| 7 May, 2013 - France: MotoGP 2013 Motorcycle Rest Places - Relais Calmos | The French MotoGP motorcycle race is on for 17, 18 and 19 May, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place several motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 8 April, 2013 - So You Think Your Motocrosser Is Too Light? Try This | #Honda #GoldWing #Funny - Motocross motorcycles are tough, powerful and light. After all, you need to be able to pull yourself and the bike out of mud, ruts and sand. So it pays having a motorcycle that weighs next to nothing. Right?
Well some Dutch bikers don't think the same as you. They prefer heavier motorcycles to race down the mud. And what can get heavier than a Honda Gold Wing (well maybe a Victory, Rocket III or Valkyrie). So they went about and modified several Honda Gold Wings from decent & comfortable long distance motorcycles into machines that could go anywhere, especially mud and dirt.
I don't think they'll try this with a brand-new 1800 cc motorcycle, those pesky airbags are going to get in the way of jumps, but they did take a 1400 cc and 1200 cc...........
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| 8 April, 2013 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops Bol D’Or 2013 | For those of you going to the Bol d'Or motorcycle endurance race, and going by motorcycle, here are all the active motorcycle rest stops.
At the "Relais Calmos Motards" you will be able to rest between bikers, eat, hot drinks, check your tire pressure, minor repairs, etc.
Do watch out of the police before and after these rest stop, they are ALWAYS there!
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| 27 March, 2013 - What It Takes To Become World Champion Motorcycle Racing - The Case of Vasco van der Valk | You don't become world champion motorcycle racing, be it MotoGP, Superbike or any motorsport, by accident. You don't hope of on a race motorcycle at the "ripe" age of 18 and go and win races. There's virtually no sport that allows that. Whether you're racing motorcycles, cars, skiing downhill, swimming, horse riding, running, etc, you need one thing, and one thing only: YOU NEED TO START YOUNG.
The younger you are when you start competing in your chosen sport, the better you will be. Very few people will question that tactic. Valentino Rossi started racing at the tender age of 5 (karts, but quickly went to motorcycles). Casey Stoner started with motorcycle racing at the age of 4. Jorge Lorenzo started riding a home built motorcycle at the age of 3 years. Very few champions and professionals will make it to the top if they did not start really young.
Before we continue, watch this video...........
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| 18 March, 2013 - Switching From 2 to 4, From 4 to 2 Wheels - Motorcycles & Cars | #Motorcycle #Car - It looks like a lot of professional racers in the car and motorcycle sports are crossing over to the other category. What used to be motorcycle racers going to the "dark" side of the sport, ie car racing, has now become a common cross occurrence.
We all remember the speculations when Valentino Rossi tried the Ferrari F1 race car a few times. Most fans were convinced that he was going to race Formula One. Other champions had done that in the past, so why not him. Notably John Surtees, who became the only world champion MotoGP and Formula One.
Many Dakar motorcycles racers have gone on to race cars...........
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| 15 March, 2013 - Movie: The 1st Motorcycle Cannonball Race Documentary | Hmmm... looks like an interesting video. It's a documentary of a Motorcycle Cannonball "race", not by hardcore race motorcycles, but by pre-1916 motorcycles.
You can imagine how tough a coast-to-coast race would be on present-day race or endurance motorcycle, so you can imagine how it would be on a vintage bike dating before 1916. Some don't even have a transmission. The need to rebuild their engines in the parking lots, and keep squeezing every bit out of the bike to make it to the coast. And I guess the bikers will need to have their kidneys and other organs remolded after each day.............
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| 4 February, 2013 - France: Le Touquet Enduropale 2013 - Photos and Video | #Touquet #Enduropale - Another year, another crazy Le Touquet Enduropale beach motorcycle race is over. And what a race it was.... suspense, drama, fights, weather. A 3 hour super tough beach race which lasted 2 hours, since the weather had become impossible and the tide was therefore turning in much quicker than expected, making it not only very difficult, but also very dangerous.
And it was a good thing for the declared winner Jean Claude Mousse since he had to rip off his goggles halfway through the last lap (a lap takes 15 minutes to complete) and he couldn't see anything. He was passed just before the finish line by Potisek, but since the red flag was out, the previous lap counted, not the finished one...........
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| 25 January, 2013 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops for Enduropale 2013 | If you're planning to attend world's craziest, and biggest, beach motorcycle race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, on next weekend (February 2 & 3), and you're going on a motorcycle, here are the special rest places for bikers.
There are 3 of them, places motorcycle riders can go to, to get their bike checked out, drink hot drinks, and mingle with other bikers.
Also, several motorways should be free for motorcycles going to the race.
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| 19 December, 2012 - I Nominate This For The Next Winter Olympics - Anyone Else? | It has always bothered me that there's never any mechanical sports in the Olympics games, summer nor winter. Motorcycle racers are top athletes, so why wouldn't they be allowed to measure themselves against others every 4 years, and why wouldn't they be allowed to participate in kick-ass opening ceremonies? It's not fair, but the IOC can't seem to find a motorcycle sport that could be used for any of the Olympics games.
Well, I beg to differ. Back in 1928 at the Winter Games of St. Moritz, Switzerland, they held a horse-skiing race as demonstration. What they did was use a horse to pull a skier, making it a trial for both horse rider, horse and skier. Very noble. Very exiting.
Well, believe it or not, the sport cam from Sweden and Norway, and is called Skijoering. The clever Scandinavians knew that horses or, as originally used dogs, would have a difficult time in their climate, so they substituted horse with motorcycles............
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| 29 October, 2012 - MotoGP: This Photo Sums Up The 2012 Season | Despite being an enormous fan of MotoGP racing, it's a motorcycle sport that has been less than competitive for a couple of years now. Even Valentino Rossi has to admit the motorcycle race has become boring. All the artificial limitations imposed on the sport, penalties for riders who dare overtake, too many technical constraints, and not enough "showman" racers makes the sport more and more difficult to watch.
It was great watching Jorge Lorenzo win the championship again, he deserved it. Seeing Casey Stoner win his home race as head-alien was cool as well. But if there's one photo that sums up the 2012 season, it's this one:
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| 27 October, 2012 - Video: 2012 AirAsia Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix | Here's a very good and entertaining TV commercial for the 2012 AirAsia Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix to be held tomorrow. It shows all the great motorcycle racers of the MotoGP race, all with added animations.
Very nicely done, and fun to watch; Let's just hope the race will be the same - fun, thrilling and entertaining.
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| 23 October, 2012 - Spain: Race Between Taxi and Motorcycle Taxi | It was bound to happen one day... a race between a car taxi and a motorcycle taxi. The location is Madrid, Spain, and one of the MotoTaxi scooters up against a car taxi in a 6 kilometer race through the heart of Madrid. The time is just before rush hour traffic, so a lot of cars, but not jam-packed.
Both vehicles leave at the same time, and as you can guess, the motorcycle taxi arrived at the destination 10 minutes before the car. But the real race was not the time it was going to take, since the answer to that was quite obvious, but the real race was the cost...........
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| 20 October, 2012 - Rally of Morocco 2012: Day 5 - Despres Hangs On To Overall Lead | If this rally will be anything like the Dakar, KTM is in for a nasty surprise...
Husqvarna and Honda are making the Austrian's brand life difficult. Cyril Despres still leads, but by a narrow margin.
At the bottom of the page is a short round-up video made by Cyril Despres himself.
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| 19 October, 2012 - Rally of Morocco 2012: Day 4 - Despres Surges Back Into Lead | What looked like a tough rally for KTM, yesterday thing came back to "normal" with Cyril Despres leading again...
... but there are less and less KTM's in the running. Is it the end of the orange supremacy?
Photos and a video....
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| 18 October, 2012 - Rally of Morocco 2012: Day 3 - Despres Drops To 2nd; Coma Withdraws | Everything has changed in the space of 24 hours on the Morocco Rally. KTM lost to Husqvarna and Honda in Stage 3, and the overall lead went to Honda.
One of the two top runners, Marc Coma, is in hospital with a dislocated shoulder, while Cyril Despres has been moved to 2nd place with 11 minutes behind the leader.
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| 17 October, 2012 - Rally of Morocco 2012: Day 2 - Despres Moves Into Overall Lead | Day 2 of this increasingly spectacular motorcycle rally, the OiLibya Rally of Morocco, with three racers starting to detach themselves from the others, including the two rally aliens Marc Coma and Cyril Despres.
Included also a short video message from Cyril Despres about the stage itself.
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| 16 October, 2012 - Rally of Morocco 2012: Day 1 - The Start Of Something Beautiful | A few months until the Dakar rally, this is the main event before the fun starts. The Rallye OiLibya du Maroc as it is called officially has become THE pre-Dakar motorcycle rally. All the big (and lesser) motorcycle racers are taking part in what is becoming the 2nd biggest motorcycle rally, after the Dakar. Names like Cyril Despres, Marc Coma, Helder Rodrigues, Chaleco Lopez, etc can be found here.
Here is what KTM has to say..........
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| 13 September, 2012 - Baja Morocco 2012 - A New Motorcycle Race | Building on the name and style of the famous Baja races held in North America, and their own successful OiLibya Rally of Morocco, the organizers (NPO) have created the Baja Maroc race.
The 3 day event is styled after the Baja 500 event, meaning you don't need roadbooks, just skill, endurance and money to participate. The race is held in the Southern part of Morocco, with the famous Ouarzazate city in the middle (where the movie studies are). It's where you get to ride your motorcycle in the real Sahara desert, with vast stretches of sand, and more importantly; DUNES.
In total during the three days, you'll be riding some 500 kilometers.........
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| 7 September, 2012 - 24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle - LIVE Feed | The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle endurance race is upon us, since it starts this Saturday. However, the qualifiers will start today. FIM, the international motorcycle race federation, is live streaming all tests, qualifiers and the actual race. So if you live somewhere too far to go and see the actual race, and even if you live close-by and want to watch it, turn on your computer.
Several TV stations are transmitting the motorcycle race, but none will be showing the whole race. You have the choice of watching the race on FIM Live-TV, or on YouTube.
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| 5 July, 2012 - Tour de France 2012 - The Motorcycles | #TdF - As luck would have had it, the 2012 Tour de France passed along my house by some 500 meters, enough for me to have a look. Some 6 hours were spent there, 3,000 photos taken, and now many hours of sorting, editing and publishing. It'll take a long time to show you what it looks like being a "spectator" alongside the road of the Tour, so to keep you busy, here's just "some" of the motorcycles that can be found.
There are some 200 bicycles in the race, and at least the same number of motorcycles, maybe even more. I've divided up the motorcycles per category; police, official and press.
Here are 31 photos of the motorcycles in the Tour de France.
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| 2 July, 2012 - The "Real" Results of the Dutch MotoGP Race Weekend | The real fight within the MotoGP world wasn't just the one we saw this weekend in the TT of Assen. It wasn't just between racers, it's also between the motorcycle world and the general media.
The general TV/Media blamed the motorcycle world for a lot of bad things that happened on the road, but when the Dutch motorcycle news site Nieuwsmotor, investigated, it became apparent that the general media's reporting was shoddy at best. Even the Dutch cops were satisfied with the motorcycle world.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 8 June, 2012 - Le Touquet Enduropale Motorcycle Race 2013 + Video 2012 | The dates for the 2013 Le Touquet Enduropale motorcycle beach race, world's biggest motorcycle race, have been announced.
If you have never been, or want to see more about this amazing and very tough motorcycle race, check out the red Bull video in the article.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 4 June, 2012 - Marc Coma Takes Podium In His First Baja 500 | Spanish Dakar winner Marc Coma competed in his first ever Baja 500, and he finished in 3rd place, not bad for a first time. He raced with two other team members, Mexican Ivan Ramirez and USA Mike Brown.
Ramirez crashed the KTM motorcycle in the beginning, badly damaging the bike. They had to quickly change the exhaust on the KTM 450 Enduro bike, and then make up for lost time.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 24 May, 2012 - Marc Coma To Race In The 2012 Baja 500 | Marc Coma, one of the two "alien" Dakar racers (the other being Cyril Despres), will compete in the upcoming Baja 500 desert race. The Spanish motorcycle rider is well used to riding in the desert and enduro; you just need to have watched the Dakar to know that.
On June the 2nd, he will be entering the race on an official KTM North America 450cc enduro motorcycle. His almost instinct-driven navigation skills that has seen him win 3 Dakar races in the past, will be of no use to him, since in Baja 500 the race track is signposted. It's all up to riding skills.
According to Coma, he is in great physical shape, and is training to take part in this legendary race.
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| 21 May, 2012 - MotoGP: A Suggestion For Improvement | For those of you who saw the MotoGP race of Le Mans 2012, you know what I'm going to suggest. For those of you who haven't seen the race, go and see it. You'll not be sorry.
