Table of contents for 10th July 2019 in MCN

There’s a blue haze lingering in the air between the hedges, and my nose is tingling with the unmistakable aroma of two-stroke. But now it’s a guessing lottery: clapped-out scooter, or a slice of two-stroke heaven? It’s a fun game. The answer comes as I slow into the village, and spot a beaming RD250LC owner taking his lid off outside the pub. Jackpot. Usually, it’s a nasty 50cc scooter that smells right, but looks so wrong. The golden era of two-strokes peaked 35 years ago with the launch of the RD and RG 500s. It was the same year that marked the start of my own two-wheeled addiction. The posters on my bedroom wall were the RD500 and CR500 – but the bike in my garage was a less hedonistic…

BMW have unveiled this new R nineT /5 as a tribute to the original /5 series that helped revolutionise BMW’s motorcycle fortunes in the late Sixties. BMW started production of the three-bike series in 1969, selling over 12,000 bikes in the first year and by the time the series was discontinued nearly 70,000 had been sent around the world. To mark the importance of this model, which paved the way to BMW producing their 500,000th bike 50 years later, the Bavarian giant got their pencils out to pay homage. Amazingly, many elements have remained much the same in the intervening 50 years. The R nineT still boasts a big air-cooled boxer engine but the 1170cc engine now puts out over 108bhp (up from just 50hp in the 1960s). It’s still…

Police have stepped up their patrols after residents in Cheltenam complained of youths causing a menace by riding scooters and mopeds over pavements and through parks – and now they are celebrating impounding their 20th machine. The moped was seized under Operation Endurance after it was spotted being ridden illegally in the Hesters Way and Moors areas of Cheltenham. The operation was set up after 34 incidents of bikes, many of which were stolen, being ridden in parks and on pavements were reported over a single weekend earlier this year. Officers from the Cheltenham Neighbourhood Policing Team have been working alongside Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC), Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) and other organisations to hunt down the bikes being in public spaces. “We are committed to making the parks and roads…

The town of Boston, Lincs, rolled out the red carpet last Thursday to welcome motorcyclists from all over the region in celebration of its annual Bike Night. What started as a gathering of around 100 bikes 23 years ago has now grown into a major event that saw over 1800 bikes and an estimated 4000 people turn out for an evening devoted to two-wheeled hedonism last week. Boston Bike Night takes place in the town’s Central Park and road closures were in place from 5.30pm to ensure that only two (or three) wheeled traffic was allowed on site. Arrivals were funnelled from the park entrance through the crowds, effectively adding a parade for both riders and spectators to enjoy. ‘We come every year, it’s my favourite event’ Elaine Howard from…

If I ever see a two-stroke parked up I’m all over it – much more than if it was a Fireblade or S1000RR. If I see something like a KH triple I’ll be straight over, but it’s the same for something simple like an RD250. I’m not saying I’d want to jump on it and ride it, but I certainly appreciate it. ‘WHEN MY DAD STARTED HIS RD IT’D BLOW YOUR BRAINS IN’ When I was a kid my Dad had RD500s and TZ750s and they used to frighten me. They had four pipes sticking out the back and if you were stood at the back of it when he started it up it used to blow your brains in. I’m still passionate about two-strokes, have still got a few…

It’s Britain’s best road test route. A tough 250-mile mix of A and B- roads, a stretch of motorway, plus plenty of towns, villages, blind corners, ballistic straights, and a huge range of grippy to slippy tarmac. There are two cafés, an off-road section for adventure and trail bikes, track time for sportsbikes, and Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground and the dyno for hard and fast data when needed. You want answers? We’ve got ’em. 1 Tourist trophy The 950 S is £13,501 on the road if you want red, or £13,701 if you opt for this grey with red frame. Find another £550 if you fancy the spoke wheel option. The Touring version we have here comes with panniers, heated grips and a centrestand for £14,529 in red, or £14,729…

