Table of contents for 13 April 2016 in MCN

Kick Start? A quaint trials game show in the 70s wasn’t it? Although merely a lightweight TV half hour which pitted leading trials riders (and later juniors) against each other and the clock, it became a firm favourite that lived on for years. So just how big was it? Huge, running for nine years and 13 series between 1979 and 1988, spawning a spin-off, computer game and, at its peak, attracting 13 million viewers. Today’s Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, for example, pulls about six million. So how did it come about? It was the brainchild of 1978 Lombard RAC Rally organiser, Nick Brittan, when he noticed some trials riders out the window of his local pub. A few phone calls to the BBC resulted in a formal pitch…

Each bike has a bigger brother, all of which can be restricted to A2 compatibility – but are they worth the extra? The steps between each model are wildly different in price and spec, but if your A2 bike is a stepping stone, each one of these also mean you’ve already got your second bike – simply derestrict it when your licence allows. DUCATI SCRAMBLER ICON, £7386 803cc | 186kg | 75bhp | 790mm seat It’s a phenomenally close relative of the Sixty2, but boasts an 803cc engine, and higher quality cycle parts. Well worth the extra £850. KTM 690 DUKE, £7699 690cc | 148.5kg | 72.5bhp | 835mm seat This is a very different beast to the 390, offering not just a bigger alternative, but a completely different proposition.…

Having grown up riding trials and then switching to enduro these three bikes should be the answer to my prayers. On paper they offer the chance to combine seriously technical riding with the ability to cover decent miles enduro style. The KTM is far and away the most enduro focused. The moment you press the starter it sounds like a competition two-stroke enduro bike. Yes it’s lighter, smaller and easier to handle than a true enduro bike, but it’s fast, aggressive, purposeful and capable. The Montesa is essentially a trials bike with revised ergonomics. So much so you could ride a trial on it. It is easy to ride, confidence inspiring and – unlike the KTM – very quiet. But it’s so lacking in power it becomes a liability on…

TRIUMPH STREET TWIN £7350 Ped Baker, Managing Editor ped.baker@motorcyclenews.com MPG 63.3mpg If there’s a single word that sums up Triumph’s Street Twin it’s ‘simplicity’. From riding to customising, everything about the bike is designed to be fuss-free and as simple as possible. In just a couple of miles of riding the Street I was instantly familiar and comfortable with it. The slip-assist clutch is light, the suspension plush, the chassis geometry perfectly neutral and the single front disc brake provides impressive feel and power. After a couple of days commuting I felt like I’d been riding it for years! Even the large speedo and function display are simple to read and understand. The Street Twin is an absolute masterclass of ergonomic design. Triumph have made changing the bike’s appearance…

Acerbis Bombshell helmet £149.95 Tester Andy Davidson Time tested 6000 miles What’s good? This Acerbis lid has seen me through hundreds of miles of off-roading through Death Valley in Nevada, countless adventure bike tests, and off-road schools. And I still love it. It’s taken its fair share of knocks too but the finish hasn’t flaked and the overall integrity of the lid has remained intact. The big mesh vent on the chin bar lets fresh air waft in to cool my face and head before it escapes through the rear vents. The antibacterial and removable lining is easy to take out and wash, and the overall fit is all-day comfy. The longest I spent in the lid was on a 10-hour day riding through a desert. The heat made it…

Q I’m being pushed to make a false insuranceclaim. What should I do? I was recently involved in a very minor accident. I wasn’t injured and there was only minimal paint damage on my bike. It seemed my insurer forwarded my details to one law firm, who passed it on to another law firm, who in turn have got an accident management firm on my case to persuade me to make a claim. I had been given the ‘sales spiel’ to make it seem OK to put in a whiplash claim, but when I told them this was morally suspect I was told that: “If I don’t put in a claim, they will put in a third-party claim against me personally.” This is disconcerting and worrying. John Rollinson, email If…

