Ilmor and Garry McCoy

Today in Estoril,the Ilmor has presented a new 800cc MotoGp bike with which intends to start a new adventure after almost 15 years in F1 and Indy Racing League. For this new challenge they company has chosen the Australian racer Garry McCoy, also nick named Manone (Big Hand)by the Italians during his years in Italy racing for the NCR Ducati.
McCoy is not new to the MotoGp circus: he raced the 500cc before with Honda and then with Kawasaki from 1998 to 2003. During those years he experienced some good results mixed with some important injuries (ankle and wrist).
In 2005, after ending the WSBK in 6th place, McCoy left Ducati to pass to the Foggy Pedronas Team. The challenge with 3 cylinders, 900cc, lasted only one year and in 2006 he went back searching for a new bike and a new challenge.
Regardless of the ups and downs in his career, Garry McCoy is well known around the world especially for his spectacular way to …


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Ex road racer Lenny Santangelo takes up new sport

5 years ago Lenny Santangelo surprised us immensely. In a very short time he went from learning how to release a clutch to being a Daytona winner and one of the fastest novice riders in the North East Region of the recent past. Today, once again, he leaves us speechless with his new sport. Maybe riding a bike and a bull have some in common, but I can guarantee you that I am not going to test it for you.

Teammate, looking good on a red bike, ....

Ok, Macho Melandri remains with Gresini and his almost official Honda factory bike while the rest of the big guys have already found their homes for next year. Now our attention goes to the other riders, the so called teammates that given their position are supposed to go fast enough to be hired by that specific team/sponsor for that salary but “cannot to be too good” for the first rider in the team because that would jeopardize his position. Also there are issues linked to their personality. Sometime ago Capirossi claimed that he would love to have Rossi has teammate but he would not be able to share his team with Biaggi because of his attitude. With 2 races to the end of the 2006 MotoGp World Championship the Borgo Panicale's managers have to find a collegue to his first rider, someone that can bring something on the table: performance, development or both of them. According to Carlo Pernat, Loris’s manager, there are three feasible canditates:
Gibernau, Stoner or Checa.

Who is your favorite?

Similar path ....different end?

I wonder how Valentino reacted to Schumacher’s misfortune last Sunday. For anybody not familiar with the F1 Championship, the Ferrari pilot only last July was able to turn around a trend that was making his ambitions to the world championship almost unrealistic. Then a series of successful results changed completely the situation so with 2 races to go to end he had still the possibility to win his 8th World Championship over Alonso. Well last Sunday when he was winning the race and mentally pressing his weakened competitor, his engine stopped working with only 17 laps to the end. At this point, Alonso with an 8th place, even with Schumacher winning the final race, would lock the Championship.
So many similarities for two totally different champions in two different sports: both of them in 2nd place in the world classifications with 2 races left and after a very difficult season that could bring the 8th World Championship to their careeres.
I am sure that Nicky Hayden knows about Schumacher’s debacle in F1 and somehow hopes in a little help from the goddes Fortuna in Estoril, Portugal, a race where Valentino has already won 4 times while the Kentucky Kid locked a meager 7th place last year.
5 days and few hours to go …. Don’t miss the next MotoGp showdown.

Crashing! Do you really have to?

By Robert Lombardi for Pure Motorbike Passion

My motorized 2-wheel career started in the mid 80’s on a 1985 RM 125. Wow! I though this is crazy; all this power with the turn of your wrist. Six months later I felt it was time to go racing, so I graduated to a 250cc and had even a brief tour on a 500cc machine. During the many practices and races in motocross I learned that in order to go fast I had to push my limits, and that led to some crashing, a lot of crashing. It became part of the game. But as you may expect, the injuries became to many. As the years went on, racing motocross had been taking its toll on me, and I was looking for another 2-wheel experience to fill the void. I needed something less abusive on my body on a daily basis. In 1994, I bought a CBR 900RR: my first street motorcycle. This bike was the @#$% ultimate machine and this eventually led to track days. I did not want to repeat my experience that I had on the dirt bike so I adopted an “aviation” type attitude. No mistakes, as I were flying a plane. With an aircraft you have no second chances. I felt that, due to potential catastrophic results, riding a bike should be thought in this way. Explanation! Simple no risk; don’t do any thing unless you know that you are going to make it, even if it means to slow down a little bit. Yes, it will take longer to reach your potential but at least you will be around to achieve it, and having fun in the meantime. Now, you may ask: what has it happened to the “push the limits” theory? Well, if you are willing to give it a try, it does work for a while. According to my experience, most of the riders who adopt this method do not last long. They end up plagued with injuries and financial woes that eventually cause them to quit. In the other hand, since 2003 I have managed to accumulate 8 regional and 2 endurance national championships using the “aviation method”. Also, in the last 4 seasons, I finished every race I started, except one (Kansas, broken ribs) and I had only two other crashes, both of them in practice. Believe me, my system does work!
All said I am going to answer the title question. Do you have to crash to improve your riding? No! Will it happen? OH YEAH! You could be doing everything right and still go down: it is the nature of the beast and it is our job to cut down the preventable, adrenalin filled, mistakes and bad decisions that cause what I call “unnecessary crashes”.
For instance, the rider that took out Alessandro at the last NESBA day at Summit Point made an obvious adrenalin filled mistake. (watch the video)
In conclusion, it is important to learn something from every crash and understand the dynamic of why it happened: this will help to avoid future crashes.

