The Boz Bros Sturgis Charity Ride

The Boz Bros Press Release:

The City of Sturgis is very excited to team up with Ben and Eric Bostrom, “The Boz Bros,” to bring a new element to the Sturgis® Motorcycle Rally™. 2014 will be the inaugural year of a multi-year partnership with the legendary brothers hosting a ride and a night at the Sturgis Dragway during the annual Sturgis® Motorcycle Rally™.

“Moving forward we want to ensure young motorcyclists, the sport bike community, and two wheel enthusiasts from all walks of life feel welcome at the Sturgis® Motorcycle Rally™ for many years to come.” said Brenda Vasknetz, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Director.

Eric Bostrom has earned 4 national titles in both dirt track racing and road racing totaling 46 AMA victories. Ben Bostrom is an X-Games gold medalist and former AMA Superbike, Supersport, and Supermoto national champion.

“The Boz Bros Night at the Sturgis Dragway” will take place on Tuesday, August 5th and Ben and Eric will host “The Boz Bros Sturgis Ride” on Wednesday, August 6th.

“It’s been a couple of decades since we’ve been to Sturgis. When we were kids we came with our Dad, Dave Bostrom, to compete in the Sturgis Short track and . mile” said Ben Bostrom “We are excited to come back and be apart of this historic event!”

The Boz Bros won’t be coming to Sturgis alone! They will be taking over a parking lot at the corner at Exit 32 off I-90 and hosting some of their friends through out the 74TH Annual Sturgis® Motorcycle Rally™. They will be filling “The Corner at Exit 32” with motorcycle madness starting on Monday, August 4th – so be sure to stop by on the way to Main Street in downtown Sturgis. UNKNOWN Industries Riders, Buddy Suttle and Nick Leonetti from the famed “Harley Wheelies” YouTube series will be performing daily Freestyle Harley Riding Demos throughout the week. There will be music, food, vendors, merchandise, and all things moto with more to be announced. Expect to be see Brammo Electric Motorcycles on display as well as hip, young bike builders that will be showcasing their latest masterpieces.

On Tuesday, August 5th starting at 7:30 p.m. and going into the night Eric and Ben invite everyone down to the Sturgis Dragway to compete. “The Boz Bros Night at the Sturgis Dragway with Rickey Gadson” will be a one-of-a-kind race event. This event is open to all. Seriously, if you want to race it, Eric and Ben will line you up: sport bikes, pit bikes, golf carts, café racers, and of course, Harley’s! You bring it and you get to race it down the 1/8 mile at the Sturgis Dragway! Boz Bros’ friend and 10-time Pro Champion Drag Racer Rickey Gadson will be on hand as the Boz Bros event ambassador. “I’m excited to support my friends and introduce my drag race school, ‘Launch Like A Pro,’ to a wider demographic of riders” expressed Rickey Gadson who will be hosting a riding seminar at the event. “I think it will be a fun event and hope to introduce a lot of people to the sport of drag racing.” Tickets to witness the races, or to register to race can be purchased at the gate for only $25.

“The Boz Bros Sturgis Ride” will take place Wednesday, August 6th. The ride starts at the City of Riders Motorcycle Expo, and will be a scenic 60-mile ride through the Black Hills with a memorable stop at the Deadwood Franklin Hotel where all registered riders will be provided with snacks, beverages, and a group photo. As riders continue on the ride they will be hosted to a BBQ at the ride’s last stop, the World Famous Knuckle Saloon. Participants will also receive a one-of-a-kind gift bag with a limited edition ride shirt. Space for the ride is extremely limited – sign up early and pay for the ride at HERE. The first 50 advance online ride registrations will be entered to win an autographed Eric Bostrom replica Icon helmet or a Ben Bostrom replica Shoei helmet. Participation in the ride will allow you to enjoy an incredible experience for a good cause with proceeds benefiting the Sturgis Youth Recreation programs.

Ben and Eric Bostrom will also be hosting The Boz Bros Stars Race at the 2nd Annual Sturgis Downtown Supermoto race September 12-14, 2014. This race event is free to the public and is a crowd pleaser with high speed racing through downtown Sturgis Main Street.

For more information: www.sturgismotorcyclerally.com

Source : cycleworld[dot]com

How Harley-Davidson Got Sued Over ABS Brakes & Why You Can’t Buy an Airbag Leather Suit in the USA

I was reading DealerNews last week when I stumbled across a brief story about how Harley-Davidson was being sued by a couple, because the Bar & Shield brand did not offer the 2012 Electra Glide Classic with an anti-locking brake option.