After having seen several seasons worth of motorcycle racing, the best races have always been those that were qualified as "WET". So instead of hoping for rain, why not put sprinklers on the side of the track, and make the track wet?
This has many advantages:
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 14 May, 2012 - France: MotoGP 2012 Motorcycle Rest Places | The French MotoGP motorcycle race is on this weekend, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place several motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 26 April, 2012 - Royal Enfield: Fuel Economy Race | The Gloucestershire dealer of Royal Enfield motorcycle, BVM, had organized on the 14th of April a special race for Royal Enfield owners. Not a speed race, nor an endurance race, but a race to see who could beat the factory quoted Miles Per Gallon figure of 79 mpg.
Two categories Enfields were organized, motorcycles with EFI and ones with carburetors. The "race" was held on a 39 mile stretch of road.
The winner of the most economical run was a Royal Enfield Fury, riding the distance at 96.93 mph, the runner up did 92.76 and third best ran at 92.20 mpg. Despite riding a road with many steep climbs, they bettered the factory average by 22%.
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| 17 April, 2012 - E-Power Race: Munch Racing Team | The first round of the FIM e-Power race, electric motorcycle race, is now history. Held at Magny-Cours last weekend during the famous Bol d'Or endurance race, the e-bikes race was a disappointment. Not the bikes, nor the teams, but the fact that there were only 3 bikes at the start. Not much of a competition..
It's something that the FIM needs to address properly if they want to make this an interesting race.
Here's a look at the winning team and their riders, Munch racing Team.
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| 16 April, 2012 - A Photographic Visit Of The Magny-Cours Circuit | I realize that not many people get to visit the Magny-Cours circuit here in France, let alone visit the "special" and off-limit areas. So after my little visit to the circuit for the FIM e-Power race (which wasn't much of a race), I've decided to show you a lot of photos of the circuit. Most of them were taken really early in the morning (Friday 13th). Magny-Cours, together with the Le Mans Bugatti circuit are the two main race circuits in France, hosting races for the MotoGP, World SuperBike, Formula 1 and of course the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This weekend was the other large 24 hours endurance motorcycle race, that of the Bol d'Or.
The one thing you'll notice at this circuit, the same as with the other French motorcycle races, is the incredible noise, 24 hours per day. It's not the race bikes, but the bikers who have come to attend the race and are camping around the circuit. All the time, and I mean all the time, there are several who are revving up their bikes, spitting and flaming. At 6 AM in the morning of the 13th you could still hear them. A pity if you need to sleep....
Here are 44 photos of the circuit I've taken. You can click on any photo for a bigger version, but if you are going to do that, let the whole page load with all its photos.
Click on the headline to continue reading this story.......
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| 13 April, 2012 - Bol d’Argent - A Quick Action Photo Look | Apart from the premature e-bike race, the FIM e-Power, and the always impressive sidecars, the main pre-event for the Bol d'Or race is the Bol d'Argent. For those who don't read French, "Or" means gold, "Argent" means silver. The "Or" are the supersports bikes racing for 24 hours, the "Argent" are stock road bikes, racing for 3 hours. Any stock bike will do, single, bi or 100 cylinders.
The Bol d'Or gets enough publicity, so here are some action shots of the Bol d'Argent qualifiers for your amusement.
NOTE: All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them, but let the whole page load first before you do.
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| 13 April, 2012 - Electric vs Gas Powered - A Video Look | I used my trusty iPhone 4 smartphone's video camera to shoot some video of some of the motorcycles doing their free practise runs at the Bol d'Or at Magny-Cours. Obviously I also filmed the e-Power electric motorcycles, so here's a brief video clip of not only the e-bikes, but also comparing them in the same curve with a "normal" bike.
The "normal" motorcycles were the Bol d'Argent category, so not full race endurance motorcycles. The first bit is a warm up lap for the e-bikes, followed by a fast lap, followed by a "normal" bike, followed again by 2 more of the electric ones.
I think you'll need to start getting used to seeing more and more footage of electric bike races, but it might take much longer if I look at FIM's attempt at organizing the e-Power race. It's just comical, and I'm not talking about the teams, but the organization.
Click on the headline to see the video.......
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| 12 April, 2012 - A 1st Look At The FIM E-Power Race, And Probably Last | #electric #FIM - As you may gather form the title, I am not amused. I planned to spend the weekend covering the 1st leg of the FIM e-Power race, electric race motorcycle, in the world championship.
To my surprise, and dismay, there are only three teams present at Magny-Cours. I heard from the stewards that it's an improvement, since last year there were only 2 electric motorcycles.
It's a pity that FIM is not throwing in a lot of their weight to promote the category. Paying for teams to attend (like the USA ones), would make the event much more interesting. I for one, am not planning to get up early in the morning to see the qualifiers or even the race, since it's not a real race if there are only 3 bikes. It's more a comical farce.
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| 11 April, 2012 - Gone To The Races, Electric Motorcycle races | #Electric #Motorcycles #FIM: I'm on the road again, gone to the races. No, not horse races, but electric motorcycle races. I've planned to see the first leg of the international championships of the FIM e-Power races at Magny-Cours, France this weekend.
I've decided it is time to start looking at these races more seriously if we want electric motorcycles to advance in technology. The only way electric bikes will improve rapidly is via competition, since that is what will drive them to make them ride faster, and for longer distances.
Unfortunately, FIM and other organizers still don't look at this category seriously. The E-Power race is the first race on the agenda (the main event is the Bol d'Or 24 hour endurance race), starting on Saturday 9 AM..... 9 AM??? We'll be lucky to see the racers show up at that time....forget about any public and press (except me).
I'll be sending out photos to my Facebook and Twitter accounts, not only from the e-Power race and qualifiers, but also the sidecar and Bol d'Or categories.
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| 10 April, 2012 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops Bol D’Or 2012 | For those of you going to the Bol d'Or motorcycle endurance race, and going by motorcycle, here are all the active motorcycle rest stops.
At the "Relais Calmos Motards" you will be able to rest between bikers, eat, hot drinks, check your tire pressure, minor repairs, etc.
Do watch out of the police before and after these rest stop, they are ALWAYS there!
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| 27 March, 2012 - Want To Ride The Magny-Cours Circuit At Night? Yes You Can | For those of you who are planning to attend the Bol d'Or 24 hour motorcycle endurance race next month (14/15 April), there's an added advantage for going. The organizers are opening the circuit for all and their dogs (or bikes).
But the really interesting thing about this open circuit is that they plan to allow you to ride your motorcycle AT NIGHT. Friday the 13th of April (for some it's lucky, for some it's unlucky), starting at 21:00 (9 PM) until midnight, there will be several "trackday" sessions, allowing you to race on the circuit for 3 laps at night.
Click on the headline to read more .....
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| 7 March, 2012 - Rally of Tunisia Cancelled Due To Terrorist Activities | The previously announced 2012 Oilibya Rally of Tunisia has been cancelled since the government of Tunisia could not guarantee the safety of the participants due to severe unrest in the Southern part of the country.
NPO, the organizers decided to cancel the rally since the danger was too great.
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| 14 February, 2012 - Ultimate Marco Simoncelli Tribute Book - 58 of #58 | Not many people get the chance of mingling with the Gods of MotoGP, and very rare are those who are around them all of the time. But MotoGP professional photographer, Andrew Wheeler, is one of those rare individuals.
For years he has been flying all over the world, following the MotoGP circus from track to track, making photos that you will have all seen in print or on the web. His photos are very much sought after for those interested in motorcycle racing.
It's therefore no surprise that his enormous collection of photos he had made over the last few years contained many of the late Marco Simoncelli, #58.
As a tribute to Simoncelli, Andrew has released a limited edition book full of fantastic photos of the man-who-left-us too-soon. The book is called "58 of #58", and it's a 12 by 12 hardbound book with 49 pages of Marco.
If you read the comments on Facebook you will see that many are truly enjoying this book.
10% of the proceeds of the book go to the Simoncelli Foundation.
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| 8 February, 2012 - Michelin Introduces Its New Motorcycle Tires With Changes To Race Cup | French tire giant, Michelin, introduced a couple of new tires last year meant for discerning motorcycle riders, and to mark the occasion, they are adding new categories to their Michelin Power Cup motorcycle races.
Newbies, women only and endurance categories have been added, plus the ability to sign up for individual races, and not have to commit to a whole season.
Plus, they have instructors available to help you on the circuit.
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| 6 February, 2012 - Taddy Blazusiak Takes Third World SuperEnduro Title | KTM factory rider Taddy Blazusiak continued his golden run on Sunday night to win the third and last SuperEnduro event of the FIM World Championship season 2011-2012 in Barcelona, Spain, to again clean sweep both the event and the series.
Engloshman Johnny Walker took second spot, also on a KTM motorcycle.
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| 6 February, 2012 - Le Touquet Enduropale - Photos and Video | For those of you who saw the Enduropale beach race in Le Touquet (either on the spot, on TV or the Web), you'll agree that it was incredible... incredibly crazy that is. 1080 motorcycles leaving the start at the same time in snow & ice, not to mention the deep sand was a sight to see.
But this year, to slow down the holeshot winner, they made several curves in the circuit. Which is fine when you arrive as one of the first, but when the 1000+ Sunday riders arrive, they get stuck. On its own, not a problem, but it becomes an enormous problem when the front of the pack has done a complete lap (about 10-15 minutes), and reaches the backmarkers who are still stuck in their first curve or hill.
That is a sight to see. Check the video below (for as long as it plays since it might be removed). You'll see the front leader loose his position since he got stuck in a still-standing pack of Sunday riders, while the number 2 manages to pass on the outside. Fun. That's life on the Enduropale, it's not the circuit, nor the obstacles, nor the professional competitors who are a threat, but the Sunday riders, all 1000+ of them.
Here are some photos of the event, and below that videos. |
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| 3 February, 2012 - Enduropale 2012: Live On The Web | Even if you are not coming to that wacky and incredible beach motorcycle enduro, the Le Touquet Enduropale, you can still see it.
The France3 national TV stations will be broadcasting it live on TV, but will also be streaming it on their web, all 3 hours worth.
This year might just be a notable one, since they are predicting snow for the weekend....
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| 31 January, 2012 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops for Enduropale 2012 | If you're planning to attend world's craziest, and biggest, beach motorcycle race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, on next weekend (February 4 & 5), and you're going on a motorcycle, here are the special rest places for bikers.
There are 3 of them, places motorcycle riders can go to, to get their bike checked out, drink hot drinks, and mingle with other bikers.
Also, several motorways should be free for motorcycles going to the race.
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| 23 January, 2012 - Jorge Lorenzo First Motorcycle Lesson | As we had already reported, former World Champion MotoGP racing has started getting his motorcycle license, allowing him to ride a motorcycle. He already passed his Spanish theory test, and now needs to spend a few hours, officially, with an instructor. After he has done his mandatory minimum hours of riding lessons, he will need to "prove" himself in the exams.
I bet there's not a large number of examiners who are queueing up to go out for a ride with Jorge to see if he is able to ride a motorcycle.
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| 16 January, 2012 - Video: Portrait of Shelina Moreda - ePower Racer | Here's a video portrait of the Californian female racer, Shelina Moreda, who races in FIM ePower electric motorcycle races for the Italian eCRP team.
She is pretty, and very good.... 2012 is going to be interesting for electric motorcycle races.
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| 13 January, 2012 - France: Le Touquet Enduropale 2012 - No Biker Camping | The famous motorcycle beach race, world's biggest, the Le Touquet Enduropale, is held on Sunday 5 February. For the first time, one lonely American is taking part... he probably got lost and ended up in Le Touquet...
This year, the city has decided not to allow camping at the horse track, since bikers get drunk, and they wreck the place. The city, celebrating 100 years, is also the overflow for the London Olympics this year, so they want to keep the city intact.
So if you want to camp, you'll need to go to a real camping...
BTW, the oldest competitor is 91 Years old..
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| 10 January, 2012 - Jorge Lorenzo Allowed To Ride Motorcycles, Legally | Believe it or not, former MotoGP World Champion Jorge Lorenzo just passed his motorcycle riding theory test, needed to get his motorcycle license. This will allow him to ride a motorcycle on the streets.
Now...... which instructor is going to teach Jorge how to take a curve with his motorcycles, and which examiner is crazy enough to "test" him if he knows how to drive???
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| 29 December, 2011 - Belgium: Government To Finance The 2012 Motocross of Nations | Cool. The Belgium government finally went back to work, after some 2 years of a government-less country, and they immediately announced that they are financing the 2012 FIM/Monster Motocross of nations race to be held in their country to the tune of €250,000.
Not a bad way to make yourself popular with the motorcycling community.
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| 21 December, 2011 - HKER Luciole - The French Electric Race Motorcycle | France has an entry for the world electric motorcycle races, E Power.
Made by HKER, the Luciole is a 140 kph race motorcycle that is still under development, but hopefully for 2012 should see its first race.
