first Colorado testing for Sébastien Loeb / les premiers essais de Sébastien Loeb au Colorado

First Colorado testing for Sébastien Loeb at the the wheel of Peugeot 208 T16.

Les premiers essais de Sébastien Loeb au volant de la Peugeot 208 T16 au Colorado.

Jumping rope with a trial bike

from TWOWHEELSBLOG

There’s training and then there’s having fun while training. Check out this video of Benoit Dagnicourt’s extreme skill and control as he jumps rope with his trial bike.

The French rider is currently competing in the 2013 Trial World Championship and rides for the Beta Factory team against riders of the caliber of Toni Bou (Montasa) and Adam Raga (Gas Gas).

Adam Raga currently leads the general standings as the championship returns to Europe this weekend at Sant Julia de Loria, Andorra.

Dani Pedrosa shatters record to take pole position at Catalunya

from Twowheelsblog 

Getting stung by a wasp in FP4 must have given Dani Pedrosa some extra sting as he wasn’t only fastest rider in today’s exciting qualifying session at the Circuito de Catalunya, he also shattered Casey’s Stoner 2008 lap record (when real qualifying tires still exsisted) by almost three tenths of second, taking his second consecutive pole position of the season.

Pedrosa qualifying lap in 1.40.893 was so stunning that Cal Crutchlow who qualified in second - and edged out Yamaha factory rider Jorge Lorenzo in his last flying lap by 0.065s, was more than six tenths adrift!

Lorenzo loosing control is something that you never see nowadays. The Spaniard at the the start of QP2 session was forced to return to his garage as his first bike had some sort of technical problem - it seemed a clutch issue - and he had to use his spare bike to post the third best time and close out the front row.

Alvaro Bautista’s weekend further improved as he qualified fourth - his best this season - and ahead of an excellent Nicky Hayden and strangely enough Marc Marquez in sixth, especially after his top position in FP3-

Valentino Rossi will open the third row in 7th - his usual and struggling qualifying position - and he’ll have two Ducati’s rider next to him, Andrea Iannone (who used a tow by Pedrosa) and Andrea Dovizioso (9th - after his two front rows at Le Mands and Mugello) and who was 1.160s from the top of the timesheets.

Closing out the top 12 of QP2 were Stefan Bradl, Bradley Smith and Aleix Espargaro.

2013 MotoGP Catalunya QP2 results:

01- Dani Pedrosa – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – 1’40.893
02- Cal Crutchlow – Monster Yamaha Tech 3 – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.608
03- Jorge Lorenzo – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 0.673
04- Alvaro Bautista – GO&FUN Honda Gresini – Honda RC213V – + 0.821
05- Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 0.907
06- Marc Marquez – Repsol Honda Team – Honda RC213V – + 0.949
07- Valentino Rossi – Yamaha Factory Racing – Yamaha YZR M1 – + 1.066
08- Andrea Iannone – Energy T.I. Pramac Racing – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.070
09- Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team – Ducati Desmosedici GP13 – + 1.160
10- Stefan Bradl – LCR Honda MotoGP – Honda RC213V – + 1.197

METZELER AT THE TOURIST TROPHY ISLE OF MAN 2013

The Tourist Trophy is a mix of aspirations and dreams. The quiet life of the paddock opposes the frenzy of races: the noise of the engines revved by mechanics, the smell of petrol and hot engines, the road full of trucks carrying generators, tyres and fuel, the onlookers and journalists. While the riders are perched on a jerry can or at the roadside looking for some silence, the eyes focused. Then the race starts. The crowd gasps. Spectators and riders are all asking for the very same thing: to feel alive.

sun !!