The lawsuit comes about as a couple was riding two-up on their motorcycle in Texas, when a car suddenly cut in front of them. Locking up the wheels of the Harley-Davidson, the motorcycle fishtailed out of control, and flung the couple quite some distance. They are subsequently suing Harley-Davidson for $75,000 in damages.

I can already foresee the pro-business comments below this article, deriding these motorcyclists for a series events that amount to “their fault” for their medical and financial woes — after all, it was they who chose to buy a motorcycle without ABS, right?

Legal scholars, and those familiar with tort law and product liability in the United States though, will see the case quite differently. And barring specific details and circumstances, the conclusion to this lawsuit will almost certainly side with the complainants, not Harley-Davidson.

Why? The simple reason is the principal of strict liability, as it applies to product liability. A well establish legal doctrine, strict liability creates a cause of action for when manufacturers produce dangerous or hazardous products, regardless of what the standard of care is within the industry as whole, and without any specific negligent act (installing the ABS incorrectly on the motorcycle, for example).

Working further against Harley-Davidson is the fact that modern ABS brakes have been on the market for roughly the past 40 years, the technology is a mandatory feature for automobiles available for purchase in the United States, and now it is a mandatory feature for new motorcycles in the European market as well. With an ample amount of research, testing, and regulation surrounding ABS, there is no doubt regarding the efficacy of anti-locking brakes in reducing on-road accidents, as a safety feature.

Lawyers for the complainant will argue that by failing to offer an ABS option on the 2012 Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic, the Bar & Shield brand put into the public marketplace a product that was foreseeably unsafe during its normal and intended use. They are arguing that Harley-Davidson did not mitigate the dangers of riding an Electra Glide Classic to the best of company’s ability, and they are right.

With ABS technology available on other Harley-Davidson models at the time, and ABS being a relatively cheap component to add (in terms that manufacturers can charge extra for the feature, thus no material economic loss to the company) Harley-Davidson will have a difficult time hiding behind bottom line excuses for this omission; and under strict liability.

Furthermore, Harle-Davidson will find no absolution by pointing to other makes and models without an ABS option during the 2012 model year. To make matters even worse, by this point in time, BMW Motorrad had already made ABS standard on all motorcycles available from the German brand, thus further creating an enhance duty of care in the marketplace — let the debate begin as to whether this was an intended consequence or not.

With so much stacked against Harley-Davidson’s lawyers, it should be worrying to those in the industry that it is hard to see a scenario where a pro-complaintant verdict in this case would not create a de facto obligation for motorcycle manufacturers to offer an ABS option on every model in the United States, regardless of a regulation by the USDOT or law by Congress.

Make no mistake, there is a very important legal precedent at stake here, should this case actually see the inside of a courtroom, which seems unlikely.

For the same reason that Harley-Davidson would likely be found accountable for the injured motorcyclists, companies like Alpinstars and Dainese could find themselves liable for failing to offer a lifesaving technology of their own, which is available with their products in other markets.

The issue for these apparel manufacturers is the airbag systems that are available in their leather racing suits. Available to racers around the world, and for sale in the European markets, these airbag equipped suits provide superior shoulder, torso, and neck protection than the traditional leather-only suits.

The increased safety has been so great, that the technology has surely had an effect on the racing landscape, and I would argue it to be a serious contributing factor as to why Dani Pedrosa is without a MotoGP World Championship to his name.

The suits have been so effective that Dorna once considered making them mandatory in GP racing, only to realize that the other apparel manufacturers were not willing or able to develop competing systems with Alpinestars and Dainese.

Unfortunately for American buyers, Italian companies are extremely careful when it comes to legal matters, which has caused Alpinestars and Dainese to refrain from adding airbag technology to their suits for the US market at this point in time — primarily because of the fear that lawsuits would result from their use.

America has comprehensive protections for consumers in its tort law system, and there are of course the stereotypes regarding sue-happy consumers coupled to ambulance-chasing lawyers. One cannot fault Alpinestars or Dainese for their reluctance to enter the realm of American product liability — it is a minefield of litigation.

But drawing similarities to what I discussed above with the Harley-Davdison case, it is just as easy to run afoul of the American legal system by doing something, as it is by not doing something. Call it liability by omission, if you will.

