Echo CRS Honda’s Broc Parkes, who missed the first round at Phillip Island after breaking his right tibia in a pre-season training accident, will also have to sit out the second round of the World Superbike championship at Portimao.

The Aussie rider is expected to return to full fitness for Valencia or at the latest the Assen round of the championship, which are scheduled for April 11th and 25th.

The team is currently looking for another replacement rider for to ride the CBR 1000RR at Portimao. Josh Brookes, HM Plant Honda rider who subbed for Parkes at Phillip Island took 19th in race 1 and 14th in race 2.

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When you see Freddie Spencer trying to sell pieces of his personal racing history like his championship 1983 Honda NSR500 and his 1985 championship NSR250, you just know things can’t be going that well for one of the greatest racers of all times.

Fast Freddie who is the only rider in history to won both the 250cc and 500cc World championship in the same year, has decided to sell off these championship bikes. The bikes are so rare, that they’re the only ones in exsistence outside the Honda museum in Japan and are being sold off as a pair.

Source | rmdmotors.com via motomatters.com

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The Honda CB1100 vintage naked is available in Japan dealerships this week, at a price of about 8,000 euros (950,000 yen). There’s no knowing whether the CB1100 will hit the export market yet, although even if that price were to increase, it seems quite competitive. The production CB1100 is based on the CB1100F concept of 2007, and is available in red, black and white, with ABS or without, and with an option of high or low handlebars.

The CB1100 is designed very much as a vintage style bike and as such has modest performance stats. The four-cylinder DOHC engine produces 87 hp and 92 Nm of torque, ideal for this kind of cruising, retro bike. The focus on good looks is evident in the finished product of the CB1100 and that’s what this is all about - a stylish, good looking, retro run-around. See the pics and video for a closer look.

Continue reading: Honda CB1100 pics and video

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The San Carlo Honda Gresini Team’s official presentation took place yesterday at the Telenova studios in Milan, hosted by presenter Franco Bobbiese, during his show Griglia di Partenza ( our readers already know about this show) where Team Manager Fausto Gresini alongside the President of San Carlo introduced his all-Italian ‘dream team’ Marco Melandri and Marco Simoncelli to the world press (and Italian TV viewers last night).

Here’s what everyone said in the usual official press release, but the show was much more interesting with some clowining around and some cute anecdotes by short Marco and tall Marco, including the legendary Giacomo Agostini (via video) advising Simoncelli to take one step at a time after his big highside during the Sepang 2 tests.

Fausto Gresini : “Today was a really special day because a personal dream of mine has been fulfilled - having two top riders contest the MotoGP World Championship with my team and an Italian sponsor like San Carlo. I am proud to represent Italy around the world and I am looking forward to going racing this year - hopefully we can ensure that our flag flies high at circuits all over the world.”

Continue reading: San Carlo Honda Gresini presents his 'almost' All-Italian Team

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The Honda CB1300S ABS and VT750S for 2010 will be available from this month in Europe. The Honda CB1300S ABS is a maxi-naked bike with 1300cc, four cylinder in-line engine with PGM-F1 electronic fuel injection. The Honda VT750S on the other hand, is an entry level bike with a 52° V2, 745cc motor and three valves. Prices should be about 11,650 euros for the CB1300S and 6,690 euros for the VT750S.

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After the race highlights of round 1 of the World Superbike Championship at Phillip Island, you can now check out our gallery of pics from the race weekend.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island - Gallery of Pics

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We’ve got a batch of final quotes after this exciting World Superbike Championship 2010 season opener at Phillip Island, so check out what the riders had to say after round 1.

