Running through to Thursday 14th March, Ace Cafe London hosts a special Levi's vintage clothing exhibition...

commencing Hot Rod Night, Wednesday 6th March from 6pm, to include Hot Rod: Circa 1953, a Levi's vintage clothing film by Aaron Rose.

Levi’s® Vintage Clothing digs deep into the Levi’s  Archives to reproduce iconic garments from bygone eras. For Spring 2013, Levi’s® Vintage Clothing pays tribute to the golden era of the American Hot Rod, and the sharply dressed car owners and spectators who sported Levi's.    

In addition to releasing the collection of Hot Rod-inspired Levi's jeans and Sportswear, the Brand teamed up with Los Angeles-based filmmaker and curator Aaron Rose (Beautiful Losers, Art in the Streets, Sister Corita etc.) to make a short film about the origins of Hot Rod culture in Southern California back in the early 1950's. 

Rose pulled from hundreds of hours of painstakingly researched archival footage ranging from old "juvenile delinquent" movies and Life Magazine drag-race films to home movies unearthed from personal collections. He also interviewed some of the surviving founders of the scene, including legends like world champion drag-racer "TV Tommy" Ivo and master painter, cartoonist and car enthusiast Robert Williams, whose name is almost synonymous with the culture. 

The result is a striking and fast-paced film that captures the style and attitude of the uniquely American post-war subculture which continues to influence the worlds of fashion, music and mechanics to this day.    

Visit www.levisvintageclothing.com to view the collection and find an authorised shop near you.   

Energy drinks brand Monster Energy has renewed its title sponsorship of the Isle of Man TT Races in a new multi year deal. The USA based company has been the title sponsor of the world's leading road race since 2010.

The deal will see Monster Energy handed a range of high-profile benefits including the overall Presenting Sponsorship, naming rights to the two Supersport Races, presence on the official iomtt.com website, advertising around the TT control tower in the race paddock, Grandstand and Mountain Course as well as a high profile branded start gantry featuring the famous Monster 'claw'. The TT Races will continue to carry the credit ‘fuelled by Monster Energy’.

Monster Energy will also be bringing its entertainment infrastructure to the famous promenade entertainment programme with five evenings of brand-endorsed music, stunts and appearance by Monster Energy brand ambassadors including global FMX talent such as Andre Villa, in their TT Mayhem show.

The company has a high profile association with Motorsports events including presenting sponsorships of FIM Speedway Grand Prix and World Cup, Rallycross RX, FIM Motocross World Championships. Monster’s connection within the world of motorsport also includes sponsorship of the Yamaha MotoGP team, Monster Energy Yamaha Tech 3, MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, the Monster Energy Factory Yamaha Motocross outfit and rally driver Ken Block. The company also supports 19-time TT race champion John McGuinness and the Yamaha factory backed Milwaukee Yamaha Superbike Team that features leading TT racers William Dunlop and Conor Cummins.

John Beasley. VP of Marketing at Monster Energy Europe commented: "The Isle of Man TT has been one of the most powerful motorsports activities for Monster Energy in Europe. The TT and its amazing fan-base never fail to inspire us through awesome levels of participation and the spectacle they manage to produce year after year. We’re really pleased to be extending the association and are looking forward to our involvement in the continued growth of the TT."

Trevor Hussey, TT and Motorsport Development Director, Isle of Man Government commented: "Monster Energy has made a major commitment to the TT Races and has become a valuable partner for us in delivering a successful event. Our commercial programme goes from strength to strength and this is epitomised by Monster Energy's commitment. We are pleased and proud to be working with them for an extended period of time."

A £913 million plan to revolutionise cycling in London was announced today by the capital's mayor Boris Johnson.  

Saying he wanted to "de-Lycrafy cycling", Mr Johnson outlined plans for a 15-mile cycle route from the western suburbs to Canary Wharf In Docklands and Barking in east London. 

The route will include Dutch-style fully segregated cycle tracks along, among other places, the Victoria embankment and the Westway flyover. 

Under the plan, a range of new cycle routes will open over the next four years parallel to and named after Tube lines and bus routes. 

The plans will include:  

A new network of "Quietways" - direct, continuous, fully signposted routes on peaceful side streets, running far into the suburbs, and aimed at people put off by cycling in traffic. Better segregation between bikes and other vehicles. Improvements to existing "superhighway" bus routes. Improvements to junctions deemed the least safe fo cyclists, including Blackfriars, Vauxhall and Elephant & Castle. Encouraging more out-of-hours deliveries by lorries to improve cyclist safety. 20mph speed limits for all traffic on some cycle routes. An electric bike hire scheme, similar to the existing Barclays Cycle Hire, will be trialled

Mr Johnson - a keen cyclist himself said: "I want to de-Lycrafy cycling. I want to make it normal, something for everyone, something you feel comfortable doing in your ordinary clothes. Our new routes will give people the confidence to get in the saddle.  I do not promise perfection, or that London will become Amsterdam any time soon. But what I do say is that this plan marks a profound shift in my ambitions and intentions for the bicycle. The reason I am spending almost £1 billion on this is my belief that helping cycling will not just help cyclists. It will create better places for everyone. It means less traffic, more trees, more places to sit and eat a sandwich.  It means more seats on the Tube, less competition for a parking place and fewer cars in front of yours at the lights. Above all, it will fulfil my aim of making London's air cleaner."

