Johann ZarcoAjo Motorsport’s Johann Zarco is one round closer to clinching the 2015 Moto2 title. The Frenchman put in yet another dominate performance, earning the sixth win of the season – and seventh of his Moto2 career – at Misano World Circuit Marco Simocnelli for the San Marino Grand Prix.Zarco began the weekend quickly, qualifying on the pole. But when the 26-lap race at the 2.63-mile circuit containing 16 corners began, Zarco sat back and watched Technomag Racing Interwetten’s Dominique Aegerter and Paginas Amarillas HP 40’s Alex Rins fight for the lead.
Aegerter and Rins, crashed on the second lap, placing Zarco in front. He went on to eventually take the win by 3.850 seconds ahead of Marc VDS Racign’s Tito Rabat and 5.388 seconds ahead of Idemitsu Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami, who earned his first podium since 2013 and the sixth of his career. All three podium finishers opted for a harder rear tire while many of the others went for a softer rear, which were destroyed by race’s end.Tito RabatWith his win, which was also his 12th-straight podium, Zarco joins Oliver Jacque, Arnaud Vincent and Christian Sarron in the list of most successful French GP riders of all time. Zarco is now 93 points ahead of Rabat, meaning he can possibly clinch the title early.Finishing fourth, 7.058 seconds back was Forward Racing’s Simone Corsi, who finished over two seconds ahead of QMMF Racing Speed Up’s Julian Simon. On a medium rear tire, AGR Team’s Jonas Folger was in contention for a podium, but faded back to finish sixth, 10.466 seconds behind Zarco.Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassari braved a dislocated right shoulder to finish seventh, and the top 10 was completed by Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP), Luis Salom (Paginas Amarillas HP40), and Thomas Luthi (Derendinger Racing Interwetten) completed the top ten.As for Rins and Aegerter, both rejoined the race. Rins was black flagged due to battling with a rider that was down a lap, and Aegerter finished 24th.Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes of the UK was forced to retire from the race after a loose fairing rubbed against his rear tire forcing it to delaminate.During San Marino Moto2, Mika Kallio announced he would be parting ways with the Italtrans Racing Team to join the QMMF Racing Team for 2016. Unfortunately, the 2014 Moto2 runner-up crashed out of the race at turn 8 on lap three. Also crashing out were Ricard Cardus, Robin Mulhauser, Alex Marquez, Jesko Raffin and Federico Caricasulo.The series no breaks for two weeks ahead of the Aragon Grand Prix September 27.
Our first segment introduces you to the new Arch 1s. This latest, slightly more sporting American V-twin, adds to the original KRGT1 coming from the boutique manufacturer based in Hawthorne, Southern California. Senior Editor Nic de Sena rode through Malibu with Gard Hollinger, who co-founded Arch Motorcycle with his friend, Keanu Reeves. The 1s is a unique ride for sure, and Nic explains what makes the bike really stand out.
For the entertaining story behind Arch Motorcycle from Gard Hollinger himself, you must listen to his podcast episode on Motos & Friends HERE
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The guest segment of Motos and Friends is brought to you by the faster and most technologically advanced, 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa—visit your local dealer or suzukicycles.com to learn more.
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In our second segment, Associate Editor Teejay Adams chats with multiple Emmy award-winning writer, Producer, Director, and actor, Thom Beers. the former Chairman & CEO of Fremantle Media North America, responsible for American Idol and America’s Got Talent.
Thom’s fertile imagination led to most of the really big reality TV shows such as ‘Deadliest Catch’ (now in its 17th season!), and many others. Of course for us in the motorcycle world, you’ll be interested to hear the genesis and story of how he started the first real fabrication reality show ‘Monster Garage’, that showcased Jesse James, and then how that led to ‘Biker Build Off’ and the ‘Zombie Choppers’ movie.
You’d imagine that most of Thom’s time is spent sitting behind a desk and on his phone. Not so. His intense stories of capturing much of the content for these shows make for some hair-raising listening.
