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Written by Barry Symmons on November 16, 2007 at 22:11
Just a bit of background as to what it’s like here in Macau. For those not familiar it’s down to Hong Kong and right a bit. Previously owned by the Portuguese then handed back to the Chinese. It’s a mixture of Colonial Portuguese, Las Vegas, China and Monaco set in an oven. It’s where the Chinese all come to gamble, be it in casinos which would grace any Las Vegas tour guide, on horses there is a track right out side the window of our hotel, or on who will cross the street first = anything that moves they will gamble on. There is a Sands casino here which takes more in 1 week that its opposite number in Las Vegas does in 1 month!
Our day has started each morning at 5.00 am when we arise and go to the track. Fnal preparations are made and the tyre warmers are on at 6.30 am with practice at 7.30. am when the temperature is already 25 degrees and the humidity about 85%. After practice for us it's checking and of course and getting ready for the second practice of the day held at 4.30.pm. By now the temperature is 28 – 30.degres and the humidity up to around 90%. After 2nd practice on day 1 we had to change the engine in a concrete bunker with 3 other teams and most of Ireland passing through to the 2 water fridges. Knocking things over and generally getting in the way. (Grumpy old man syndrome)
There is no food in the pits, not that you would recognise or possibly risk eating. So it’s a long walk past a Disneyworld like area including a Roman coliseum, a smoking volcano which includes a section remarkably like the Giants Causeway ( without visitor centre), a Chinese fort and a Buddhist temple = all attractions built in the last 2 years.
As there was only 1 practice yesterday we finished at about 12.30 went to a café for lunch, first of the week and then, to a man, all went to bed. There is a 35 story casino just down the road from our hotel (which also has a casino), it’s called the Venetian, I took Cesare Fani and Matchi our two factory men from Varese there last night for a meal. Out side is a complete full size replica of St Marks Square with Bell tower, St Mark’s column, Gondolas, canals, bridge of Sighs the lot. Inside a never ending line of Slot machines, Roulette, Black jack and various other games of chance I as a simple lad have never seen before, as well as every Italian shop from Armani to one well photographed called Wanka fashions! The two Italians were obviously very homesick, the only adverse comment on the scene "There is no Dogshit on the (marble) streets like home"
There was a replica of one of the side canals in Venice about kilometre long where you could hire a gondola complete with singing gondolier for 180 HK$ It was an amazing sight every detail was there -even more amazing when you consider it was on the 3rd Floor!!
This was one of the only chances we will get to see any part of Macau as today is race day. 5.15 start today as morning warm up is not till 7.45. There are also several trolley Races (Cars) including the final round of the World Touring Car Championship, which is a bit like holding a car race on the Temple Circuit, as the track in some places is not wide enough for 2 cars side by side. Plus a lot of the teams flight cases did not arrive in time and they had to reschedule the practices.
That then is an insight as to what it’s like here at Macau. More later.
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Written by Barry Symmons on November 15, 2007 at 05:11
The Timing data
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Written by Barry Symmons on November 15, 2007 at 05:11
The first practice is over and the shakedown complete. 16 laps at 7.30 in the morning when the temperature is 24 C was a great wake up call. The whole team arrived safely and is settled into their garage along with three other teams so every one is fairly close together as can be seen from the attached picture Michael Laverty talks with Martin whilst the team sets to work on the bike, also in the garage Stephen Thompson and Cameron Donald, this time on a Kawasaki.
The track is very dirty and we are trying blind the gearbox settings Bill Simpson worked out for us before we came. After practice Martin said he got it almost spot on. Not bad for an"old un". We need to change the final sprocket, but in the bit with the straights, Martin is very fast. All said and done he was well pleased.
"As we have no Info from previous years I am well pleased with this first session, now back to bed and cool down"
Positions were as follows
Michael Rutter
Steve Plater
John McGuinness
Guy Martin
Jeremy Toye (USA)
Stephen Thompson
Mark Miller
Martin Finnegan
Cameron Donald
Steve Allan (USA)
Attached are results from the first days practice at Macau. Unfortunately Martin's run was cut short when an engine problem caused him to be stranded out on the course he had at one stage been well up the grid but finished a disappointing 14th
"I had just latched on to Rutter when something went amiss and I had no choice but to park it up"
The final qualifying session is tomorrow morning at 7.30.
As a precaution we will change the engine but there appears no real problem. It may have been a crimped fuel breather we are still investigating
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Written by Barry Symmons on October 28, 2007 at 07:10
TEAM MV Agusta 312 machine ready for Macau
The team of engineers who have been working at the R&D division of MV Agusta at Varese under the direction of Andrea Goggi have finally finished the Machine which will carry the name of MV Agusta to the far east for the first time at the Macau Grand Prix, as can be seen from the picture taken outside the factory today (Saturday) at 13.45. The Superbike, the only one in the factory will be accompanied to Macau by Cesare Fani project engineer and Matsumoto Kazauhiko chief mechanic to join Martin Finnegan's team in Macau.
