(Original, copyrighted Roadracingworld.com material such as this photo and this post may not be copied, cut-and-pasted, posted, published or reproduced at any time, any where. Do not copy and repost this post and/or photo on any BBS or Internet site. If you wish to discuss this topic on a BBS, post a link instead.) Apparently, racecars are tough on racetrack pavement. The new pavement at Mid-Ohio is already showing some cracking. Maybe that’s why there are sealer patches in some corners…

(Original, copyrighted Roadracingworld.com material such as these photos and this post may not be copied, cut-and-pasted, posted, published or reproduced at any time, any where. Do not copy and repost this post and/or these photos on any BBS or Internet site. If you wish to discuss this topic on a BBS, post a link instead.) Large patches of sealer have been laid down on various corners of the newly repaved Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Traction on the sealer varies from traction on the base asphalt.

(Original, copyrighted Roadracingworld.com material such as these photos and this post may not be copied, cut-and-pasted, posted, published or reproduced at any time, any where. Do not copy and repost this post and/or photo on any BBS or Internet site. If you wish to discuss this topic on a BBS, post a link instead.) They’re big, they’re beefy, they’re concrete reinforced with rebar. They’re, The Curbs Of Mid-Ohio…

(Original, copyrighted Roadracingworld.com material such as this photo and this post may not be copied, cut-and-pasted, posted, published or reproduced at any time, any where. Do not copy and repost this post and/or photo on any BBS or Internet site. If you wish to discuss this topic on a BBS, post a link instead.) New, unique curbs at Mid-Ohio are designed to make car drivers keep their wheels on the pavement but are very high and steeply-faced, making riders worry about dragging handlebars and front brake levers on them. Track officials are discussing a plan to grind down the curbs to a more conventional profile, before the AMA Superbike National scheduled for August 4-6.

2006 MotoGP World Championship, round 10 German Grand Prix, Sachsenring July 14/15/16 Michelin riders have won all eight premier-class races held at the Sachsenring since 1998 and they also dominated at the German GP’s previous homes, the Nurburgring and Hockenheim, where they won all but one of seven events from 1991 to 1997. The Sachsenring may be one of MotoGP’s slower circuits (only Estoril, Laguna Seca and Valencia are slower) but the undulating anti-clockwise venue features one of MotoGP’s fastest, most dramatic corners. Turn 12 is epic: a blind, high-speed, adverse-camber right-hander that is attacked in fifth gear at well over 200km/h, a real test of riders’ skill, bravery and commitment. Michelin riders go into the German GP aiming for their ninth win of the season. So far they have scored eight wins from the first nine races and 23 podium places from a possible 27. They also fill eight of the top nine positions in the current World Championship point standings led by Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) and Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211VMichelin). MICHELIN’S RESPONSE TO THE CHALLENGE OF THE SACHSENRING “The Sachsenring is a low-speed edge grip circuit,” says Michelin’s motorcycle racing director Nicolas Goubert. “It is the only place where the 250s could lap faster than the 500s. That was a few years ago, around the original short circuit, but that track wasn’t so dissimilar to the current layout. “For sure it’s not one of our favorite circuits because it is pretty slow, it’s a bit of a shame to see 250 horsepower motorcycles riding around what resembles a go-kart track! But the Sachsenring does feature some fast, interesting corners and is quite challenging for us. The circuit is fairly demanding on tires because the bikes spend a lot of time leaned over through all the long corners, so it demands a lot from the edge of the tires. That is what makes the Sachsenring different traction is important here but not as important as edge grip. The rear gets the biggest workout; the layout isn’t so tough on front tires because there isn’t much heavy braking or trail-braking into corners. There are one or two heavy braking zones, but the top speeds are low. “The circuit is also quite asymmetric with ten left-handers and only four rights. It is similar in that respect to Valencia and Phillip Island which are also anti-clockwise circuits, though Valencia and Phillip Island are more asymmetric than Sachsenring. The other two particularly asymmetric tracks we go to are Estoril and Shanghai. Even though the Sachsenring’s many left-handers put a lot of heat into the tires it isn’t a really high-wear circuit. I would say it’s a medium circuit for tire wear. “We never expect lap speeds to increase dramatically at this track, even though the extra edge grip offered by our 2006 rear slick should help. The layout makes it difficult to get big improvements in lap times because the many left-handers work the left side of the tires so hard, plus most of the corners interlink, so improving speed out of the corners doesn’t win you a lot of time down the next straights, as is the case at many racetracks. “Rain is always a possibility at this race but the fact that the track is very undulating means that it drains quite well, so you don’t get large areas of deep standing water.” SACHSENRING DATA Lap record: Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211VMichelin), 1:23.705 (2005), 157.883km/h/98.104mph Pole position 2005: Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 1:22.785 Recent winners of the German GP 2005 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 35:04.43 (shortened restarted race) 2004 Valentino Rossi (Gauloises Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin), 42:23.287 2003 Sete Gibernau (Telefonica Movistar Honda RC211V-Michelin), 42:41.180 2002 Valentino Rossi (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin), 43:32.783 2001 Max Biaggi (Marlboro Yamaha Team-Michelin), 43:36.983 2000 Alex Barros (Emerson Honda Pons-Michelin), 43:54.632 1999 Kenny Roberts (Telefonica Movistar Suzuki-Michelin), 45:59.732 1998 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda-Michelin), 46:00.876 1997 Mick Doohan (Repsol Honda-Michelin), Nurburgring 1996 Luca Cadalora (Kanemoto Honda-Michelin), Nurburgring MICHELIN MotoGP RIDERS 2006 Nicky Hayden, Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin) Toni Elias, Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V-Michelin) Casey Stoner (Honda LCR RC211V-Michelin) Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta Honda RC211V-Michelin) Kenny Roberts Junior (Team Roberts KR211V-Michelin) Colin Edwards, Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin)

