Royal Enfield has launched the Chrome and Desert Storm variants of its best selling Classic 500 range. The allure of the Classic with its back to the roots styling has been irresistible for not just Royal Enfield Bullet fans but also for motorcycling buffs in general. The Chrome variant is priced at Rs. 1.64 lakhs on road in Mumbai and the Desert Storm variant at Rs. 1.58 lakhs on road in Mumbai.
How deceitful and hypocritical can people get? If you want to know the answer for it, we suggest you take a look at the MotoGP paddock. It is now very well documented that in the March of this year Japan was rocked by an earthquake and a resultant tsunami that destroyed not just the physical infrastructure of Japan but also the lives of millions. Even today there are videos being posted on You Tube and these were made by those who were caught in the devastation and died but the cameras (only some) survived to tell the tale of what happened in Japan. If you have not already seen those scary videos we suggest that you head over to You Tube and do a search for these videos. Even those who survived the tsunami and the earthquake have been rendered homeless and though alive, have lost everything, including families. There are heart rending and gut wrenching tales that can bring tears to even those who are insensitive to others’ suffering. One of the results of this tsunami and earthquake was the over heating of the Daichi Fukushima nuclear reactor and this threatened to become a full fledged melt down bringing fears of radiation that would be worse than those that happened after an accident in Chernobyl in the erstwhile Soviet Union. The other development which will be of interest to you and me is the postponement of the Japanese MotoGP race from its scheduled date in April, 2011. The postponement was indefinite and it was said that after seeing how things progress in Japan if possible another date would be chosen for the MotoGP race. The MotoGP paddock was not one to left out. Every race in May and June saw several riders, team members and officials carrying placards that said “Japan, We are with you”. Even the fans carried banners while some of the riders also pasted stickers proclaiming the same on their steeds. We all prayed 1) for the recovery of the Japanese people and as racing enthusiasts 2) for an alternate date to hold the Japanese MotoGP race. Needless to say the second was only an add on, the first being the priority.
It is well known that the Japanese are assiduous and diligent people who know their region and themselves better than anyone else. They are always in some state of preparation for natural disasters given the fact they are in an earthquake prone region and that volcanoes exist pretty to all the Japanese isles and that most of these volcanoes are active. It only needs a volcano to erupt for earthquakes and tsunamis to follow. They have risen from many tragedies in the past and are a very resilient people who strive to bring everything to normalcy at the fastest speed possible. Let us say this, the Japanese are better at handling natural disasters than any other country. The Daichi Fukushima reactor too was worked on and still being worked on and the levels of atmospheric radiation have been brought down drastically even as per the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Twin ring Motegi circuit is approximately 130 kilometres from Daichi where the Fukushima reactor is. Initially the radiation levels at the twin ring circuit were high. The circuit is called twin ring because it has two kinds of tracks. The first is usual twisty track that is used for MotoGP and Formula1 racing and the second is an oval track with a banking (the sort that are used in America, Indianapolis being a prime example, for Indy Racing and NASCAR Racing). The track is owned entirely by Honda, who use both circuits for extensive testing of their products before they are released into the market. This just one of the two tracks that Honda owns, the other being the famed Suzuka that still hosts the Japanese Formula1 GP. We have just said that the Japanese are a disciplined and resilient people and proof of that came when an announcement was made in June that atmospheric radiation was coming down. Honda to instill confidence in the world actually started repairing the track in June itself and after that test riders regularly rode/drove Honda vehicles at Motegi.
By August it seemed that Japan had recovered sufficiently to put the tragedy behind it and look to rebuilding its future. The Japanese have since then been doing exactly that. In the meanwhile they received great support from other countries in the form of charitable aid, but most importantly there were people working in certain organizations such as the Red Cross who went into areas where radiation levels were pretty high. They stayed in Japan, worked with the local communities and ate the same food that ravaged people were eating. Other technical people even went to the core of Fukushima reactor to help in solving the problem. They had the necessary clothes and gear to protect themselves from the extremely high levels of radiation but nevertheless they were likely to be and were exposed to some atmospheric radiation near the site of the nuclear reactor. These people did not hold placards or banners that said “Japan we are with you”. They were actually in Japan, with the Japanese people and they played an important part in Japan’s recovery process.
