Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1076136
REPSOL HONDA TEAM REVEAL 2019 LIVERY M arc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were joined by the world's press at Repsol's headquarters in Madrid last week to unveil the livery in which they will chase the 2019 MotoGP crown. Teammates Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo were on hand to celebrate the 25th anniversary of HRC and Repsol joining forces. The first riders to run in these now iconic colors, Mick Doohan and Alex Criville, were also able to join the special presentation to share their memories from 1995 onwards. Tetsuhiro Kuwata, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) Direc- tor, and Antonio Brufau, CEO of Repsol, who both outlined and emphasized their plans for continual success, also joined the riders on stage. Carmelo Ezpleta, the CEO of Dorna and Begoña Elices, the General Director of Communications and board member at Repsol were also in attendance. Also sharing the stage were the new RC213V race bikes that defending champ Marquez and new teammate Lorenzo will be racing. Marquez will begin his final preparations for the Sepang Test (February 6-8) where he and the RC213V will debut the 2019 livery for the first time on track. Meanwhile, Lorenzo is set to commence an intense physical therapy routine on his wrist in order to be as fit as possible for the Qatar Test, Febru- ary 23-25. He broke the scaphoid bone in his wrist while train- ing on a dirt track. The 2019 MotoGP season begins under the floodlights in Qatar, March 7-10. CN IN THE WIND P28 AFT NAMES NEW RACE DIRECTOR A merican Flat Track (AFT) says it has bolstered its competition and administrative departments with key hires, the first being Ramin Shute- Mahini, who has been named the series new race director. AFT says that Shute-Mahini has over a decade of motorsports experi- ence and eight years of emergency services experience and currently holds the position of event director for the Arizona region of the National Auto Sports Association. Concur- rently, he serves as manager of emergency services at ISM Race- way, formerly Phoenix International Raceway, in Avondale, Arizona, coordinating all emergency services for its facility. "Ramin will bring more than a decade of experience in race control and emergency services to the sport," said Joey Mancari, Chief Competition Officer of American Flat Track. "That experience will prove invaluable as we continue to scale American Flat Track in the coming seasons." Becky Cunningham has taken the position of controller. Former Chief Competition Officer Chris Carr has elected to step away from AFT to pursue other opportuni- ties with the sport. "I have been deeply involved with flat track my entire life," said Carr, "and I look forward to transitioning into a new role within the commu- nity." CN Marc Marquez (left) and new teammate Jorge Lorenzo share a laugh during Repsol Honda's livery reveal in Madrid.