...to raise awareness and funding for Nomad Sports Academy for Orphans and Underprivileged Youth in Zambia.

The journey will start in Livingstone, Zambia at the Victoria Falls, in December 2013 and head towards Tanzania, then Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, cross Europe all the way to NordKapp, Norway, then head east to Russia, across the great country to Vladivostok, jump on a ferry to Japan, cross the country of the rising Sun, fly with the bike over the Berring Strait to Vancouver, Canada, head South on the West Coast of US, Central America, cross the Darien Gap to Colombia, then head towards the great Patagonia in Chile, then North to Argentina, and Brazil to Sao Paolo, where we ship the bike to Cape Town, South Africa for our last leg to Zambia.

The journey will take almost 2 years, with no support car, or crew, but us and our bike. 

Complete reports of our whereabouts and our stories will be uploaded to the website, our twitter account: @johnnomad1, on Horizons Unlimited and on various newspapers and websites that have shown kindness in helping create awareness for this amazing project.

Nomad Sports Academy for Orphans is a unique community of orphans that offers the children a great chance to become professional athletes and develop their characters and personalities for many other skills in life.

For more info contact John @

[email protected]

[email protected]

A new book provides a virtual tour of Ducati Museum, with 60 years of history illustrated with 25 of the greatest Ducati racing motorcycles.

Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy) 5 March - For Ducati fans, visiting the Italian motorcycle manufacturer’s official Museum in Borgo Panigale, Bologna is like coming home and each year a steady stream of owners and enthusiasts arrive to soak up the spirit of competition that made Ducati a legendary name for more than 60 years. Now, the Museo Ducati book from David Bull Publishing offers readers the next best thing to visiting the famous Museum.

Publication author, Chris Jonnum, and photographer, Peter Harholdt, profile 25 of the greatest racing motorcycles on display at the Museum. The tour begins with a 1947 Ducati Cucciolo motorised bicycle and concludes with the 2010 Ducati Desmosedici GP10 ridden by MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden. Other highlights include a Ducati 900 Super Sport prepared for Mike Hailwood’s legendary 1978 win at the Isle of Man TT and the 1990 Ducati 851 that Raymond Roche rode to the company’s first-ever World Superbike title.

Harholdt captures the essence of each one of the unique machines in stunning detail with photographs taken in a specially prepared studio at Ducati's headquarters in Bologna, Italy. His carefully composed images reveal each model’s overall design as well as details of engines, frames, suspension and other components. Detailed text by Ducati Team Press Officer, Chris Jonnum, explains each motorcycle’s contribution to Ducati’s long and rich heritage of racing success.

The book’s large 9” x 11” format and superior design add to the impact of the images, and for the benefit of readers in Ducati’s home market, the text is rendered in both English and Italian. The price of just $39.95 or €32.90 in Europe (£26.99 in the UK) makes Museo Ducati affordable to a wide range of enthusiasts. Available via Shop.Ducati.com, the new book can also be purchased through book stores, specialty motoring booksellers or directly from the publisher by visiting the David Bull Publishing website at www.Bullpublishing.com

Book Details

Title: Museo Ducati

Subtitle: Six Decades of Classic Motorcycles of the Official Ducati Museum

Author: Chris Jonnum

Photographer: Peter Harholdt

Format: Hardcover, 9” x 11”, 144 pages, text in English and Italian

Photos: 107 colour images

ISBN: 978-1-935007-16-6

About the Author

American, Chris Jonnum, edited specialty motorcycle magazines for two decades and was the author of The Haydens, the authorised biography of Nicky, Tommy, and Roger Hayden. He is now the Ducati Team Press Officer for Ducati Corse.

About the Photographer

In a career that has spanned 30 years, Peter Harholdt has photographed precious objects for clients like the Smithsonian Institution, the White House, the Louvre, and the Museum of Modern Art. He has been a racecar constructor, has raced in SCCA and IMSA and has taught in racing and high-performance driving schools.

About the Publisher

David Bull Publishing is dedicated to producing the best books in motorsports. Founded in 1995, the company has consistently won praise from readers and the media for the editorial quality and presentation of its titles.

Ordering

Museo Ducati is available via Shop.Ducati.com, through book stores, specialty motoring booksellers and directly from the publisher at www.Bullpublishing.com