When it was obvious that things were settling down the FIM announced in conjunction with Dorna that the MotoGP race would be held in Japan on the 2nd of October, 2011 if there were no problems. For some time there was silence in the paddock and as the date started drawing closer, the rumblings began. The first of the lot who started talking about exposure to radiation and safety was defending MotoGP champion J-Lo (no, not her) or Jorge Lorenzo. He kept saying that it would not be safe and he did not want to go there since he wanted to live for a long time etc. Then came Casey Stoner, who in his brusque and forthright Australian style, declared that nothing and really nothing could take him to Japan. He said “How will it help the Japanese people if I go there? What good will it do to them? Therefore, I am not going, that is it”. Here one must wonder how the banners, placards and all the other such things were helping Japan. If this is not hypocrisy than what is? The other people in the paddock were supposed to have expressed their dislike for the idea of going to Motegi and parleys between riders and Dorna and FIM started. It is to be considered that three out of the four manufacturers in MotoGP are Japanese and in Moto2 all engines are supplied by a Japanese company called Honda and that next year when the 125cc class will be scrapped in favour of a four stroke 250cc class called Moto3, the European manufacturers will cease to exist on the grid.
Another quality of the Japanese that we have not talked about is their pride. They are noble people who are proud of their achievements and the Japanese manufacturers wanted to show how well they have recovered. They were not going to take it kindly if the event was cancelled. Dorna and the FIM had no option but to go around. The Japanese in all fairness asked Dorna to commission an independent agency to tell the teams whether it was safe or not to go to Motegi. ARPA was commissioned and in its report it said that there was no danger of radiation and therefore it was safe to go to Japan. In all this the one thing that has come to the fore is not just the plain stupidity of Lorenzo and Stoner but the wiliness of Rossi. Rossi was waiting in the shadows hoping that Lorenzo and Stoner would succeed in getting the Japanese round cancelled. Soon he realized that was not to be because Lorenzo (under pressure from Yamaha) and Stoner (under pressure from Honda and also from each other since if one did not go the other went he could clinch very valuable points that could make the difference to their championship campaign) began to make conciliatory noises. Stoner said “I said what I said because it was that very day I came to know my wife was pregnant and I was concerned that she and the foetus could be affected by radiation but now I am a little more settled because of all the reports coming out of Japan”. (A paddock insider told us exclusively that Lorenzo wanted to say that his friend’s wife was pregnant and it would be bad for the friend, the wife and the foetus if Lorenzo went to Japan and so he said what he said in the heat of that moment and that it took very severe persuasion from the Yamaha PR personnel to get him to drop this idea).
So Rossi found that the two objects that were creating the shadows in which he was hiding had suddenly moved on and so he stood exposed. After having called Lorenzo and Stoner pussies (not what you are thinking, it was his idea of sissies) in the past, Valentino Rossi demonstrated that he was the biggest pussy of them all (not that meaning, we are a family safe website). Rossi does not give up easily, we know that. It takes something like the Ducati Desmosedici to tame him. He first suggested that Ducati should pull out completely since they were not a Japanese company and so need not have their arms twisted. Dorna and Carmelo Ezpeleta are not what they are for nothing and they found something else in contracts to twist collectively all the arms that were there in Ducati’s MotoGP team and also in its satellite teams. The result Ducati said they will go. Rossi still did not want to go and suggested that the venue be moved to Suzuka which is relatively less affected due to a greater distance from the reactor. Honda simply said that Suzuka was no longer homologated as per FIM and MotoGP norms and there was no question of shifting venues. So a kicking and screaming Valentino Rossi has decided to land in Motegi. Looks like a happy ending to a very sad story, right? Wrong.
We Indians know how to make noises of the wrong variety. Mahindra that runs a 125cc racing team under its own name has gone and offended not just the Japanese but also every self respecting Indian. After buying out Engines Engineering of Italy which had previously supplied 125cc motorcycles to the Chinese manufacturer Loncin and later till last year to an Italian consortium who raced under the Lambretta name, Mahindra decided to announce itself globally. To their credit the effort of Engines Engineering has improved tremendously once they started racing as Mahindra and their bikes have been scoring points which they never did when they were Loncin or Lambretta. Now Mahindra has undone all the good work and the good will by allowing the lily livered lot in their team to stay back in the comfort of their homes, while they were going to hire “local” people to do the work in the team. Team Manager Mufaddal Choonia has this to say. “It was difficult, but we felt it right to offer the choice to our team members and we have to respect their decisions,” said team manager Mufaddal Choonia. “While the information that Dorna has circulated has been very reassuring, it did not seem fair for us to force the guys to head out there if they had their own personal concerns. Of course, it will not make the weekend particularly easy. Mahindra Racing is a slick operation. Each man has his role and they all know the bike inside out. With the temporary staff members we shall do the best we can and hope to carry on the great progress we have made this season”. We hope that Mahindra in fairness to all will leave their motorcycles in Japan so that the radiation from them does not contaminate the sterile Europeans. As if this is not enough, Team JiR in Moto2 has also decided that they will allow their team to stay behind and that they will use the services of technicians from their chassis (TSR) and engine (Honda) makers both of whom are Japanese.
