#racing

Much as there is a difference between the performance of an Aprilia V4 and a Royal Enfield single, donning the proper timepiece is a necessity in the world of professional motorsports. Certain watch elements are handy for spectators wishing to monitor laptimes, including accuracy, durability and readability. Stopwatch functions (which most non-moon phase chronographs have integrated), sapphire crystals (for the scratch resistance necessary in harsh trackside environments) and reliable illumination (for night and/or endurance races) are critical. Whether sprinting the quarter mile or tackling a 24-hour attempt, here are the top 10 watches for motorsport enthusiasts.

Honda Racing took a turn slapping the competition around at Brno. This week, in a country synonymous with mountains, beer halls, and alarming political geneses, Ducati Corse gets its chance. The Track with Only Nine Turns hosts Round 11 of the 2017 MotoGP championship on Sunday. Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci and Jorge Lorenzo need to make hay while the sun shines, because Honda man-child Marc Marquez is pulling away from the field.

The 2017 Czech Motorcycle Grand Prix, after much pre-race sturm und drang, turned out to be a fascinating six-lap race with a 16-lap warm down. Series leader Marc Marquez, with the best meteorologists of any crew, pitted at the end of Lap 2 and changed from soft rain tires to slicks before the thought occurred to many of his competitors. He summarily seized the lead on Lap 6 and never looked back.

After new MotoGP regulations put a stop to the “winglets” seen on several racebikes last season, manufacturers have been trying new strategies to add aerodynamic features that comply with the new rules. The latest development, debuted today by Jorge Lorenzo during free practice for this weekend’s Brno round, is a new fairing design that looks somewhat like Sally Field’s costume from The Flying Nun.

MotoGP has been cleared for landing at historic Brno, nestled in the rolling Moravian region of the Czech Republic and host to the most widely-attended GP on the calendar. Five riders have formed the first group, tight as ticks, but the next two races favor the Yamahas and Ducatis. If Marc Marquez can hold serve this week and next, his chances of a title in 2017 will take a great leap forward. Chápeš? ¿Entiendes?

Every year, we find ourselves scouring YouTube for racing videos during the MotoGP and WSBK summer hiatus. You know, anything to get our racing fix. Well, this year’s favorite clip features none other than two-time WSBK champion Troy Corser riding the wheels off an 80 year old BMW at last year’s Goodwood Revival. Do you like your racing with a little wobble and weave? You’ve got it here, as Corser pushes the old Beemer to its absolute limit and the top of the timing sheet.

Be a Facebook hater if you must, but if you’re involved in any sort of information-gathering work, FB is amazing. Case in point, somebody turned me onto the 1970’s Motorcycle Road Racing page on FB, where I stumbled onto some great old images I’d never seen before.

Here we compare the championship standings at the midpoint of the season to our MotoGP pre-season projections, team by team. Those projections, posted back in March, were surprisingly good. A few riders were overrated, a few underrated, but overall things have proceeded in a fairly orderly manner. Those of you who disagree should post your own predictions, keeping in mind that hindsight is almost always 20/20.

Route 66 parallels Interstate 40 for miles and miles when heading east out of McLean, Texas (where the photo below was shot). The old 66 arches and sways with grades that follow the land’s natural contours, sometimes only feet away from the new highway. Asphalt replacement sections fill in the gaps, like the reconstructed vertebra of a Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton. Yeah, man, I’m riding a weather-beaten natural history museum all the way to Oklahoma.

The Sachsenring (or Knockwurstring as it is sometimes referred to, by me) has been Marc Marquez’ personal playground for the past seven seasons. Make that eight, as the young Catalan survived some early challenges, patiently worked his way to the front, went through on Tech 3 Yamaha homeboy Jonas Folger midway through the race, and won going away.

The following public motorcycle events and rides are happening in the second half of June 2017.

Even with the race going off on Sunday again for the second time, sixty-some years of racing on Saturday at the Cathedral have produced a number of curious finishes. Nicky Hayden had his first and only non-U.S. win here in 2006. Ben Spies won here in 2011 in what many of us mistakenly thought was the beginning of a great career. And Jack Miller’s win last year defines “unlikely.”

Dear MOby,

Okay, a handful of MO readers and Kevin Duke have wondered aloud when my next report from the 2017 Isle of Man TT would arrive. Did a tailless Manx cat eat my homework? No. What went down was seasonal-affective disorder – triggering weather, a mangled race schedule, and a surfeit of reasons to not submit columns about the pubs I was spending an inordinate amount of time in. The knock along effects of the wet, cold low-pressure bubble that enveloped the IoM turned the TT into a logistical challenge of epic proportions for race organizers, riders, and barkeeps. And forced visiting race fans and part-time pseudo journalists (I count myself in both categories) deep into the pubs, where the cask ale was fine but the stories unprintable. So, now safely back in hot, dry New Jersey, I’ll do my best to capture the TT scene belatedly.

In 2008, as I flew back from my ‘bucket list’ trip to the Isle of Man, it dawned that I would not be able to resist the ne plus ultra road races and atmosphere of the Isle of Man TT. So I furiously crafted the mental PowerPoint presentation for my wife, kids and boss on why I’d need two weeks off every June for the next 25 years or so.