- William Dudley has never starred in a movie, never recorded a CD or won the lottery. But nowadays, he says, he knows what it's like to be a celebrity.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
smart cars make you feel like a rock star.
Here is an article about how the smart makes you feel like a celebrity.
Mercedes B-Class is coming to the USA.
Bloomberg is reporting that Mercedes is planning to bring the B-Klasse to the States.
This will compete with the smart and other mini/micro cars.
Excerpts:
- July 25 (Bloomberg) -- DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's second-biggest luxury automaker, is designing a version of its Mercedes-Benz B-Class car for sale in North America for the first time, the company's top U.S. executive said.
The B-class, available in Europe since 2005, is due for redesign in 2011 or 2012 and prototypes include a model that would meet North American regulatory requirements, said Ernst Lieb, chief executive officer of Mercedes-Benz USA. The mini crossover is bigger than General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Aveo and smaller than Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla.
Autoblog Green's First Drive impressions
Autoblog Green has posted a recent "driving impression" blog in their website.
Like everyone else, they had to attend one of the US Smart tour events. Their conclusion is pretty much the same as everything else written on the web- This car is better than the one it replaced.
Reservations officially hits 20,000 mark.
The Detroit News covers the smart car as it arrives in auto city, Detroit. smart car USA officials tells us that the demand is overwhelming.
- "The response has been overwhelming," David Schembri, president of Smart USA, said at a presentation in Detroit Tuesday of the boxy, 8.8-foot car, called the Fortwo.
In other news, Safety is a big concern from potential drivers.
Despite the tridiom safety cell, there are still doubts concerning the safety of the small vehicle.
- Still, in an accident, "the laws of physics can't be repealed," said Russ Rader of the Arlington, Va.-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. "Even with modern safety features like multiple air bags, people in small, light cars are always at a disadvantage in crashes."
Another view
Smart USA spokesman Ken Kettenbeil said U.S. tests are likely to be completed this year with the result released in the fall, and that the company expects a four-star crash rating.
Euro NCAP tests on the City Coupe found that the car provided good protection for the driver and passenger, particularly with side impacts. But the agency found while there was good head and leg protection for a passenger in a front impact, there was weak protection for that person's chest. The driver had good head protection and adequate chest protection, but poor to adequate leg protection in a front-end impact.
The new model, nearly 8 inches longer, features improvements including a steel safety cage ADAC's Luca likened to a race car designed to protect the driver and spread out the energy from a crash across the car.
Smart also has touted the two "crash boxes" in the front and rear of the car that help spread energy from a collision across the safety cell.
Summer News
In other micro car news, Fiat finally released their "mini competitor"- the Fiat 500 (Motor Trend). This has been a highly anticpated launch in Europe with most inventory accounted for.
- It's unlikely the vehicle will make it to the U.S. market, with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne putting the brakes on rumors that the automaker was considering bringing the 500 here.
Renault is considering a new branding for their new fuel efficiency. It will be called Eco
June proves to be a strong sales month with lower gas prices.
However, the Long Beach Press Telegram notes that the smart car is showing high interest before its debut.
- However, some of the hottest interest in vehicles this summer may be for a tiny,fuel-efficient vehicle that hasn't even come to the United States yet.
451 smart Brabus Edition announced in Europe
Autoblog posted a press release from smart concerning the new Brabus hi performance edition smarts.. The press release originates from Europe and is for the Euro market.There is no news about US versions of Brabus.
- The sporty two-seater accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 9.9 seconds and reaches a top speed of 155 km/h.
The big question now is price. Judging from the pricing, the passion cabrio is 22K Euro.
22,430.00 EUR = 30,141.24 USD
I don't know to many people who would spend $30K for a 98 bhp machine that reaches naught to sixty in 10 seconds. I, personally, would get the new 1 series for that kind of pricing.
Toronto police to get smart cars
Edmunds InsideLine covers the street tour
Edmunds InsideLine just released a new article covering the excitement of the roadshow.
