2023 Jerez MotoE Test: New Era Smashes Records Despite Poor Weather

By David Emmett | Wed, 08/03/2023 - 23:01

The past three days saw the new era of MotoE get off to a damp start, with rain and wind hampering the riders as they embarked on their first test with the Ducati V21L electric racing machines.

There was some dry running in between the rain showers, with Tuesday afternoon seeing an almost fully dry session.

Paddock Pass Podcast Episode 321: Reviewing A Tumultuous Mandalika WorldSBK Round

By David Emmett | Wed, 08/03/2023 - 11:25

It's been back-to-back weekends for WorldSBK, which means back-to-back Paddock Pass Podcasts for Steve English and Gordon Ritchie. In this episode, the dynamic duo look back at a strange and difficult World Superbike round at Mandalika in Indonesia, which left them with plenty to talk about.

Steve and Gordo talk about the state of the track, and the problems - and crashes - it caused for the riders. They talk about Kawasaki's terrible weekend, another triumphant weekend for Alvaro Bautista and Ducati, and how Toprak Razgatlioglu came back to winning ways.

MotoGP's New Spec ECU - Magneti Marelli BAZ-340 ECU Adds Crash Detection

By David Emmett | Tue, 07/03/2023 - 22:43

Dani Pedrosa's crashed KTM RC16 at the 2021 Styrian Grand Prix in Austria

The introduction of spec electronics in MotoGP has radically changed the series. It has reduced costs, allowed new entries into the class, and simplified bike setup to an extent. But it has also stimulated engineers to seek alternative solutions to problems they used to solve with proprietary electronic algorithms. Gone are sophisticated anti-wheelie strategies and self-adapting engine torque maps; in their place we have aerodynamic wings and ride-height devices.

The Human Engine - Luigi Dall'Igna

By Tammy Gorali | Tue, 07/03/2023 - 11:50

The CEO of Ducati Corse, the racing division of the manufacturer that won the jackpot in the 2022 racing season, sat in the snow during the launch of Ducati's 2023 season, with a glass of prosecco in hand, for a personal conversation and ... engineered

Luigi, or Gigi as everyone calls him, Dall'Igna always dreamed of working in racing. He graduated in mechanical engineering at the University of Padua with a thesis on carbon monocoque chassis. Almost straight out of university he moved to the Aprilia factory in Noale, Italy. Over more than two decades, he led Aprilia to championship titles in World Superbikes and the 125 and 250 cc categories in MotoGP, with riders such as Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Alvaro Bautista, Marco Melandri, Manuel Poggiali, and Max Biaggi of course.

Then Dall'Igna surprised the world of motorsport when he accepted an offer from rival manufacturer Ducati. Since graduating, he has only worked for Aprilia, except for a very short time in 2005 when he worked for Derbi. For the 2014 season, Dall'Igna was on his way to try to make the difference, as he did in Aprilia, only this time for the factory in Bologna.

Gigi is considered a legend, a magician, a brain, and Ducati was very excited by the arrival of someone who later made radical changes in the racing department. Ducati were in a crisis, after a long decline which had started shortly after winning their first title with Casey Stoner in 2007. The culmination of the crisis was the failure with one of the greatest riders ever, Valentino Rossi. Ducati knew that in order to come back and win, replacing riders would not be enough this time.

Sepang MotoGP Test Photo Analysis: Honda's 'Ground-Effect' Fairing - Was It Hiding Something More Significant?

By David Emmett | Mon, 06/03/2023 - 00:31

There was a great deal of excitement when this unusual prototype bike (my shoddy phone camera photo) was spotted in the Repsol Honda garage at the Sepang test. Was Honda the latest factory to try out a ground-effect fairing? The obvious answer was yes, but this misses the point entirely. This bike spoke volumes about what HRC was up to at Sepang. And it had very little to do with aerodynamics. Or at least, it had very little to do with ground effect.

The changes at HRC – former Suzuki engineer Ken Kawauchi replacing Takeo Yokoyama as Technical Director – have see Honda go back to basics. At Sepang, Honda sent Marc Marquez out to ride the Honda RC213V with just a plain fairing, no aerodynamic wings fitted at all. "The new technical manager arrived in HRC, and he wants to understand many things about the concept," Marquez explained. "I was not asking about why this, why that. I was just riding."

Look beyond the ground-effect fairing on the strange prototype, and this bike too looks more like HRC going back to basics. To understand what Honda are up to, let's go through a few photos and parts, one by one.

2023 Mandalika World Superbike Race Two Result: More Drama, More Red Flags

By Jared Earle | Sun, 05/03/2023 - 06:29

World Superbike race two would be missing Loris Baz as his leg and ankle were fractured in the contact made between him and Alex Lowes this morning. Aegerter had to drop one position due to irresponsible racing in an incident with Danilo Petrucci at the end of this morning's race. Remy Gardner weathered his gastroenteritis to make the start. The weather remained at 30ºC after overnight rain and red flags played a part in the tyre allocation.

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