While these apparel manufacturers continuously pushback the rollout of airbag suits in the American market because of their legal concerns, they are also invariably creating an ironic situation by which their failure to introduce the technology is creating a legal liability of its own.

Are airbag suits as pervassive in the marketplace as ABS brakes? Certainly not, but a strong argument can be made regarding their efficacy, availability, and lack of burden to the manufacturer. When it comes to the strict liability of products, those are the major relevant factors.

Photo: © 2013 Lonpicman / Creative Commons - Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

Bobby Goodin Has Died While Racing at Pikes Peak

It is with great regret that we have to report the passing of Bobby Goodin, a motorcycle racer at the 2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Finishing fourth in the Pikes Peak Middleweight motorcycle class, spectators say Goodin lost control of his Triumph Daytona 675R after crossing the finish line at the mountain’s summit.

According to our sources and others that witnessed the crash, Goodin’s motorcycle crash occurred where the road transitions from pavement of the race course to the dirt of the parking lot.

A very short transition from our last viewing, Goodin’s accident occurred after the 54-year-old raised him arm to celebrate finishing the 92nd running of the Race to the Clouds, and was then flung into a group of boulders down the mountain’s side.

Unconscious after the impact, it took paramedics over 10 minutes to respond to the incident, and an hour for the Flight for Life helicopter to depart with Goodin. EMT’s performed CPR on the rider while he was at the summit, but unfortunately Goodin was pronounced dead at the Penrose Main Hospital.

Goodin is the fifth fatality ever at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, and only the second motorcycle fatality at the historic race (Bill Gross died in 1982, after striking another fallen motorcyclist). That being said, the safety of Pikes Peak has been questioned since the road to the mountain’s summit became fully paved for the event in 2012.

No statement has been made by PPIHC officials about the incident at this time, and the delay in this article’s publishing should serve as an indication to the difficulty and lack of communication coming from Pikes Peak.

We extend our deepest condolences to Goodin’s family and friends in this tragic time. We had the pleasure of meeting Bobby at last year’s competition, his rookie running of Pikes Peak. He will be sorely missed.

Source: The Gazette; Photo: © 2014 Trevor Andrusko / Track9 – All Rights Reserved

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

2014 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb Motorcycle Results

Motorcycle-Only Results from the 92nd Pikes Peak International Hill Climb:

