Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo satisfied with new seamless gearbox

Whether the fact that the Misano World Circuit is just a stone throw from Valentino Rossi’s home town of Tavullia that is giving him extra motivation or the fact that Yamaha has debuted the new seamless gearbox that is improving stability and acceleration on the M1, or that his kid brother Luca is wild carding in Moto3, Rossi was third fastest on the first day of practice.

“It’s always special and a great feeling to ride here,” said the Yamaha rider. “Today was a good Friday for me, my performance was not so bad. This morning I was already quite fast but especially this afternoon my pace was very good. I was fast from the beginning to the end of the practice and we are very close to the front.

“Yamaha has made a fantastic job with the gearbox; it is a great help for the riders. It’s not a big advantage with lap time but the bike becomes a lot easier to ride, more stable in acceleration and less wheelie. You can concentrate more on riding, it is less demanding so I think for the race it will be a big help.”

Team mate Jorge Lorenzo was also satisfied with the new seamless gearbox, but a lot less happy about his set-up which left him in fourth, but less than three tenths from the top of the timesheets, which was led by Repsol Honda riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa.

Lorenzo has won for two consecutive seasons at Misano, and believes that if the Yamaha had debuted the transmissin a little earlier this year he could have had been more competitive on certain tracks.

“We are having some problems to find the best set-up on the bike because I felt a little bit worse than the last years here, but we are trying to improve it,” said Lorenzo. “I’m really happy to have the new gearbox. It is working well, it’s faster and more easy, but it’s not all about the seamless. At the moment we are a little behind the Hondas but I’m very motivated and confident we can go faster tomorrow.”

via TWowheelsblog

Opel Monza Concept Live @ 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show gets underway today. If you’re heading to Frankfurt one of the cars that you’ll have to make a beeline to see is the Opel Monza Concept. Although Opel’s plans for the concept are unknown and internet rumours suggest that a production version to replace the Calibra and original Monza won’t happen any time soon, we think is one of the stars of the Frankfurt show.

If you told us that this was a Mercedes-Benz future design study we would have believed you because it definitely has the look and feel of a Mercedes roadster. But there’s nothing derivative about the car’s purpose as Opel promise a concept that’s focussed on “efficiency and connectivity”. There’s a “ground-breaking powertrain solution” underneath the skin and an infotainment system that represents a major breakthrough in the field of in car connectivity. Opel/Vauxhall CEO, Karl-Thomas Neumann said that the Monza “covers a whole range of subject areas and elements. It carries them forward in a visionary fashion, expressing them with fresh inspiration and clarity. This car is a study that will have a long-term impact on the next generation of Vauxhall and Opel models.”

Opel has used the Monza nameplate because they feel the concept shares certain traits with the 1970s / 1980s fastback. The concept’s sleek and low and it’s certainly attractive in a futuristic way. While the frontend reminds us of a Mercedes, there’s also a hint of Mazda’s corporate look in it so we’re not sure that this represents the new face of Opel and Vauxhall’srange.

Opel Monza Concept Live @ 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show

The look seems too derivative to make it to production as different angles remind us of different manufacturers - a Mercedes from the front and a Maserati from the side - but we like the look and the direction Opel and Vauxhall’s design department are heading.

via Eurocarblog

Marquez happy with Misano start, Pedrosa laments rear grip issues

Finishing on top of the timesheets in both practice sessions, Marc Marquez can still fill fans in wonderment over his incredible speed and the easiness in which he learns circuits, and even his fantastic elbow save today stupified everyone, even if admits that he closed his eyes when it happened.

“I was trying the hard front tire and at that corner I knew that sometimes you have some movement but with the hard tire it was more aggressive. How I saved it? I don’t know, I put my elbow down and when I opened my eyes I was still on the bike!”

Overall Marquez was satisfied on how Friday went, “I am happy with how things went today and how we worked,” said Marquez. “I felt pretty good from the start and found some good reference points; there’s only a few places, like on the fast corner (Curvone), where I still need to make some improvements in order to go faster. I’m running slightly wide onto the astroturf at that point; I hope that we can rectify this tomorrow, keep working well and get in even better shape for the race.”

Regarding his shoulder that he dislocated in warm-up practice at Silverstone he said, “My shoulder is not a problem on the bike and I’m nearly at 100%. I feel very good and it’s important that from Silverstone until here that I worked to recover and get power in my shoulder so I feel good.

Despite finishing just 0.033 seconds from his team mate in the second free practice, Dani Pedrosa was less than satisfied with his result lamenting front brake vibration and lack of rear grip.

“In general, today we managed to have two good practice sessions. The only problem is that we are lacking some grip in the rear,” he said. “It was hard to find the necessary traction during the sessions and we hope to be able to improve this tomorrow. The track condition didn’t help us today either, as the asphalt wasn’t very grippy. Despite all this, tomorrow we will be looking for a good qualifying session, which is the important thing.”

via Twowheelsblog

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