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WSBK 2013: Aragon Race Report

BMW Motorrad Goldbet racer Chaz Davies scored his first career World Superbike double victory, taking both races at Spain’s Aragon circuit. The wins were the second and third of Davies’ WSBK career (the first came last year at Nurburgring for the ParkinGo Aprilia team) and the second ever double in the series for BMW. The Welsh rider and former AMA Pro Racing competitor has had some success at Aragon, getting his first career WSBK podium at the Spanish track in 2012.

AMA Pro Racing Announces Basic Twins Flat Track Class for 2014 Season

AMA Pro Racing announced a new class for Flat Track racing designed to provide a new stepping stone for up-and-coming Pro-licensed racers, replacing the Pro Singles class in 2014. The new class, to be called Basic Twins, is more or less a revival of the Basic Expert Twins division that ran during the 2007 and 2008 seasons, but dropped when the Pro Singles class was introduced for 2009. The new class will give young racers a chance to showcase their skills on Twins, easing their transition to eventually enter the Grand National Expert Twins class.

2013 AMA Supercross Houston Race Report

Ryan Villopoto captured his fifth-consecutive AMA Supercross win and sixth in seven rounds with a victory in the main event at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Monster Energy Kawasaki rider passed holeshot-taker Mike Alessi on the opening lap and led the rest of the way for the win. Alessi, riding the Motoconcepts Racing Suzuki RM-Z450, remained in the hunt for the first few laps but soon gave way to a group including Team Honda Muscle Milk’s Trey Canard, Red Bull KTM‘s Ryan Dungey and Yoshimura Suzuki’s James Stewart.

Semi-Faired Suzuki Inazuma GW250S Coming to Europe

  Suzuki will produce a semi-faired variant of its GW250 for Asia and Europe. The new Suzuki Inazuma GW250S, which adds a half-fairing and windscreen to the small-displacement standard, will be officially introduced April 20 at the Shanghai Motor Show in China. As with the original GW250, the S version will first be available in China with Italian site Motociclismo.it reporting the GW250S will be soon after be offered for Japan and Europe.

Suzuki Motor of America Officially Open for Business

American Suzuki Motor Corporation is officially no more, with the company’s operating assets transferred to the newly-formed Suzuki Motor of America, Inc. on March 31, 2013. The new company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corporation, will be the sole distributor of Suzuki motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, marine engines and automotive parts for the continental U.S.

Piaggio, Suzuki Hit with Fines by CARB

The California Air Resources Board has agreed to settlements with Suzuki and Piaggio for selling motorcycles that the companies did not disclose could be modified to exceed the state’s strict emission standards. Suzuki was hit with the larger of the two penalties, agreeing to a fine of $3,020,000, though the amount could be reduced by $1,812,000 if Suzuki follows certain provisions. The penalty is in addition to the previous fine of $885,000 levied by the Environmental Protection Agency for selling 25,396 LT-R450 ATVs and 62 RMX450Z dirtbikes with a racing map programmed into their ECUs that was not certified or tested. This racing map is not initially accessible to customers, unless they buy aftermarket devices to unlock the higher-performance engine mapping.

Suzuki Quitting Car Business in Canada by 2014

When American Suzuki announced it was filing for Chapter 11 and dropping out of the U.S. automobile market last November, its counterparts in Canada said it would continue to sell cars for that market. It now appears that will only last for one more year, as Suzuki Canada announced it would also stop selling cars following the 2014 model year to focus on its powersports operations.

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!

Dropped Suzuki Dealerships Represented Only 2.5% of Retail Sales

American Suzuki raised some eyebrows after news broke yesterday the company was cancelling franchise agreements with numerous dealerships in the U.S. The company was already under close scrutiny after making the bold decision to quit selling cars to focus on powersports when it filed for Chapter 11 in November. Reducing its dealer network appears to go against that idea, at least on the surface.

Suzuki to Trim US Powersports Dealership Network

When American Suzuki announced it was shutting down its automobile business, the company said it intended to focus on its powersports operations. It comes as a surprise then to some dealers that Suzuki is not renewing all of its dealership agreements. According to DealerNews, dealerships received letters this week from American Suzuki notifying them whether their franchise agreements would be renewed with the newly formed Suzuki Motor America.