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| 14 October, 2011 - Record Your Own Lap Times and Analyze Performance | Italian AIM company provides you with several options for your track days, riding around on your motorcycle. The easiest and cost effective solution SOLO, a GPS with a built-in database of world's race tracks (but you can add your own), giving you a full analyze of your performance. The GPS device even includes an accelerometer.
But you can get even more. With their SmartyCam, you can not only log your laptimes, you can actually see it with superimposed telemetry data on the video. See what you did right, see where you can improve.
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| 10 October, 2011 - Marc Coma King of the Desert. Wins 5th Pharaons Rally | Marc Coma is the King of the Desert! The Spanish KTM rider won for his fifth time the Egyptian Pharaons Rally on his KTM motorcycle.
He needs to win the next race (Morocco) to clinch the world title. He's now favorite to win the Dakar race, again.
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| 4 October, 2011 - Learn Motorcycle Racing Photography From A Real Pro | Andrew Wheeler from AutoMotoPhoto is one of the great motorcycle race photographers of the moment. You can see many of his fantastic photos in magazines and websites around the world. And Andrew is not selfish, he wants to share his talent.
For the upcoming MotoGP of Australia, Andrew is offering a seminar on how to make photos of race motorcycles. And it doesn't end there...
Andrew will also cook you a meal. Two for the price of one...
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| 3 October, 2011 - France’s Minister of Sport: 1st Official Visit? A Motorcycle Race | The recently appointed French Minister of Sports, former multiple world champion Judo David Douillet, went for his first official visit.... and it was to the world champion round of motorcycle enduro in France.
David, himself a passionate motorcycle rider, handed out the prizes and spent some time talking to enduro legend David Knight.
Not bad for a member of the government who do not like motorcycles. Wonder how much time he'll last?
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| 29 September, 2011 - World’s Biggest Motorcycle Beach Race Inscriptions Opens | The famous Le Touquet Enduropale beach motorcycle race opens for registration this Saturday for the 1,000 motorcycles participating in the 5th of February 2012 race.
First come, first served. If you don't plan to race, you might want to come and have a look at these mad 1,000 bikers racing in deep sand, jumps and chicanes. 3 hours of total fun.
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| 23 September, 2011 - Follow 24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle 2011 Race Live | The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle endurance race, for the first time ever, can be watched on your PC or laptop. The organizers are streaming the whole 24 hours event LIVE and free on the internet.
Just as well, since a new ordinance in Le Mans city and surroundings forbids to sales and transportation of quantities of alcohol and other booze.
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| 9 September, 2011 - Motorcycle 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011: Biker Resting Places | The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race is on in 2 weekends from now, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place several motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 5 September, 2011 - Tunisia: First Motorcycle Road Rally? | Here's a great motorcycle race for all to do! You get to "race" in a foreign country, Tunisia to be exact, but it's not in the desert, but you'll ride on normal roads. This means you can bring your Hayabusa, 125cc, Royal Enfield sidecar or you Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
Accommodation is in 4/5 star hotels, and the fee includes shipping, hotels, food and race fees. You'll not need a support crew, since they provide the mechanics.
Best of all, they have a special program for your followers/fans. Bring your spouse/partner and kids... Everyone wins.
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| 31 August, 2011 - 4 Hours Of Valmont Vintage Motorcycle Race 2011 | Every year, in a small village close to me in Normandy, France, they hold a 4 hour vintage/classic motorcycle race. Despite a persistent rain, the spectators were there to admire the old motorcycles.
Here are some photos of the wonderful event, starting with the "paddock" motorcycles, and then the races.
I'm not an expert in vintage motorcycles, so you can guess the names and dates yourself.
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| 11 July, 2011 - Tour de France To Reduce Motorcycles In 2012 | After last week's motorcycle taking out a cyclist in the 2011 Tour de France, ASO (the organizers) announced not only suspending the motorcycle rider, but that they plan to reduce the number of motorcycles in next year's race.
But then Sunday, a TV car took out 2 cyclists who were riding up front (see the video), one of them a favorite. The diver got suspended too (despite the fact that it was the race steward's fault), but will they no also reduce the number of cars?
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| 7 July, 2011 - Motorcycle Takes Away Bicycle In Tour De France 2011 | In a bizarre accident yesterday in the Tour de France, a motorcycle carrying a press photographer hooked a bicycle with Danish racer Sorensen on it.
Sorensen got ejected onto the grass (lucky) but the bicycle was hooked onto the motorcycle which happily and blissfully unaware of what had happened, continued its course.
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| 6 June, 2011 - Learn Off-Road Motorcycle Riding With Leon Haslam | You might think the headline is a mistake, but you'd be wrong. End July you can get trained by none other than Leon Haslam, BMW Superbike racer (just before Silverstone round of the WSB) is not only a street racer, but also a motocross/off-road specialist.
BMW Off Road Skills Course is offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get trained not only by the BMW Off Road Skills training staff (headed by Simon Pavey), but also by guest "teacher" Leon Haslam.
If you're interested, hurry, since it's for one class only, and limited to 28 participants.
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| 23 May, 2011 - Lorenzo Explains The Facts Of Life To Schumacher | Jorge Lorenzo, reigning MotoGP World Champion and Spanish, visited his national Formula One race this weekend and hooked up with multiple World Champion F1 racer, Michael Schumacher.
It's at this stage I would have loved to be a fly on the wall....
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| 11 May, 2011 - France: MotoGP 2011 Motorcycle Rest Places | The French MotoGP motorcycle race is on this weekend, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place several motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 2 May, 2011 - Statement From Paul Bird - Kawasaki SuperBike Team | After the Kawasaki SuperBike Team trucks were found to contain drugs and a weapon, and 4 members of the Paul Bird Motorsport Team were arrested, Paul Bird has issued the following statement.
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| 2 May, 2011 - Kawasaki SuperBike Team Arrested For Drug Smuggling | The Kawasaki SuperBike Team, racing under the Paul Bird Motorsport Team, got stopped by British Customs/Border Agency and was found to have a lot of drugs and a loaded weapon on board of the trucks.
4 people were arrested (drivers and mechanics). From now on, all motorcycle and Formula One teams will receive a close inspection by customs.
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| 20 April, 2011 - Advantage Of Ducati/AMG Tie-up For One Person | Looks like Nicky Hayden is making full use of the Ducati/Mercedes AMG tie-up.... He just took delivery of a brand new Mercedes AMG CLS 63... a very fast car.
But is it as fast as his Ducati motorcycle? And when will he receive his first speeding ticket?
Lucky Nicky...
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| 1 April, 2011 - Valentino Rossi Announces Participation In The 2012 Dakar | In an interview with La Repubblica, Valentino Rossi let it be known that he has negotiated with Ducati a release during next year's off season to participate in the Dakar 2012. His love for rallies and motocross is no secret to anyone.
He has had several training session on a KTM with multiple winner Cyril Despres, with more to follow at the end of the MotoGP season.
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| 31 March, 2011 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops Bol D’Or 2011 | For those of you going to the Bol d'Or motorcycle endurance race, and going by motorcycle, here are all the active motorcycle rest stops.
At the "Relais Calmos Motards" you will be able to rest between bikers, eat, hot drinks, check your tire pressure, minor repairs, etc.
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| 1 March, 2011 - Spain: Jerez Racing Circuit To Close? | The beautiful motorcycle (and car) race circuit in Spain, the Circuito de Jerez, used in the MotoGP races, is in dire financial difficulties, and may have to close.
They have suspended payment to Dorna, and the upcoming MotoGP race in April might be in jeopardy.
Will the bad news for motorcycle tracks ever end?
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| 17 February, 2011 - Help Save The Nurburgring Circuit. You Can Help | The famed Nurburgring race circuit is not only one of the oldest in Europe (Germany), but also one of the toughest and most demanding. It has been the host to many races, movies and TV shows (like Top Gear). It's a circuit where you can go to on your motorcycle, and do a few laps.
Thanks to an amalgamation of government and private enterprise stupidity and greed, the race circuit is in danger of disappearing (for once it's not the ecologist movements' fault).
But you can help, and it's only going to cost you a minute. Sign the on-line petition. That's all you need to do.
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| 2 February, 2011 - The Netherlands: No MotoGP On TV | No Dutch TV station will be transmitting the MotoGP races this year (as they did not last year either).
Dorna's fee is too high, and there's a lack of advertisers in the small country to generate sufficient revenue for the TV stations to make money. So they'll need to watch the BBC...
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| 1 February, 2011 - Put A Motorcycle Race Track On Your Wall | Some people put a motorcycle on the wall, but this idea might just be better.... a copy of one of world's famous race circuit.
Made out of wood and Formica, with a special system to hang them up on your wall, without nails, this is a motorcycle racing fan's dream.
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| 31 January, 2011 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2011: The Photos And Results | The famous and biggest motorcycle beach race, the Le Touquet Enduropale is over for another year.
Here are the results... and no, you'll not find the electric motorcycle (a Zero) anywhere in the top.
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| 28 January, 2011 - 2011 OiLibya Rally Of Tunisia Scheduled | Despite a difficult political climate, the OiLibya motorcycle rally in Tunisia is scheduled to be held in May.
To help to local economy and moral, Tunisian riders are invited to participate for free.
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| 25 January, 2011 - Cyril Despres To Race Le Touquet This Weekend | Just back from the Dakar, and Cyril Despres is already competing this weekend. And what a competition he racing in... he's racing in world's toughest motorcycle beach race, the Le Touquet Enduropale.
1100 motorcycles (800 quads) racing around like crazy for 3 hours in freezing temperature. Despres has won the holeshot in the past with a special motorcycle, but this year, he's going to compete for the whole distance.
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| 13 January, 2011 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops Le Touquet Enduropale 2011 | If you're planning to attend world's craziest, and biggest, beach motorcycle race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, on the last weekend of January (29/30), and you're going on a motorcycle, here are the special rest places for bikers.
There are 3 of them, places motorcycle riders can go to, to get their bike checked out, drink hot drinks, and mingle with other bikers.
Also, several motorways should be free for motorcycles going to the race.
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| 10 January, 2011 - Electric Motorcycle To Compete In The Le Touquet Enduropale | This is a first! On one of the toughest (and biggest) beach motorcycles races in the world, the French Le Touquet Enduropale, with 1,000 motorcycles racing on a 17.8 kilometer beach circuit, one of them will be an electric motorcycle.
A Zero MX electric motorcycle will be raced in this 3 hours race by Thibault Veuillet from the Craze-Team. The electric charge should last for one lap, so he'll need to come in every lap to swap batteries, but the bike itself should be very fast over the sand.
The race will be held the end of the month.
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| 8 December, 2010 - Le Touquet 2011: Speeds To Be Lowered | The Enduropale of Le Touquet, the French wacky and famous beach race held 29/30 January has had a slight change in their rules.
There's no longer a long straight line for the first lap to wards the holeshot. Speeds have reach 200+ kph, and serious accidents have happened in the past.
The circuit length remains the same, but now the first lap is no longer at top speeds, increasing the spectacle, and increasing the chance to win the holeshot for anyone.
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| 24 November, 2010 - Dakar 2011: BMW Motorcycles In Trouble | David Fretigne, French superstar enduro racer and BMW's hope for winning the Dakar race, has been declared unfit to race in the upcoming Dakar race.
David crashed in last month's Rallye du Maroc, breaking vertebrae and ribs, and has not been able to fully recover.
Now BMW's hope lies totally on Dutchman's Frans Verhoeven's shoulders.
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| 9 November, 2010 - Erzbergrodeo Dates For 2011 - Waiting List Only | The popular Austrian hard motorcycle enduro, Erzbergrodeo, not only has an official start date, but within 5 hours of the registration being open, the 1,500 slots were filled. If you want to participate in this massive and crazy off-road event, you'll need to go onto the waiting list.
The Erzbergrodeo is getting more popular every year, and TV stations around the world are now broadcasting this event. So if you can't compete in it, go and see it on the spot.
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| 8 November, 2010 - FIM: Vote For The Motorcycle Rider Of The Year | FIM, the International Motorcycle Federation are organizing their annual motorcycle rider of the year event, and are asking for your votes.
Three categories, it'll take you less than a minute. But for your time, you stand the chance of winning a prize, including a Tag Heuer watch.
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| 27 October, 2010 - France: Le Touquet Enduropale Beach Race Open For Registration | On-line registrations of one of world's wackiest and craziest motorcycle beach races, the Le Touquet Enduropale, is open for all. You can register for this epic beach race before November 30th and receive a nice discount.
The race is held on the 29th and 30th of January, so bring plenty of warms clothing. It's free for the 250,000+ spectators.
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| 25 October, 2010 - Rallye du Maroc 2010: Victory For KTM Motorcycles | Cyril Despres wins the first motorcycle rally race for the new KTM 450 Rally. Score 1 for the Rally of Morocco.