It is obvious that MotoGP comprises of stupid people who do not know that the frequent MRI scans that they go through are far more lethal in radiation terms. than what is now the level of radiation at Motegi. Only a few days ago the Indy Racing series staged its race despite small tremors (after shocks) being felt during the weekend and when cars were on the grid. Motorcycle sport carries the shadow of deadly risk, injury and death in its wake. One assumes that the riders are aware of that. Then why all this rubbish? It is perhaps a demonstration of the lack of feeling. Roger Waters (ex Pink Floyd) was given a small paragraph written by a prisoner undergoing torture in one of the South American countries and he made that the basis of his song “Each Small Candle”. It would not be out of place to quote the lines written by the unknown prisoner.
“Not the torturer shall scare me,
Nor the body’s final fall,
Not the barrels of death’s rifle,
Nor the shadows on the wall,
Not the night when to the ground, the last dim star of pain is hurled,
But the blind indifference of this merciless unfeeling world”.
Our Ed just pointed out that Spyker Cars owns Saab and not the other way round. After a little more digging we’ve come across this news report by the New York Times where it is said that North Street Capital (run by Alex Mascioli, a racing enthusiast himself) has bought Spyker Cars for $43.5 million.
NY Times also reports that the deal is an effort by Swedish Automobile to raise capital to turn around Saab. Proceeds from the sale will ultimately pay off a loan from a Russian businessman, Vladimir Antonov, who had previously sought to buy Spyker.
Victor R. Muller, the chief executive of Swedish Automobile ( formerly Spyker Cars N.V.) will continue in his role.
Source: New York Times
According to a report by the Financial Times, North Street Capital, LP is the supposed new owner of Spyker Cars. Negotiations between Saab and a British and Russian consortium and Vladimir Antonov seemed to have failed and Saab in desperate need of a funding infusion has dropped Spyker Cars into the laps of North Street Capital.
Source: Financial Times via Autoblog
Rimac who? Say hello to Mate Rimac founder of Rimac Automobili, a Croatian firm specializing in bringing to the world electric vehicles that can wheelspin madly, make smoke (lots of it) and hurl themselves from standstill off invisible catapults.
Rimac was at the 64th Frankfurt Motor Show where the Rimac Concept_One made its debut. The Concept_One is an electric supercar with a new propulsion concept. Rimac Automobili developed a unique powertrain which is divided into four sub-systems, each consisting of one motor, inverter and reduction gearbox. Each of those systems drives one wheel, working completely independent one from the other. It’s called All Wheel Torque Vectoring and it allows a new approach to vehicle dynamics.
With a curb weight of 1650 kg, and 1088 HP, the Concept_One can reach 100 km/h from a standstill in 2.8 seconds and continue to accelerate to the limit of 305 km/h. 92kWh of energy in the Battery Modules delivers enough juice for up to 600 km of range.
The carbon-fibre body is designed by Adriano Mudri who explained, “Exploring the labyrinth of creativity, it was obvious at an early stage that the design had to be simple and clear with a lot of sporty elegance to easily catch up with its competitors in this power & exclusivity class.”
The side air duct is an the Abstraction of the neck-tie, an original Croatian product (origin: “à la Croate”, “cravate” French word for Croatians), and has two primary functions. It acts as a small air inlet and cover for the electricity plug.
The front-grill features strong voluminous design since its does not need to have a large opening funneling air to cool an internal combustion engine. The Tail lights have a deep 3D tunnel effect and animated indicators for more appeal, also a unique feature for Concept_One.
The interior is designed by a team of former Pininfarina employees, led by Mr. Goran Popović. After the Rimac Automobili Engineering team finished the development and prototyping of the interior parts, Bulgarian automotive interior designers ‘Vilner’ clothed the interior in leather. A high-end infotainment system keeps the driver entertained and informed about the vehicle’s systems.