After a short dash of dual carriageway on the A43 (with desperate ducking to avoid the terrible screen noise), the route darts off up a slip road and flicks through a couple of mini roundabouts before lunging onto the tree-lined twists of the B4525. And these tight turns are a real highlight. It might seem odd picking out a poxy little mini roundabout from all 250 miles of our test route. However, with positive camber, constant radius and excellent visibility it drills home just how nimble these tall do-anything machines truly are. At 937 and 1262cc these are big bikes, with giraffe-like adventure-influenced build, yet they both flick in, skip through and change direction with whoop-in-your-lid agility. Being lobbed in hard pushes the 1260’s chassis into the area where the…

(Almost) like they used to be Original SWM went bust in ’84 but they’re keen to keep links to old SWM. The Six Days name is after the Scottish Six Day Trial SWM won in ’81 and ’82. The devil’s in the detail Quality is OK for a £5k bike but it’s not hard to see where they’ve saved money. Ours has done 1500 miles and paint is already wearing off the engine. Italian pipework It’s a Shineray engine, but it exhales through SWM’s own high-level pipes which lift the Six Day’s appearance by several notches of cool.…

‘Call in at Torver for the Biker Breakfast’ With so many stunning routes to choose from, Dave, is spoilt for choice, when it comes to planning his Sunday rideout. “All these roads are superb and this route gives you opportunities to extend your ride in every direction. There are amazing views over the coast, from Ulverston to Greenodd, and especially from Broughton to Grizebeck,” he told MCN. “We are lucky to live in Ulverston, with the Lake District on our doorstep and this ride can be easily done in an hour, but if you go to Torver Biker Breakfast, it can take the entire morning! There are scores of bikes at Tover, so it’s great for a chat, in the most beautiful surroundings.”…

FESTIVAL OF 1000 BIKES, MALLORY PARK, LEICESTERSHIRE JULY 13-14 ‘Proper festival atmosphere’ The Festival of 1000 Bikes isthe largest classic racing weekend in Europe and with an action-packed programme, it’s definitely not to be missed. The Route Our circular route takes in the rolling hills or Rutland and lovely lanes of Leicestershire as you head towards Leicester via Peckleton and the A47. Lead onto the western bypass and follow signs for Melton Mowbray on the A607, take the A606 to Oakham and once you’ve passed through the heart of Rutland, pick up the rollercoaster that is the A6003 to Uppingham. Stop at Sycamore Harley before you swing right at the traffic lights to follow the roads through Stockerston, Medbourne and Ashley before heading towards Market Harborough. Follow the…

I’m the human equivalent of Niagara Falls as water pours down my legs, drips off my boots and the 240mm rear tyre of the Diavel leaves a tidal wave. The Ducati looks stunning but offers no protection against this deluge. My maxi-cruiser would be more at home in sun-soaked Tuscany than being battered by Welsh rain and the next fuel stop can’t come soon enough. I’m on my way back from a weekend of wedding celebrations in the Pembrokeshire seaside village of Manorbier. I’ve taken the chance to stretch the legs of the Diavel 1260S and with a 600-mile round trip, I’m sure I’ll find out if the plush-looking saddle is about more than looks. My outward journey couldn’t have been more different: the weather was glorious and the mix…

Jonathan Rea was full of praise for up-and-coming Kawasaki star Toprak Razgatlioglu as the 22-year-old Turk pushed the world champion all the way once again. “He is one of, if not THE most talented and gifted rider in the paddock,” gushed Rea. “You only have to follow his Instagram to see what he’s doing on bicycles and scooters. You feel comfortable with someone like that. He’s the kind of guy you could throw into a corner with no brakes and he’ll come out upright when nobody else will! It’s worrying how quick he learns. He’s clever, learns from the best and puts the pieces together.”…