Twelve year old Storm Stacey became the youngest ever British championship race winner when he took victory in Sunday’s Moto3 race on the Repli-cast UK Racing Honda. “I started riding bikes when I was three and driving cars when I was five,” the Eccleshall youngster who is still 12 days shy of his 13th birthday explained. The pint-sized hero was given special dispensation to ride at Silverstone as he is too young to be eligible for the Moto3 championship. The Staffordshire hot shot took the victory in the new Hel Performance Motostar Moto3 STD race, for unmodified Moto3 machinery, after race-long leader Dan Jones crashed on the final lap of the 10-lap clash. Stacey was then left to battle it out with Thomas Strudwick for the win, with the youngster…

‘I tried to manage the race too much which is hard when the calibre of the field is this strong’CHRISTIAN IDDON Boosted by a confidence in the Tyco BMW S1000RR that he has previously struggled to find during his career, Christian Iddon established himself as a new star of the BSB championship with his two third place finishes at Silverstone. The baby-faced 31-year-old showed no fear as he took the battle to established names like Shakey Byrne, Leon Haslam and his own team-mate, Michael Laverty on Sunday. “You get a sensation straight away and the bike felt secure underneath me,” he said after taking his first ever BSB podium. The Manchester rider kept a watching brief throughout the first race on rivals Byrne, Luke Mossey, Dan Linfoot and Jason O’Halloran…

Danny Kent A mechanical malfunction brought an end to an unhappy weekend for reigning Moto3 champion Kent, when a clutch problem meant that he was forced to retire from a non-points scoring position in Sunday’s race. Unable to find any front feeling from the Leopard Kalex, Kent is now looking forward to a return to the traditional circuits of Europe and an improvement in form. John McPhee Was also plagued with mechanical problems at the weekend, as a serious gearbox fault on his Peugeot-branded Mahindra machine left him fighting to find a gear in every corner of the race. Hitting neutrals between shifts meant that he spent the entire race fighting a misbehaving machine to eventually finish outside the points in 21st.…

MOTOGP 1 Marc Marquez 25 points Who says the Honda is difficult to ride fast? 2 Jorge Lorenzo 20 points Better than Argentina but not the win he wanted 3 Andrea Iannone 16 points Strong result after his Argentinan disaster RACE TOP SPEEDS FASTEST RACE LAP POSITIONS Gains & losses (grid v finish ) MOTOGP TOP SPEEDS LAPS LED THIS SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP MOTOGP Riders after 3 rounds CHAMPIONSHIP MOTO2 Riders after 3 rounds CHAMPIONSHIP MOTO3 Riders after 3 rounds MOTOGP FINAL POSITIONS MOTOGP FINAL POSITIONS MOTO2 FINAL POSITIONS MOTO3…

A frustrated Cal Crutchlow says he should be third in the 2016 MotoGP championship – even though he is yet to score a single point. Once again showing top-five pace, another mistake saw him crash and then restart… and he again admitted that the accident was of his own making. “I was pushing too hard in an area where we shouldn’t have to be pushing; my bike has no real speed, and I have to try and make up everything on the brakes. Dani and Marc found something for the speed this weekend, and they don’t have to push there any more. “Whatever we’re doing isn’t working. We have the pace, and three fifth places would have put me third in the championship – but I never made them happen.…

Rossi was forced to counter rumours in the Spanish press that his Team Sky VR46 squad were interested in taking over the final spot on the 2017 MotoGP grid, after reports that he would expand his development squad to the premier class. However, Rossi admitted that while the team are planning an expansion for next year, it will be not to the premier class but instead to the intermediates. “I hear the rumours we will apply for the grid spot. I know MotoGP have one free place and I spoke with Carmelo, but for us it is impossible – we are not able to enter MotoGP and we are not interested. Next year we will race in Moto2 with Sky - that is enough.” With Rossi firmly out of the…

