Bautista starts working straight away on his race setup, improving from one session to the next. Laverty sizes up his Aprilia RS-GP

Sachsenring (Germany), 10 July 2015 - MotoGP kicks off the second half of the season on the twisting German Sachsenring circuit. Alvaro Bauitista and Michael Laverty took on the first day of free practice with different intentions. If the German weekend is another stop along the Aprilia V4 development path for Alvaro, for Laverty it was, first and foremost, the time to gain confidence with the bike - which he already knows well, since he has been working as a test team rider - in race configuration.

A sliding crash this morning complicated things for Bautista who, fresh from surgery on his right forearm right after the Assen race, was bothered a bit by the injury. In the afternoon the Spanish Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider in any case was able to get back onto the track, lapping on the same tyres with the clear intention of getting the bike set up for the race on Sunday, but also managing to shave almost 6 tenths of a second off his time from the morning session. Laverty showed consistent progress in FP1 but changing bikes slowed him up in the second session. In the end Bautista closed out the day with the 18th best combined time at 1’23,286. Laverty had the 24th time with 1’24,446.


ROMANO ALBESIANO (Aprilia Racing Manager)
“Another day of testing and hard work fine tuning. Alvaro was looking good going into turns and riding through them, but we still need to improve traction, so we need to work on improving grip in that condition. Laverty came out of the morning practice session satisfied, ending with the 23rd best time. However, in the afternoon he had to change the bike he had used in FP1, which is the one he felt better on, and with the other one he had a chattering problem that kept him from improving further.”

FAUSTO GRESINI (Team Manager)
“We are doing a lot of tests on the bike, as usual, but Alvaro, despite the crash which slowed him down this morning, is already in line with our expectations. Tomorrow we would still like to take a step forward because I think that we can really do well on this track. Laverty had a good day of practice and he started off working well with the team.”

ALVARO BAUTISTA
“This morning I took a spill on turn 11. The problem is that the spot where I had surgery on my arm last week opened up a bit.. But in the afternoon I was still able to ride. We used the same tyre for the entire session in order to find a good setting. Our most important goal is to improve grip at the rear. I need to feel the tyre more on the tarmac.”

MICHAEL LAVERTY
“In FP1 I felt very comfortable in the saddle every time I went out onto the track and in fact I did my best time in the last run. In the afternoon unfortunately I was only able to get one clean run in at the end of the session so I wasn't able to improve. In general I've got a good feeling with the bike. There's room for improvement in terms of grip. Today I tried the rear suspension link like the one Alvaro uses briefly and it seems to make things a bit better, so tomorrow I'll try it on both bikes.”

The merging of three of Australia’s largest tour and rental operators means that ‘Down Under’ two-wheeled explorers have a single source for pre-ride advice, rental bikes, tours and support no matter where they roam across Oz.

BikeRoundOz has been serving the region for 14 years. By joining forces with the Australian division of worldwide tour operator Compass Expeditions and Bikescape, who are Sydney’s largest rental and tour company, the new organization has a central booking office with collection and drop off depots in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Cairns and Adelaide.

“The key things that ensure fellow riders enjoy their time in Australia are high quality advice from real people that have ridden the routes many times, expertly prepared bikes, attention to detail and fast support no matter where you are in the country” says Selena Thurbon, the new MD of BikeRoundOz. “The country is vast and without good knowledgeable advice you can miss all the good stuff. Our daily focus is to ensure clients make the most of their time here whether it’s a day trip from the city or a cross continent, gravel road epic!”, continues Selena.

The merging of these experienced rental, self-guided and guided tour operators provides riders a seamless one stop shop no matter which part of Australia you are exploring and type of trip you’d like. Choose from a simple rental, on or off road, over 60 self-guided tours and both sealed and enduro guided trips.

The extremely popular “Outback Ready” bikes will be available out of all depots and as the name suggests are equipped with everything you’ll need to venture into Australia’s iconic outback.

The national fleet is focused around BMWs and Harleys but Japanese bikes are on the list and even scooters for zipping around Sydney.