The first ever MotoE race was hailed a success after the three men on the podium were separated by just 0.587s. Ajo MotoE rider Nicki Tuuli won the race, which was cut short from eight laps to just five following a crash when Lorenzo Savadori’s machine hit and then subsequently deflated the air fencing. Having set pole with an impressive 1m27.456s lap– only 1.5 seconds slower than Moto3’s pole position, Tuuli explained his affinity for the new class. “From the first test on the bike we knew it was going to suit me. On a track like this it is the fast turns where I’m making the lap time.” ‘We’ve seen bikes at full lean andsmokecoming off their tyres’ Brit former MotoGP rider Bradley Smith led early on before being…

Suzuki’s rising star Alex Rins has conceded his 2019 world championship aspirations are over after a high speed tumble out of the German Grand Prix. It was the second early exit for Rins in a week, coming just seven days after his embarrassing spill out of the lead of the Dutch TT. But the resilient and speedy Spaniard is convinced that the Suzuki GSX-RR is capable of battling Ducati rivals Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci for second in the title. Rins crashed at over 120mph while holding a strong second place ahead of Maverick Viñales who eventually finished second to the unstoppable Marc Marquez. Rins first emerged as a title threat following a stunning early season win in Texas and then second to Marquez in the following race at Jerez.…

Marc Marquez exorcised the demons of his COTA calamity to remain the undisputed king of the Sachsenring on Sunday. A crash out of a commanding lead in Austin back in April when firmly on course to protect his undefeated run on Texan soil still haunts the Spaniard. But a repeat blunder at his beloved Sachsenring never looked on the cards, as the Spaniard streaked to an incredible 10th successive win in Germany from a 10th straight pole. A daring dive into the first turn quickly made up for a fluffed start and the 26-year-old romped to his fifth win of a 2019 campaign that he’s turning into a cruise towards a sixth premier class crown. •‘There was no need to push. I had more, but COTA was in my head’…

Over 200,000 people descended on Goodwood over the weekend for four days of high-octane motorsport action at the annual Festival of Speed – but it was the battery-powered motorcycles grabbing all the headlines. This year’s event celebrated ‘Speed Kings – Motorsport’s Record Breakers’ and saw 85 motorcycles take to the 1.16-mile hill climb course from Thursday to Sunday, as part of a 650-strong vehicle lineup, ridden by a roster of current and former racing stars, including Casey Stoner, James Toseland and Giacomo Agostini. The crowd was treated to two daily high-speed runs from a selection of racing machines, as well as a number of road bikes – headlined by the debut of Harley-Davidson’s Livewire, which will be officially launched next week. Also riding up the world-famous Goodwood hill was the…

This unique mix of Cold War design and 21st-century technology is the Čezeta 506/02. It’s an electric scooter built around the lines, the looks and the legacy of the original Čezeta, made from 1957 in the former Czechoslovakia. Nicknamed ‘The Communist’s Vespa’ and, more bluntly, ‘The Pig’, more than 120,000 were sold in the 175cc two-stroke’s seven-year life. But today’s Čezeta opts for a cleaner, quieter life, with a 15bhp electric motor incorporated into the rear wheel and 6kWh of Panasonic lithium-ion batteries inside the composite bodywork. There are three power modes, plus a reverse gear to help manoeuvre its 187kg. Čezeta claim a top speed of 75mph, a 0-30mph time of just 2.7 seconds and a range of 75 miles. However, our test ride proved less optimistic: we recorded…

For former Coronation Street and Emmerdale star, Ian Kelsey, his introduction to biking has “Been a learning curve every day, but I get it and I want more.” And, with the help of MCN’s #Ride5K group, he’s just completed his biggest trip yet. After passing his bike test last year, Kelsey planned to ride his custom Kawasaki W650 from Inverness home to Brighton after the final date of a recent tour of the play ‘The Verdict’ in which he was starring. Beforehand, he’d worked with The Motorcycle Workshop of Bolney, West Sussex, to create this one-off bike which includes features such as the twin horns from a Mk2 Ford Cortina, installed as tribute to his dad. However, after an extra date was added to the tour, Inverness became Plymouth and,…

