Racing

When the flag drops, the bullsh*t stops, as they say in racing, and few sectors in the auto market have as much to prove as electric motorcycles. The performance potential of electric bikes is almost unbounded, with massive advantages over petrol bikes in so many areas - and battery technology is starting to catch up with the market's needs - but until recently, there's been no international competitive showcase for the top level of electric motorcycles. Just this week, the FIM announced a zero-emissions TT Grand Prix on the Isle of Man in June - and paved the way for electric bikes to compete in the future against top-level petrol bikes. Now, off-road specialists Zero Motorcycles are gearing up for the world's first all-electric 24-hour endurance motocross race in California on April 4. The flag has dropped on electric racing. Time to see who's got the goods, and who's been telling porkies.  Read More

Japan’s Nitro Noriyuki Haga and American newcomer Ben Spies were victorious in round one of the WSKB held today at Australia's Phillip Island Circuit in front of a record crowd of 63,250. Haga took the podium in race one after an enthralling battle with German Max Neukirchner which saw Haga's Ducati 1098R cross the line just 32/1000ths of a second ahead of the Suzuki.  Read More

The 2009 World Superbikes season is off to a cracking start, with an action-packed qualifying stage and Superpole now decided. Boasting a huge grid of superstar riders, some ominous new faces, a raft of new bikes and brand new teams from BMW and Aprilia, we've tipped WSBK 2009 as the one to watch over MotoGP in our detailed season preview a few weeks ago. And what a start! Texan Ben Spies has taken an astonishing Superpole victory on his international debut for Yamaha, ahead of veteran Max Biaggi on the brand new Aprilia RSV4 and newcomer Jonny Rea on his Hannspree Honda CBR1000RR. The new Superpole format has proven itself to be pure cut-throat desperation and a great spectacle - and the races tomorrow should be absolutely stunning. Check TheBikerGene for full coverage of Round 1 of the 2009 World Superbike Championship.  Read More

The global financial crisis has clearly hammered the highest echelons of prototype racing, with established teams like Honda and Kawasaki pulling out of F1 and MotoGP respectively in the last couple of months. But for the production-based (and much cheaper) World Superbike series, things have never looked better than they do at the start of 2009. Despite the retirement of beloved champion Troy Bayliss, the 2009 WSBK grid will field a record 32 bikes from a record 7 manufacturers as BMW and Aprilia join the fray with exotic new machinery. There's also an influx of phenomenally talented riders - including AMA champ Ben Spies, BSB champ and ex-GP god Shakey Byrne, and precocious youngsters Tom Sykes and Leon Haslam to do battle with battle-hardened veterans like Nitro Nori Haga, Biaggi, Corser and Kagayama. The first pre-season test has been run, giving us a glimpse at who's fast and who's faster, so it's time for a WSBK season preview, looking at the class, the teams, the bikes and the personalities that make SBK the race series to watch in 2009.  Read More

Wii owning NASCAR fans will be happy to hear that EA has announced the first and only NASCAR racing title for the console will be in stores in time for the Daytona 500 and the official start of the 2009 NASCAR season. Instead of porting an existing title, EA’s NASCAR Kart Racing has been designed exclusively for the Wii, so it will hopefully make good use of the console’s motion sensing controller and, in keeping with the Wii’s family friendly credentials, up to four players can go head-to-head, via split screen, in a mad dash to the checkered flag.  Read More

After last year being asked to provide a glimpse of what automobiles will look like 50 years into the future, design studios vying for recognition in this year's LA Auto Show Design Challenge are leaving city streets behind and heading for the racetrack under the theme "Motorsports 2025". Throwing away preconceptions of what motor racing should be and incorporating the possibility of cars that never crash or need re-fueling, nine of Southern California’s big-name automotive design houses have submitted entries, and again the results are both outrageous and thought provoking - from vehicles that race over land, sea and air to 8 x 4 wheel-drive ATVs and solar sailing energy-miser's that compete on see-through tracks.  Read More

We've been following Aprilia's 2009 V-4 engined superbike closely through its development stages, excited to learn what the company can do with its brand new, fully electronically managed and incredibly compact 1000cc motor. And the first official images and press information have been released. Stunning to look at, the RSV4 will make at least 180 horsepower in roadbike trim (and somewhere around 220 in the version Max Biaggi will race in WSBK 2009) - but more astounding than that figure is the amazing amount of chassis tuning the RSV4 will allow. With adjustable steering head angle, swingarm pivots and even engine mounting points, the new Aprilia can lay a genuine claim to being the most race-focused production motorcycle on the planet.  Read More

Honda's CRF450R motocross bike has been hugely successful since its launch in 2002 - and although the bike is already recognized as the class leader, it's receiving a kitchen-sink included upgrade for 2009. Lighter, quicker, more powerful and with even tighter mass centralization for quick handling, the 2009 CRF450R also sports a Honda first - battery-free, programmable fuel injection that raises output power and control while dramatically reducing fuel consumption. Out of the box, Honda says it's two seconds faster around a supercross track than this year's bike.  Read More

August 31, 2008 Formula Zero is the world’s first hydrogen fuel cell racing series and the historic first ever event was held last weekend in Rotterdam. Four teams clearly stood out from the field in vying for the celebrated first ever victory for a fuel cell racing machine, with the Dutch Greenchoice-FORZE Team (Technical University of Delft) setting the fastest time of 38.416 seconds of the portable racetrack in Saturday’s qualifying, narrowly ahead of Spain’s EuplatecH2 (Escuela Universitaria Politécnica La Almunia de Doña Godina). Sadly, the speed shown by the Belgian Zero Emission Racing Team on Friday (37.800) did not materialize on Sunday, and the British Imperial Racing Green Team’s reliability over race distance did not stand up well in the non-traditional FORMULA ZERO race format. Though Team FORZE won the main race on Sunday, the Spaniards won the initial sprint race, and will go down in history as the winners of the first fuel cell racing event.  Read More