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Bonhams Motorcycles Offers Ultra-Rare AJS Porcupine

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from https://www.bonhams.com The Summer Sale The International Classic MotorCycle Show (Three-Day Auction) 2 – 4 Jul 2021 Stafford, Staffordshire County Showground 1940S RACING MOTORCYCLE LEADS SUMMER STAFFORD SALE An ultra-rare example of arguably the ‘Holy Grail’ of classic racing motorcycles – a 1940s AJS 497cc E90 ‘Porcupine’ Grand Prix racing motorcycle, previously owned by post-war AJS works rider Ted Frend, is being offered for the first time at auction in the Bonhams Summer Stafford Sale on 2 July. It has an estimate of £250,000 – 300,000. The E90’s reputation was made as the first motorcycle to win the 500cc World Championship in the series’ debut year of 1949, carrying Frend’s fellow works rider Les Graham to his (and AJS’s) first and only world title. Dubbed the Porcupine by the era’s motorcycle press due to its distinctive spiked ‘head’ finning, the E90 remains the sole twin-cylinder machine to have won world motorcycling’s flagship series. Just a handful of E90s were built by the British firm, purely for its works team. Ted Frend who had tasted earlier success earning a gold star at Brooklands having lapped its outer circuit at over 100mph on his Vincent-HRD Rapide, was signed up by AJS in 1947, thanks to a 4th place finish in that year’s Isle of Man TT. He was the first rider to win on the Porcupine at the 1947 Hutchinson 100 race. Development on the E90 continued over the next couple of years, while the motorcycle picked up 18 world speed records and a number of podium finishes before reaching its 1949 zenith. Graham won two of the six championship races, the Swiss and Ulster Grand Prix, securing the rider’s trophy, while teammate Bill Doran rode to victory in Belgium to ensure AJS’ manufacturer’s title. Despite its successes, the E90 was plagued […]

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A 17-year-old is taking the motorcycle racing world by storm

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by James Warren from https://www.theolivepress.es SPAIN has often been called the mecca for motorcycle racing, with world champions being cultivated from the moment they can sit on a bike. Household names like Marc Marquez, Aleix Espargaro and current champ Joan Mir all started riding and racing while they were at school, making use of Spain’s love of two wheels to develop their talents unhindered. As these riders fight to earn their latest victories in 2021, they all have one eye on one name that is causing waves in the Moto3 World Championship. And that name is Pedro Acosta, a young 17-year-old from Mazarron, Murcia. So far in 2021, the young man has taken three victories and one podium in the first four races, shattering records for the 250cc class and leaving experts to hail him as a ‘future legend’. But how has this teenager become one of the most exciting prospects since Marc Marquez arrived on the scene back in 2008. The answer can be found at the Circuito de Cartagena, a race track six kilometres northwest of the popular resort. The circuit is popular with trackday riders, people who own motorcycles who rent sessions on the track to hone their skills. Acosta’s father, also Pedro, was one such rider, with a love for American legend Kevin Schwanz, and eager for his son to inherit his love for two wheels. “Dad had a Suzuki like Schwantz’s and I grew up looking at the photos and videos of him.” said Acosta in an interview with Spanish publication Marca. Acosta’s father, keen to see his son carry on the mantle, give him a €150 Chinese Motina bike at the age of five, and brought him to track days at the Cartagena circuit to watch his father ride. “At first he was not

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Lowes storms to season opening victory in the desert

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Sam Lowes crowned a perfect weekend by winning the first Moto2 race of 2021 in Qatar as Augusto Fernandez scored important points and gained valuable experience by finishing 14th. The 2021 season started in style under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit with the 20-lap Moto2 race demonstrating the full potential of Sam Lowes, who rode to a brilliant victory. Sunday evening’s track temperature (23 degrees) was nine degrees lower than qualifying (32 degrees) and the wind had picked up considerably, adding another challenge for team-mates Lowes and Augusto Fernandez. After a tough qualifying on Saturday, in which he placed 21st, the 23-year old made some drastic changes to bike set-up ahead of the race. He confirmed these improvements on Sunday afternoon by placing eighth in warm-up. Fernandez was then involved in an epic six-rider fight for eleventh place for the majority of the race. He maintained a strong rhythm until the end, and came home 14th, 17.540s behind the winner. “I’m happy with what we changed with this bike” “I’m happy because we did a lot of work all weekend. Yesterday we changed the setting of the bike completely. So today was like a test. We had a quick warm-up, a new setting and then we had to try and understand as many things as possible before the race. Coming from the back of the grid is always difficult so I’m happy with the performance. We have to improve some things, especially in sector three, where I was struggling a lot. But we will analyse everything because I’m happy with what we changed with this bike. If we can improve in sector three, we’ll make a big step. My last two laps of the race were fast – top seven or top eight pace. I can’t wait to