P.I.C.	Name	Class	Lap Time	Machine
1	Jeremy Toye	Pikes Peak Open	09:58.7	2013 Kawasaki
2	Lambert Fabrice	Pikes Peak Open	10:04.4	2009 Ducati
3	Don Canet	Pikes Peak Open	10:10.1	2014 Ducati
4	Micky Dymond	Pikes Peak Open	10:11.3	2014 Ducati
5	Bruno Langlois	Pikes Peak Open	10:14.5	2013 Ducati
6	Daniel Fernandez	Pikes Peak Open	10:37.0	2014 Kawasaki
7	Tomasz Gombos	Pikes Peak Open	10:37.2	2007 Yamaha
8	Olivier Ulmann	Pikes Peak Open	10:37.2	2009 Ducati
1	Eric Piscione	Pikes Peak Middleweight	10:46.2	2013 Ducati
2	Jeff Grace	Pikes Peak Middleweight	10:55.7	2014 Triumph
1	Cal Collins	Pikes Peak Lightweight	10:58.2	2011 Honda
3	Joseph Bernard Toner	Pikes Peak Middleweight	10:58.5	2009 Kawasaki
9	Takahiro Itami	Pikes Peak Open	10:58.6	2014 MV Agusta
2	Codie Vahsholtz	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:02.1	2005 KTM
3	Travis Newbold	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:04.3	2005 Honda
10	Carlton Sorensen	Pikes Peak Open	11:04.9	2013 Kawasaki
4	Bobby Goodin	Pikes Peak Middleweight	11:07.1	2014 675R
11	Glenn Consor	Pikes Peak Open	11:08.2	2008 Yamaha
4	Joseph Connor Toner	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:11.1	2007 Aprilia
5	Zachary Jacobs	Pikes Peak Middleweight	11:11.9	2009 Honda
5	Daniel Berendes	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:21.9	2008 Honda
12	Clive Savacool	Pikes Peak Open	11:23.3	2010 BMW
6	J.D. Mosley	Pikes Peak Middleweight	11:25.2	2007 Triumph
1	Guy Martin	PPC-UTV/Exhibition	11:32.6	2014 Martek
2	Yasuo Arai	PPC-UTV/Exhibition	11:33.6	1980 Kawasaki
6	Darryl Lujan	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:40.4	2013 Honda
7	Steve Alexander	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:45.1	2008 Aprilia
8	Trace Downing	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:45.8	2010 KTM
3	Masahiro Takano	PPC-UTV/Exhibition	11:48.6	1973 Kawasaki
13	Eric Foutch	Pikes Peak Open	11:55.4	2013 Ducati
9	Kevin Heil	Pikes Peak Lightweight	11:57.2	2009 Aprilia
1	Jeff Clark	Elec-Electric Production Bike	11:59.8	2013 Zero
14	Kristipher Lillegard	Pikes Peak Open	12:00.9	2014 MV Agusta
10	Alan Cunningham	Pikes Peak Lightweight	12:06.0	2002 Suzuki
1	Matt Meinert	PPC-Pikes Peak 250	12:09.5	2004 Honda
7	Adam Bauer	Pikes Peak Middleweight	12:16.9	2012 Kawasaki
8	David Johansen	Pikes Peak Middleweight	12:19.4	2013 Ducati
1	Jeremiah Johnson	Elec-Electric Modified Bike	12:20.4	2013 Brutus
11	Warren Egger	Pikes Peak Lightweight	12:21.5	2005 KTM
15	Alberto Dalessio	Pikes Peak Open	12:26.2	2011 Ducati
12	Doug Chestnutt	Pikes Peak Lightweight	12:28.0	1992 Yamaha
9	Dan Elders	Pikes Peak Middleweight	12:32.0	2008 Suzuki
10	David Rutherford	Pikes Peak Middleweight	12:39.3	2005 Suzuki
11	Cody Steggell	Pikes Peak Middleweight	12:42.9	2008 Suzuki
13	Raymond Van Antwerp	Pikes Peak Lightweight	12:48.2	2007 Aprilia
14	Teague Sawyer	Pikes Peak Lightweight	12:49.1	2005 Honda
1	Mark Shim	PPC-Vintage Motorcycle	12:58.5	1971 Triumph
16	Jim Wilson	Pikes Peak Open	12:59.7	2006 Suzuki
2	Jimi Heyder	PPC-Pikes Peak 250	13:01.2	1989 Heyder/Suzuki
2	Lloyd Hale	PPC-Vintage Motorcycle	13:27.7	1978 Yamaha
2	Yoshihiro Kishimoto	Elec-Electric Modified Bike	13:36.7	2014 Mirai
4	Mike Ryan	PPC-UTV/Exhibition	13:46.9	2014 Triumph
3	Michael Valdez	PPC-Vintage Motorcycle	14:04.1	1976 Yamaha
3	Steve Mageors	PPC-Pikes Peak 250	15:04.7	2010 Suzuki
12	Michael Henao	Pikes Peak Middleweight	17:26.1	2006 Kawasaki
4	Mike Scarsella	PPC-Vintage Motorcycle	–.—	1974 Triumph

Source: PPIHC; Photos: © 2014 Jamey Price / Jamey Price Photo – All Rights Reserved

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

15 Best Useful JQuery Parallax Scrolling Tutorials

 

Jquery parallax scrolling helps to create a effective websites. These jquery tutorials are properly explained so you can learn jquery parallax effect easily.

Jquery parallax scrolling is very popular in the modern web design trends. Jquery parallax gives special effects to a website which helps to attract visitors. Jquery parallax scrolling refers to a smooth animation effect between foreground and background images or texts.  To apply parallax scrolling in your website, you need basic knowledge of jquery & javascipts. If you already have a good knowledge of jquery & javascripts then you can use parallax scrolling effect at your will. Jquery parallax scrolling effects give an outstanding visual experience. So visitors stay for a longer period of time and helps in decreasing bounce rate, which result in getting better result in google search engine. If you are facing difficulty in finding some cool parallax scrolling tutorials then here is the end of your problem because here I collected some best parallax scrolling tutorials 2014.

Best Useful Jquery Parallax Scrolling Tutorials 2014

In this article, we’d like to showcase you a list of some amazing and best jquery parallax scrolling tutorials 2014 to create some beautiful parallax scrolling websites.

