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/155043
IN THE WIND STONER TO RETURN? C asey Stoner to return next year? Valentino Rossi is one who believes it possible, after the prematurely retired two-time World Champion's summerbreak test of the factory Honda RCV213V at Motegi – the first of a series of runs for the Australian 38-time GP winner, who moved to the domestic V8 Supercar series this year. "It is just my guess, but I don't think that if Honda organizes a series of tests that they are an end in themselves," Rossi told Italian website GPOne. Rossi joked that "after the PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE P34 mess he left and all that he said, I thought he would not come back until two or three years, but now he's here again." Rossi relished the prospect. "If he came back the championship would reach the highest level, with five or six riders fighting for the title. It would be like the 1980s again, with the 500s." Stoner's car career got off to a disappointing start, for those who thought his superb natural skill FUEL DEBATE UPDATE T he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that demand for ethanol-related fuel probably isn't enough to meet the requirements of federal law and changes may need to be made next year, according to the AMA. In a regulatory announcement released August 6, "EPA Finalizes Renewable Fuel Standards," the EPA said that for 2014 "the ability of the market to consume ethanol in higher blends such as E85 is highly constrained as a result of infrastructure- and market-related factors. EPA does not currently foresee a scenario in which the market could consume enough ethanol sold in blends greater than E10, and/ or produce sufficient volumes of non-ethanol biofuels to meet the volumes of total renewable fuel and advanced biofuel as required by statute for 2014. Therefore, the EPA anticipates that in the 2014 proposed rule we will propose adjustments to the 2014 volume requirements, including the advanced biofuel and total renewable fuel categories." The AMA has repeatedly expressed concerns to government officials and federal lawmakers about possible damage to motorcycle and ATV engines caused by the inadvertent use of a new ethanol fuel blend called E15, which is 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline by volume. None of the estimated 22 million motorcycles and all-ter- Valentino Rossi isn't ruling out the possibility of Casey Stoner returning to MotoGP racing. would translate easily from two to four wheels, but he claimed a best-yet fifth in a rain-shortened race at Ipswich just days before his Motegi test. Michael Scott rain vehicles in use is approved for E15, and its use can even void manufacturer's warranties, according to the AMA. Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations, applauded the EPA announcement. "For motorcyclists, this means that if the EPA rolls back on the volume of E15-and-higher ethanol-gasoline blends that must be produced, then there may be greater opportunities to fill up our gas tanks and cans with E10 and even E0 fuel," he said. "Only one E15 test has been done by the EPA, and we have asked that motorcycles and ATVs be part of an independent scientific study into the effects of E15 on engines."