In case you haven’t heard, at the recent MotoGP test at the new Circuit of the Americas (CotA) track, 1993 500cc world champion Kevin Schwantz was unceremoniously removed from the property. In protest to this rude (and in our opinion unwarranted) treatment of a motorcycling icon, a group of motorcycle racing enthusiasts have organized the FreeKevin34 movement, culminating in the FreeKevin34  weekend, April 19-21, the same weekend as the CotA round of MotoGP. Continue Reading »

Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines rider Ed Krawiec is the 2011 NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion. Krawiec clinched the title with a second-round win at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway that eliminated Lucas Oil Buell rider Hector Arana Jr., the only rider in the field with a chance to overtake Krawiec for the championship. Krawiec advanced to the final round and lost to his Harley-Davidson Screamin’ Eagle/Vance & Hines teammate Andrew Hines, who finished the season third in points.

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Chaz Davies has captured the 2011 Supersport World Championship, completing a triumphant return to the series for Yamaha.

Davies, the 2008 Daytona 200 winner, finished the Magny-Cours round in sixth place, giving him an insurmountable 35-point lead over Hannspree Ten Kate Honda‘s Fabien Foret with one race remaining.

The championship comes in Yamaha‘s return from a one-year absence from the series. Yamaha withdrew from World Supersport competition after winning the 2009 title but returned this year. The one-year hiatus did not appear to be a problem for Yamaha or the YZF-R6.

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Racing legend and three-time 500cc Grand Prix Champion Wayne Rainey paid a visit to Yamaha Motor Racing’s headquarters just outside of Milan, Italy.

The 1990-1992 World Champion met with employees of Yamaha Racing, Yamaha Motor Italy and Yamaha Motor RD Europe and officially opened a new boardroom named in his honor. Rainey, along with current Yamaha factory MotoGP racers Jorge Lorenzo and Ben Spies, took time to take photographs and sign autographs with the Yamaha staff.

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Loris Capirossi announced he will retire at the end of the 2011 MotoGP season, closing off a quarter century of racing including 22 years at the Grand Prix level and three World Championships.

“It’s an important moment in my career, and the decision I made has come about after a lot of reflection,” says Capriossi. “I’m happy that after 25 years, of which 22 were in the world championship, I’m at a point where I can still have a smile on my lips as I part ways, even if it’s difficult to think that I won’t be riding a bike next year.”

The announcement was made during a press conference at Misano for the upcoming San Marino Grand Prix, the final Italian stop of the 2011 season. An emotional Capirossi received a standing ovation from those in attendance.

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Wayne Rainey will return to the Misano circuit for the first time since he suffered a career-ending crash that left him paralyzed from the chest down.

The Sept. 5, 1993 crash at the circuit then-known as the Circuito Internazionale Santamonica brought a sudden end to what had been an incredibly successful Grand Prix racing career. Rainey, the 1990-1992 500cc Grand Prix World Champion was three rounds away from what would have been his fourth consecutive world title when he broke his back in a high-speed low-side.

Yamaha is organizing a special ceremony to honor Rainey on Friday, Sept 2 at Misano, ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix.

[Source: MotoGP]

Fans of “King” Kenny Roberts will be in for a treat as the three-time World Champion will ride not once, not twice but three times at Laguna Seca during the 2011 U.S. Grand Prix, July 22-24.

As previously announced,  Roberts would join Eddie Lawson and about 200 fans in riding parade laps of the Monterrey, Calif., circuit on the Friday, July 22.

The King will return to the track on Saturday, July 23 to ride a few more laps on the Yamaha YZR-M1 MotoGP bike in the special 50th Anniversary red livery.

And if that weren’t enough, Roberts will ride again on the raceday Sunday, July 24 on the same Yamaha YZR500 he rode to win the 1980 500cc World Championship.

“I’m really looking forward to it!” said Kenny from his home in northern California, “as this will be the very first time I’ve ridden at the USGP and my 31 year old championship-winning YZR is ready to go!”

The Motorcycle.com team will be there at Laguna Seca for the U.S.G.P. so look forward to reading our report on King Kenny Roberts, the MotoGP race and the other festivities.

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Ride Laguna Seca with King Kenny Roberts and Steady Eddie Lawson

[Source: Yamaha]

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Former AMA and World Superbike Champion Doug Polen has been named to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2011.

“Any fan of motorcycle roadracing will remember Doug’s amazing – and dominating – championship runs on the AMA and World Superbike stages,” says Don Rosene, a member of the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation Board of Directors. “At a time when the series saw plenty of fast competitors, Doug was clearly the fastest. And he’s still on the track, racing, teaching and promoting motorcycles and motorcycling.”

Born in Detroit but a Texas resident for most of his life, Polen was a privateer racer in his youth who actually retired from racing as a 21-year-old in 1982. Thankfully, his retirement was short-lived and Polen came back to race in 1986 in the Suzuki GSX-R National Cup Series, winning 45 of 51 races and taking the 750cc title.

Teaming up with Yoshimura Suzuki, Polen competed in Japan, winning the Formula 1 and Formula 3 championships in 1989. In late 1990, Polen left the Yoshimura team to join Eraldo Ferraci to ride the Ducati 851. With the Fast By Ferracci team, Polen won a record 17 races to win the 1991 WSBK championship while also capturing the AMA Pro Twins Championship.

Polen would defend his WSBK title in 1992 on the Ducati 888. The following season, Polen concentrated on racing just the AMA Superbike series, winning the 1993 title. Polen would add two more world championships, taking the 1997 FIM Endurance World Championship with Peter Goddard, and again in 1998 with Christian Lavieille with the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

Today, Polen runs his own riding school, Doug Polen’s 1 on 1 Riders School.

“The thing is that you ride and you race, and when you’re doing it, you’re doing it to have fun and be competitive against other people, but also to try and make a mark and have something you can look back on and be proud of,” Polen says. “This is kind of like putting a stamp of approval, so to speak, on my career, and I take it as a very flattering thing.”

Polen joins Cycle magazine editor Phil Schilling and Parts Unlimited founder Fred Fox in the 2011 Hall of Fame class. They and the other yet-to-be-announced inductees will enter the Hall in a ceremony Nov. 19 during the AMA Legends & Champions Weekend in Las Vegas.

Press release after the jump.

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Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. produced a series of videos featuring past and present World Champions Eddie Lawson and Ben Spies. Lawson, the four-time World Grand Prix Champion and Spies, the reigning World Superbike Champion, sat down in front of the cameras to talk about what it means to be champions.

Yamaha has released three episodes, check out the videos after the jump or see them at YChampions.com.

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