|
Graeme Crosby
Graeme Crosby (born 4 July 1955) is a former professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer from New Zealand. A versatile rider, Crosby was equally capable on either four stroke Superbike racers or two stroke Grand Prix racers. He is the only person to have won the Daytona 200, the Imola 200, the Suzuka 8 Hours endurance race, and the Isle of Man TT. After his international motorcycle racing career, he returned to New Zealand to become a commercial airline pilot and also competed in touring car racing. Crosby was inducted in to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame in 1995 and the Motorcycling New Zealand Hall of Fame in 2006. Motorcycle racing career New Zealand and Australian racing Crosby moved from his home in Renwick, New Zealand to Auckland in the late 1960s and began a motorcycle apprenticeship at a local Kawasaki dealership. He began racing on a Kawasaki H2 learning to race on New Zealand's street circuits. By 1979, he was racing in the Australian Superbike championship ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1980 Grand Prix Motorcycle Racing Season
The 1980 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 32nd F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season. Season summary Yamaha's Kenny Roberts claimed his third successive 500cc world championship in a season shortened by the cancellations of the Venezuelan and Austrian rounds. Randy Mamola took over at Suzuki from Barry Sheene. Kawasaki returned to the 500cc class with a monocoque, four cylinder bike for Kork Ballington. Honda soldiered on with its exotic four-stroke NR500 but began to realize it was at a disadvantage against its two-stroke opposition. There were only six rounds in the 350cc class that saw South Africa's Jon Ekerold, a true privateer, take the championship from the Kawasaki factory-sponsored Anton Mang. Mang would take the 250cc crown from defending champion Ballington while Pier Paolo Bianchi won the 125cc title. Eugenio Lazzarini won a tight battle from Swiss Stefan Dörflinger to take the 50cc championship by only 2 points. 1980 Grand Prix season calenda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Renwick, New Zealand
Renwick is a small town in Marlborough, New Zealand, close to the south bank of the Wairau River. It is located on , west of Blenheim. Havelock is north. State Highway 63 runs southwest from Renwick through the Wairau River valley. The town was initially known as "Upper Wairau", and then as "Renwicktown" after an early landowner, Dr. Thomas Renwick. Renwick is located in the centre of Marlborough's grape growing region. Sauvignon blanc is the variety usually associated with the area, and famous wineries such as Isabel Estate and Forrest Estate are in close proximity. Pinot Gris (Grey Pinot) is also exported. Demographics Renwick is defined by Statistics New Zealand as a small urban area and covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Renwick had a population of 2,418 at the 2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suzuki GS Series
The Suzuki GS series was Suzuki Motor Corporation's first full range of 4-stroke powered road motorcycles, having previously almost exclusively manufactured 2-stroke machines. Suzuki had produced the 4-stroke Colleda COX 125cc and 93cc 4-stroke single-cylinder machines in 1955 however the rest of Suzuki's production from 1952 to 1976 had been increasingly sophisticated two-stroke road machines, whose ultimate expression was the 750cc 3-cylinder water-cooled GT750. First models The first of the GS Series was the four-cylinder GS750 released alongside the GS400 parallel twin in November 1976. (1977 Model Year). The GS750 engine was essentially patterned off the Kawasaki Z1-900, and became the design basis for all air-cooled Suzuki four-stroke fours until the release of the air-oil cooled GSX-R. The GS750 engine was fitted into a dual cradle frame with telescopic forks, twin rear shocks and a front disc brake. The new GS750 was lauded for its handling at the time of its rele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suzuki MotoGP
Suzuki MotoGP was the factory-backed team of Japanese motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki in the MotoGP World Championship, most recently using the name Team Suzuki Ecstar for sponsorship purposes. Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP competition at the conclusion of the 2022 season, winning their final race with Álex Rins. History 1970s In 1971, Grand Prix racer Jack Findlay and his business partner Daniele Fontana constructed a racing motorcycle using a Suzuki T series engine with a chassis of their own design. Findlay rode the motorcycle to victory in the 1971 Ulster Grand Prix marking the first victory for a Suzuki motorcycle in the premier 500cc class, as well as the first-ever 500cc class victory for a motorcycle powered by a two stroke engine. Suzuki first entered a works team in the 500cc Grand Prix World Championship in with riders Barry Sheene and Findlay riding the Suzuki RG500. The motorcycle was designed by Makoto Hase using the proven square-four, two stroke engine archit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Factory Backed
In motorsports, a factory-backed racing team or driver is one sponsored by a vehicle manufacturer in official competitions. As motorsport competition is an expensive endeavor, some degree of factory support is desired and often necessary for success. The lowest form of factory backing comes in the form of contingency awards, based upon performance, which help to defray the cost of competing. Full factory backing can be often seen in the highest forms of international competition, with major motorsport operations often receiving hundreds of millions of euros to represent a particular manufacturer. One-make series can also be backed by the factory, notably Ferrari Challenge and Porsche Supercup purely to allow themselves sell their competition specials of their models to customers and to organize series. These series commonly offer prize money and even sometimes a factory drive in an upper-level series. In lower level racing, support from dealerships and importers may also b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formula TT