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Motul Set For 2021 MotoGP Campaign With Team Suzuki And Pramac Racing

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from https://www.scoop.co.nz Motul continues winning partnership with reigning MotoGP champions Team Suzuki- Motul and PRAMAC Racing sign exclusive deal for 2021 The 2020 MotoGP World Championship season was an incredible year, which saw Team Suzuki and Motul claim a clean sweep across the Drivers and Teams Titles. The famed Japanese manufacturer will continue with riders Alex Rins and Joan Mir, a line up that remains unchanged since 2019, with a clear aim of repeating the championship successes in 2021. Motul will continue as the Official Lubricant Partner of the Suzuki factory team, extending the close working relationship between the two brands that have delivered success at the top flight of motorcycle racing for the past 32 years. This partnership has pinned its hopes on the championship-winning Suzuki GSX-RR, which has seen only minor upgrades due to a MotoGP engine freeze over the winter. The aim is clear for 2021 – to repeat the success of 2020 and achieve back-to-back titles. Motul also confirms a key technical partnership with PRAMAC Racing for the MotoGP World Championship, inking a three-year deal which will see Motul and PRAMAC Racing competing at the top flight of motorbike racing until 2023. Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco will be leading the charge in 2021, both on the highly competitive Ducati Desmosedici GP bike which scored 5 podium finishes in the hands of PRAMAC Racing during the 2020 season. This partnership extends away from the race track, where Motul Heavy Duty will be working closely with PRAMAC’s industrial applications in the energy and material handling sector. Motul will provide first fill lubricants at factory level for PowerGen equipment, providing high-performance diesel and gas lubricants to improve mechanical efficiency. The 2021 MotoGP World Championship season begins this weekend, at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on the 26-28

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Indian Motorcycle Racing Wins AFT Opener

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INDIAN MOTORCYCLE racing TAKES BACK-TO-BACK WINS AT VOLUSIA HALF-MILE DOUBLEHEADER Indian Motorcycle Privateer Brandon Robinson & Wrecking Crew Rider Jared Mees Win Back-to-Back at Volusia Half-Mile I & II, Respectively MINNEAPOLIS (March 16, 2021) – Indian Motorcycle Racing, presented by Progressive Motorcycle Insurance, jumped out to an early lead in the 2021 American Flat Track (AFT) SuperTwins standings, as Indian Motorcycle Privateer Brandon Robinson and Wrecking Crew Rider Jared Mees secure back-to-back wins at the Volusia Half-Mile doubleheader. Robinson’s season-opener win at Volusia Half-Mile I marked his third straight victory, dating back to the 2020 season finale doubleheader in Daytona. After winning his semi and getting a start on the front row in the Main, Robinson jumped out to an early lead but was battling with the second-place rider throughout the race. In his third season as an Indian Motorcycle privateer, the win marks Robinson’s fifth victory aboard the Indian FTR750. “Despite being injured for the bulk of the 2020 season, Brandon finished the year with incredible momentum, so it was truly exciting to see him pick up right where he left off and reach the top of the box,” said Gary Gray, Vice President – Racing, Technology & Service for Indian Motorcycle. “Having swept the Volusia Half-Mile doubleheader last year, Jared entered round two with fierce determination to secure the win and garner the all-important points at a track he’s exceptionally comfortable and confident on.” On Saturday, Mees won his semi and was able to return to the front row for the Main. Though, it was Wrecking Crew teammate and defending SuperTwins Champion Briar Bauman who captured the holeshot. After leading eight laps, Bauman was unable to hold on, as Mees made his pass and gained separation with every lap – ultimately cruising comfortably to his 54th career win.

