears to be a regular visitor at this circuit and today it was no different. The MotoGP race consisted of ten debacles.

After various incidents during free practice and the Moto3 and Moto2 races it felt almost inevitable. I found myself ‘waiting’ for something to happen and not long after Andrea Dovizioso, Hafizh Syahrin and Taka Nakagami took a tumble.

The race wasn’t a nail biting, mind-blowing extravaganza but it was well ridden by some of the best in the business. A common occurrence in the history books, which I think we can all see.

Contrary to tracks like Mugello and Sachsenring, Barcelona creates substantial bustle between riders. It was my first time exploring the illustrious circuit but I became familiar with its distinctive characteristics. The deceiving rise and falls, hard break points and the corners that challenge every class but ultimately unmask the inherent competitive nature in each athlete. It is a layout that stands the test of time and will always have some kind of story to be told no matter the class or season. Between immense pressure, colossal battles in and out of corners, sly moves up the inside and swift attempts at breaking away, the possibilities have and will continue to be endless here.

Like all great battles, some sadly come to a tragic halt. On Friday the 3rd of June 2016 at turn 13 (the stadium section), Spanish Moto2 rider Luis Salom suffered a lethal crash during FP2. Turn13, along with 3 and 14 are notorious for their high speed characteristics. As a result of this, Dorna, IRTA and the circuit themselves joined forces and decided it was time to make modifications to this turn. After some experimentation with chicanes and layout alterations in 2018, the gravel trap became bigger and wider and the service road was moved slightly further back. In addition over the course of the weekend, a stunning graffiti mural was composed to pay tribute to a young man lost too soon. Two years on, in the midst of adversity you can sense the juxtaposition of support and heartache in the stadium section.

It is a way fans will never cease to praise these truly special athletes.

motogp catalunya

motogp catalunya

Feature

the focus finder

what pushes pecco bagnaia

By Neil Morrison, Photos by CormacGP, Action by Monster Energy

Feature

Picture the scene: days on from a thrilling curtain raiser to the season, Francesco Bagnaia settles down to analyse his work. All the blood, sweat and tears, the preseason of focus and expectation had emphatically paid off. In Qatar, the 21-year old had registered a first win in Moto2, which displayed a measure of control as well as cunning, by the narrowest of margins – 0.112 seconds.

But in his small apartment in Pesaro, thirty minute’s drive from the Circuito de Misano on Italy’s east coast, Bagnaia has company. His flat-mate joins him on the sofa to go over the past’s weekend’s showpiece. So far, nothing out of the ordinary. Except the man with whom he shares his living space was that same figure attempting to steal that inaugural intermediate win from under his nose – countryman Lorenzo Baldassarri.

The pair go through the action, discussing that Sunday’s events in detail: how the KTMs were more than ten seconds back at the flag; Bagnaia’s leading from the start, a feat we never saw last year; and Baldassarri’s late, and ultimately unsuccessful, assault. For those of us that grew up watching certain stars of World Superbike in the nineties and present day MotoGP, the idea is beyond alien.

Two men. Sharing the same goal. Openly discussing strengths, weaknesses and the secrets of success. And this occurs after every race.

“For us it’s a normal thing,” Bagnaia says. “The [only] problem is that now we have girlfriends and it’s very difficult.”

Burgeoning hormones and insufficiently soundproofed aside, the pair has been members of the VR46 Academy that nurtures Italian talent for several years now.

They’ve lived together for four. “The philosophy of Valentino is that,” Bagnaia says, referencing the national icon who took him under his arm, offered words of advice and watched him intently since he joined the fold in 2014. For Baldassarri it’s the same. “We are OK together,” he says. “To share the comments after the race, after the weekend, speaking the same language is good.”

Not only does it say a lot about the VR46 Academy, where Italy’s next crop of national darlings train, eat and chat among themselves. It paints an apt picture of Bagania, the current Moto2 championship leader. At 21-years old he isn’t known for making enemies. A considered, softly spoken figure in person, Bagnaia shares few of the colourful, showboating traits of Rossi off the bike.

That’s not to say he can be found in any way lacking on it. Over the past season and a half, Bagnaia has honed a relentless consistency, born out of an iron-like focus, that has carried him to strong point-scoring finishes in the past 19 races. Add to that an unshakeable assurance and self-belief, and it’s clear why he had already secured a deal to ride in MotoGP in 2019 for Pramac Ducati before that opening shootout in Qatar.

pecco bagnaia

“Ducati was my objective...”

Feature

It was back in 2016, when he rode for Aspar Mahindra in Moto3 that Eugene Laverty, then one of the team’s MotoGP contingent, commented on how Bagnaia’s self-confidence would carry him a long way.

And so it’s proved. Seven rounds into 2018 and the rider from the industrial city of Turin in northern Italy in engaged in a thrilling title fight with Portugal’s Miguel Oliveira that promises to go all the way. Three wins have been earned in a fashion that is quickly becoming Bagnaia’s trademark; managing his tyres throughout before showing a fighting tenacity in the closing laps. A switch from WP to Ohlins suspension has helped.

As has the evolved, refined ’18 Kalex chassis (“I can turn more, it’s easier to close the line on corner exit”).

But one of his prior weaknesses has been steadily worked on and eroded: the early laps of a race, when his machine is fitted with fresh tyres and bears a weighty full tank of fuel, were an issue throughout 2017. Yet he led every lap in Qatar and France. And he stalked Alex Marquez from second in Austin before pouncing predictably. “Last year he was already very strong,” says Rossi of his young countryman. “This year he’s made another step. We tried to work on the beginning of the race because last year he suffered [there].

pecco bagnaia

He was very strong at the end, but he suffered at the beginning. But this year I think he can be ready to fight for the championship.”

The end of 2017 provided a timely wakeup call to Kalex, Bagnaia and his SKY Team VR46’s chassis of choice. KTM’s new steel trellis frame caught up and then consistently outperformed its main rival throughout the autumn of last year, Oliveira powering to three straight wins.

Mainly the advantage came in the final ten laps, the minor adjustments of the Austrian factory ensuring the rear tyre was saved.

Not that this fazed Bagnaia. “For me it’s not a problem,” he told us at the final preseason test in March. “Last year in the last ten laps I was faster than in the first ten laps.

I’m not a rider who uses the tyres too much, and I can ride with less tyre consumption. Maybe for [Alex] Marquez last year, he was losing time in the last ten laps, or maybe for other guys. But for me it’s not a problem.”

Assurance oozing from every pore.

Yet it hasn’t always been thus. Bagnaia’s formative years were a mixture of exuberance and anonymity. He failed to register a single point in his first Moto3 campaign on a hopelessly outpaced FTR Honda. A move to SKY Team VR46 – and, as a result, into the Academy - the following year began promisingly (five top tens in the first seven outings), but his performances aboard its KTM tailed off badly from July. Another change was needed. A move to Mahindra’s factory team was suggested within the Academy ranks.

