Features 30 Jan 2019

Cycleview

The current week in road bikes with CycleOnline.com.au.

Welcome to Cycleview on CycleOnline.com.au. The Island Classic has become a must-follow event each January and despite the United Kingdom team not making the trek over for this year, it was a still a hard-fought event thanks to the fight put up by the United States.

While the likes of Jeremy McWilliams are most certainly missed, to have a multiple American Superbike champion such as Josh Hayes in the mix was a definite plus. Mix in fellow notable US riders like Jason Pridmore, Larry Pegram, Mark Miller, Steve Rapp and a bunch more, they’re well-well-credentialed riders and are really buying into what the event’s all about.

It was a shame to see top-top-level American Pridmore crash out of the weekend early on and he’s still hospitalised with a broken leg in Melbourne, as is Australia’s Beau Beaton who was also caught up in the same incident. Our thoughts are with both of those guys and we sincerely wish them a quick recovery.

At the other end of the spectrum, it was no surprise to see Hayes eventually improve to take a win in race four and seal third overall. At 43, Hayes only stopped full-time racing at the end of 2017 while still near the top of his game (he won his last MotoAmerica crown in 2014). Many will also recall his seventh-place at Valencia with Tech3 in MotoGP as a guest rider in 2011.

Image: Russell Colvin.

The beginning of the weekend appeared to be dominated by Australian talent Aaron Morris, however he encountered machinery difficulties on Sunday and that spelt the end of his challenge for the overall, but he still managed to capture the runner-up. Morris was typically fast throughout the races and it’d be good to see him back on the bike more again this year.

All that left former World Superbike regular and national champion Steve Martin to take out the overall, including a win in race three. CycleOnline readers will also recognise Steve as one of our primary test riders and an Australian Superbike commentator, so it’s certainly impressive to see him come off the bench to put in that type of performance among a host of capable racers.

By this time next week the official ASBK test at Phillip Island will be complete and we’re definitely excited to see those guys on-track this weekend. With testing due to take place on both Saturday and Sunday, it’s an important couple of days in the lead-up to the opening round a few short weeks later. That’s it from me for this week, here’s Jeremy…

It’s that exciting time of the year where MotoGP World Championship teams are beginning to launch their liveries for the upcoming season, and there are already a few that have taken place in different corners of world.

Ducati was the first, unveiling its new title sponsor Mission Winnow in Switzerland with 2019 riders Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci pulling the covers off their Desmosedici contenders for this year. In my opinion, Ducati has always delivered in the design department with its racing liveries each and every season, somehow producing racing colours that differ from the previous season.

This year is no different, which probably is helped by Mission Winnow coming on board. The Desmosedici has been dressed in deeper red than what we’ve seen, plus it’s been finished off with a neat selection of black, grey and white highlights. It’s going to be unmissable out on track this season!

Image: Supplied.

Repsol Honda delivered its 2019 look with an official presentation last week in Spain. As anticipated, the RC213V has only received slight changes over the livery that was used last season, although it was cool to see Jorge Lorenzo’s famous number 99 emblazoned across the championship-winning bike for the first time.

For me, the Petronas Yamaha SRT launch was one that I anticipated the most, and I wasn’t let down. With the newly-formed outfit attracting title sponsor Petronas, I was always hoping the pair of Yamaha YZR-M1s’ of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo would take styling cues from the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, which it appears that they’ve done exactly that.

It’s by far the favourite MotoGP machine I’ve ever laid my eyes over, and while the aesthetic of a bike plays a pretty minimal role in the scheme of things, I think it has somewhat of an impact on what makes motorcycle racing so cool to part of. Next up will be Yamaha’s factory launch, scheduled for 4 February. Monster Energy has stepped up its support to become the title sponsor, so it will be interesting to see which direction the powerhouse team takes its design.

That’s all for this week folks, we’ll catch you next Wednesday!

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