After a reasonably successful World Superbike debut, BMW is ready to take their S1000RR racing in the World Superstock class for 2010. The team will officially wear the BMW Motorrad Italia banner, but will have full factory support from Bavaria. Heading up the new team will be Serafino Foti, of Ducati WSS Championship fame…three years running.
UPDATE: Aprilia has released official photos and information on the 2010 Aprilia Shiver 750.
Making it a 2 for 2 Saturday, we have also gotten some leaked photos of the 2010 Aprilia Shiver, and it looks like the new Shiver carries with it the same disappointment we had with the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro Factory. Obvious changes are the sportier look that includes a fairing around the dash mounting, as well as wave disc-brakes fore and aft. Despite the tastefully done facelift, the feature we wanted the most was a diet for this 417lb (dry), but otherwise perfect daily rider.
Well it didn’t take long for the rumors about the 2010 Aprilia Dorsoduro Factory edition to come true, as we now have photos of the new bike leaked ahead of next week’s EICMA motorcycle show in Milan. It’s a little disappointing what Aprilia has done to the bike to make it stand-out from its base model, with the obvious differences between the two being just the Factory’s carbon body panels and red trellis frame. Continue on for more details and photos.
The rumors appear to be true, and the BMW R series is getting an update to its motor for 2010. Maintaining its existing 1,170cc displacement, the most notable change to BMW’s flat boxer motor is a dual-overhead camshaft (DOHC) cylinder head setup, which was previously only seen on the HP2 Sport.
With the bore and stroke staying the same for 2010, the R lineup will continue to use the same 101 x 73mm cylinders, making a total of 1,170cc’s. The real changes and improvements come from the new cylinder head design. The DOHC design features two chain-driven camshafts, with each camshaft controlling both an intake and exhaust valve in the radial four-valve head.
When MotoGP switched from the 990cc displacement format to the 800cc formula, it was done so on the idea that it would make the premiere racing class safer for the riders. This proved to not be the case, as the 800cc bikes clearly carried more corner speed through turns, and were still able to approach 990cc top speeds on the straight-aways.
The result, a racing class that was more dangerous and more expensive for manufacturers.With this in mind, Dorna Boss, Carmeloa Ezpeleta, wants to return the series back its previous 990cc format, by as early as 2011.
Even though the 2009 MotoGP season isn’t over yet, that hasn’t stopped the folks at Laguna Seca from opening up ticket sales for the 2010 races. While Laguna Seca may not host AMA racing this year, it will get the chance to host the all-American and all-Texan crew of Ben Spies and Colin Edwards.
Just because AMA Pro Road Racing might not be coming to Miller Motorsports Park, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy racing at one of the finest tracks in the United States. World Superbike is confirmed for a stop at MMP, and tickets are now available.
The 2010 AMA Pro Road Racing schedule is out, and currently the series has only 9 races scheduled, with a 10 race hopefully to be added to the schedule. Noticiably missing from the schedule are stops at both Laguna Seca and Miller Motorsports Park. The schedule also is missing a stop at Topeka, which was boycotted, due to safety concerns, by Mat Mladin and Jamie Hacking.
It would seem Yamaha isn’t the only manufacturer experiencing a mass exodus. Right on the heels of Livio Suppo leaving the Ducati Corse’s MotoGP team, comes the announcement that Davide Tardozzi, head of Ducati’s World Superbike team and personal manager to Michel Fabrizio, will be leaving the team.
Want further proof that HRC is trying to buy their success in 2010? Just confirmed is the news that Livio Suppo will be leaving Ducati Corse for HRC. After 11 years with Ducati, Suppo for many reasons has been the driving force and ethos of the Corse team. His departure signals not only an active acquisition strategy at HRC, but also a shake-up at Ducati Corse. While Suppo cites HRC’s offer as an opportunity difficult to resist, there seems to be some speculation about his departure being related to Ducati Corse courting Valentino Rossi for the 2011 season. Helping fuel this rumor is the fact that former Ducati test rider, Vito Guareschi, will take over as the new team manager.
Honda has released its second quarter financials, with the highlight (if you can call it that) being a 56.2% drop in their net income. Honda attributes this loss primarily to decreased car sales, and the currency exchange. For its part though, Honda’s motorcycle sales were down only 16.8%, with 2.4 million units sold during Q2.