Parallax Effect

Tutorial || Demo

Parallax Content Slider With CSS3 And jQuery

Tutorial || Demo

Create a Parallax Scrolling Website Using Stellar.js

Tutorial || Demo

A Simple Parallax Scrolling Technique

Tutorial || Demo

The Parallax Effects With jQuery

Tutorial || Demo

One Page Website, Vertical Parallax

Tutorial || Demo

Jazz up a Static Webpage with Subtle Parallax

Tutorial || Demo

Scrolling Parallax: A jQuery Plugin With Tutorial

Tutorial || Demo

Parallax Slider With jQuery

Tutorial || Demo

Fluid CSS3 Slideshow with Parallax Effect

Tutorial || Demo

Parallax gallery

Tutorial || Demo

Build a parallax scrolling website interface with jQuery and CSS

Tutorial || Demo

CSS3 Parallax scrolling slider

Tutorial || Demo

Building a Parallax Scrolling Storytelling Framework

Tutorial || Demo

Create a Cool Website with Fancy Scrolling Effects

Tutorial || Demo

jQuery Parallax Tutorial – Animated Header Background

Tutorial || Demo

Create a Parallax Website Header

Tutorial || Demo

Super Easy Parallax Effect with jQuery

Tutorial || Demo

Orginal : webdesigncube.com

Saturday at Assen with Tony Goldsmith

Photos: © 2014 Tony Goldsmith / TGF Photos – All Rights Reserved

Tony Goldsmith is an Isle of Man based freelance motorcycle racing photographer specializing in the Isle of Man TT races. He has also covered selected rounds of the British Superbike Championship and MotoGP. His online archive is available at www.tgfphotos.com and he can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

In the Future, You’ll Wear Leathers That Are Grown in a Vat

A lot of things will change in the future. Cars will drive themselves. Motorcyclists won’t wear helmets (as we know them), and your leather jacket will be grown in a vat…at least, that’s what a new company named Modern Meadow hopes. Having just received $10 million in Series A funding, the New York-based company hopes to change the way we interact with our beloved bovines.

Getting its roots from the bio-technology sector’s research into “bioprinting” organs in a petri dish, Modern Meadow is looking for consumer-level applications to this still young technology, which right now focus on creating grown-in-the-laboratory beef and leather.

Obviously the FDA has a few things to say about creating food products from bioprinting, so Modern Meadow’s first foray will be into creating real leather with stem cells.

The implications for the leather industry are pretty powerful when you think about it, and all you have to do to see that is take a gander and fake leather industry to see the demand for a humane alternative to animal leather cultivation.

Bioprinting processes like the one from Modern Meadow have the potential to create higher quality leather hides at cheaper costs, while requiring fewer land, water, energy, and chemical demands. The concept can be taken a step further even, as genetic manipulation comes into play and brand-specific strains come into the mix.

Leather growers (let that phrase sink in for a moment) can optimize their crop for particular attributes and qualities (abrasion resistance being a highlight for motorcyclists), and there is no reason to think that the technology is limited to just cow hides. Horse, goat, and kangaroo leather could all become considerably cheaper than the premium they demand over their cow counterparts.

The pushback of course is pretty obvious: the idea of growing leather in a laboratory, and then wearing it, is a fairly creepy concept to wrap one’s mind around. We are already seeing pushback from consumers to genetically modified food products, and there is a host of legal and ethical issues being debated right now regarding the use of stem cells.

With a slew of other advancements coming from bio-tech firms that push the envelope of how we understand our world, the idea of vat-grown beef steak and leather products is just one more mind-blowing idea for us to digest.

But before you pass judgment, think about just how weird the concept of wearing a dead animal’s skin is, especially for our recreation.

Barring some sort of labeling requirement, we doubt consumers would notice the difference between the organic and bioprinted leather hides, which is probably the real issue.

Just as the diamond industry had an aneurism over flawless artificial rocks, we can see the companies and countries whose bottom line is dependent on the mark-up of leather being the most vocal about this technology.

Source: TechCrunch

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

MotoGP: Round #8 Bridgestone Qualifying Report – Assen

Bridgestone Motorsports Press Release:

NGM Forward Racing’s Aleix Espargaro claimed his first ever pole position after a rain shower at the start of Qualifying Practice 2 turned the session into an exciting one-lap dash as riders tried to set a quick lap on slick tires before conditions deteriorated.

Espargaro judged the conditions perfectly, running apart from the main pack of riders to set a lap time of 1’38.789 to end the session 1.405 seconds ahead of the next-best qualifier, Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. On the other Repsol Honda RC213V, Dani Pedrosa was third quickest in qualifying as he set a time of 1’40.732 before the rain intensified after which all the riders were unable to improve their times further.