Yamaha YZF-R125 It completely dominates as the sportsbike of choice for thousands of new riders. Generous proportions, big-bike looks, and a sweet engine for £65pm after a £1128.75 deposit. Yamaha YZF-R3 Looking for a bit more mumbo, and proudly holding an A2 licence? The R3 is a tangible step up over the R125, with 42bhp to play with. Also £65 per month, with a £1172.50 deposit. Yamaha YZF-R6 Almost forgotten in Yamaha’s range, the R6 is still the most focused supersport 600 you can buy. A screaming nutter for £2866.75 up front, and £115pm. Yamaha YZF-R1 You’ve reached the top (R1M aside). Get the full superbike experience for a £3579 deposit, and £200per month thereafter. Like great deals, head to the MCN GARAGE on…

‘The film is tentatively set to be released in late 2017’ A movie about Barry Sheene’s incredible life is currently in production and is tentatively set to be released in the second half of 2017. Sheene will be a full dramatised version of the motorcycling legend’s extraordinary life and the producers are promising that only ‘A-List’ stars and an ‘A-List’ director will be involved in the project. The film is a British/Australian co-production between Deep Springs Pictures and I.O Films AU and will be based on Steve Parrish and Nick Harris’ 2007 book ‘Barry: The Story of Motorcycling Legend Barry Sheene.’ The book is being adapted for the screen by the acclaimed writing team of Ian La Frenais and Dick Clements who were also responsible for the smash 1991 movie…

As much as we loved the style of the new Ducati, everyone preferred the KTM to ride, especially when considering price and attitude. We all discussed what the outcome would be if the prices were equal, but even if the Ducati were £2000 cheaper, two out of our four test riders would still have opted for the KTM. If you don’t like the funky styling of the KTM and the Ducati is too pricey then the Yamaha is the next best bet, just – especially if your riding is more town focussed. But the Yam doesn’t have the build quality, brakes or styling of the harder Kawasaki. KTM 390 DUKE, £4549 Engine 373.2cc liquid-cooled single Power 44bhp @ 9500rpm Torque 26ftlb 7250rpm Weight 139kg (dry) Suspension WP 41mm inverted nonadjustable…

THE NUTTER KTM 350EXC-F, £7499 349.7cc, four-stroke, 107.2kg, 970mm seat Feels like the only off-road bike you’d ever want. If the going gets technical, or littered with big steps to climb, then it runs out of remit – unless you’re Jonny Walker, the world’s best hard-enduro rider – but on green lanes, enduro stages and even the road, it’s the real deal. It makes the Freeride feel like a flimsy imitation, and delivers so much drive, braking and chassis control that despite its aggression it actually panders to a wide range of abilities. On green lanes it flattens everything in its path, while letting it off the leash in our quarry revealed effortless drive. It makes you feel like a hero, even if you can’t actually ride like one. Pricey…

‘Trying to stop the carbs leaking can break some people’ Mark Bowen started Bowen Moto 30 years ago and is now an agent for Enfield, Kawasaki, AJS, Kymco and Rieju “Taking on the Enfield franchise a few years ago was an enjoyable learning curve, going back to old-school machinery that could be cured with a traditional mechanical approach. “At PDI we check all the electrical connections carefully, especially the sidestand switch and injection relay, as they can both give you a misfire. They all love a new NGK spark plug too. “Working with the old-tech got me thinking about potential classics. I had a Kawasaki GPZ900R whistle past me when I raced at the Le Mans 24-Hour in 1984. It sparked my interest back then and now we’ve got four…

‘Top of the tree is the original Speed Triple in black’ Hinkley's used hotties It seems almost impossible, but we’ve had a quarter of a century of living with Hinckley Triumphs. There are still a hell of a lot of the original 885cc triples around, testament to how well built they were. In some respects, they’re better made than the modern ones because Triumph knew they couldn’t afford to make them unreliable. And some 885s are still desirable. Top of the tree is the original Speed Triple, in black, and one of the later ones with the full six-speed gearbox. This was Triumph’s Jota, and spawned every Speed Triple since. Low-milers are £4000 and up, believe it or not. You’d pay that for a 1050 Speed Triple. Next is the…

