Inhaltsverzeichnis für 3 August 2022 in MCN

World Ducati Week – the first since 2018 due to the Covid-19 pandemic – came to a spectacular close last week after attracting its biggest ever attendance. More than 80,000 fans from around the world flocked to Misano on the Italian Adriatic coast between July 22-24 for a long weekend of Ducatithemed fun and activities in what has almost certainly become the biggest factory-organised festival of all. And, with highlights including a Race of Champions featuring Ducati factory riders from MotoGP and WSB doing battle on stock Panigales, a Scrambler Beach Party in the nearby resort of Riccione, the biggest-ever Ducati parade, DJ sets and live music, custom shows and a massive BBQ along Misano’s main straight, fans enjoyed the most feature-packed WDW so far. The long-awaited WDW 2022 was…

Anyone who’s raced a motorcycle will know it can be hideously expensive. The consumables, the tyres, the fuel, the crash damage, and even the travel – it all racks up and can make life tough for emerging talent. BMW are looking to tackle that by unveiling a new British Superbike support series that will see race-ready F900Rs available for £11,000. The BMW F900R Cup will take over from the longrunning Ducati TriOptions Cup series from 2023 and will see up to 40 riders with a Clubman ACU licence and above compete on identical track-prepared nakeds. But what exactly goes into the finished bike? Available to buy race-ready from your local BMW dealership, the competition machines build on the firm’s road-biased 104bhp naked bike, which is powered by an F850GS-derived 895cc…

I had to put pen to paper in total disbelief at our police and councils. I found a moped that had been stolen and dumped so I removed the bike and chained it to mine for safe-keeping while a quick check revealed that the tax and MoT were both recent. Two hours on the phone and web chat to Devon police and they said they couldn’t trace the owner, classed it as an abandoned vehicle and put the onus on the council to deal with it. The police said they would send a report to the council. I rang three times and reported to them and nothing. What do have we to do to get some poor person’s bike returned? Iain Duthie, Paington Write something that spikes our interest, and…

Ride further in 2022 with a little help from our one-stop event guide JUST BREW IT Ride out to Britain’s best biking cafés H Café has been a biking haven for around 30 years, and when Richard Allen decided to take up the reins 13 years ago, he wasn’t sure what was going to be in store for him. But after owning other businesses and driving past the café every day, memories of his time there as a kid with his father made him take the plunge when it became available. “When I was younger, I used to come here with my dad on his bike when it was called Fox’s Diner and I loved it,” recalls Richard. “Since I got it, I can say it’s my best business ever…

Used car prices have jumped since the pandemic with a recent survey claiming they are up 30%, but that is on the UK’s averagely priced vehicle, which is £17,418. If you are in the market for a Tiger Sport price rival second car, you need to look at £8500. Armed with this budget, you are looking at a run-of-the-mill vehicle such as a Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus or Fiesta, VW Golf or Polo or Skoda Fabia with over 50,000 miles on its clock that was made in around 2014. While most cars have 10,000-plus mile service intervals, they still require an annual service, which is about £150-£200 for oil and filters. Tyre life is also pretty good with 15,000 miles a set easily achievable. Economy figures for most cars hover…

People who have shaped our world Edgar Heinrich is arguably the most significant figure in current European motorcycle design. Head of BMW Motorrad design since June 2012, he’s been fundamental to not only the S1000RR but the R1200GS, RnineT, K1600 and R18 and many more besides. After leaving school and beginning to study architecture he switched to industrial design then joined BMW in 1985 graduating from junior to senior designer in 1992 then to Head of Vehicle Design Motorcycles in 2005, working on machines during that period ranging from the first four-valve boxers to the R1100S, the Dakar racers, the HP2 Megamoto and more. Not bad for someone who started out doodling and messing with household gadgets. “I didn’t have too many talents,” he recalled of his childhood. “I was…

• Fit and comfort rated • Design, construction and CE scores rated • Each jacket used for 1000+ miles RATINGS Exceptional ★★★★★ Very good ★★★★ Good ★★★ Average ★★ Poor ★ Resurgence Gear Men’s Ultra CE Riding Shirt £299 ‘Ticks all the boxes for me’ Tested by Simon Relph for six months / 3000 miles This riding jacket/shirt looked so tempting on the Resurgence website that I couldn’t resist ordering one. When it arrived a few days later, I couldn’t wait to get it out and try it on because the weather had just started to show signs of brightening up. It came very neatly packaged complete with a wooden Resurgence hanger, so it was clear that plenty of effort had gone into the presentation. Finally unwrapped, the jacket looks…

