2012 Yamaha WR450F - First Impression

2012 Yamaha WR450F - First Impression

Excitebike!

The new 2012 Yamaha WR450F is pretty exciting, especially to those in the off-road world. It might even be of interest to those in the motocross world because it's really a combo of many Yamahas mashed all together. The frame of the new WR450 is exactly the frame from the 2012 YZ250F, the only change is a couple mounting points for the now fuel injected WR450 engine, which has powered the WR450 for many years and is essentially the same power plant that propelled the 2009 YZ450F motocrosser. The new swing arm is a modified version of last years WR450 swing arm. The fuel injection comes from a Keihin 42mm throttle body and a 12 hole injector. The new three-phase A.C. magneto generator puts out 160 watts to drive the EFI system.

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Nico Rosberg Robert Kubica Adrian Sutil

Michael Schumacher profile

A profile of the seven-time world champion, Michael Schumacher, who continues to struggle with Mercedes.

J D Gibbs Jay Frye Ginn Racing

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame to announce 2012 nominees on April 2

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame to announce 2012 nominees on April 2

On Nov. 16 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nev., the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation (AMHF) will welcome a new class into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.

PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- On Nov. 16 at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nev., the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation (AMHF) will welcome a new class into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. This year, for the first time ever, the AMHF will announce not just the final class of inductees, but on Monday, April 2, will reveal the men and women who have been nominated for consideration of one of motorcycling's highest honors.

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P.J. Jones Teresa Earnhardt Dale Earnhardt Incorporated

Honorary OBE for Eddie Jordan

Ex-Formula One team owner Eddie Jordan has been awarded an honorary OBE (Order of the British Empire) in recognition of his services to charity and motor racing.

Irishman Jordan, 64, founded the team that bore his name (now Force India) in 1990. It went on to compete in 250 Grands Prix, winning four

JEFF WARD JEFF MATIASEVICH RICK JOHNSON

Q2: Kimi goes fastest

Kimi Raikkonen set the fastest time of the Q2 session in Malaysia, ahead of Jenson Button and the two Mercedes, with Nico Rosberg ahead of Michael Schumacher. lewis Hamilton was next with Romain Grosjean sixth ahead of Mark Webber, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Sergio Perez. Out went Pastor Maldonaldo, who had an off in [...]

Lotus-Cosworth HRT-Cosworth Virgin-Cosworth

2012 IRTA MotoGP Jerez Test Day 3 Times, 2pm: Lorenzo Leads Repsol Riders

After yesterday's miserable conditions, the weather at Jerez on Sunday is nearly perfect. The sun is out, the wind has dropped, and the track is plenty warm. The teams are all very busy trying to catch up after losing most of a day yesterday, and the track is very busy, as is the circuit, with over 5,000 fans turning out for the test.

At 2pm, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo is the fastest man on track, leading the Repsol Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner, while Ben Spies completes the Yamaha/Honda sandwich. San Carlo Gresini Honda's Alvaro Bautista is the best of the satellite riders, just a fraction ahead of Cal Crutchlow on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha. Nicky Hayden leads the factory Ducatis, Hayden 1.3 behind Lorenzo, teammate Valentino Rossi 1.5 slower, though both have closed the gap compared to Friday. Randy de Puniet is the first of the CRT bikes, though today, he is slower than all of the satellite bikes, and nearly two and a half seconds behind Lorenzo.

Times at 2pm:

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2012

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Eric McClure Larry McClure Phoenix Racing Mike Wallace

Massa denies Perez performance puts him under pressure | F1 Fanatic round-up

Massa denies Perez performance puts him under pressure is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

In the round-up: Felipe Massa denies his place at Ferrari is under threat from Sergio Perez.

Massa denies Perez performance puts him under pressure is an original article from F1 Fanatic. If this article has been published anywhere other than F1 Fanatic it is an infringement of copyright.

Adrian Sutil Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello

AGV PistaGP Helmet ? The Next Generation Helmet

Today at the MotoGP test in Jerez, AGV debuted its next-generation helmet: the AGV PistaGP. The fruits of the Italian company’s Project 46, the PistaGP is the first helmet to come from AGV’s new AGV Standards program, which seeks create products with an inside-out approach. You have likely already seen Valentino Rossi testing the AGV PistaGP in the recent Sepang tests, and I have already waxed poetic about how excited I am about this product. ...