‘It looks great and has an underlying quality that defies its £10,499 price’ HONDA AFRICA TWIN, £10,499 Michael Guy, Sports Editor michael.guy@motorcyclenews.com Miles 1635 MPG 49 Having attended the launch of the Honda Africa Twin in South Africa at the end of last year, I knew what I was getting when my long-term test bike arrived, but that didn’t make me any less excited! It came from Honda fully loaded with top box, panniers, crash bars, spot lights, heated grips and a tall screen. First up I think it’s a great-looking bike and I’m proud to say it’s mine for the year ahead. It’s purposeful without being unnecessarily big and has an underlying quality that defies its pretty reasonable £10,499 price tag. The bike arrived run-in with 600 miles on…

1 Reusch Sports Touring Leather £99.99 These gloves have a Gore-Tex layer, which is rare at this price. They have stretch panels for fit and double-layer leather on the palms. 2 Richa WP Racing £59.99 Simple, no-nonsense sports gloves with a waterproof and breathable membrane. They have carbon knuckle guards and a reinforced palm. 3 RST Blade Waterproof £69.99 Sports gloves made from cowhide with carbon knuckle protection, reinforced palms, wrist and cuff closures, and a Sinaqua waterproof/ breathable membrane. 4 Oxford RP-3 Short Waterproof £54.99 Short gloves are fine in a light shower. These have goatskin palms and cowhide backs, hard knuckle armour and a finger bridge. 5 Richa Savage WP £99.99 Higher spec than the other Richas here. The waterproof membrane is McFit so stays in when your…

“I am just a brickie from Morecambe who can ride a bike fast now and again,” that was the humble opening line of John McGuinness’ acceptance speech as he received the prestigious Segrave trophy in London a fortnight ago. It is a rare event for bikers to be feted in the plush Pall Mall bastion of the RAC Club but as “the greatest living exponent of the TT” the 23-time TT winner was a worthy recipient of the honour. “When I was first told about the award I was flat-out testing and I stuck it in the diary, but then I had a bit of a study and thought, wow, this is special,” the 43-year-old said. “It started in 1930 and the first winners were pioneering guys, pushing the envelope.…

BSB 1 Shane Byrne 40 points Pair of second places gives Byrne stong start 2 Michael Laverty 35 points Hit the ground running on the Tyco BMW 3 Christian Iddon 32 points Followed up maiden BSB podium with another! RACE TOP SPEEDS FASTEST TIMES POSITIONS Gains & losses (Grid v finish) BiggestgainersR2 BSB RACE TOP SPEEDS LAPS LED THIS SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP TOP 10 After one round SUPERSPORT STANDINGS After one round LAPS LED AT SILVERSTONE BSB RESULTS FINAL POSITIONS RACE1 FINAL POSITIONS RACE2 BSS RESULTS FINAL POSITIONS SUPERSPORT Race One: 1. Reid. 2. Mackenzie. 3. Law. 4. Twyman. 5. Westmoreland. 6. Perrin. 7. Allingham. 8. Coventry. 9. Paulo. 10. Truelove. 11. Estment. 12. Day. 13. Philp. 14. Daley. 15. Dixon. 16. Wilford. 17. Shelton. 18. Wakefield. 19. Harris. 20. Cox.…

‘The old me would’ve caught him up and then probably crashed!’SAM LOWES Sam Lowes showed he’s a serious Moto2 title contender, taking a strong second place in Texas to lead the championship by a single point after three rounds. Lowes has shrugged off his reputation as a wild rider by demonstrating just how measured he can be. After a hectic first-turn scrabble at the Circuit of the Americas, Lowes was left chasing down pole man Alex Rins – and was controlled enough to know what he needed to do. “With three laps to go, I believed it was possible to still catch him – but I was pushing, he was pushing, and I was having too many moments. The old me would have caught him up, and then probably crashed!…

