Nicky Hayden : Wrist Surgery

Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden underwent surgery on Monday, 14 November, to speed up the healing process on his right wrist, which was injured in a crash at the November 7 Valencia Grand Prix. During the operation, which was carried out at the Fremont Sports Therapy and Surgery Center in Fremont, California, USA, Dr. Arthur Ting placed a small screw in Hayden’s fractured scaphoid. The radial styloid, which is also fractured, was not treated.

“Everything went pretty smoothly,” Hayden said shortly after the operation. “The scaphoid is a slow-healing bone, so you don’t want to wait, only to find out in January that it’s not healing correctly. I’m happy to get it fixed right so that I’ll be ready to go when I need to be.”

After wearing a brace and using a bone stimulator for four weeks, Hayden will have his wrist X-rayed again to assess its status. He is confident of being at full fitness before his return to the track for the first day of the 2012 testing season on January 31 in Sepang, Malaysia.

Porsche Panamera GTS

Does anybody remember Need for Speed Porsche Unleashed? Wouldn’t we love to have another version now with behemoths like the Panamera? Factory Driver anyone?

Porsche has clothed the luxurious Porsche Panamera in racing overalls and made it slightly sportier. Churning out 430hp, a 30 hp increase over the Panamera S/4S the modified, naturally aspirated V8 engine also produces 520 Nm, which again is 20Nm more.Porsche PDK transmission and the PTM enable the Panamera GTS to sprint to 100 km/h in under 4.5 seconds with a top speed of 288 km/h. With NEDC fuel consumption of 9.17kpl (10.9 l/100 km) which is slightly improved when you use low-friction tyres.

Porsche Panamera GTSPorsche Panamera GTS

Design features have changed at the front, side and rear as well as black highlights. The interior seems to a nice place to be in with sports seats, SportDesign steering wheel with shift paddles, exclusive GTS leather interior and Alcantara surfaces. In addition to the increased power and upgraded brakes, the body is lowered by ten millimetres and the sporty tuned chassis with air suspension and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) are the major technical modifications that help the GTS lap better times without sacrificing any of the practicality.

Porsche Panamera GTS : Interior

Porsche says the figures on the paper aren’t defining enough of the GTS. The true racing spirit of the car is felt when driving the Panamera GTS. The chassis in particular makes it fit for the racing circuit, says Porsche. The adaptive air suspension and PASM featured as standard connect the chassis and body, constantly adapting to the driving challenges by regulating levelling settings, adjusting height and spring rate as well as electrically regulating the damping system. The damping is designed to be tauter.

Five millimetre thick wheel spacers between the wheel and the wheel carriers increase the rear axle track width, giving the Panamera an even more stable ride. The required grip is provided by 255/45 size 19-inch tyres on the front axle and 285/40 on the rear axle. Deceleration on the sporty Panamera is provided by the superlative braking system of the Panamera Turbo.

When’s it coming to India? We’ll keep you posted, watch this space!

Tata Sumo Grande driven by Mr. Aditya Anthony and Mr. Mohammed Musthafa : Winner of Eastern Mountain Safari 2011

Tata Motors Full Throttle won the Eastern Mountain Safari 2011, with the Tata Sumo Grande, steered by Mr. Aditya Anthony and Mr. Mohammed Musthafa. The team locked up first position, bagging a trophy and prize amount of Rs. 5 lakh.

Tata Motors Full Throttle was launched in February 2011 as an initiative to promote motorsport in India. The initiative has the dual goal of promoting motorsport and proving the capability of Tata Motors’ vehicles in a rigorous, competitive environment.

Riding on the success of 2011 Raid De Himalaya, Desert Storm 2011 and the Dakshin Dare 2011 Rally, Tata Motors Full Throttle team entered the Eastern Mountain Safari 2011, with 6 vehicles (2 each of Tata Safari, Tata Xenon and Tata Sumo Grande).

The Eastern Mountain Safari 2011 is 400kms long split in two legs was conducted on the 10th and 11th November, 2011.

It is official.  There is a huge crisis looming over MotoGP.  It is now more or less sure that Suzuki has withdrawn from MotoGP and also perhaps from World Superbikes, even though Paul Denning’s Crescent team will use privateer Suzuki GSX-R 1000s.  Honda which used to supply six motorcycles will not supply only four.  Two of those will be for the Repsol Honda team with Casey Stoner, who will be defending World Champion and Dani Pedrosa.  The other two will be one each for Gresini and LCR.  It is yet unclear as to which of the teams will get the factory spec motorcycle that was originally meant for the late Marco Simoncelli.  It is believed that LCR may get the motorcycle with Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl on board.  If that is the case then Gresini will get a satellite spec Honda which will be ridden by new signing Alvaro Bautista.

