Suzuki RM Motorcycles in Carmi, page #28

Moto blog

Team Hammer Releases Martin Cardenas

AMA Pro Racing’s Team Hammer has released Martin Cardenas from his contract to allow the reigning AMA Daytona Sportbike Champion “to better pursue his goal of returning to World Championship competition as soon as possible.” Though the eventual goal appears to be for Cardenas to move up to the World Superbike Championship, rumors have Cardenas landing with the Yoshimura Suzuki factory team to race in the AMA Superbike Championship in 2013 as an eventual stepping stone towards international racing. Cardenas won the 2010 and 2012 AMA Daytona Sportbike championships with Team Hammer riding a Suzuki GSX-R600. Team Hammer held a contract option for Cardenas for the 2013 season but decided to release the Colombian racer, allowing him to take a different route towards a WSBK career.

Monster Energy Track Day of Legends with Schumacher, McGuinness, Espargaro and Flint – Video

Last week, we wrote about retired Formula One racer Michael Schumacher taking part in a track day at France’s Paul Ricard circuit on a Ducati 1199 Panigale. The event’s sponsor, Monster Energy, has released a video offering a behind-the-scenes look at the event. The seven-time F1 champion was joined by TT racer John McGuinness, retired MotoGP racer Randy Momola, Moto2 racer Pol Espargaro and Keith Flint, a musician from the group Prodigy and a racer in the U.K.’s  Hottrax Endurance Championship.

Attack Performance, GPTech to Race All Three US MotoGP Rounds in 2013

Attack Performance Racing and GPTech made history this year as the first teams to build and enter motorcycles under MotoGP’s Claiming Rule Team rules as a  wild card entry. Both teams will race again, receiving wild card invites to all three U.S. rounds in the 2013 MotoGP season.

Suzuki Requests Invite to Official 2013 MotoGP Tests

When Suzuki pulled out of MotoGP racing a year ago, the manufacturer said it hoped to return by the 2014 season. In the time since suspending its MotoGP program, Suzuki has been showing signs it is on track for a 2014 return. Work on Suzuki’s 1000cc MotoGP project is apparently proceeding as planned, with the manufacturer reportedly ready to join official testing during the upcoming season.

Schwantz and Mackenzie on the Nurburgring box

A 500GP bike never fails to stop me in my tracks and that’s exactly what happened when I spotted this Schwantz example from the early nineties, proudly displayed on the Arai stand at the recent Motorcyclelive show.  On loan from Crescent Suzuki and accompanied by a rostrum publicity shot from the 1990 German GP at the Nurburgring, I felt the urge to write a few words on that special weekend. I started the year running my own 250 GP team with fairly standard TZ Yamahas but was drafted in as Kevin Schwantz’s team mate after Kevin Magee suffered a serious head injury at the second Grand Prix in Laguna Seca.  With no testing and some major Spanish food poisoning I finished 8th at the next round in Jerez then followed that up with a 5th place in Misano. Next up was the Nurburgring and after qualifying on the second row of the grid, my crew chief Geoff Crust informed me he had a premonition of a race day rostrum finish. He also told me I better make it come true as he was already looking forward to a few post race celebratory refreshments. While I hoped Crusty was the new mystic meg, the truth was I would have been more than happy to buy the beers if I made it to the flag inside the top five. I had an outside chance of catching one major scalp as Wayne Rainey was riding with a nasty hand injury but I suspected adrenalin would see him through the day. I also followed Mick Doohan a fair bit in practice but he was beginning to find his feet on the Rothmans Honda so was going to be another problem.  When the lights went out Schwantz and Rainey went straight to the front I while I hung in behind Doohan and Pier Francesco Chilli, and then it happened. Coming out of the bottom right hand hairpin, Doohan and Chilli simultaneously high sided in one of the most spectacular crashes of the season. I never liked seeing any fellow riders crash but I made the most of this early race gift and rode my 160bhp/115kg RGV hard to the flag, claiming my first podium of the season.  We partied hard (win or lose we always did) that night and I went on to have my best ever season finishing fourth overall in the championship. After the last round in Australia, I finished second to Kevin at Sugo in Japan then won in Malaysia at another international race that KS didn’t attend. I also tested at Eastern Creek for the following season but then was flicked from the team for reasons that still remain a mystery. Hey Ho!       

Chris Ulrich Takes Passengers on Charity Record Ride

During the eighth annual Roadracing World Action Fund (RWAF) at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, Team M4 Hammer GEICO Suzuki rider Chris Ulrich felled every existing record for a two-up track riding charity event During the course of the two-day event Ulrich, on his GEICO Suzuki GSX-R1000,  carried 71 passengers around the Speedway 213 times for a total of 489.9 miles. This beats previous RWAF records for most two-up rides and also sets new fund-raiser records for most laps completed in one day with a passenger (114) and over two days (213), plus the most miles ridden in one day with a passenger (262.2 vs. 248.4) and over two days (489.9 vs. 432.2 miles).

Sixteener wheeler

Dunno 'bout you but most of my sixteenth year was spent picking gravel out of my knees. I think I probably fell of my Fizzie at least once a week. All of it was my fault, of course.

Suzuki Reports Q2 2012-2013 Results

Suzuki made headlines earlier this week when its American subsidiary filed for Chapter 11 and announced it is quitting the automobile business to focus on motorcycles and its marine operations. American Suzuki‘s car business has been struggling for a while and it remains to be seen how these developments will affect its motorcycle business. Today, Suzuki released its report for the first half of its 2012-2013 fiscal year, providing much needed context to the earlier news.

Take A Picture, Win A New Suzuki

Free is always good and Suzuki is offering its enthusiasts a chance to win big. To start, simply stop by an authorized Suzuki dealership for a photo op with the motorcycle, scooter or ATV of your choice and a Suzuki salesperson. Then, post the photo and corresponding information on Suzuki’s Facebook page under the “Take Your Pic 2012 Giveaway” tab and voila, you’re qualified to win.

Suzuki to Close Spanish Motorcycle Factory

The digital ink is still wet on news of American Suzuki declaring bankruptcy and shutting down its car business to focus on powersports and marine products, and now there’s more bad news for the Japanese manufacturer. Suzuki announced it will close its motorcycle factory in Gijón, Spain, in March, 2013, shutting the company’s sole European production plant. The factory has been producing motorcycles and scooters for Suzuki since 1984, with the manufacturer taking 100% ownership of the factory.