Feature

Monster Energy

pecco bagnaia

“We understood that with my riding style it was very difficult to ride a KTM,” says Bagnaia. “Also the team was different. I needed something different and I moved to Aspar [rebranded as Team Angel Nieto for this year] that was like I wanted. It was very positive for me, to have two years on the Mahindra. I understood so many things.”

always too aggressive or braking too strong or too late. It was not correct for me and not good for the other riders. When I understood that in 2016 and I made a good step.”

Bagnaia was a changed man from the first race of the following year, fighting for the lead in Qatar, and eventually taking his second podium. “I did three podiums in the first six races,” he says.

The Mahindra was down on power, but light and nimble. Gradually, Bagnaia found his way.

“As early as last summer, Bagnaia’s was attracting the interest of MotoGP factories. In November Ducati and Yamaha made their interest know, leaving the Italian to consult a man with more experience than him...”

A first podium at Le Mans aside, the teenager was still more erratic than not through 2015 as five DNFs pocked his campaign. His end to the year – crashes in Australia, where he tagged title hopeful Danny Kent, and Malaysia, when, fighting among the leading group, he crashed into Jakub Kornfeil – saw him develop a reputation as unpredictable and hot-headed.

The wildness aside, however, and he was comfortably the quickest Mahindra. That aggression just needed a level of control.

“In 2015 I spoke so much with Uccio [Salucci, Rossi’s best friend and hear of the Academy] and Vale,” says Bagnaia of that difficult year. “They said to me that I could go fast but that I needed to be more calm in the race because I was

“It was a completely different season compared to the first three. Now I’m continuing to learn things.” A first win for him and Mahindra came in an epic eleven-rider brawl at Assen. He added another later at Sepang. Completely different indeed.

It was around this time when Rossi noticed a change in the young charger. “I think he started to believe in himself very much that year with Mahindra when he won with the bike that was more slow – in ’16,” says the nine-time world champ. “From that season he has grown up unbelievably. Last year he was already very strong in the first season and this year he’s made another step.”

Listening to his measured responses, it becomes clear how much an effect the advice of Rossi and Salucci has had on his approach.

Feature

And that’s before we get to the Academy. From riding with Rossi on dirt bikes at the ranch, to advice on diet and receiving weekly lessons to improve his English, of which he already has a fine grasp, Bagnaia feels “very lucky” to enjoy these considerable fruits. “In every area we have the best of the best. Training together with Valentino, or going to the ranch, going to Misano or Mugello to train with the bike… They are little things that make the difference.

Being open is an integral part. “It’s a very, very positive thing for all the guys at the Academy.

I can learn something from Luca [Marini – SKY Racing VR46 team-mate] or Luca can learn something from me. This is very important.”

Having the luxury of riding an R6 around tracks already on the championship calendar is a means of training some riders could only dream of. It was last winter when Bagnaia relentlessly lapped Mugello and Misano with a full tank of fuel to aid those early laps. “This preseason we have worked so much with used tyres and also [a] full [tank of] fuel so I could adapt to that,” he says. “It’s great. We can make long runs, race simulations and it’s a very positive way of training.”

Ensuring he retains a methodical approach when a weekend goes slightly awry has been the focus of team manager Pablo Nieto in recent months. “He’s a really good guy,” says the Spaniard. “Sometimes he’s coming to the limit.

But we are working on that. It’s important to be calm. The more relaxed you are in the box, the easier the results come. He made a big step from last year to this in these things and I think it’s coming because the results are better.

pecco bagnaia

When it’s like this, you can stay calm easier.” As early as last summer, Bagnaia’s was attracting the interest of MotoGP factories. In November Ducati and Yamaha made their interest know, leaving the Italian to consult a man with more experience than him.

“We [Rossi and I] have spoken a lot; not before I signed, but in November last year. He said to me that the decision was mine, that Ducati is growing up a lot and that it could be a good choice. For sure the Yamaha is more - not easy, but for a rookie you can understand everything much quicker. Maybe it’s easier to work with it. But he said the choice was mine, to think about it a lot, and only to sign when I was ready.”

“Ducati was my objective. It was a bike that I like so much. My prospective with the team that was very good. I have a long contract because I have two years plus one. For me it’s a good way to start with a team in MotoGP. I have to learn so many things. It’s a completely different way of working. I need more than one year to understand everything.”

But first, a punishing title fight with Oliveira awaits. Just a single point separates the pair after seven races. And, as the Portuguese rider - also MotoGPbound in 2019 - will surely find in the coming months, Bagnaia’s relentless focus will take this all the way.

Products

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Each jacket has a removable thermal lining and the shell is made from PU-coated polyfabric at 600 denier, so it feels high quality.

Other touches like pre-contoured sleeves,

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SBK

acerbis czech round

brno · june 9-10 · Rnd 6 of 13

Race one winner: Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Race two winner: Alex Lowes, Yamaha

milestone droppers Blog by Graeme Brown, Photos by GeeBee Images

worldsbk czech

worldsbk czech

SBK BLOG

the agonising wait...

Back in February 2015 I was on the way home from Phillip Island, wandering around Kuala Lumpur airport during a stop off in the flight, when I came across a rider sitting on his own, thoroughly dejected and looking broken...

Alex Lowes had gone into the race weekend on a high, having been at the top of the time sheets in the final pre-season test at the Island circuit. In race one he finished ninth, 21 seconds down on winner Jonathan Rea. Race two was even more disappointing for him, crashing out on the first lap.

I remember speaking to him as we waited to board and he was at a loss as to where the speed from testing had gone during those races.

A month later he would be on the podium in Buriram, the smile was back and it looked like he and Suzuki would be a force to be reckoned with in 2015. However, from there on the outcome never really lived up to the potential and Lowes often cut a downbeat and frustrated figure around the paddock, even after the Crescent Racing team swapped manufacturers to Yamaha at the start of 2016.

Fast forward to the weekend just passed in Brno and I had to photograph Alex and the Yamaha team on Sunday evening after he had just taken victory in race two ahead of team mate Michael van der Mark. This time I came across a man who still looked to be lost in his thoughts but this time at the other end of the spectrum.

Parc ferme at the podium is always filled with emotion but on Sunday it was at a higher level than normal. Yamaha had just taken their first one-two in WorldSBK since race two in Monza in 2011 and Alex Lowes had won his first race in the world championship. It was so nice to see him so overjoyed during his post race TV interview that he had to stop to regain his composure. When I spoke to him as we set up the photograph I don’t think his achievement had really sunk in.

The last couple of races, Brno and Donington, also took me back to a conversation I had with Yamaha team boss Paul Denning in Misano in 2016. We were talking about the technical regulations and what could be done about Kawasaki’s dominance in the series. He was very open and candid that it was up to his team and Yamaha to test the race package, work hard with the riders and bring themselves up to the level of Kawasaki and Ducati.

