Keep calm!!!

If you ever wake up with a stolen R6 in your bedroom, don’t panic. Be smart and blame it on someone else. That’s what I did… and I nearly got away with it. To put things in context, there was a bit of tomfoolery following the enlightening launch of the new Yamaha at Almeria circuit, which you can read all about in this issue. With beers flowing and people desperate to pass the time in the most creative of ways, a demo bike from our hotel’s lobby ended up being ‘lifted’ two floors and dumped in my room. How we laughed, until we got caught by the organiser, whom I’d written a note to blame it on. You live and learn. Fictitious names from here on in.

Did you watch the opening round of MotoGP? What a fantastic round that was, even if the pre-race excitement over a bit of damp track nabbed a few superstars of kudos. At least, that’s how I thought until I went out to Losail later that same week. In one of those surreal opportunities, the chance came to head to the Doha circuit and bang in a few laps on Michelin’s new Power RS rubber under the glitz of floodlights. That’s when I saw first-hand how slippery that place gets when the dust storms blow over, as they did during our test. Add a bit of moisture into that scenario and it’s appreciable how slick the shiny-surfaced circuit must become. Thankfully, there was none of that rain nonsense during the RS test, which proved to be a handy, fast road tyre. Trouble is, according to ‘Pretty Boy’ Stevens, there’s some stiff competition for Michelin, as he discovered during a similar timed launch in France, putting Dunlop’s new SportSmart 2 Max through its paces. Both tyres are reviewed inside, so have a good read if you’re in the market for fresh rubber. And, even if you’re not, still have a good read. It’ll help pass the time.

Speaking of passing time, a lot of hours have gone into this month’s core test, which took place across a few days of road and track riding. The super naked sector’s booming, and it’s understandably fruitful when you consider the performance of each of our four contestants; BMW’s S1000R; KTM’s 1290 Super Duke R; Yamaha’s MT-10SP; Aprilia’s new Tuono – which we’re the first to ride on the roads here in Blighty – hurrah! With a pack so focused, it should come as no surprise when I say no bike disappointed, but there was one clear winner. Want to know which one handed it to the others? You better turn the page then.