Happy Birthday Sal

Our friend Sal Benanti AKA "The Old Man" this month turned 70. As I have already mentioned in a previous post Sal is a sort of living myth for all of us motorbike lovers. At his age he is still racing motocross every weekend during the season. It's something so sensational that Ace Motocross a couple of weeks ago has dedicated a racing weekend to the 70th birthday celebration of the "District's Oldest Active Rider". That weekend ACE has commemorated the event by giving award plaques to the racers with Sal's riding image on it. Also the organization has given to Sal a life time waive of all the racing fees!




Representing the whole Brooklyn motorbike crew I would like to wish to Sal many other decades of health and rejuvenating moto cross racing!
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

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Round 14: GMC Australian Grand Prix

Does anybody need to use the world famous Butt Past to sooth the Sunday after race rash? My guess is that this race left more than one rider dissatisfied. It could be Valentino that in the first leg of the race was hammering every body and had left Hayden in the no point dust zone area. Or the recently superfast Capirossi that somehow had a really grey performance last Sunday. Or what about Pedrosa that was lapped …,yes lapped, by more that one rider. Even Gibernau, whose great post injury performance, was shadowed by the diabolik Valentinik that passed him on the last turn grabbing the 3rd place after erasing the huge gap that was separating the two (Rossi two year ago jinxed the spaniard stating that Gibernau would never win any race as long as he races …and now even the 3rd has been forbiden!).

I do not want even to try to comment in detail the race in consideration that last Sunday the rain and the consequential change of the bikes have drammatically affected the whole show. Marco Melandri AKA Macho won under rain conditions with a fat gap over a fast Vermuellen, but I wonder where the Championship standing would be if it didn’t rain.
Useless mental exercise! Let’s stick to reality: Hayden is still leading the World Championship but lost 2 points advantage on Valentino, now in 2nd position at only 21 points. Pedrosa is now 3rd with Melandri at 32 points. With 3 races to go do not even think to miss the end of MotoGp Show.

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Robert Lombardi's School: Pocono East Course

What a beautiful day we had in Pocono on the 7th of September. The school had 14 students, maybe the biggest class we have handled so far this year with the NYSB club. Robert and I wouldn’t have been able to handle the size of the class on the track without the help of the other two instructors of our school: Todd Cuso and Joe Ribeiro. It’s never easy to handle a big group of riders because the normal differences in performance, experience and natural skills are amplified by the size of the group. Everybody deserves a “personalized instruction and track experience” so the challenge was somehow to level the crowd by sharing the technical foundation of the art of riding and then to work with each and every student to unlock his/her potential. At the end of the day I think that we, as school, have achieved our goal: every body was much faster, smother, in control and …. nobody crashed.
I have found a few enthusiastic comments about the school on the NYSB b. board:
“Thank You NYSBC, I had a great day. Rob and the rest of the crew, thanks for a great day last Thursday Sept 7th on the beginner class. I learned so much its unbelievable and I can’t wait to go back. Already making plans for the 29th. This class builds a great foundation and starts the brick work for a better rider out on the track with lots of advanced tips thrown in for people to think about for later stages also.

The weather was fantastic and everybody in the pits just seemed to be having fun doing what they like to do best.

Mark thanks for putting this together and for the loan of the suit.

Patric
This day was one of my best day ever on a motorcycle!! Rob aka TV Superstar, Alessandro, Todd, Joe they were all great, fantastic control riders. The way how they explain those riding technics on the track and in the classroom is unbelievable. I personally learned a lot and I did that in a very safe environment what these guys provided at NYSBC. I can only recommend the NYSBC Sportbike Basic School with Rob Lombardi to everyone. It worth it!!! Now I want to go every week to a trackday!!!
Almano
I agree with Patrick and Almano. The instructors were great and even though I have been on a track before, it's been awhile and the course brought things back to basic for me. Can't wait for the 29th and this time, I hope to bring more that one of my friends along! Thanks to all and especiall Rob, Alessandro, Todd, and Joe for a great class and learning experience! See you all again on the 29th!

