Andrea Dovizioso to join Cal Crutchlow at Tech 3 Yamaha

Andrea Dovizioso has signed a one-year contract to ride for the Tech 3 Yamaha MotoGP team in 2012.

The 25-year-old is currently third in the championship standings but had already been told he would not be kept on by his Repsol Honda team.

The Italian will partner Cal Crutchlow next season with fellow Brit Bradley Smith set to join the team in 2013.

Dovizioso said: "I am excited to become part of the squad and to be teamed with Cal. This is a new challenge."

He added: "Now that 2012 is sorted, I want to focus on finishing the season in the best possible way."

Dovizioso will replace Colin Edwards and his signing leaves Crutchlow's longer-term future in MotoGP unclear.

The Coventry-born rider is contracted for 2012 but with Smith tied up for 2013, only one spot in the team will be available after next season.

Tech 3 team manager Herve Poncharal said: "Andrea is without doubt one of the fastest riders in the world who has proven on a regular basis that he is capable of challenging for the podium in MotoGP.

"I am convinced that with Andrea and Cal we have one of the strongest line-ups on the grid in 2012 and both of them will demonstrate the potential of Yamaha's new 1000cc machine."

Another Kawasaki victory at Le Mans 24 Hours Moto

The second win in a row for Kawasaki and the trio of Four, Da Costa and Leblanc. The Japanese marque has now equalled Suzuki's record of ten wins.

What a fight! The 24 Hours of Le Mans was a thrilling confrontation of four machines, and for the victors Kawasaki, it only emerged on Sunday morning. The frantic pace of this event in front of 82,200 spectators allowed the winners to beat the record distance of the event, dating back to 2005 with 834 laps (490.29 km 3), four more than six years ago.

In addition, Julien Da Costa, Gregory Leblanc and Olivier Four go into the history books of the Le Mans 24 Hours as the first crew to win two consecutive editions of this legendary race on the same bike and with the same number.



After an eventful night, the battle between Suzuki #1 (Delhalle / Sakai / Guittet) and the #11 Kawasaki continued during most of the morning. The two teams exchanged the top spot at each pit stop, and both ran the same strategy. Indeed, the two fastest drivers from each of the two teams took turns to try to obtain an advance sufficient to retain the lead after a stop. But at 10:40 Daisaku Sakai (Suzuki) returned prematurely to the pits with a mechanical problem. Although rectified quickly, the delay was enough to give Kawasaki an unassailable lead. Behind was the Yamaha YART #7 (Jerman / Martin / Baz) who secured the third place. The Austrian team had enough of a gap to slightly ease their pace towards the finish.

The Kawasaki Racing Team's Bolliger (Saiger / Stamm / Tangre) finished fourth. Big disappointment for BMW. Team BMW Motorrad 99 France leads the world championship of endurance but could not do better than seventh after a multitude of small technical problems set them back. It will not be until the 8 Hours of Doha (Qatar) on the 12th of November when the world champion team in 2011 will be determined.

After many changes of fortune between the three leadng teams in Superstock, finally the Events Team Motors, Suzuki is driven by Bocquet, Gines and Grarre prevailed despite a major technical problem. The Suzuki #50 had to pit because of a problem with a wheel but was able to make up lost time, relegating the #83 of Maccio Racing (Kawasaki Maurin, Richier, Moreira) to second. The #72 Junior Team Suzuki LMS lost time in the pits and finished third in Superstock with Tangre, Enjolras and Napoleone. These three bikes also complete the overall top 10.

Winners of the Open category was the Metiss JLC Moto #45 (Michael, Cheron and Huvier) that finished in twelfth position overall.

This 34th edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours Moto has delivered both a sporting and festive with 82 200 spectators gathered around a new date for this race.

2012 FIreblade Revealed

So its true...

Hong Kong bikers already knew the bike look.. yet it just launch at Imola 2 days ago...

No more Cute Rabbit....


Two Honda race teams - Castrol Honda World Superbike and the Honda TT Legends - simultaneously unveil the 2012 Honda CBR1000RR in Imola, Italy and Le Mans, France on 23 September 2011.

2012 FIM Superbike World Championship – Provisional calendar

The FIM has issued the provisional calendar for the 2012 Superbike World Championship season.


Click here for the pdf.


p/s - why still no race at sepang ?? remember 2010 .. SIC CEO wants this race to happen in Malaysia...

Launch of the NSF250R Commercial Road Racing Machine

TOKYO, Japan, June 2, 2011 — Honda Racing Corporation will launch the NSF250R, a newly developed machine for the Moto3 class that will be added to the FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix (WGP) in 2012. Sales of the new vehicle are planned to start in December 2011.