Here is little quote of interest:
Trouble is, the Fortwo doesn't get as good freeway gas mileage as a Honda Civic hybrid (40 mpg vs. 50 mpg), although the president of Smart U.S.A, Dave Schembri, offers a corrective assessment: "The Fortwo gets 40 miles per gallon if driven like a maniac, over 50 if babied."
THIS IS NOT a smart car accident!
People have mistakenly claim the car as a fortwo and posters are telling people to cancel their $99 reservations.
I will not show or link to it because it is very gruesome. It is very graphic and disturbing.
In fact, the car is not a fortwo but a Volkswagen CrossFox. The crossfox does not have the tridion safety cell. In the event this was a fortwo, I would suspect that it would have bounced on impact.
Hopefully, this post will dispel those nasty rumors circulating the blogosphere and chat forums. The fortwo has shown how it handles with larger cars like the Mercedes E and S-Class.
This video from youtube shows how it would fare hitting a wall.
NHTSA gives fortwo high ratings with concern
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration gave the Smart two-door car its top score of five stars in side testing because of its protection against injuries.
But when NHTSA conducted the side test, the driver door unlatched and opened. The government says that could lead to a driver or passenger being ejected from the vehicle.
The vehicle received four out of five stars in the front-end crash on the driver's side. On the passenger side, it received three out of five stars.
Duh. The concern is unwarranted. Drivers need to buckle up their seat belts. This solves the problem of being ejected.
The fortwo matches comparable Toyota Yaris and the Chevy Cobalt.
This is indeed good news for the smart car.
Here is a video from youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbg7KDifD70
Cities will have to rethink parking for smarts
Wow, my hometown newspaper has a great article on smart and parking.
The SF Chronicle reports that cities have to rethink their parking policies with new small micro cars.
I am hoping we get free designated parking.
The SF Chronicle reports that cities have to rethink their parking policies with new small micro cars.
I am hoping we get free designated parking.
The 1st real SMART competitor - IQ
Toyota launched one of the biggest PR at the Geneva 2008 Auto Show. Introducing the "production ready" IQ.
I think the name IQ is a direct jab the the smart
- PRESS RELEASE
World premiere of Toyota's new urban car: the iQ
• Production version of the Concept C ar iQ premiered
• 'J-Factor' underpins iQ design
• Six unique space-saving engineering innovations represent a milestone in Toyota's automotive engineering
• Revolutionary packaging concept provides ample space for a 3+1 seating configuration within a sub 3 metres length
• Small urban car with low emission engines and aerodynamics reduces environmental impact
• Manufacturing starts late 2008 with a global sales target of 100,000 vehicles for the first year of production
Gas will hit $4 a gallon
The media is already reporting that will most likely hit $4 a gallon by summer. What else is new? Gas peaked at $3.79 in the San Francisco Bay Area. I assume we will be way above the national average. My guess, $4.30.
2006 ASRA Solo Champion: Robert Lombardi
Rob has won for the second year in a row the ASRA Solo Championship and I have asked him to recap his season for the Pure Motorbike Passion readers.
