MV Agusta Brutale 800


The 2013usta Brutale 800 is equipped with a new 800 engine which offers increased power, torque and riding dynamics. The unit delivers a maximum output of 92kw and 81 Nm of torque which is more than enough o propel the motorcycle to a maximum speed of 153,1 mph.

But power without handling is useless, thereby the motorcycle is fitted with a new adjustable suspension and a new advanced electronics package which makes the Brutale 800 leader in its segment.

The integrated management system of the motorcycle includes the first Full Ride by Wire with multi-map and integrated traction control. This system offers optimized delivery at all engine speeds, maximum engine efficiency in terms of fuel consumption, and the opportunity to select different engine characteristics, choosing from the four available maps.

You also get the traction control system which helps the bike stay stable on any road or track surface.

Hit the jump for more information on the 2013 Agusta Brutale 800.

MV Agusta Brutale 800 originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 1 February 2013 16:42 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/mv-agusta/2013-mv-agusta-brutale-800-ar144989.html

Andre Simon Rob Slotemaker Moises Solana Alex SolerRoig Raymond Sommer

Would Vettel or Alonso be more deserving champion?

On the surface, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso seem very different. Alonso is all dark, brooding intensity; charismatic but distant.

Vettel is much sunnier - chatty, long answers, always ready with a joke and, as the Abu Dhabi podium ceremony proved, a salty English phrase.

Underneath, though, they share more than might at first be apparent. Both are highly intelligent, intensely dedicated to their profession, and totally ruthless in their own way.

Equally, although Alonso’s wit may be less obvious than Vettel’s, it is highly developed, bone dry, effective, and often used to tactical ends.

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso

Sebastian Vettel (right) leads Fernando Alonso in the Championship going into the penultimate race of the season. Photo: Reuters  

And they are both, of course, utterly fantastic racing drivers.

These two all-time greats head into the final two races of a marathon and topsy-turvey 2012 Formula 1 season separated by a tiny margin. Ten points is the same as a fifth place - or the margin between finishing first and third.

Vettel, on account of being ahead and having comfortably the faster car, is favourite. But within F1 there is a feeling that Alonso would be the more deserving champion, so well has he performed in a car that is not the best.

But is that a fair and accurate point of view? Let's look at their seasons, and you can make your own judgement.

THE GOOD

Vettel

It seems strange now, in the wake of Red Bull's recent pulverising form, but at the start of this season the world champions were struggling.

The car always had very good race pace - it was right up with the quickest from Melbourne on - but qualifying was a different matter.

In China, Vettel did not make it into the top 10 shoot-out in qualifying; in Monaco he did – just - but then did not run because he didn’t feel he had the pace to make it worthwhile.

In both races, though, he was competitive, taking a fifth place in China and fourth in Monaco, where he nearly won.

That was the story of the first two-thirds of Vettel’s season. He kept plugging away, delivering the points and keeping himself in contention in the championship.

He took only one win – in Bahrain, from pole – and he should have had another in Valencia, when he was as dominant as he ever was in 2011 only to retire with alternator failure.

Then, when Red Bull finally hit the sweet spot with their car, he delivered four consecutive wins (one of them inherited following Lewis Hamilton’s retirement in Singapore), the last three from the front row of the grid, including two pole positions.

And in Abu Dhabi there was an impressive comeback drive to third after being demoted to the back of the grid, albeit with the help of a significant dose of luck.

Alonso

It is hard to think of a race in which, assuming he got around the first corner, Alonso has not been on world-class form.

In Australia, when Ferrari were really struggling with their car at the start of the season, he fought up from 12th on the grid to finish fifth (including getting up to eighth on the first lap).

His three victories have been among the best all year –in the wet in Malaysia from ninth on the grid; in Valencia from 11th, including some stunning, clinical and brave overtaking manoeuvres; and a superbly controlled defensive drive in Germany, holding off the faster cars of Vettel and Jenson Button for the entire race, by going flat out only where he needed to, lap after lap after lap.

Then, to pick out some other highlights, there was beating the Red Bulls to pole in the wet at both Silverstone and Hockenheim; his rise from 10th on the grid to third in Monza, including a courageous pass on Vettel a couple of laps after being forced on to the grass at nearly 200mph; and splitting the Red Bulls to finish second in India.

THE BAD

Vettel

Impressive Vettel has been this year, flawless he has not.

In Malaysia, he cost himself a fourth place by sweeping too early across the front of Narain Karthikeyan’s HRT while lapping it. There was a hint of frustration and a sense of entitlement about the move – as there was in his post-race comments in which he called Karthikeyan an “idiot”.

In Spain, he was penalised for ignoring yellow caution flags.

In Hockenheim he overtook Jenson Button’s McLaren off the circuit, earning himself a demotion from second to fifth place, despite the drivers being warned only a month or so before that they could not benefit by going off the track.

In Monza, he earned a drive-through penalty for pushing Alonso on to the grass at nearly 200mph, in presumed retaliation for a similar move the Spaniard had pulled on Vettel in the same place the previous year. Again, this was despite the drivers being warned that they had to leave room for a rival who had any part of his car alongside any part of theirs.

In qualifying in Japan, he got away with blocking Alonso at the chicane, despite Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne being penalised for doing the same thing to Williams’s Bruno Senna earlier in the session.

