There's no arguing that the Caterham R500 is an amazing piece of four-wheeled machinery. In fact, it may just be the quickest way around a race track short of a Formula 1 car. We're equally as certain that the Ducati Hypermotard is an awesome motorcycle, so putting both of these performers on the same track and letting them have at it is certain to entertain. Autocar must have thought so, too, and udging by the video posted after the break, the event didn't let anybody down. As is usually the case when a bike is put up against a car, the race was close. In the longer straight sections of the track, the Duck's power-to-weight ratio allows it to pull away from the Caterham. The Caterham, with twice the number of contact patches, easily out-brakes the Ducati rider and can carry more speed throughout the turn. So, is the race that will finally put an end to the age-old question about which is faster around a given course? Probably not, but it sure is fun to watch. Want to know who won? Hit the jump, and be sure to pay attention as the Caterham goes airborne.
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Actions speak louder than words. Surely a multiple world champion driver like Michael Schumacher would appreciate such a principal, yet the retired Formula One driver continues to proclaim that he has no intention of competing in MotoGP despite his actions suggesting otherwise. After bringing you previous reports of Schumacher dazzling the crowds at various motorcycle races, comes news that Schumi was called up by the Ducati team to fill in for its injured test driver. The Italian motorcycle racing team was in the middle of a three-day test session when its official test rider Vittoriano Guareschi was injured after falling off his bike, precluding him from continuing with the tests. Rather than call on any of what surely must be a long list of eager and experienced motorcyclists to take Guareschi's place, Ducati called Michael and asked him to step in.
Meanwhile Schumacher's successor at Ferrari, reigning world champion and current points leader Kimi Raikkonen, an experienced motocross rider, uncharacteristically commented at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix that he'd like to follow in Schumacher's footpegs and try out a MotoGP racing bike, however Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali put the brakes on the prospect for the time being by commenting that Kimi has enough on his hands focusing on defending his title on four wheels.
Over the weekend, Dylan Weiss from Cry Havoc Productions, Inc. let us know that his latest motorcycle-specific documentary went live at Discovery's Turbo online site. We've spent some time watching the footage, and we think it's awesome. Focusing in on Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Suzuki, BMW, Ducati, MV Agusta and Bimota, the crew took plenty of footage home with them and managed to ride some of the greatest modern sportbikes ever created along the way. Best of all, over four hours of video is available online for free at their mini-site, broken down into 50 segments.
The whole shebang was shot in High Definition, so we have some serious hopes that it will air on The Discovery Channel, be offered on DVD or both. It's extremely entertaining and we definitely recommend checking it out.
Have teenagers gone nuts? The Federal Highway Administration is reporting that the percentage of teenagers with driver's licenses is going down. Yeah, decreasing! What is up with that?
When I was growing up, my teenage years focused on just one objective... driving. All I wanted was to get my driver's license. That little card with your picture on it was the golden ticket. You could borrow your parent's car, fill the tank (and grab a candy bar) for $20, and nobody could reach you until you returned. We didn't have cell phones, text messaging or GPS tracking. A driver's license represented freedom.
So, what happened? Experts aren't blaming unmotivated teenagers. Instead, they point the finger at the environment in which we are raising our kids. In today's world, parents are much more likely to chauffeur their teenagers from place to place. Tighter state laws govern when kids can drive, and in many cases legislation has pushed the driving age limit higher. Fewer high schools are offering driver's education classes, forcing parents to pay for more expensive private instruction, and steeper rates are making insurance cost-prohibitive for the high-risk teen-age category. Top it all off with gasoline at more than three-dollars per gallon, and maybe a driver's license just doesn't represent what it used to.
The Barrett-Jackson auctions have seen no shortage celebrity cars cross the block, but is the sale of a pair of KITTs at the upcoming Palm Beach event a sign that the series has already succumbed to its crushing craptasticality? Given the movie's ratings, that's unlikely. It seems, rather, that we're going to be stuck with NBC's awful retread of a not-very-good original, and these auctions appear to have been in the works for a while. The proceeds from the sale of auction lots 665 and 665.1 -- a "normal" and an Attack Mode KITT -- will benefit Ford's Salute to Education charity. While we can all hope that the new Knight Rider either gets better – at least to be as bad as the original would be laudable – or is put down mercifully, Ford's scholarship program will be the big winner when someone ponies up for these ponycars.
