RideFast - MCSA - Motorcycling South Africa October 2015

W E L C O M E It really is a great time to be a sportsbike fan. Not only has there been an influx of amazing new sportsbike models but how good has MotoGP been lately? It’s like a soap opera, just when you think you know what’s going to happen next, the tables are turned. Jorge Lorenzo is clearly the fastest, most consistent rider, when it comes to setting fast laps at the moment, topping the time sheets in most practise sessions and while Marquez does get the better of him in qualifying, Lorenzo is still the man to beat going into most races. Whether you like him or not, you do have to somewhat feel sorry for Lorenzo. He does all the hard work through out practice to have a good race pace, and then, on race day, Mother nature, who is clearly a Rossi fan, throws herself into the mix. This plays straight into Rossi’s hand and he takes full advantage, as he did at Silverstone and Misano. Although, not as much as he would have liked at Misano, after only picking up 5th place with Lorenzo crashing out. Rossi was the first to put his hand up and say he made a mistake and stayed out on the rain tyres for too long but at the end of the day he did do what he set out to do at every race and extended his lead in the championship. As I type this, the MotoGP boys head to Aragon for the next round, so no doubt there will be more drama to come. Either way, it’s going to be one hell of an exciting next few races!!! Can Rossi really go on a win he’s 10th World title? At the beginning of the year I was certain he couldn’t but now have to put my hands up and say he just might! Moving across the pond to the World SBK championship, and there has been some major happenings. Firstly, Johnny Rea is finally a World Champ. It really is one of motorcycle racing’s biggest mysteries how this guys has not won at least 3 world titles. But, as we all predicted, once he revealed, at the end of 2014, that he was to leave Honda and signed for Kawasaki, there was no doubt he was finally going to be crowned World SBK champ. Big news for 2016 is that Yamaha are set to return to the World SBK championship. Crescent have been tasked with running the Tuning Forks team, booting Suzuki in the process. The two riders that have been selected are Sylvain Guintoli and Alex Lowes. While many, including myself, are excited at the prospect of Alex Lowes on the new Big Bang R1, there has been mixed reaction to the signing of Guintoli. Many saying he is over the hill now and he’s best days are behind him. While there is no doubt he is a great rider, having won the 2014 championship, I tend to agree with the masses. I don’t think he has what it takes to put in a serious challenge on the R1. Personally, I would have liked to see fresh new blood in the championship, someone like PJ Jacobson or Jules Cluzel have that seat. Even Cameron Beaubier, who has just wrapped up the MotoAmerica title on a new R1. Imagine the return of Ben Spies, now that would have been awesome! Either way it’s great to see Yamaha back in the championship. There is still talk of a second Yamaha team. Hopefully, whoever that team is, they can secure big names to challenge the likes of Rea, Sykes and Davies. There is a new Kawasaki ZX10R coming for 2016, so Rea and Sykes will once again be the favourites heading into 2016, but Davies has been on good form of late on the Ducati and I for one really do think Davies has what it takes to win a World SBK title. Throw in the potential return of Eugene Laverty, Marco Melandri, and the possibility of Nick Hayden joining the championship, and 2016 certainly is looking a bit more exciting than years gone by. A big congrats to Clint Seller for wrapping up his 4th SA title in a row. We feature him on the cover, centrefold and in the SuperGP finale article. We like promoting our top SA talents! He really is a superb rider and I would love to see him given the chance to challenge some of the top boys overseas. For this issue, I got to test a very special Kawasaki H2. Dyno By Quint have added some spice to the already mind blowing green machine. Not only did we feature this beast, we also tested it against a stock H2 to see just how much better it is. E D I T O R Enough blabbing on from me, go and enjoy the mag. Page 64 will really get you excited! Rob Portman THE TEAM - IF WE WERE HELMETS... “AGV PIS TA GP ” “AIROH GP500” G E O RG E P O RT M A N P U B L I SH E R RO B P ORTM AN E D I TO R / D ES IGNER “S H AR K S PE E D R ” “BELL STAR CARBON” Z E N O N B I RK B Y A DV E RT I SI N G “AR AI R X 7 GP ” SH EZ M O R A I S R ACE COLUMNIS T & TES TER SH AU N P ORTM AN TES TER F “AR AI R X7 GP ” BR AD & DARR YN BINDER R ACE COLUMNIS TS & TES TER S R As “S H AR K S PE E D R ” RI C H A RD K N O W L E S CO N T RI B U TO R “BELL S TAR C ARBON” C A M PETER SEN R ACE COLUMNIS T CONTAC T DE TA I L S : EDI TO R : RO B 0 82 782 82 4 0 e m a i l : ro b@ ri d e f a s t .co.z a ADV ER T I SI NG : Z E NO N 074 10 4 1074 ze n o n @ ri d e f a s t .co.z a SUB SCR I P T I O N S : RNA 01 1 47 3 870 0 ridef a st subs@rn a d.co.z a F M R Q V C Mitsubishi Motors Sandton DRIVES TEL: CHRIS 082 602 1836 TONY 083 770 2400 1002 G w OCTOBER 2015 1510 RF cover contents.indd 10

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