Cycle News

P26 IN THE WIND lowed was the announcement shortly thereafter that current Moto2 rider Pol Espargaro had been signed by Yamaha to replace Crutchlow on the Monster Tech 3 Yamaha team. Crutchlow is currently fifth in the 2013 championship, one point behind Valentino Rossi heading into the Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix on August 18. Crutchlow has been wanting a factory ride and his preference was to stay with Yamaha, but with Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi locked into the factory team and Espargaro and Bradley Smith already signed up for 2014 on the satellite Tech 3 team, there wasn't a spot for the fourtime 2013 podium finisher. Honda's lineup is also in place with Dani Pedrosa and Marc Marquez signed for another season on the factory Repsol team. Crutchlow will thus replace Nicky Hayden on the Ducati SALES DROP T he ear-over-year motorcycle sales figures were down 5.2 percent through the first six months of 2013, according to data released by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC). But it's not all bad as the second quarter showed some gains in key riding segments. On-Highway Motorcycle sales, the largest MIC segment that includes all street-legal bikes excepting scooters and dual-sport team, joining his former Tech 3 teammate Andrea Dovizioso. The challenge for the 27-yearold Crutchlow will be to find success where no one other than Casey Stoner has been able. And he doesn't have to look any further than his teammate last year and his teammate for next year, Dovizioso. In 2012 on the Tech 3 Yamaha, the Italian finished fourth in the MotoGP World Championship with six podiums. This year Dovizioso is seventh in the series at the halfway mark with a best finish of fourth in France. His other best results have been four seventh-place finishes on this year's Ducati. The most famous to make the jump to Ducati was Rossi, the Italian putting the bike on the podium three times in his dismal two seasons there. After moving back to Yamaha for 2013, Rossi has four podiums and a victory at the halfway mark in this year's series. The last time Ducati won a MotoGP was at Phillip Island in 2010 with Stoner. With Audi taking over Ducati, much more was expected this season, but so far changes have come slowly, leaving both Dovizioso and Hayden frustrated. The Espargaro release, meanwhile, is interesting in that it came directly from Yamaha and doesn't reveal what team they plan on placing the current Moto2 rider on in 2015. With Yamaha signing Espargaro earlier this season for the next two years, it's obvious they believe the 22-year-old is the rider they are hoping will compete with Honda's Marc Marquez in years to come. Espargaro is in his third season in the Moto2 class and he is currently a distant second behind Brit Scott Redding in the Championship, with three wins and five podium finishes. models, total 183,332 for the year. The six-month tally represents a 10,199-unit decline of 5.3 percent. The segments 2013 Q1 results were down 16.2 percent, as an unseasonably warm winter and early spring in 2012 contributed to an earlier buying season, according to the MIC. The 2013 sales data suggests a return to a more typical sales season – with the On-Highway and Dual segments both re- bounding to post year-over-year increases in the second quarter. On-Highway sales rallied for the three-month stretch, its 118,626 units up from the 116,343 sold last year. Dual models also rebounded with 10,167 units sold in April, May and June compared with 9631 the year prior. The same cannot be said of the more volatile scooter market. Sales through the first six months are down 5373 units, a 23.3 per-

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