Ducati : Other 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848 on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

EICMA 2012: 2013 Ducati Hypermotard Gets New 821cc Liquid-Cooled Engine

Ducati is streamlining its Hypermotard lineup for 2013, replacing its air-cooled  796 and 1100 models with a new 821cc liquid-cooled Hypermotard. Announced at the 2012 EICMA Show in Milan, Italy, the line now includes the Hypermotard, the Hypermotard SP and the more touring-oriented Hyperstrada which you can read about in a separate post. Bowing to ever tightening environmentally-friendly restrictions, the new generation of Hypermotards come equipped with a new 821cc version of Ducati’s Testastretta V-Twin engine.

MWR Air Filters Claim Amazing Power Improvement

From the News That Sounds Too Good To Be True But, Boy, Do We Hope It Is Department, MWR Air Filters wants riders to know that its MWR High Efficiency Air Filters are breaking new ground in air filtration technology. While the company’s name might not be commonplace among performance oriented riders – yet – some pretty big names are using MWR filters even though the company doesn’t pay sponsorship dollars. According to MWR’s press release, “the reigning WSBK champion, Tom Sykes uses MWR Air Filters in his Kawasaki ZX10R.” Also, 17 riders at the Isle of Man TT were running with MWR filters.