Buyers often get caught up worrying about what mileage is showing on the clocks rather than looking at the bigger picture. Anyone viewing a machine that’s covered over 40,000 miles will instantly be in a spin. But if the bike has a solid service history, highmileage examples are nothing to be scared of and are frequently superb value. Here’s our pick of used options that can happily clock over 100,000 miles. YOUR EXPERT Jon Urry is MCN used bike guru. He covers over 20,000 miles a year testing bikes and always has a keen eye on the used market. £2700-£6500 Honda NC750S The courier’s favourite is a dependable companion There is no denying the NC750S lacks a certain sex appeal and some testers mutter about it running out of revs…

Prices are at the forefront of everyone’s minds these days, but the task of replacing brake discs on a motorcycle has always been costly. It doesn’t help when you start comparing the prices to other applications. I recently replaced both discs on the front of my Vauxhall Vivaro van with Brembo items for £97 a pair! Of course, the scale of numbers and the actual products themselves are vastly different so the price is irrelevant, but us bikers can’t be blamed for steering towards what appear to be cheaper alternatives. The discs fitted to the Honda CBR650 in this week’s How To are from EBC – the Northampton-based specialist is my go-to aftermarket brake replacement manufacturer, as the specification and fit are at least as good as the originals but…

Eugene Laverty has announced his retirement from racing at the end of the season. The 36-year-old will hang up his leathers but, in a twist, has announced he is to become co-owner of the Bonovo team. For 2023, Laverty follows in the footsteps of Leon Camier and Chaz Davies by taking up a management and rider coach role alongside Team Owner Jurgen Roder and Team Manager Michael Galinski. Laverty started racing 125cc bikes in the early 2000s before graduating to British Supersport and a stint in 250GP World Championship. He remains one of the most successful World Supersport riders of all-time, finishing runner-up to Cal Crutchlow and Kenan Sofuoglu in 2009 and 2010, respectively. He is best remembered for narrowly missing out on the 2013 World Superbike title to Tom…

GREG HAINES INSIGHT Reporting from the heart of the superbike paddock Has Toprak Razgatlioglu become the man most likely to challenge Alvaro Bautista to this year’s World Superbike crown? Although Jonathan Rea remains second to Bautista in the standings, it was once again Razgatlioglu who scored highest in the Czech Republic at the weekend. The hard-riding Turk is on scintillating form. Wrapping up six wins from the last eight races after a difficult start to the campaign, the reigning champion has taken 41 points out of Bautista across two rounds. It feels as though he is the strongest contender to Ducati at present although history shows that Rea should never be discounted. Now at its halfway point, the 2022 season is genuinely unpredictable as well as fantastically entertaining. Ahead of…

Jonathan Rea has gone for three straight rounds with no victory. This run of nine races is his longest since he went for 11 races at the start of 2019. On a weekend which promised much and did bring a new qualifying record, a continuation of brake problems and front-end moments aggravated the Kawasaki man. As Sunday temperatures soared, Team 65 went for smaller brake discs to retain heat. Rea also revealed that his crew had changed his brake adjuster; with the old design, he was unintentionally moving it with his glove. However, as a top engineer from a rival team told MCN, Rea is suffering with a bike that continues to be a handful at the front end; when it follows Bautista’s Ducati and Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha, the turbulent air…

A MotoGP race weekend is always met with excitement in our house, but that fervour increases ten-fold when it’s the British Grand Prix. Aside from the race itself, it’s all the other little things that happen in the build-up to the event that I love. Maybe it’s the big kid in me, but I really get a kick out of catching a glimpse of one of the huge team trucks driving up the M1 bound for Northamptonshire. That’s not to mention all the random promotional events that pop up in the week before… This is that unique time of the year where you just might bump into Alex Rins at an Alpinestars’ special event at your local kit store on a Wednesday night, or come face-to-face with some Moto3 riders…

The Day of Champions is back at Silverstone tomorrow (Thursday), ready to raise thousands of pounds ahead of the British round of the MotoGP season. After a two-year absence due to Covid-19, the event – organised by official MotoGP charity Two Wheels for Life to benefit African charity partner, Riders for Health – promises to make up for lost time by being bigger and better than ever. There’s a pitlane walk, live music, and interviews with the racing stars. Also, for an added extra cost, you can enjoy a ride-in led by former GP racer Niall Mackenzie, paddock access and two laps of the legendary Silverstone circuit with Randy Mamola. As ever the highlight is certain to be the auction of MotoGP memorabilia donated by the stars themselves, which kicks…