Yamaha will have its usual four bikes, two in the factory team and two in the Tech3 team.  All seats for Yamaha are filled with factory rides in the hands of present incumbents Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, while the Tech3 rides going to present incumbent Cal Crutchlow and new signing defector from Honda Andrea Dovizioso.  Ducati will have Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden riding their factory spec machines while Hector Barbera will ride the sole Pramac Ducati with Karel Abraham aboard the Cardion AB Ducati.  As far as factory machinery and factory leased machinery are concerned there will be twelve motorcycles on the starting grid.  Three manufacturers fielding four bikes each. Ridiculous is the word that comes to mind.

It will therefore be up to the CRT or the Claiming Rules Teams to make up the numbers.  Of these there are some confirmations.  The first is Colin Edwards riding for the NGM Forward Racing team on a Suter-BMW (Suter chassis and BMW engine from the BMW S1000RR) and Anthony West for the Speed Master team using the engine of the Aprilia RSV4F.  However it is not clear whether this motorcycle will use an FTR chassis or the chassis that Aprilia is supposedly developing separately for MotoGP and different from the chassis of the RSV4F.  In fact, that is the case with teams that want to use the potent Aprilia engine.

Team Aspar which has committed to the CRT category is wanting to run Aprilia engines and is waiting for the chassis scene to be sorted out.  Aspar will run two motorcycles.  Team Gresini will run one CRT bike apart from the leased factory bike.  The rider is yet unknown but Gresini will be using the FTR chassis and fitting an engine from the Honda CBR 1000 R Fireblade in it.  Team BQR is known to be using an FTR chassis for a Kawasaki ZX-10R engine and will be ridden in all probability by Moto2 rider Yonny Hernandez.  There is some confusion about the second BQR bike.  It seems that the second bike is an Inmotec (which was to have joined the MotoGP grid along with FB Corse with a prototype bike) and it is being ridden by Ivan Silva.  Now we do not know if this is a prototype or a CRT bike.  Things will be clearer soon enough.  Apart from this there were two Gapam-BMW bikes ridden by Gianluca Nannelli and Federico Sandi and another Suter BMW ridden by Carmelo Morales at the post Valencia test for next year’s machines.  It is not clear if they are all joining the grid next year.

So we are looking at about six confirmed CRT entries and that takes the grid size only to 18 when the intention is to take it to 22.  Marc VDS team, which has done early testing of the Suter-BMW maybe entering the fray. Mika Kallio was used for riding this bike in testing.  Carmelo Ezpeleta of Dorna is confident that grid size will reach the magical number of 22. Whatever it is, it is pretty clear that MotoGP is entering a new era and the coming months will reveal which way this era will go.  We will keep reporting as the news keeps coming in.

This is an article that shows you pictures of the bikes that were displayed at this EICMA show and features some of the most beautiful motorcycles ever made.  Most of them are models for 2012 and will probably not come to India.  Even if they do they will come with a price range that is very much in the stratosphere and will therefore be out of the reach of common people like us (if there are uncommon people reading this article, and by uncommon we mean rich, maybe you can get the Ducatis and if you can afford them congratulations in advance). In the coming Tokyo Motor Show, Honda will show this unbelievably beautiful motorcycle called the RC-E.  Here is the pic.

And now the disappointing news for petrol heads.  The RC-E does not come with an internal combustion engine, it is an electric bike. Sigh.

Anybody who loves motorcycles knows the name Bimota very well.  A specialist Italian manufacturer who make their own chassis and use their own designs but use engines from other manufacturers.  Bimota has used engines for Kawasaki and those motorcycles have been called the KB series (not Kawasaki Bajaj but Kawasaki Bimota) and similarly Suzuki and Yamaha engined motorcycles have been called the SB and the YB series respectively.  Bimota has also another series the DB, yup that is a Ducati engine in a Bimota chassis.  Bimota’s creations are stunning, after all the TA part of Bimota is Massimo Tamburini, the man who created unforgettable beauties such as the Ducati 916 and the MV Augusta F4 1000 (the BI is Bianchi and the MO is Morri, names of two other gents who made up the Bimota along with Tamburini).  At the recent EICMA show Bimota showed this Hyper Motard motorcycle which they called DB10 Bimotard.  The engines are donated by Ducati from their Superbike.  Now drool.

Now don’t finish your drooling just yet.  Here is another Bimota for you.  This one is based on the Ducati Diavel and is called the DB9 Brivido.  This motorcycle has a frame made from aluminium and chromoly alloy and the engine is 162 PS Testastretta used in the Ducati Diavel.

Very nice, right?  Of course, what else can it be when it is a Bimota.  We here are loving it, not the stuff from McDonalds, the Bimotas.  Keeping them coming Bimota.  So what if we can never ride them, we can stare at them.  Now who is that British bloke who said “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”?

And now let us get to the Ducati Diavel itself.  At the EICMA Ducati showed another version of the Diavel called the Diavel Cromo.  That is to make an already attractive motorcycle even more attractive.

And for those who cannot have enough of Ducati, here is some more.  We have already brought you pictures of the new 1199 Panigale and now we present pictures of the 1199 Panigale as it would look when it goes racing in the Superstock category in 2012. Ducati showed this at the EICMA and may use its experience in Superstock to go racing yet again in Superbikes in 2013.

