ALEIX ESPARGARÓ IS FAST STRAIGHT AWAY ON THE FIRST DAY OF PRACTICE IN QATAR

MAVERICK VIÑALES FINISHES JUST 55 ONE HUNDREDTHS OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN

Under Losail’s floodlights in Qatar, the 2022 MotoGP world championship kicked off with the first day of free practice.
After a winter season of positive tests, the new Aprilia RS-GP shone with Aleix Espargaró, consistently in the group of leaders from the first practice session and then easily making it into the top ten, thanks to a seventh-place time of 1’53.886. Both the ranking and the time could have been significantly better if Aleix hadn’t had to cross trajectories with Viñales on the final turn of the decisive lap.
With this great performance, Aleix has a good chance to get a spot in Q2 if, as seems likely, the temperature conditions in FP3 tomorrow, scheduled for 1:15 PM local time, should make it extremely difficult for everyone to improve on their times from this evening.

Maverick Viñales, on the other hand, on this track for the first time astride an Aprilia, remained consistently just outside the top ten, busy testing various settings but without finding the best solution. He finished with the eighteenth time at 1’54.524.

Aleix Espargaró
“It was a positive day. I’m pleased because we started well. The bike is proving to be better than the one last year and I had the potential to finish much closer to the top. But it’s all good. The important thing today was to finish in the top ten and we did that. I feel fast and we’ll try to do well in qualifying tomorrow because here, with such a long straight, getting out front straight away is extremely important.”

Maverick Viñales
“I would have liked to have been farther forward but I’m not worried. It’s just that adapting to a new circuit for this new bike was complicated. The references on the track changed completely and obviously we have not had time here to test many solutions like we were able to do during the winter tests. We tried going in a direction which wasn’t the right one, but now it seems clear where we need to make changes. We need to keep working and improve in every session, beginning already tomorrow.”

The winners of Motorcycle Live’s ‘Best in Show’ 2021 awards have been announced following visitors to Motorcycle Live, in association with Bikesure Insurance, casting their votes.

Motorcycle Live 2021 welcomed a record 55 manufacturers and boasted more new product reveals than ever before. Visitors had nine opportunities to get to two wheels and there was chance for the whole family to get involved. New for 2021 was the Electric Feature, offering visitors the chance to test some of the latest electric bikes, scooters and bicycles on a dedicated indoor track.

BMW Motorrad UK scooped a double win, taking the trophy for both ‘Best Manufacturer Stand’ and ‘Best Manufacturer Experience’. BMW showcased its full 2022 model range - from the new R 18 Transcontinental to the all-electric CE 04 - as well as one-off R 18 customs and M 1000 RR race bikes fresh from the 2021 British Superbike season. Crowds were wowed by the ‘Make Life A Ride’ live action arena where some of the UK’s best on-and off-road experts showed riders how to best enhance their capabilities.

Winning the award for ‘Best Non-Manufacturer Experience’ was Helmet City who impressed visitors with its knowledgeable staff and extensive product line-up, selling ‘everything apart from the bike’.

Scott Grimsdall, Head of Marketing of BMW Motorrad UK, said: “Motorcycle Live has always provided us with a great opportunity to interact with large numbers of current and prospective customers, so we’re particularly grateful to win both the ‘Best Manufacturer Stand’ and ‘Best Manufacturer Experience’ awards for the latest show. I’d like to thank all of those who voted for us, and those who took the time to experience our products and live demonstrations at the NEC. It took an enormous amount of effort and commitment from the team, and we’re extremely proud of what they achieved.”

Jennifer Holmes, Director of Helmet City, added: “After over 15 years of exhibiting at Motorcycle Live, we are thrilled to have been given this award and it’s testament to the dedication of all our staff. We have always put safety first when fitting helmets correctly, giving our customers honest advice and, of course, giving our best price. Thank you to everyone who voted for us.”

Finlay McAllan, Managing Director of Motorcycle Live, commented: “While it was a year filled with uncertainty for visitors and exhibitors, one thing that we were certain of was that we were going to make sure everyone had the best experience they could. I want to say a big thanks to all those who worked hard to achieve that, and we look forward to seeing you all in 2022!”

Motorcycle Live 2022, in association with Bikesure Insurance, will take place at The NEC, Birmingham, between 19-27 November 2022. See you there!