Landmark racing Yamahas and grand prix greats including Britain’s seventime world champion Phil Read were among the highlights at the Donington Park Classic Motorcycle Festival at the weekend. A special static display included a 1957 YD-A (the first Yamaha 250 race-winner), 1960 YDS1-R (Yamaha’s first TT-winner) and a 1996 YZR500. Read himself was joined by the likes of Chas Mortimer and Alan Carter, while demo laps were ridden by reigning British Superbike champion, Tarran Mackenzie. All were in attendance as part of the Yamaha Racing Heritage Club, which was launched last year to celebrate Yamaha’s racing history and sees classic machines and celebrated riders attend events around the globe. Donington was the YHRC’s first visit to the UK, following previous events at Varano in Italy, Paul Ricard in France, and…

Luxury electric bike firm, Arc, have announced a new programme that allows 10 customers to become part of the development process for their first bike. We saw last week that former MotoGP and BSB rider James Ellison had been helping the firm make the final performance tweaks to the Vector model. But under what is being called the AE programme (which stands for Angel Edition… Arc Angel, get it?) customers will help to develop the bike’s next-gen safety system. Back when the Vector was first unveiled, Arc were talking about a helmet and jacket that would be linked to the bike and provide the rider with information. The helmet would do this with a heads-up display (HUD) and the jacket would use ‘haptic feedback’ – a system that can vibrate…

Peak Design Slimlink 1in ball adapter £42.23 Finding the perfect phone mount may seem like a neverending quest, but Peak Design’s Slimlink could come close. It utilises a 1in rubberised ball to allow fitment via any third-party system. Requires an additional case or universal adapter. www.peakdesign.com Skidmarx screen for GSX-S1000GT £69.95 Dorset-based Skidmarx have released this flip-up screen for Suzuki’s GSX-S1000GT. Measuring 47cm tall and formed from 3mm acrylic, it’s available in four colours (plus clear) and is a direct bolt-on. www.skidmarx.co.uk Pyramid Plastics Extenda Fenda for Tiger 900 £65 Pyramid Plastics’ latest Extenda Fenda adds an additional 260mm to the Tiger 900’s OE mudguard. Secured to the brake calipers with its own bracket kit, the extender is billed as simple to fit and suitably robust. www.pyramid-plastics.co.uk Oxford camping chair…

Reader Lee Harrison The trip RBLR SaddleSore 1000 How many miles? 1006 How long do you need? Ride up the night before Best time to go June Tell us about the ride… I’ve been looking at doing an SS1000 for a few years now. I arrived at a packed Squires and signed in with the marshals and volunteers and found out my start time would be 0550. The starts are staggered in 10 min groups to avoid a big jam. I was given my route card which needs to be signed by the marshals at the start, finish and at Rivington Services. I was doing the clockwise north route. East of Glasgow the heavens opened. Not just a bit, the motorway was flooded. I caught up with a couple of…

FRIDAY August 5 9am, BTS2, Live MotoGP, British GP from Silverstone: Opening Day 10pm, EUR2, World Superbikes from Czech Republic: Weekend highlights SATURDAY August 6 9am, BTS2, Live MotoGP, British GP from Silverstone: FP3. Qualifying at 12pn SUNDAY August 7 ITV, Live British MotoGP 12.25pm -3.45pm (ITV4 10.45am-12.30pm) 9.15am, BTS2, Live MotoGP, British GP from Silverstone: Warm Ups. Moto3 at 10.30am, MotoGP at 12.30pm. Chequered Flag at 3.30pm 3pm, EUR2, Live Motocross World Championship from Sweden: MX2 Race 2, MXGP Race 2 at 4pm KEY TO CHANNELS: DRT - DISCOVERY REAL TIME DSC - DISCOVERY CHANNEL DHD - DISCOVERY CHANNEL HD EXS - EXTREME SPORTS CHANNEL EUR1 (2, HD) - EUROSPORT 1 (2, HD) MOT - MOTORSPORT.TV CH4 - CHANNEL 4 CH5 - CHANNEL FIVE BBC BBCI – BBC INTERACTIVE…