‘Dani isn’t a kamikaze racer who tries to overtake you on the brakes’ANDREA DOVIZIOSO Lightning doesn’t strike twice – unless you’re Andrea Dovizioso! The luckless Italian was taken out through no fault of his own for the second week in succession. This time it was Dani Pedrosa who smashed into Dovi’s factory Ducati as he held a solid third place after six laps with second-placed Lorenzo within reach. Last time out it was his teammate Andrea Iannone who took him out on the last lap in Argentina while they battled for second spot. Dovizioso was fuming with Iannone after the unforced error last week, but he had a lot more sympathy for Pedrosa after the Texan takedown. Honda’s number two rider rushed to the side of an inconsolable Dovizioso trackside…

Bradley Smith left America pleased with his weekend’s progress despite an end to his incredible run of 26 points-scoring MotoGP finishes, after making radical changes to the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha in an attempt to understand MotoGP’s new Michelin tyres. He said: “We’re reinventing the whole way of making the bike work. Nothing seemed to be working. I’m disappointed that something silly ruined our race, but we were definitely stronger at the beginning of this Grand Prix than we have been in the first two.” Caught up in Cal Crutchlow’s crash at turn 11, Smith was left unsure of exactly what caused him to go down. “It was just a little bit off the line and when Cal went down it caught me by surprise, so I released the brake.…

Honda and Marc Marquez seemed lost during pre-season testing and few would have predicted such a strong start to the season, but the Spaniard is charging hard and took another sizzling win in the Texas heat on Sunday. Struggling with a multitude of problems on the Repsol Honda, it now looks like the hugely experienced HRC team are getting to grips with much-reduced electronics, Michelin tyres and how to balance the RCV’s power and handling. A lot of that progress has come thanks to the incredible talents of Marquez. He’s gone back to his super-aggressive style that worked so well when he won the world title in 2013 and 2014. In fact, such has been the improvement to his Honda package that the 23-year-old has gone from believing that 2016…

A heavily-disguised test prototype of the as-yet-unseen Yamaha MT-07 Tracer was spotted on the streets of Milan last summer and we are expecting this machine to be revealed officially in the very near future. The formula for the MT-07 Tracer follows the path set by the bigger, three-cylinder MT-09 Tracer which borrowed the engine, chassis and running gear from the MT-09 naked bike while adding a top fairing, reinforced subframe and minor changes to the suspension. The MT-07 Tracer is still a road-going motorcycle and, while it may have some outward styling cues reminiscent of an adventure bike, it will keep 17in wheels and leave the dirty work to the new MT-07 Ténéré. At the time MCN ran the spy shots Yamaha UK didn’t deny the bike’s existence – a…

FOR Matt Wakins “Typical of this country. So much red tape around everything. Two car manufacturers have been attracted to the area by the prospect of this circuit as a test venue and now the rug is pulled from under their feet” Gavin Williams “So having roughly 750,000 visitors a year, 6000-plus jobs, deals from MotoGP and BTCC and multiple big companies such as Aston Martin and TVR to use this track as a testing ground is an unacceptable risk? What rubbish!” Tracey Holland “Try living in the valleys. We don’t get a look in, and that would have been ideal for bringing jobs to the here. It makes me sick” AGAINST James Diplock “We all knew this wouldn’t happen, put the money into steel works instead” Mark Owen “No…

C'mon feel the noise I’ve recently purchased a 2011 Aprilia RSV4 Factory and decided to add my own touch with the odd modification. A new can was top of my list so I decided to go British and bought a GP3 Carbon can from Pipewerx in Lancashire and I’m so glad I did! I use my bikes for trackdays and unlike most of the biking population I didn’t realise how noisy the RSV4 is, so you can imagine my panic when I ran the bike through noise testing at Snetterton and it just crept through at 102db. I left with a warning from the marshal to ‘take it easy or you’ll get a black flag’. I contacted Pipewerx the next day and explained that I’d purchased the GP3 can purely…