Helder Rodrigues finishes 2nd on his Yamaha, and Marc Coma suffering from penalties ends in the 3rd spot on his 450 KTM.
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| 22 October, 2010 - Fly The Friendly Skies With Jorge Lorenzo | Spain is so happy with Jorge Lorenzo winning the MotoGP title, that they've placed an image of him and his Fiat Yamaha Team motorcycle on one of their airplanes!
Cool.
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| 19 October, 2010 - KTM Start Their 450 Rally Motorcycle With A Bang | KTM has shown its cards. In the first stage of the Rallye Maroc (the precursor of the Dakar race), with the first time ever for their new 450 cc motorcycles, Cyril Despres took 1st place, and Marc Coma took 2nd. Third went to Dutchman Frans Verhoeven on a BMW, 10 minutes behind Cyril.
So it looks like KTM are still planning to take all top places for the Dakar.
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| 11 October, 2010 - Marc Coma World Champion Motorcycle Rally | KTM's Marc Coma wins the Pharaons Rally, and with the victory over Chaleco's Aprilia, wins the World Champion Motorcycle Rally Title.
3 Spaniards crowned World Champion this weekend. Is there no stopping Spain?
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| 7 October, 2010 - Pharaons: Another Aprilia Motorcycle Wins Over KTM | Another day, another Aprilia win at the Pharaons rally. Day 3 sees two Aprilia motorcycle takes the top spots in the rally.
Despite riding 450cc motorcycle over KTM's 690, the two Aprilias are aiming at finishing the rally and winning.
Is this the end of world domination by KTM?
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| 5 October, 2010 - Motorcycle Rally: Is This Aprilia’s Year? | After a great 2010 Dakar result, and now leading the Pharaons motorcycle rally, Aprilia is showing that they can taken KTM on in a fair fight in the rally stages.
Chaleco is an amazing racer, but the Aprilia motorcycle is pretty awesome as well. First day of the Pharaons, and Chaleco already has a 5 minute lead over the number 2.
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| 1 October, 2010 - Video: Making Of The SBK BMW Umbrella Girls At Misano | Nice video with catchy tune, on the "Making of" the BMW Umbrella girls at the recent Misano SBK motorcycle race.
It's not easy being an umbrella girl, you can see that for the video. Always smiling, always being pretty while 1000's gawk at you.
Interesting video.
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| 27 September, 2010 - Ludivine Puy 1st Ever Female World Champion Motorcycle Enduro | French woman, Ludivine Puy was crowned the first ever FIM Female Enduro Motorcycle Champion last weekend.
Already French and European Champion, after many other titles, this is the first ever title award by FIM in the new category, and Ludivine got it.
Congratulations to Ludivine Puy (and the other champions that day).
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| 13 September, 2010 - France: Bol D’Or 2010 Results | Yet another 24 hour motorcycle endurance race of the Bol d'Or is over, and despite the many accidents and safety cars, the SERT Suzuki team has yet won again.
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| 8 September, 2010 - The Netherlands: Motocrossers Will Require Certification | Starting next year, in The Netherlands, if you want to ride on a motocross circuit, you will need to have a certificate allowing you to do so. The certificate will be issued after a basic instruction.
Many sports require you to be certified, so why not a dangerous one like motocross. With lots of motorcycles riding around in the dirt, it makes sense.
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| 6 September, 2010 - Red Bull Alpen Brevet 2010 | Forget high speed motorcycle races, this is a race from a different era. The Red Bull Alpen Brevet is a race for some 600 mopeds, "racing" 138 kilometers over three Alpine passes.
Looks like a really fun race. One participants even had a riding BBQ moped, with sausages cooking while riding.
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| 30 August, 2010 - Video: MotorLand Aragon MotoGP 2010 Ad | Interesting TV ad for the upcoming MotoGP race in Aragon, Jorge Lorenzo's home circuit.
It's quite obvious from the ad's graphics, that Lorenzo is expected to win.... and he probably will...
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| 25 August, 2010 - France: Motorcycle Rest Stops Bol D’Or 2010 | For those of you going to the Bol d'Or motorcycle endurancerace, and going by motorcycle, here are all the active motorcycle rest stops.
At the "Relais Calmos Motards" you will be able to rest between bikers, eat, hot drinks, check your tire pressure, minor repairs, etc.
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| 29 June, 2010 - Video: Romaniacs 2010 Day 0 and 1 | The Red Bull Romaniacs is considered as one of the toughest motorcycle extreme enduro races. During 4 days, top racers of the world participate, and many do not make it to the finish.
Even the top racers have to admit defeat, like this year....
Here are two videos, one of the prologue, the other of Day 1. You'll see why they say the Romaniacs makes grown men cry!
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| 28 June, 2010 - The Netherlands: The Real Cost Of The TT of Assen MotoGP | The cost of attending the Dutch MotoGP, the TT of Assen, just went up for a few thousand motorcycle riders....
Despite the strong sunshine, speed tickets were raining over the three days. One got clocked at 220+ kph!
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| 7 June, 2010 - Erzberg: 4th Red Bull Hare Scramble to KTMs "Taddy The Great" | KTM's report on the last day of the famous and notorious Erzbergrodeo motorcycle hard enduro race.
A living hell, high temperatures, steeps mountain cliffs, sharp rocks, high speeds .... just another day in the office of the Polish rider Taddy Blazusiak.
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| 6 June, 2010 - Raikkonen Prevails In The Red Bull Clash on Erzberg | At the Erzbergrodeo hard motorcycle enduro, one vehicle was not a motorcycle.
A WRC - Rally -Citroen car took part, driven by none other than Kimi Raikkonen, who raced his car against a KTM motorcycle, ridden by none other than Taddy Blazusiak.
A flat out race around the mountain.. and the winner was.....
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| 1 June, 2010 - Shamrock Motorcycle Rally Put Forward 1 Week | The Moroccan rally Shamrock, used by the Dakar participants to do a last trial run, has been put forward by one week, allowing more time for the participants to repair any damages.
NPO, the organizers, also offer an initiation category, allowing motorcycles to race on the same tracks, without time constraints.
Financially, it's very low compared to the Dakar.
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| 28 May, 2010 - Get Your Face On Rossi or Lorenzo | The Fiat(Yamaha MotoGP racing team, are going to give a lucky person the chance to ride with Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, but not the way you may think.
No, the lucky winner is not going physically on the motorcycle, but their mug shot will. Fans can upload their photo starting June 1st, and the lucky winner will have their photo displayed on the race motorcycle.
Cool...
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| 28 May, 2010 - Sphinx Rally In Egypt Cancelled Due TO Economic Reasons | The Egyptian rally, cars & motorcycles, the SPHINX Rally has been cancelled due to financial and safety concerns.
The NPO organized race, like their other race, the Shamrock, are both races that the Dakar racers used as practice.
The Morocco based Shamrock rally is still going ahead, and registration has opened.
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| 27 May, 2010 - Hertz To Ride The MotoGP | Hertz car rentals has been signed up by Dorna Sports (the MotoGP organizers) to provide rental cars, power equipment and climate control equipment for all MotoGP races.
But they'll not provide the motorcycles.... ;-)
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| 25 May, 2010 - MotoGP Le Mans 2010 - 35 Photos Of Motorcycles | After having been invited by the Fiat Yamaha Team as guest at the French MotoGP, I shot a series of photos during the FP1. I have never made photos of high speed motorcycles before, so it was a hit & miss method, but here are 35 shots of the race motorcycles in full glory.
Let me know what you think..... do I give up my day job?
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| 23 May, 2010 - A Great Thanks To The #fiatyamahateam | After a great, educational and even emotional long weekend at the Le Mans MotoGP, as guest of the Fiat-Yamaha team, I would like to thank the whole, very professional, team.
Thanks to everyone, from riders, mechanics, managers,PR staff, cooks, etc for making this experience one of a life time.
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| 23 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam Interview Tiziana Di Gioia | An interview with Tiziana Di Gioia from the Fiat Yamaha Team. Tiziana has a dream job; the job that almost anyone would love to have, and she's got it, and she'll not let go.
She is the Sponsorship Manager for Fiat for the team, so she gets to go to every MotoGP, tour the country in fancy Fiats, and meet loads of A-list celebrities.
But she also gets up a 5 am, and goes to sleep at 3 am at times. Read her interview.
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| 22 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam MotoGP France Report: The Scooters | MotoGP races isn't only about really fast motorcycles. The majority of motorcycles are in fact small, 50cc, scooters and mopeds.
Here's a look at the fleet of scooters and almost-motorcycles, and one electric Quantya motorcycle that I saw at the French MotoGP.
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| 22 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam MotoGP France Report: Day 2 PM | A quick look at all the other main MotoGP hospitality areas. I went during the MotoGP qualifiers since nobody was outside. If you want to know more about the QP, check out MotoMatters.com... they know more about it than me.
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| 22 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam Interview Michele Quarenghi | Continuing our look at the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP team support staff, we interviewed probably the most popular person on any large racing team; the chef/cook.
Michele Quarenghi has been doing this for 3 years, and cooks, hold your breath, .... 15,000 meals during the race season. Here's the interview.
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| 22 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam Interview Brent Stevens | As promised, a look at the people you rarely see or hear from at the MotoGP races, but have very important roles.
This is Brent Stevens, a Kiwi, living in Australia, but working on every MotoGP circuit of the world, and he is one of Valentino Rossi's mechanics. For your info, he spends some 500 hours per year flying in airplanes.... that's more than what most commercial pilots do..
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| 21 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam MotoGP France Report: Day 1 PM | Afternoon of Day 1, the MotoGP time trials.
Here are several photos of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, plus some general shots. The other racers will have to wait until I'm back in the office. Enjoy.
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| 20 May, 2010 - #fiatyamahateam MotoGP France Report: Day 0 | Here's my first report on the Le Mans French MotoGP as invitee of the #fiatyamahateam.
My hosts had not arrived yet, but went to the circuit and bullshitted myself in. Here are some photos.
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| 18 May, 2010 - Great News! Fiat-Yamaha (#fiatyamahateam) Invite Us To Go To French MotoGP | I'm in luck! Lots of luck! I have been invited by the Fiat-Yamaha racing team (#fiatyamahateam -the team of Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo) to attend the French MotoGP in Le Mans this weekend as their guest blogger.
It means that starting Thursday you'll be reading articles about the workings of the Fiat-Yamaha team, with an in-depth view and photos of individuals who make up the world class team.
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| 14 May, 2010 - France: Motorcycle Rest Areas For The MotoGP 2010 | The French MotoGP motorcycle race is on next weekend, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place many motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 11 May, 2010 - MotoGP: Casey Stoner To Ride For Honda in 2011 | Casey Stoner, with a bitter taste in his mouth, has apparently signed with Honda HRC for next year's MotoGP races. He'll be riding a Honda motorcycle.
This leaves the top spot at Ducati up for grabs, and Ducati have made an offer to Valentino Rossi.
Rossi has until June to decide.... interesting times...
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| 19 April, 2010 - 24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle Race 2010 | The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race were held last weekend, and here are 9 photos and 1 video for you to watch (the video is that of an impressive pit fire).
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| 9 April, 2010 - Motorcycle Rest Stops 24 Hours Of Le Mans 2010 | The 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycle race is on the weekend of the 17th of April, and the French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) has put in place many motorcycle rest stops along the way, where you can tank up, get hot/cold drinks, eat, visors cleaned, mechanics, etc.
Here's a list and map of where they are, and when they are open.
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| 9 March, 2010 - A Look At Livia Lancelot, Female Motocross Knight | On the day after World Woman Day (I'm always a bit late), here's a closer look at Livia Lancelot.
Who is Livia Lancelot you may ask? She is the 2008 World Champion Female Motocross!! Not an easy feat, so she deserves a closer look.
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| 9 March, 2010 - Race The Sardegna Race With Cyril Despres As Your Mentor | Multiple Dakar winner, Cyril Despres, is offering a unique experience opportunity for 10 first timers in the world of motorcycle rally racing.
He will take 10 racers under his wing for the 3rd FIM race of the calendar, the Sardegna Rally Race. The 10 riders will share the three mechanics and crew chief (Chris Evans), and will receive instructions and race mentoring by Cyril Despres himself.
Not a bad deal....
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| 5 March, 2010 - Life’s Daytona 1948 Motorcycle Madness Photo Archive | The Daytona 200 motorcycle race held this weekend is a classic, and when you say classic, you'll know that Time-Life magazine will have covered it at one stage.
Therefore, thankfully, Time have released unpublished black & white photos of this incredible motorcycle race from 60 years ago. In those days, the Daytona 200 was still raced on the beach. Fantastic photos.... a must see!
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| 8 February, 2010 - Enduropale 2010: Major Upsets! Cause: Loud Pipes | After an upset for the winner, due to a too loud motorcycle, Mickael Pichon won the 2010 Le Touquet Enduropale beach motorcycle race.