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Vance & Hines Launches NHRA Race Team

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Vance & Hines Launches NHRA Motorcycle Race Team – Three-Time Champion Angelle Sampey to Campaign New Four-Valve Suzuki-Powered Bike Vance & Hines Signs on Mission Foods as Partner for NHRA Pro Stock Team February 8, 2021 – Santa Fe Springs CA – Vance & Hines announced today that the NHRA’s winningest female, Angelle Sampey, will ride the company’s new four-valve Suzuki-powered race bike in the 2021 NHRA Camping World series. The team’s quest for the championship in 2021 is a partnership between Vance & Hines and global food producer Mission Foods. A three-time NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle (PSM) champion, Sampey’s 43 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle wins make her the NHRA’s top female athlete. She has the fourth most wins in NHRA PSM history. In 2019 and 2020 Sampey was a member of Vance & Hines’ Harley-Davidson-sponsored team. Sampey will be among the first to ride the recently announced Vance & Hines four-valve Suzuki-powered machine. The new engine features a modernized top-end which provides increased valve lift and reduced mass in the valve train. The 1850cc motor delivers nearly 400 horsepower and will be paired with a custom chassis developed using data from thousands of runs in NHRA competition. “I’m so excited to be part of the Vance & Hines team again this year,” said Sampey. “This is a first-class company that gives me the best bikes I’ve ever ridden. I’m feeling really good about what we can accomplish together this year. “ “We’re happy to be working with Angelle once again,” said Vance & Hines President & CEO, Mike Kennedy. “Vance & Hines is in a wonderful position right now. We’ve got one of the top riders in the sport aboard our outstanding new equipment and we have Mission Foods as our new Team Partner. I couldn’t have hoped for

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Honda extend MotoGP commitment

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Honda extend MotoGP commitment: Most successful MotoGP team to compete until 2026 Honda will continue to add to their illustrious history in Grand Prix racing, having extended their contract for the next five years until 2026 from https://www.financialexpress.com Honda will continue to expand their illustrious history in Grand Prix racing having signed an agreement with Dorna Sports S.L. to compete for the next five years, from 2022 to 2026. Honda started in 1954 when Honda’s founder, Soichiro Honda, declared entry into the Isle of Man TT, the premier motorcycle racing event of the era, with the aim of becoming the best in the world. This journey has so far seen 100 different riders win on Honda machines and amass over 800 wins across all categories. In the premier class alone, Honda has claimed 850 podiums and 25 Rider World Championships, more than any other brand in history. The journey will continue for at least five more years as Honda have agreed with commercial rights-holder and series-promoter Dorna Sports S.L. to guarantee their place on the grid until 2026. Noriaki Abe, Managing Officer, Motorcycle Operations, Honda Motor Co., Ltd.: “First, I would like to express my respect and gratitude to Carmelo Ezpeleta and everyone at Dorna Sports for their hard work in organizing races during the COVID-19 pandemic. I am very pleased that we have renewed our contract to compete in MotoGP from 2022 to 2026. “Honda has been competing in the FIM Grand Prix World Championship since 1959, and won its 800th grand prix last year. Honda believes MotoGP racing is vital to our motorsports activities. MotoGP is the pinnacle of motorcycle racing – it allows us to develop various technologies, and through fierce competition, teach our engineers and nurture their skills. With these engineers working on the development of

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The 60th Annual Woodville Weekend

