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Oct 23

Darryn Binder joins Yamaha in MotoGP next season

By General Posts

from https://www.businesslive.co.za

Darryn follows brother Brad to the premier motorcycle racing division, and takes over from the legendary Valentino Rossi

SA motorcycle racer Darryn Binder has signed for Yamaha’s rebranded RNF MotoGP team for the 2022 season, with an option to stay on for 2023.

He will team up with the experienced Andrea Dovizioso and takes the place of the legendary Valentino Rossi, who retires at the end of this season.

Darryn, younger brother of KTM MotoGP rider Brad, is only the second rider since Jack Miller to jump from Moto3 to the premier MotoGP class.

Darryn has competed in the Moto3 class since 2015 and became a well-known name after Brad won the 2016 Moto3 championship.

However, Darryn has since long proven that he is an exceptional racing talent in his own right. Known for his hard racing and making use of any and every available gap during a race, the 23-year-old has ridden to six Moto3 podiums, including a win at the 2020 Catalan GP.

He is sixth in this year’s Moto3 world championship with two podiums.

“I want to give a warm welcome to Darryn. We are delighted that he is joining the Yamaha line-up next year,” said Lin Jarvis, MD of Yamaha Motor Company.

“We’ve had many conversations about who would be a good match for the new RNF MotoGP Team. It’s a fresh start for the Yamaha satellite team and that makes it all the more fitting to have a young and eager rider like Darryn join them.”

Jarvis said the primary mission of Yamaha’s satellite team is developing MotoGP talents.

“Darryn has already shown on numerous occasions what he’s made of in the Moto3 class,” he said. “We know he is a fast and determined rider who has got what it takes to battle at the front of the pack. Obviously, the step up to MotoGP is significant and will take some adjusting, but we feel that he’s ready.”

Binder said: “I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity, as it has been a lifelong dream to race in the MotoGP category. I definitely didn’t expect to make the jump straight from Moto3 to the highest class, but I do believe I’m up for the challenge, and I’m ready to put in all the hard work for 2022.”

Jul 08

South African riders in Grand Prix motorcycle racing’s elite class

By General Posts

by James Richardson from https://www.thesouthafrican.com/

Later this month Brad Binder will become the fifth South African rider in the history Grand Prix motorcycle racing’s elite class, here we look at those that went before.

Formerly classified as the 500cc class before it was transformed to MotoGP, Grand Prix motorcycle racing has not been an environment inhabited by South Africans very often.

Before 2020, just four South African riders had made it into the elite class with all three competing during the 500cc era.

SA riders in Grand Prix motorcycle racing’s elite class

Here we will only look at riders who have reached either the 500cc class or MotoGP.

1 Paddy Driver

The first South African to reach the premier class, Driver competed on the Grand Prix motorcycle racing circuit from 1959 to 1965. His best result came in his final year on the circuit when he rode a Matchless to a third-place finish in the 500cc world championship behind Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini.

Having lined up in two Formula One Grand Prix Driver is part of a very small club of men who have raced in both the Grand Prix motorcycle World Championship and Formula One. That group also includes legends John Surtees, Mike Hailwood and Johnny Cecotto.

2 Alan North

North made his Grand Prix motorcycle racing in the elite class when in the 1975 season riding for Yamaha.

The Durban-born racer spent three seasons in the 500cc class scoring nine world championship points in that time. He won his only Grand Prix race in 1977 when he claimed the 350 cc 1977 Nations Grand Prix at Imola

3 Jon Ekerold

SA riders in Grand Prix motorcycle racing’s elite class 

Prior to Brad Binder’s 2016 Moto3 championship, Ekerold was the last South African to win a world title in Grand Prix motrocycle racing claiming the 1980 350cc championship as a privateer. Without the benefit of a motorcycle manufacturer’s support Ekerold defeated Kawasaki factory racing team rider Anton Mang to win world championship.

Ekerold appeared on the 500cc circuit in three seasons, racing in eight Grand Prix in the elite class.

His best race finish in the 500cc class came in his debut on the elite division’s grid in the 1976 Isle of Man TT where he placed sixth.

4 Kork Ballington

A contemporary of Ekerold, Hugh Neville “Kork” Ballington was born in what would become Harare in Zimbabwe but raced under the South African flag winning four Grand Prix motorcycle World Championships.

Ballington raced in the elite class in three seasons including the 1982 season when both he and Ekerold raced in the elite class. That would be the last time until 2020 that a South African rider took up a place on the grid in the elite class.

He finished on the podium twice in the 1981 season claiming third place at both the Dutch TT and the Finish Grand Prix.

In 1978 and 1979 Ballington won both the 250cc and 350cc championships, making him the most successful South African rider in terms of championships on the circuit.

5 Brad Binder

The 2016 Moto3 champion makes the step up to MotoGP as South Africa’s first representative at the pinnacle of Grand Prix motorcycle racing since the 1980s.

Binder’s younger brother Darryn is also a racer and joined Red Bull KTM’s Moto3 team in 2018.

The MotoGP season gets underway in Jerez later this month and will see Binder compete for Red Bull KTM alongside the best riders in the world. He will be the first South African rider to compete in the championship since it became the MotoGP.