TFT dash has a gear indicator and fuel gauge. Can be linked to the My Triumph app for £214.15 to add turn-by-turn nav, GoPro control and calls Twin Nissin two-piston calipers with non-angle-sensitive ABS Easy manual adjustment for the screen adds to the praticality ★★★★★ £8745 Triumph Tiger Sport 660 Taken from the Trident, the 660cc inline triple has traction control as standard as well as two power modes. A single throttle body helps keep servicing costs low The Tiger’s Showa 41mm inverted forks are non-adjustable but the Showa shock has a remote preload adjuster The Tiger has Road and Rain modes switchable traction control plus you can connect to the My Triumph app…

Over his near-40 years at BMW, Heinrich has been involved with literally dozens of standout machines. But although proud of hugely significant bikes such as the first R1200GS and R18, one that’s arguably a little leftfield stands out just as much, the 2005 K1200R naked. “Every BMW bike is special and is fun to create. I really love working on the Dakar bikes, probably because off-road riding and racing are a passion of mine. And they’re also the essence of what GS, dual-sport, means to me. One of the most interesting bikes I created was the K1200R. Definitely not a logical or obvious choice. And certainly not a typical BMW. But we did it, even though it was a bit far-out – and I liked that.” “When I first joined…

‘There was no way MM93 would settle for points…’ 1 It’s given us some of the closest finishes EVER! The speed and layout of Silverstone, and in particular the final corner at Woodcote, always seems to lead to super-close racing. One of the closest finishes ever seen in MotoGP happened in 2019, when Suzuki’s Alex Rins edged out Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez by just thirteen-thousandths of a second over the line! And before that, who could forget the 2013 tussle between Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo? Marquez had crashed in morning warm-up, and arrived on the grid with his left shoulder heavily strapped up. Most riders would’ve settled for a reasonable points haul. But not Marquez. He chased Lorenzo all the way and the pair duked it out during the final…

The Kingdom of Lo was strictly off-limits until the early ’90s when the Nepalese government granted access to a handful of trekkers. Twenty years later, the first motorcycle travellers pioneered a treacherous route to Nepal’s little-known and isolated northern kingdom. Now today, in 2022, it’s our turn as guests of Royal Enfield. Sweating in Pokhara Tourists swarmed the streets in their colourful trekking trousers and stalls selling North Face jackets lined the roadside. Pokhara is a base for mountain climbers and hikers and one of Nepal’s most popular cities. I wanted to explore its bustling streets and ogle the Ghurkha kukri knives proudly shinning in shop windows, but along with everyone else on this Royal Enfield tour, we all had our minds firmly set on the mountains in the distance…

GARETH EVANS, ONLINE EDITOR Digitally minded engineering fan; been riding just three years but addicted to trackdays There are only two ways to ride the UK’s fastest race circuit, Thruxton: on an IAM Skills Day, or in a race. Since I’m unlikely to be joining the grid any time soon, it was highly fortunate that Shaun Cronin from the IAM got in touch when he read about my cunning plan to ride all the BSB tracks in 2022, offering me the chance to try the formidable Hampshire circuit and glean some roadcraft from ace instructor Del at the same time. The day is a chance to learn more about your bike in an environment away from the road, removing potholes, SMIDSYs and other hazards from the equation altogether. It also…

Davey Todd’s impressive 2022 road racing season continued at the Armoy road races last weekend when the Milenco Padgett’s Honda rider blasted his way to a new outright lap record and four wins around the three-mile Co. Antrim circuit. The 26-year-old, who claimed his first TT podium in June after finishing third in the Superstock race, won both Supersport races plus the Open and Race of Legends superbike events. He also laid down a new outright lap record at 108.534mph, breaking Michael Dunlop’s mark by 1.5s. Todd announced he would race at Armoy after winning five races at the Southern 100 a fortnight earlier where Dunlop and Dean Harrison had formed his principal opposition. Local fans were relishing the prospect of another head-to-head between Dunlop and Todd on the Ulsterman’s…

‘Bautista worked hard to iron out any weak points’ Anyone who said Alvaro Bautista’s Donington crash of two weeks earlier was the start of a 2019-like string of incidents was proven well and truly wrong as the Spaniard delivered an impressive sixth round of the season in the Czech Republic. Although Ducati won at Most last year with Scott Redding, Bautista had no track data for the Panigale on the sinuous circuit. However, the Spaniard put together an imperious race weekend to extend his championship lead over Britain’s Jonathan Rea. With the removal of the SCX tyre from the long races expected to swing in Kawasaki’s favour and Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu having dropped just five points from Most in 2021, you’d have been forgiven for thinking it was looking likely…