For more information visit www.bikeroundoz.com

Cheltenham has many wonderful festivals ranging from education and food to jazz and ukuleles, and now a brand new sensational festival is being hosted inside the stunning Town Hall and all around the Imperial Gardens: the Cheltenham Festival of Bikes will feature over one hundred exquisite classic motorcycles, beautifully engineered custom bikes and rare race specials.

The Cheltenham Festival of Bikes is to be staged on Sunday 23rd August 2015 inside the Town Hall and the Imperial Park. The exhibition and festival is open from 11am until 6pm and is organised by Cheltenham based ShowCo Limited, an independent event management company, who also stage KICKBACK the national custom bike show.

The organisers are pleased to confirm that The Festival of Bikes has secured support from Triumph Motorcycles plus local motorcycle dealerships and suppliers such as Cheltenham Harley Davidson and Performance Triumph from the Blade Group as well as Oily Rag Clothing, MHP and Tewksbury MOT Centre.

The Festival will feature a spectacular showcase and collection of the UK’s finest motorcycles, ranging from beautiful and exquisite classics and brilliantly engineered customs to rare race specials, café racers and brat style motorcycles!

There will also be a number of skills workshops including How to Upholster a Seat, How to Airbrush, How to Pinstripe and How to Restore. Inside the Town Hall will also be a good selection of exhibitors and traders selling everything from accessories and parts to clothing and helmets. There will be a good number of traders outside by Imperial Park also. In the main bar there will be live music all day with local buskers entertaining you.

Some of the finest custom bike builders will be displaying their bikes at the festival including award winning names such as Rolling Art Motorcycles, Steve Hackett, Rob Wood, Paul Milbourn and local award winners including Dave Morgan, James Rogers, Dave Sutton, John Deighton, Simon Boden and Dave Solomon.

Advance tickets are on sale now and can be purchased from www.FestivalOfBikes.com

www.cheltenhamfestivalofbikes.blogspot.com
www.FestivalofBikes.com

Organised by ShowCo Ltd, Cheltenham, England.

The 41st Annual Gloucestershire Vintage & Country Extravaganza | South Cerney Airfield, Cirencester 

July 31st, August 1st & 2nd 2015 will see the Stroud Vintage Transport & Engine Club (SVTEC) stage their 41st Annual Show at South Cerney Airfield in Cirencester, Gloucestershire. The show is widely regarded as one of the biggest and best Steam, Vintage and Countryside events in the UK and attracts thousands of exhibitors and visitors from across the county and actively raises money for both national and regional charities.

This year the Gloucestershire Vintage and Country Extravaganza will include the popular Steam Arena, with non-stop steam demonstrations, and the opportunity to drive a steam engine and see the spectacular Showman’s Engines. The Main Arena which features parades and commentary of all the vintage vehicles on site from classic cars, tractors, commercial vehicles, vintage bus and coaches, motorcycles, scooters, traction engines, miniature steam, industrial trucks, military vehicles, caravans to emergency vehicles. Plus the Countryside Arena featuring dog agility, ferret racing, rare breeds, animal conservation, alpaca’s, shire horses, horse logging, falconry displays and children’s pony rides.

One of the largest displays is the Motorcycle section which will feature over 200 entries representing manufacturers from England, Italy, Japan, India, the USA and other countries. Among the marques on display are Honda, Yamaha, Harley Davidson, Moto Guzzi, HRD, AGS, James, Triumph, Royal Enfield, Rudge, Baker, BMW, Norton, Velocette, BSA, Panther, Francis Barnett, Matchless and Greeves. There will also be an abundance of Lambretta’s to celebrate the mods and rockers era. Section leader John Grange said ‘we always try to bring something of interest to all ages and interests, from Veteran to Vintage and Classic. From the smallest Brockhouse Corgi ‘Para’ bike to the HRD Vincent Meteor series B, from the Yamaha FS1E (my first bike!) to the Suzuki GT750, there will be something to suit everyone’s motorcycling interests’.