Mutt have just released the Mastiff, a beefed-up version of their super-popular custom 125s. If you’re not familiar with Mutt they produce a range of small capacity, factory custom bikes that look as cool at your local bike meet as they would outside the Bike Shed. Powered by a Chinese-reproduced old aircooled Suzuki 125cc engine, they produce 11.8bhp. Mutt say that the new Mastiff is the ‘King of the Mutts’, so they’ve gone to town on bulking it up. The Mastiff has a whopping 17-litre tank, five larger than the standard Mongrel, which is finished off with a funky Monza-style fuel cap and too-cool-for-school flat black and silver paintjob. The rest of the new bike is just as well thought-out. The Mastiff rolls on black-rimmed, 18in wire spoked wheels, wrapped…

Electronics? Just more to go wrong Just reading with interest the One Year On article featuring the KTM 1290 Super Adventure S (MCN, July 3). With the rise of electronics on bikes I think this is a reminder that too much tech can ruin your new bike experience. Safety wise electronics are great, but TFT dashes etc are more of a gimmick to sell the latest model if you ask me. The more I read about problems, the more I'm glad my Super Ténéré 1200 has the minimum. I know what I would rather do a long trip on. Thanks for a great read. Simon J Foster, email Ed – What does everyone else think about the march of electronics? MCN Star letter Write something that spikes our interest,…

‘The flats are 100 times bigger than Bonneville’ My eyes flicker as we approach a mysterious white mass of landscape. It’s something my mind simply cannot seem to process as we ride off the end of the dusty dirt road onto the Salar de Uyuni. My subconscious is racing through its memory bank, working to comprehend the ground before me. It’s brilliant white, almost smooth, but rugged. My mind instantly references snow and my body tenses, bracing for the imminent slip. But wait. It’s not ice, this is the salt flats. Yet despite this realisation I’m fighting to reassure myself that my Triumph Tiger’s tyres are going to grip this alien surface. Before we edge further into the flats, which are nearly completely dry in the intense sunshine, I simply…

THE STUDENT Dan Poxen, 46, Notts When Dan turned 40 he decided to do the decent thing and celebrate by doing his test. He now rides mainly for pleasure. Dan’s riding problem ‘Right-handers make me tense up and make mistakes, like fixating on a gate or bollard, which has led to silly crashes. Help!’ THE TUTOR Mark Edwards, Rapid Training FormerpolicemotorcyclistMark’sbeen teachingpeopletobesafer,better,faster riders on the road for the last 20 years. Mark’s action plan ‘Target fixation is an instinctive response to spotting danger, but it’s something that you can train yourself out of with practice.’ THE LESSON 1 Take a wide view We spend our time focusing on one thing so it’s natural that when we ride a bike our vision can often be too narrow – leading to…

Somebody very wise once said that without pain there can be no joy, but thankfully when it comes to riding motorbikes that statement’s not strictly true. MCN reader Trevor Harris adored owning his Ducati Panigale 1299, but life with the exotic Italian sportsbike was getting hard. “It was just such a pain to ride at normal speeds. Whilst it was amazing when it was on-song, the rest of the time it was just too noisy, too lumpy and too hot,” he says. “I bought a Kawasaki Z900 Café Racer which served as a great solution – it looks great and was just easier and less of a faff to ride on the road. But I was still missing that high-performance edge. Then a friend suggested that I take a test…

Musclebike doesn’t mean super-naked. We might be talking powerful engines, but these are machines with effortless urge and smooth handling, rather than frantic power and twitching agility. And it’s not the same as retro either – sure, there’s some period style, but it’s with six-pot calipers, fat tyres and braced swingarms. Want pub-cruising cool, pillion ability and grin-spreading grunt? It’s all here. £4750 HONDA CB1300 1284cc |236kg |113bhp |790mm seat height • Dealer up to £5400 • Private up to £4750 • This one 2009, 12,500 miles Though influenced by the CB1100R of the early ’80s, there’s nothing old-hat with the CB1300. Its inline four was developed from the old CBR1000 and has an ECU nicked from the CBR600RR. Forks are cartridge-type and adjustable, as are the shocks, and…