~Darr

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Alex 555 2000 R6 for Sale

I am selling my beloved year 2000 R6 for $3,800. Clean title, never raced, only club and school events.
It comes with:
Shark Skin body
Penske rear shock (high and low compression adjuster) valved-sprung for 180 lbs
Traction Dynamic fork valved-sprung for 180 lbs
Hindle full exhaust system (stainless can)
K&N filter
Set of Carbs jetted by Brian Livingood (former best AMA privateer)
Woodcraft rear set - standard
Woodcraft clip-ons
Scott damper
Stainless steel brake lines
Frame Sliders
Double bubble screen (not shown in the picture)
Fully safety wired
Good spare set of wheels

For more pics click on my album

Also, I am adding spare forks, brake levers, sprockets, brake pads, etc,

Robert Lombardi's School in the media

NYSB and Robert Lombardi’s basic School recently have been receiving a lot of attention from the media. The club and our school were portrayed on the Speed Channel with the show “Super Bikes!” and on the monthly magazine, Full Throttle.
In the article there is a presentation of the club and the school with several pictures. In one of them, I have recognized two ex students of mine: the rider with a bike # 99 is Antonio followed by Naim with a yellow Suzuki. You can easily perceive their huge improvement at the racetrack by comparing this picture with the ones linked to their names.

Round 13: Marlboro Malaysian Motorcycle G.P.

The Italian Job, this is the title of latest movie with Rossi and Capirossi dicing in the intriguing Malaysian circuit. A movie with only two protagonists and tons of suspense. Yes, we had other actors in the play but with no chance to get into the “action scenes”. Not that we even needed them given the battle between the two Italians: I cannot even recall how many times they have passed each other. Even the commentator got confused with the replays showed while another pass was taking place. Capirossi had a faster bike and it seems more efficient on the brakes while Rossi looked better with his M1 in carrying more momentum in the part of the circuit characterized by several turns in sequence.
Both of them tried to take off but the distance separating the two riders was always filled as soon as the person in second place was riding his favorite section of the track. At the end Valentino Rossi won but it could have been Capirossi as well: both deserved to win. Probably Valentino’s acumen made the difference: the final pass was done on the brakes going into a left turn on their last lap. In the previous laps, going to that turn when Capirossi was leading, Rossi on the brakes went right to his competitor’s tail without showing the tire to take the measurements for his future attack. Also I recall him leading to the same turn and braking at the last few feet with such aggression that greatly challenged the stability of his Yamaha: even then he was probably testing another potential scenario…

The third place went to the “small but big” champion, Pedrosa : his performance was epic in consideration that on Friday he crashed and suffering a hole on his knee as big as a teaspoon and a couple of toes broken. Great mental strength for someone only 20 year old! I say mental because the physical pain must have been well in control with the magical painkillers provided by Dr. Costa’s team of specialists: I can not even imagine to bend an injured knee in a tight and oppressive leather suit without any heavy duty drug, but which one? In the past I heard that they were receiving a sort of anesthesia, but if that’s the case shouldn’t they loose their sensibility? Talking about injured people, Gibernau looked good on the red missile. I just hope for him to ride strong in the last 4 races so to improve his odds to get a good bike for next year: so far Ducati has renewed the contract only to Capirossi. On the other hand Hayden got a 4th place; no bad, but not enough from someone who is still leading the championship. Unfortunately the impression is that he is there only when the big guys are injured or suffering mechanical issues. And on this note I would like to ask a question: what is it happening to Melandri? How is it possible that the Fortuna Team so regular and competitive at the beginning of the season is not able to perform adequately at the end? Yes, I am a bit malicious but knowing what Honda has done in the past, I would not be surprised if they were “affecting” a bit the other satellite team to help the two official Team Repsol riders. Can you imagine if last Sunday Pedrosa and Hayden had made 4th and 5th because of a Melandri?
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What a ...lucky rider!

A Bike Accident - video powered by Metacafe

Normally I don’t like to post videos of motorbike accidents for obvious reasons and then for this kind of reports we have FOX News. In any case for the above one I had to bend my rules. The guy is riding with NO helmet (just tons of hair), NO jacket, NO gloves, NO long pants, and … YES nothing happened to him. After being hit on the side, somehow he fell back on his own legs! Unbelievable! No foggy idea on his language too: is he coursing, thanking God or threatening the woman?

Also as you can note, with the exception the other rider, nobody stopped on the scene of the accident .... this is just crazy.

Slow speed turns ...

My friend Antonio from Techline LLC has signaled this video. It’s a gymkhana, a contest where the competitors test their balance skills: the winner is the rider who completes the course in the shortest time without touching the ground with his feet. This type of competition seems to be very common in Asia. What’s interesting to notice is the technique: to make a tight turn at slow speed the rider has to shift his body position far outside the bike with his weight on the outside peg. The farther away the rider moves from his bike the more will lean the bike and the tighter will be his turn. Just the opposite technique used in high speed turns (see Antonio’s picture).