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The 2006 season quest to win a second Solo National Championship was one of ups and downs and I mean downs. It all started with a decent showing in Daytona despite a number mix up that ended putting me in the back of the grid for the 3 restarts due to red flag incidents. After a very angry 2 ½ hour race I managed to fight my way back to 9th place. Not good but in 2005 march Daytona I got a 7th and I still managed to win the championship. So I went home with high hopes, but feeling a little cheated out of a possible higher finish! Now this is where it gets good. Last February I bought a new 2006 GSXR 1000 to convert it later into a race bike but I crashed it after only one month in the streets of Brooklyn . It was a cold night and I had got about ½ miles into my 3 mile ride home when I made a slow left hand turn. I suddenly found my self in the ground gasping for air. My bike with only 80 miles on it was destroyed. It turns out that our friendly Con Edison “JO” left an 8X10 - 2 inch thick camouflaged built up on one side with asphalt in the middle of the entrance of the turn. I had broken 5 ribs and one of them broken in 2 places: six brakes in all. -“Nice job”- the doctor said; “-do not race until you are completely healed because another fall could puncture a lung or your heart”-! It was early in the season so I canceled my entry for Road America : too bad because in 2005 I had won that round. I did whatever I could to remain in shape during this time but it was tough. Broken ribs hurt like a son of a gun and make impossible to sleep! The next race was Blackhawk Farms on the 7th of May. I was still in a lot of pain, especially under hard braking, but I managed to win the race. I was now in 2nd place in the championship, 5 points behind the leader. I was pumped up, healing nicely and ready for the next race in Topeka, Kansas on June 16th. I had never been at that track, but I was excited and committed to win even thought it was Al Harris’s home circuit, at that point the championship leader. About 1 hour into the competition, with almost a one lap lead, I lost the front end going into the chicane and I busted again my ribs and cracked my sternum. For 4 days I was unable to get out of bed and it was only two weeks away from the next round in Summit Point. Against all advice as soon as I hit the floor I knew I was racing no matter what. I went as far as doing a 6 lap sprint at Vir to get some regional points towards my F40 championship: I did it with some 800 mil Advil’s and Novocain patches all over my chest and my back, but 6 laps were different from the 78 laps required in Summit Point. In West Virginia I rested until the race day: 2 1/2 hours of hell. With enough Advil to kill a horse and enough pain patches to numb Godzilla, to my surprise I won the race! Barber, in Alabama on August 25th was next: I felt tired and weary. All the injuries were taking a toll on my body and mind. But I was on a mission at that point nothing was going to stop me. The battle was between me and Travis Meycnern, a battle that lasted for over two hours under light rain conditions. At the end of the day the younger man got the victory by only a few seconds but I was back leading the championship with 11 points lead on Al. One month to heal and get in shape before the race in VIR, my home track. The race went off with troubles on the warm up lap: it seemed that the check valve on the new quick fill system was failing and gas was quickly filling the over flow tank. At this point I could only hope for the best but luckily the race was red flagged, right after the start, and so the technical issue was quickly resolved by my crew. In Vir I finished with a respectable 3rd place and with 37 point lead and only one race left, in Daytona, I am again the 2006 ASRA Solo Champion!
I would like to add that the Michelin tires are unbelievable and have been critical in winning the championship
Special thanks to: Frank Aluzzo from United Water Mains for his incredible support through the season and never giving up on me; Ron Wood and Michelin Tires; Roy at Absolute cycle; Almos Gyorffy; Johnny Brazil; Alex Matteucci; Steve Lombardi; all the guys at NYSB club and most of all my Wife Lorraine who against her better judgment supported me all season.
Rob
Robert Lombardi Racing School: Pocono 9-29-06
Last Friday Robert and I had the last school event for the 2006 season. The day started in the wrong way with rain and cold wind. On top of that Pocono Raceway not only gave us the gravel area to pit, but also denied the usage, for really questionable reasons, of the only small shed available. We were counting on this little shack as classroom and at that point we felt a bit lost given the fact that we had eight students. After examining different solutions we opted for a tent with some kind of sidings, a table and a few chairs. With a blackboard, a lot of passion and the positive attitude from the school partecipants, it took only one hour to overcome the morning issues and create a “warm” atmosphere.
Even this time Robert Lombardi’s Road Racing School was able to deliver what promised: all the students improved drammatically their confidence, speed and overall riding skills. At the end of the day everybody had a big smile and a positive comment about their track experience. A lot of them claimed to be already addicted to the track experience and that they couldn't wait for the next event. Unless they are willing to travel to Jennings in Florida in January they would have to wait until the end of another long and nasty New York winter before warming up again their bikes.
