Autoblog

MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing and could be considered the Formula 1 of the two-wheeled world. Current series point leader and seven-time Grand Prix World Championship title winner Valentino Rossi has a habit of debuting a new helmet design at the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, and this year's design did not fail to disappoint. Featuring a roughly life-size portrait of The Doctor himself in the middle of a scream, it was pretty hard to miss Rossi, even in the field of brightly colored riders and bikes. If you haven't watched the race and plan to, now would be the time to stop reading, otherwise, find out who won the event after the break, along with a link to the video of Rossi's debut of his unique new helmet design. Thanks for the tip, Gabriel!

[Source: Youtube]

Professionals earn pockets full of cheese usually because they do whatever it is they do better, faster, stronger than anyone else. Sometimes, though, they get the big bucks because they'll do something again after having nearly killed themselves the first time. That is: they'll get right back on the horse when a lot of non-professionals would instead grab a gin and tonic and watch reruns of I Love Lucy.

Jorge Lorenzo earned his money and a stay in hospital over the weekend during practice for the MotoGP China Grand Prix. On one run the bike bucked under him coming out of a turn, sending the 21-year-old rider up out of his seat like he was riding a bronco, but he managed to keep the bike upright and moving. On a following run he wasn't so fortunate, highsiding, somersaulting, and suffering a fractured left ankle, a painful right ankle, a cut heel, a knee abrasion, and forearm compression.

But here's where Lorenzo really impresses: he still got on the bike to qualify on Saturday, and came in fourth in Sunday's race. Follow the jump to check out the videos of the bucking incident and the highside. And from now on, the word you're looking for to describe Jorge Lorenzo: pro.

[Source: Axis of Oversteer]

Many of the same principles for making cars go fast work the same when applied to motorcycles. However, there are fundamental differences which need to be taken into account when the highest performance is required. Take chassis design, for instance. With an automotive chassis, race cars generally want to be as stiff as possible. This is not always the case when there are only two contact patches on the ground. This is because lateral flex allows some "give" when the bike is leaned over. Some also believe that some extra steering input is given by the rear tire when the chassis flexes, allowing the motorcycle to handle better when leaned over. Another area where motorcycles differ from cars is aerodynamics. Because of the basic rider\bike relationship, width is crucial when it comes to motorcycle racing aerodynamics. The height is almost preset by the rider; you can only crouch so much! But, the width of the bike allows designers the ability to shorten the bike by shortening the distance between the riders knees. Motoczysz has taken this idea and run with it. They believe that by halving the engine width by arranging the four cylinders in a staggered "V" pattern that they can make up the lower output they will achieve by adding a coupling set of gears on the crankshaft with the increase in aerodynamic efficiency that the design will allow. They are also building in adjustable lateral suspension movement in their innovative front fork arrangement.

Follow us past the break for more on the design of the Motocsysz and the Ecosse Spirit ES1 plus a video of the Ecosse Spirit ES1 just before its official unveiling!

[Source: Ecosse Spirit, Motoczysz and Motorcycle News]

We're shooting from the hip this week for Podcast #71. Rather than prepare, we're going with gut reactions. Starting it off, we mull over the loss of the USGP from Indianapolis, and postulate on where else F1 may pop up in the US. An F1 race on the Vegas strip would be the bomb. Staying with motorsports, we marvel at how Team SARD spanked everyone extremely hard at Tokachi with a hybridized Supra GT. We're sure that racing will improve the hybrid breed at a much steeper pace than conventional powerplants. In other racing news, Dale Junior has split from Budweiser, so he'll have new livery to plaster all over his left-turn machine.

Moving on from racing, we ponder the leakage and eventual announcement of the Porsche 911 GT2. It's as unassuming as a Porsche can get, but it packs 530 horsepower and uses the rear wheels to push top speed to the 200 MPH realm, while being a docile everyday car. While Porsches always make us giddy little schoolboys, Subaru's recent model line revisions have us alternating between cheers and jeers. The good: the Legacy SUS, or whatever the heck they call their Outback sedan is kaput. The bad: so is the straight Legacy wagon. We devolve into a styling review of Subaru's new corporate language for a while before surfacing again to discuss the inanity surrounding presidential candidates and hybrid vehicles. Idiocy, 'nuff said.

On a lighter note, we discuss the rumored sequel to Disney/Pixar's "Cars." Not surprising when you consider how lucrative the tie-ins usually are. Off entertainment and on to entertaining cars, we ogle the leaked pictures of the FPV Falcon, and discuss the future plans of that platform here in the US. It does look mean, so thanks to that janitor who picked these renderings out of the trash. Our pithy cavalcade keeps rolling along, and we chew over Bob Lutz's latest comments about the future of diesel powerplants in the US. It's odd that Bob is cool on diesel just as GM is poised to roll out new oil-burners. Wrapping up, we put out the call to action again for the Reader Ride - add your pix to the Flickr pool and include details! The hour duration of Podcast #71 will give you enjoyment to and from work, enjoy!