Rimac Automobili’s unique powertrain is divided into the front and rear sub-system. Each of those sub-systems contains two symmetrical motor-controller-reduction-gearbox units. This enables control of each wheel independently, thousands of times each second, in both directions, and Rimax says, an ‘unforgettable driving experience’. The motors are ‘Liquid Cooled Permanent Magnet’ types generating 250kW each. The batteries are each rated at 92kWh and collectively offer a range of 600km, which again we think would depend on driving conditions.
Francis Batta is the man behind the Alstare Team that has been running Suzuki’s factory effort in World Superbikes for a long time now. However last year Suzuki pared down its operations in both World Superbikes and MotoGP by chopping off one rider and bike from each of the efforts. Presently Michel Fabrizio rides the lone Alstare Suzuki in World Superbikes while Alvaro Bautista does the same in MotoGP. MotoGP has announced that from next year motorcycles up to 1000cc with intake restrictions on the engine can be raced. All manufacturers except Suzuki have announced their plans. Sometimes rumours suggest that Suzuki is on the verge of pulling out completely and at other times the talk is about Suzuki racing the 800cc bike. In World Superbikes too Suzuki has stopped development of its bike and is being tight lipped about what it intends to do. Again there is talk about a pull out.
However, Francis Batta the Belgian who runs the Alstare operation does not want to quit racing. There was talk that his’ was one of the franchises that was being considered to run the factory Kawasaki effort from next year on but Batta has said that his loyalties are with Suzuki. However, in the absence of development of the motorcycle, Batta believes that he may choose to explore other avenues. One of them now seems to be MV Augusta. Batta has not denied that he is in negotiations with MV Augusta now being run by Giovanni Castiglione (the son of Claudio Castiglione who recently passed away and was the man responsible for resurrection of Ducati and MV Augusta apart from founding Cagiva) for putting together an operation to run MV Augusta motorcycles either in Superbikes or 1000cc Superstock or even the 675cc three cylindered MV Augusta in Supersport. Nothing is clear though.
However, bringing MV Augusta into World Superbikes is an immensely desirable thing. The problem lies with monies. A few years ago Claudio Castiglione sold MV Augusta to Harley Davidson since he was cash strapped. Harley Davidson gave it back to him for a nominal price when they found themselves in the recession brought on in America by the sub prime housing loans that were not serviced. The question is can Batta and Giovanni Castiglione find money in a cash strapped Europe which is yet to recover from the recession? The answer seems like a no. If that is indeed the final answer, it would be a pity, a very huge pity.
Ducati announced that they were pulling out of the World Superbike Championship from this year on. Even though there is no official factory entry, the Ducati run by Althea and ridden by Carlos Checa is leading the world championship standings and it is now a formality for Checa to clinch the title in the up coming race at Magny Cours in France. Yamaha have said that they will be pulling out of World Superbikes next year, but there is now talk of Yamaha also doing what Ducati has done with Althea. ParkinGo is the team that is managing the Yamaha effort in the Supersport series and some are saying that since ParkinGo has ensured that Yamaha could win the World Supersport title this year, it could be rewarded by getting to do what Althea is doing for Ducati. Another name that is doing the rounds is Paul Bird Motorsport who have been running the factory Kawasaki effort in World Superbikes and have now been sacked. It is believed that Paul Bird may take on the Yamaha team. All that is however firmly in thin air. We shall wait for Yamaha to say something officially.
A complete unknown who goes by the name of Damian Cudlin will substitute for the injured Loris Capirossi on the Pramac Ducati at this weekend’s MotoGP race at Motegi in Japan. Cudlin is a 28 year old Australian who is presently competing in the IDM German Supersport championship and is actually the reigning champion in that series. Last year he made a one off appearance on a Moto2 motorcycle in the German round at Sachsenring. While it is heartening to note that he is willing to go to Motegi when everybody does not want to and that on a career destroying Ducati, it is but obvious that he will be making up the numbers.