MotoGp Music: 2007 previews
At this point we should have a good idea of the new 800cc MotoGp bikes. Magazine, newspapers and internet have provided us with pictures, videos and interesting technical details. Now we know that they perform almost like the current ones and most likely the engine evolution during next winter will bring much more horse power on the wheels.
All of them seems much smaller, to the point that even minute riders like Pedrosa or Capirossi seem suddenly bigger. The handling is completely different: nimble, capable of carrying a lot of entrance-mid corner speed. The electronics in the slipper clutches, traction control system, fuel injection (most likely “imported” from F1) has virtually eliminated the risk of high siding at the exit of the turns. Now we see riders washing the front while trailbraking or losing the read by the apex, or between apexes in double turns.
The new bikes look very symilar to the old ones with the exception of the Honda. The almost inexistent and chopped tail coupled to the long boxed swingarm makes the rider to look like a jocky on a pony. But there must be something else “under the tank” because last Monday a crowd of people, and among them Capirossi, gathered in front to the Honda garage to see the new creature, RC212V. Only at the first race in 2007 we will see who have created the best motogp, and until then we will have to pick our favorite missile judging by the look and the music: my choice goes to the “Il pompone Ducati”.
Round 14: Grand Prix of Japan
Today at the Japanese MotoGp in Motegi they must have served spaghetti al dente instead of sushi because the Italians have cleaned the table: Capirossi first, Rossi second and Melandri third.
Nakano tried hard to grab the 4th place away from Gibernau, but at the last lap his front tire was clipped by the Ducati and so he crashed serving Hayden the 5th place on the silver plate.
The show was a bit boring with just a few changes in position during the whole race. The track has the typical stop an go layout with several slow turns connected by straights not long enough to use the wind draft to overtake the other rider. With a lack of fast long turns where to make the difference all the riders were forced to use the same line to maintain a good pace making even more difficult to attack on the brakes.
With only 12 points separating Hayden from Rossi and 2 races to go the World Championship is becoming breathtaking: next appointment in Portugal in three weeks.
Latest MotoGp Joke
The writer supports his claim by looking at the total accumulation of points earned by the two riders in the time frame: 340 for Rossi versus 315 for Hayden. The same writer and motorbike expert claims that both riders have achieved such result by “completely different routes”: Rossi winning 9 times to Hayden’s one, and the American with a more consistent performance than the Italian’s one.
At this point I have a question for the magazine writer: have you been following at all this year World Championship or not? Because if you did, you have obviously forgot that Rossi has suffered at least the following issues so far this year: in the first part of the season his M1 had a terrible chattering that forced the Japanese company to rebuild completely the frame of the bike; the first race crash caused by Elias; a faulty Michelin tire forced him out during a race; an defective engine stopped running another time when leading his competitors with a big gap; also for 2 races he wore a cast due to the broken wrist incurred in practice.
In addition I would like to remind this journalist the big crash caused by Gibernau that involved Capirossi, Melandri and Pedrosa. Gibernau stopped racing for most of the season while the other 3 riders where seriously affected in their performance for at least 2 races.
Hayden is a good rider, but he will make the podium only under very favorable circumstances. His Honda has proved to be a great, consistent bike with an engine capable to suddenly rejuvenate a “slow” Kenny Robert’s Junior after years of poor results.
In the recent years Rossi has been compared by different magazines around the world to Agostini so if we follow the suggestion of that magazine we could say that:
MotoGp Poll: A-Style Grand Prix of Japan
With only three MotoGp races to the end of the World Championship it's time to challenge again our intuition. I have listed the first 7 riders in the championship as potential candidates to win Sunday race, but I am perfectly aware that the real battle is going to be among the first 5. Each of them needs a victory to consolidate, improve or reverse the present situation.
Scroll up and down to read the whole list and click on one of the choices. The poll will be immediately updated.
