June 22nd, 2008 by R.J.

The 2007 World Champion proved uncatchable at Sunday’s bwin.com British Grand Prix, leading the race from pole position until the very end. Casey Stoner, aboard his Marlboro Ducati, built up a 6 second lead over the course of the race which was just too much for the rest of the field to overcome.

Valentino Rossi, the current leader in championship points, placed second and built up an 11 point championship lead over second-in-points Dani Pedrosa who came in third. Colin Edwards and Andrea Dovizioso rounded out the top 5.

James Toseland, who came into the race with high expectations racing in his home Grand Prix, had amazingly bad luck as he went down in the very first corner of the very first lap with no contact from any other rider.

Ben Spies, making his MotoGP debut in place of an injured Loris Capirossi, placed 14th enabling him to pick up championship points in his very first race. Every lap Spies was getting faster on the unfamiliar bike and track and he will have to wait to see if he is required to race in the upcoming TT Assen.

Here are the results:

1 - Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team - 44:44.982
2 - Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 44:50.771
3 - Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 44:53.329
4 - Colin Edwards - Yamaha Tech3 - 44:57.660
5 - Andrea Dovizioso - JIR Honda Scot - 44:59.783
6 - Jorge Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha - 45:00.672
7 - Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 45:03.178
8 - Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 45:06.648
9 - Shinya Nakano - Honda San Carlo - 45:14.336
10 - Anthony West - Team Kawasaki - 45:26.012
11 - Toni Elias - Alice Ducati - 45:29.408
12 - Randy De Puniet - Honda LCR - 45:31.181
13 - Sylvain Guintoli  - Alice Ducati - 45:33.713
14 - Ben Spies - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP - 45:34.573
15 - Alex De Angelis - Honda San Carlo - 46:07.168
16 - Marco Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team - 46:15.003
17 - James Toseland - Yamaha Tech3 - 45:32.234

June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

For a rainy hour on Saturday, Casey Stoner, aboard his Ducati Marlboro racebike was unstoppable en route to his second consecutive pole position this season.

Stoner’s best lap of the session was a 1:32.232, a full six tenths of a second faster than his closest competitor, Valentino Rossi.

Rounding out the top five is Chris Vermeulen, Nicky Hayden, and Colin Edwards. Dani Pedrosa, currently second in points behind Rossi, qualified 9th.

It’s going to be a great race. Here’s how the rest of the field broke down:

1 - C. Stoner - Ducati Marlboro Team 1:38.232
2 - V. Rossi - Fiat Yamaha Team + 0.649
3 - C. Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 0.786
4 - N. Hayden - Repsol Honda Team + 1.038
5 - C. Edwards - Tech 3 Yamaha + 1.369
6 - A. Dovizioso - JiR Team Scot MotoGP + 1.551
7 - A. West - Kawasaki Racing Team + 1.763
8 - B. Spies - Rizla Suzuki MotoGP + 2.012
9 - D. Pedrosa - Repsol Honda Team + 2.118
10 - S. Nakano - San Carlo Honda Gresini + 2.185
11 - J. Hopkins - Kawasaki Racing Team + 2.307
12 - S. Guintoli - Alice Team + 2.363
13 - A. De Angelis - San Carlo Honda Gresini + 2.435
14 - R. De Puniet - LCR Honda MotoGP + 2.878
15 - M. Melandri - Ducati Marlboro Team + 3.147
16 - J. Toseland - Tech 3 Yamaha + 3.519
17 - J. Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha Team + 3.641
18 - T. Elias - Alice Team + 4.701

June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

The California Highway Patrol released the name of a 49-year old Oakville man who rode his motorcycle off the road on Sunday night in Napa County near Yountville.

Officers responded to the scene off Oakville Grade, west of Highway 29, just after 8:00 p.m where Stephen Lloyd Ogle was pronounced dead at the scene.

Ogle lost control of his 2006 Big Dog custom-built motorcycle for unknown reasons and began to slide as he approached a curve in the roadway, according to the CHP. He slid off the road and into a tree and a fence.

The crash remains under investigation.

June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

SEATTLE- Eleven riders on high-powered motorcycles took turns riding wheelies through 60mph traffic last Saturday on I-5.

This kind of plays hand-in-hand with the article below about many motorcyclists having the “biker boyz” mentality resulting in their deaths. It’s just this kind of nonsense that makes the general public look down on our hobby.

If you want to wheelie, fine. Go out and do it on a street away from cars where you aren’t going to hurt anyone else when you crash. But that’s not cool, right? You have to show off in front of people. Why don’t you enter a stunt competition? That lets you show off -and- be safe. But then you don’t look like a badass in front of strangers you’ll never meet? Oh… Well… In that case… By all means, carry on.

I just don’t understand this. It just makes motorcyclists look like hooligans that have no regard for anybody including themselves. What’s going to happen when one of those cagers decides to float the idea of banning motorcyclists from the roads and all the rest of them that you scared to death agree to it? Or how about when your insurance (assuming you have insurance, right?) decides to raise your rates because the perception of bikers is now a bunch of reckless turkeys riding machines of pure suicide.

But, hey, those were some awesome wheelies, right?

June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

The Los Angeles Times ran an article about the rise in motorcycle fatalities recently. It’s not really a surprise to me; I post about them every day; and I’ve lost some really good friends to bike accidents. But the numbers are still pretty shocking…

Over the last ten years, the CHP has tracked a 140% increase in motorcycle fatalities in the state.  In 2006 alone, there were 433 riders killed and 10,188 motorcyclists injured in California.

