The Italian press is still fulminating over the Biaggi penalty last Sunday, the General Manager of WSBK issuing an unprecedented statement explaining the ins and outs of the situation and even publishing a picture showing that Biaggi had failed to re-enter the circuit within the prescribed boundaries set out at the riders’ briefing. Biaggi did not actually attend the meeting, which he would normally be required to do, but apparently the regulations excuse a rider from attending as long as a representative from their team does, and this is what happened in this case. I’d bet money that the representative did NOT explain to Biaggi what had been said about this issue (this regardless of the fact that over 100 cautions for cutting the chicane were issued on the Friday Free Practice day ALONE.)
Incidentally, I wonder if Biaggi is regretting agreeing to forego his usual #3 for #1 this year?
In other news, MotoGp moves to Le Mans this weekend (what’s the betting it rains?). Ducati are supposed to have a new front sub-frame ready for the GP11 that is supposed to be more compliant and provide more front-end “feel”.
I took the Shadowfax swingarm down to Chris Dowde’s workshop this morning. He works just around the corner from my place and his shop is always filled with tasty morsels, like a 600cc Velocette engine that he is restoring along with a Period 6 Post Classic Kawasaki. He can repair, rebuild, re-fabricate the swingarm for me and also redesign it slightly so that the chain doesn’t abrade the bottom run of the bracing. He is confident that the basic swingarm is serviceable and only needs to be repaired not replaced. This fits well with my plan of keeping the bike as original as possible.