Road Racer X's Speed Dating & Morais Filling In for Parkes

For this week of March we have a number of important dates in the weekly Road Racer X Speed Dating column. Celebrating birthdays this week are Danny Webb, Andrea Dovizioso, Roberto Rolfo, Al Ludington, Steve McQueen, Keiichi Kitagawa, Raffaele De Rosa, Harald Eckl, Chris Walker, Burt Munro, Sebastien Charpentier, Toni Elias, Christian Sarron, Bill Bagnall, and Katsuaki Fujuwara. Unfortunately, it is also the anniversary of the death of Mike Hailwood...Please take the link to learn more...

http://tinyurl.com/yfh76yc

In the World Superbike Championship series, Echo CRS Honda rider Broc Parkes sustained a broken leg in a preseason training injury and had to give up his seat to Josh Brookes at Phillip Island. For the Portimao round (and, quite possibly for Valencia as well), the faster Sheridan Morais will be substituting for Parkes on the Honda. Morais has been able to out-ride Parkes before, so this may be the beginning of something or just a quick trip to the majors for Morais...

http://tinyurl.com/yh6pmnt

South African Kalahari 400 & Speed Dating

The Kalahari 400 is one event in the South African Off-Road Motorcycle and Quad series. Currently, the season is going well, but the championship is still wide open. This next event, held 19 - 20 March 2010 in the Vryburg area, will be one which the current leaders may have some trouble with. It's simply that this race is very tough and anyone who has the endurance has a chance at the win. For all the news, please take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/yd3wohp

Road Racer X's 'Speed Dating' column comes to us again this week, so let's have a look. First up are birthdays: Chad Reed, Robert Pandya, Simone Sanna, Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler, Peter Clifford, Johan Stigefelt, Tomoyoshi Koyama, John Kocinski, and Hitoyasu Izutsu. Also of importance, Moto Guzzi was formed this week in 1921 and Mike Hailwood won the\his second 500cc USGP riding MV Agusta at Daytona.

http://tinyurl.com/yb3po9a

A Very Good Series on MotoGP Safety in a Timeline

Road Racer X has just put up a timeline series on safety improvements in the motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship or MotoGP. They start at the very beginning of the championship itself and will continue up to the present - and likely 2012 as the rules are being worked out now - with six parts. They are only up to Part 3 now, but all of them are available online for free. It's worth your time...

Here we will start with Part 1 as the next parts of the series are linked from there.

http://tinyurl.com/ygng9zw

Monday Afternoon Moto News - Speed Dating!

Yep, it's that time of the week again, Road Racer X's 'Speed Dating' article. This week's birthdays are Bill Lomas, Jamie James, Franco Uncini, Rocky Robinson, Barry Sheene, Mat Mladin, Eddie Lawson, Henry Riles, Dr. Martin Raines, Elmer Trett, Graziano Rossi, and Philip Conrad Vincent. This week also marks the date of the first MotoGP night race in 2008 and the first race of the 800cc era of MotoGP as well. Take the link and get the stories behind the names.

http://tinyurl.com/ylakg8n

Monday Afternoon Moto News - Speed Dating!

In our weekly bit from one of my favorite motorcycle rags, Road Racer X, we get our Speed Dating column. This week we have birthdays for Alex Debon, Noriyuki Haga, Kevin Atherton, Larry Maiers, Gianluca Vizziello, Alex Criville, Malcolm Smith, Joey Lombardo, Anthony Gobert, Ralph Bryans and Jonah Street. It is getting to the time of year that we also start to see anniversaries of the death of some great motorcycle racers in the line of duty; this week we lost Roger Reiman, Libero Liberati and Jimmy Adamo. This week also saw the beginning of the very first AMA Superbike race in 1976. This week last year was the first ever AMA night race - the 2009 Daytona 200. And, two years ago this Sunday was the day AMA Pro Racing was sold to Daytona Motorsports Group - maybe we should count that as a death as well???

http://tinyurl.com/y9kk7hj

MORE Afternoon Moto News - Speed Dating & Dunlop Supports CSC

Road Racer X's Speed Dating column comes to us again...and I missed it earlier this week. Well, along with myself, Joe Petrali, Randy Krummenacher, Nicky Wimbauer, Takuma Aoki, Joey Dunlop, Toriano Wilson, Alex de Angelis, Joan Lascorz Moreno, Colin Edwards, Jorg Teuchert and Terry Rymer are all celebrating birthdays from this past week. Funny, Edwards and I share the same birthday and we were both born in Texas - but I am no MotoGP racer yet, why? Also, Triumph returned to racing during this week in 2003 in the British Supersport Championship.

http://tinyurl.com/ylq7h8t

The California State Championships (CSC) will now be supported by the Dunlop Motorcycle Tire company. It's a good thing for the three round series in this still bad economy...and they are quite pleased with how it has worked out so far. For more detail, please take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/yz3g5t5

