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/641289
IN THE WIND P24 MOTOAMERICA PRESEASON TEST SCHEDULE M otoAmerica has announced the schedule for the upcoming MotoAmerica Preseason Test powered by Dunlop at Circuit of The Americas, March 23-24, a two-day test that will be open to spectators for free. The test is to prepare MotoAmerica teams for the opening round of the 2016 MotoAmerica AMA/ FIM North American Road Racing Series at COTA, April 10-12. The MotoAmerica round will be held in conjunction with the 2016 Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas. Testing will get started on the first day at 8:30 a.m. with Superbike and Superstock 1000. From there, the sessions alternate between 1000cc motorcycles and the Supersport/Superstock 600s with four 50-minute sessions before the lunch break. Day two of the test will also begin at 8:30 a.m., but will begin with the Supersport/ Superstock 600 machines before alternating with Superbike and Superstock 1000. The lunch break will provide race fans and me- dia the chance to participate in a rider/team Q&A session at the track each day. The Q&A sessions will be held on both days from 12:50 to 1:10 p.m. Two-up rides will be given to members of the media from 12:30 to 1:20 p.m. on both days with Superbike racer Chris Ulrich at the controls of the two-seat Suzuki GSX-R1000. The track will again be hot starting at 1:30 p.m. on both days with the sessions alternating be- tween classes in 50-minute sessions. The Hot Pit Lane Walk presented by Dunlop will take place on both days starting at 5:45 p.m. with fans getting the chance to walk down hot pit lane and see the behind-the-scenes activity that goes on behind the garage doors during a test session. "I think the fans who come out to COTA are really going to enjoy the experience," said Mo- toAmerica President and three-time 500cc World Champion Wayne Rainey. "The test is always like the first day of school with everyone getting back together again after the off-season. It will be fun to have the fans included in that. I also think they will enjoy the opportunity to interact with the riders during our Q&A sessions." CN WORLDSBK YAMAHA YZF-R1 TEASER I f you like fast action clips and music that sounds like it was made by robots in a back alley of NYC, this is for you. This is a quick clip of a shakedown test held last month at Jerez in Spain for the new World Super- bike Yamaha YZF-R1. The last season the factory team competed in World Superbike was 2011 with then riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty. It was a fairly successful time for Yamaha, with Ben Spies winning so far Yamaha's only WorldSBK title at his first shot back in 2009. Fast forward to 2016 and it's all changed—with a year's development of the second generation big bang YZF-R1 under its belt and new riders in former WorldSBK Champion Sylvain Guintoli and Briton Alex Lowes, the team will be looking to add a second title to its cabinet. Check out the video here. CN