Colin Fraser

At the season-ending 2022 Valencia MotoGP round last November, several strong story lines encouraged fan enthusiasm. Foremost was the title battle between Ducati’s Pecco Bagnaia and Yamaha’s number one Fabio Quartararo. This resolved in Bagnaia’s favor, although some early race drama maintained the hype. The next story line was the departure of Suzuki from the...

Last week, I attended Ducati’s invitation event at a slick Toronto meeting space, the Brickworks. The Ready4Red event was a showcase for several new models, including Ducati’s latest electric assist bicycles. Ducati North America CEO Jason Chinnock hosted. I was happy to hear the enthusiastic Chinnock mention in his opening remark that Ducati had homologated...

2022 was a big year for the 80th annual Daytona 200 at Bike Week. A club-formatted race in recent years, the annual season opener in Florida gained MotoAmerica status for the first time. While the main 200-miler was not a Supersport points race, it did mark the debut of the FIM’s (world sanctioning body) next...

Last year, the Daytona 200 got a face lift to celebrate the 80th anniversary of a race that started along that famous beach. Since the 1960s, the typically 200 miler has taken place inland at the NASCAR super speedway, using a variety of versions of the infield road course and the high banked oval. At...

Elliott Vieria’s last race went well. The final National of the Liqui Moly Pro Sport Bike series at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park last August turned into a run-away victory for the Guyanese born, Pickering based 25 year old Pro racer. “After the five years I had prior to that, it was such a good way...

The passing of George Morin at 74 is certainly a major milestone in the history of the Canadian national Superbike championship. During his key career season, 1980, I got to know Morin well, and travelled with him occasionally, or did things together socially, from that time forward. In 1980, Morin was one of a small...

Last week, Canadian Kawasaki Motors announced that Jordan Szoke would lead a two-pronged attack on the Bridgestone CSBK’s Pro Superbike feature class this season. The news of Szoke’s return to the series he has often dominated, after missing all of 2022 due to injuries suffered on a M/X machine, is big for CKM and CSBK....

Now is the time of year when beat writers consider possibilities, and maybe offer a few predictions, for the year ahead. So, let’s consider the world of motorcycle road racing: World Ducati Gets Stronger? Ducati earned both the MotoGP and World Superbike crowns in 2022, and although both series were very competitive at the front,...

“It was my first time on a stock, street bike,” confessed Ben Young of his recent trip to Almeria in Spain to join BMW’s world media event for the launch of latest S 1000 RR. “With everything stock, even the gearing, it does feel a little different from our race bikes. “It’s tricky to know...

Last week, famed Italian motorcycle racer Danilo Petrucci confirmed that he would race on the Motul World Superbike tour for the first-time next season, aboard a satellite Barni Ducati. Many fans were expecting Petrucci to compete for a second straight season in the MotoAmerica series, also on a works-supported Panigale V-4 Desmo. It says much...

Colin Fraser The final event of the 12 round 2022 FIM Motul World Superbike Championship, the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian round at Phillip Island, took place last weekend. This venue has a reputation for providing great racing, often with issues surrounding tires given the demanding nature of the ten-turn layout by...

Colin Fraser The much-hyped final MotoGP event of 2022, the Gran Premio Motul De La Comunitat Valenciana, took place on Sunday (Nov. 6) at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Spain. With the title decided between reigning Champ Fabio Quartararo of France on the Monster-Yamaha works entry and points leader Francesco “Pecco”...