Mortons Media Group, owner of the Classic Dirt Bike Show, is delighted to announce that Hagon Shocks has signed a new three-year sponsorship deal.

The Classic Dirt Bike Show, held in February at the Telford International Centre, is the event of the year for classic off-road motorcycle enthusiasts of all disciplines.

Hagon Shocks, famed for its aftermarket shock absorbers and wheel building services, has been a long-time supporter of the show and recognised the continuing value of the event to the Hagon business. 

Tony Hutchison of Hagon said of the deal: “We’re delighted to continue to support the Classic Dirt Bike Show and this new three-year agreement demonstrates the value of this event not just to Hagon Shocks but the whole industry. It was great to see the vibe return to the show in February post-pandemic and reaffirmed our decision to be the headline sponsor was the right one.”

The Classic Dirt Bike Show sponsored by Hagon Shocks will be back on February 18-19, 2023. For more information, please visit www.classicdirtbikeshow.co.uk

Sunra UK has announced a new collaboration with leading motorcycle and scooter tracking specialists, BikeTrac, endorsing the all-new BikeTrac Lite product for use and fitment on the entire Sunra EV range of models.

Launched last December, BikeTrac Lite offers a fit-and-forget tracking solution for smaller capacity or lower valued machines and like the regular full-feature BikeTrac device, enjoys Thatcham S7 rated security, offering owners greater protection against bike theft.

Announcing the endorsement and collaboration, Sunra UK’s Logan Black, commented, “As the Sunra range of models becomes more popular, we are keen to make sure that our customers have a range of services and products to keep them mobile. While our products do come with an alarm and a physical immobiliser function as standard, locking the rear wheel when unauthorised movement is detected, we’re mindful that bike thieves go to extreme lengths. With BikeTrac we are confident that we have a proven product and partner to offer our customers greater protection.”

As well as offering additional peace of mind to Sunra owners, the BikeTrac collaboration also provides insurance advantages too, with Sunra’s official insurance scheme provider, Lexham, providing up to 10% discount to owners of any model equipped with a BikeTrac unit.

BikeTrac’s Bill Taylor added, “We are delighted to gain endorsement from the Sunra UK team. Our BikeTrac Lite product has been developed for small capacity and lower valued machines, and so to have our product endorsed for EV use with Sunra is ideal. The lower draw rate of our products and the internal battery make it ideal for use on electric bikes and thanks to the small unit size, it can be easily installed in discrete locations on any of the Sunra lineup. We look forward to protecting many Sunra owners in the future.”

For more information on BikeTrac visit www.biketrac.co.uk and for details of the Sunra range visit www.sunra-uk.com. 

Every week National Lottery players raise over £30 million for good cause projects. Having benefited from National Lottery funding, the British Motor Museum is delighted to be supporting the Open Week by offering discounted entry to all National Lottery players.

From 19 - 27 March the Museum is offering National Lottery players £2 off standard Museum entry for up to 5 people, as a thank you for the funding it received for the Collections Centre development project. Anyone who pre-books using the discount code detailed in the link below, or presents their National Lottery ticket or scratch-card on these dates will be able to take up this special offer.

The Collections Centre, which opened in February 2016, received £1.45 million of lottery funding. The Centre enables visitors to view cars from the reserve collections of both the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, and its partner the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. It also houses a vehicle restoration and conservation workshop and visitors can view the vehicle restoration projects in action for the first time in this new purpose-built facility.

The Lottery funding has also assisted with the development of its volunteer programme with over 70 volunteers regularly engaged with guiding, restoration, outreach, learning events and more. 

The British Motor Museum is one of many participating National Lottery-funded projects across the UK who are proudly taking part in National Lottery Open Week, coming together to say #ThanksToYou to the players with special offers. To find out how to book the #ThanksToYou £2 off offer and its terms and conditions please visit https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/national-lottery-ow-terms-conditions. To find out more about other venues participating in the National Lottery Open Week visit www.NationalLotteryOpenWeek.com.

Normal Museum entry is just £40 for a family in advance or £44 on the day, £14.50 for adults in advance or £16 on the day, £12.50 for concessions in advance or £14 on the day, £9 for children (5-16 years) in advance or £10 on the day and under 5s are FREE. There is also the option to Gift Aid or donate your entry fee and get an Annual Pass in return, at no extra cost. To find out more information about the Museum please visit https://www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk/ or call 01926 895300.