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Press Release: Bikesport NZ from https://www.scoop.co.nz It was a special weekend of motocross that had everything – high intensity dirt bike action, a slew of different race winners, weather that remarkably switched from chilly to baking hot and, of course, a significant birthday party. The 60th annual Honda-sponsored New Zealand Motocross Grand Prix at Woodville on Saturday and Sunday was a celebration of the sport, the popular event at the eastern end of the Manawatu Gorge achieving a landmark in more ways than one. It was not only marking six decades since the sport was properly introduced to New Zealand in 1961 by now-87-year-old Palmerston North man Tim Gibbes, but it was also for the first time being run in conjunction with the first round of four in the 2021 New Zealand Motocross Championships. It was a rare double honour – the opening round of the national championships tied in with New Zealand’s largest stand-alone motocross event – and the riders rose to the occasion. With all three races in each class counting towards the Woodville GP titles and only the first two of the three races being deemed eligible for the national championships, the event threw up separate podiums in each class. Taupo’s Wyatt Chase therefore won the Woodville GP crown for the first time and West Auckland’s Hamish Harwood, incidentally the GP title winner last season, missed out on repeating the feat, but Harwood left Woodville with a slender six-point lead in the premier MX1 class for the national title hunt, the national series continuing on at Rotorua in three weeks’ time (on Sunday, February 21), with round three to follow at Pukekohe on Saturday, March 20. It all wraps up at Taupo on Sunday, March 28. Mangakino’s Maximus Purvis won the MX2 (250cc) class for the Woodville

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Pirelli Continues to Expand its Presence On- and Off-Track

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Pirelli Continues to Expand its Presence On- and Off-Track Heading into 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship Dedicated Team Available to Provide Trackside Support and Technical Assistance to All Riders Equipped with SCORPION™ MX Tires ROME, Ga. (January 13, 2021) – With the highly-anticipated 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship quickly approaching, Pirelli Tire North America has announced plans to expand on its presence in the paddock by adding new faces to the brand’s #PirelliNation rider support program. Beginning at the season opener at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on January 16, Pirelli will have its 18-wheeler race transporter on-site to provide technical support and trackside assistance to all racers competing on Pirelli SCORPION™ MX products. Pirelli continues to take pride in the motto “we sell what we race, we race what we sell” meaning that anyone can purchase the exact tires used by its professional race teams. Dedicated Team Available to Provide Trackside Support and Technical Assistance to All Riders Equipped with SCORPION™ MX Tires ROME, Ga. (January 13, 2021) – With the highly-anticipated 2021 Monster Energy Supercross Championship quickly approaching, Pirelli Tire North America has announced plans to expand on its presence in the paddock by adding new faces to the brand’s #PirelliNation rider support program. Beginning at the season opener at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on January 16, Pirelli will have its 18-wheeler race transporter on-site to provide technical support and trackside assistance to all racers competing on Pirelli SCORPION™ MX products. Pirelli continues to take pride in the motto “we sell what we race, we race what we sell” meaning that anyone can purchase the exact tires used by its professional race teams. “Expanding our presence on the racetrack and taking trackside support to the next level is what we’ve set out to achieve,” said Nick Walton,

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Vreeland Reflects on AHDRA Top Fuel Championship

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“When I got my first AHDRA license in 1992, I never dreamed I would be Top Fuel champion 28 years later!” said Pennsylvania Harley-Davidson dealer and Top Fuel Motorcycle pilot, Rich Vreeland. At that time, Vreeland and his brother Ray were fresh from opening Vreeland’s H-D in 1990 as The Motor Company’s youngest dealers ever. Rich was a sportsman gasoline racer and didn’t necessarily have the brutal Top Fuel bikes in his plans, let alone dreams of a championship. And if he was dreaming of a nitro TF championship, then 28 years later? To be fair, there was no AHDRA All-American motorcycle drag racing series for a good chunk of that time, and Vreeland was busy winning two AMRA Nitro Funnybike championships in the meantime. But when Bill Rowe plugged the starter cart back into AHDRA for the 2020 season, Vreeland was quick to jump on board as both racer and sponsor. He bookended this first new-AHDRA season, winning the Cordova opener and then again at the finals in Gainesville. While Rich has always had his brother Ray’s help when it comes to running the Bloomsburg dealership, 2020 was first season with Ray as full-time crew chief on the race team. And clearly, the results were there. Vreeland’s steady A-B performances qualified no worse than third and made it to the semis at every race he attended. He won two races and was undefeated in final round appearances. “I’m honored to be the inaugural Top Fuel champion under the new AHDRA ownership of Bill Rowe,” said Vreeland. “I am humbled to have my name added to the list of AHDRA Top Fuel champions like Ray Price, Jim McClure, Jay Turner, and Tommy Grimes.” Vreeland was runner-up for the 2010 and 2012 V-Rod championships in the “old” AHDRA, and was the

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