The Formula TT was a racing class for motorcycles from 1977 to 1990 as the official World Cup under the umbrella of International Motorcycling Federation. It was in three engine capacity classes, and was divided into both two and four-stroke engines. History From 1949 to 1976 the Isle of Man TT was part of the Motorcycle Grand Prix World Championship and was the home of the British Grand Prix. The event came under increasing scrutiny due to safety concerns despite efforts by the ACU to retain its world championship status. When Italian rider Gilberto Parlotti was killed during the 1972 TT, his close friend and the reigning world champion Giacomo Agostini, announced that he would never again race on the Isle of Man. More riders joined Agostini's boycott and by the 1976 season, only a handful of serious Grand Prix riders were among the entrants. Shortly after the 1976 TT, the FIM made the long-anticipated announcement that the TT, once the most prestigious race on the Grand P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pole Position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the race. The number-one qualifying driver is also referred to as the pole-sitter. The pole position, pole sitter, starts the race "at the front of the starting grid. This provides the driver in the pole position the privilege of starting ahead of all the other drivers" Grid position is typically determined by a qualifying session before the race, where race participants compete to ascend to the number 1 grid slot, the driver, pilot, or rider having recorded fastest qualification time awarded the advantage of the number 1 grid slot (i.e., the pole-position) ahead of all other vehicles for the start of the race. Historically, the fastest qualifier was not necessarily the designated ''pole-sitter''. Different sanctioning bodies in motor sport em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kawasaki Kz1000
The Kawasaki Kz1000 or Z1000 is a motorcycle made in Japan by Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine, Kawasaki, manufacturing commenced in September 1976 for the 1977 model year. The Z1000A1 was an upgraded model to replace the 1976 Kawasaki KZ900 (Z900), which in turn replaced the Kawasaki Z1, Z1 launched in 1972 in the Kawasaki Z series, Z series. It has an Inline-four engine, inline-four cylinder engine and a 5-speed transmission, in a 'one down and four up' configuration. Producing about 90 hp, it was one of the fastest production motorcycles of the era. The police model continued in production until 2005. Model differences Some of the significant differences between the KZ900 and the KZ1000 include that the 1000 has a heavier crankshaft for less engine vibration, smoother acceleration and a larger displacement as a result of increasing the cylinder bore from 66mm to 70mm. The 1000 received a rear disc brake. There were various configurations of specifications an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mamoru Moriwaki
Moriwaki Engineering is a Japanese manufacturer of speciality high performance products and motorcycle accessories. __TOC__ Company founder Mamoru Moriwaki is a Japanese motorcycle tuner, race team owner and founder of Moriwaki Engineering, a Japanese specialty engineering company that designs, manufactures and sells high performance parts for motorcycles and cars. His motorcycle industry career is closely intertwined with that of Pops Yoshimura, another respected motorcycle tuner. Moriwaki began his career as a motorcycle racer for Hideo "Pops" Yoshimura, a respected motorcycle mechanic and tuner involved in Japanese motorcycle racing. Moriwaki received no formal training in engineering while working for Yoshimura. Instead, he became self-taught, learning about mechanical engineering from books borrowed from his local high school. Moriwaki married Namiko Yoshimura, Pops’ eldest daughter, while he was working for the company. While working for the Yoshimura racing team, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pops Yoshimura
Hideo "Pops" Yoshimura (October 7, 1922 – March 29, 1995) was a Japanese motorcycle tuner, race team owner, and manufacturer of speciality motorcycle accessories. He is remembered for his ties to the beginnings of Superbike racing and the Yoshimura factory racing team. __TOC__ Motorcycling career Born in Fukuoka City, Japan, Yoshimura was called into military service during the Second World War where he was trained as an aircraft mechanic. After the war, he began tuning motorcycles for American servicemen stationed in Japan and in 1954, he opened his first shop, with his wife and children helping him. In 1971, he moved his business to Los Angeles at the beginning of the four-cylinder superbike era. He gained a reputation as an excellent motorcycle tuner. In 1976 the AMA introduced a racing class for production based bikes and Yoshimura established himself by entering fast, reliable Kawasaki Z1 bikes. In 1978 he switched to Suzuki bikes and began winning races. Steve McLaug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superbike Racing
Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs highly modified production motorcycles, as opposed to MotoGP in which purpose-built motorcycles are used. The Superbike World Championship is the official world championship series, though national Superbike championships are held in many countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, Australia and Canada. Superbike racing is generally popular with manufacturers, since it helps promote and sell their product, as captured by the slogan "Win on Sunday; Sell on Monday". Characteristics of Superbike racing motorcycles Superbike racing motorcycles are derived from standard production models, so for a bike to be eligible, the manufacturer must first homologate the model and manufacture the required number of roadgoing machines. While rules vary from series to series, in general the motorcycles must maintain the same profile as their roadgoing counterparts, with the same overall appearance as seen from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Street Circuit
A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the paddock, pit boxes, fences and grandstands are usually installed temporarily and removed soon after the race is over but in modern times the pits, garages, race control and main grandstands are sometimes permanently constructed in the area. Since the track surface is originally planned for normal speeds, race drivers often find street circuits bumpy and lacking grip. Run-off areas may be non-existent, which makes driving mistakes more expensive than in purpose-built circuits with wider run-off areas. Racing on a street circuit is also called "legal street racing". Local governments sometimes support races held in street circuits to promote tourism. In some cases, short segments or connector roads of the circuit are purpose-built for the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