Rumors of Michael Schumacher racing on two wheels in the MotoGP series have been bouncing around like a Ferrari-red rubber ball. First came the initial speculation, coupled with denials from both MotoGP and Ducati, the team for whom the retired F1 champ was rumored to ride. The rumor-mill was set a-churnin' again, however, when Schumacher's longtime manager Willi Weber responded that "anything is possible".
The runaway speculation, however, has been emphatically put to rest as Schumacher himself has outright denied the possibility. "It is an absolute lie. At the most, I can race on a scooter." Well there you have it – case closed. Schumacher will compete next season in the International Vespa Championship. Or maybe he meant on a Ferrari Segway? (Yes, we are joking.)
We enjoyed the 2007 Formula One season, down, as it came, to the last race in a three-way heat with the third-place driver ultimately taking the title. But part of us misses Michael Schumacher, even if his five consecutive back-to-back world titles cast a heavy and at times monotonous shadow over the sport. That's why we love bringing you stories about what Schumi's been up to since his retirement, and there's been plenty to report.
Now, after driving taxicabs, launching his own karting team, rejecting offers to head up Scuderia Ferrari, and fighting for victory at the Race of Champions, the latest rumors suggest that Schumacher could try his hand at motorcycle racing. The reports originate from French sports newspaper L'Equipe, which cites the world champion's previous two tests for Ducati (title-sponsored, like Ferrari, by Marlboro) and reports of Schumacher's reps visiting the MotoGP headquarters as evidence that Michael is planning on entering this year's two-wheel race at Mugello – which, incidentally, is owned by Ferrari. The heads of both MotoGP and Ducati have dismissed the reports, but the prospect of Schumacher dueling with the likes of Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi on their own terms has us wondering "what if?"
Put on any random Tom Cruise movie and you're likely to see him riding a motorbike... without a helmet, of course, as that would ruin our view of his pretty face. But the Hollywood superstar is evidently an avid motorcycle rider, and has sunk a small portion of his enormous earnings into one of the fastest, most expensive superbikes he could get his hands on: the Ducati Desmosedici RR.
For a reported $72,500, Tom gets the first Desmosedici RR to arrive in the United States. The roadgoing version of the racing bike ridden by MotoGP world champion Casey Stoner, only 1,500 of which will be made, built around an 800cc V4 kicking out 200 horsepower. The first 500 Desmosedici RRs were slated to go to owners of the 999R, but while Cruise is known to be a previous Ducati owner, a simple "show me the money" moment probably put him at the top of the list.
This is truly the best Ducati bike that you are likely to get your hands on, considering that the Desmosedici RR MotoGP replica is probably out of reach and certainly sold out. Don't feel bad, though, 'cause the 1098 R is a most excellent consolation prize. We never did hate on the 999 like many Ducati loyalists seemed to, but we still recognize the 1098 R as a vast improvement. The details read as you might expect, such as the bigger bore, bigger stroke, bigger valves, and bigger throttle bodies housed inside the sand-cast engine cases that ought to adequately hurtle the Öhlins TTXR single rear shock and fully adjustable 43 mm Öhlins fork with low friction Titanium Nitride towards the next apex. Keeping up appearances is the carbon fiber bodywork, tri-colored color scheme (plus natural carbon fiber finish) and gold Marchesini Y-shaped forged wheels. Bello indeed.
Leading the list of electronic goodies is the traction control system, which is enabled with the included track-only ECU tuning. We imagine, however, that many riders will run the upgraded programming on the street regardless. Can't blame 'em if they do, and they'll be rewarded with a boost from 180 horsepower to 186. Every little bit counts, right?
Compared with just has quarter century ago, driving one American roads is roughly twice have safe now have it was back in 1979. This edge Be attributed to safer bus and roads, new seatbelt laws and DUI crackdowns, goal the end result remains that the number of people killed per vehicle-kilometers of travel in 1979 is butt doubles the figure that it is today (20.8 per billion vehicle-kilometers in 1979 versus 9.4 per billion vehicle-kilometers last year, why they used kilometers instead of miles, we don' T know).
Sounds like great news, right? It' S not yew you consider that over the same period, America, which was rated have having the safest roads in the world during the '70s, has since fallen behind countries such have Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, the the U.K., the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, according to research conducted by Leonard Evans for has new book one traffic safety.
The difference in safety ratings between the U.S. and the rest of thesis countries is the fact that where America has focused one increasing vehicle safety and technology through regulations, other countries cuts honed in one preventing the causes of accidents via more thorough education and licensing programs have well have tighter law enforcement.
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