And in India he appeared to break guidelines about having all four wheels off the track at one of the chicanes on his only top-10 qualifying lap, but kept his time because the only available footage was from outside the car, and showed only the front wheels. So the FIA had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Alonso

Er… Has Alonso made any errors at all this year?

Well, he did cost himself a couple of points in China when he ran off the road attempting to pass Williams’s Pastor Maldonado around the outside of Turn Seven – a move that Vettel did pull off against Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen.

He spun in a downpour in second qualifying at Silverstone, just before the session was red-flagged because it was too dangerous.

And some argue that, defending a championship lead, he should not have put himself in the position he did at the start in Japan, where his rear wheel was tagged by Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus on the run to the first corner, putting Alonso out of the race.

The claim is that Alonso had everything to lose and that, while he did nothing wrong, trying to intimidate Raikkonen into backing off, and squeezing him twice, was too big a risk.

The opposing view of that incident is that Raikkonen, who was behind Alonso, had a better view of the situation and should have realised he wasn’t going anywhere from where he was and backed off.

THE MISFORTUNE

Vettel has lost points from two alternator failures, one in Valencia when he was leading and one in Italy when he was running sixth. And third became fourth in Canada when a planned one-stop strategy had to he aborted. That’s 36 points lost.

Alonso was taken out twice at the start – once definitely not his fault (Belgium, when Romain Grosjean’s flying Lotus narrowly missed his head); and once arguably not (Japan).

He lost a possible win in Monaco because Ferrari didn’t realise that if they left him out a bit longer before his pit stop he could have overtaken leader Mark Webber and second-placed Nico Rosberg as well as third-placed Lewis Hamilton.

He should have finished second in Canada and probably won in Silverstone - rather than being fifth and second - but for errant tyre strategies, and he would have been on the front row and finished at least second in Monza had his rear anti-roll bar not failed in qualifying.

That’s 60-odd points lost.

A POST SCRIPT

While we’re analysing Vettel and Alonso, spare a thought for Lewis Hamilton.

The McLaren driver finally lost any mathematical chance of the title after his retirement from the lead in Abu Dhabi. He is 90 points behind Vettel.

Hamilton has said that he has driven at his absolute best this season, and it’s hard to disagree – he has not made a single mistake worth the name.

But his year has been a story of operational and technical failures by his team.

At least three wins have been lost (Spain, Singapore and Abu Dhabi), as well as a series of other big points finishes, as detailed by BBC Radio 5 live commentator James Allen in his blog.

Without that misfortune, Hamilton would be right up with Vettel and Alonso, if not ahead of them.

So, if you’re thinking about ‘deserving’ world champions, if such a thing exists, spare a thought for him too.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/andrewbenson/2012/11/benson.html

Rob Slotemaker Moises Solana Alex SolerRoig Raymond Sommer Vincenzo Sospiri

The F1 jigsaw puzzle falling into place

With Luiz Razia now confirming that he has a deal to race for Marussia F1 in 2013, and an announcement expected this afternoon, and a Giedo Van der Garde press conference in Amsterdam within the next hour, it is safe to say that the Dutchman has a deal with Caterham F1. This means that the [...]

Source: http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/the-f1-jigsaw-puzzle-falling-into-place/

Philip FotheringhamParker AJ Foyt Giorgio Francia Don Freeland HeinzHarald Frentzen

Kawasaki Teryx4 750 4x4 EPS LE


The 2012 Kawasaki Teryx4 EPS Luxury Edition (LE) is packed with a long list of features which make it a luxury, comfortable and modern RUV.

The exclusive features offered by the Kawasaki Teryx4 750 4x4 RPS LE include beautifully machined, 12-spoke cast aluminum wheels that are lighter than the steel wheels they replace, and a cab roof/sun top that protects driver and passengers from weather and sun, maximizing the comfort factor and adding a bit of aesthetic appeal in the process.

The vehicle is powered by a liquid-cooled, 90-degree, four-stroke V-twin engine which offers a maximum towing capacity of 1,300 lbs and is mated on a continuously variable belt-drive transmission with high and low range, plus reverse and wet centrifugal clutch.

You also get the Electric Power Steering (EPS) system which helps you move with agility on fast trails and in tighter situations.

Hit the jump for more information on the Kawasaki Teryx4 750 4x4 EPS LE.

Kawasaki Teryx4 750 4x4 EPS LE originally appeared on topspeed.com on Friday, 1 February 2013 05:21 EST.

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Source: http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/kawasaki/2012-kawasaki-teryx4-750-4x4-eps-le-ar121492.html

Les Leston Pierre Levegh Bayliss Levrett Jackie Lewis Stuart LewisEvans

Chilton: I Am Ready For F1

New Marussia driver Max Chilton believes that he is ready to step up to Formula One. The Brit enjoyed a successful 2012 in the GP2 series, claiming two race wins, impressing enough to take Charles Pic?s position with the team. At just 21, many speculated that it may be too much, too soon for Chilton, [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Formula1Fancast/~3/ZiRQNFv43h4/chilton-i-am-ready-for-f1

Harry Merkel Arturo Merzario Roberto Mieres Francois Migault John Miles