Tokyo Auto Salon, January 2012.

I was keen to see what it is really like to sit on a MotoGP bike, so many people mention that they’re very small machines. And they’re right!

I consider myself an average size guy at 5’ 11”, maybe a bit heavier than average weighing in at 83Kg. I always used to think of MotoGP in terms of relating it to production sportsbikes, but now I’ve seen for myself - they’re nothing alike. Not that anyone really needed to be told that, but it’s shown me just how extreme MotoGP really is.

I tried to tuck in as best I could, but my backside is firm up against the rear seat pad, my elbows and knees are not fitting well together, and there was a really limited amount of room to move front-rear in the seat. This is a racing motorcycle at the extreme!

To help put the size in proportion I’ve posted a photo of Matt Mingay and Casey Stoner below. Mingay posted this on Facebook over the holidays when Monster Energy threw a bit of a beach party. I’ve seen Mingay in person and he’s pretty much the same size as me, but what’s really interesting in this photo is that we get a direct size comparison with Stoner. Think about that next time you see Stoner on his MotoGP bike.

(Source: sportbikedm)

It’s always interesting to get an inside look at the process a photographer goes through in decided which (if any) edits to make on a photo. This one was originally taken by Scott Jones at Indy last year, and after the edits that created the above photo it became one of his favourites of the year. He wasn’t thinking of Sepang at the time, but it turned out to be a much more poignant photo.

Photo a day challenge #7, ‘favourite’. I heard you like photos, so I took a photo of your photo! 😜 This is part of a photo by Scott Jones, Motorsport photographer of much renown. This shows burning fuel as it exits the exhaust of the Mapfre Aspar Ducati MotoGP bike. The full photo is an 8x12” metallic print, and it’s my favourite! #statigram #janphotoaday #photochallenge #weXjapan #ScottJones #flame #exhaust #MotoGP #Ducati #Mapfre #Aspar (Taken with instagram)

It looks like Scott Jones has developed a real knack for capturing MotoGP bikes with flame popping from the exhaust… on top of that Scott has launched a new portfolio website at www.photo.gp (very clever…) which contains some never before seen photos from recent years, like this one pictured above. (At least I’m fairly sure it’s never been available before, because I always make it a point to track down all available images that I can - I’d be disappointed if I had previously missed this one!)

(Source: facebook.com)

Another great interview from David at MotoMatters.com, who by the way was just yesterday voted Best MotoGP Blogger in the Silverstone Media Awards. 

Of course now it’s official - Suzuki will not be racing MotoGP in 2012. Just when Rizla Blue was starting to become my favourite colour…

This has got to be one of the best race finishes in history. Rossi made a last lap, last corner pass on Lorenzo for the win. I couldn’t believe it when I saw it in 2009, and I still can’t understand how he did it - it just shouldn’t be possible!

(Source: facebook.com)

Wet or dry, it doesn’t matter if you’re elite. Crazy stuff…

(Source: motomatters.com)