Today’s weather was generally fine, although the occasional rain shower created variable track conditions at times. Light rain fell at the start of the morning Free Practice 3 session, with many riders taking the opportunity to scrub a set of wet tires for later use, before conditions improved allowing riders to use slick tires for the rest of the session. The afternoon FP4 session was dry, allowing riders to perform longer runs on their preferred slick tire combination, and the fine conditions allowed Marquez to set a new Circuit Best Lap record time of 1’33.462. Ambient and track temperatures were slightly cooler than yesterday, with today’s peak track temperature of 30° being thirteen degrees cooler than yesterday.

The cooler conditions today resulted in the riders preferring softer rear slick options, while the soft compound front tire was the most popular. However, some riders opted to use the extra-soft front slick, preferring the extra edge grip this option provides rather than the better braking stability of the soft option. If tomorrow’s race is run in dry conditions, it is expected that the majority of the riders will use the softest rear slick option available to them, paired with the soft compound front slick.

Weather forecasts indicate similar conditions to today, with a fair chance of rain. The next MotoGP session is tomorrow’s Warm Up session at 0940 local time (GMT+1) before the twenty-six lap race commences at 1400.

Shinji Aoki – Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tire Development Department:

“Today’s conditions were cooler with rainy periods, so the riders perhaps to use the same tyre combinations that they evaluated yesterday. In FP3 and FP4, the riders continued to use the softer rear slick options and due to the cooler weather, no Factory riders decided to try the hard rear slick option. If conditions are dry tomorrow I think most of the riders are clear on their race tire choice, and I expect the majority of riders to use the soft compound front slick. For the rear, it appears that the Factory Honda and Yamaha riders will use the medium compound rear, while most of the Ducati and Open-class entrants will use the soft compound rear. In the case of a wet race, each rider will be able to choose from the soft and hard wet tire compounds, so even if there is rain tomorrow tire strategy could still play an important part in the race.”

Bridgestone slick compounds available:

- Front: Extra-soft, Soft & Medium
- Rear: Soft, Medium & Hard (Asymmetric)

Bridgestone wet tire compounds available:

- Soft (Main)
- Hard (Alternative)

Weather:

- FP3 – Dry/Wet. Ambient 18-18°C; Track 22-23°C (Bridgestone measurement)
- FP4-QP – Dry/Wet. Ambient 20-21°C; Track 27-30°C (Bridgestone measurement)

Dutch TT: QP 2Times:

1 Aleix ESPARGARO NGM Forward Racing
2 Marc MARQUEZ Repsol Honda Team
3 Dani PEDROSA Repsol Honda Team
4 Andrea IANNONE Pramac Racing
5 Cal CRUTCHLOW Ducati Team
6 Bradley SMITH Monster Yamaha Tech 3
7 Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati Team
8 Stefan BRADL LCR Honda MotoGP
9 Jorge LORENZO Movistar Yamaha MotoGP
10 Alvaro BAUTISTA GO&FUN Honda Gresini
11 Pol ESPARGARO Monster Yamaha Tech 3
12 Valentino ROSSI Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

For more information: www.bridgestonemotorsport.com

Source : cycleworld[dot]com

Thursday Summary at Assen: The Weather Gods Smile, The Weather Gods Threaten

If there was one factor that surprised everyone on the first day of practice at Assen, it was the weather. Everyone had been prepared for rain, and had contingency plans for when the rain would eventually come. But it didn’t.

It rained all around the circuit, severe weather warnings were issued for several surrounding towns, heavy rain fell in nearby Groningen, and local beaches were evacuated because of thunderstorms, but the TT Circuit at Assen stayed dry all day.

The wind blew the morning clouds away, and the sun shone down gloriously on the circuit, catching out the unwary, and giving all three Grand Prix classes, plus the many support series a full day of excellent weather.

The riders made good use of the conditions, and the unexpected track time threw up a couple of serious surprises. In the morning, Pol Espargaro set the fastest time, finishing ahead of his brother Aleix. In the afternoon session, it was Aleix who was quickest, though this time Pol could not match the pace of his elder brother.

That he should not be able to is hardly surprising; Aleix Espargaro’s FP2 time beat the existing pole record from 2012, held by Casey Stoner. Pol could not improve as much as Aleix did, going just a tenth of a second faster, rather than well over a second. But as a satellite rider, Pol does not have the soft tire which Aleix used to set the fastest lap, Pol was quick to point out.