The resurgence of Yamaha is certainly something that the championship overall needs and it was noticeable that there was a muted sense of excitement amongst the organisers that a serious alternative championship contender had arrived. The hope is that it will continue.

By Graeme Brown

The rider merry-go-round in WorldSBK is still spinning, but the first piece of the puzzle has fallen into place with Jonathan Rea renewing his contract with Kawasaki until 2020. My feeling was that once JR had put pen to paper everything else would fall into position. However, it now seems that the destination of his team-mate Tom Sykes is the crucial key for any other rider movements.

It is being increasingly reported that he is actively looking to move and that Yamaha are top of his list but given the most recent performances of VD Mark and Lowes, why would they want to get rid of their existing riders? If that is the case, and as reported Ducati keep a hold of Davies and Melandri, Sykes’ options become a bit limited. The other factor to take into account is his Kawasaki crew chief Marcel Duinker. The Dutchman has been with Kawasaki for 14 years and has been an integral part of their success in WorldSBK having also worked on their MotoGP programme.

Given their very close working relationship would Sykes be happy to ride for another manufacturer without having Duinker beside him; or would Duinker sever that long term link with Kawasaki and go with Sykes?

Another rider to throw his hat in the WorldSBK ring at the weekend was Scott Redding. The Brit has been dropped by the Aprilia MotoGP team for 2019 and is now considering his options, stating in an interview with UK outlet BikeSport News, that he is not happy in MotoGP because he has no chance to win races. He raises the point at an interesting time. Even whilst Rea had signed to Kawasaki, questions were still being asked at the weekend GP in Barcelona as to why he hadn’t moved to MotoGP. Redding’s comments kind of sum it up. Rea had been offered the Aprilia seat in MotoGP but if Redding thinks that there is no way to achieve a result because of the machinery, why would JR be in any better a position?

I am not sure what options there would be for Redding in WorldSBK either. BMW are still to make a decision on whether they will bring another team into the paddock, but if they do Markus Reiterberger will surely be one of the riders. It was also rumoured in Brno that the UK outfit Hawk Racing are exploring the possibility of running with Suzuki in WorldSBK. However, if they did the indications at this point are that it would be a one rider team with their current hot shot Brad Ray. Aside from Sykes there seems to be very little wriggle room at all and any new riders looking for a seat on a Superbike will likely be in a similar position as those heading in the opposite direction in that a berth in a satellite team is all that will be on offer.

Redding had previously said he would rather retire than ride a Superbike so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.

SBK BLOG

It was somewhat ironic that Dorna announced at the weekend they had reached a preliminary agreement to hold a MotoGP race in Brazil at a new circuit in Rio de Janeiro. One wag on social media summed it up perfectly that ‘Dorna has signed an agreement with another building site’.

The news comes at a time when the WorldSBK race is Argentina looks ever more unlikely. The organizers of the World Touring Car Championship have cancelled the planned race in August at the Termas do Rio Hondo circuit and Argentina is absent from the 2019 Dakar Rally route as a result of ongoing financial difficulties in the country. With the Villicum circuit in San Juan still under construction it is difficult to imagine how everything will be completed and for the sums to add up to be able to hold a race in early October this year. That said it is still on the calendar so we will have to wait and see.

There is also a huge question mark over the proposed race at the Lake Torrent circuit in Northern Ireland, to be held in 2019. The organizers of that race were due to fly to Donington for discussions about the project with Dorna but allegedly never turned up. There are no updates available on a schedule for the work to be completed so it looks like it will be added to a long list of venues that appeared on race calendars and very quickly disappeared again.

worldsbk czech

worldsbk czech

Products

indian The Entry, Lifestyle, Performance and the Semi Pro are the names of four riding sunglass options from Indian and with a generic styling aimed at all riders and not just fans of the iconic American brand. Each unit features anti-scratch and anti-fog lenses. Aside from the Entry the other models will allow prescription lenses to be applied and all

www.ride100percent.com apart from the Lifestyle boast foam eyecups that reduce light coming in from the sides as well as protecting from windblasts. The Lifestyle is our pick stylistically but the Performance is pretty cool in that the lenses are photochromatic and respond to light; going from completely clear vision to grey in 50 seconds when exposed to UV.

Feature

worldsbk:

where the hearts beat as fast as the riders’ What’s it like to experience a World Superbike race from inside the pit box of the reigning world champions?

We were given a VIP pass by Kawasaki Racing Team and Jonathan Rea for the day at Assen for the Motul Dutch Round to find out…

By Adam Wheeler, Photos by GeeBee Images

Feature

M

otorcycle racing is a game of contrasts. It is a sport that requires such balance and poise but is ultimately so aggressive and almost violent in action.

Metronomic focus and rhythm can be wildly offset by improvisation, tactics and even desperation to snatch a piece of asphalt that belongs to a competitor. There are also the moments of calm, of study, of precision and preparation that explode away with the ignited growl of a racebike and the urgent thrust out of pitlane.

Kawasaki Racing Team are World Champions and emphatic vanquishers of the TT Circuit Assen kinks. Reigning No.1 and current series leader Jonathan Rea could equal Carl Fogarty’s humongous total of 13 race victories and has won the last seven in a row. Attaching a special ‘VIP’ piece of card to our Media pass – enthusiastically given by KRT’s press and marking duo Eva Blanquez and Biel Roda – we’re permitted to join the ranks of the team through the races on both Saturday and Sunday.

Nowhere is the tension and emotion of a race so tangible than in the actual pit box. While factory-spec and highly tuned and fettled Superbikes rush down the start straight in a melee of noise and reverb, the confines of a crew and set of staff that have been working for several days already are quietly gathered around an HD monitor; hooked on the scenes and numbers that beam onto stern set faces.

“What’s it like in a race team’s garage? We’ve seen TV images from countless races in the past but, here in Assen, it is surprisingly cramped...”

We’re at Assen. There are fewer motorsport circuits with such history and fame. A flat, fast and fancied layout that holds the distinction of being a part of every premier class world champion grand prix campaign since 1947; quite a feat. For World Superbike Assen is also one of the biggest stages and draw some of the best attendances of the season.

WorldSBK visits some of the finest facilities in the world, some slightly strange and offbeat locations and some entirely new but Assen is the most regal and distinguished of hosts.

What’s it like in a race team’s garage? We’ve seen TV images from countless races in the past but it is surprisingly cramped. Entry through the rear of the box brings you in the first of the distinctive black and green walls that curve impressively and seem like they click together with flush efficiency. The back of the box is loaded with tyres racks and spares, small work bays and large wheels cooking gently in warmers and nurtured by blinking lights to ensure the Pirelli rubber is not over ‘al dente’.

in the pit box

Forking to the left will take the privileged visitor to Tom Sykes half of the garage.