A landmark female biker meet-up at the Triumph Visitor Experience in Hinckley has been tainted by a series of motorcycle thefts from hotels surrounding the Leicestershire venue. Bikes were taken from a number of carparks in the runup to the Sunday, July 24 event – with some criminals even circling back for a second strike later in the night. “We’re gutted. Absolutely devastated. We’re bikers and I’d be devastated if I had my bike stolen,” event co-organiser Sherrie Woolf told MCN. Woolf ran the event alongside biking friend and fellow volunteer Nimi Patel, having created the day through their Moto Advisor Facebook page. A total of 1549 women riders attended, smashing the previous record of 1132. They also raised £9000, to be split equally between the Leicestershire and Rutland Blood…

The people who created a bodykit for the Yamaha XSR900 which transformed it into a tribute to the much-loved RD350LC twostroke are back with a new design for the smaller XSR700. Having kicked things off with the XSR900LC back in 2018, Velocity-Moto (formerly Extreme Performance) have now revealed the XSR700LC YPVS Edition, which turns the 689cc parallel-twin naked into a look-alike of the LC’s successor, the RD350 YPVS. The products are the handiwork of Surrey performance and LC experts Velocity-Moto and headed up by wellknown specials builder, Hag Hughes. Speaking to MCN he said: “The 900 was a big success. It sold in the UK, Australia, Spain, France, New Zealand, the States… everywhere. “I wanted to follow it up but also mix it up a bit,” he continued. “The 700…

Suzuki have presented this one-off edition of the Hayabusa hyperbike to their MotoGP test rider and reigning Endurance World Champion, Sylvain Guintoli. The standard 1340cc speed machine has been finished in a special Yoshimura SERT Motul replica paint job, which pays tribute to the GSX-R1000 he rides in the Endurance World Championship (EWC) alongside teammates Gregg Black and Xavier Simeon. “I have to thank Suzuki for this beautiful bike to celebrate our successes over the past few years,” Guintoli said during a day at Donington Park. “The throttle response is so linear and power delivery is smooth, it inspires so much confidence to push harder.” Guintoli won the Le Mans 24-hour and the Bol d’Or with Suzuki in 2021, on his way to the EWC world title. The team have…

It might lack wheels, engine, and have a top speed of zero mph but this Yamaha is at the heart of the firm’s research and development – combining with virtual reality and simulation software to let engineers test new bikes before they’ve even got off the drawing board. Essentially a shape-shifting set of motorcycle touchpoints, the Motolator (derived from Moto-Simulator) can be quickly reconfigured to mimic the riding position and ergonomics of virtually any bike, acting as a shortcut to reduce the number of prototypes that need to be built during the early stages of a bike’s development. The Motolator is already in use at Yamaha’s R&D facilities in Japan but has only now been given a public airing. What does that mean to you and me? Quicker, lower-cost research…

Send your first bike pics to: yourpics@motorcyclenews.com GARELLI 50 Here I am working on my Garelli 50 about 1973. Used to do my paper rounds on it around Honley. Richard Baker YAMAHA RD250E My RD250E with added drop handlebars and Rickman fairing, circa 1979. Got a lot of fun out of it. Andy McCready PUCH MAXI My 16th birthday present set me on the road to 46 years (and counting) of motorcycling. Thanks mum and dad. Ian Skinner TRIUMPH TIGER 800 I passed my test last year and bought myself a Triumph Tiger 800, just completed my first tour on it to the French Alps. Oliver Jennings BSA B31 Photographed in Cheddar Gorge in 1957 – I passed my test on this bike and lived in Patchway near Bristol at…

1 Silverstone Day of Champions August 4 A family-friendly kick off to MotoGP weekend. Tickets start from £25 in advance, £30 on the day and go up to £145. www.twowheelsforlife.org/day-of-champions 2 Festival of Wheels August 6-7 This weekend at Trinity Park, Ipswich, the Festival of Wheels will be in full swing. There will be show vehicles, stunt team, outdoor cinema and even a circus. www.motorshowevents.com 3 Barbers Ride August 6-11 In 2017, biking barbers came together to create a charity event, and the Dundee to London ride raised over £10k. This year’s ride takes place from August 6-11 with stops up and down the UK. barbersride.com 4 CF Moto Bike Night August 4 The Bike Sanctuary in Northampton are hosting their debut bike night on Thursday with special guest appearances…

