2013 Aprilia Mana 850 Gt Abs on 2040-motos

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Results From Day 1 Of World Superbike Testing At Phillip Island

Eugene Laverty, aboard his Voltcom Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000, led the field today as the first day of World Superbike testing got underway at the Phillip Island circuit in Australia, site of the first race of the 2014 season. Under sunny skies and perfect weather conditions, Laverty adapted quickly to his new ride after spending last season aboard the Aprilia RSV4 Factory. The Suzuki offered incredible feedback and allowed him to push right out of the gates, ultimately setting a fastest lap time of 1:30.513.

Aprilia did electric. 10 years ago...

I was delving around old press kits and found this Aprilia Enjoy, electric push-bicycle from 10 years ago. It had a top speed of around 20mph and a range of (probably) about 25 miles. But who cares?

Bahrain track days

A few months ago, expat (and ex racer) John Beddall made contact to ask if I fancied doing some track day instruction out in Bahrain.  After thinking about it for two seconds, flights were booked and a plan was put in place to look after around forty riders for a day at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC).  Young Taylor Mac was also recruited to look after any tasty riders that I couldn’t deal with   The Brits out there love their bikes, however, quite a few locals also turned up plus a few others from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.  Most were on high end Superbikes, like S1000s, Panigales and RSV4s but there was also a healthy number R6s and new 675Rs.   Although this fabulous Hermann Tilke designed circuit is around ten years old incredibly it has never hosted a bike race.  The highlight of the year there is F1 but being owned by the Bahrainian Royal family, there is no desperate need for the circuit to operate as a profitable business.  The track reminded me of Qatar but much more interesting as some great undulations have been built into its desert location. We shared the track with Supercars on the day (20mins on/20mins off) and as you might imagine it was betty swollocks for seven hours in the 30 plus temperatures.  As usual there was a few offs with poor old RS1000 Aprilia mounted Andy breaking his femur early in the day.  Two other buddies appeared to swap bikes mid air in another incident but fortunately escaped unhurt.In the evening everyone stayed for an al fresco dinner in the paddock with the craic going on for hours as the Fosters kept flowing.   All in all it was a brilliant trip and it has left me thinking there could be cost effective ways of getting Brits out there for track days next winter.  I'll keep you posted.Cape Town next to make my racing comeback at the Killarney 8 hour on a CBR150 Honda.  Hopefully I can manage the beast, I'll post a full report next week.