The Englishman has not had the easiest of Superbike seasons in 2018 but his relentless victory on Sunday will send his faction of KRT into boisterous rapture.

Veering right and through a small corridor – careful not to kick the #1 bulky spare fairing that has been placed on the floor and in a place for fast and easy access – and the light of the Assen pitlane floods the workspace for Rea. Looking out to the track, we’re aware of company. To our right half a dozen team guests get an elevated platform to stand and peer over the wall panels. It is a weird way to consider spectating at WorldSBK and places the team in something of a goldfish bowl but it’s a wonderful idea to take key people behind-thescenes.

The black carpet, concealed tool trays, aroma of cleaning products and general scarcity give the box a surgical feel. At the moment there is only one of Rea’s bikes; sat prone and lifeless on the stand.

Almost lonely. There is hubbub outside.

We wander out to pitlane, instinctively wary knowing this is the honey pot for many buzzing motorcycles throughout a race weekend. The vast grandstand that runs from the outskirts of the daunting Geert Timmer Chicane and all the way down to the modified first turn at Assen is busy, echoey and very full. The hum of activity comes from the pre-race grid. We step onto the billiard-table-smooth tarmac and wander to find Rea. The world champion is hiding behind a pair of mirrored Oakleys. He makes the odd comment to his mechanics; some are busy making final checks, others stationary and ready to react if an issue arises.

Feature

in the pit box

Rea conducts an interview for TV and then the warmers start to be peeled from the tyres. We aware of a momentum that is ushering the crowd of staff, visitors, media and VIPs back towards the pit wall entrance.

As we return to the KRT box the mechanics quickly and automatically take their seats.

We’re reminded of the exclusivity of our place by a few cursory glances in our direction by the Kawasaki technicians, their gaze also sliding to our pass as we stand as far out of the way as possible.

Crew Chief Pere Riba sits closest to the monitor that forms one side of Rea’s small enclave and a compartment area that normally houses a helmet, gloves, Monster Energy bottle and other bits and pieces like a towel and ear plugs. Outside and on the high pit wall mechanic Arturo Perez is ready with the large pitboard set beside an equally big sheath of pockets, each one containing numbers, letters and symbols. In Superbike, just like MotoGP, communication with the riders is chiefly made through this this 3-4 row of Day-Glo digits and decals on the board. Almost everyone wears a headset for communications; it’s a more effective way to work through the din of motorcycles that passes every minute. Next to Perez is the covered pit wall ‘unit’ that allows four technicians to sit. Here several Japanese and Team Principal Guim Roda will chart the process of the race from more monitors.

The bikes roar away for the sighting lap. There are another two minutes for everyone to get into place. An ambience of readiness and barely detectable nerves hover. While the eight-strong pack on Rea’s side have been building towards this moment from Thursday afternoon, through Friday practice and Saturday morning qualification, there is the stark knowledge that anything could go wrong. Or right.

Feature Other staff members gather around Riba, fixed on the principal television. Other screens hang from the ceiling and are fixed onto the Kawasaki workspace architecture. In total ten monitors and four computer displays flash up race scenes and data and information.

The bikes arrive at the grid, wind to the top of the rev band and puncture the acoustics of the scene when the red light vanishes. Everybody is anxiously seated alongside and behind Riba, the de facto leader of Rea’s effort. #1 battles with three other riders with the group split by a second. It is tense fare.

The reactions of the mechanics extend to gestures and expressions reflecting the tight nature of the scrap. Riba is continually in talks with Perez who also watches the screen in the pit lane unit and updates Rea as to his lap-time and proximity of his ‘company’. With a hefty group of people fixed on the every action, wobble and thrust of two athletes and their only connection forged by numbers of bright plastic being a motorcycle racer suddenly seems like a very lonely profession.

By the time that Rea starts to make a gap on the way to his record-equalling success there is a notable easing of tension. Some mechanics blow out their cheeks and sit easier on the chair. The champion is in the second phase of the last lap and there is a sudden rush. The team exit the pit box and run to the wall where mechanics scale the fencing to greet their rider at the chequered flag like a crazed Ultra at a football match.

There is well-wishing all around: handshakes, shouts, back slaps, hugs. Sykes’ side is a little more subdued due to the fourth place by #66 but the euphoria at his feat on Sunday would supersede the almost ‘customary’ elation seen in Rea’s zone. It will involve an outpouring of joy mixed with relief.

In what feels like a few moments the box is almost deserted. The majority of Rea’s team have barrelled through the paddock and to the podium/Paddock Show area where SBK offer such a unique and public experience to the post-race formalities.

On Sunday we are back in position.

Superbike is negotiating a third year of splitting the races across both days of the weekend and the main difference compared to the previous afternoon is

in the pit box

the presence of more fans and guests around the Kawasaki garage. Rea has to start from ninth position – the reversed grid format coming into play – and is deep in the pack on the first lap. The team chart the progress of their man with more attention to the split times and sectors that Rea is recording in comparison to his rivals. Sykes has broken free and the contained excitement is noticeable on the other side of the box.

Rea makes a move on Xavi Forres that is extremely close - almost hazardous - and the crew live it also. As Sykes escapes there is an air of resignation, but Rea has to work to confirm second position and the race passes quickly.

It is Sykes’ pack that shows their exhilaration on this occasion but it is a dominant weekend for Kawasaki in a campaign where the manufacturer has been penalised by the new rules that shaves RPM limits away from their technical package.

On the evidence at Assen it seems very much a case of ‘new regs, no problem!’

Kawasaki feel aggrieved at how they are seemingly made victims of all their success since 2013 (rider titles in all but one season) but a beneficial reconfiguration of the ZX-10RR means there is barely a bend in the railway tracks.

A week later and KRT were testing at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. The whole operation then rolled onto Imola in Italy for round five of thirteen where Rea posted a dominant ‘double’, his first of 2018, and stretched his margin at the top of the standings to almost two races. The

Feature Northern Irishman’s throttling grip on WorldSBK continues to astonish. “I always tell the rest of the guys that we are in a ‘dream’… because I have thirty years experience in this world and what we are living now is not normal. It’s almost unreal. It’s not racing,” Pere Riba said to us at the winter test in Spain and before the 2018 term got underway “the tough moments haven’t arrived yet.”

Riba is the father figure of a mostly Spanish/Catalan posse around Rea. The rider’s occasional use of Spanish words and the looks and body language among the group are small indicators of how tight they are. People like coach Fabien Foret and assistant Kevin Havenhand and of course Rea’s wife Tatia and two sons only add to the fortification of this ripe environment.