1 Get the right kit for your bike A steering damper minimises front end instability or ‘tankslappers’ caused by bumps in the road. They’re a fairly simple solution to an unnerving problem, and fitting one is straightforward but it’s crucial you purchase the correct damper and fitting kit. The length of travel varies from one bike to another, so bear this in mind if you are buying a secondhand item. 2 Work out how it’s all going to fit There are various different ways of mounting a steering damper. This centrally mounted kit is the most commonly used for modern era sportsbikes. Check the specific instructions in the kit, then familiarise yourself with the components. The brackets that bolt to the frame and top yoke will only fit one way,…

In just their third round since a downsized Ten Kate returned to WSB, the Dutch former world champions caused a major upset when rider Loris Baz was top Yamaha in two of the three races. With a skeleton staff of just eight, Ten Kate reappeared in Jerez but that weekend was blighted by a huge crash. Misano and Donington both featured stunning fourth places in the wet. However, it was Baz’s dry weather British outings which stuck out. In coming fifth and sixth, he overtook the Pata Yamahas of Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, works Ducati of Chaz Davies as well as fighting with championship-leader Alvaro Bautista. His improvement, he claims, was due to a masterstroke by highly-experienced crew chief Mick Shanley. “It’s been a long time since…

The ‘never say never’ attitude of Jonathan Rea and the Kawasaki Racing Team saw the four-time World Superbike champion storm into the series lead as the Northern Irishman completed a career-first treble at Donington Park last weekend. In an almost unbelievable turnaround, the 32-year-old has completed a swing of 85 championship points by moving from 61 behind Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista to 24 in front over the course of just seven races. Since the final race in Jerez a month ago, Rea has taken an average of 12 points out of Bautista’s lead every time the chequered flag fell. On Saturday, from second on the grid, ‘JR’ delivered a typically charismatic wet weather performance to win by over 11 seconds while Bautista crashed for the third time in five races. In…

Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller thought the better of a late race assault on Ducati Corse colleagues Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci on Sunday. The three Ducatis were nose-to-tail at the finish and separated by just 0.3 seconds with Miller sixth behind Petrucci (fourth) and Dovizioso (fifth). “I had them both but I didn’t want to cause a crash, just keeping my nose clean. I had more tyre than both of them at the finish. I would have had them hands down if it was for a race win.” Miller said.…

Fabio Quartararo blamed himself for blowing a golden chance to become the first non-factory Yamaha rider to claim three successive MotoGP podiums since Andrea Dovizioso in 2012. A partial dislocation of his left shoulder after a 150mph tank-slapper in FP3 didn’t prevent the French star from surging to his fourth successive front row. But his first race crash of 2019 then came at Turn Three on lap two while passing Danilo Petrucci. “I wanted to pass Petrucci but made a mistake,” he said later. “I’m gaining experience and I learned not to have be so enthusiastic at the start.”…

Maverick Viñales survived a relentless onslaught from hard-charging Brit Cal Crutchlow to claim back-to-back podiums for the first time in 12 months. With Marc Marquez in irresistible form again on German soil, Viñales was happy to be best of the rest, as he took over from team-mate Valentino Rossi as top Yamaha in the standings for the first time in 2019. ‘I did 15 laps just closing the doors to keep Cal behind me. It wasn’t easy’ “Marc is so unbelievably fast at this track that we knew the best result would be second unless he made a mistake. That was my only chance to win, so we completed our objective of being second but it was impossible to win, “said the 24-year-old, who prevented a first Honda 1-2 since…

Dakar rider and global adventurer, Lyndon Poskitt, arrived back home last weekend to a hero’s welcome as fans flocked to meet him in Settle on the final day of his five-year lap of the globe. Poskitt originally set out in 2014 with a plan to lap the world within 18 months but it turns out that racing on every continent, competing in two Dakar rallies and covering 143,000 miles takes quite a bit longer. “Getting home is a bit of a weight off to be honest,” Poskitt told MCN. “The last year or so I’ve been looking forward to getting back and that’s why I knew it was time. “I wanted to go to Africa but there was so much going on that I almost didn’t want to go but…

