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Showing posts from May, 2012

MotoGP. More power for title defence

For the past five years the MotoGP World Championship has been contested with an 800cc engine limit. In 2012, the premier class has a new specification of 1000cc for the grid, marking a return to the powerful machinery that first came to prominence ten years ago with the switch from 2-strokes to 4-strokes. This is set to produce a more spectacular, more even and less expensive competition for manufacturers.
With Repsol colours on the livery and the No.1 plate on the front, the Honda RC213V is the bike to beat. Its design is based upon the RC212V with which Casey Stoner became World Champion and Dani Pedrosa won three races last season.
The Repsol Honda RC213V features a 4-cylinder V engine with a capacity of 1000cc, combining the main characteristics of its MotoGP predecesors. In 2002, Honda kicked off the MotoGP era with the RC211V: The first Honda bike of the 21st century (hence the 21-1 numbering system), it featured a four-stroke (RC) engine consisting of a 5-cylind…
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The Repsol Honda Team heads to Catalunya

The 2012 MotoGP World Championship stops in Barcelona this weekend for the fifth round on the calendar.

Catalunya circuit is a place full of fond memories for both Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa. Casey recorded the best ever lap at this track (pole position in 2008 with 1'41.186) and Dani has the circuit record (1'42.358, the fastest lap in 2008 on his way to victory).

I the last five years, Casey has never missed the podium at Catalunya. The Australian champion, currently second in the championship eight points behind Lorenzo, will fight to close this gap in Montmeló, where last year he took a solid victory.

Dani knows how it feels to be on top at his home Grand Prix; he has won here in all classes and after missing the race last year due to injury, he is more motivated than ever. Dani wants to enjoy the race in front of his fans and reduce the gap in the championship standings as much as possible. He is third with 65 points, 25 behind the leader.

It will be a…
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A great day for the Bike

Well it was a nice day out and took the chance to carry out a few jobs on the bike.

I replaced the rectifier bolts today with titanium ones which has saved me another 6.6 grams.

I upgraded the firmware on the Power Commander V to V0.1.8.8.

I have now done 2,200 miles on the bike and it feels great throwing it into the bends!
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Stoner takes another podium with Pedrosa in fourth

Today at the Grand Prix of France, Casey Stoner scored his fourth podium of the season and his 19th successive in MotoGP with team mate Dani Pedrosa in fourth at a cold and slippery Le Mans circuit that once again proved to be a real challenge for all the riders.

In the 28 lap race that started with rain and ended with a dry line, the Australian World Champion crossed the finish line in third place after a thrilling battle with Valentino Rossi, resulting in the Italian passing Casey on the last lap. Stoner is now second in the Championship standings, with 82 points, 8 behind Jorge Lorenzo.

Dani Pedrosa, starting from pole, missed the podium for the first time this season. He lost contact with the leading group in the first laps and riding alone for most of the race, he managed to remain focused and score important Championship points, where he maintains third position.CASEY STONER3rdWorld Championship Position: 2nd with 82 points"I was pretty happy to hold on for a …
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After the MOT

Well the bike is three years old soon so decided to get the mot done now. Here is a picture I took after a quick clean to celebrate it passing
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Dani takes pole with Casey in second

Dani Pedrosa will start tomorrow's Grand Prix of France from pole position (1'33.638) with team mate Casey Stoner in second place (1'33.941) after a stressful qualifying practice that was decided in the final minutes.

Rain affected the session at the Le Mans circuit, after three free practices in dry conditions, and choosing the right moment to make the time attack for the best grid position was key.

Dani holds the best pole position time in Le Mans from 2008 and also took the circuit record last year. This is his first pole of the 2012 season, and the first since Brno last year.

Casey, on top of the time sheets in all the free practice sessions, will line up next to Dani after finishing three tenths off the Spaniard in qualifying.
DANI PEDROSA1st 1'33.638"I'm not a pole man, so I'm happy to be here for the first time this season; front row is always good and the team has done a great job with the bike. It's been a difficult session, quite …
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Repsol Honda Team set the pace at Le Mans

After announcing yesterday in the official press conference his plans to retire at the end of this season, Casey Stoner got back on track and set the fastest time (1'33.740) in the first day of practice at the Le Mans circuit. His team mate, Dani Pedrosa, finished the day close behind (1'34.005), just two tenths off the Australian.

The Repsol Honda Team had a positive start to the Grand Prix of France with both factory riders already showing good pace in the morning session, taking first and second on the time sheets on their first outing here with the 1000cc machines. In the afternoon, with slightly higher track temperatures, Stoner managed to improve his time by 0.6 seconds and Pedrosa by 0.9.CASEY STONER1st 1'33.740"The sessions today went quite well for us. Believe it or not, today we were trying to create chatter, so we can make the most use of this dry time on track to understand it a little better and make some improvements for the rest of the sea…
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Black Sato Street hooks

I have a set of orange powder coated SATO Street hooks at present.
As the subframe is being swapped for the 2011 black version, these will be a great addition.
Its amazing what you can pick up cheap on ebay!
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Repsol Honda riders head to France looking for another double podium

This weekend the 2012 MotoGP World Championship heads to Le Mans. The Grand Prix of France, fourth round of the calendar, welcomes the Repsol Honda Team with Casey Stoner leading the Championship with 66 points and Dani Pedrosa in third place with 52.