Tuesday Morning Moto News - Speed Dating & Aprilia Alitalia

Another edition of Road Racer X's Speed Dating column. This week we have birthdays for Takaaki Nakagami, Jason DiSalvo, Tommy Hill, Chaz Davies, Jim Moodie, John Surtees, Tadayuki Okada, Randy De Puniet, and Manuel Poggiali . Another very long list of great riders who will be one year older at the end of this week...for more details about the above-mentioned personalities, please take the link.

http://tinyurl.com/y9o2wd8

The Alitalia sponsored factory Aprilia team is ready to begin the 2010 World Superbike season. The team has released its livery for this year and they have made the final announcements about who and what and when and why. It will be Max Biaggi and Leon Camier dueling against the best in the world for the title on their lovely RSV-4 machines...

http://tinyurl.com/ya262hj

http://tinyurl.com/yfx8r7v

More Morning Moto News - Triumph USA, Speed Dating & Rizla Suzuki

Triumph North America has a CEO who started on the Triumph production line at the age of 15 and worked his way to the top - and, he seems to be a good leader as well. Mark Kennedy has led the North American division through these hard economic times and actually managed to grab some market share during the downturn. Kennedy has learned quite a bit about the company coming from the bottom up, and he is putting it to use in keeping Triumph in the black.

http://tinyurl.com/ykyo8wr

The weekly 'Speed Dating' column from Road Racer X is now available. This week we see the birthdays of Fabrizio Pirovano, Gaston Rahier, Jonathan (Johnny) Rea, Jose Luis Cardoso, Brendan Roberts, Juan Bautista Borja, Piergiorgio Bontempi, Jimmy Moore. It is also the 46th anniversary of Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the US - 1964 was the first year that the World Championship came to the shores of the US. Check it out...

http://tinyurl.com/yku2vvu

Suzuki's MotoGP team has signed another two year deal with Imperial Tobacco Limited (ITL) which will allow the team to run the Rizla livery until the end of 2011. Given the dearth of sponsorships these days, this is again more good news for motorcycle racing!

http://tinyurl.com/yblvdu6

More Morning Moto News - Moto2 @ Valencia, Steve Parrish & Road Racerhead

Some of the Moto2 teams were also out at Velncia doing some testing. Tech 3 was there with both riders, but left early due to the terrible weather. The Tech 3 team just cannot seem to get time on a track without some inclement weather interrupting them. Both Yuki Takahashi and Raffaele de Rosa had time on the circuit. Even Herve Poncharal thinks they may be cursed...

http://tinyurl.com/yc93xcc

Steve Parrish was at an event centered around the new Capcom MotoGP 09/10 video game. So, one enterprising press attendee took some time to interview the well-known motorcycle personality. Parrish is a fixture in worldwide motorcycle racing - as if you do not already know that. He is an interesting person as well, so take some time and read this interview.

http://tinyurl.com/y9ebm2m

Over at Road Racer X, their Road Racerhead column is in the midst of wondering if the old days of Carl Fogarty will return for Great Britain - a time when English riders start winning WSBK and even dominating the sport as they once did. Well, there is a chance now considering how many riders from the U.K. are competing in the WSBK paddock in 2010.

http://tinyurl.com/yzc9hdb

More Morning Moto News - BMW @ MCN Show & Mark Gardiner

BMW is quite pleased to be announcing that they will have their concept and new motorcycle models at the MCN London Motorcycle Show, which is coming up 4 - 7 February 2010. They have put out a press release with a list of bikes they will bring, and what else they will have going on at the show. If you are attending, you will want to read this link...

http://tinyurl.com/ycdumc7

Mark Gardiner has given us yet another inside look at racing. In the RoadRacer X column, 'AGV Backmarker', he covers the strange goings-on with the Triumph World Supersport teams. He delves into the situation with Jason DiSalvo and Gary McCoy. It was an interesting soap opera which left McCoy without a seat, and DiSalvo taking his place - both were completely ignorant of the machinations going on at the time. It is well worth a read - especially if you are interested in the politics of motorcycle road racing.

http://tinyurl.com/yhka7hp

Some Moto Entertainment for Your Thursday Afternoon

First up is a writer that I have actually met and I am currently reading his book "Riding Man". Mark Gardiner takes a trip to Catalina Island right off the California coast. He takes a trip back in time while on the island to relive the glory days of the Catalina Grand Prix, which was born of an attempt to have an Isle of Man TT race in the US. It's a great trip - and Gardiner is a good writer - so take the link and wonder at what it was like to race on that island 50 years ago!

http://tinyurl.com/ycbsqeu

Next up we have a new DVD entitled Let's Riiide which is a documentary about riding a motorcycle in California - they say it should have been produced by the California Tourism Board. It will make you want to drop everything and ride to the West Coast, so beware! It's over three hours of great riding.

http://tinyurl.com/y9amjzb

AMA Racing Competition Bulletin: AMA Racing 2010 Rules Update

Straight from the press release and posted online at Road Racer X are the many rule changes to the 2009 AMA Rulebook which were approved by the AMA Board of Directors. The changes go into effect on 15 February 2010, so pay close attention to this information. If you race in any AMA series, this may require you to change some plans...

http://tinyurl.com/ybpr85d

Monday Afternoon Moto News from Around the World

This afternoon is a bit less crazy than this morning, which means that it is very quiet now. Hopefully, this is because many people in the motorcycle industry are at home with their families!