Watching WorldSBK from an inner sanctuary like KRT reveals some of the wound-up hopes and the sincere bonds that exist in an extreme competitive (and perilous) situation. For atmosphere you cannot beat standing or sitting at fence side (especially in a place such as Assen when a local hero like Michael Van Der Mark is doing his best to demote Rea) but for a glimpse into the pressures, pleasures and poignancy of the characters and camaraderie that make the show then the pit box is like lifting a lid on a new aspect of your favourite sport.

in the pit box

ProduCTs

scott sports Scott have gone to town with the Prospect goggle thanks to some strong tweaks and refining of the product since its launch two years ago, a host of Limited Edition specials and now their light sensitive lenses. Clever stuff.

Although quite self-explanatory, Scott define the offering as: ‘SCOTT Light Sensitive Lenses engage photochromic technology and adapt automatically to sunlight intensity. These lenses react to light changes and within seconds the lens will either darken when the brightness gets stronger or lighten when the sunlight gets weaker.’

We’ll have more info on how this was achieved as well as a test of the latest addition to the tech specs of the Prospect in a coming issue. In the meantime look out for the augmentation to Scott’s flagship eyewear in dealers.

www.scott-sports.com

AMA-MX

red bull high point national

mt morris, pa ¡ june 16 ¡ Rnd 4 of 12 450MX winner: Eli Tomac, Kawasaki 250MX winner: Aaron Plessinger, Yamaha

the nearly challenge Blog by Steve Matthes, Photos by Monster Energy/Swanberg, KTM/Cudby/Husqvarna

ama mx high point

ama mx high point

AMA BLOG

the time and the place The first free weekend of the Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championships was a welcome respite for the racers and teams because most of them didn’t use the last opportunity - a week after SX and a week before the MX series started - as a rest period. It was full prep for the motocross season you know?

The series picked back up for round four at High Point and this was the first east coast race. The dirt’s stickier, the ruts deeper, the traction plentiful and in my experience as a racer a lot of bike set-up’s that you liked at the first three west coast nationals don’t work perfectly when the dirt changes.

You’re chasing the set-up from the first practice on at High Point. Let’s get into the day that was in PA yeah?

Well, the moto streak for Monster Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac is over thanks to a great ride by Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin in moto one but the #1 held off the #25 in the second moto for the overall which means he’s won at every race as well. The last five minutes of moto two were amazing as Musquin pulled close to Eli and put serious heat on him.

It was a dogfight between the two and as they pushed harder, their lap times dropped lower and lower as well. Neither rider willing to give in was a thing of beauty to watch, Tomac told me afterwards that he was able to anticipate where Marvin was going to go to try and pass so it was a bit easier to block that move. He also said that that after the first moto he would’ve been very disappointed to let another lead go and was very determined to not let that happen. The two riders absolutely destroyed the rest of the field, which included third place Ken Roczen who was over a minute behind!

Even though Tomac got the overall, Musquin had his finest day outdoors this year. The High Point track has a ton of offcambers on it and takes a lot of riding technique and throttle

control, two things Marv is very good at. He used momentum and lines to catch and pass Tomac (who admitted to me after the race it’s not his favorite track) and break the streak.

Great ride for Musquin!

Monster Star Yamaha’s Aaron Plessinger got the red plate back in 250MX action although he got a little help. Plessinger took off for the first moto win pretty much unchallenged and he looked a lot like he did at Glen Helen. GEICO Honda’s Jeremy Martin followed in second once he got by pesky rookie Justin Cooper, Plessinger’s teammate on blue. The second moto saw Martin grab the lead early and put on a riding clinic in building his lead to 12 seconds on Plessinger. But then the Honda underneath Martin let go and he went from an overall win to DNF in the time it took you

By Steve Matthes

to read this sentence. Bummer for Martin and Honda but Plessinger, and all racers, have certainly been there before and will take the good fortune.

Martin’s going to have to chip away at the twenty-point deficit to Plessinger and his margin of error just went down a little bit. *** Monster Yamaha’s Justin Barcia ended up third on the day and although he didn’t have much for the next-level 450MX racers Tomac and Musquin, he was still good enough to land on the podium. You might think that Barcia was happy with that placing but in the times I caught up to him, he’s looking for a way to take wins, not settle for podiums.

Barcia said it wasn’t a good day for him as he didn’t feel that great, lost his front brake in moto two and was stung by a wasp and his leg swelled up.

So the third is something that was a tad unexpected.

“I’ll take a podium any day.

It was just a little frustrating because I felt like I could have been better” Barcia told me after the race “It’s weird when your bad days you get third. It’s okay. Colorado I felt awesome, led laps, and crashed. I should have been on the podium there but wasn’t.”

A rider that had a rough last two years at JGR Suzuki, Barcia’s not settling for distant thirds.

“I have goals set in my head and I’m achieving what I need to. I feel like I’m going to get there for sure” Barcia says.

“It’s not just like they’re going to be up there gone by themselves the whole year. At least that’s not my plan.”

So while some (like, say, me) are impressed by Barcia’s rebound on a bike that’s not far off the one he struggled with on another team, he doesn’t sound like he’s allowing the pats on the back to be enough.

He wants to be better and hopefully for him and Yamaha, that happens. *** Speaking of JGR, Justin Hill’s debut season on the team hasn’t gone to plan outside of that one win in San Diego.

Saddled with the worst bike in the 250 class (sorry, not sorry), Hill’s struggled to find his form all year long for JGR on the 250.

The reason he refused a deal to go back to Monster Pro Circuit was because it didn’t get him a 450 deal. Hill, like so many other 250 class riders, told us all that he was better on a 450 and wanted to ride a 450 ASAP. He got on one for a couple of SX’s and was, in Tampa, unbelievable. But then he broke some toes and we didn’t see any more magic out of him indoors and outdoors, he never broke the top ten in 250MX.

AMA BLOG

But with Phil Nicoletti taking off for a guaranteed deal for the rest of nationals for the Rockstar Husky team, Hill got bumped to the 450MX class for “selected rounds” which is short for “whenever Justin Bogle gets back”. Hill was now on a bike he wanted to be on and told us all that he prefers and rides better.

And you know what? A 4-6 day for fifth overall at High Point shut a lot of people up. Yeah, he got a tad lucky with a huge first turn crash in moto one but overall, the only rider that would’ve beat him straight up was Blake Baggett. He was that good right out of the box.

I can see this “selected rounds” thing be modified to “we’ll put three bikes on the track” if Hill keeps these results up. When I asked Hill about that, he was diplomatic.

“I’m pretty happy on that bike.

But to answer your question earlier, I’m not sure if I’ll continue racing. I would like to. I would definitely like to be on the bike for the remainder of the season.

If I get a little bit of time off, hey, that’s okay too. I’m okay with whatever J-Bone (manager Jeremy Albrecht) and Coy (Gibbs, owner) want to do. I’m really happy where I’m at over at Joe Gibbs racing. Anything that they want to do, I’m a team player.”

So what is it about the 450 that makes you want to ride it more Justin?