Both Honda factory riders have visited the podium at every race so far this season and Casey and Dani head to Le Mans aiming to continue this pattern at a track that affected both riders' seasons in different ways last year.

Casey, who clinched the win in Estoril last week and his 18th successive podium, won in Le Mans in 2011, building up towards his second MotoGP World title with three wins in a row (Le Mans, Catalunya and Silverstone).


Dani celebrated his 100th career podium in Portugal and will return to Le Mans with one thing on his mind: to put behind him the bad memories from his crash in 2011, after setting the circuit record and fastest lap of the race (1'33.627). As a result of this accident, Dani broke his…
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Victory for Stoner and 100th podium for Pedrosa

Today at the Grand Prix of Portugal, Casey Stoner took his second successive victory of the season with team mate Dani Pedrosa again joining him on the podium with a third position, in another strong race for the Repsol Honda Team which is sure to be remembered.

Today Casey today took his 42nd win in all classes in Grand Prix racing equaling the record of Max Biaggi and Tony Mang. After his win in Estoril today, Casey has now won at every circuit on the current GP calendar.

This podium has also been very special for Dani because with this third place finish, he joins an elite club of riders with 100 career podiums to their name. Only six competitors have achieved the milestone before Pedrosa: Valentino Rossi (175 podiums), Giacomo Agostini (159), Ángel Nieto (139), Phil Read (121), Mike Hailwood (112) and Max Biaggi (111). In addition, at just 26 years of age he is the second youngest, after Rossi to reach this milestone.

Casey's victory has given Honda it's seven…
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Maiden 2012 pole for Stoner with Pedrosa in second

Casey Stoner took his first pole position of the season with Dani Pedrosa in second just 0.013 off his team mate in a dramatic qualifying practice session at the Estoril circuit.

Both Repsol Honda riders sealed their front row spots for the Grand Prix of Portugal in the dying minutes of the session, which was interrupted by a red flag with eleven minutes remaining due to a crash involving De Puniet and Edwards.

The Repsol Honda Team is prepared for a big battle tomorrow with Casey looking for his first victory at this track in the premier class. Dani will be hoping to repeat the win he achieved here last year and also take his 100th career podium.CASEY STONER1st 1'37.188"In general it's been a good day for us and I'm really happy to get pole. FP3 was positive and we made progress on the bike, we had the bike turning well with good front feeling. Unfortunately in qualifying we tried to improve it further but managed to lose the good points! We did find a …
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Stoner fastest on first day in Portugal

The Grand Prix of Portugal, third round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, began today at the Estoril circuit with Repsol Honda's Casey Stoner on top of the time sheets (1'38.396). Team mate Dani Pedrosa finished in fourth position (1'38.797) with the combined practice times, after another tight battle between the Honda and Yamaha riders as we've already seen in the first two races of the season.

The weather played a big part in the first MotoGP practice session and again, as was the case in Jerez last week, the Portuguese GP got underway with wet patches and cold temperatures in the morning. The Repsol Honda riders went out on track on slick tyres with only 10 minutes of the first session remaining and both Casey and Dani had to wait until the afternoon to get some proper track time on the tricky Estoril circuit with the new 1000cc machines.

The Honda factory riders made the most of the second free practice to begin tuning the set up of their RC213V&#…
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Design company Kartell partners with MotoGP World Champions

Honda Racing Corporation have signed a deal with Italian furniture design company Kartell, to provide furnishings for the HRC Hospitality.

Created in 1949, boasting over 60 years of history, Kartell a leader in design addresses an international clientele with a collection unique in originality, variety and depth of range. The continuous evolution in how they use materials and experimentation with new technologies to discover new properties are fundamental in developing Kartell products, both in terms of the quest for functionality and for the development of new aesthetic qualities.

Kartell tables, chairs and stools will dress the HRC hospitality at the European races this season. The first presentation of the new hospitality was at Round 2 of the World Championship in Jerez, Spain on April 29. Now the travelling circus will continue on to Estoril, Portugal for the next race with Repsol Honda riders Casey Stoner and Dani Pedrosa 2nd and 3rd in the Championship standings af…
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Repsol Honda Team targeting another strong result in Portugal

This week the MotoGP family head to Estoril for the last time after visiting the circuit since 2000. The Grand Prix of Portugal is the third race of the season and the Repsol Honda Team arrives there only four days after celebrating the victory of Casey Stoner and the third position finish of Dani Pedrosa in Jerez.

Casey and Dani, second and third respectively in the MotoGP World Championship standings, will be aiming for another strong result at the Portuguese track, always a challenge for its combination of long corners and heavy braking and an unpredictable weather, even more this year with the powerful 1000cc machines.

Stoner, who took his first ever GP victory at Jerez last week, will try to do the same now in Estoril, the only track on the calendar where victory eludes him in the premier class.

Dani was the last winner here having won in 2011 and holds the circuit record from 2009 with a lap time of 1'36.937. He has achieved 4 podiums out of 6 races in MotoGP…
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