Jorge Lorenzo is an incredibly talented motorcycle racer but he can’t be described as a ‘great’... yet. Arch-rival and current team-mate Valentino Rossi is often referred to as the GOAT (Greatest of all Time) and there’s few (surely?) who would argue that nine world titles across three classes and 21 years of GP racing don’t justify legendary status. Add in the fact he’s finished on the podium more than 210 times from 333 GP race starts and has won titles with three different manufacturers and the Italian’s place in bike racing history is assured. Lorenzo has some work to do. Thing is, he might well do it. Despite Rossi’s jibe about his incredibly talented team-mate lacking ‘the balls’ to move to Ducati, it seems that’s exactly what the super-smooth Spaniard…

‘It feels as though the F800GS was made solely for these roads’ BMW F800GS £10,055 THE BIKE Weight 214kg (fuelled) Seat height 880mm MPG 54 Mods to date Dynamic package £680, Comfort package £525 (both included in overall price above) THE RIDER James Archibald, Junior Web Producer james.archibald@motorcyclenews.com Height5ft 11in Weight80kg His riding Long-distance commuter looking to explore more This is my first year with an adventure bike and rather than give myself a gentle introduction, I headed to the Highlands. The idea was to face a five-day baptism of fire (or rain as it would turn out) to get to know the bike and help me plan what to do on it this year. DAY 1 Stamford to Moffat Miles 253 MPG 51.55 I’d normally dread motorway trudging,…

Dunlop have released the new Roadsmart III with new rubber compounds, front and rear carcass, front profile, ‘Interconnecting Tread Grooves’ and more than a million miles of testing both on the road and in simulation. Dunlop say the new tyre offers greater wet and dry grip than its predecessors, better agility, and loads the rider with extra confidence in all conditions. The new Dunlops come in two versions - the standard Roadsmart III is a two-ply rear construction for heavier machines and the Roadsmart III SP is a single-ply rear that will suit lighter bikes. Dunlop wanted a tyre that maintains performance throughout its lifespan, but in doing this they created a tyre that lasts longer, too. To prove this, Dunlop commissioned Germany’s independent Motorrad Test Centre to pit the…

John McGuinness will try to recreate some of his own TT history when he races in the new 250cc Lightweight Classic TT race in August. The Morecambe man won his first TT in 1999 on a 250cc TSR Honda, setting a quarter-litre lap record of 118.29mph that still stands to this day. “I remember getting to the bottom of Bray Hill that day and saying to myself ‘John, if you don’t win on this bike you are never going to win a TT’,” he recalls. The 250s were phased out of the TT in 2004 but will make a return to the Classic event with McGuinness set to ride a Honda.…

BSB rookie Glenn Irwin made a promising start to his shift from Supersport ranks to the premier class at Silverstone. The envy of many after joining the PBM Be Wiser Ducati squad as Shakey Byrne’s team-mate, Irwin is benefitting from four-time champion Byrne’s experience. “I haven’t tortured him here because the conditions were so iffy but if it had been dry I would probably have been asking him what he was doing here or there,” the 26-year-old smiled. “We made a change to the bike for the first race that didn’t really work,” he explained after finishing 14th ahead of riders like Jakub Smrz and Billy McConnell. The Northern Ireland rider improved by one place after a more eventful second race. “I made a better start and then Billy McConnell…

With three riders in the squad, the JG Speedfit garage has been a constant hub of activity throughout pre-season testing and racing, as the three riders battle to find a setting that suits their style on the new Kawasaki ZX-10R. Each of the riders has a very different approach. Team boss Mark Smith-Halvorsen admitted he had felt Hickman was probably the man most unlikely to succeed at Silverstone but that he had made the most of what he had been given with the bike. By contrast the team didn’t have time to make much adjustment to the engine braking strategy and mapping after building up the new engine on Leon Haslam’s bike for race two. “Starting from 15th didn’t help and the new engine we used was a slightly different…