“It’s a bike that fits me really well. I’m a bigger guy, heavier, and it just fits my style. I don’t rev bikes very much, so I get on the 450 and I just kind of cruise around in the higher gears. It’s a lot easier for me to ride. I got a lot more to give. Like I said, I don’t think this place generally suits me. I was coming in here thinking hopefully I can get out with a decent finish. Top five, that’s great. Top five is tough right now. There’s seven really, really good guys.”

So far Hill’s had three 450 rides this year and has impressed on two of them. Wanna bet on three bikes racing 450’s for JGR?

ama mx high point

ama mx high point

JUSTI NH IL L

AU TOTR ADER /YOS HI M URA SU Z UK I

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@ P R OTA P E R

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PILLOWS FOR YOUR HANDS

P R OTA P E R.C O M

feATure

USIng the FUtUre 4 wAys in which litpro is still the most ADvAnceD element of off-roAD rAcing

By Adam Wheeler. Photos by James lissimore Product images by litPro

Feature

C

alifornian company LitPro have featured in OTOR’s pages before. The data system hardware/software basically measure every aspect of a rider’s performance – laptimes, splits, lines, trajectory, airtime, braking and accelerating and even body analytics like heart rate – through the use of a small antennae attached to the rider’s/driver’s helmet and synchronisation with an App that lays the information out in easy-to-digest colours and tables.

The technology has been used by professional motocrossers for several years simply due to the fact that there was nothing quite like it on the market. “When we started in the early days we wanted to show the difference between a 48 second supercross lap and a 47 second supercross lap,” says Co-Founder and President Michael Ford. “There was no product out there that could do that except for some advanced video technology.”

Ford himself broke away from his set-up work with several tablets and an array of watches at Anaheim 2 to explain the company’s work in supercross – the second most-watched motorcycle racing series in the world. LitPro is a small firm of forward-thinking engineers and riding/racing enthusiasts. They are not some Silicon Valley behemoth. The product is a cool example of an idea that transcends the earthy nature of the sport; where the traditional thinking is that extra tenths of a lap-time can be found through extra gym work, a suspension click, a different diet or repetitive practice. LitPro gives riders of all levels an acute guide as to where those little gains can really be found. The Supercross deal was not only a large window for just a slice of what LitPro demonstrate but also helped tell part of what is going on across the stadium floor.

“We started working with them because we want to tell the story of the athlete; from getting their helmet off and showing their personality to the Exposure for what LitPro could reveal about the physicality of it,” says Mike Muye, Senior Direcsport came through a recent deal for the 2018 tor of Operations at Feld Motorsport SX. “A lot of AMA Supercross series. Via Apple Watches at- people that come to Monster Energy Supercross tached to the motorcycle handlebars the data for the first time just assume that because the stream could be feed into the TV signal and bike has a motor the riders can hit the gas and also into the stadium display. “We partnered it just goes, like a car. So we’re trying to teach with Feld to bring a new level of analytics to new fans about the physicality of supercross and the sport and to the viewer,” says Ford. “We are LitPro does a fantastic job and we feel that the trying to help fans understand what the top rid- sport can only grow more thanks to that platers are managing to do.” form.”

“We partnered with Feld to bring a new level of analytics to the sport and to the viewer,” Ford concurs. “LitPro is obviously a GPS-based product so we are a little limited for indoor stadiums although we are working on solutions with venues.

Anaheim was one of nine we attended from the seventeen and brought metrics to the live broadcast as well as the jumbotron in the stadium. Little titbits like a particular line or a rhythm section or just some science about what one athlete is doing compared to another. We’re trying to highlight the product, get some exposure for the brand but also highlight how talented the athletes are as well as how rigorous the sport is. I think that’s one reason why heart rates are so interesting. I think it is possible to fall into this trap of looking at this sport and thinking ‘how hard can that be?! It’s a motorised vehicle…!’ and they have no idea of how intense the sport is. Showing heart rate [thanks to a chest strap for co-operative athletes] while a guy is in a battle is a good way to show the rider is totally pinned when it looked like he is just floating around a track for 23 minutes.

You have to be on it from the moment the gate drops to the flag.”

LitPro has also been integrated into the Lucas Oil AMA Pro National Motocross and their TV Production package in the same way. Live telemetry transmission is forbidden in Grand Prix by FIM rules (part of a wall against potential electronic development and soaring costs of racing) although world championship promoters Youthstream have admitted to being attracted by the possibilities of extra real-time data for infotainment purposes. Some Grand Prix riders have run LitPro in practice sessions for MXGP but the practice was swiftly halted. What

makes the existence of the software so exciting is the provision of insight and the breakdown into a sport that is often a hard sell in terms of comprehension for a person that has never ridden or raced a dirtbike.

LitPro is dragging a stubborn sport that has seen advances in motorcycling technology and rider conditioning and skills but little else outside of GoPro style camera views. Having acquired some time with Michael and Athlete Support Team Manager Chris Hay at Anaheim we chatted 4 ways in which LitPro is stretching its reach to road race circuits, evolving further, being received by the community and market and where it can go in the future.

As we speak Ford momentarily has to take a call. It seems that establishing the network and technical structure for Supercross is not a breeze. “Stadiums are a technically challenging environment for broadcasting,” he says. “It’s really tricky to get any information at all from a moving vehicle on a live basis.

Feature How do we get information from a rider’s LitPro on their helmet to a conduit and then to a server that we can access with 100% reliability when you are surrounded by 45,000 fans and most of them with a phone or watch?! There are so many different devices looking to come into a wireless network or a cell signal.

It is something we are working hard on and over time technology will help also and make it easier. Our primary focus about what we are doing here is to celebrate the athlete and make people think about the sport in a different way.”

Broadening the message “Our priority right now is more towards the marketing because I think our product is ahead of where the rest of the business is,” Ford says. Maybe the technology is also a little ahead of where the average motocross enthusiast is.”

In a world where there is an App for everything and mobile devices can help us bank, shop, turn the house lights on and even get a date, it seems perfectly reasonable that a screen can also have an influence on motorcycle riding. But marring the two is not the most natural fit. Don’t most people also get on their bike to escape a degree of modern technological ‘entrapment’? Apparently LitPro should not be considered as only a training and performance aid.

“We are bringing it back to more of a community focus,” says Ford. “Our customers tend to be riding more for fun.

They might work all week just to be able to get out on Saturday and Sunday to ride. LitPro is really good at creating a measuring stick. A runner will know a

time they want to hit but there is nothing like that in motocross.

A guy will go out and ride and think ‘I put in twenty laps’ when it might actually have been twelve!

Now we have this way where they can look at how they can get better and measure their progress against their own efforts and their buddies.”

“It makes you have new conversations in the sport: how a jump was done, what settings were used to achieve a distance or feeling, what extra parts. This is what it’s all about,” he adds.