Jimmie Johnson Elizabeth Morgenthau BAM Racing

Head2Head: First-time Truck winner at Martinsville?

Martinsville Speedway is a tricky little track, rewarding patience and wherewithal with a trip to Victory Lane and a grandfather clock. But do you have to be a veteran driver to reap the rewards of an afternoon at the paperclip-shaped venue?

Robert Kubica Adrian Sutil Michael Schumacher

2012 IRTA MotoGP Jerez Test Day 3 Times, Final: Stoner Edges Lorenzo

Final results on the last day of testing at Jerez:

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2012

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Sakon Yamamoto Nick Heidfeld Michael Waltrip Racing

2012 IRTA MotoGP Jerez Test Day 2 Round Up: Rain, the Tire Saga, and Cost-Cutting vs Increasing Income

"What we should do," the Jose Maroto, the Spanish editor of Motociclismo said to me, "Is organize MotoGP in Ethiopia, or anywhere they are having a drought. It hasn't rained here in Jerez for 70 days, and this is what happens when we arrive." It had happened in Sepang, and it happened at Jerez, the weather was the major protagonist on the second day of testing at the Spanish circuit, with high winds and heavy rain dominating much of the day.

It almost had a remarkable effect. Avintia Racing's Ivan Silva was one of the few riders who went out early in the morning while the track was still dry, and it looked for a long time like the Spaniard would end the day on top of the timesheets, a first for the FTR Kawasaki CRT bike. But the weather cleared up in the last few hours of the test, leaving an almost dry track for the final 30 minutes, and seeing most of the riders go back out to prepare some work for Sunday. In the process, they stole Silva's chance of glory, demoting him to 6th spot at the end of the day.

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NICK WEY SEAN HAMBLIN MATT WALKER

Final practice - Rosberg flies for Mercedes

Nico Rosberg gave Mercedes a turn at the top of the times when he dominated the end of FP3 in Sepang this afternoon. The young German was the only runner below 1m 37s with a lap of 1m 36.877s which was 0.443s clear of Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.

There was a 12 minute hiatus at the start of the session as teams waited for Turn 9 in particular to dry out after a brief rain shower

STEVE LAMSON BUDDY ANTUNEZ DAVID BAILEY

Busch and Harvick Fined and Put on Probation

After their little “incidents” at Darlington this past weekend, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have both been fined 25,000 and put on probation for the next four “points paying” races. I have heard that Kevin Harvick has decided to run this weekend’s truck race, so he could give some payback then and not violate his [...]

RICKY CARMICHAEL ANDREW SHORT DAVI MILLSAPS

Home And Away: SBK's Italian Odyssey

Enthusiastic crowds with motorsport passion coursing in their veins, wonderfully scenic and atmospheric venues and normally great weather conditions, no matter the time of year. There are a lot of upsides about Superbike World Championship races held in Italy.

Maybe that is why we have been to so many different circuits in the Mediterranean homeland of SBK racing that have hosted races, and usually on multiple occasions. Six circuits in total, one more than any other country on the well-travelled SBK map, have hosted at least one full status Superbike world championship round within Italy.

Confusingly, many races held in the physical borders of Italy as a country have been, technically speaking, San Marino rounds, usually but not exclusively at Misano, near to the independent principality in the hills near Rimini. (This is not a unique situation, as we have had Andorran races at Jerez in Spain, and Irish rounds at Brands Hatch in England).

The most frequently visited Italian circuits are Monza and Misano, which have each hosted 40 individual races. Enna-Pergusa, on the Island of Sicily, is the least visited, having hosted only one round, way back in 1989. Vallelunga, near the eternal city of Rome and the headquarters of Infront Motor Sports, has hosted two rounds containing four races. Mugello, nestling in the Tuscan valleys that lead to Florence, has hosted three rounds/six races.

The first Italian venue we will visit in SBK's 25th anniversary year will be Imola, however, which has hosted 17 points scoring races, the first in 2001 and the most recent in September last year. Seventeen races - why the odd number? Well, in 2005, the second race had to be cancelled because of an uncharacteristic torrential amount of rainfall.

We will go to Italy three times in the 25th year of SBK racing in 2012, Imola from 30 March to 1 April, Monza from 4 May to 6 May and Misano (San Marino round) between 8 and 10 June.

McGlynn Racing Derrike Cope Barney Visser

Sykes sets new unofficial Aragon benchmarks

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has demolished all the Aragon circuit records at the conclusion of two days of Superbike private testing in Spain.