Happy Birthday Sal
Our friend Sal Benanti AKA "The Old Man" this month turned 70. As I have already mentioned in a previous post Sal is a sort of living myth for all of us motorbike lovers. At his age he is still racing motocross every weekend during the season. It's something so sensational that Ace Motocross a couple of weeks ago has dedicated a racing weekend to the 70th birthday celebration of the "District's Oldest Active Rider". That weekend ACE has commemorated the event by giving award plaques to the racers with Sal's riding image on it. Also the organization has given to Sal a life time waive of all the racing fees!
Representing the whole Brooklyn motorbike crew I would like to wish to Sal many other decades of health and rejuvenating moto cross racing!
Round 14: GMC Australian Grand Prix
Does anybody need to use the world famous Butt Past to sooth the Sunday after race rash? My guess is that this race left more than one rider dissatisfied. It could be Valentino that in the first leg of the race was hammering every body and had left Hayden in the no point dust zone area. Or the recently superfast Capirossi that somehow had a really grey performance last Sunday. Or what about Pedrosa that was lapped …,yes lapped, by more that one rider. Even Gibernau, whose great post injury performance, was shadowed by the diabolik Valentinik that passed him on the last turn grabbing the 3rd place after erasing the huge gap that was separating the two (Rossi two year ago jinxed the spaniard stating that Gibernau would never win any race as long as he races …and now even the 3rd has been forbiden!).
I do not want even to try to comment in detail the race in consideration that last Sunday the rain and the consequential change of the bikes have drammatically affected the whole show. Marco Melandri AKA Macho won under rain conditions with a fat gap over a fast Vermuellen, but I wonder where the Championship standing would be if it didn’t rain.
Useless mental exercise! Let’s stick to reality: Hayden is still leading the World Championship but lost 2 points advantage on Valentino, now in 2nd position at only 21 points. Pedrosa is now 3rd with Melandri at 32 points. With 3 races to go do not even think to miss the end of MotoGp Show.
Robert Lombardi's School: Pocono East Course
What a beautiful day we had in Pocono on the 7th of September. The school had 14 students, maybe the biggest class we have handled so far this year with the NYSB club. Robert and I wouldn’t have been able to handle the size of the class on the track without the help of the other two instructors of our school: Todd Cuso and Joe Ribeiro. It’s never easy to handle a big group of riders because the normal differences in performance, experience and natural skills are amplified by the size of the group. Everybody deserves a “personalized instruction and track experience” so the challenge was somehow to level the crowd by sharing the technical foundation of the art of riding and then to work with each and every student to unlock his/her potential. At the end of the day I think that we, as school, have achieved our goal: every body was much faster, smother, in control and …. nobody crashed.
I have found a few enthusiastic comments about the school on the NYSB b. board:
“Thank You NYSBC, I had a great day. Rob and the rest of the crew, thanks for a great day last Thursday Sept 7th on the beginner class. I learned so much its unbelievable and I can’t wait to go back. Already making plans for the 29th. This class builds a great foundation and starts the brick work for a better rider out on the track with lots of advanced tips thrown in for people to think about for later stages also.
The weather was fantastic and everybody in the pits just seemed to be having fun doing what they like to do best.
Mark thanks for putting this together and for the loan of the suit.
Patric
This day was one of my best day ever on a motorcycle!! Rob aka TV Superstar, Alessandro, Todd, Joe they were all great, fantastic control riders. The way how they explain those riding technics on the track and in the classroom is unbelievable. I personally learned a lot and I did that in a very safe environment what these guys provided at NYSBC. I can only recommend the NYSBC Sportbike Basic School with Rob Lombardi to everyone. It worth it!!! Now I want to go every week to a trackday!!!
Almano
I agree with Patrick and Almano. The instructors were great and even though I have been on a track before, it's been awhile and the course brought things back to basic for me. Can't wait for the 29th and this time, I hope to bring more that one of my friends along! Thanks to all and especiall Rob, Alessandro, Todd, and Joe for a great class and learning experience! See you all again on the 29th!