Feb 06

Futuristic SA motorcycle to go into production

By General Posts

by Denis Droppa from https://www.businesslive.co.za

Unlike anything yet seen on two wheels, Pierre Terblanche’s R1.1m Hypertek electric bike takes shape

A futuristic South African motorcycle that attracted interest at a recent international motorcycle show is to go into production in two years’ time.

Looking like a prop from a Blade Runner movie, the prototype of the outlandish Hypertek electric bike was unveiled in November at the EICMA show in Milan, Italy, the motorcycle industry’s premier annual showcase.

The Hypertek is a collaboration between SA’s Blackstone Tek (BST), a Johannesburg-based company specialising in carbon-fibre automotive components, and well-known SA designer Pierre Terblanche who penned iconic motorcycles like the Ducati 749 and 999.

The striking Hypertek takes a bold sidestep from conventional motorcycle design. Looking like it was assembled from a giant Meccano set, it features no fairings and has all its mechanical elements on display, with the lithium-ion batteries housed in a finned, engine-like casing.

Is it pretty? You decide. Is it spectacular? Heck yes.

The bike is powered by an 80kW electric motor and has an estimated range of about 200km, taking as little as 30 minutes to fully charge on a DC quick charger.

BST’s Terry Annecke says the $80,000 (R1.14m) bike is aimed at the high-end luxury market and will be hand-assembled in small volumes at BST’s Joburg factory from early 2022.

She says the Hypetek has received 10 confirmed orders with at least 50 people “seriously interested” since the bike’s appearance at EICMA. Annecke expects a mostly international clientele for the bike, although the first two orders were placed by local buyers.

“The Hypertek is aimed at people who appreciate it for its exceptional design and Pierre’s reputation,” she says, adding that the world-famous Barber motorcycle museum in Alabama, US, wants one for its collection.

Terblanche, the former director of design for Italian motorcycle company Ducati, says current battery-powered motorcycles are rather boring and that he created the Hypertek as a more emotional electric bike.

Apart from the flamboyant design, emotion is created by a built-in sound generator that makes the Hypertek roar like a conventional combustion-engined bike, or any sound of the customer’s choosing. Unlike other electric bikes it also has a clutch that allows riders to perform wheelies and burnouts.

There is no instrument panel. Instead, data and infotainment is projected on a head-up display (HUD) inside the rider’s helmet. Mirrors are absent too, and a camera projects the rear view onto the HUD.

It has some novel engineering solutions too, including the rear suspension being incorporated into the swingarm. That leaves the seat floating in an open space on a short tailpiece, well forward of the rear wheel.

Calling the Hypertek the best work he has ever done, Terblanche says he wanted to build an iconic electric motorcycle with excellent performance and beautiful styling.

“Motorcycles have become very formulaic and paint-by-numbers, and I wanted to create something that didn’t carry over existing bike ideas.”

Terblanche isn’t a fan of the retro-styled trend sweeping the motorcycle industry, and a small plaque on the Hypertek’s rear end reads: “Warning: for fans of curated replicas of 40s, 50s or 60s motorcycles, you are at the wrong stand”.

With its estimated 200km range the Hypertek is a primarily urban machine, but Terblanche says battery and supercapacitor technology is constantly improving and later editions of the bike will be able to travel further out of city confines.

BST’s Annecke says the Hypertek is a true South African story, including the fact that most of the prototype’s bodywork was 3D printed by a Brakpan company.

BST manufactured the carbon fibre wheels and frame for the Hypertek. The Randburg-based engineering company also makes carbon fibre components for motorcycle companies such as Ducati, MV Agusta, and the Arch Motorcycle company co-founded by Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves.

Dec 05

The new Honda Africa Twin to be used at next year’s Quest adventure challenge

By General Posts

Honda Motorcycles Southern Africa announced that the newly-launched Africa Twin will be used at the 2020 Honda Quest True Adventure, an adventure challenge designed to give adventure riders a once-in-a-lifetime experience with the Winged H’s legendary adventure bike.

14 riders will get the opportunity to experience the essence of adventure riding atop the brand-new 2020 Africa Twin, and two lucky participants will get to keep the bike they competed with.

Testing the skills

Honda’s Riaan Fourie explains that the Honda Quest is not a race or a rally – it is an adventure expedition, designed to test human endurance and adaptability.

“It will test your adventure motorcycle riding, mechanical skills, as well as endurance, courage, and resilience against the African terrain. If you long for the road less travelled with like-minded adventurers and you are resourceful, independent, yet mindful of your fellow man, then Honda Quest is for you,” says Fourie.

“Honda Motorcycles Southern Africa have again partnered with Specialised Adventures, a company renowned for their execution of extreme events, to deliver a tough expedition experience where riders will be put to the test in challenging terrain.”

To qualify for entry, interested riders must be residents of South Africa, Namibia, Botswana or Swaziland, and be in possession of a valid motorcycle license. After the receipt of entries, 30 applicants will be invited to attend Quest Boot Camp, during which the instructors will select 14 finalists who will participate in the Honda Quest True Adventure.

Entry forms will be available here or the Honda website from February 2020.