The Arc Vector is a technical pioneer in many ways with its large capacity batteries, fast recharge time, and heads-up display but it’s also something of a suspension innovator, too. Hub-centre 2.0 Up front the Vector has hub-centre steering. Arc aren’t the first to do this – Jack Defazio pushed it heavily in the 1970s, Bimota had a crack with the Tesi and, of course, there was Yamaha’s GTS1000 – but as all those attest, it’s never taken off. That’s because those systems had flaws and, you guessed it, Arc reckon they’ve solved them. “In my early career I did a lot of work on ‘funny front ends’,” says Mark Truman, Arc CEO. “I realised there was real potential – hub-centre racers have always delivered good results – but that…

OSET 16 Here’s my lad Jack, aged five, on his first trials bike. It’s an Oset 16 and he can’t get enough of riding it. Dean Hark YAMAHA VIRAGO 535 The Virago made for a great bike and looked cool too. Willemien Collins SUZUKI T350 This 1972 T350 marked my return to riding in 1973 inspired by the bike-mad young lady seen in the pic. We’ve been married now for 45 years. John Edwards TRIUMPH 110 Thought you might like this picture of my mum Christeen on my father’s Triumph 110 before they were married. Tim Westley BSA B31 350 My first bike with its new paint job, we used to thrash round local woods, swapping bikes the whole time. No licence back then, so it was back roads to…

The bikes are the S version, so both share the same full-colour TFT dash. About the size of a large smartphone, there’s a fabulous selection of info always on display without the need to press buttons – from time, gear position, speed, revs and riding mode, to fuel, engine temp and the settings for each of the electronic aids. You also select which extra info (two trips each with average mpg and speed, plus range, air temp and other menus) you’d like. The display changes from black-on-white to white-on-black in low light. 1260 S 1260 S SWITCHGEAR Looks complicated, but controls are logical, backlighting helps at night, and everyday functions (resetting trip, swapping mode) are simple. 950 S 950 S SWITCHGEAR Same as the 1260... both bikes let down slightly…

Twins are great, but if you want a really authentic retro it needs a single-cylinder engine. There’s a heartwarming old-fashioned feel from the thud of a lone piston – especially when it’s SWM’s Six Days 440 and someone has whipped out the dB killers. Booming and banging like a Matchless G50 classic racer is a fine finishing touch to the chirpy SWM. It’s a not-too-serious bike for breezy bend-swinging, trying to supply the feelings generated by a Triumph Street Scrambler or Moto Guzzi V7 but for four grand less. Perky performance Made in China by Shineray, the 445cc four-valve single is derived from the Honda XBR500 with a top-end based on a Rotax. There’s only 30bhp, but with free-revving enthusiasm and a 153kg kerb weight, acceleration is engagingly brisk. Fuelling…

‘Inhale deeply and the memories will flood back’ The smell of burnt two-stroke oil never fails to flood your senses with nostalgia. There is something so reminiscent of teenage high spirits in the aroma that even a clapped out 50cc scooter belching out lung-bleeding smoke as it crawls past makes your nostrils twitch as you inhale deeply and the memories start flooding back. You just can’t beat a two-stroke, but it’s an experience most millennial motorcyclists will never appreciate as, since the early 2000s, strokers have been all but banished from our roads due to emissions regulations. Incredibly, it’s 35 years since the last big-capacity two-strokes were born – the Yamaha RD500 of 1984 and, announced the same year at the Cologne Show, Suzuki’s RG500. In celebration, we’ve stepped back…

5. RELAXED UPPER BODY Put your weight through the balls of your feet to take stress away from your arms. 4. TURN LATE Only initiate a turn when you can see the exit point. Actively counter-steer by pushing the inside bar to get the bike turned. 3. TURN YOUR HEAD Looking down narrows your vision and makes you nervous. Keep your eyes up and turn your head to where you want to go. 2. SLOW IT DOWN Rushing into the corner won’t make you faster. Slow down and you’ll be able to assess the corner and pick a line. 1. EYES UP Look up and as far ahead as possible. Use your peripheral vision to absorb info without focusing on one thing. DANGER ZONE Get target fixation, and you’ll suddenly…

