2008 Yamaha R1 Raven ! 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!

No snow here folks!

An erratic work schedule combined with a full season of kids racing means, there aren’t many opportunities during the summer months for the Mackenzie family to grab a holiday. Instead, we tend to save our pennies and head off somewhere sunny for Christmas. I love doing this as it shortens the UK winter but more importantly it means I miss the festive frenzy.  I do like Christmas, but I hate how everyone gets caught up in the retail madness that kicks off just before Halloween, then has everyone stressed (and skint)before Santa has even hitched up his sleigh.

Yamaha Releases “Master of Torque” Anime

Yamaha is producing a Japanese anime series called “Master of Torque” to promote its new MT series motorcycles. The four-part series follows three young riders in a fictional version of Tokyo set in a 2017 where everyone seems to ride a Yamaha. The series prominently features the MT-09 (a.k.a.