On Sunday the British rider had lapped in a time of 1 minute 58.4 seconds, four-tenths under Checa's lap record, but today on soft tyres he went even quicker to record a 1 minute 57.2 seconds lap, which knocks almost half a second off the 2011 pole time. With this performance, Sykes confirmed that he and the team are now on the right track following their Phillip Island podium, and are gearing up to repeat this form in less than two week's time at Imola.

Aragon also saw promising form recorded by the two BMW Motorrad team riders. Marco Melandri was able to test a new swing-arm and suspension link, which gave positive results, while Leon Haslam tried out a new spec engine. The British rider proved to be particularly impressive on softer tyres, which his Italian team-mate did not use.

Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) set some fast times in the morning session, his quickest being a 1'58.8 lap, the 2010 champion trying out an evo-spec engine that Aprilia will bring to the world championship rounds from Monza onwards, but the Italian finished the test session early.

Overall times (unofficial): 1. Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'57.2; 2. Haslam (BMW) 1'58.2; 3. Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'58.2; 4. Biaggi (Aprilia) 1'58.8; 5. Melandri (BMW) 1'59.1; 6. Laverty (Aprilia) 1'59.5; 7. Mercado (Kawasaki) 2'00.9.

TREY CANARD MIKE BROWN MIKE LAROCCO

What Really Happened at St. Louis Supercross 2012

What Really Happened at St. Louis Supercross 2012

Three peat for Barcia, RV2 extends points lead

Is it me or are there elements of this season’s supercross season that are from bizzaro world? To the few, Ryan Villopoto, Ryan Dungey, or Justin Barcia, for example, things are fairly status quo, yet for others riders, especially in the 450 class, anything and everything can happen. Red flagged races, caution light controversies, photo finishes, countless crashes and injuries to key racers. In St. Louis some of the odd continued such as Kyle Partridge slicing his foot to the bone and a reported broken C3 & C4 in his neck that will require surgery and Cole Seely nearly crashing off the side of the over/under bridge, yet his bike did tumble off the bridge, to point out a few highlights. What’s odd is that nothing has really changed in the series, it is just one of those years that will end up on the highlight reels for years to come.

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JIMMY BUTTON JEAN-MICHEL BAYLE DOUG DUBACH

McLaren confident car will adapt

McLaren say their new car can compete for wins at all circuits following Jenson Button?s victory in Australia.

Kenneth Wood Ash Motorsports Brandon Ash

2012 IRTA Moto2 Jerez Test Day 3 Times - Corti Edges Luthi

Claudio Corti has ended the final three-day Moto2 test of the 2012 preseason on top of the pile, setting the fastest time on Wednesday, and just edging ahead of Thomas Luthi. Pol Espargaro was 3rd fastest, under two tenths slower than Luthi, and about the same ahead of Marc VDS Racing's Mika Kallio, while Marc Marquez ended the test in 5th.

Conditions were ideal for the final day of the test, with the wind that had plagued the riders on Tuesday gone, though that did not prevent the riders from falling. Randy Krummenacher, Takaaki Nakagami, Gresini teammate Ratthapark Wilairot and Gino Rea, and Tech 3's Bradley Smith all hit the tarmac, with Smith's crash sufficient to bring out the red flags.

The improved conditions also meant that most riders set their best time on the final day of the test. Scott Redding was the only rider in the top 10 incapable of improving on his time on Wednesday, though his time from Tuesday was good enough to put him 7th overall. But the pace was positively blistering: Corti's time of 1:41.983 is nearly three quarters of a second faster than the pole record held by Stefan Bradl from last year.

The riders now pack up and head off to Qatar for the season opener on April 8th.

Results of Day 3:

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2012

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David Reutimann Calvin Wells Michael Waltrip Racing

Sauter gets in Hornaday?s face after Truck race

Johnny Sauter got in the face of Ron Hornaday after the Truck Series? Kroger 250, but with two NASCAR officials nearby, it didn?t escalate into anything more Saturday afternoon at Martinsville Speedway.
Sauter was angry because Hornaday had turned him with 27 laps remaining. After the race, Sauter did not return to his pit stall as [...]

RBR-Renault McLaren-Mercedes Ferrari

The Weekly Dirt: February 29, 2012

The Weekly Dirt: February 29, 2012

Limited Edition bikes, Supercross, Off-Road... it's all here!

Welcome to the Weekly Dirt, the place to go each week to catch up on all that's happenin' in the world of off-road. This week we've got a special treat of off-road nuggets, so let's get to it!