Meanwhile Kousuke Akiyoshi and veteran rider Shinichi Itoh will also be joining the grid at Motegi. Akiyoshi will ride a second LCR Honda alongside Toni Elias while Shinichi Itoh will be riding an HRC machine that is specifically for him. Shinichi Itoh is 44 years old and was once a 500cc bike rider of repute, having beaten the likes of Wayne Rainey and Mick Doohan a few times. He is a development rider at Honda and has decided to ride to show his solidarity with the Eastern region of Japan to which he belongs. Akiyoshi is 36 years old and he is also a development rider for Honda and has occasionally substituted for injured riders such as Dani Pedrosa even this year. It is obvious that Honda is ensuring that the show will not suffer since it is the owner of the Motegi circuit.
Lewis Hamilton has been under fire this year for erratic driving and his chief antagonist has been Felipe Massa who has all but called him brainless. That is rather sad since Massa is not half the driver that Hamilton is. There are very few fans of Hamilton here at Riot Engine, but even those who are not will agree that he is a racer in the true sense of the term and that he has fistfuls of talent. Hamilton has now showed another side to his personality; fairness. He has not complained whined about Michael Schumacher’s driving at Monza and now he has taken a step forward by accepting that his teammate Jenson Button has been doing a better job than he has been doing. Bravo Lewis, that is the spirit. We are sure Hamilton will be a threat at every race from now on. We also hope McLaren gives him a car next year to compete on equal terms with Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing.
Renault entered India on their own steam (or should be their own petrol and diesel) with the launch of the Fluence towards the middle of this year. Their launch strategy was strikingly different. They privileged the petrol model over the diesel one. The petrol model got the swank interiors with beige trim, double zone automatic climate control, CVT tranny, better upholstery, and better everything. The diesel variant came with black interiors, ordinary upholstery, good old fashioned air conditioning and very ordinary plastics. Let us understand what could be the rationale of Renault behind this strategy. In India diesel costs much, much, much, much, much (sorry not thaaaaaaaat much) lesser than petrol. Most Indians are misers who will not splurge their well gotten or even ill gotten money on things. So offer the despecced version of the Fluence at a lesser price and put out the bells and whistles for the petrol version since anybody who is driving a petrol car will probably not mind paying a little extra for the car as he/she does for the fuel.
Very sound thinking. But misses the point totally with us Indians. We like to show off and also be misers. We have perfected the art of having the cake and eating it too. Even the buyer of BMW, Mercedes Benz, Audi, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bentley (the last last four marques do not have diesel engined cars, if they did they would sell much more than they do now) will opt for diesel. And that is not because they see any inherent merit in the fuel except the price. Make the price of petrol half that of diesel and advertise double the mileage and trust us there will be no takers for diesel. But to come back to the question on hand; Indians will pay extra as a one time thing (that is the purchase of the car) but will not pay every time we go to the fuel station. So it is not uncommon for chauffeur driven BMWs and Mercs (the chauffeur will probably be paid a princely Rs. 2K and there would salary cuts if the car gets scratched) to roll into fuel stations and ask for diesel worth Rs. 500 to be put in the tank. This is the point that Renault missed. Now they seemed to have understood, so they are in the process of making a bells and whistles diesel Fluence to rectify the anomaly they have created in the first place. The car is likely to reach the showrooms by November. Now you can see more Fluence users getting out of an impressive car after they have just been to the fuel station to fill Rs. 200 worth of diesel.
Volkswagen wants to be the world’s largest selling car group in the world. And Skoda is a part of the group and has been doing well in garnering numbers all over the world. It is one of VW’s acquisitions that shows its cash books in black (healthy and not black money, please). Skoda came into India and did market research for VW. Skoda products that were once positioned as premium in India are now taking a few steps down so that the mother brand VW can establish itself as a premium or up market brand. Skoda’s brief in India is now to reel in the numbers, something that is so evident in the prices of the Skoda Fabia which now sits below the Polo from VW. But the Fabia too is a pretty big hatch and Skoda can launch a smaller car to take on the i10 from Hyundai, the Wagon R from Maruti and the Beat from Chevrolet (GM).
Image courtesy: Motoroids.com
The first pictures of such a car have appeared and the car it looks will be debuting sometime towards the end of this year or the beginning of the next in Europe. It being a Skoda it is likely to be cheap and cheerful. Right now it has only two doors and a hatch. We Indians however want even the smallest of our cars with four doors. We are betting that Skoda will do just that and bring the Citigo (yeah that is what it is being called at least for now) to India with all four doors and hatch in place. The question is when? Honestly we don’t know. But we want it to be soon, very, very soon. Hope Skoda is listening.
Image courtesy: Motoroids.com