First up here is the Road Racer X round-up of birthdays and other important events in motorcycle history. We have birthdays for Jurgen van den Goodbergh, William S. Harley, Sergio Gadea, Alex Gramigni, Jordan Szoke, Kenny Roberts, Phil Read, SpeedTV (yes, the TV network), Luis d’Antin, Kel Carruthers, Shoichiro Irimajiri. And, the death of Cal Rayborn in 1973. There are some huge birthdays on that list, so go and take a look.

http://tinyurl.com/yagmakr

And, we are being teased by an Indian company on the release of their new electric motorcycle. Tork India, who finished in third place Open Class in the 2009 TTXGP, have placed a photo on their Facebook page with a covered motorcycle - and not much more.

http://tinyurl.com/ydnyhqp

If there is more news, I will put it up later this evening. Otherwise, I will write here again tomorrow morning.

Very Good Round-Up of Racing News This Week

Again, we come across Road Racer X's Road Racerhead for this week. There is not so much racing news this week as many teams are heading home for the holidays. However, there is always something going on in the motorcycle racing world in one way or another. Check it out and you will get updated on the MotoCzysz MotoGP hopes, Antonio Banderas' Moto2 team, and much more...

http://tinyurl.com/yghqp6n

Just Read It! Honda Road Racer Head from Road Racer X

The magazine Road Racer X is one of my favorites. I really like the coverage and the writers know how to present a story which is easy to read and leaves little out. So, if you want to know what is going on in motorcycle road racing which may not have made the big news story sections, take this link and learn about some amazing happenings behind the scenes.

http://tinyurl.com/y9q3q4t

This Week in Motorcycling History - Road Racer X Speed Dating

Yep, that time of the week again. In this week's history, we look at birthdays for Marco Borciani, Christian Kellner, Andrew Northcott (photographer), Jiri Mrkyvka, Kevin Allen, Shane “Shakey” Byrne, Jarno Saarinen (tragic life), Rob McElnea, Aaron Yates, and Michael Duff. That is some real history, so take the link and read about the people who have made this sport what it is today.

http://tinyurl.com/yajt6bm

This Week in Motorcycling History - Road Racer X Speed Dating

Yep, another week another look back. This week has some interesting names associated with it. These include Martin Heath, Arnaud Vincent, Evel Knievel, Bruce Brown, Gavin Trippe & Superbikers, Steve Martin, Fonsi Nieto, Shuhei Aoyama and Cameron Beaubier. It's mostly birthdays, but there is one new race and one death on the list - covering parts of life we all experience.

http://tinyurl.com/ykxcwrx

Nice AGV Backmarker at Road Racer X Magazine

I had to post this one because it is a really good article. There are some misses, sure, but not much. Mark Gardiner writes a good piece which includes the things he is "thankful for." It is great that he mentions the AMA's efforts in trying to raise awareness of the distracted driver issue, which cannot be mentioned enough anywhere - and a really good reason that the electric motorcycle industry is doing so well now. The short bit about getting his US Green Card and the Department of Homeland Security was interesting, but I think he actually left out the more absurd parts of his experience. On this Thanksgiving Day (in the US), remember that there are some things which all of us are actually grateful for in this life.

http://tinyurl.com/yfgupqb

Another Week in the Motorcycle Industry - Significant Dates In History

From one of my favorite magazines, Road Racer X, is the weekly round-up of important dates in history which involve our sport. So, some very important history from the early years - 1823. It is a long and important list, so head over and have a look; I won't ruin it for you.

http://tinyurl.com/ykozbrn

This Week in Motorcycle Racing History - Road Racer X Speed Dating

There are several important birthdays this week! It is hard to believe, but something much come from being born in November in the motorcycle racing world. Soichiro Honda would have been 102 on Tuesday. Others include Yoann Tiberio, Kurtis Roberts, Tom Kipp, Helmut Bradl, Akira Tamitsuji, Jimmy Filice, Steve Rapp, Tom Halverson, Eric Bostrom, Neil Hodgson, Alvaro Bautista, Scott Parker, Dave Molyneux, Joan Olive, and - finally - Lukas Pesek. That's some serious racing cred and some interesting history plus some up-and-coming talents as well. It must be something about the cold...or being in your mother's womb during the summer...

http://tinyurl.com/yb38r8z