1050 motorcycles started, and there were several leaders in the 3 hour race. But to loose on a too loud exhaust must be a first...
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| 5 February, 2010 - See The Le Touquet Beach Race Live On The Web | If you can't make it to France to see this weekend's crazy Le Touquet Enduropale, and don't live in France so you can see one of the 2 TV channels transmitting the race live, then there's still hope....
France 3, one of the main TV channels here, are transmitting 5 feeds from the race on the web. You can see the race as it happens. That's 3 hours of fun....
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| 5 February, 2010 - Video: Road To Baja 1000 Documentary | Two mountain bikers swapped their pedals for a motorcycle, and raced in the Baja 1000 desert race.
Their attempt was very well filmed and is available, for free, on-line. Very well done documentary. Have a look.
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| 3 February, 2010 - Motorcycle Rest Areas For The Le Touquet Enduropale 2010 Race | If you're planning to attend world's craziest, and biggest, beach motorcycle race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, on the weekend of 6/7th of Feb, and you're going on a motorcycle, here are the special rest places for bikers.
There are 3 of them, places motorcycle riders can go to, to get their bike checked out, drink hot drinks, and mingle with other bikers.
Also, several motorways are free for motorcycles going to the race.
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| 2 February, 2010 - MotoGP Yamaha 2010 Live Presentation | You can follow the presentation of the Fiat Yamaha MotoGP team for 2010 LIVE...
Fiat will be broadcasting the 2010 motorcycle and the two racers, interviews etc. You just need to get out of bed... it's a 2 AM GMT time...
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| 15 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 15 - KTM Report | Day 15 and almost last day. Here's the KTM Motorcycle report of the Dakar.
Good finish for Norway (finally Pal wins, and gets 2nd overall place), and yet again the Aprilia ends in the top 3. Next year is going to be interesting with all bikes running 450cc.
Unless a miracle happens tomorrow, Despres will have won the Dakar (again).
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| 14 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 14 - KTM Report | Day 14 of the Dakar, here's the KTM report. Bummer than Verhoeven lost yesterday's victory, the Dakar management have some favorites....
The motorcycle field has been decimated, but Despres's position is solid. Tomorrow is the penultimate stage, and the most technical (last year, many bit the dust).
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| 13 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 13 - KTM Report | Day 13 of the Dakar, almost there.... we're back in Argentina, and the motorcycle riders have had to go through the impressive Andes mountains.
Another day, another tough stage. For a change, it was not Coma who won, but Dutchman Verhoeven, followed by USA Jonah Street. All that because of a screwup by a local cop who closed the wrong road. The top riders went wrong, the rest went right.
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| 12 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 12 - KTM Report | Day 12 of the Dakar rally, and Coma is on a winning streak, but Despres remains the leader of the motorcycle race.
This is the last day in Chile, back in Argentina tomorrow.
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| 11 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 11 - KTM Report | Day 11 in the ongoing saga of the Dakar rally. Interesting start for the motorcycles, a first in the Dakar. A motocross style departure...
Despres still leading, and Marc Coma still winning stages without having any chance of winning the Dakar.
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| 11 January, 2010 - iPhone: Record Your Track Motorcycle Performance | For those of you who regularly test your motorcycle on a track (any kind), and don't have a support crew that will write, record and file all your motorcycle adjustments, here's an interesting application for you.
It's called Motorcycle Track Log and it runs on an Apple iPhone. It will record your motorcycle adjustments per track, per bike and per weather conditions.
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| 10 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 10 - KTM Report | The day after the rest day, Day 10 of the Dakar, sees a really long and tough stage.
Coma is out thanks to 6 hours penalty, and Despres is playing it safe.
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| 9 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: 8 Photos Of Motorcycles On Day 8 | The Dakar is not just about the top riders, it's really about the unsung heroes, the motorcycle riders you never get to see on TV or media.
Here are 8 photos of the real Dakar riders.
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| 9 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 8 - KTM Report | Day 8, Stage 7 and we're on the halfway mark of the 2010 edition of the Dakar (Saturday is rest day).
This was the longest stage, so the field is decimated.
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| 8 January, 2010 - Dakar2010: Annie Seel - Leading Female Motorcycle Rider | A look at the leading female motorcycle rider in the 2010 Dakar rally, Swedish Rally Princess Annie Seel.
She's leading the race in the female category, and is 40th overall in the motorcycle category, despite riding with an injury.
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| 7 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 7 - KTM Report | Day 7, Stage 6 of the Dakar, here's the KTM Report.
Too bad Manca, after yesterday's great gesture giving his rear tire to Coma, despite being in the running for a podium, crashed and is in hospital.
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| 6 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 6 - KTM Report | Day 6, Stage 5, and here's KTM's report on their motorcycles in the Dakar.
To bad Casteu is out, and Coma is really suffering in this race. And an Aprilia winning the stage???? Wow!
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| 5 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 5 - KTM Report | Day Five (Stage 4) of the Dakar, and the KTMs are starting to run the race, again, though the Sherco is holding well.
It has become so tough, they had to shorten today's race.
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| 5 January, 2010 - Dakar 2010: Day 4 - KTM Report | Day 4 of KTM's report.
Cyril Despres wins the stage and leads, while Jordi crashes and is out of the race. Things are heating up..
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| 10 December, 2009 - First Eco Motorcycle Enduro To Start Tomorrow | The first ever Eco Enduro for electric motorcycles will be held during the environment conference in Copenhagen, sponsored by a.o. FIM and the United Nations. During this weekend several enduro races will be held, with on Sunday a SuperMoto race in Copenhagen itself.
Loads of participants (39), with many heavy hitters. Looks good and interesting.
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| 1 December, 2009 - New FIM World Championship Female Enduro | FIM are organizing next year the first Female Enduro World Cup.
Three races, each 2 rounds will be held in Italy, Poland and France.
My favorite to win... Ludevine Puy!
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| 25 November, 2009 - Kenan Sofuoğlu, ex World Supersport Champ Refuses Sponsor Money | Kenan Sofuoğlu, the former world champion SuperSport motorcycle racing (2007), and only ever Turkish champ, refused won he was due because of his title, because it came from gambling.
Islam law forbids gambling, so the 480,000 US$ is going to charity.
Nice to see principles amongst champions.
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| 10 November, 2009 - Death Of French Beach Motorcycle Racer, Timotei Potisek | Timotei Potisek, a great French beach motorcycle racer has just died after a training accident on a beach. He was 25.
At the age of 25, he had already won several of the toughest beach races in Europe, including the crazy Le Touquet Enduropale.
Sad..
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| 22 October, 2009 - Electric Motorcycle Wins Race Against Normal Motorcycles | Last month at an official FFM motocross race in France, in a free-for-all scramble, in between 250 to 450cc motocross motorcycles, where 5 electric motorcycles competing in their own Electric category.
But the only Zero MX electric motorcycle not only won his category, he went on and beat all other motorcycles, finishing overall in 1st position!
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| 14 October, 2009 - Rallye du Maroc Shamrock 2009 | The "Rallye du Maroc" Shamrock 2009 race starts next week.
The final motorcycle (and cars, trucks and quads) rally in which the rally Gods can test their skills before the Dakar.
Here's a little video to put you in the mood.
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| 7 October, 2009 - Get Your Own Tailor-made Motorcycle Leather Suit | Here's a company in the UK that will tailor make motorcycle leather suits using the best possible materials for a reasonable price.
If you're into using leathers, then this is a great solution. You can even design your own suit, including logos....
Why would Rossi be the only one allowed to have fun with his motorcycle racing suits?
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| 21 September, 2009 - Motorcycle Trial In Shit-Kickers Country | A day in the back country of Normandy, France looking at a motorcycle trial competition.
It's a difficult motorcycle sport, very technical. Here's a photographic impression of the day..
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| 18 September, 2009 - Erzberg Rodeo 2010 - Already | The 2010 dates for the next Erzberh extreme hard motorcycle enduro have been announced.
Write it down... June 3rd to 6th in Austria. Registrations will open shortly on their web site. Remember, there are limited number of places for kamikaze riders...
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| 13 September, 2009 - Bol D’Or 2009 Over: Nice Photo | The famous 24 hour motorcycle endurance race, the Bol D'Or, is over for another year.
The winner was SERT -Suzuki Endurance Racing Team. Congrats!
Isn't this a beautiful photo?
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| 11 September, 2009 - Schumacher Back In The Motorcycle Saddle | German multiple world champion Formula One rider, Michael Schumacher, has been spotted training again on a Honda motorcycle in France.
Undeterred by a nasty accident recently, he's back in the saddle!
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| 6 August, 2009 - A Special 24 Hours Motorcycle Race | Every year, in Chaumont, France, there's a 24 hours motorcycle race, using a very special type of motorcycle: the SOLEX.
For 24 hours, mad bikers race around on a small, 2-stroke, pedal assisted, moped. The "prototypes" are able to reach 100 kph.
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| 24 July, 2009 - A Race Between Motorcycles and Bicycle? | Sometimes, when watching the Tour de France bicycle race, I wonder if it's a bicycle or a motorcycle race?
You see more motorcycles riding than bicycles...
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| 25 June, 2009 - KTM Motorcycle Support Package For Romaniacs 2009 | KTM have announced a complete service package for the 2009 Red Bull Romaniacs. This is a service package for private entries, not for the pros.
€250 buys you trained rally mechanics at your beck & call, spares truck (but you'll need to order spares in advance), a hospitality truck and service points along the way. So all-in-all a very interesting proposition.
But... your motorcycle needs to be 2008 or newer...
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| 15 June, 2009 - Erzberg Rodeo 2009. Taddy Wins Again - Epic | The 2009 edition of world's toughest motorcycle hard enduro race, the Austrian Erzberg Rodeo, is over for another year.
Not to be outdone by the MotoGP race of the weekend, Taddy won an epic race, claiming his most hard fought win.
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| 12 June, 2009 - DeJong Wins 1st Trophy At Erzbergrodeo 2009 | The peaceful mountain of Erzberg is no longer peaceful, at least for the weekend!
The first full day of racing started yesterday (Thursday), and we have a winner of the hill climb, Belgian Gilles DeJong.
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| 8 June, 2009 - Isle Of Man 2009: Mad Sunday | Mad Sunday at the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race, where many dress up, or down, for the mad race.
Hilarious...
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| 21 May, 2009 - Erzberg Rodeo 2009: Almost Time Again | Some of the top motorcycle enduro riders in the world are going to be present in a few week at the 2009 edition of world toughest enduro, the Erzberg Rodeo.
Big names like Marc Coma, Cyril Despres and Taddy Blazusiak; a total of 85 top level pro riders, and 1,500 motorcycle riders will be competing
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| 15 May, 2009 - Valentino Rossi Came For Coffee Yesterday | Good old Valentino Rossi came over to France Yesterday for a cup of espresso.
Well, he was close enough for it. He was riding around on his R1 motorcycle in Paris. Apparently he got 5 speed radar photos taken...
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| 8 May, 2009 - Motorcycle Rest Stops For the 2009 French MotoGP | The French Angry Biker Association (FFMC) have organized free motorcycle rest stops again this year for the 2009 French MotoGP race.
So if you'll be coming on your motorcycle on one of the free autoroutes (toll free), you now know where to stop and meet like minded bikers.
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| 20 April, 2009 - Le Mans 2009 - And The Winner Is.. | Another 24 Hours of La Mans motorcycle endurance race is finished for the year.
A Yamaha R1 motorcycle wins the crown..... after a hard fought battle with Honda in the dark, windy and wet race.
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| 9 April, 2009 - Spectacular Motorcycle Race Photo | Site Asphalt & Rubber published a really spectacular motorcycle race photo.
The kind that makes you want to see more of the sequence.
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| 30 March, 2009 - Marc Coma Wins Desert Classic: On A Roll | Marc Coma is on a roll. First he wins the 2009 edition of the Dakar, now he wins the United Arab Emirates Desert Classic motorcycle enduro race.
Good old Cyril Despres keeps finishing second... frustrating.
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| 23 February, 2009 - Potisek Wins Le Touquet Enduropale Majestically | Frenchman Timotei Potisek won for the 2nd time the Le Touquet Enduropale motorcycle beach enduro.
It was a very interesting race, lasting 3 hours and 10 minutes, with a lot of action. What made it more interesting was that you could follow it on the internet, live.
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| 20 February, 2009 - Want To Watch The Crazy Le Touquet Enduropale On-line? | If you're not able to attend the famous and crazy motorcycle beach enduro of Le Touquet Enduropale, and you can not receive the national French TV or European MotorsTV stations (they are showing the race live), then there is good news for you!
The French national TV station, France3, is showing the race LIVE on the internet. Not only can you see the race as it happens, you can select which of the 5 cameras you want to see. Cool!
