James Rispoli at Indy Moto2LeoVince USA NewsLeoVince and James Rispoli have a strong history as LeoVince helped power James to his first Supersport championship in 2011. Now, Rispoli is celebrating a solid Moto2 debut at the 2013 Red Bull MotoGP at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.The 21-year-old rode a GP Tech-sponsored Tech 3 machine in Moto2, marking a huge step up in the ranks of motorcycle roadracing for Rispoli. LeoVince supplied a handcrafted Moto2 titanium exhaust to help him in his inaugural ride.
The first practice session was a struggle for Rispoli, who had to deal with both gearing issues and a malfunctioning slipper clutch. Things rapidly began to improve after that, and by the time qualifying rolled around, Rispoli had dropped 3.885 seconds from his fastest lap in the first practice.After qualifying 29th, Rispoli ran a smooth, steady race on his LeoVince-equipped Tech 3 motorcycle and crossed the finish line in 25th. He had a battle with Louis Rossi but was able to pull ahead by 1.9 seconds at the checkered flag. During the race, Rispoli dropped even more time from his laps, eventually setting a best lap time of 1:45.243—more than four seconds faster than he ran in the first practice.Now that his Moto2 debut is behind him, Rispoli is preparing to continue his charge in Daytona SportBike. In ten races this season, Rispoli has yet to finish outside the top ten. Keep an eye on him when the AMA Pro Road Racing series heads to New Jersey Motorsports Park, September 13-15.LeoVince USA congratulates Rispoli on a great Moto2 debut!
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This week, in the first segment Editor Don Williams talks to us about the new Kawasaki Versys 650 LT. It’s the middleweight ADV style machine that uses the same 650 parallel twin motor as the Ninja 650, so it’s an excellent performer in a user-friendly, good looking package.
In the second segment, I chat with one of my dearest industry friends—now retired Honda PR executive, Jon Seidel. Jon’s fascinating career spans some 30 years with Big Red, and gave him some great experiences with some incredible machines. I was fortunate enough to be invited on many of the press launches that he organized. His new project is documenting and saving many of the old archives from years gone by—and incidentally, if you have anything that may be of value to the project, please contact us by email at producer@ultimatemotorcycling.com and we’ll pass it all on to Jon.
So on that note, from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
