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Stunt Rider Chris Pfeiffer Has Died After Taking His Own Life

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It is with a heavy heart that we report the death of legendary stunt rider Chris Pfeiffer, who passed away this past weekend. Speedweek is reporting that the 51-year-old icon’s body was found after he took his own life, ending a months-long bout of serious depression.

A legend in the stunt-riding community, Pfeiffer won multiple motorcycle stunt world championships and brought the niche extreme sport to mainstream attention with his close links to BMW Motorrad and Red Bull.

His shows pushed the boundaries of what could be done on two wheels, paved the way for a countless number of stunters who are in the sport today, and reached a legion of fans around the world. The man was truly impressive.

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MotoGP

Where It All Went Wrong for Ducati Corse in Qatar

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Fortunes in MotoGP can change fast. Before the opening weekend of the 2022 MotoGP season, Pecco Bagnaia was the most tipped rider to take the title, the Ducati GP22 was the hot bike to have.

The question was not whether a Ducati would win one of the early races, but rather which one, and how many Ducatis would end up on the podium at them.

That prediction turned out to be accurate, but not in the way those making it expected. Enea Bastianini rode an outstanding race in Qatar to win the first race of 2022, and the first for the Gresini squad since Toni Elias back at Estoril in 2006.

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Bikes

The KTM 790 Duke Surprisingly Returns for the 2022 Model Year

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The KTM 790 Duke is coming back as a 2022 model year machine, so says the Austrian brand. That might come as a bit of surprise, since the KTM 890 Duke R replaced its smaller sibling in late-2019.

This curious move seems to come for the benefit of the European market, where a 95hp version of the KTM 790 Duke will be made available for A2 license holders, with a price tag of €8,999.

The rest of the world’s markets will get the 2022 KTM 790 Duke with its full pop of 105hp, though it’s not clear if the 790 will come to North American soil.

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MotoGP

The Curious Case of Marc Marquez’s Preheated Front Tire in Qatar

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After the first MotoGP race of 2022, the Qatar Grand Prix was over, an observant Twitter follower asked me why the symbol used for Marc Marquez’ front tire choice was different to everyone else.

Watching the replay and then consulting the analysis PDFs on MotoGP’s new results section made clear what Marquez had done.

He and his team and chosen to fit a soft front tire that had been scrubbed in, and consequently, had been used for one lap already.

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News

Dainese Acquired by The Carlyle Group for €630 Million

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After three years of shopping it around, Investcorp has finally sold the Dainese group of brands, with The Carlyle Group (an American private equity firm) purchasing the Italian apparel manufacturer for a reported €630 million.

That number represents a nearly 5x return from the €130 million that Investcorp spent when it purchased 80% of Dainese SpA from founder Lino Dainese in 2014 – making the venture quite a profitable one for the Bahraini firm.

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Bikes

Honda ST125 Dax Debuts for the European Market

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I am just going to front-load this opinion: motorcycle press photos need more wiener dogs in them. It just works, and when they are paired with a pint-sized motorcycle like the Honda Dax…well, it just makes obvious sense.

An early 2023 model, the Honda ST125 Dax is a continuation of Big Red’s miniMoto lineup, using the same 9hp, 124cc, SOHC, two-valve engine found on the Honda Super Cub 125, complete with an auto-clutch handling shifting for the four-speed gearbox.

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Reviews

MotoGP Unlimited Review: A Series that Deserved Better

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It was a day we had been looking forward to for a long time: March 14th was the day that MotoGP Unlimited was to be launched on Amazon Prime. The series was due to be available in 170 different territories around the world.

As midnight passed in Europe, social media lit up with responses to the series. And unfortunately, those responses were very far from positive. Not because of the content of the documentary series, but because of the editorial decisions apparently made by Amazon Prime.

In the UK and US, the only version available was the dubbed version, where actors have voiced over everyone speaking in their own language. In Australia, India, and some Southeast Asian countries, MotoGP Unlimited was not available at all.

The problems reported seem to be a result of decisions taken by Amazon, rather than either Dorna or The MEDIAPRO Studio, the producers of the show. But the process by which these decisions were made is very hard to fathom.

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MotoGP

How MotoGP Bike Development Delayed Michelin’s New Front Tire

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The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic threw a spanner into the works for MotoGP in all sorts of ways. In response to the pandemic, the MSMA decided on an engine and aerodynamics freeze for 2020 and 2021, to limit costs in a time of uncertainty.

That went a long way to restraining costs, but as the world adapted to the pandemic, and it became clear that a global economic crisis had been averted, development budgets started to rise again.

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Racing

FIM North America Bans Russian Riders from AMA Events

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On March 5th, the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) announced its condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and in that announcement, it suspended the Motorcycle Federation of Russia (MFR) and the Belarusian Federation of Motorcycle Sport (BFMS) from FIM-sanctioned events.

This action also banned Russian and Belarusian from FIM-sanctioned events, and recommended that affiliated members of the FIM and FIM Continental Unions take similar action.

The FIM North America is going to heed that request, which means that Russian and Belarusian riders are banned from events that are operated by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and Canadian Motorcycle Association (CMA).

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