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| 18 February, 2009 - France: A16 Autoroute Free For Motorcycle This Weekend | This weekend, for the Le Touquet Enduropale motorcycle beach race, world's craziest race, the A16 autoroute will be free for all motorcycles going to this event.
They've also added one rest point for bikers, with free hot soup to warm you up.
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| 11 February, 2009 - Motorcycle Rest Areas For The Le Touquet 2009 Race | If you're planning to attend world's craziest, and biggest, beach motorcycle race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, on the weekend of 21st of Feb, and you're going on a motorcycle, here are the special rest places for bikers.
There are 4 of them, places motorcycle riders can go to, to get their bike checked out, drink hot drinks, and mingle with other bikers.
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| 4 February, 2009 - MotoGP Stars And Facebook | On the internet, Facebook is a very popular website. In the motorcycle racing world, MotoGP is very popular. So what happens when you put the two together?
Here are the MotoGP Gods' facebook presence. Some good, some bad, and one incredibly popular... wanna guess who?
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| 19 January, 2009 - Celebs And Motorcycle Racing Teams | With the financial crisis, many motorcycle racing teams are facing difficulties. One of the ways to save the teams, is when a celeb takes an interest.
Several celebs have done exactly that, and now Antonio Banderas is interested in creating a 125 and 250 cc racing team.
Looking good!
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| 5 January, 2009 - Sliding Angels: Female Supermoto team | More and more women are joining not only the ranks of motorcycle riders, but also motorcycle sports.
Here's an all female Supermoto team, consisting of four lovely girls racing the local Italian Supermoto Championships.
Good on'em!
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| 2 January, 2009 - France: Ultimate Motorcycle Rally | A new motorcycle race is going to start next year here in France. Called the Ultimate Rally, it is styled on the old fashion Monte Carlo race from many years ago.
Contestants leave at the same time from the four corners of France, all arriving at a city in the middle of France. Then they continue with different races for 2 days.
The race is open to all sorts of riders, beginners and professionals. Motorcycles, scooters and sidecars are welcome.
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| 10 December, 2008 - MotoGP Coming To Bulgaria | The MotoGP circus, complete with all its motorcycles, riders, pit and umbrella girls will be setting up their tents in Bulgaria.
As off 2011, you'll be seeing MotoGP races in that former East-Block country. According to the designers, the circuit is out of this world.
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| 5 December, 2008 - Video: David Fretigne Training For The Dakar 2009 | David Fretigne is one of the top French motorcycle enduro champs, and he's been training very hard to win the Dakar 2009.
Here's an impressive video clip of David on his Yamaha motorcycle. Wooow!
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| 4 December, 2008 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2009 Announced | The Red Bull Romaniacs, world's toughest hard motorcycle enduro, have been announced.
Starting numbers are now allocated to a first come, first on the starting grid. Registrations open on the 6th of December, so better get ready..
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| 18 November, 2008 - Want To Race The Touquet Beach Race? Motorcycles For Rent | For foreigners who want to race in this famous and crazy beach motorcycle enduro race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, you can now rent BMW G450X Enduro or Honda motorcycles.
The Honda bikes even come with mechanical assistance during this mythical 3 hour race.
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| 17 November, 2008 - Red Bull Knockout: And The Winner Is... | The 3rd edition of the Red Bull Knockout beach motorcycle enduro race was held again in Scheveningen, The Netherlands.
650 motorcycles started, only 102 finished.
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| 27 October, 2008 - MotoGP2008 Champions - Season End, Start Of Game | Well, the MotoGP 2008 season is over. here are the three world champions on their motorcycles.
Now, what do we do until the beginning of next year's season. Here's an idea......
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| 25 September, 2008 - Motocross Of Nations Widget | MediaZone Moto, the transmission rights owners of the Motocross of Nations event in North America, has released a nice widget that can be used on your desktop, social network or blog.
It shows you the count down to this weekend grand event, and also shows you video clips of the last 2 years.
35 countries are participating at the Donington Park Circuit. In North America, you'll be able to watch the event live on your PC.
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| 18 September, 2008 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2008: Final Results Day 4 | The last day of the Red Bull Romaniacs hard motorcycle enduro. Time to really put the kamikaze riders through their paces.
Visits to the hospital are scheduled.
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| 17 September, 2008 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2008: D-Day | Day 3 for the contestants of the Red Bull Romaniacs hard motorcycle enduro in Romania.
A few riders are still left standing in the mud. Are you having fun yet?
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| 16 September, 2008 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2008: Shadow Riding | Day 2 of the very hard motorcycle enduro, the Red Bull Romaniacs 2008.
This is a race that should be labelled "riding on your motorcycle on this enduro can seriously damage your nerves".
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| 11 September, 2008 - Motorcycle Rest Places For Bol D’Or 2008 | There are a large number of rest areas set aside for motorcycle riders attending the Bol d'Or motorcycle race this weekend.
Here's the list of places you can stop and rest, fill up with fuel, food, drinks, and generally relax amongst bikers.
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| 11 September, 2008 - Le Touqet Enduropale 2009 Motorcycle Beach Enduro Announced | The timetable for the 2009 Le Touquet Enduropale motorcycle beach race have been released. World's biggest motorcycle race, with 3-500,000 spectators.
This year, every participant will get a DVD of the motorcycle race (see what you missed).
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| 8 September, 2008 - Colin Edwards Smoking! | Where was I when this went down. I missed it completely...
Texan Colin Edwards on fire in his first year of the MotoGP, riding his Aprilia motorcycle in the Sachsenring.
The year: 2003...
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| 1 September, 2008 - Vintage Motorcycle Rally Of Therouldeville | Once a year, in a village 5 kilometers from my house there's a vintage motorcycle race. It's called the 4 hours of Valmont, and they have a large collection of old motorcycles running around the countryside amongst the cows.
Some motorcycle were so old that even Senator McCain would have a problem recognizing them...
Here are 20 photos taken of the event.
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| 27 August, 2008 - Isle Of Man TT: Ecological Motorcycle Race | The first major emission free motorcycle race is scheduled to be held during next year's Isle of Man TT race.
The 101 year old race is the oldest motorcycle race, and is a major event. Now, it's going to be high tech, with electric motorcycles riding next to high powered gasoline guzzling motorcycle.
That's going to be interesting!
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| 29 July, 2008 - Bikers: We Do Not Like You, But Give Us Your Money | The town leaders of the city of Speedway, the city hosting September's Indianapolis MotoGP race, want your money. But they don't want your noise.
So they are voting a new ordinance that will prevent you from revving up your motorcycle engine. The law is squarely aimed at motorcycles, not cars.
They don't deserve the MotoGP race! If bikers will not come to see the race, they will not need to vote on new discriminating laws.
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| 18 June, 2008 - MotoGP At Assen: Where NOT To Stay | If you're planning to attend the MotoGP at the TT of Assen, do NOT stay at the Wittezomer camp grounds! These people are one of the reason most motorcycle races have been at Assen have been cancelled.
Our colleagues at the Dutch site OliePeil.nl are warning riders away, and they have a good reason. The camp site doesn't mind motorcycles if they make a lot of money, but if there's nobody staying, they don't want motorcycles around them. Hypocrites.
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| 13 June, 2008 - Rally of Morocco and AMV Shamrock To Merge | The two "other' motorcycle rallies in Morocco (the other being the Dakar) have merged to form one single race.
A 6 day event will cost you significantly less than the Dakar, and you'll find many racers using this race to train for the Dakar.
You can even double up with other contestant, sharing a single motorcycle.
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| 3 June, 2008 - Erzberg Rodeo 2008 - Participant Race Report | Here's a first hand report by Andrew Reeves of the Erzberg Rodeo 2008 hard enduro.
Andrew raced in it for the first time, and finished 19th!!
Here is his report, plus some photos and a video of the incredible crazy race. Enjoy!
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| 21 May, 2008 - Live Video From Erzberg Rodeo 2008 | The famous (and notorious) Erzberg Rodeo, world's toughest motorcycle enduro, starts tomorrow. 1500 riders will start, only a few finish.
You don't need to be there, since the organizers have placed 7 webcams, allowing you to view the massacre remotely. Have fun watching.
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| 5 May, 2008 - Motorcycle Rest Stops For The French MotoGP 2008 | For the French MotoGP at Le Mans, 16 to 18 May 2008, there are again three rest stops for motorcycle riders. Get mechanical help, food, drinks, tyre inflation, visor cleaning, even sleep.
But more importantly, meet 1,000's of other bikers.
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| 28 April, 2008 - David Casteu 1st Winner Of The Central Europe Rally | David Casteu wins the very first Dakar series rally, the Central Europe Rally.
Started right after the cancellation of the famous Dakar race, it's meant to give competitors the chance to test their motorcycles and riders for the big event.
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| 8 April, 2008 - Assen Motorcycle Race Circuit Downsizing | The TT-Assen motorcycle race circuit have caved in to demands from the locals! The organizers have scrapped 20 races so far, most of them were motorcycles using standard street legal pipes!!
1) how dare people complain about motorcycle noise on a circuit when the circuit was there before they were even borne. 2) why does the Dutch authority want to stop folks using the circuit to race ? Would they prefer them to race on the streets? 3) why did the TT-Assen organizers cave in so quickly?
The MotoGP and Superbike races are not cancelled, but that will not take long before they are....!
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| 7 April, 2008 - 24 Hours of Le Mans Motorcycle Rest Stops | As usual, the French government and the FFMC (French Angry Biker Association) have put in place many rest stops for motorcycle riders attending the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans races on the 19th and 20th of April.
Here's the complete list of places where you can get food, drinks, gas, tire pressures, mechanics etc, and most important, meet your brother and sister bikers.
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| 2 April, 2008 - Motorcycle GP of France 2008 Is No Longer! | No, the MotoGP of France has not been cancelled but the name may be.
Some group using the same name (Grand Prix of France) want the MotoGP to stop using the term. You know, those folks who drive cars around circuits without passing each other, and when there's a duel between drivers it's in the pits and press that they are fought, never on the circuit. Well... they want us to stop using the term Grand Prix!!!
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| 1 April, 2008 - France: VIP Motorcycle Training Sessions | Learning how to race does not need to be a Spartan event. French company 4G, with two former 500GP racers as instructors, offer a VIP package to some of the most beautiful racing circuits of Europe.
Learn how to race your motorcycle (or rent one) while sleeping in luxury hotels, eat good food and be pampered.
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| 17 March, 2008 - New MotoGP Website Coming | The good folks at the MotoGP website are in the process of updating the look & feel of their otherwise VERY busy website.
The new design is far more easier on the eyes.
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| 10 March, 2008 - MotoGP: Qatar TV | What a night it was! First race of the MotoGP season was great: suspense, fast racers, you name it... it was there
However, one negative note: The motorcyclse were hard to distinguish at times due to the "slow" TV cameras during the night race.
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| 6 March, 2008 - TT Assen Circuit Fined For Sound Levels | The motorcycle race circuit of TT Assen (North of The Netherlands) has been fined €10,000 for noise hindrance.
Does this mean that the people who live there didn't know there was a race circuit next door?
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| 5 March, 2008 - Erzberg Rodeo 2008 Full Of Stars (plus Video) | 22nd May sees the latest edition of what is billed as World's Toughest Enduro. Many off-road stars are lined up to take part in this year's events.
Here's the schedule for the 4 mad days, and a video of last year's race.
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| 11 February, 2008 - Taddy Blasuziak Blasts His Way Through Hell’s Gate | Taddy Blazusiak, the new KTM factory rider, showed all that there's a very good reason he got the job.
At the Italian Hell's Gate, he peeked into hell, and gave it the finger... easy.
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| 6 February, 2008 - KTM Welcomes New Central European Rally of "Dakar Series" | KTM is happy with ASO's Dakar Series Central Europe Rally. It gives them a chance to test out their new recruits, and private entries that had registered for the ill-fated 2008 Dakar can participate for free.
Route brings the rally through Romania and Hungary.
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| 5 February, 2008 - Video: Le Touquet 2008, Including The Crash | Here are two videos, both in French, about the Le Touquet Enduropale 2008 beach race.
The first one is the first 16 minutes of the race, including start, holeshot and traffic jams. It's commented by Cyril Despres.
The 2nd one is the near fatal crash of one of the competitors.
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| 4 February, 2008 - Honda CBR 900 Fireblade Wins Le Touquet Enduro Holeshot | Usually, the motorcycles that win the holeshot at the Le Touquet Enduropale, worlds biggest beach race, are big off-road motorcycles; KTM 950's and BMW HP2's.
But this year they were all passed by a street motorcycle; a Honda 900 CBR Fireblade! The heavily adapted streetbike is capable of 230 kph in the sand. It was dubbed a Sand Dragster.!
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| 4 February, 2008 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2008 Results | The Le Touquet Enduropale beach race for 2008 has been won by Arnaud Demeester (yet again) in a hard fought battle on a sunny but cold day.
