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/220782
Alex Lowes, still under contract with his British Superbike Championship winning Honda team, was riding the Suzuki he will compete on in 2014 against most of his new peers, and riding it really well as he approaches his rookie season of World Superbike racing. His lap time of 1:41.1 (after the opening three days) was even better than his new teammate Eugene Laverty, who was having his first ride on the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki. Laverty ended up riding for four days at the tests, after losing almost all of day one to electronics issues, then a lot of day two to an engine problem and less profound electronics issues. On day three (despite small showers of rain on occasion) he started to make progress and on the fourth and final day for him he got down to a 1:41.7. He felt he could have made a 1:40 lap had he not had all those. He hopes for better at the next test, after the ban that runs from the start of December to the middle of January. The Pata Honda team was in obvious trouble at Jerez, with their new engine specs appearing to be too aggressive for Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam to deal with effectively. They found themselves pretty far down the order compared to their expectations. Haslam also had a spectacular machine fire to deal with, when his engine went south on day two. P25 Briefly... by AMA Vice President for Government Relations Wayne Allard in a November 22 letter to CDC Director Tom Frieden, was made a day after U.S. Representative Tim Walberg (RepublicanMichigan) sent a letter to Frieden expressing concerns over the same issue. Walberg's November 21 letter questions the work of a CDC advisory group called the Community Preventative Services Task Force and refers to a presentation at a task force meeting in October 2013. Vintage Days The AMA has announced the 2014 dates for AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days. The event will take place July 18-20 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Remembering Caselli KTM is appealing to everyone throughout the racing community who may have shared special moments with Kurt Caselli to share. KTM would like those stories, anecdotes, tributes and photos to honor Caselli's memory. He tragically lost his life in a racing accident while competing in the recent SCORE Baja 1000. U.S. residents can spend their moments to Attn: The Caselli Family, 38429 Innovation Court, Murrieta, CA 92563. Gordon Ritchie EVO… LUTION T here were some really new things to see at the Jerez World Superbike tests, but the appearance of some pretty fast and already effective Evo bikes may have been the most significant. Or maybe it was the first appearance of the MV Agusta in full Superbike trim, with new contracted rider Claudio Corti aboard it? Unlike most of the Evo bikes, the full Superbike-spec MV Agusta was even more stock in a lot of areas at this early continued on next page Claudio Corti was impressive on the basically stock MV Agusta at the Jerez test. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE VOL. 50 ISSUE 48 DECEMBER 3, 2013