With the upcoming opening round of World Superbikes Championship, that is shaping up to be one of the most exciting seasons ever, with highly talented and big named riding stars, we caught up with Lorenzo Lanzi before he left for Phillip Island.

After a difficult past season, Lorenzo has been signed up to ride for DFX Corse, for whom he raced for last year (replacing the injured Regis Laconi) and the bike could not be anything less than an awesome Ducati 1198, a highly professional team, for an all Italian duo and with six Italian riders on the WSBK starting grid, great racing will be a guarantee.

Here’s some questions that we asked the rider from San Piero in Bagno, including his expectations for the upcoming season.

Q: Finally you’re going to be back riding a Ducati, how do you feel physically and mentally?

A: “I’m really happy to have found a place in the DFX team. I’m finally back in the series and for the entire season and really want to do well from the start. I have to say that I’ve always believed that I’d be back, so I’ve always been in training to prepare for the double races. I knew that if I raced in other championships in the end it would have paid off. I’ve always believed in my talent, but being a rider without personal sponsors, it wasn’t easy finding a place, and today I’m here and I’m grateful to the team and believe that I can hold my own in the championship.”

Continue reading: WSBK: Interview with Lorenzo Lanzi

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When the Voltra electric concept bike from young designer Dan Anderson first came across our desk, we were eager to know more. Below is our interview with Dan about his electric motorcycle design project, and believe me: the more you get to know about the Voltra and its creator, the more impressed you’ll be.

Dan grew up around bikes and his natural passion for the subject matter really comes through in his technically interesting Voltra. It’s not just a project put together so that his university thesis looked good - it’s a truly original effort, well studied and well-built. If you think that electric motorcycles are playing an important part in the future of motorcycling, this interview is s must-read. See how a young, aspiring motorcycle designer views the future of motorcycling, and the role that electric powered bikes might play…

Firstly, tell us something about yourself. Are you a motorcyclist yourself? How did you embark on the project of making an electric motorcycle and did you have a team to help?

I’m a 23 year old, recently finished Industrial Design student born and raised in Sydney, Australia. I’ve been around motorcycles my whole life. My father raced classic British bikes when I was young so I spent a lot of time at the track having my hearing ruined by unsilenced exhaust megaphones! The sights, sounds and smells really stuck with me and bikes have been a fixture in my life ever since. I ride a lovely old Ducati Pantah 600 which I restored in the summer holidays. I have a ‘thing’ for old bikes; even if they spend more time on the workbench than on the road!

Dan Anderson Voltra electric

Continue reading: Electric motorcycle design: interview with Voltra concept designer, Dan Anderson

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Buell will cease production at the end of this month, and this video is the “thank you” note from the company to its employees, suppliers, distributors and dealership network. October 30 therefore, marks the close of the Buell story, commenced in 1983 and owned by Harley Davidson since 1998. This is an emotional time for the Buell brand, and we would hope still to see them round the traps in the future. For now our congratulations on a good job done, and our commiserations at seeing a great bike exit the stage, go to Erik Buell and his team.

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The economic crisis is weighing heavily on the motorcycle industry, and tellingly, Honda and Yamaha have absented themselves from the EICMA show this year. The Milan show, however, is going ahead and is shaping up to be an important and interesting event.

For Milan the endorsement of Ducati’s presence at its home country show is not be understated and Diego Sgorbati, marketing director, has discussed the importance of the 2009 EICMA for Ducati and the measures that need to be taken in the current economic climate.

He says: “We believe that as an Italian company on one hand, and as witness to Made in Italy on the other, while it’s not an easy year for anyone, it’s fundamental to maintain activity at the most important event of the year for the motorcycle world. We are happily obliged to participate.”

Continue reading: Interview: Ducati models at EICMA 2009

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Speaking on Italy’s evening talk show “Che tempo fa”, Valentino Rossi has revealed he doesn’t agree with the MotoGP race at night in Qatar, saying that the evening is for doing “other things”.

Interviewed by Fabio Fazio, Valentino Rossi is ever the entertainer: affable, funny and sincere, he doesn’t hold back when stating his opinion. And as such, he reveals his diffidence for the decision to race by night, his support of the one tyre rule, saying that he doesn’t believe it will change much, and his race tactics that smack a little of a “dual from a Western film” (as described by the host).

If you speak a little Italian, or want to see Valentino Rossi in a relaxed evening interview, have a look at the video, with another two after the jump. He discusses his decision to be self-managed (saying that it’s wonderful and now he always gets along well with his manager), what speed means to him, and what happens when a rider falls.

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi interviewed on Italian talk show: "at night, one does other things" on MotoGP night race

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Just before Xavier Simeon leaves for Spain to test his Ducati Xerox Superstock 1000 bike we found him for an interview.

Xavier, how does it feel to be a member of the Ducati Xerox Junior Team today?
It’s the first time for me to do some PR for Ducati and I really enjoy it. It’s a big change for me after Suzuki but it’s a new challenge. I am meeting so many journalists this days, it’s really great for me.

Did you receive many comments, reactions?
All my friends at home and in the paddock are very happy for me to join the Italian team and I am also sure that I made the good decision. Ducati won the SBK Championship, Superstock. I believe Ducati is the best.

How about the model range from Ducati?
They have a new bike, the Streetfighter. It think it’s a good bike for roads. All the Ducati bikes are built to have fun, not only riding. If I could choose a new bike for myself it’s the Streetfighter for sure, I want to try it out!

Continue reading: Interview: Xavier Simeon rider in the Ducati Xerox Junior Team

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Today we give a brief profile of Arie Vos, the friendly Dutchman, who won Dutch Open Superbike Championship (ONK) for this year with his Ducati. He also went together with Kari Vehniainen from Finland and the German Matti Seidel, to ride in the 8 Hours of Doha.

They finished 5th, behind second place winners from the Honda RMT #21 Racing Team riding 221 laps, only 5 laps less than the winning Yamaha Austria Racing Team. Arie Vos rode the best lap time from the team with a 2:05.322 at the Losail circuit.

Twowheelsblog went to visit Arie at his home in the Dutch town, Oss. He said: “Only one month before the race I was contacted with the question if I would like to ride. So when I arrived at the Losail circuit, it was the first time I saw the other riders, but it’s fun. I like endurance racing. You need to find a good setting for three riders in stead of only one. And so the crew is very important, they must be fast in changing tyres, filling up the fuel…”

And more: “I like endurance but most of all my attention will go to sprint racing because I like close fighting. But if I can ride endurance again next year, I will sure do it!”

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This brief interview with Marco Simoncelli was conducted by Italy’s MotoTV at the Eicma show. The new 250 class world champion Simoncelli signed autographs and spent some time at Milan’s motorcycle event. The interview is in Italian, but you get a great look at this new champion, whose way of talking might remind you of another champion of the name Rossi.

In the interview Simoncelli says: “I win because I’m fast…Next year it will be harder because everyone will be trying to beat me, because this year I was the strongest.” Simoncelli’s self-effacing style is refreshing and his plans for the future are to spend an extra year in the 250 class before moving to MotoGP. But as he says, you never know.

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