Leon Haslam - Race 1: 1st, Race 2: 2nd

I am so happy to get my first WSBK win and it feels great! I want to thank the team and all the staff back at the workshop for all their support and hard work and I’d also like to thank Francis and Patricia Batta for having faith in me.
The first race was such hard work and it was impossible to relax for a second. I knew that I had Michel and Nori breathing down my neck, but I just kept concentrating on my lines and my braking points and tried to hold them off. I realised that Michel was in my wheeltracks going into the last turn and would try and use the draft to get past me, but I kept my head down and charged to the flag. At the end, I didn’t know if I’d won or not, but when I realised that I had, I was so unbelievably happy and it was such a fantastic feeling. All weekend I knew that a win was possible, but thinking about and it happening are two different things.In race two, I had some problems with rear traction but I still thought I could win. I had a great fight with Sylvain and when I finally got ahead of him and made it stick, I thought he might act as a buffer between me and the rest. Then suddenly, Carlos was there. He dived under me just three corners from the end, on the last lap. I tried to get it back, but he managed to hold me off and take the flag. But, it feels good to take a win and a second in my first race with the team and it feels fantastic to be leading the Superbike World Championship.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island: Rider Quotes after Round 1

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As usual racing at Phillip Island never lets fans wanting, if Race 1 didn’t disappoint, Race 2 was an absolute thriller. The Italians have a very pictoresque saying about close racing: “correre con il coltello tra i denti” which literally means racing with a knife between between your teeth and that’s what Carlos Checa did today on his privateer Ducati when he won the race.

The Spaniard who debuted with Althea Ducati Racing had a bad start leaving him in 11th on the first lap, but Checa was a man on a mission after his 7th place in Race 1 began working his way through the pack to join the four front runners to make a last lap move to take the victory in front of race 1 winner Leon Haslam followed by Michel Fabrizio who would take third place on the podium.

Haslam seemed to be heading to his second career victory and the race looked like a perfect photocopy of the first race with Fabrizio closely tagging the Brit and Noriyuki Haga in third moving up from his tenth place on the grid, but it would be former MotoGP and BSB rider Sylvain Guintoli who would snatch fourth place from a fading and aching Haga who took fifth.

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island Race 2: Carlos Checa wins last lap thriller

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Leon Haslam rocked in all three stints of Saturday’s Superpole at Phillip Island by taking his first ever career pole position in WSBK and edging out Ducati’s Michel Fabrizio in the last stint by a mere 0.016s.

Cal Crutchlow will also be on the front row with a impressive third place while team mate James Toseland took eighth. Both Sterilgarda Yamaha riders having finally found a proper set up on their ‘hybrid’ R1’s after yesterday’s problems in free practice and in QP1.

Carlos Checa who led in yesterday’s provisional pole will start in fourth with his satellite Ducati while Althea Racing’s second rider Shane Byrne did not make it inside the second cut and qualified 18th, but the Englishman was struggling with back injuries picked up after yesterday’s massive highside.

Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli gave took and excellent fifth position with his Alstare Suzuki and will start on the second row alongside 6th place B&G’s Jakub Smrz and Irishman Jonathan Rea in seventh

Continue reading: WSBK Phillip Island: Leon Haslam Rockets into Superpole

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With four days of pre-season testing at Sepang already over, MotoGP will be heading to Qatar on March 18-19 for the final two days of tests, before the new season kicks off at Losail for the night race that takes place on the weekend of April 11th .

Here’s what the riders had to say about today’s final day of testing in Sepang.

Valentino Rossi - 1st : 2′00.271 Laps: 39

“I’m really happy to have beaten my pole record, it’s a good feeling to be this fast in testing. I did this with an old tyre but we also got the chance to try a very good new tyre from Bridgestone today, which I hope we will use from the first race. Our bike is in great shape; we need to do a bit more work on the electronics but in general everything is better, especially the rear grip and the engine. Yamaha have been very clever to develop this new bike whilst keeping the best parts of the old one, I’m very happy about it. It was good to get the chance to try the Japanese test bike, hopefully the feedback I gave them will help us in the future. Now we go to Qatar and then we will see our level because it is not one of mine or Yamaha’s best tracks! But we’re in great shape and this is very important at this stage of the season. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Continue reading: MotoGP Sepang 2 - Final Day Rider Quotes

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