The classic car section alone features over 600 vehicles, from the dawn of motoring to veteran, pre-war, post-war, Pre-72 American, supercars to modern classics. Alongside regular exhibits are remarkable stories of barn finds, restoration projects and histories to be told. All the owners are knowledgeable and proud to show off their splendid vehicles.

Aside from all the vehicles, there are literally thousands of exhibits, curiosity stalls, trade stands, models tents, craft marques to keep the whole family entertained. Children always love the vintage fairground with the popular Fairground Organs, 'electric yachts', waltzers, big wheel, steam-driven 'gallopers' and traditional penny arcade games, and this year they can even have a ride on a model stream train.

The showground site is sprawling, with plenty of food and drink ‘pit stops’, a firm favourite is the vintage tea room with regular music and entertainment from 1940s inspired Lindy Hopper dancers, this year you can even get your hair done at the vintage hair salon!

Taking to the skies above, will be a thrilling aerobatic display by local Oaksey pilot, Lauren Richardson (Sat) and the return of Richard Goodwin (Sun) with the Muscle Biplane Air Display, both will puts their Pits Special biplanes through its paces in an aerobatic display (weather permitting).Plus Jump4Heroes - The Royal British Legion Extreme Human Flight Team, will skydive into the arena to see us.

Chairman of the Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club (S.V.T.E.C) Martyn Slater, said: ‘Our goal has always been to give the best value for money family day out in Gloucestershire, with something for all of the family to enjoy, whilst providing a safe environment for people to celebrate our unique transport history and the preservation of historical vehicles. We actively encourage interaction between exhibitors and visitors, and have recently instated a nifty on-site Wi-Fi which enables visitors to find out more history and information about specific vehicles displayed. The dedicated Wi-Fi code can be obtained from the show program, and available for use on phones, tablets and laptops’.

The Extravaganza is organised by the Stroud Vintage Transport and Engine Club. This non-profit making organisation raises money for national and local charities and up to 30 will be represented on site raising money and awareness of their respective causes. The rally is one of the largest events of its kind run entirely by volunteers. All section leaders strive to bring something different to this year’s event.

With so much to see and do, one day just isn’t long enough.

www.glosvintageextravaganza.co.uk

As modern motorcycling celebrates its centenary in 2015, the UK’s biggest and best motorcycle exhibition, Motorcycle Live, is starting the countdown to Monday 3rd August, the day when advance tickets go on sale for this year’s show.

By way of celebrating 100 years since modern motorcycling sprang into life in 1915 with the introduction the Triumph Model H, Motorcycle Live is inviting experienced bikers and novices alike to upload to social media their own special motorcycling experiences – those unforgettable moments when they really ‘came alive’ on a motorcycle.

To underline the centenary celebration, Motorcycle Live will be giving away 100 pairs of tickets to the best entries uploaded to facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #MCLComesAlive

This year’s Motorcycle Live will fire up on Saturday 28th November at the NEC in Birmingham and run at full revs for nine days until Sunday 6th December, with all the new 2016 models from the world’s major motorcycle manufacturers on display.

The show will also feature an enormous variety of live entertainment, interactive features and a range of opportunities to ride – for experienced motorcyclists, complete novices and kids.

To celebrate further the centenary of modern motorcycling, the first 500 tickets will be on sale at just £10 for early birds when they go on sale at 09:00 on Monday 3rd August.

“The lead up to this year’s show is a celebration of when modern motorcycling really came alive,” said Finlay McAllan, managing director of Motorcycle Live organisers, MCI Exhibitions Ltd. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for bike fans to share their special moments with our community, and a chance to grab a pair of tickets to the show absolutely free. With a 10% increase in attendance at Motorcycle Live last year and an 11.5% increase in motorcycle registrations so far in 2015, we’re anticipating a lot of demand when advance tickets go on sale on 3 August,” continued McAllan. “

Motorcycle Live takes place at The NEC, Birmingham from 28 November to 6 December 2015.

www.motorcyclelive.co.uk