2012 Yamaha Tt R230 on 2040-motos

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Moto blog

You want a nice little car, you do.

We ran a couple of stories last week - both, coincidentally, about new Kawasakis. One was the first peek of the new ZX10R – hot stuff you’d imagine – the other, the new W800 retro parallel twin. I suppose it shouldn’t have shocked us, which story was most popular in terms of hits but it really does mark a seismic shifts in British biking attitudes that the W800 story doubled the hits of the ZX10 piece.

Rossi 'training' at his MotoRanch

Like Kenny Roberts, Valentino Rossi has got his own ranch where he has built his own private motocross track and dirt oval. The above YouTube video shows Rossi training on the flat-track circuit that makes up his 'MotoRanch' located near his home town of Tavullia. He's shown riding a Yamaha, but that's probably because Ducati don't have themselves a scrambler.

How to solve the mystery of the wildcard replacement

With the two test riders coming forward to act as replacement riders for the injured Rossi and Aoyama, it brought back memories of the days when the grid would be gifted with wildcard riders from the respective countries. The Japanese rounds were always attended by some of the top guys with experience of the 500GP and MotoGP bikes, through racing them in their domestic championships. What resulted was getting to witness the exciting and talented Japanese riders, and bring new riders to the attention of the teams.