The Le Touquet enduro had it's first bad accident since it started, with one rider in a coma.
250,000 spectators attended on Sunday.
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| 23 January, 2008 - Rest Areas For The 2008 Enduropale (Le Touquet Beach race) | The famous Le Touquet beach race will be held on the weekend of the 2nd of February again, and since they are expecting 100,000's of bikers coming from all over Europe, the French government has placed 4 biker rest areas alongside the popular roads. The A16 will be free for motorcycles during the weekend.
Here are the four areas, where you can find food, mechanical assistance, coffee, gas.. etc.
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| 8 January, 2008 - Despite Dakar Cancellation Heroes Legend Still On | The low cost adventure rally Heroes Legend, tracing the same route of the famous Paris-Dakar is still on despite the terrorist threats.
Organized by mufti winner of the Dakar itself, Hubert Auriol, the rally starts on the 8th of march.
Any takers??
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| 14 December, 2007 - Motocross of Nations 2008 Cancelled | Due to financial problems, the 2008 Motocross of Nations has been cancelled in Northern Ireland.
The FIM are busy looking for another venue in order to save this prestigious event.
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| 19 November, 2007 - Colin Edwards: Extreme Racer | Here's a photo of M1 Yamaha MotoGP racer Colin "Texas Tornado" Edwards racing his motorcycle .. extreme....
I wonder if he had it..
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| 9 October, 2007 - Ludivine Puy: Enduro Female Champion Of Europe | The pretty and very capable Ludivine Puy, known for her riding skills during the Dakar race, has become European Champion Female Enduro last month.
Now, she's first of all getting married, and then she's stopping the Female Enduro Championships series, so that she can concentrate on taking on the guys in the E3 championships. And next year, she's riding a KTM 690 in the Dakar.
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| 25 September, 2007 - Wanted: World Champion MotoGP 2015 | Red Bull are still looking for those special young (and fast) kids who can become world champion MotoGP in 2015.
The final selections will be held next month, and the deadline to apply for the selection is 5 October.
All you need is a helmet, leathers and a plane ticket to Italy.
Rossi and Stoner Jr., are you out there?
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| 25 September, 2007 - Video: Bridgestone and Casey Stoner | Bridgestone have lots of advertize about with Casey Stoner, Ducati and their victories in the MotoGP world.
And that's exactly what they're doing...
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| 18 September, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2008: Registrations | Registrations for the famous Le Touquet Enduropale race (held 2nd February 2008) will open on the 1st of October 2007.
Registrations have been limited to 1,000 motorcycles (previously 1,100), so if you want to race, better hurry.
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| 17 September, 2007 - E2 Enduro 2007: Samuli Aro Holds Onto 2nd Place | KTM Factory rider Samuli Aro wound up the E2 season at the French Grand Prix on Sunday with a sixth place securing enough championship points to finish second in the world championship behind arch rival Mika Ahola.
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| 17 September, 2007 - E1 Enduro 2007: World Champ Salminen Wins Final Season Race | Juha Salminen, 2007 world champion in the Enduro E1 class on Sunday proved that the top podium spot was his natural habitat when he took the final race of the season in a style that has won him admiration and the season’s title.
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| 17 September, 2007 - Yamaha Wins Bol d’Or 2007 | The Yamaha from the GMT 94 team wins the French mythical 24 hours motorcycle race; the Bol d'Or 2007!
First non-Japanese motorcycle was a BMW R1200S in 23rd position (in the General category, 1st in the Open).
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| 13 September, 2007 - Bol d’Or 2007 This Weekend | The famous 24 hours endurance race starts this weekend in France.
The Bol d'Or starts on Saturday 15:00. If you're coming on your motorcycle, here are all the rest places dedicated to motorcycle riders.
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| 5 September, 2007 - What’s Faster: BMW M6, K1200S or a Golf Ball? | Since BMW are the main sponsors in this PGA Golf tournament, they organized a race.
A BMW M6 car, against a BMW K1200S motorcycle, against a golf ball.
Guess who won?
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| 3 September, 2007 - Pity: End Of The Line For Valentino Rossi | It's over for Valentino Rossi.
Pity, since it was going to be interesting to see if he could crawl back to regain his title, but it's not to be.
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| 31 August, 2007 - See The Motocross of Nations LIVE | US based Mediazone are offering a special deal to watch the Motocross of Nations live on the internet.
So, if you're a fan of this event, tune in on your PC to watch the race live.
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| 31 August, 2007 - Hayden’s Dad Dragged Into Drug Gang Arrests | Earl Hayden, Nicky's father, has a car dealership. The business manager of the dealership has just gotten himself arrested for drug money laundering.
Earl himself is not accused or arrested.
Interesting, specially after reading the Bostrom Conspiracy...
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| 24 August, 2007 - Book Review: The Bostrom Conspiracy | A review of the book entitled "The Bostrom Conspiracy".
Verdict: I've read better books, this one is low on proof, but still an interesting read. Lots of interesting characters. Nonfiction.
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| 14 August, 2007 - European Women’s Championship Results | Dutch girl Iris Ten Katen wins the European Women Championship Superstock 600, while German Nina Prinz wins the Superstock 1000 in the same championship.
The 3rd year that the races are being held, and it's become very popular. 40,000 people attended the last race.
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| 1 August, 2007 - Technology Changes Over The Years In Motorcycle Racing | French motorcycle magazine published an interesting article in the advances technology has made in motorcycle racing.
In some 30 years, we're going faster, further and better then ever before. You can't stop technology. Interesting figures...
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| 31 July, 2007 - Video: Racing Commercials | TV ads for "old" motorcycle races, one for motocross, the other for motorcycle dragsters.
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| 24 July, 2007 - BMW R1200GS Wins 5th Centopassi | A BMW R1200GS Adventure won the Italian Centopassi event, which finished this weekend.
The mountain event has become a main part of the road races in Europe. Again, many people participated.
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| 3 July, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 Report | Here's the final report on the hard motorcycle enduro, the Red Bull Romaniacs held last month.
Several photos and quotes. See you next year for this incredible event.
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| 22 June, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 - Last Day | The 2007 Red Bull Romaniacs are over; Frenchman Cyril Despres won, after leader Michel Gau broke his hand.
Tough race as ever, world's toughest motorcycle enduro fulfilled all its promises.
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| 21 June, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 - Day 4 | They must be really nuts to ride in these conditions, either that, or they're superhuman!
Day 4 of the notorious hard (and I mean HARD) motorcycle enduro, the Red Bull Romaniacs.
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| 20 June, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 - Day 3 | The Red Bull Romaniacs has reached the 3rd day, and things are tough, really tough.
Here are five photos, you'll see what I mean with tough.
There's also a video of day 2. Would you want to race here ?
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| 18 June, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 - Day 2 | Day 2 for the Red Bull Romaniacs, and things are getting serious already.
The French brigade are leading the way.
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| 18 June, 2007 - Red Bull Romaniacs 2007: Day 1 Prologue | The famous hard motorcycle enduro, Red Bull Romaniacs, started again on Sunday.
After the Chris Pfeiffer show, they started the prologue. Cyril Despres is leading. Here are a couple of photos.
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| 11 June, 2007 - Red Bull Hare Scramble @ Erzberg | The 2007 Erzbergrodeo is now over, and there's a new sensation in the endurocross world. Polish rider, Tadeuz Bzazusiak, on a borrowed KTM, won the Red Bull Hare Scramble with a large margin.
A record number of riders took part in the race (1300 riders).
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| 11 June, 2007 - Rossi Says Stoner Is THE MotoGP God | Casey Stoner has been declared a MotoGP God by Valentino Rossi himself.
After an epic 8 laps in Spain last weekend, Rossi had to throw in the towel... one of the very few.
After the race, Rossi said Stoner rides like a God!
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| 7 June, 2007 - Erzberg Rodeo Webcams | For those of you interested in the Erzberg Rodeo, the really tough motorcycle enduro which starts today in Austria, the organizers have installed 8 webcams.
So you can follow the action more or less live.... |
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| 5 June, 2007 - Ready For The Red Bull Romaniacs 2007 | In two weeks (17-21 June) we'll see another edition of that spectacular motorcycle hard enduro race, the Red Bull Romaniacs.
Many of the world's top racers will be present, including last year's winner (Michel Gau), and Dakar winner Cyril Despres.
150 riders will be competing in this gruelling race over 700 kilometers of some of the toughest terrain you can imagine.
This year, you'll be able to track the professionals in real time!
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| 30 May, 2007 - Premiere in the USA - KTM 690 BAJA | KTM are going to the Baja 500 races for the first time, in style.
With three top riders, and a brand new motorcycle, the LC4 690 Baja !
Cyril Despres (winner of the 2007 Dakar), Chris Blais and Davis Pearson to ride for the team.
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| 22 May, 2007 - Marc Coma To The Dark Side | After several motorcycle stars leaving the motorcycle world for the four-wheel world, it looks like Spanish KTM motorcycle rider and former Dakar winner, Marc Coma, is getting a taste of riding a car in a race.
Marc has signed up to drive a Porsche Cayenne S in the Transsyberian race held in August. Let's hope he'll leave it at that, and not ride the car in next year's Dakar.
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| 14 May, 2007 - Want To be Sponsored In The USA? | Sparkplug enhancer, iKAT, are offering motorcycle race sponsorship, technical support and advice to young motorcycle racers who are just starting out.
Here's your chance to get a head start.
Go to their website and fill in the form. If you're one of the lucky three, you'll get a break that can make you the next world champ. And if you don't win, you can still get support.
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| 24 April, 2007 - ScootGP, Not MotoGP | Scooter racing!
Quite spectacular, considering that these machines are not race motorcycle. They have rather large skirting boards, small wheels, and you're not exactly sitting in an aerodynamic position.
This photos "stolen" from Vespinoy, where you can find tons of other photos of the scooter race.
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| 23 April, 2007 - Heart Attack - Blame the Turkish MotoGP | After the Turkish MotoGP I'll be needing one of these standing next to the TV.
If any of the next races are like this one, I think there are going to be several people dead, not counting the riders.
How tame F1 looks compared to the full-contact MotoGP races....
Bring it on!
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| 10 April, 2007 - Marc Coma Dominates Tunisian Rally | | 1st Enduro race of the 2007 season, and already Marc Coma shows the colors. The man who almost won the Dakar now wins the Optic 2000 rally for the 1st time. |
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| 30 March, 2007 - Operation Confirms Paralysis for Isidre Esteve Pujol | Spanish KTM professional rider, Isidre Esteve Pujo, was badly injured last week in a rally.
Despite some initial reports that his injuries were not as bad as thought, after a spinal operation, he still seems to be paralyzed from the waist down.
There is a slight hope for improvement with some advanced medical treatment, but it looks like his career might be over. Bad news !!
Several of the top motorcycle rally riders have been badly injured or even killed in the last few years. Let's hope it's not a spark that will start politicians legislating our sport!!
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| 23 March, 2007 - Cyril Despres To Race The USA Baja ? | There are very strong rumors circulating, confirmed by a good friend who should know, that the double Dakar Champion, Cyril Despres, will be racing the Baja races this year in the USA.
So he'll be racing against the top Americans on their home turf. This could be a very interesting year for enduro racers. |
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| 12 March, 2007 - Rossi’s Salary: Worth It? | | There's no dispute that Valentino Rossi is a genius on 2 wheels, but is he worth his salary of €22.8 million per year? Have a look at the other top 10 sportsmen (sorry, no sportswomen in the top 10) and see what they earned last year. |
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| 5 March, 2007 - MotoLiam - MotoGP Blog From The Inside | For any MotoGP or WSBK racing fans, here's a blog that you shouldn't miss. MotoLiam is one of the Ducati mechanics who gives you a great and entertaining glimpse of the backstage MotoGP world.
A must read for any fan.
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| 5 March, 2007 - MotoGP 2007 - The Odds | With the 2007 MotoGP season a few days away, let's have a look at what the odds are for whoever to win the first race, and who will win the season. A good way is to look at Bwin.com (BetandWin.com), who publish real time odds.
Guess who's on 1st ?
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| 21 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2008 Announced | In case you want to participate in the legendary Le Touquet Enduropale beach enduro, with 1,000 other motorcycles, the dates for the 2008 event are now known. So mark 2 and 3 February 2008 in your calendar. If you'll be wanting a hotel, better book soon.
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| 15 February, 2007 - 930 Photos Of Le Touquet Beach Enduro | | We've placed 930 photos of the famous 2007 Le Touquet Enduropale beach motorcycle enduro race on a photo server, which you can now access.
The photos are available, more or less in time sequence, so you can follow the race as you'd see it on TV. |
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| 12 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - The Race Part 3 | Part 3/3 of 124 photos of the 2007 Le Touquet Enduropale Beach Enduro, worlds biggest and toughest beach motorcycle enduro.
