Our friend and photographer Stephen McClements was recently out at the Southern 100, that other road race that’s held each year at the Isle of Man.
Set in the scenic town of Castletown, the Southern 100 doesn’t run on the famous TT course, instead racers compete on the Billown Circuit.
Though it’s not as famous as the Isle of Man TT, the Southern 100 still manages to attract some recognizable names from the TT and Irish road racing championship.
For instance, this year’s race saw entries from Michael Dunlop, Dave Molyneux, Dean Harrison, Ivan Lintin, Dan Kneen, and James Cowton.
Stephen brought Asphalt & Rubber some great high-resolution photographs from the 2016 Southern 100, we hope you enjoy them, after the jump (above: Dan Kneen at the Church Bends stone wall).
If you’re like us, the debut of the KTM RC16 MotoGP race bike cannot come soon enough. The machine will officially be unveiled at the Austrian MotoGP round, which is the first race after MotoGP’s summer break, on August 14th.
We can expect to see the KTM RC16 take its first public hot laps at Valencia later this year (Austria should see some parade laps on the course), the post-season test also being Bradley Smith and Pol Espargaro’s first chance to ride the new race bike.
Until all that happens though, we will have to suffice with the testing photos we get from KTM, as test riders Mika Kallio and Tom Luthi continue to hone the V4-powered machine.
If you believe the hype from KTM, the RC16 is a beast – making in the neighborhood of 270hp already.
Making the horsepower might be the easiest part of the project though, as KTM will not only have to ensure that reliability exists in its engine design, but also make sure all that the RC16 can get all that power down to the tarmac.
As such, the KTM RC16 was out spinning laps at Mugello last month. We don’t need much of an excuse to bring you massive high-resolution photos of this machine, so we won’t make you wait any longer.
Enjoy them after the jump, there is a new computer desktop background or two for you in the collection, for sure.
If you have been following Asphalt & Rubber for the past week, you would know I was just in Italy for World Ducati Week. A bi-annual gathering of Ducatisti from around the world, for three days the Misano circuit and surrounding areas are flooded with Ducati motorcycles.
The tagline for WDW2016 was “More than Red” and part of that credo is a nod to the addition of the Scrambler Ducati line, with the yellow-colored “Land of Joy” sitting in prominence at the circuit’s entrance.
With the Scrambler too came a new event for World Ducati Week, flat track racing, which featured eight GP and SBK riders competiting on Misano’s TT-styled flat track course. In competition were Andrea Dovizioso, Troy Bayliss, Tati Mercado, Davide Giugliano, Danilo Petrucci, Yonny Hernandez, and Alessandro Valia.
The racing was head-to-head, with a pair of riders battling against each other over three laps, from a staggered start of 100 meters or so. It was good fun to watch, and the crowd seemed into it. I only took a few shots from the races, but thought I’d share them with you.
Above “Desmo Dovi” on the gas, and on his way to a race win. There’s more after the jump.