The 27 year old Dubliner Martin Finnegan contests this the most exotic of Road races on Saturday 17th November for the 4th time, along with a host of international road racers drawn together by Mike Trimby for this annual event. Finnegan has already tested the machine in Mugello two weeks ago and pronounced it "A brilliant ride" .
Since the test, the machine has been refurbished and redecorated in the colours of Team, 312 The racing number in Macau is 12, which incidentally is Sig Claudio Castiglioni's (President of the company) own lucky number. 312 is of course the speed achieved in KPH by the 1000 cc F4 making it the fastest Production machine in the world.
On seeing the pictures at his Lusk Co Dublin home Martin said "I am really looking forward to this, the bike is made for the roads and together we have a great chance. I would like to thank Claudio and all his staff for the effort they have put into this and their support of our team"
The bike now travels to Macau via Heathrow & Hong Kong where it will meet up with the rest of Martins team. Mechanics Garry Arnold and Leo Larsen and Coordinator Barry Symmons.
Meanwhile the search for sponsorship goes on to enable the team to contest the 5 major road races in 2008 with this and the MV Agusta F4 Superstock machines
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Written by Barry Symmons on October 22, 2007 at 15:10
These are some photos of team 312 testing at Mugello, 2 days running on the bike Luca used at the Italian championship, some Kms No problems apart from traffic. Anyone read riders magazine in Italy article in the November edition.
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Written by Michel Maire on October 18, 2007 at 07:10
Voila,
Mon quatrième Moto Tour est fini (Dark Dog Tour) déjà, encore une aventure qui se termine bien en fin de compte car cette année a été la plus malchanceuse pour moi.
Partie le jeudi matin 4 octobre pour rejoindre Reims dans l’après midi pour préparer le contrôle technique tous ce passe a merveille. Je me prépare donc pour ce 4ème Moto Tour départ le dimanche 7 octobre a 5h15 du matin.
Dans le paddock on sent d’année en année une course à l’armement mais l’ambiance est bonne tout le monde a le sourire et attend avec impatience le dimanche matin pour montrer a chacun ce qu’il vaut à Carole.
Pendant tout le Moto Tour les IRC (International Rallies Championshift) vont devoir partir les premiers ceci à des avantages certains car nous finissons les étapes de jour ce qui nous laissent le temps a faire beaucoup de chose comme se doucher, manger et faire l’assistance dans de bonne condition.
Je fini ce moto tour a la 40ème place du général IRC sur 47 partant en Belgique et sur 40 restant a Toulon donc bon dernier du championnat et ceci grâce a une panne de la MV qui ma value presque un abandon car j’ai réussi a réparer la moto dans les temps.
Dans l’après midi du mercredi a environ 30 kilomètre de Magny Court mon moyeu arrière casse et impossible pour moi de rallier l’arrivé de l’étape donc je fais appelle a mon assistance pour rapatrié la moto au parc de Magny Court ceci bien sur prend du temps et je dois impérativement mettre ma moto en parc fermé une heure avant le premier départ de l’étape de nuit qui se court sur le Grand Circuit c'est-à-dire huit heures maxi. Avec Thierry mon assistant nous arrivons au parc il était 17 h 15 il nous reste 2 heures et demie pour réparer la chance est que justement dans le camion j’ai la pièce un moyeu arrière complet en 1 heures 45 la moto et réparer et j’ai même fait 20 bornes pour voir que tout allait bien. L’organisation du Moto Tour et de la FIM n’en revenait pas que j’avais les pièces dans mon camion pour réparer. Le jeudi soir a Clermond Ferrand pendant l’étape de nuit au Mont d’Or, dans le barnum dans le paddock on nous subtilise mes deux boites à outils.
C’est pas la joie quoi car le samedi a Toulon j’ai du changer ma roue arriere pour changer mon pneu et personne dans le paddock avec une douille de 55. Grace a un pote de Thierry on arrive a joindre un gars de Toulon qui a une Brutale et qui me fais parvenir la douille a temps.
Je ne connais même pas son nom mais je le remercie pour le geste car sans cette douille je n’aurai pas pu repartir pour l’étape de nuit car mon pneu était HS.
ENFIN le principale dans une course comme celle la c’est de finir pour moi avec une panne comme ça se fut un petit exploit car cette moto marche bien même très bien mais le moyeu m’avait déjà fait défaut au circuit de Pau Arnos et depuis j’ai fais des provisions de pièces la moto a 26000 km et tout le 12000 le moyeu a cassé. Je ne sais que dire mais j’espère que l’usine MV Agusta va faire quelque chose à ce sujet car pour une Moto de ce calibre cela est inadmissible.
Depuis trois ans je fait le Moto Tour avec une MV Agusta 750 Brutale la même depuis le début et je suis toujours le seul, je n’arrive toujours pas a comprendre la Marque MV Agusta.
Benelli, Morini,Aprillia et KTM eux font tous pour développer leur marque respective car les rallyes routiers est la discipline ou les motos roulent sur tout les revêtements imaginable que le consommateur de moto roule tout les jours et dans toutes les conditions météo.