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Adrian Sutil Michael Schumacher Rubens Barrichello

Recovery and progress for Haslam at Arag�n

Britain's Leon Haslam returned to the track for two days of testing at the MotorLand Aragon circuit on Sunday/Monday in the run-up to the second round of the Superbike World Championship next week at Imola.

Haslam is recovering well from the fracture of his tibia that he sustained on 20th February during the official Superbike testing at Phillip Island. The fracture was fixed with two screws just one day before the first race weekend started, and Leon successfully took part in the first two races of the season, scoring an amazing fifth place in race 2.

As the healing process is going well, he was able to jump on his S 1000 RR for testing at Motorland Arag�n and managed to clock the second quickest time overall in the test, with a 1 minute 58.2 second lap.

"It was good to get back on the bike," declared Haslam. "My leg is getting better day by day. It is still a little sore and I can't walk on the leg yet, but it is a lot better than it was in Australia and it should be nearly 100 percent okay for Imola. Technical wise we got through a lot of things and we got some good information from all the parts that we tried. We did not concentrate on lap times but on the new parts and I am pretty happy with the result."

WIL HAHN MIKE ALESSI JOHN DOWD

Barrier and Baroni get ready for new STK1000 season

The BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superstock Team recently wrapped up its pre-season testing schedule with three days at the Imola circuit in view of the opening Superstock 1000 round there on April 1st. The test was another opportunity for Sylvain Barrier and Lorenzo Baroni to try their 2012 machines following on from Almeria at the start of February.

Thanks to good weather Barrier and Baroni completed a lot of laps, which allowed them to familirise themselves with the BMW S 1000 RR they will be campaigning this year. Barrier, currently in his second season with the team, expressed satisfaction over the tests, while Baroni continued his learning curve on his second outing with the team.

Team Manager Serafino Foti declared: "It was a positive three days, we managed to make some more progress from the tests in Spain, and we found a good balanced set-up for the bike. Both riders went well and worked calmly through the programme. All this makes us optimistic about the opening round of the season".

ANDREW SHORT DAVI MILLSAPS CRISTOPHE POURCEL

Sofuoglu suffers injury setback at Imola test

The Kawasaki DeltaFin Lorenzini team concluded a two-day testing session at Imola on Saturday in view of the Imola World Supersport round at the start of April. But the test was characterized by a minor setback for Phillip Island winner and points leader Kenan Sofuoglu as he crashed on Friday morning at the Acque Minerali after just a few laps.

At first the consequences for the Turkish rider appeared serious and he went for a check-up at Imola hospital, but he was diagnosed as only having suffered bruises to his neck, left shoulder and a dislocated left knee. Sofuoglu returned to the circuit and went out on the track again but his overall condition got worse and he had to abandon the test.

After a medical check-up by Dr. Corbascio of the Clinica Mobile, it was decided to insert a stabilizing screw in his knee in an operation under local anaesthetic, thus ensuring that Sofuoglu will not miss the Imola round in a couple of weeks time.

Team manager Vanni Lorenzini confirmed: "We are sorry about what happened to Kenan, but now we feel better for him because, after fearing possible complications, it was confirmed that our rider can take part in the Imola round on April 1st without any problems. The operation would have allowed him to start racing again immediately, but we preferred to let him rest some more."

BMW Sauber-Ferrari STR-Ferrari Lotus-Cosworth

Ned Suesse Dakar Rally Update - Final Stages

Ned Suesse Dakar Rally Update - Final Stages

We finally caught up with Ned in the pits just before the last day of the rally on Saturday, January 14th.

We finally caught up with Ned in the pits just before the last day of the rally on Saturday, January 14th. Ned had finished the day and was obviously optimistic about his chances of accomplishing his goal of seeing the checkered flag in Lima, Peru. After hours and hours on the bike, the friendly Coloradan gave us a few days’ worth of recap for your reading pleasure. Enjoy the latest from Neduro!

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johnny Sauter Raynard McGlynn McGlynn Racing

What?s Next For Dodge?

In a surprising announcement yesterday, Penske Racing said it would switch manufacturers to Ford at the end of the season. The team left Ford in 2003 and in recent years became the premier organization for Dodge. Together the two had a reasonable amount of success racking up 23 wins (a little less impressive considering 8 [...]

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RICK JOHNSON RON LECHIEN JOHNNY OMARA