Throughout this summer and ending on Sunday 2nd October, the Rockers return as Coventry Transport Museum and Ace Cafe London, two world famous transport attractions, showcase an exhibition "Coming of Age at the Ace Cafe" that will take you on a journey through the history of the iconic cafe, its customers and what it meant to be a British teenager in the 1950s and 60s - the story of fashion, the bikes and the music that defined a generation.

Planned as a roadside transport cafe during the 1930s, the Ace, on London's North Circular Road, quickly became a place where motorcycle riders gathered.  In the 1950's the cafe became the destination for a new breed of motorcyclist; the teenagers who met there listened to rock n' roll and burned up the road doing the 'Ton' - 100mph!

The exhibition, designed to tour and which celebrates the 10th anniversary of the cafe having been fully re-opened, will offer visitors the opportunity to explore and experience the sights and sounds of the Ace, leather jackets are optional!

Coming of Age at the Ace Cafe
Coventry Transport Museum
Ends Sunday 2nd October 2011

www.transport-museum.com

Fabien Foret won today’s tenth round World Supersport championship race after a typically gutsy and flamboyant ride took him from 12th place on the grid to victory at Imola in italy.

Problems during qualifying yesterday left the French Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider starting from the outside of the third row, as his team-mate, Florian Marino started the race in second place trying to chase down series and race leader Chaz Davies.

Davies led for the first 14 of 19 laps around the 4.936km Imola circuit, but the engine on his Yamaha expired on lap fifteen leaving Honda-mounted Sam Lowes in charge and Marino well-place in second place.

As Marino’s podium challenge began to fade, however, his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda team-mate continued his charge through the field and, by lap 15, Foret was in second place behind Lowes.

Foret timed his move to the front to perfection with three laps to go and finished just 0.166s ah ead of Lowes, with Marino crossing just off the podium in fourth place for his best result of the season.

Fabien Foret – 1st

We made a big change for the race and I couldn’t push hard at the beginning because I didn’t really have the feeling. It felt like a new bike, but as soon as I got used to the new feeling I pushed and pushed and managed to catch the leading group. I was feeling pretty strong but I was pushing very hard, so I am very happy to win again today. I want to say a special thanks to the team because it’s been a strange weekend. Everything was good on Friday but yesterday was a tough day. They stayed with me though and gave me the bike I could win on today.

Florian Marino – 4th

I am very happy because I pushed as hard as I could on the limit throughout the whole race – I could not do any more. So many times I nearly ran off the track an d I knew that after Fabien came past me I could not go with him. But I stayed near the front for the whole race so thanks to the team for giving me back a good feeling with the bike. I have two more chances to get on to the podium this season and we will try as hard as we can to achieve this goal.

Ronald ten Kate – team-manager

That was certainly a dramatic Supersport race, and one that I think will hit the history books. We changed the setting quite a bit for Fabien so, apparently, for the first laps he was trying to get used to the bike. Then, all of a sudden, he was the quickest man on the track – the quickest man ever, in fact, as he set a new record on lap 11. He propelled himself forward and brought the win for us. There was a big battle going on for the final podium slot, which unfortunately did not go Florian’s way. However, this was his best result for us and he’s really beginning to understand how to push the bike to its limit over the full race distance. I’ve already been asked about the championship, but Davies still has quite a big lead with two races left. For sure there is still some pressure on him because he and his team cannot afford any mistakes.

2011 World Supersport championship, round ten – Imola, Italy (4.936km) - 19 laps:
1 Fabien Foret (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda 35m56.214s
2 Sam Lowes (GBR) Honda +0.166s
3 Broc Parkes (AUS) Kawasaki +2.499
4 Florian Marino (FRA) Hannspree Ten Kate Honda +3.833

Championship points after nine of 12 rounds:
1 Chaz Davies (GBR) Yamaha 171, 2 Foret 136, 3 David Salom (ESP) Kawasaki 123, 4 Parkes 120, 8 Marino 71

Next round: Magny-Cours, France – 30 September – 2 October

The Honda TT Legends will today become the first team to run electronically controlled Combined ABS at World Championship level. The World Endurance contenders will use an ABS-equipped CBR1000RR Fireblade for the Le Mans 24-hour race, which begins today at 3pm (Central European Time). 
 
The team has carried out extensive testing of the system over the past few months with a view to introducing it to the race bike in 2012. The results have been so successful however that the decision has been made to run Combined ABS at the penultimate round of the 2011 EWC season at Le Mans, France.
 