What’s happening? Dubbed as the most chilled rally of the year, there will be two stages with live acts on both all weekend as well as a massive selection of beer tents as well as toilets and showers to keep you comfortable. Top that with a plethora of trade stalls, a comedy show, and 24-hour security, you’ll be with like-minded folk for a fabulous weekend. The essentials Held at the Escrick Park estate, tickets are prebooked only, so make sure you get in quick! For the weekend it’s £30 and a Saturday day ticket is £20 although there are a limited number. It’s strictly bikers only, although car passes are available for disabled bikers in cars. For more information, check out www.yorkshirepuddingrally.co.uk.…

Honda’s Neo Café-styled, single-cylinder roadster may have been a little anonymous next to stablemates such as the more mass market CB125R and meatier, four-cylinder CB650R. But as a ‘stepping stone’ between those two, and as an affordable and fun first big bike, the 300 actually delivered surprisingly well with willing but unintimidating performance. Now Honda have taken the opportunity of a Euro5 upgrade to make it better still. 1 Clean(er) machine The CB300R was launched in 2018 based on an enlarged, 286cc version of Honda’s old CBR250R engine, then dropped last year due to non-Euro5 compliance. That’s now sorted via revised exhaust internals and fuelling tweaks, although performance is unchanged with peaks of 31bhp and 20.3lb.ft. That may be less than KTM’s £5149 390 Duke (44bhp) but is still good…

Horwin’s new CR6-Pro is an interesting ride to say the least. It’s the nearest you can come to what could be called a ‘traditional’ electric motorbike, as they claim it’s the world’s first fullproduction electric with a manual gearbox and clutch. Suitable for anyone aged 17 or up with CBT, it’s based on the existing single-speed CR6 but costs two grand more, coming in at a pound shy of £7000. Proper performance The belly of the beast is a ‘high torque’ 6200w motor fed by a 72v 55Ah lithium-ion battery, and if like me you’re not sure what all this entails then it’s the equivalent of a 125. For a tiddler the CR6-Pro has impressive acceleration, pulls up hills better than a typical 125 and nudges an indicated 68mph. The…

It’s highly recommended you go with an experienced tour company – there are only around five that offer tours to the region. Your tour company will handle all of the permits for you in advance and provide the homestays and hotels, provide the motorcycle, fuel, food and water. And perhaps most importantly, they provide a support vehicle with mechanics following behind. Expect to pay around £3200 for a two-week, all-in tour (not including flights). Our tour was organised by Royal Enfield (their second into Lo Manthang), but this one sold out in two hours of going live – so don’t hang about. Royal Enfield used a Nepali based company as their support team and this company also provide their own tours to Lo Manthang. They’re a great team and we’d…

BEN CLARKE ASSISTANT EDITOR (MOTORCYCLING) Newbie to American bikes with a love of V-twins Since I took on the Indian FTR S as a long-term test bike I’ve been inundated with emails, letters and phone calls begging to know what it’s like for riding with two Porsches and a Mustang in Wales. Ok, that’s not true. And as consumer journalism goes, I’ll admit, it’s pretty niche. But taking the Indian on a ‘driving’ trip with some of my car-loving mates did give me an opportunity to see how it handles the twisty stuff when the pace is… spirited. Cross country The rolling hills and plunging valleys of the mid-Wales coast are the perfect playground for just this kind of exploration but before all that we needed to travel almost the…

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and despite its heat, humidity and gruelling conditions, the prestigious Suzuka 8 Hours has been missed from the Endurance World Championship. This weekend sees the return of the Japanese extravaganza for the first time since 2019, but what can we expect from the big hitters? ‘Riders will face gruelling heat and humidity’ 1 A different 8 Hours Traditionally the 8 Hours is filled with the superstars of MotoGP, WSB and BSB. A diary clash with the British Grand Prix means that there will be no GP stars lining up this time, but the influx of superbike stars including our own Leon Haslam ensures that the international riders will still be among the favourites for the win. The conditions make it one of the toughest…

In a moment resembling something from football, Dominique Aegerter pretended to be hurt and put marshals at risk on Saturday. Aiming for a new record of ten straight World Supersport race wins, the World Champion was taken down in a multiple collision. Initially taking to his feet, upon seeing the chaos around him, he dropped back to the ground as he pretended to be hurt in a bid to get the race stopped. The race was not halted despite marshals being in the firing line. Upon being declared unfit with concussion, the Ten Kate rider admitted to lying in a hope of racing on Sunday but was duly banned from taking any further part. “I did not act correctly,” said Aegerter. “I never wanted to put people in danger. I…