MotoGP racer Hector Barbera has been arrested by Spanish police following allegations of domestic abuse. UPDATE: Spanish courts found both Barbera and his girlfriend equally responsible for what transpired. Both parties received suspended sentences and were placed under a restraining order.

According to the Irish Independent, the Avintia Blusens racer was taken into custody in Jerez on May 9 after a woman identified as his girlfriend required hospital treatment following an alleged incident in their hotel room.

A statement released on Barbera’s Facebook page says the allegations are untrue and that Barbera is cooperating with authorities. Avintia Blusens has not released any comments on the allegations at this time. Continue Reading »

Yamaha announced it will offer a leasing arrangement for its YZR-M1 engines to teams interested in racing in the MotoGP World Championship. The Japanese manufacturer has signed a leasing arrangement with MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports to supply engines for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Racing teams will be able to lease a Yamaha M1 engine on a per-year basis for their own race bikes. Teams will be free to develop their own chassis or use a chassis from suppliers such as FTR or Suter. Yamaha will not provide any additional engine development on leased engines, so teams will be responsible for their own engine improvements.

Full details including pricing will be released shortly, but interested parties can contact either Dorna or Yamaha for more information. Continue Reading »

Earlier this year, we reported on Dakar racer Hugo Payen and his X-rated sponsor, pornographer Marc Dourcel. Payen seems to have started a trend as British MotoGP team Paul Bird Motorsports has signed a sponsorship deal with erotic movie website MinxFlix.com.

The website will back PBM’s Michael Laverty and Yonny Hernandez who will ride on CRT machines featuring Aprilia V4 engines and its own proprietary chassis developed with builder GPMS. MinxFlix.com will also sponsor PBM’s British Superbike team of Shane “Shakey” Byrne and Keith Farmer on their Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R racebikes as well as team owner Paul Bird’s Ford Focus WRC07 rally car. Continue Reading »

Blake Young may not have a full time AMA Superbike ride this season but he will get the chance to compete in some high-profile races. CycleNews reports the former Yoshimura Suzuki rider will race for Attack Performance on its Kawasaki-powered CRT racebike at the three U.S. MotoGP rounds.

Young was runner-up to Josh Hayes in the last two AMA Superbike campaigns. In 2011, Young trailed Hayes 363-358 at the end of the season but had a 7-3 edge in race wins. This year, Young had three wins but they all came in the first three double-header events before Hayes separated himself from everyone else on his way to a record-setting season. Despite being one of the few racers with a good chance of catching Hayes, Young found himself without a ride after Yoshimura decided to go in a different direction.

Now that he’s landed with the Attack Performance team, Young will be chasing M1s around the track instead of R1s at three MotoGP races. Young will compete in the April 21 Grand Prix of the Americas at Austin’s new Circuit of the Americas, the July 21 U.S. Grand Prix at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., and the Aug. 18 Indianapolis Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Continue Reading »

Attack Performance Racing and GPTech made history this year as the first teams to build and enter motorcycles under MotoGP’s Claiming Rule Team rules as a  wild card entry. Both teams will race again, receiving wild card invites to all three U.S. rounds in the 2013 MotoGP season.

Attack Performance debuted at the Laguna Seca round but failed to qualify due to a fuel pump problem, but returned weeks later for the Indianapolis Grand Prix, finishing 14th overall and earning two championship points with Steve Rapp riding a Kawasaki ZX-10R-based race bike. Indianapolis Motor Speedway also saw the debut of GPTech‘s Suzuki GSX-R1000-based machine which Aaron Yates piloted to 16th place. Continue Reading »

It’s no secret that promoter Dorna Motorsports has been trying to push a standardized electronics control unit for teams in the MotoGP World Championship. The lack of a top-tier electronics package has been one of the biggest challenges faced by MotoGP’s claiming rule teams, and a spec ECU would narrow the gap between the CRT bikes and the factory prototypes. The manufacturers competing in the series, Honda, Ducati and Yamaha, understandably are resistant to the idea considering the effort they’ve put in to develop their electronics systems.

It may only be a matter of time before the premier class adopts a standardized ECU. The Moto2 and Moto3 classes have spec electronics packages, and sooner or later MotoGP will likely follow suit. The series has taken a big step towards that goal with the announcement of a four-year contract with Italian electronics company Magneti Marelli to provide its ECU to any and all MotoGP teams.

Beginning with the 2013 MotoGP season, teams will have access to Magenti Marelli’s latest electronic control system. The package includes an engine and chassis control unit with inboard data-logger, various tuning and data analysis tools, dashboard, handlebar toggle switch and inertial platform, as well as trackside support of Magenti Marelli technicians. Best of all, the Magenti Marelli package won’t cost teams a dime. Continue Reading »

Norton Motorcycles announced it will compete in the 2012 Isle of Man TT with a new racebike.

The as-yet-unnamed racebike will use an Aprilia RSV4 engine with a chassis from Spondon Engineering. If that formula sounds familiar, it’s because it sounds like of MotoGP’s new Claiming Rule Team machines. Norton doesn’t mention MotoGP directly in its announcement, though it did say it will receive no factory support from Aprilia just like several CRT efforts.

Critics will argue the racebike is not a real Norton as it uses an engine and frame from other manufacturers (though it should be noted Norton had previously used a Spondon chassis in its NRV588 racebike). Norton did make a number of its own components at its Donington Park facility, including its traditional polished aluminum fuel tank. Continue Reading »

The Aspar Team officially presented its CRT MotoGP team including riders Randy de Puniet and Aleix Espargaro and the team’s new Aprilia RSV4-based race bikes.

Aspar is using an ART race bike which consists of an Aprilia-designed aluminum frame with an engine based on the RSV4′s powerplant. Whereas Aprilia claims an output of 178 hp from the production engine, Aspar claims the ART’s 65-degree V4 engine produces over 220 hp. Max speed is said to be over 205 mph.

The team will compete under the name Power Electronics Aspar and will wear the blue color of the team’s title sponsor, a Spanish power generator producer. Continue Reading »

MotoGP racing may be the next logical step for BMW, says Hendrik von Kuenheim, general director of BMW Motorrad.

Von Kuenheim was speaking at a press launch for the BMW C600 Sport and C650GT scooters but took a moment to discuss racing with MotoGP.com. Such speculation about BMW entering Grand Prix racing may sometimes be dismissed as idle musings, but the fact the interview was with MotoGP’s official website holds some significance.

But before it can step up into the MotoGP World Championship, BMW must first demonstrate it can produce a winning race bike at the World Superbike level. BMW has been competing in the WSBK championship since 2009 when it introduced the S1000RR. In three full seasons of competition however, the BMW S1000RR has yet to win a race in the series. Continue Reading »

Italy-based Ioda Racing presented its 2012 MotoGP and Moto2 race bikes including the Aprilia RSV4-engined TR003 prototype.

The Ioda Racing TR003 machine (pictured above, to the left) uses a trellis-frame produced in-house while the engine is based on the RSV4′s 999cc V4 powerplant. The team will compete as CAME IodaRacingas a Claiming Rule Team entry. Continue Reading »