Motorsports

MotoGP rider Alvaro Bautista of the San Carlo Honda Gresini team met some passionate Indian bikers in New Delhi recently as part of the Castrol Power1 Ride to MotoGP campaign.

Indian bikers were asked what they would do for a chance to ‘Ride to MotoGP’. Bikers responded by posting videos and using a Facebook application that saw 20,000 users and 1,735 entries. Castrol Power1 also connected with a 500,000-strong biker community across India by means of a virtual journey on motorcycle racing and the company’s 100-year association with the same. Bikers aere also invited to watch MotoGP 2012 live race screenings.

Contest winners will be treated to the thrill of a live MotoGP race at Sepang later in October 2012, accompanied by Castrol Power1 Brand Ambassador John Abraham. They will also cheer for the company’s rider Alvaro Bautista, who is looking to reach the podium again this season. Alvaro Bautista expressed his appreciation for Indian bikers’ passion for biking and motorsports, and joined @Castrolbiking on Twitter to remain in touch with Indian bikers. The company plans to bring more such riders to India and allow Indian bikers further chances to experience the fun of riding.

Honda has just unveiled their new CRF450 Rally model at the 2012 International Motorcycle, Scooter and Bike Fair (INTERMOT) in Cologne, Germany.

Honda competed nine times from 1981 in the forerunner of the present Dakar Rally, the Paris-Dakar Rally and this new machine will compete in the 2013 Dakar Rally to be held in January. Frenchman Cyril Neveu got Honda its first victory in 1982, the race’s fourth year, and from 1986 to 1989 Honda won four consecutive titles for an overall record of five victories in nine years. The CRF450 Rally model, is based on Honda’s commercial CRF450X enduro racing model and also features Honda’s Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI) system to ensure optimum fuel efficiency and durability. This year’s race should be interesting as Honda will be aiming for its first rally victory with a model based on a production machine. The CRF450 Rally model is still currently under development but has already undergone testing in Japan, and will be ridden in its first race at the Morocco Rally from October 14th. The five riders set to compete in the Dakar Rally will ride the Morocco Rally mainly to gather data, identify any problems with the machine under actual race conditions, and pinpoint any operational issues. This year 11-time U.S. Baja 1000 champion Johnny Campbell (USA) will join the four riders already announced—Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Felipe Zanol (Brazil), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina) to complete the five-man Honda team.

Honda has just unveiled their new CRF450 Rally model at the 2012 International Motorcycle, Scooter and Bike Fair (INTERMOT) in Cologne, Germany.

Honda competed nine times from 1981 in the forerunner of the present Dakar Rally, the Paris-Dakar Rally and this new machine will compete in the 2013 Dakar Rally to be held in January. Frenchman Cyril Neveu got Honda its first victory in 1982, the race’s fourth year, and from 1986 to 1989 Honda won four consecutive titles for an overall record of five victories in nine years. The CRF450 Rally model, is based on Honda’s commercial CRF450X enduro racing model and also features Honda’s Programmed Fuel Injection (PGM-FI) system to ensure optimum fuel efficiency and durability. This year’s race should be interesting as Honda will be aiming for its first rally victory with a model based on a production machine. The CRF450 Rally model is still currently under development but has already undergone testing in Japan, and will be ridden in its first race at the Morocco Rally from October 14th. The five riders set to compete in the Dakar Rally will ride the Morocco Rally mainly to gather data, identify any problems with the machine under actual race conditions, and pinpoint any operational issues. This year 11-time U.S. Baja 1000 champion Johnny Campbell (USA) will join the four riders already announced—Helder Rodrigues (Portugal), Felipe Zanol (Brazil), Sam Sunderland (United Kingdom) and Javier Pizzolito (Argentina) to complete the five-man Honda team.

James Toseland recently tied the knot with singer Katie Melua at the Royal Botanic Garden in Kew.

James and Katie started seeing each other in April 2011, when James went to one of Katie’s concerts at Sheffield City Hall where the two met for the first time. They announced their engagement in January 2012 and in September 2012 the two got married. When asked about his bride Toseland commented

“Katie has been great. She had no interest in me whatsoever because I was a motorcycle racer. She hadn’t heard of me. She wouldn’t even know what Valentino Rossi looked like.

“It was only because her piano player was such a fan that he kept talking about it on the tour bus after he’d met me. “It was nice and a relief for someone so established to be attracted to me because of my personality.”

James Toseland recently tied the knot with singer Katie Melua at the Royal Botanic Garden in Kew.

James and Katie started seeing each other in April 2011, when James went to one of Katie’s concerts at Sheffield City Hall where the two met for the first time. They announced their engagement in January 2012 and in September 2012 the two got married. When asked about his bride Toseland commented

“Katie has been great. She had no interest in me whatsoever because I was a motorcycle racer. She hadn’t heard of me. She wouldn’t even know what Valentino Rossi looked like.

“It was only because her piano player was such a fan that he kept talking about it on the tour bus after he’d met me. “It was nice and a relief for someone so established to be attracted to me because of my personality.”