Good luck,

ROB

MotoGp Poll: How will Melandri classify in the 2007 Championship?

Marco Melandri has just renewed the contract with the Team Gresini. Until the end,I had hoped to see the #33 on a Ducati, but for reasons that we can only really guess, he will be another year with Honda. With Hayden, Pedrosa, Rossi, Capirossi on the same bikes, in what position do you imagine Melandri to end in the 2007 MotoGp World Championship?

Come to the race track and you will realize that ...

Last weekend I spent 3 days in Pennsylvania, at the Pocono Raceway track, on Friday with the NYSB and on Saturday and Sunday with NESBA. I was very excited because it was the first exit with my new 2001 GSX-R 600.



Saturday afternoon, after the school, I worked on the suspension set up and the following day it was showdown with my friends riding with NESBA. As usual I worked as Control Rider with the Intermediate group and honestly after my recent crash I wished to wear hazard lights and a “Do not tailgate” sign along with my orange shirt. No problem, after a few laps I was totally relaxed and ready to enjoy my day. I went out in all the Expert sessions and most of the Beginner ones to set up the suspensions of my friend’s bikes: I basically rode no stop until the lunch break. After that the sky became progressively darker until the rain forced us to stop. The rain didn’t end until the following morning so we changed the type entertainment but not the fun. Over the years I became friend with so many people at the racetracks that now it seems a family reunion. When it rains E-Z Up tents and big enclosed trailers become our leaving rooms with guys sharing food and drinks and the most outgoing ones engaging in jokes, imitations, and mocking others. Robert Lombardi is one of them: forget racing, he should have his own show in Manhattan!


At the club events we normally go as group, so we travel, ride, eat and share hotel rooms together. This kind of circumstances has created a very strong bond with my friend, a sort of brotherhood. On Sunday, one of my buddies high sided: fortunately he didn’t suffer any injury but the bike paid the toll. Our sport it’s very expensive however not so much when you are part of a “team”. Monday morning my friends worked hours on that bike: it was stripped, washed, broken parts fixed or replaced while the owner went to work with his aching body. In the afternoon when he got back home he couldn’t believe that his “baby” was already in promising shape for the next event. “ Guys,how much do I own you for ….?” The answer was “do not worry about … good friends always help each other!”

For more picture of this event visit Racedayphoto

2006 ASRA Solo Champion: Robert Lombardi

Rob has won for the second year in a row the ASRA Solo Championship and I have asked him to recap his season for the Pure Motorbike Passion readers.
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The 2006 season quest to win a second Solo National Championship was one of ups and downs and I mean downs. It all started with a decent showing in Daytona despite a number mix up that ended putting me in the back of the grid for the 3 restarts due to red flag incidents. After a very angry 2 ½ hour race I managed to fight my way back to 9th place. Not good but in 2005 march Daytona I got a 7th and I still managed to win the championship. So I went home with high hopes, but feeling a little cheated out of a possible higher finish! Now this is where it gets good. Last February I bought a new 2006 GSXR 1000 to convert it later into a race bike but I crashed it after only one month in the streets of Brooklyn . It was a cold night and I had got about ½ miles into my 3 mile ride home when I made a slow left hand turn. I suddenly found my self in the ground gasping for air. My bike with only 80 miles on it was destroyed. It turns out that our friendly Con Edison “JO” left an 8X10 - 2 inch thick camouflaged built up on one side with asphalt in the middle of the entrance of the turn. I had broken 5 ribs and one of them broken in 2 places: six brakes in all. -“Nice job”- the doctor said; “-do not race until you are completely healed because another fall could puncture a lung or your heart”-! It was early in the season so I canceled my entry for Road America : too bad because in 2005 I had won that round. I did whatever I could to remain in shape during this time but it was tough. Broken ribs hurt like a son of a gun and make impossible to sleep! The next race was Blackhawk Farms on the 7th of May. I was still in a lot of pain, especially under hard braking, but I managed to win the race. I was now in 2nd place in the championship, 5 points behind the leader. I was pumped up, healing nicely and ready for the next race in Topeka, Kansas on June 16th. I had never been at that track, but I was excited and committed to win even thought it was Al Harris’s home circuit, at that point the championship leader. About 1 hour into the competition, with almost a one lap lead, I lost the front end going into the chicane and I busted again my ribs and cracked my sternum. For 4 days I was unable to get out of bed and it was only two weeks away from the next round in Summit Point. Against all advice as soon as I hit the floor I knew I was racing no matter what. I went as far as doing a 6 lap sprint at Vir to get some regional points towards my F40 championship: I did it with some 800 mil Advil’s and Novocain patches all over my chest and my back, but 6 laps were different from the 78 laps required in Summit Point. In West Virginia I rested until the race day: 2 1/2 hours of hell. With enough Advil to kill a horse and enough pain patches to numb Godzilla, to my surprise I won the race! Barber, in Alabama on August 25th was next: I felt tired and weary. All the injuries were taking a toll on my body and mind. But I was on a mission at that point nothing was going to stop me. The battle was between me and Travis Meycnern, a battle that lasted for over two hours under light rain conditions. At the end of the day the younger man got the victory by only a few seconds but I was back leading the championship with 11 points lead on Al. One month to heal and get in shape before the race in VIR, my home track. The race went off with troubles on the warm up lap: it seemed that the check valve on the new quick fill system was failing and gas was quickly filling the over flow tank. At this point I could only hope for the best but luckily the race was red flagged, right after the start, and so the technical issue was quickly resolved by my crew. In Vir I finished with a respectable 3rd place and with 37 point lead and only one race left, in Daytona, I am again the 2006 ASRA Solo Champion!