“With the exception of Chris none of us were Pro; this is a weekend warrior’s product. We found there were tons of advantages for a racer and if you go to our website it looks like a racer’s tool but we need to focus on showing that its more than that. It is for anyone who is a fan or enthusiast or

loves to ride. You have to want to improve or have that drive. I think we tick a lot of boxes and we have customers who tell us that over and over again that LitPro is game-changing.”

While the growing online community are able to explore the various facets of LitPro there is the undoubted punch of what it can mean for the professional. “I think among the riders there has been a good amount of growth and there are more and more guys in Europe using it for training also,” advocates Hay, a former racer himself. “It is becoming a little bit more essential in terms of progressing effectively with their riding. I believe most riders look at what they have done in the past and immediately think ‘how can I improve upon that?’ I noticed it myself; I came to depend on LitPro because it was the only

Feature

Chris Hay: “It gives you a reason to ride. It is about more than just going to the track and burning fuel. You actually have a goal to aim towards and there is that feeling of accomplishment.” way I could monitor my riding and see what I had really done in a session. If you don’t track what you are doing then you have no proof. It takes away the guesswork.”

It might be forbidden at the highest level of motocross (which sadly means the message will not reach the international masses as in Supercross) but that is just the top of the pyramid.

How can improvements be made?

Ford’s concerns about the contained environment of a stadium for a GPS based product had in the past also extended to the 3G and 4G coverage at motocross tracks.

LitPro was at a disadvantage when it launched three years ago but its widening footprint means more and more users and more and more circuits have ballooned the database.

With every antenna that is connected and the data recorded then the growth potential of LitPro does not stop.

Naturally – like any iOS or App – then betterment comes through how you see and what you can touch on the screen.

“We are trying to make easier on all front and generally, in the last year, innovation has been about refining the user experience and seeing exactly what you want to see,” Ford explains. “Perhaps in the past that was not always that easy and we have learned a ton. We have thousands of tracks in our eco-system and close to a millions laps. There is a lot of volume and data to build on; for instance something as simple as a track configuration. It wasn’t the easiest to determine where the lap should start and how to place your segment markers and now that is automated so you are one click away from seeing segment times, cornering and all the data you’d want to look at to measure your performance at any one moment.

There was a huge body of effort in that regard.”

The team also pushed hard to add a Live feature which adds several elements that are astonishing. “The other thing was changing the riding experience with the LitPro Live feature. So if you ride with an iPhone or an Apple watch you can put an earpiece in and hear live segment times and a buddy or loved one can see you riding from anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection. They can see lap-times, heart rate, speed; it is basically a mini television experience without the video. It is pretty rad.”

There is already a hefty social emphasis on being able to compare laps and data but it is also worth remembering that an App like this is also the ideal ‘invisible’ coach.

“If you go to the track by yourself and you don’t have a pitboard, don’t know your times, don’t know how many laps you’ve done – and that can all be frustrating – then it’s cool to have Siri telling you that you’re on lap twelve or you can set an alert that you only want to ride twenty minutes and Siri will warn you when you’ve hit eighteen and you can push hard in the last two,” says Ford. “It’s a pretty cool innovation and it is the same hardware but development of the App. That’s the beauty of having a largely digital product is that the same customer

xxxxxxx: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

who invested in LitPro two-anda-half years ago can use all the benefits of the development since then. They just need to download it via the App.” What about the hardware?

Could the size and durability of the antenna (which usually fixes towards the rear of the helmet and is about the size of a small matchbox) be under review?

“There are a lot of ideas but we are not actively working on it at the moment,” Ford admits.

“This is our third batch currently and there have been small unnoticeable changes to make the case a bit more secure. We are trying to improve the waterresistance and how the case fits together and what we have learned from seeing units that have been in the field for a long time and with a lot of laps.”

Could LitPro eventually work with other devices? It’s a plan on the table. “We’re committed to the hardware side and also to monetize the software side so as there are opportunities to leverage the LitPro technology for other hardware then we’ll certainly take a serious look at that. There aren’t any currently but there is a lot of products being talked about for integration and that’s core for what we are a company.”

feATure “The reality is that there is no hardware that meets our specification. We have the most advanced GP processor that we know of. We give twenty times as much data as a Garmin. There are a lot of unique elements that are so specific to a sport like motocross that other brands like Garmin and Polar don’t have the capacity to handle because it is more than running, cycling or swimming. We super-open and eager to integrate with other hardware and the time will come. We just have to be patient. We have a really solid product right now and we don’t want to change it; it sounds crazy because everybody wants to change and sell. We’d rather change and innovate with the software so all our customers can benefit.”

Aside from the Live feature, LitPro’s most recent addition was the demonstration of where a rider is braking and accelerating. “We’ve also developed corner analysis and seeing where you can brake,” says Hay. “Sometimes the ideas are about how we can display information slightly easier. Or it’s about finding another area that will be compelling for the public.”

“One thing I think has big potential for the future is this notion of a learning lap,” says Ford.

“About a year ago we launched something we called ‘Gold Lap’ where people who upload their data publicly can have that lap

marked. That’s interesting if you are close to the speed of a guy like Chris! But if you are 20-30 seconds off the pace then there is not much to learn because those riders are so much faster than you everywhere.

Now we have such a database then we can consider this ‘learning lap’. Let’s say your at Pala Raceway and you’re doing a 2min 20 lap-time and Chris has a hot lap at 1min 57: you’re not going to eat much into that 23 difference but if we presented a 2min 18 lap or a 16 then this can be a powerful way to visualise what you could be doing differently and still achievable.”

“You need a lot of laps to do that and it’s one of the policies we trying to put in place through the community aspect.

We’re just scratching the surface. I don’t think LitPro will develop with additional sensors or data but a lot of the innovation will come through the community aspect. Fundamentally it is fun to ride with other people and to talk about it. And if we can enhance that in some way or connect people that haven’t been connected before then this is part of the ethos of our company. It will make LitPro so much more enjoyable that just being used to record a hot lap.” the danger of being the first There is a weak parallel to be drawn between LitPro and a company like GoPro. Essentially they are both recent tech trailblazers with a new concept and one that prompts people to change how they document their lives and hobbies.

LitPro is far more niche but the peril exists of other data systems muscling into the space and possibilities. Wifi strength, speed and signal coverage will only thrive. Maybe a little surprisingly Ford welcomes potential competition.

profitable company over time.

We still have a lot of growing to do.”

Road Racing is a different sphere

The roots might be in the dirt but LitPro are not sitting still “Right now we feel we have to and by embracing tarmac do two things to be successthey are appealing to another ful in the motocross industry. market: one that is perhaps First and foremost we have to already well informed about educate the consumer that data the uses and advantages of is valuable and it’s fun and it telemetry. The pendulum is not just for Pros or aspirswings slightly in this aspect. ing Pros. It’s a big task for a LitPro might bring a new level small company like ours and of sophistication to riding a it is overwhelming at times. dirtbike but on the asphalt the Secondly we have to convince simplified layout of the softthem that we have the best ware will appeal to a driver or product and worth a 500 dollar rider that bulks at squiggles spend. So we welcome others and numbers or needs a techto come into the space and nician to explain it all. help out!”