~Darr
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Alex 555 2000 R6 for Sale
I am selling my beloved year 2000 R6 for $3,800. Clean title, never raced, only club and school events.
It comes with:
Shark Skin body
Penske rear shock (high and low compression adjuster) valved-sprung for 180 lbs
Traction Dynamic fork valved-sprung for 180 lbs
Hindle full exhaust system (stainless can)
K&N filter
Set of Carbs jetted by Brian Livingood (former best AMA privateer)
Woodcraft rear set - standard
Woodcraft clip-ons
Scott damper
Stainless steel brake lines
Frame Sliders
Double bubble screen (not shown in the picture)
Fully safety wired
Good spare set of wheels
For more pics click on my album
Also, I am adding spare forks, brake levers, sprockets, brake pads, etc,
Robert Lombardi's School in the media
NYSB and Robert Lombardi’s basic School recently have been receiving a lot of attention from the media. The club and our school were portrayed on the Speed Channel with the show “Super Bikes!” and on the monthly magazine, Full Throttle.
In the article there is a presentation of the club and the school with several pictures. In one of them, I have recognized two ex students of mine: the rider with a bike # 99 is Antonio followed by Naim with a yellow Suzuki. You can easily perceive their huge improvement at the racetrack by comparing this picture with the ones linked to their names.
Round 13: Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle G.P.
The Italian Job, this is the title of latest movie with Rossi and Capirossi dicing in the intriguing Malaysian circuit. A movie with only two protagonists and tons of suspense. Yes, we had other actors in the play but with no chance to get into the “action scenes”. Not that we even needed them given the battle between the two Italians: I cannot even recall how many times they have passed each other. Even the commentator got confused with the replays showed while another pass was taking place. Capirossi had a faster bike and it seems more efficient on the brakes while Rossi looked better with his M1 in carrying more momentum in the part of the circuit characterized by several turns in sequence.
Both of them tried to take off but the distance separating the two riders was always filled as soon as the person in second place was riding his favorite section of the track. At the end Valentino Rossi won but it could have been Capirossi as well: both deserved to win. Probably Valentino’s acumen made the difference: the final pass was done on the brakes going into a left turn on their last lap. In the previous laps, going to that turn when Capirossi was leading, Rossi on the brakes went right to his competitor’s tail without showing the tire to take the measurements for his future attack. Also I recall him leading to the same turn and braking at the last few feet with such aggression that greatly challenged the stability of his Yamaha: even then he was probably testing another potential scenario…
The third place went to the “small but big” champion, Pedrosa : his performance was epic in consideration that on Friday he crashed and suffering a hole on his knee as big as a teaspoon and a couple of toes broken. Great mental strength for someone only 20 year old! I say mental because the physical pain must have been well in control with the magical painkillers provided by Dr. Costa’s team of specialists: I can not even imagine to bend an injured knee in a tight and oppressive leather suit without any heavy duty drug, but which one? In the past I heard that they were receiving a sort of anesthesia, but if that’s the case shouldn’t they loose their sensibility? Talking about injured people, Gibernau looked good on the red missile. I just hope for him to ride strong in the last 4 races so to improve his odds to get a good bike for next year: so far Ducati has renewed the contract only to Capirossi. On the other hand Hayden got a 4th place; no bad, but not enough from someone who is still leading the championship. Unfortunately the impression is that he is there only when the big guys are injured or suffering mechanical issues. And on this note I would like to ask a question: what is it happening to Melandri? How is it possible that the Fortuna Team so regular and competitive at the beginning of the season is not able to perform adequately at the end? Yes, I am a bit malicious but knowing what Honda has done in the past, I would not be surprised if they were “affecting” a bit the other satellite team to help the two official Team Repsol riders. Can you imagine if last Sunday Pedrosa and Hayden had made 4th and 5th because of a Melandri?
Video source
What a ...lucky rider!