Cette année avec ce Championnat IRC (deux manches uniquement) ce fut un pur bonheur pour moi d’y participer et de ce trouver parmi des tops pilotes comme Denis Bouan, Jehan D’Orgeix, Frederic Lejeune, Willfried Tallone, Francois Fick Bruno Destoop, Philippe Rousselin, Patrik Curtat, Christian Haquin, Jean Paul Boinet, Philippe Gache, Marc Troussard, Serges Nuques et j’en oublie…
Ceci fut une grande expérience et cette année ce fut beaucoup grâce a Alain Genoux et Marie Paul Ghiste que cela a été possible. Je tiens à les remercie encore beaucoup pour leur aide.
Je tiens a remercie aussi Philippe Colignon pour son aide depuis déjà quatre ans et aussi ma famille qui supporte pas toujours bien mes absences.
L’année prochaine je ne sais pas encore, mais je crois que l’aventure en Privé avec la Marque MV Agusta se termine.
Je devrais m’occuper de mon fils qui a 12 ans et qui va faire sa deuxième saison en Championnat Suisse de Pocket Bike et sa première en Junior B.
Michel Maire
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Written by pier luigi on October 17, 2007 at 14:10
Luca Scassa #312 “Non solo molto soddisfatto di questo risultato perché ho commesso qualche errore, ad esempio alla partenza. Avremmo potuto giocarcela ancora meglio perché la distanza con il gruppo di testa era davvero minima. Voglio ringraziare il Team Factory per avermi supportato nel migliore dei modi, sono tutti molto appassionati e precisi, mi è piaciuto molto correre per loro”.
Leo Ghelfi – Team Manager “Luca ha lavorato bene, è un ragazzo eccezionale e ci siamo capiti fin dal primo momento. E’ un piacere lavorare con piloti di elevato talento! Valter Bartolini si è dovuto ritirare per un problema con la terza. Forse in parte questi problemi al cambio sono dovuti anche al suo stile di guida un po’ aggressivo, ma devo ringraziare Valter nonostante il ritiro, perché è merito suo e di tutto quanto ha fatto quest’anno se la MV ha deciso di darci il suo supporto tecnico. Desidero ringraziare in particolar modo anche il capo elettronico Mauro Marelli, che è stato molto utile, e il mitico Machi, storico meccanico giapponese ex Cagiva ai tempi di Eddie Lawson. Questa stagione in Superbike ci è servita per correggere il tiro e capire come affrontare la stagione 2008 con l’ambizione di raggiungere risultati eccellenti; questa settimana si comincerà a parlarne anche con MV e spero davvero che ci si possa mettere d’accordo per lavorare tutti insieme verso quella direzione “.
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Written by pier luigi on October 16, 2007 at 06:10
ABOUT MUGELLO.
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Written by steve trinder on October 15, 2007 at 18:10
Curtain Back in ASC
After months of speculation, multiple Australian Champion and world no 2 Kevin Curtain has signed a 2 year contract with (TBR) Trinder Brothers Racing to contest the Australian Superbike Championship for MV Agusta Racing. After contesting the highly competitive World Supersport Championship for the last 4 seasons in which he finished an amazing 2nd in the championship twice, Kev has decided to concentrate his efforts with TBR aboard an MV Agusta for the Australian Superbike Championship and possibly much more.
After speaking to Team Manager Steve Trinder this week regarding the teams future plans, it was revealed there are a lot of developments in progress.
“Craig, Paul Feeney & I are off to Italy in November to sit down with the factory and discuss Kevin’s role with MV Agusta internationally, however our plan is to win the Australian Superbike Championship first and foremost. We also plan to have a world spec bike here for Kev to wild card the WSK race at Phillip Island to coincide with the world wide launch of MV Agusta back into world Championship racing”.
An all out assault on the Australian Championships with factory backing from the Italian MV Agusta headquarters, MV Agusta and Kevin will be a championship favourite right from the first round.
“One of the reason’s I signed is I have a great relationship with the TBR team, We know how to win together, and with the MV Agusta connection I will still be able to give the world championship regulars a hurry up, but this time in Superbike”.
Trinder said, “We have been talking to Kevin about this possibility for sometime, however the fact that Kevin could still have an international career through TBR and MV Agusta was a definite factor in gaining his signature”.
“The year Kevin last rode for us, our riders struggled for speed and handling on the brand we were using compared with the Suzuki’s and we still won 3 out of 4 championships. Even though the Japanese manufacturers are a lot more even these days, we won’t have those same problems again now with MV Agusta. We are really looking forward to next year, it’s exciting,” commented Trinder.
The first hit out for Curtain and his new team will be the WPS Queensland Championships, which the team is using for Kev to get acquainted with the new MVF41000.
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Written by pier luigi on October 14, 2007 at 14:10
After the race a lot of jurnalist and television went to GIMOTORSPORTS!Tody was a very important day for MV AGUSTA story!!
Thank you to Mr CASTIGLIONI and GIGI D ESPOSITO!
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