“We’ve spent about six “I think the OEMS have more months and a significant porand more digital plans about tion of time adapting what how they can improve their we built for motocross to the MICHAEL FORD: “WE’RE STILL A TINY COMPANY & WE’LL GET 80-100 PEOPLE A MONTH THAT GO TO THE TRACK TO ACCOMPLISH A GOAL THAT WE SPECIFICALLY SET FOR THEM AND THAT’S PRETTY COOL.” bikes moving forward and hopefully that plays a little bit in our favour,” he adds. “We don’t have huge aspirations of being a GoPro. We love the company we are building and we love the sport and there are some other sports we want to add over time. We like being independent and – hopefully –

track day market both for four and two wheels and to be honest it is an easier sell to the road guys because lap-times and segments are part of the vernacular of that industry,” Ford affirms. “They could recite a lap-time from years ago, and we bring a new dimension to that.

From a sales and a ‘fit’ standpoint it is good for us and I think we’ll succeed when we can put more resources into it. We have a growing numbers of customers on the west coast who have been using the App in Beta.”

“It is the complete opposite in terms of discovery,” he goes on. “For motocross it is like ‘this is all new’. Some of them might have seen telemetry in a traditional sense from engineers with line charts and bar charts but they haven’t seen it visualised like LitPro. On the road side everyone has seen data and things like speed traces but they still don’t know how to use them or the systems are too complex. Being able to compare something like corner entry speeds with LitPro is incredibly easy in comparison. For the average enthusiasts who want to know how they can get a bit faster or shape their lines differently LitPro does that exceptionally well.”

For more information and the full rundown of how litPro works and what it can offer then check out the website: www.litprolive.com

TEST

an acquired taste Words by Roland Brown, Photos by Alessio Barbanti & Sebas Romero

husqvarna vitpilen 701

Few bikes in recent history can approach the Husqvarna Vitpilen 701’s ability to turn heads and attract cameras before even turning a wheel. The striking café racer, whose name means White Arrow in Husqvarna’s native Swedish, was a star of Milan’s EICMA show when unveiled in concept form in 2015. Subsequent promotional tours of exhibitions and city-centre boutiques have given the 693cc single a high profile, especially among the urban café racer crowd that many manufacturers are currently fighting to attract.

Husqvarna’s high-powered publicity drive was deemed necessary because the Vitpilen, along with its closely related sibling the Svartpilen (Black Arrow), represents not just a new model or even a new platform but a full-scale relaunch of the marque.

Now under KTM control, with production switched to the Austrian firm’s Mattighofen factory, the brand that made its name with Swedish-built off-roaders is being reinvented as a manufacturer of style-conscious streetbikes.

That aim is clear from a glance at the production Vitpilen, which retains almost all of the concept machine’s edgy lines. It combines traditional café-racer elements with modern design, from its round headlight and clip-on bars to the diminutive tailpiece.

Shame the perspex-covered instrument panel doesn’t match the quality of the TFT display of KTM’s 690 Duke, on which the Vitpilen is closely based.

“Those who splash out on the Vitpilen 701 will enjoy a light, sweet-handling and above all stylish modern café-racer that is great fun on the right roads...”

husqvarna vitpilen 701

Parts borrowed from the Duke include the dohc, single-cylinder engine, which is internally unchanged apart from minor gearbox mods and the addition of a two-way quick-shifter. A revised airbox, modified ride-by-wire injection system and new, black-finished exhaust system don’t affect the output of the four-valve motor, which produces a maximum of 75bhp.

Chassis layout is also taken from the Duke, notably the steel trellis main frame, which gains a new aluminium rear subframe for the Husqvarna’s cut-down tailpiece. The specification mirrors the 690’s with 43mm forks and rear shock from in-house suspension firm WP, plus Brembo’s 320mm front brake disc and fourpiston brake caliper.

Arguably the biggest difference from the highbarred Dukes is the Vitpilen’s racier riding position, thanks to low, clip-on handlebars. Inevitably that puts pressure on the wrists at low speed.

At least that minimalist seat is slightly lower than the 690’s, which helps make the fairly roomy Husky easy to manoeuvre, as does its light weight of just 165kg with a full tank.

The ride-by-wire injection system’s throttle response is very sweet, as usual with the refined KTM powerplant. The single-pot motor judders at low revs, which can occasionally make a quick down-change necessary in town. But provided the revs are kept above 3000rpm the Vitpilen is smooth, thanks to the twin balancer shafts that make it feel almost more like a twin at higher speeds.

That helps give the Husky an enjoyably rev-happy character that is well suited to its leant-forward riding position, which makes much more sense once you’re moving fast enough for the wind to take the pressure off your wrists.

husqvarna vitpilen 701

On the open road the Vitpilen rumbles along effortlessly at 80mph, ready to press on towards its top speed of about 125mph. It’s quicker still when you make frequent use of the quick-shifter, which works superbly given positive pressure on the lever.

Chassis performance is another Vitpilen strength. Its suspension is a blend of 690 Duke and the more exotic 690 Duke R, with the standard model’s shorter travel and the R’s more sophisticated front forks, featuring plastic knobs on their tops for easy adjustment. On showroom settings it has delightfully light yet stable handling, backed up by abundant ground clearance, and grip from its Bridgestone tyres. It also brakes respectably hard, though less ferociously than the Duke R, with its superior M50 front caliper.

For all the Vitpilen’s agility and overall quality, it’s inevitably expensive for a relatively small-capacity single-cylinder roadster (costing £8899 in the UK).

Husqvarna’s challenge in establishing the Vitpilen is emphasised by comparisons with the 690 Duke R, in many ways a more practical machine with a more upright riding position, bigger fuel tank, thicker seat, and superior electronics and cycle parts. Despite that, it sold in small numbers and is now out of production.

Husqvarna’s bosses are aiming to make the marque Europe’s third largest bike manufacturer, behind only parent brand KTM and arch rival BMW. Hence the subtly different line of attack with the Vitpilen 701 and its Svartpilen sister model, plus an eponymous pair of 401 models, based on the 390 Duke. All are aimed at that modern café-racer crowd of relatively affluent, urban-based enthusiasts, many of whom aren’t hardcore motorcyclists but are happy to pay extra for what they regard as a premium brand.

husqvarna vitpilen 701

Those who splash out on the Vitpilen 701 will enjoy a light, sweet-handling and above all stylish modern cafÊ-racer that is great fun on the right roads. The White Arrow is too expensive and impractical to sell in big numbers. But it points to an exciting future for Husqvarna, and achieves its main objective of putting the marque’s new streetbike strategy in the spotlight.

back page Monster Energy Girls

By Ray Archer

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