The Espargaro brothers topping the timesheets may reinforce the idea that Assen is a Yamaha track, but FP2 in the afternoon saw the Repsol Honda riders ruin that picture.

Marc Marquez ended the day in second, two tenths off the time of Aleix Espargaro, while Dani Pedrosa was third, another two tenths behind Marquez, but still well in with a shout. More Yamaha riders followed – Jorge Lorenzo in fourth, with Bradley Smith just over a tenth slower in sixth.

Rossi posted the same time as Smith, but was ranked seventh, while Pol brought up the Yamaha rear in eighth. The only interloper was Andrea Iannone, the Italian having spent the afternoon following Marquez. He was rewarded with a spot in the top five, though whether he can maintain the same pace in a race remains to be seen.

For both Marquez and Pedrosa, the secret had been in having a full day of practice. Pedrosa, in particular, was happy with how Thursday had gone, being able to work on the bike from the start and end the day with a strong time. The warmer conditions had clearly helped the Hondas, the RC213V performing better when temperatures rise.

Marquez was his usual, bubbly confident self, and dismissing attempts to put pressure on him. He had worked well, and was not worried by the fact that the last couple of races had been closer.

It was to be expected, Marquez said, as he knew that these three tracks – Mugello, Barcelona, Assen – would be his toughest challenges of the year. To have the Yamahas on his heels at Assen was not a surprise, and he fully expected teammate Pedrosa to be challenging at the Sachsenring. Given Marquez’s confidence at earlier races, it is hard to be against him at the moment.

The contrast with Jorge Lorenzo could not be greater. The factory Yamaha rider is permanently downcast, still struggling to ride the bike as he would like. His problem at Assen is the reduction in fuel capacity for 2014, cut from 21 liters to just 20. It has left the throttle response difficult, Lorenzo told the press.

“The bike is more nervous than at the tests in Barcelona and Aragon,” Lorenzo told us. Less fuel made acceleration a bit more aggressive than Lorenzo likes, making it even more difficult to keep a constant pace with the Yamaha M1. Clearly, Lorenzo is on the pace, but what he really needs is a win, to throw off his demons and regain the confidence he once had.

On the other side of the Movistar Yamaha garage, the confidence is growing. Despite ending the day in seventh, Valentino Rossi felt they were heading in the right direction.

A modification to the set up gave him the rear grip he had been missing, and allowed him to post his fastest time in the final run. Rossi needs to be on the front row after qualifying, and is hoping the change they found on Thursday can help him achieve that goal.

What he is less pleased with is the situation with the exhausts. Rossi had tried the new, shorter exhaust and had liked it, but he faced a problem. Yamaha had brought just three such exhausts to Assen, and had given Jorge Lorenzo two of them, leaving Rossi to cope with just one. Though Rossi was keen on the exhaust, he would not be racing it, as it made it too difficult to switch between bikes.

From the Sachsenring, he should have two new exhausts, and be back on an equal footing again. Why had Yamaha given Lorenzo two exhausts, but not Rossi? Perhaps to compensate for giving Rossi two copies of the revised frame several races ago, while Lorenzo had been forced to manage with one. Sometimes maintaining the illusion of scrupulous fairness between teammates requires you to take extraordinary steps.

At Ducati, the garage is also split in opinion. Andrea Dovizioso is happy with his improvements from last year, while Cal Crutchlow continues to struggle.

His problem seems insurmountable, and certainly cannot be explained. Crutchlow is only able to carry five degrees less lean angle than either Andrea Iannone or Andrea Dovizioso, despite being just as much on the edge of crashing as the two Italians.

There is no explanation for this for the data, leaving Crutchlow and his crew nonplussed. The data clearly shows that he cannot push any further, yet Iannone and Crutchlow can lean the bike much further without risking a crash. Why they can do it and not Crutchlow is clearly a cause for much frustration for the Briton.

Where either of the Ducatis will end will depend a lot on what the weather does. The forecast is still for rain, but then again, it was for rain on Thursday as well. Instead, it stayed dry all day, and there is every chance of the same happening again on Friday and Saturday.

The heavy thunderstorms which have everyone on high alert for the next couple of days could quite easily pass just north or east of Assen without even touching the town and the track. There is a lot of bad weather around, but so far, it has avoided the circuit altogether.

There are a lot of riders with their fingers crossed, either for the weather to stay as it is or to properly rain and give them a decent chance. The problem is that this is Assen; the weather will do as it pleases. That is not such a bad thing, perhaps.

