Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Jorge LorenzoFox Sports has usually provided live coverage of the MotoGP Championship, but this changes for 2016. MotoGP will now be televised on beIN Sports in the United States and Canada, just as World Superbike. The races will be broadcasts on beIN SPORTS, beIN SPORTS en Espanol, and beIN SPORTS Connect (accessible online).Besides the actual coverage, beIN SPORTS will also features “original news, editorial analysis and multimedia elements throughout the FIM MotoGP World Championship, with insight from the network’s top sports journalists.”
“We are thrilled to have acquired the exclusive US broadcast rights to the FIM MotoGP World Championship, where the best racers line up on the most renowned tracks around the world; this is truly the pinnacle of motorcycle racing and beIN SPORTS is happy to be able to deliver this to our viewers in the US,” said Yousef Al-Obaidly, Managing Director of beIN SPORTS. “Sports fans demand the best of the best, and with the acquisition of the MotoGP™ World Championship and our renewal of FIM WorldSBK, we continue to provide exactly that.”“The agreement reached between Dorna and BeIN in the USA and Canada is important for the success and development of motorcycle racing in North America” added Manel Arroyo, Managing Director, TV & Media Area, Dorna Sports.“BeIN will become the home of the top road racing series, as on top of MotoGP and WorldSBK they will start airing MotoAmerica this season. It’s great news for the fans in the US and Canada to have the coverage they deserve. We also know that BeIN is going to offer viewers unparalleled comprehensive broadcasting with studio presentations and onsite presence at the US rounds of both World Series. In addition, we are thrilled to have MotoGP aired in Spanish in USA for the 1st time, expanding the reach of the sport to its maximum.”Live coverage of WorldSBK begins Friday, February 27, and MotoGP begins Sunday, March 20.
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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!