Normally I don’t like to post videos of motorbike accidents for obvious reasons and then for this kind of reports we have FOX News. In any case for the above one I had to bend my rules. The guy is riding with NO helmet (just tons of hair), NO jacket, NO gloves, NO long pants, and … YES nothing happened to him. After being hit on the side, somehow he fell back on his own legs! Unbelievable! No foggy idea on his language too: is he coursing, thanking God or threatening the woman?
Also as you can note, with the exception the other rider, nobody stopped on the scene of the accident .... this is just crazy.
Slow speed turns ...
My friend Antonio from Techline LLC has signaled this video. It’s a gymkhana, a contest where the competitors test their balance skills: the winner is the rider who completes the course in the shortest time without touching the ground with his feet. This type of competition seems to be very common in Asia. What’s interesting to notice is the technique: to make a tight turn at slow speed the rider has to shift his body position far outside the bike with his weight on the outside peg. The farther away the rider moves from his bike the more will lean the bike and the tighter will be his turn. Just the opposite technique used in high speed turns (see Antonio’s picture).
I have never raced in a gymkhana but I grew up in Rome with tight roads and bumper to bumper traffic, a perfect field to challenge your balance and reflex.
Round 12: Gauloises GP Ceske Republiky
Welcome back MotoGp! We missed you …. Almost a month went by since the last race in Laguna Seca. Time that riders have used to recharge their “batteries”and in some cases to recover from the consequences of injuries. In the meantime the team have been busier than ever fine tuning the present bikes for last leg of the championship and developing the new 800cc for next season. Team and riders managers have probably started meeting each others in restaurants, bar, behind dark sunglasses to re-build new business relationships or consolidate old ones. August went fast for everybody, even for us: vacation trips and outdoor activities replaced the time spent in front the TVs or our computers. Personally I have not taken care of my beloved Pure Motorbike Passion for almost 2 months, but I am back with the intent to post one or two pieces on a weekly basis.
The first surprise of the weekend happened on Friday: Valentino shocked everybody by setting up the bike with qualifiyng tires. Unheard strategy with unquestionable results given his pole position on Saturday. The obvious goal was to put an end to the terrible string of qualifying results accumulated so far. With the exception of the GP in Italy and in Catalunya, Valentino this year started almost every race in the 3rd or 4th row. Sunday was Showtime: DESMOCapirossi was untouchable taking the lead of the race since the first lap and winning the race at a pace that could not be matched by anybody else. Before easing off on the last lap he had 8 seconds on Valentino. I call him DESMOCapirossi because it’s with the Ducati DESMO16 that last Sunday he was able to mark a new record: he is the only winning rider still active after 16 years from his first GP victory.
Behind Capirex, Valentino had his own challenge with an aggressive Pedrosa that after starting in 9th position, in only 8 laps was able to reach the third position and for a while to aim at getting the second place. The battle between two champions was breathtaking, with several attacks of the Spaniard blocked going to the apex of the turn. For two times the young talent was able to pass Rossi who retook the position immediately after on both occasions.
Behind them Kenny Roberts Jr. lead a dynamic group followed by Melandri, Stoner, Hopkins, Nakano and Hayden. For the Kentucky Kid was the worst result of the year. He blamed a poor grip on the rear tire and a malfunctioning slipper clutch. Something must have happened because he lost positions after positions without any particular resistance.
The Cech Gp has once again revealed the potential skills of ex 250cc riders Pedrosa, Stoner and Elias. They look totally confortable with the big 4 stroke bikes, but how much credit they do deserve? As my brother Roberto keenly points out, the evolution of the electronic in the traction control and in the slipper clutches along with the use of the fat rear rubbers make the bikes less prone to spin the tires. Clean and smooth styles are rewarded with faster laps and competitive results. We have the Michelin technicians claiming that Pedrosa’s riding style is very similar to Biaggi’s one. But he stopped racing last year … someone could argue. Well, with the MotoGp bikes reduced to 800cc for 2007 is just a coincidence that Ducati is looking at him as rider in a satellite team?
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