Part 1 and 2 are to be seen elsewhere on this site.
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| 12 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - The Race Part 1 | Part 1/3 of 124 photos of the 2007 Le Touquet Enduropale Beach Enduro, worlds biggest and toughest beach motorcycle enduro.
Too many photos to put on one page.
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| 10 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - Saturday - Quad Race | Last part of the day, 350 quad racing on the beach of Le Touquet.
Some pro, most amateur racers, they were very lucky since the sun broke out 5 minutes before the race started.
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| 10 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - Saturday - Star Quad | The organizers for the first time scheduled a celebrity quad race on the Saturday morning of the Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 beach race.
Some 30 French stars were invited, and hosted by Honda.
Interesting to see how some of them tried to ride their quads. Too bad it was raining "chiens et chats".
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| 9 February, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - Friday | The 1st photos of the first day at the "Le Touquet Enduropale" 2007.
Quad and motorcycle scrutineering, some celebs and some views.
More to come. |
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| 29 January, 2007 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 Sold Out | The 2007 edition of the Le Touquet Enduropale, world's biggest motorcycle race, is sold out for motorcycles (and quads too). More than 1,000 motorcycles will start on February 11th, and race up and down a beach for three hours. Many big name motorcycle stars will be present. The race is free for spectators !
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| 15 January, 2007 - Endurose 2007 Cancelled | | Since their paperwork was a bit late, the authorities decided to cancel the female-only motorcycle enduro, L'Endurose. French authorities are showing their true colors. Would this have happened if the event was the Tour de France ? |
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| 12 January, 2007 - Registrations For Red Bull roManiacs 2007 Open | Registrations is open for the Red Bull roManiacs (very) hard enduro rally.
The format has been changed thanks to contestant feedback.
If you want to attend, better hurry, the race is often oversubscribed !
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| 4 January, 2007 - Dakar 2007 - Almost There | It's almost that time of the year again, the Dakar race will start in 2 days time.
In the mean time, the competitors are having their motorcycles checked by the scrutineering folks.
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| 22 November, 2006 - CannonBall Motorcycle Run Back To The USA | | The CannonBall Motorcycle Run will finally be held in the USA, country of origin of the race. May 13th sees the (in)famous race start in Los Angeles and run 2500 miles until it reaches Las Vegas for a 48 hour party. |
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| 17 October, 2006 - Le Touquet Enduropale Beach Race Web in English | The Le Touquet Enduropale beach race, world's biggest, has translated their website in English. Also, the prize money for first foreigners has been increased. For those that want to participate, but don't want to send over their motorcycle, the organizers are trying to obtain rental race motorcycles from several manufacturers.
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| 18 September, 2006 - Cannonball Bike Run Report and VisorDown | Visor down's newly redesigned website has an interesting report by one of their riders on his race in the latest Cannonball Bike Run.
70+ motorcycles in a highly illegal motorcycle race through Europe. Smoky and the Bandits move over.
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| 15 September, 2006 - GNCC Podcast Interviews with Racers | A look at a website offering PODcast interviews with off road racers from the GNCC series in the USA.
Three celebrity interviewers asking the questions.
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| 15 September, 2006 - Bol D’Or, Aprilia and a webcam | | Aprilia have installed a webcam for the Bol d'Or, AND a camera on their factory RSV. See the action live on your PC. |
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| 24 August, 2006 - Le Touquet EnduroPale and Foreigners | | In order to attract more foreigners to the beach enduro race, the Le Touquet Enduropale, the organizers are now offering a special prize for the first foreigner to cross the finish line. |
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| 20 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 7 Final | Final day of the Red Bull roManiacs. 7 days of hell for the contestants.
The winner is another Frenchman, Michel Gau (after two years of Despres).
Will they come back next year ?? (videos available of the day's race).
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| 19 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 6 | Penultimate day, last day of hard enduro.
Only 10 riders left in the expert class. If you look at the results at the bottom, some folks have been on their motorcycles for 20 hours !!
There's again a video available of the day's ride.
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| 18 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 5 | Almost there, Day 5. Longest day, with the shortest time for Michel Gau, in 9 hours and 41 minutes.
The longest is still underway while day 6 starts. Are they crazy or what ?
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| 17 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 4 | Day 4, past the half way stage of the race.
Not many riders left. Not many motorcycles left without scratches.
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| 16 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 3 | Day 3 summary of the Red Bull roManiacs hard (and tough) enduro, some photos of day 1, and the full results and standings for the pro class.
More and more are dropping out. Is this year too tough ??
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| 15 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 2 | The results of day 2 of the roManiacs. Already Cyril Despres had to quit, Sala won, and the Americans are way behind.
A tough and "normal" day at the roManiacs hard motorcycle enduro.
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| 14 August, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs 2006 - Day 1 | The first day of the famous Red Bull roManiacs tough motorcycle enduro race was held on Sunday 13 August. 2 time winner, Cyril Despres won the prologue.
Are these riders really that good, or just plain suicidal ?
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| 4 August, 2006 - Interesting "Race" - From Junk To Race | 12 people, in 72 hours, produced a vintage motorcycle from scratch at a motorcycle swap meet in Ohio, USA, and then raced the old Kawasaki motorcycle in a vintage race (and ended in 7th place).
Nice idea !!
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| 27 July, 2006 - Video: Erzberg 2006- BMW HP2 | | Here's a three minute video clip of BMW HP2 efforts in this year's Erzberg Rodeo Enduro race, featuring Jimmy Lewis (USA), Gerhard Forster (Germany), Chris Pfeiffer (Germany) and Simo Kirssi (Finland). Quite amazing ! Also, a 2 minute clip of last year's event, giving you a good overview why this race is so difficult. |
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| 12 July, 2006 - Le Touquet Enduropale 2007 - Planning | Since we've received quite some emails asking for more information on the next Le Touquet Enduropale beach race, here's information for you.
Prizes, cost, hotels, etc. Nothing to stop you from preparing this race.
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| 22 June, 2006 - Rossi To Continue in WRC | | Rossi may have said "No" to Ferrari F1, but he's still going to race a car in the New Zealand rally in November. It may not be a Ferrari, but it has 4 wheels (most of the time) and it goes fast ! |
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| 12 June, 2006 - New Zealand MotoGP ? | Is New Zealand going to host a MotoGP next year ? The local authorities hope so.
They're investing heavy in the new race track in Taupo. it looks like some circuit !!!
This could be an interesting track for a MotoGP!
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| 9 June, 2006 - ORPI Maroc 2006 Rally Results | Last weekend saw the finish of the Orpi Maroc rally. Unfortunately, the race saw one fatality. Eric Coma won the race.
The Orpi Maroc race is seen as the testing grounds for the Dakar race.
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| 29 May, 2006 - Erzberg Rodeo 2006 Results | The Erzberg Rodeo motorcycle enduro race is over. Here are some photos of this incredible tough event.
There were several races, but in the main category, the BMW HP2 did very well. |
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| 24 May, 2006 - Videos: Trailer and Stupid Crash | | Two Google Videos, one a trailer to a full feature documentary of last year's MotoGP in the USA and one really stupid biker crashing into a bus. |
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| 19 May, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs - Star List | The Red Bull roManiacs motorcycle enduro race this year will be full of motorcycle stars.
Travis Pastrana will be coming over to race with several fellow Americans in World's Toughest Enduro race.
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| 12 May, 2006 - Dakar 2007 and Challenge Yamaha Dakar | Yamaha are really throwing a package towards next year's Dakar race. Private entries can get a full support package, including the WR450F Yamaha motorcycle, racing suits, maintenance, media assistance, etc etc for less than what it will cost you to enter the race yourself.
If you've always wanted to ride the Dakar, but can't get the money you'd need, this looks like a sweet deal.
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| 10 May, 2006 - Another Race: Yamaha YZF R1, Jet Fighter and a Porsche | | We've all seen the video clip posted last month of the Formula 1 car versus a motorcycle. Here's a new drag race, this time between a Yamaha YZF R1 motorcycle, a Porsche and a Jet fighter plane.. yes a plane !! Interesting race ! To be seen. |
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| 5 May, 2006 - Spanish Baja Motorcycle Race | The American Baja races are not the only one with the "Baja" name. Spain has a Baja motorcycle race, lasting 3 days over 1300 kilometers.
An idea for those of you in Europe who want to compete in a Baja event.
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| 14 April, 2006 - 1300 Start - 30 Finish ! Erzbergrodeo Enduro | The Erzbergrodeo is one of the toughest, with some 1300 riders starting and only 30 finishing after 4 days. Here's a video clip (45 minutes long) that shows you why it's so tough ! The race starts again next month, May 25th.
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| 30 March, 2006 - ROManiacs Video Clip | | Here's a video clip of the famous and notorious Red Bull ROManiacs enduro race. Marvel at these kamikaze motorcycle riders. Are they mad or just passionate ? |
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| 23 March, 2006 - MotoGP Season 2006 To Start | This weekend is the start of the MotoGP season, and I for one will be watching these lads on Sunday.
It's promising to be a great season!
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| 15 March, 2006 - Rossi Challenges Alonso To Duel | Rossi has challenged Alonso to a high speed duel. F1, Rally and MotoGP are the weapons of choice.
Is Alonso man enough, or will he take back his words ? |
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| 8 March, 2006 - Two African Rallies, 2 Ways Of Doing Them | There are two other African rallies apart from the Dakar. The Optic2000 Tunisia and Orpi Maroc motorcycle races are open to all amateurs.
But you can also fly there on a VIP package, and follow the race in a chauffeur driven 4x4 car, sleep in the bivouac and wine and dine with the stars.
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| 3 February, 2006 - Off to Le Touquet’s Enduropale race | I'm off to Le Touquet to cover the beach enduro race.
1,000 mad and crazy bikers racing down the beach. Photos will be posted as soon as we can.
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| 27 January, 2006 - Red Bull roManiacs DVD | The toughest enduro race in the world, to Red Bull roMANIACS, can now be seen on DVD. Get your copy at your local KTM dealer, or order it on the web.
Not to be missed.
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| 14 January, 2006 - Ludivine Puy, Dakar Angel | A look at the pretty, and very cable Ludivine Puy, female motorcyclist in the Dakar race.
Too bad she crashed while avoiding a little boy standing on the road during the special in Day 13, and she's now in the hospital.
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| 8 January, 2006 - KTM: Dakar 2006: Bivouac Photos Week 1 | Since today is a rest day for the Dakar race, here are some photos taken over last week at the different bivouacs.
For those of you who can't get enough. |
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| 5 January, 2006 - roMANIACS Inscription Open For 2006 | For those of you who want a real challenge, and find the Dakar race a bit too tame, try the Red Bull roMANIACS.
Registration will be open for the first 60 riders on 10JAN2006.
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| 30 December, 2005 - KTM: Dakar 2006: Scrutineering | | I'll be publishing, "as-is", the KTM press releases that come in directly from the Dakar race. This is the first one, the scrutineering. |
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| 8 December, 2005 - The "Le Touquet" Enduro 2006 - World’s Biggest Event | World's biggest motorcycle race is on for the 4th and 5th February.
The "Le Touquet" beach race, with 1,000 motorcycles competing. But it has changed format and name.
There are still a few motorcycle spots available.
Interested ??
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| 31 July, 2005 - Motorcycle Races Updates | | Every minute the latest sports results box on the top right of the main page refreshes with the latest results. |
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| 5 July, 2005 - Betting Against Valentino Rossi | You can bet that Valentino does NOT win the championship, or win, but whatever you bet, you'll not make much money.
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| 13 June, 2005 - Site down Sunday | | Due to the hosting company having a technical problem, no sports results were posted on Sunday, but now, they are all up to date. |
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| 9 June, 2005 - Low Cost Dakar Race | A low cost alternative to the Dakar race is now available - the Budapest-Bamako rally.
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| 21 January, 2005 - Last Enduro of Touquet Cancelled ! | | The last and final Le Touquet Enduro race, world's biggest, has now been cancelled (no more beach race - end of an era). |
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| 14 January, 2005 - Ducati’s MotoGiro 2005 | Ducati and Dream Engine are holding their 5th road race, the MotoGiro 2005.
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| 30 December, 2004 - Dakar 2005 - 30th December | | Live (well almost) from Barcelona, reporting on the Dakar 2005 race (loads of photos). |
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| 29 November, 2004 - The Paris-Dakar 2005 | The Paris-Dakar route has been published, and this year, I'm going to be there !
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| 8 October, 2004 - Motorcross "Des Nations" | | The Motorcross Des Nations, world's top motorcross rides square it off against each other. |
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| 6 September, 2004 - MotoGP Winning Over F1 | | More and more viewers are turning to MotoGP, not happy with F1. Surprised ? |
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| 17 September, 2003 - Rossi to Swap with Bayliss ? | | A very strong rumor is going around that Rossi may swap teams with Bayliss in next season's MotoGP..... |
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