2014 Yamaha Yz250f on 2040-motos

Moto blog

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

MotoGP Axes Claiming Rule and Adjusts Moto2 Engine Swap Fees

The International Motorcycling Federation‘s Grand Prix Commission officially annulled MotoGP‘s Claiming Rule. Effective immediately, teams using the official spec Magneti Marelli ECU hardware and software are exempt from having their engines claimed. Starting in the 2014 season however, the claiming rule will be cancelled completely.

Yamaha Reports 2011 Results

Yamaha Motor Corp/ reported a net profit of 27 billion yen (US$345 million) in 2011, compared to a profit of 18.3 billion yen (US$243 million) year before. Overall net sales were down 1.4% to 1.28 billion yen (US$16.3 billion), but operating income rose 4.1% to 53.4 billion yen (US$682 million). The increase in operating income came despite the negative impact of last March’s earthquake in Japan and flooding in Thailand.