The 4 months between June and September result in nearly 50% of deadly collisions for the entire year.

“On nice weekends, when the weatherman says it’s going to be sunny, we get the copter gassed up and ready to go. Because you can just predict that someone’s going to do something that started out fun and ends up a disaster,” said Shane Matthews, weekend crew chief of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department’s air rescue squad.

Fran Clader, a CHP spokesperson, implied that the reason for the rise in fatalities is because more baby-boomers are hitting the road with “bigger and more powerful” engines. I don’t necessarily agree with that.

I think that’s just a political agenda someone is going to bring up to limit the power of motorcycles for “safety reasons.” I believe speed, not engine size, is the biggest contributing factor to the majority of these wrecks.

It’s just as easy to kill yourself on a 600cc sportbike as it is on a 1000cc. They’re both going to reach speeds in excess of 170mph. If you crash on either one, you’re probably going to die. But you don’t need to be going 170mph to kill yourself on a bike. People are killed on mopeds all the time. Are their engines too big, too?

Inattention is the other big factor. A lot of people get on bikes to show off and their mindset is “looking cool” in front of other people on the road. Not safety.  And who’s to blame them? Bikes are cool. But at some point that has to take a backseat to preserving your own life.

There’s too many people dying out there as a result of this “biker boyz” mindset. We, as motorcyclists, need to put a stop to it. We need to educate more riders on how to properly handle their bikes. I suggest everyone who rides a bike take an MSF Course. Not only will they teach you how to operate your bike safely and avoid accidents, they’ll teach you what you need to do to survive mishaps that would otherwise result in accidents with real hands-on training.

June 21st, 2008 by R.J.

MotoGP rider James Toseland got his first taste of what it’s like to be at the wheel of a Formula 1 racecar.

The 27-year old Briton visited Williams’ Grove factory for a stint in the Toyota-powered F1 team’s sophisticated Formula One driving simulator.

Toseland had this to say: “Williams had its telemetry engineers there telling me what to do; it was interesting to see what you have to do in an F1 car compared to a motorcycle to get it round the circuit,” according to Reuters.

While there are no plans for Toseland to make the switch to F1, he did say he would enjoy getting the chance to drive a Formula 1 car for real.

“After 45 minutes in the simulator I was only three seconds a lap slower than Williams race driver Kazuki Nakajima so it wasn’t too bad,”Toseland added.

June 20th, 2008 by R.J.

LUDLOW - A man died after his motorcycle hit a semi tractor trailer on Interstate 40 Monday evening.

David Frazelle, 29, of Hawthorne was riding eastbound on Interstate 40 aboard his 2008 Honda 600RR sportbike at around 6:05 p.m. on Monday. According to reports from the California Highway Patrol, Frazelle struck the back of a semi-truck and was ejected from the bike. Paramedics pronounced Frazelle dead on the scene.

CHP is investigating the accident, but noted that the truck did not slow or stop suddenly and it was unclear at this point why the motorcycle ran into the back of it.

The occupants of the semi-truck were uninjured.

June 20th, 2008 by R.J.

Casey Stoner was the fastest rider in both sessions at Donington on Friday and the chances of a repeat victory look promising for the Australian who is currently fourth in the overall World Championship points standings.

The Ducati Marlboro rider set the fastest time in preparation for the bwin.com British Grand Prix at 1:28.253. Stoner maintained a comfortable lead of a half second on next-quickest rider, 2006 World Champion Nicky Hayden.

Valentino Rossi was the third-fastest of the day, with Colin Edwards and Alex De Angelis rounding out the top 5. Dani Pedrosa, who currently is in second place in the points, was sixth.

With the points so close this year, I would expect some shake-ups in the standings come race day. It’s going to be exciting.

June 20th, 2008 by R.J.

CARSON CITY, Nevada-A 57-year-old Carson City man was killed when his motorcycle collided with a pickup on Highway 28 north of the Highway 50 intersection.

The accident happened Wednesday morning at approximately 9:20 a.m.

Trooper Chuck Allen of the Nevada Highway Patrol said that Fred K. Timmons, 57, was traveling northbound on his Yamaha motorcycle before entering the opposing lane of travel and sideswiping a 2007 Ford F-150 that was pulling a trailer. The F-150 was driven by David Shattuck of Gardnerville who was uninjured in the accident.

The accident happened on a blind curve in a no-passing zone. It is unclear at this point what made the motorcyclist enter the oncoming lane of traffic.

June 20th, 2008 by R.J.

Thursday’s ‘Day of Champions’ turned out to be a huge success with €235,965 (approximately $368,826) being raised for ‘Riders for Health’ - the official charity of the World Championship.

The ‘Day of Champions’ offered numerous activities for raising money, including a charity ride, musical entertainment, and a very successful charity auction for rider memorabilia.

Former Five-Time World Champion Valentino Rossi raised over €25,000 by auctioning off signed memorabilia including a helmet, t-shirts, paintings, and ball caps. Other noteworthy items include €7,215 for a set of Jorge Lorenzo’s leathers, €2,910 for one of Bradley Smith’s helmets and €900 for a sweatshirt being worn by Dani Pedrosa as he came onto the auction stage.

Thanks in part to British race fans and MotoGP championship riders, the charity will receive a significant boost in their efforts to improve the delivery of medical supplies to remote regions of Africa.