‘A double podium in BSB is something you never dream of’ PHILIP NEILL Tyco BMW enjoyed their best ever British championship weekend at Silverstone, dominating the opening race with a double podium, taking a third place finish in race two, and racing to second and third places in the superstock event. “We have had a great pre-season build up and we came here with a high level of expectation because of that, but to get what is our first double podium in BSB is something you never even dream of,” a delighted team boss, Philip Neill said. With the opening BSB weekend of the 2016 season dogged by freezing winds and heavy showers, the Tyco team proved the most versatile at adapting to the challenging conditions. Tyre choice was a…

Eugene Laverty has once again emerged from a MotoGP weekend as the top British-based rider in the series, after managing to consolidate his incredible fourth place last time out at Argentina with a strong 12th place in Austin. And yet, despite the strong start that has left him ahead of Scott Redding, Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow in the standings, Laverty says they’ve barely scratched the surface of his Aspar Ducati package. “It was going to be a tough race. I pulled a lap out of my arse in qualifying, and I still wasn’t comfortable. When you come to a circuit like this still without a base setting, it’s not ideal, so the aim for days like this is to stay on and take points while the others fall off!…

A red-faced Dani Pedrosa was happy he didn’t have wings on Sunday as he fears the appendages would have made his crash with Andrea Dovizioso much worse. He said: “The wings can hurt another rider. We saw in Argentina what happened with the wing on Andrea Iannone’s bike cutting Marc’s onboard camera; the camera is quite strong so if you can cut that, it can cut something else. My impact was very strong with Dovi and I’m just happy that he is okay and that my bike didn’t give him an injury.” An apologetic Pedrosa was quick to take the full blame for the crash in the aftermath, admitting that he had made the mistake that caused the duo to tumble. “I lost the front end under braking when I…

‘With Dovi, Rossi and Pedrosa crashing, now we have one target: Marc’ JORGE LORENZO Jorge Lorenzo kept his cool in Texas to take a strong second place and keep runaway title leader Marc Marquez in sight. The reigning MotoGP champion finished behind Marquez in the opening round in Qatar, then crashed out in Argentina last week and was determined not to make the same mistake again. He said: “The problem in Argentina was a little bit with the Michelins, a little bit with the patches of water – but I didn’t have the patience to stay calm and understand that I couldn’t win. I could have had third place there like Dani (Pedrosa) did. Because I wasn’t used to the conditions and thought it was safer than it was. “I…

‘This year with the Michelins, if you make even a small mistake, you pay’VALENTINO ROSSI Valentino Rossi became the latest rider to be caught out by Michelin’s unforgiving front tyre when he crashed out of Sunday’s race. Riders have had to adapt to the new Michelin rubber which offers much less of a safety net than last year’s Bridgestones. And some riders have adapted better than others! Rossi admitted: “This year, if you make even a small mistake, you pay. I entered the corner with the same speed, I hit the two bumps, and I pay. You have to be precise; you have to concentrate; you can’t make any mistakes. If you make a mistake, you crash – but with the Bridgestones you could get away with it.” And making…

Michelin came under fire after the debacle at Argentina – which saw Scott Redding’s tyre violently delaminate during FP4 and the race itself run in two parts – so it was no surprise they pulled out all the stops for Austin. Sitting down with a top team of engineers on Monday morning to analyse why Redding’s tyre failed so spectacularly at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, Michelin were able to create a unique solution to the problem – completely new tyres. Designing and manufacturing the tyres in southern France in just one day, before shipping (and in some cases carrying as baggage on commercial flights) them to Texas they were able to introduce two new stiffer construction but softer compound rear tyres designed especially for the Circuit of the…

‘It’ll be a year where it’s easy to have a Rossi moment and give away points’KEVIN SCHWANTZ “There’s no doubt that Marc is a title contender, but this is a different rider we are seeing right now. The inclement weather in Argentina showed us that he’s learned to be careful. “I don’t remember him being quite as loose or as free as he always is, especially in the front half of the race. You always have to count the 93 and the Repsol Honda as title contenders. “The thing is, with so many new combinations of tyre being thrown at the team, even with new tyres in Austin on Friday and on Saturday, it’ll be a year where it’s easy to have a Rossi moment and give away 25 points.…