Photo: © 2014 Tony Goldsmith / TGF Photos – All Rights Reserved

This article was originally published on MotoMatters, and is republished here on Asphalt & Rubber with permission by the author.

Source : asphaltandrubber[dot]com

MotoGP: Round #8 Movistar Yamaha Free Practice Report – Assen

Movistar Yamaha Press Release:

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were able to begin their Dutch weekend unaffected by the predicted rain as sunshine and warm weather set the scene for the first Assen TT practice sessions.

Both riders were quick to find pace in the first morning session, enjoying what is a favorite circuit for the two. Lorenzo and Rossi were consistently among the fastest riders in the session, ending with Lorenzo third, 0.206 seconds from first and Rossi sixth, 0.444 seconds from the front.

The afternoon practice saw more of the same from Lorenzo, the Spanish rider consistently in the top four and wrapping up the final practice of the day in fourth in the combined times, 0.495 from first.

Teammate Rossi worked on two different settings in the afternoon session and he ended the day in seventh in the combined times, 0.633 seconds from first.

Jorge Lorenzo #99:

4th / 1’34.148 / 19 laps

“This morning with low temperatures and a soft tire in front we didn’t have any problems but in the afternoon we found some issues. We don’t have enough weight on the front so for tomorrow we will try to put more on to solve this problem without compromising the rear. We’ve made the bike more stable to improve the pace but it’s still not perfect, we need to make further adjustments to make some tenths. Let’s see if the weather stays the same so we can solve the problems. The bike is a little better, I was expecting more but we still have to work on it. I hope the sunshine stays as we need to find two or three tenths more.”

Valentino Rossi #46:

7th / 1’34.286 / 21 laps

“I’m just in seventh place but we are all very close. I’m not so bad, especially in the last exit we modified the bike and I was able to improve my lap time, which is positive. We have to work a lot because after three or four laps the rear starts to move a lot and we have to slow the rhythm. For tomorrow this is the target, to improve the bike, especially the rear to use the tires and get ready for qualifying so we can start in the top five.”

Massimo Meregalli:

“A positive first day here in Assen, we were able to work well and put together a good base set up. The pace is good, tire life also. For sure we still have some things to adjust but overall things are ok. Most likely we won’t be able to benefit from today’s work because it looks like rain is coming for the rest of the weekend. It’s raining for everybody though so we will all start from zero together. We will work to be ready and give our best.”

Combined Free Practice Results:

1.    Aleix Espargaro (SPA)    NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’33.65
2.    Marc Marquez (SPA)    Repsol Honda Team    1’33.864
3.    Dani Pedrosa (SPA)    Repsol Honda Team    1’34.069
4.    Jorge Lorenzo (SPA)    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    1’34.148
5.    Andrea Iannone (ITA)    Pramac Racing    1’34.277
6.    Bradley Smith (GBR)    Monster Yamaha Tech3    1’34.286
7.    Valentino Rossi (ITA)    Movistar Yamaha MotoGP    1’34.286
8.    Pol Espargarò (SPA)    Monster Yamaha Tech3    1’34.408
9.    Stefan Bradl (GER)    LCR Honda MotoGP    1’34.457
10.    Andrea Dovizioso (ITA)    Ducati Team    1’34.460
11.    Alvaro Bautista (SPA)    Go&Fun Honda Gresini    1’34.466
12.    Scott Redding (GBR)    Go&Fun Honda Gresini    1’35.445
13.    Cal Crutchlow (GBR)    Ducati Team    1’35.469
14.    Yonny Hernandez (COL)    Energy T.I. Pramac Racing 1’35.53
15.    Colin Edwards (USA)    NGM Mobile Forward Racing 1’35.59
16.    Hiroshi Aoyama (JPN)    Drive M7 Aspar    1’35.787
17.    Nicky Hayden (USA)    Drive M7 Aspar    1’35.891
18.    Karel Abraham (CZE)    Cardion AB Motoracing    1’35.925
19.    Brok Parkes (AUS)    Paul Bird Motorsport    1’36.046
20.    Hector Barbera (SPA)    Avintia Racing    1’36.270
21.    Michael Laverty (GBR)    Paul Bird Motorsport    1’36.280
22.    Danilo Petrucci (ITA)    Octo Iodaracing Team    1’36.657
23.    Mike Di Meglio (FRA)    Avintia Racing    1’36.724

For more information: www.yamahamotogp.com

Source : cycleworld[dot]com