I have never raced in a gymkhana but I grew up in Rome with tight roads and bumper to bumper traffic, a perfect field to challenge your balance and reflex.


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Picture source: Traffic in Rome

Round 12: Gauloises GP Ceske Republiky

Welcome back MotoGp! We missed you …. Almost a month went by since the last race in Laguna Seca. Time that riders have used to recharge their “batteries”and in some cases to recover from the consequences of injuries. In the meantime the team have been busier than ever fine tuning the present bikes for last leg of the championship and developing the new 800cc for next season. Team and riders managers have probably started meeting each others in restaurants, bar, behind dark sunglasses to re-build new business relationships or consolidate old ones. August went fast for everybody, even for us: vacation trips and outdoor activities replaced the time spent in front the TVs or our computers. Personally I have not taken care of my beloved Pure Motorbike Passion for almost 2 months, but I am back with the intent to post one or two pieces on a weekly basis.
The first surprise of the weekend happened on Friday: Valentino shocked everybody by setting up the bike with qualifiyng tires. Unheard strategy with unquestionable results given his pole position on Saturday. The obvious goal was to put an end to the terrible string of qualifying results accumulated so far. With the exception of the GP in Italy and in Catalunya, Valentino this year started almost every race in the 3rd or 4th row. Sunday was Showtime: DESMOCapirossi was untouchable taking the lead of the race since the first lap and winning the race at a pace that could not be matched by anybody else. Before easing off on the last lap he had 8 seconds on Valentino. I call him DESMOCapirossi because it’s with the Ducati DESMO16 that last Sunday he was able to mark a new record: he is the only winning rider still active after 16 years from his first GP victory.
Behind Capirex, Valentino had his own challenge with an aggressive Pedrosa that after starting in 9th position, in only 8 laps was able to reach the third position and for a while to aim at getting the second place. The battle between two champions was breathtaking, with several attacks of the Spaniard blocked going to the apex of the turn. For two times the young talent was able to pass Rossi who retook the position immediately after on both occasions.

Behind them Kenny Roberts Jr. lead a dynamic group followed by Melandri, Stoner, Hopkins, Nakano and Hayden. For the Kentucky Kid was the worst result of the year. He blamed a poor grip on the rear tire and a malfunctioning slipper clutch. Something must have happened because he lost positions after positions without any particular resistance.
The Cech Gp has once again revealed the potential skills of ex 250cc riders Pedrosa, Stoner and Elias. They look totally confortable with the big 4 stroke bikes, but how much credit they do deserve? As my brother Roberto keenly points out, the evolution of the electronic in the traction control and in the slipper clutches along with the use of the fat rear rubbers make the bikes less prone to spin the tires. Clean and smooth styles are rewarded with faster laps and competitive results. We have the Michelin technicians claiming that Pedrosa’s riding style is very similar to Biaggi’s one. But he stopped racing last year … someone could argue. Well, with the MotoGp bikes reduced to 800cc for 2007 is just a coincidence that Ducati is looking at him as rider in a satellite team?

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NESBA: Pocono Raceway FUSA course Aug 12th

What a blast! The FUSA course at the Pocono Raceway marks the middle of the summer. As usual NESBA had it on Saturday and it was typically overcrowded. The track is organized by two straights and a banking borrowed from the oval and the rest from the infield. Everybody has a love/hate relationship for the layout of the circuit (marked in red in the picture).

In my opinion the biggest issue is that it doesn’t flow well, especially for the bumps and patches that characterize the infields. This summer I was there on Thursday with the school and on Saturday with NESBA, so I had plenty time to get used to the rough surface.
The weather was stunning and the riders upbeat. Whoever has been there knows the magic atmosphere that hundreds of bikes and their owners can create under the long opened garage: loud music, comments, bikes that come and go, some of them with the scars of an unfortunate crash. Beginners are the most thrilled: they can enjoy the high speeds of the straights without being to concerned with the following turns, because they are shaped like funnels so lines, brake markers and turn points are less critical than in more typical situations. Saturday I was assigned as Control Rider to the Beginners but I ended up riding with the Intermediates as well, and of course with the Advanced group; just a couple of breaks for gasoline, water and some chitchat with my numerous friends.

I attached a few pictures of us: Naim Behdzet (from the back … my former student!),Frank Aluzzo # 326, Steven Lombardi # 324, and myself.

Pictures:
- for more pics covering the event visit Racedayphoto
- Pocono Raceway Track