1982 Suzuki Gs 650 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!

WSBK 2013: Portimao Race Report

Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty split a pair of victories at Portugal’s Portimao circuit while Sylvain Guintoli took advantage of some misfortune to his championship rivals to increase his lead in the 2013 World Superbike Championship standings. Guintoli has been leading or sharing the lead in the championship since winning the first race of Round 1 in Australia, but amazingly continues to lead despite having just that single victory after six rounds. The Aprilia rider has accomplished this through his consistency (Guintoli leads all racers with nine podium finishes in 12 races) and ability to finish each race (he’s the only rider in the top seven without a DNF).

Motorcyclist’s Neck Cut after Hitting Kite Wire Strung Across Road

27-year-old Humayun Kobir is recovering in a Toronto hospital after receiving a serious laceration to his neck after riding into a line of wire strung across an intersection. According to local reports, Kobir felt a sharp pain in his neck after riding through an intersection on his Suzuki GSX-R on Aug. 27, his 27th birthday.