2011

An Inside Look at MotoGP

Behind the Garage Door with Ben Spies and Tom Houseworth at the Gran Premio d' Italia at Mugello – Tuscany, Italy

By Samuel Quarelli Fleming & Melissa Berkoff

Yamaha Factory Racing invited Roadracing World editors Sam Q Fleming and Melissa Berkoff to be embedded with Ben Spies' MotoGP squad at the 2011 Mugello race. This level of access has never been granted to any journalist in the past. Some access was restricted to allow Spies to focus on his race routine and to preserve technological secrets from Sam and Melissa's trained eyes and ears. The following series of articles convey the exotic, and the familiar, about racing motorcycles at the highest level.

Deux ex Machina

Mugello, Part 2

An Inside Look at MotoGP

Behind the Garage Door With Ben Spies and Tom Houseworth at the Gran Premio d' Italia at Mugello, Tuscano Italy

By Samuel Quarelli Fleming & Melissa Berkoff 

Saturday evening at Mugello. Ducati stand is just above the light in the
center of the picture, a new permanent grand stand (center left) spells
out "Mugello Circuito", rider RV are center right, the track is in the
foreground and the row of hospitality tents are lit up and inviting, as
long as you have the correct credential.
 

Mugello, Part 1

An Inside Look at MotoGP

Behind the Garage Door With Ben Spies and Tom Houseworth
at the Gran Premio d' Italia at Mugello, Tuscany, Italy

By Samuel Quarelli Fleming & Melissa Berkoff

Yamaha Factory Racing invited Roadracing World editors Sam Q. Fleming and Melissa Berkoff to be embedded with Ben Spies' MotoGP squad at the 2011 Mugello race. This level of access has never been granted to any journalist in the past. Some access was restricted to allow Spies to focus on his race routine and to preserve technological secrets from Sam and Melissa's trained eyes and ears. The following series of articles convey the exotic, and the familiar, about racing motorcycles at the highest level.

The Mugello racetrack with a full paddock and empty hills on Thursday
evening before the start of the Grand Prix d' Italia in the humidity-filled
rolling hills of Tuscany, Italy.

GSXR 600/750

As Goes GSX-R, So Goes The Nation

Barber Motorsports Park
February 28, 2011

Motorcycles occupy a strange spot in the American household budget. Whereas in many places in the world a motorcycle is considered a household transportational necessity, in the US they have increasingly become a lifestyle product to be procured after the necessities such as a car and a flat screen TV. Back before the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) the motorcycle industry was buoyed, like many things in the US, by cheap and easy loans. Whether the money was borrowed outright to buy the motorcycle or financed with a home equity loan, it was simple and straightforward to walk into a dealership and ride out with a new monthly payment and a shiny status symbol.