And here is some more of the Panigale in the Corse clothes. Corse standing for racing or competition.

What is with the Italians anyway?  How can they go on doing this again and again and again and again….okay, that is too many agains.  But how indeed?  Take for example the MV Augusta Brutale.  Just look at what they did to it.

This gentlemen and the occasional lady, is the MV Augusta Brutale RR 1090 for 2012.  This comes on the heels of the Brutale 675.  This motorcycle is capable of 156 PS of power derived from a 1090cc engine.  It is brutal and it is beautiful.  And talking of the Brutale 675, we might as well lech at it, while we are at it.

This year’s EICMA was not just about beautiful Italian motorcycles.  There were others as well.  For example this Honda Cross Tourer. Built somewhat like a traillie bike it shares its engines with the VFR 1200F, the engine being of 1237cc V4, and puts out 127 PS of power and comes with the double clutch gearbox as option.  Is it designed to take on the BMW R1200GS?  Maybe, maybe not.

The Cross Tourer was not the only Honda on display.  There was another one, with a hint of retro but very modern looking with sleek lines that give the bike a desirability quotient that is usually not associated with Honda’s aesthetics.  Called the Honda NC700S (the S is presumably for Standard) the motorcycle features a 670cc motor that pumps out 47 PS of power but bags and bags of torque for city riding and touring.

Shopkeepers they maybe, the Brits, but they did have that one guy who knew what he was talking when he made the connection between beauty and joy.

Kawasaki too was there at the EICMA and displayed the new Versys 1000 Adventure Sport bike like the Honda Cross Tourer.  The engine in the Versys 1000 Adventure Sport is the same inline four 1000cc from the Z1000.  It puts out 116 PS and apparently has good road and off road manners.

We began this article with an electric bike and will end with one.  This time it is from KTM.  It is called the Free Ride E and looks a bit, shall we say, weird.

This motorcycle comes with a battery of 2.1 kWh and rating of the equivalent of 10 PS of power.  We don’t know about you, but we sure are not going ga ga (not Lady Ga Ga or Radio Ga Ga, Freddy Mercury style) over this.  But we promise we are waiting to go ga ga over the KTM 200 which will be launched by Bajaj.  Now that is a motorcycle, complete with an internal combustion engine that is likely to put out around 25-26 PS of power and give us the wind in the hair or should we say wind on the helmet experience. The best part is that unlike all these other motorcycles that we have shown, this one, the KTM 200 that is, will come to India and will be affordable. And this is how it will look.

KTM Duke 200

Yet again rumours of a tie up between Yamaha and Mahindra two wheelers have started doing the rounds.  The claim is that Mahindra will get technology from Yamaha who will in return get showroom space in Mahindra dealerships.  This seems a little difficult to believe considering the fact that Mahindra does have access to technology from SYM, Oral Engines and Engines Engineering.  Similarly, Yamaha does have an extensive network of dealers. If at all, there is going to be a tie up we suspect it will be of a different kind, and not what is being guessed.

Hyundai in a bid to gain sales traction in a dismal market has started giving discounts on the Santro Xing, the i10, i20 and the Accent. Those interested may go to the nearest Hyundai dealership to find out exactly how the discounts work.

The Pulse, which is Renault’s version of the Nissan Micra, was unveiled during the F1 Grand Prix of India at Delhi.  The car is exactly like the Micra except for a new front end.  The cars deliveries are to begin in January, 2012.  Now some websites are reporting that Renault dealers will soon take bookings for the Pulse and that deliveries will commence in the new year as planned originally.

Mark Webber, Karun Chandhok at the Renault Pulse Unveiling

The Tata Nano when announced was seen as a revolutionary car that would sell so much that the roads would be chock a block with Nano.  The revolutionary car bit is very much true but the second part, the sales success, proved to be untrue with the car becoming a dud. Now after listening to consumer feedback Tata has decided to make some changes to the car.  Most important is the ORVM on the left side door.  The ECU has been tweaked to squeeze out 2-3 PS more power.  The steering also has been improved.  The car will also come in new colours and the top end Nano LX will have beige interiors and better fabric on the seats. New wheel caps on the top end model have also been seen.  Some websites are even reporting that in the next year or so, the Nano will get a new three cylinder petrol engine and a two cylinder diesel as well.  Tata is serious about selling at least, 10,000 units of the Nano every month.  It should be able to achieve that considering the fact that the car is the cheapest, most spacious and offers tremendous value for money.

Skoda has completed the launch of their C-Segment offering called the Rapid. It was unveiled a few days but the pricing was kept under the wraps.

The car shares its underpinnings and its engine types with its elder brother, the VW Vento. By pricing the base petrol at 6.75 lakhs INR and the base diesel at 7.95 lakhs INR, Skoda seem to have pleasantly surprised a number of people including us.

Would the price difference when compared to its elder sibling Vento work as a factor to drive potential Vento buyers to Skoda’s dealerships? To top it all, the Rapid has the tagline ‘Simple Clever’. Yes indeed, we say.