In honour of Nicky Hayden, 69 is to be retired from Grand Prix racing at Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas.

In tribute to the late, great Nicky Hayden, who passed away in 2017, the number 69 will be retired from Grand Prix racing at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The “Kentucky Kid” rode 69 to the crown and MotoGP™ Legend status during an impressive career that saw him leave an indelible mark on the sport and the paddock.

July 9th 2017 – the last ride I ever took. I got hit by another rider, and spent six days in the trauma hospital. Many broken bones and a couple punctured lungs…and that was it. The Panigale WAS a beautiful bike.

Marquez will be on the Repsol with Pedrosa next year. The original story can be found here.

The rookie rule is to be dropped for the 2013 season. The Spanish daily El Pais is reporting that Dorna and IRTA had decided that the rule preventing MotoGP rookies from being signed to a factory team had to be scrapped due to the difficulties presented by the limited number of bikes available to ride. As a consequence, it was felt it was better to drop the rookie rule altogether, rather than create more problems for existing satellite teams by maintaining it.

The rule had outlived its usefulness, IRTA secretary Mike Trimby told MotoMatters.com. “The situation has changed,” Trimby said. “There are far fewer opportunities for rookies now than there were when the Rookie Rule was introduced.” In 2010, the first year of its introduction, there were three satellite Ducati seats, two satellite Yamaha seats and four satellite Honda seats available. In 2013, there will be just two satellite Yamahas and two satellite Hondas, with perhaps just a single satellite Ducati available, though Ducati team boss Alessandro Cicognani said that it was Ducati’s intention to keep two satellite Ducatis if possible, and the factory was willing to look at pricing to help achieve that goal.

I’m going to celebrate mine by taking the track bike out to Texas World Speedway with RideSmart! Going to hang out with the guys and grrrls from WFO Riders.

A HUGE thank you to my wife Deborah for being so patient and tolerant with me, and not complaining when I run off to enjoy my 3rd childhood.

Ok, pointless but very cool. Honda is a leader in robotics so this is a natural progression for them.

From autos.yahoo.com

“No automaker keeps quite as many strange side projects afloat as Honda, which has everything from jet planes to walking robots underway in its engineering studios. On Tuesday, Honda revealed its plans for another company invention, a rolling stool it now calls the Uni-Cub which users steer by the seat of their pants. One can only hope for a racing version.

Designed to mimic the speed and height of walking, the Uni-Cub’s lithium batteries power a trick wheel that can move any direction. Using sensors on the seats, riders simply shift their weight in the direction they wish to travel — there’s also a smartphone control app —  and the unit rides high so that the riders have eye contact with people not cool enough to glide around the office up to 3.7 miles on a charge.

Honda says it will begin testing the Uni-Cub next month with a Japanese research museum. But like all great inventions, the true value of the Uni-Cub may lie well beyond the inventor’s concept. if Honda really wants to try it out, I’d suggest either a college dorm or a preschool, someplace where riders will test the extremes of the self-balancing system. A drag race with a fire extinguisher-powered office chair would also be welcome.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Me1P0JljVk

Doing both days at the track at MSR Cresson with my buddy Reese. It’s going to be a blast! Here’s a pic from the last time we were there,

As always we’re riding with RideSmart. Go there, pick a day, and a track and JOIN US!

Oh yeah, the header image above was taken there also.

Had a fantastic day yesterday at the track with RideSmart and wforiders! A couple pics from Hart Photography,

One from my onboard camera.