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By now most have heard that F1 will not hold a race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008, meaning that the fate of F1 in the U.S. is in question. Don't shed a tear for Indy, though, as it's just been announced that MotoGP will bring the new Red Bull indianapolis GP to the Brickyard on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008. Incredibly, this will be the first time in almost 100 years that motorcycles have raced at Indy. The last time was August 14th, 1909, according to Indy.

For the event, Indy is constructing a new 16-turn, 2.601-mile motorcycle road course on which riders will travel counter-clockwise, which is rare for a road course event at Indy. The event organizers promise lots of passing and side-by-side racing, as well. Like any big motorsport event, the Red Bull Indianapolis GP will be a three-day affair with supporting races and qualifying that begin on Friday, Sept. 12, 2008.

Together with the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix that's held at Laguna Seca, MotoGP now hosts two big races in the U.S. The current defending champion, Nicky Hayden, is also from the U.S., Owensboro, KY to be specific, so MotoGP's arrival at Indy is both appropriate for the motorsport and extremely exciting. While losing F1's USGP was a hit to Indianapolis, the storied track has recovered nicely with the announcement of MotoGP's pending arrival, and we'll be eager to see how it goes.

Thanks for the tip, Thor!

[Source: IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com]

In a statement to the Italian press Wednesday, MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi announced, "No Formula One, at least for the moment. I'm staying with bikes." The announcement came a day after Rossi was honored with the "Spirit of Sport" award at the annual Laureus World Sports Awards in Barcelona (photo at right), for his contributions to MotoGP during his five years as World Champion.

Rossi's announcement will disappoint the Ferrari tifosi, who were hopeful that Rossi's tests for the team would again see an Italian behind the wheel of the red cars. With the ultra-competitive Ferrar F1 team, Rossi also had a shot at becoming only the second man (after England's John Surtees) to win world championships on both two and four wheels.

Wednesday's announcement leaves Ferrari's driver lineup for the 2007 season in a state of complete confusion, at least for outsiders. Michael Schumacher has yet to decide whether or not he will continue to drive for the team next year, and Felipe Massa is on a one-year contract for this season. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen, currently driving for McLaren, is widely rumored to have signed a deal with Ferrari, but that agreement could well fall apart if Schumacher returns.

For his part, Michael Schumacher expressed his regret at Rossi's decision, saying, "I think he has a lot of talent in terms of driving... It is sad but that's the way it is."

Rossi, meanwhile, is not enjoying a good start to the 2006 MotoGP season, as his Yamaha factory team is struggling with performance and reliability issues.

[Source: Reuters, Yamaha Racing, Sportinglife.com]

Formula 1: Spanish Grand Prix, Valencia
World champion Fernando Alonso added to his 2006 championship lead this weekend, in the process becoming the first Spaniard ever to win the Spanish GP. Renault teammate Giancarlo Fisichella failed to hold off Michael Schumacher's Ferrari, losing his P2 starting slot to Schumacher during the first round of pit stops. Fisi finished third, ahead of Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who scored the fastest lap of the race. Next up: the always entertaining Monaco GP. Full race info at grandprix.com or formula1.com. Photo courtesy Renault.

Lots more after the jump...

NASCAR:
Kasey Kahne started on the pole and won going away Sunday to cap a perfect weekend in Texas, becoming the 11th winner in as many races in the 2006 Nextel Cup series. Kahne's Dodge finished five seconds clear of Matt Kenseth's second-place Ford. A brace of Chevy's driven by Tony stewart, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Full coverage here.

MotoGP:
Yamaha pilot Valentino Rossi (pictured) was back on top again at the Grand Prix of Qatar, coming from seventh on the grid to win by almost a second over Honda's Nicky Hayden. Ducati's Loris Capirossi's third place finish puts him firmly in the lead for the championship with two races in the books. Lots more information here.

More after the jump...

Laguna Seca has been spared the expense of repainting all of its on-track signage thanks to Mazda renewing its contract with the track to its title sponsor for five more years through 2011. Mazda and Laguna Seca have been partners for the last five years during which time the track has received continual upgrades like a total repaving just this past winter. It’s has also attracted some major motorsporting events, including the only North American appearance of Moto GP last year with the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix race that set a track record for attendance with 150,000 spectators.

[Source: Mazda

Champ Car World Series:
The Champ Cars are in Long Beach for their season-opener this weekend. Interesting storylines include Newman/Haas driver Sebastian Bourdais, who is going for his third consecutive championship, and RuSport's Justin Wilson, who should join Forsythe Racing's Paul Tracy as a regular front-runner this year. More info here.

NBC, Sunday 4pm

Rolex Sports Car Series:
The Daytona Prototypes will experience their first-ever street race this weekend, joining Champ Car in Long Beach. Patrick Long has set the pace in early practice with his Porsche/Crawford (pictured). Given this series prediliction for door-banging, we can expect a very eventful Long Beach debut for the prototypes.

SPEED Channel, Saturday 9pm ET (delayed)

More racing after the jump...