Before next World Championship round at Sachsenring July 16th, KTM road racing went for successful two days testing at Auto Motodromo Brno/CZ race track. In hot summer weather the KTM teams turned their main attention on testing tire and chassis set up. Austrian Michael Ranseder suffered a pelvis fracture on Wednesday afternoon after high siding at the final right hand corner. The 19 year old GP junior is going to miss the race at Sachsenring. At the moment there is no plan for a replacement rider. Red Bull KTM GP 125 Mika Kallio – 2’09.24 Julian Simon – did not participate, because of injury Red Bull KTM GP 250 Hiroshi Aoyama 2’04.4 Manuel Poggiali 2’04.7 Red Bull KTM GP Juniors Stefan Bradl 2’10.6 Michael Ranseder 2’11.9 Red Bull ADAC KTM Juniors Randy Krummenacher 2’09.8 Robin Lässer 2’11.2 Track: dry /53°C Air Temperature: 27°C

Rizla Suzuki has recovered both of Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne’s stolen GSX-R1000 racebikes. Working in conjunction with the North Yorkshire police, the team received information leading to the whereabouts of the bikes which were stolen on Tuesday night from a locked garage at the Croft circuit. The bikes were safely recovered on Wednesday and one was used by Byrne, who was fourth fastest at the end of the official two-day British Superbike test at Croft in North Yorkshire. Rizla Suzuki Team Manager Robert Wicks said: “The team is delighted to have the bikes back in its possession. “The theft has cost the team dearly, not least because of the development time lost by Shakey. It has also raised serious questions regarding circuit security at Croft and we will be working closely with the BSB organizers to make sure this cannot happen to us or any other team in the future. “I would like to thank all the members of the media and the fans of the series who lent us their support after the bikes were stolen. I can promise you that Rizla Suzuki will be stronger as a result of this and we are already looking forward to getting back to the racing at Knockhill next week.” Byrne rode the Rizla Suzuki development fuel cell bike in the morning and set a blistering lap time. He then returned to a standard bike in the afternoon and was just as fast at the 2.12-mile long North Yorkshire circuit. Leon Haslam on a Ducati was the quickest rider in warm dry conditions. Rizla Suzuki now travels to Knockhill in Scotland for the eighth round of the series on July 16th. Byrne said: “I am happy with the set up on both bikes I rode today. We worked hard on setting up the fuel cell bike and it is very fast. I tried my normal set-up in the afternoon and matched the time of the development bike which is encouraging. Trying new ideas, parts and settings is what testing is all about and we have learnt a lot these last two days. “I didn’t use a qualifying tyre which makes my lap times even better in comparison to the riders who did. On race rubber I was keeping pace with Gregorio Lavilla and that’s a good benchmark. I’m happy and the team has plenty of feedback on where I think we can cut lap times further. We’ll be working on that before returning to race here next month.” Test Times: 1: Leon Haslam (Ducati) 1:19.976, 2: Jonathan Rea (Honda) +0.217, 3: Gregorio Lavilla (Ducati) +0.648, 4: Shane Byrne (Rizla Suzuki) +0.942, 5: Michael Rutter (Honda) +1.112, 6: Michael Laverty (Honda) +1.484.

WERA racer David Schulte Jr. married Winnie Kot, June 25th in Oahu, Hawaii.