I would like to add that the Michelin tires are unbelievable and have been critical in winning the championship


Special thanks to: Frank Aluzzo from United Water Mains for his incredible support through the season and never giving up on me; Ron Wood and Michelin Tires; Roy at Absolute cycle; Almos Gyorffy; Johnny Brazil; Alex Matteucci; Steve Lombardi; all the guys at NYSB club and most of all my Wife Lorraine who against her better judgment supported me all season.

Rob


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It could have been worse

Two weeks ago in Summit Point, West Virginia I was taken out by another rider while acting as Control Rider for NESBA, in the Intermediate Group. The video is quite long and not really clear, anyhow the accident happened going into the last turn, T10: I am wearing the orange shirt. Luckily both of us were able to walk away from the accident with just a few bruises and abrasions but nothing to serious.

Video source

Robert Lombardi Racing School: Pocono 9-29-06

Last Friday Robert and I had the last school event for the 2006 season. The day started in the wrong way with rain and cold wind. On top of that Pocono Raceway not only gave us the gravel area to pit, but also denied the usage, for really questionable reasons, of the only small shed available. We were counting on this little shack as classroom and at that point we felt a bit lost given the fact that we had eight students. After examining different solutions we opted for a tent with some kind of sidings, a table and a few chairs. With a blackboard, a lot of passion and the positive attitude from the school partecipants, it took only one hour to overcome the morning issues and create a “warm” atmosphere.

Even this time Robert Lombardi’s Road Racing School was able to deliver what promised: all the students improved drammatically their confidence, speed and overall riding skills. At the end of the day everybody had a big smile and a positive comment about their track experience. A lot of them claimed to be already addicted to the track experience and that they couldn't wait for the next event. Unless they are willing to travel to Jennings in Florida in January they would have to wait until the end of another long and nasty New York winter before warming up again their bikes.

See you next year!

The following comments were posted on the NYSB forum:

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RobCBR954RR
My 1st Trackday!!
I want thank my longtime friend Jose for introducing me to the club. I can't believe how much I learned from Rob and Alex these 2 Guys are GREAT instructors I hope they stick around for a longtime.. Well I had a great time riding on Friday and I am amazed on how my CBR954 handled on the track after getting lessons from Rob and Alex on the proper technigues on turning and leaning also breaking points. I was able to scrape my knee a little towards the end of the day when I was alot more confident with what I learned. I am looking forward for more trackdays in the future

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Phlipedoutracing
1st Track Day on the 29th
Had an awsome time at the poconos! Little weather problem at first but it cleared out. Also to Rob and Alex you guys did a great job teaching that class also a great job building that tent you had to teach in. But u made it work!!! The class was extremely helpfull and thank you once again. ………..

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Carl Redmond
I agree...Rob & Alex did a fantastic job. It's really great opportunity to get instruction from two professionals of their level who excell at teaching. Alex even managed to untangle my complicated questions and always come up with a really good and very understandable answer. It was my first day on a track and thanks to NYSBC/Rob & Alex I had a fantastic day, and as Rob predicted....I am now addicted. Hope to see you all again soon.

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For more pictures covering this event visit Racedayphoto.com