Ashley Fiolek – 2 X-games gold medals, 2 Moto-X titles, determined and deaf.

Ashley Fiolek has many accomplishments to her name. Moto X titles, X game gold medals and many more. What often goes unnoticed, unlike her skill, is that Ashley is 100% deaf from birth.

Giving it some herbs!

Ashley has learnt to ride from a young age, and uses the vibrations of the bike to determine engine speed and shows this off with faultless shifting. Motorcycling is regarded by many, myself included, to be the most pure relationship between man and machine. Ashley has taken this to the next level, where riding appears to have become a haven for sensory workouts.

Ashley faces many problems, not knowing where other riders are on the track, relying only on their shadows as they move (frequently) behind her. She is an inspiration to us all that determination is key to happiness and success, and a reminder of the joys that motorcycling brings to millions of people worldwide. I have no doubt that we will be seeing more of Ashley, and more successes.

 

That number 1 plate isn't to be taken likely.

GP musical chairs

Some of you may have noticed that I am a big fan of Alvaro Bautista, and the news that he has filled what would have been Marco Simoncellis ride has made me very happy. I could not think of a better ride for him. Now without being limited by his machine so much, his true talent will be able to shine through.

Bring on 2012.

Moto GP – Injury tally

With the moto GP season coming to a close, and the tragic passing of Marco Simoncelli. It is clearer than ever the dangers riders face in the sport. A quick look at the tally:

Lorenzo clearly not enjoying his experimental weight reduction technique

 

1 x death
1 x loss of ring finger
1x dislocated shoulder
4x broken collar bone
2x fractured wrists

more that I may be missing?
 

Note: I didn’t post anything regarding Marcos passing, his riding and character spoke louder than any crummy post I could ever make.

Is Ducati’s reputation being hampered with investment in Rossi?

With Ducati signing Rossi for the 2011 season, there were many expectations on the team from viewers and the team themselves, that the aptly named Doctor could fix their front end woes. This has turned many more eyes onto the Ducati team, than might have been present in the Stoner/Hayden era.

Still deserving of the "doctor" name?

With this in mind, Ducati’s performance in the GP has been more than sub par. Frequently over 30 seconds off the pace of the front runners, and more frequently, Hayden performing better than Rossi, which is not well aligned with their differences in pat cheques. If I were team boss of Ducati, I would rather have a more “no-name” rider, placing in the top 10-15, than a high end, highest paid rider, placing in the top 10. Their problems are surrounding the fact that Ducati use their motor as a structural member of the chassis, which has been a company trademark for a long time. Which brings into question, should the company throw that idea in the bin and start again?

John Hopkins – Hi & Bye!

One rider who I feel is more or less the “Mark Webber” of the gp world is John Hopkins. Thrown on a gp bike perhaps a little too early, he was plagued with injuries from falls but was never short of talent. Currently riding in the British Super Bike series, he is leading the championship and looking to take the title. With a strong connection to Suzuki, which all started around the Kenny Roberts Jr era, he was recently invited to race along side Alvaro Bautista for team Rizla Suzuki at the Czech round of the gp series. Unfourtanately he was to fall and damage fingers in his right hand during first practice in what he called “a stupid mistake” but said during race commentary that he felt a top 6 placing was definately within reach for the team. Which was evident by Bautista nipping on Rossi’s heels from 7th position prior to a low side crash. 

Will he be back? Who knows, I certainly want nothing more than to see him fighting fit and on a decent package. He has all the ingredients, except for “racers luck”.

Motorcycle oddities part – 1

There have been an array of wild and wacky motorcycles made by many manufacturers.  I wont be going into any significant detail about each, but just some pictures to show you some of the amazing and abysmal machines that have eventuated over the years. Part 1 looks at the Honda “fat cat” and a prototype motocross bike. Note the twin exhausts and linkage front suspension, all with drum brakes.

Cars I wish I owned – Honda edition.

Although I have only ever owned one Honda, an early biege ballade, I have always been fixated on many of Hondas early obscure cars and their jaw dropping race cars. Ill let the pics do the talking.

1961 Cooper T53 Climax

1963 Honda T360

1964 Honda RA271

1966 Honda P800

1967 Honda N360

1967 Honda RA273

1969 Honda 1300 77

1970 Honda Vamos

1970 Honda Z

1972 Honda Life Step Van

1980 Ralt Honda RH-6-80

1981 Honda City

1984 Ralt Honda RH-6-84

1984 Williams Honda FW09

1986 WIlliams Honda FW11

1991 Honda Beat

2000 Honda NSX JGTC

Stunting – Probably the best video I have seen

Marcus Gronholm – Climb dance v2.0

Ride along with rally champion Marcus Gronholm as he storms up the Peak course in the Ford Fiesta RallyCross in an homage to the famous Climb Dance Pikes Peak run.

Honda s800 – quick peak at history

One of my favourite cars ever made is the Honda s800, especially the tin top. The s800 is what I believe to be the innovator of a style of cars I love more than any other (think suzuki cappuccino/mx5/s2000 )

The S800 is a sports car from Honda. Introduced at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, the S800 would replace the successful Honda S600 as the company’s image car and would compete with the Austin-Healey Sprite, MG Midget,Triumph Spitfire and Fiat 850 Spider.

Like the S600, it was available as either a coupe or roadster and continued the advanced technology of its predecessors. The 791 cc straight-4 engine produced 70 hp (52 kW) at 8000 rpm, thus making this Honda’s first 100 mph (160 km/h) automobile, but still allowing for 35 mpg (6.7 L/100 km). In April 1967 the car was described as the fastest production 1-litre car in the world thanks to its high revving engine and the manufacturer’s history of manufacturing powerful relatively low capacity motor-cycle engines.

Early examples continued to use the chain drive and independent suspension in the rear, but after these cars (752 roadsters and 242 coupés) were produced, Honda switched to a conventional live axlerear end with four radius rods and a Panhard rod. 604 roadsters and 69 coupes were built with this setup before disc brakes replaced the frontdrums.

In February 1968, the S800M (aka S800MK2) was introduced with flush mounted interior door handles, side marker lights outside, dual-circuit brakes, lean burn carburetion under the bonnet (hood) and safety glass. These changes were made for the Americanmarket, but the car was never imported officially. Production ended in May 1970 with 11,536 S800s produced. Honda did not manufacture another S roadster for nearly thirty years until the release of the S2000 for the 2000 model year.

Pinched from Wiki^