Lorenzo Zanetti works out while Michael van der Mark observes
Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti
Team Honda
Team Pata Honda and MXer Evgeny Bobryshev
Motorcycle Racing NewsMany of the top Honda racers in the world converged on the English Institute of Sport to take part in physio and isometric testing, strength and conditioning assessments, and a fitness analysis, as well as a seminar on sleep patterns and strategies in relation to sporting performance.
Assessment Day, as it is known, is behind much of Team Great Britain’s successes at the London 2012 Olympics. The data collected from each rider will be collated and used to form the basis of his training and fitness program for the 2014 racing season.The Honda racers—boasting eight world championship titles among them—included Pata Honda riders Leon Haslam, Michael van der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti, Honda’s new road racing team of 20-time Isle of Man TT winner John McGuinness and Conor Cummins, the new World Endurance Championship team of Freddy Foray, Julien Da Costa and Sebastien Gimbert, Honda Motocross World Championship riders Evgeny Bobryshev and Max Nagl, Gariboldi Honda’s MX2 racer Tim Gajser, and 2013 Enduro World Champion Alex Salvini.Richard Parker (EIS Director of Operations) says: “It’s great for us to welcome the Honda riders to the English Institute of Sport. Everything we do here is about maximizing the performance of athletes, and today provides an opportunity for us to assess the riders and see how we can give them some programs to improve their performance on the bike in the coming year.”Leon Haslam says: “It’s been a fantastic day, and it’s incredible to get all Honda’s different racing disciplines together. The facilities here are amazing and, although I’m used to fitness tests, it’s always good to learn more ways of improving your condition.” Michael Van der Mark says: “It’s really good to be measured against all these other Honda riders, and it will be interesting to get the results back from the guys here to see where we can improve our physical condition.”Lorenzo Zanetti says: “I am really impressed with this institute, because it concentrates only on sport. It’s been a really fun day, but also very interesting to check my condition against other Honda riders.”
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