In developing the NSF250R, Honda took the “Next Racing Standard” as its development concept and reaped the benefits of racing technology cultivated in the RS125R, thereby achieving a high-level combination of outstanding controllability and racing competitiveness.
The liquid-cooled, 4-stroke, single cylinder, DOHC, 249 cc engine was specifically designed for Moto3 to be lightweight and compact while delivering high output. To achieve this high output together with excellent responsiveness, the machine incorporates a front-intake/rear-exhaust configuration with high charging efficiency, while adopting a layout with the cylinder tilted back 15° to concentrate mass.

To ensure power delivery all the way through to the high rpm range, the NSF250R adopts titanium valves for both the intake and exhaust to reduce friction. Furthermore, the design reduces friction between piston and cylinder and improves durability by offsetting the cylinder centerline and applying nickel silicon carbide (Ni-SiC) for the cylinder surface treatment. The easily replaceable cassette design selected for the close-ratio 6-speed transmission, allows gear selection to be optimized over a large variety of racing circuits.

The frame ensures a degree of freedom in cornering and nimbleness that matches and goes beyond the RS125R by revising the rigidity balance and the shape while inheriting the compactness of the RS125R. Even though the basic structure of the front and rear suspension is the same as the RS125R, the NSF250R-exclusive settings produce a machine with excellent riding stability.

The cowling makes the NSF250R the equal of the RS125R in aerodynamic performance, while a cooling duct on the under cowl improves the engine’s cooling performance.

As a new-generation road racing machine that complies with Moto3 regulations, the NSF250R will help revitalize road racing while meeting the expectations of road racers.

(Coloring shown for body and stickers is for photographic purposes only. The body color is all white.)

Fireblade lovers gonna hate this...

Honda launches Casey Stoner replica Fireblade

Honda Australia has announced a special edition of the CBR1000RR 2011 Repsol Honda Fireblade in Casey Stoner colours and trim – sadly it’s only for the Aussie market but they have made a great video to promote the bike.

Star of the video is Australian Honda MotoGP rider Stoner who gets to put one of his own replica bikes through its paces.

The bikes will be limited to just 170 and are due into dealerships in Australia at the end of February.

Each Stoner special edition will come with a plaque of authenticity, a Repsol seat cowl and Stoner decals mounted on the motorcycle.

Purchasers of the bike will have Casey Stoner’s racing number 27, his signature and branding on the bike.

Honda's MotoGP gearbox explained

Patent drawings reveal the workings of the new gearbox that has caused a stir in MotoGP

Recently acquired patent drawings have allowed us to examine the workings of Honda’s new MotoGP gearbox. It’s clever. Very clever.

It uses gears that spin freely on the output shaft when they’re not engaged, with internal ratchet mechanisms in each gear. There are four pawls on each ratchet – two take drive loads when the ratchet is engaged and the other two are used to limit backlash. During engine braking, the backlash-limiting pawls take the load.

These pawls are normally held in the “neutral” position, so the gear isn’t engaged, by sliding rods inside the output shaft. These rods have indentations in them, so when they’re slid into a particular position, they allow the pawls for one gear to engage (the pawls are sprung, so they will pop out and try to engage the ratchets on the inner circumference of each gear as soon as the selector shaft allows them to). Honda’s DCT twin-clutch system (banned by MotoGP rules) uses hollow output shaft technology to run one shaft within another to drive both clutch baskets.

On changing up to the next gear, first the backlash pawls in the first gear are disengaged (but not the drive ones) and the drive pawls in the second ratio are engaged. As the 2nd gear pawls connect with the ratchet inside 2nd gear, they take the load and accelerate the output shaft. Because the ones in 1st gear act as a ratchet, they can remain engaged right up to that moment – when the output shaft starts spinning faster than the 1st gear output ratio, the pawls will get pushed out of the way. Then, in the second stage of engagement, the backlash pawls in 2nd gear will be released and slot into place while the drive pawls in 1st gear are locked out of the way.

This new take on gear engagement has a couple of key advantages: First, it’s a seamless-shift arrangement (1st will be driving right until the moment 2nd gear takes over, and so on) so there’s no loss of drive. Second, there’s no conventional selector forks or gearshift drum, so it’s ultra-compact (the selection process is done via the rods inside the hollow output shaft). A corollary of that is that the gears themselves can be wider, and therefore stronger.

Finally, whenever you’re changing gear, the parts are moved in a sequence that means you’re never moving a part that’s under load. That means it’s easy to shift gear and doesn’t need powerful hydraulics (which MotoGP prohibits anyway).

The downsides are that it could really do with an electronically-controlled clutch to make the most of the system – allowing a modicum of slip as the gears are shifted to smooth the transition from gear to gear. Downshifts will rely totally on the slipper clutch to soften the torque loadings.

At the recent Jerez MotoGP race, several Honda riders did mention that downshifts were sometimes a problem. This system, as far as we know, is in its development infancy but the potential appears to be huge and for such a revolutionary departure the bugs appear to be minimal.