Honda pioneered the introduction of ABS on road-going motorcycles and the manufacturer has already experienced racing success at national level when a Combined ABS-equipped Fireblade ridden by Karl Muggeridge won the 2010 German Superbike Championship. This is the first time that Honda has used the system during a World championship. 
 
Neil Tuxworth – Honda TT Legends team manager
 
Our plan was always to develop ABS during the season and we’ve done a lot of work at various tests. We are now very confident that we are ready to go out and race it. All the riders are happy with the system, we’ve encountered no problems whatsoever during our test period and in fact the riders have lapped quicker here in Le Mans on the ABS bike than on the non-ABS bike. It’s certainly our plan for next season to run ABS continually. We have to make that move at a certain point and this seems the ideal event to introduce ABS. The fact that it is a 24-hour race means it will be an extra long test for the system and Honda has a long history of proving its technology in the ultimate competitive environment. I have no real worries from a racing point of view – the system has more parts so it might take a bit longer in the pits in the event of crash damage – but I think that is a small price to pay for the fact that the ABS system is very, very good.

James McBride from Kettering had productive weekend (15th-18th September) of testing and then racing with TANC Racing Endurance team, finishing in third place at Oulton Park Hottrax Endurance race.
 
The on track action started in Almeria where he tested the PB Racing BMW in readiness for the Macau GP, which will take place on the 19th November on the Guia street circuit.
 
He racked up 47 laps in five sessions on Friday getting used to the Michelin slicks which worked extremely well. He gradually reduced his lap time to 1min 44secs, a personal best for the well-known road racer.
 
McBride made a mad dash back to the UK to compete in the Hottrax Endurance event on the ex-Riba MSS ZX600R. As well as finishing with a podium position the fast Kettering man also took the fastest 600 lap of the race in the soaking wet conditions, fending off others on larger machinery.
 
Team-mate Chris Mason is now in a comfortable second place in the National 1000 Championship with the help of James with just one event to go at the end of October at Snetterton 300. McBride needs to borrow a bike again for this as the BMW will be en-route to Hong Kong, and the 600 would be punished at the uber-fast two-mile race circuit.
 
McBride said: “It has been busy but very worthwhile. The BMW is working well and I can’t wait to take it to Macau and try for another top ten finish. As for the endurance event, it was great fun and once again we took the fight to the big boys! I’ve got to thank Jez Murray for the use of the ZX6R at Oulton, it performed brilliantly. I also need to thank Pete Bleackley for the BMW for Macau, it’s going to be a great event and I now can’t wait to get out there.”
 
Thanks also to Michelin tyres, Spidi UK, GB Racing, Jez Murray and PBMotorsport.
 
The 58th Macau Grand Prix will take place on the 17th-20th November for further information visit.
 
If anyone can help McBride with a bike for the Snetterton 300 Endurance please contact him on 07917 175963.

The IAM is supporting calls to make anti-lock braking systems (ABS) compulsory on all new large motorcycles by 2015.  

MEPs will shortly debate proposals that would force manufacturers to introduce ABS as standard on all new motorcycles over 125cc. The proposals set a deadline of 2017 for this, although the IAM and the FIA would like to see this brought forward by two years so that the safety benefits can be seen as soon as possible.  

In 2010, the number of motorcyclists involved in fatal accidents in the UK came to 403* – 21 per cent of all road deaths. Yet motorcyclists make up just four per cent of road users. The risk of being killed or injured is 50 times greater for motorcyclists than for car drivers, over the same distance.  

Based on recent research by the FIA and from experience in Italy, where nearly a quarter of all new large bikes already have ABS, the IAM estimates that compulsory introduction would save 1500 lives a year across Europe. In the UK three quarters of all bikers killed are riding the biggest bikes so this technology has huge potential to save lives here. The IAM’s report Licensed to Skill also shows that 'sudden braking' and 'slippery road' are in the top 10 causation factors for motorcycle casualties.  

IAM director of policy and research Neil Greig said: “ABS is available now on many new bikes and the evidence is clear from across Europe that it is delivering fewer deaths. Carefully crafted legislation making ABS mandatory for all large road motorcycles would make motorcyclists safer, although we do still have concerns about the long term reliability of some ABS systems. On motorcycles ABS is still prone to faults because it is more open to the elements and repairs can be very expensive. Compulsory fitment will bring down unit costs and allow all riders to enjoy the safety benefits.”  

www.iam.org.uk