‘From about 3000rpm there’s a surge of power’ I LIKE Engine performance • is like nothing else, and the supercharger sounds amazing The suspension is • really good, and I like how easy it is to adjust How it looks – there’s • nothing else that looks quite like it I DON'T The dash is really hard • to read in sunlight Standard seat – it’s • really hard and uncomfortable QUICK SPECS •998cc •197bhp •260kg •835mm seat height PRICE NEW £14,138 VALUE NOW £13,000…

Although recent progress of the new S1000RR has been impressive, the mood in the BMW garage on Sunday was miserable following a Superpole Race slip-up that proved extremely costly. Team leader Tom Sykes, on a track where he has won on no fewer than nine occasions, first raised hopes by sealing the new S1000RR’s first pole position on Saturday. It was just the second-ever WSB pole for BMW and first since Troy Corser at Misano nine years earlier. Rain-hit Race 1 cemented expectations with the Sykes’ solid second behind runaway winner Jonathan Rea – his second Saturday podium in succession and his 110th overall, moving the 2013 world champion one ahead of four-time champ Carl Fogarty. After that, however, events unravelled dramatically. The Sprint Race was stopped when BMW teammate…

As if losing his colossal championship lead to Jonathan Rea at Donington wasn’t bad enough, former series leader Alvaro Bautista predicts he’ll suffer more damage as WSB heads to Laguna Seca this week. The last seven races have seen Rea grab 137 points with Bautista managing just 37% of that with 52, plus three crashes in five races across Jerez, Misano and Donington. The ex-MotoGP man’s grievance is the flex of the Ducati superbike and how it moves around under the rider; something which shows up more on bumpier circuits and is very different to the rigidity of a MotoGP machine. ‘I was physically destroyed. I’m having to make double the effort’ On Saturday the 34-year-old had his latest crash in the wet first race and was fortunate not to…

Andrea Dovizioso has intensified his plea to Ducati to completely revise the DNA of the Desmosedici in order to make it a championship-winning force in MotoGP. The Italian team leader piled the pressure on Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall’Igna after finishing an uninspiring fifth in Germany, behind his factory teammate Danilo Petrucci in fourth. It was a demoralising defeat with the Ducati pair 16 seconds adrift of Marc Marquez and Honda at the finish. The result confirmed Dovi’s fears that the delay in fixing the chronic mid-corner turning issue means he’s helpless in carrying the title fight to Honda kingpin Marquez. “For the championship at this moment Marc and Honda are in another level so the situation is not so good,” Dovizioso said. And it’s unlikely that there will be…

‘I didn’t want to use my injury as an excuse for being slow’ THIRD PLACED CAL CRUTCHLOW Cal Crutchlow proved to be a freak of nature after a freak accident forced the Briton into a pain-defying ride on his way to sensational Sachsenring podium. The LCR Honda rider fractured the tip of his right tibia and mangled ligaments and tendons in his right knee in an innocuous accident while training on his bicycle prior to the German GP. Crutchlow was in hospital on the eve of practice having blood and fluid drained from the damaged knee, which he injured when his right foot slipped on a cobbled stone while inspecting the saddle height on his push bike just five days earlier. The pain and discomfort didn’t blunt his charge towards…

Valentino Rossi is unconcerned that he extended his losing streak to more than two years with a lacklustre eighth place in the German GP. Rossi, 40, last won at the Dutch TT in 2017 and has now gone 36 race starts without a victory. “For sure I don’t like this, but I’ve won 89 races in MotoGP so I’m not so bad,” Rossi said. “It’s true that I’m old but the problem is that last year I was already old and I don’t have a reason to be 20 seconds slower than this race last year. This is difficult to understand, but I don’t feel it is because I don’t have enough motivation,” he told MCN.…