plus 4, Zero Motorcycles Forms TTXGP Street Race Team - EV World |
- Zero Motorcycles Forms TTXGP Street Race Team - EV World
- Laurette Nicoll to Emcee 2009 AMA Racing Championship Banquet ... - Who Won
- Series Championship Banquet news ... - Motorsport.com
- Austin photographer chronicles Lance Armstrong's return to racing in ... - Austin 360
- Franchises That Need To Be Revived - 411mania.com
| Zero Motorcycles Forms TTXGP Street Race Team - EV World Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:06 AM PST PAPILLION, NE -– Zero Motorcycles have today announced the creation of its first street racing team and revealed plans to enter the 2010 TTXGP electric motorcycle series. Zero has indicated that its race-ready motorcycle will be using the same Z-Force powertrain technology that is currently used in its production electric motorcycles. Few additional details have been released on the development of Zero's race bike, but it has been hinted that many of the design cues will come from the production Zero S street motorcycle. TTXGP is the World's first zero carbon and zero emissions motorcycle race series. The inaugural TTXGP race took place on the historic Isle of Man TT course in June 2009 and will return again in June 2010 with the addition of a new race class. The first TTXGP race in the 2010 season will be the TTXGP North America Championships at Infineon in Sonoma, California on May 14 - 16. "Electric motorcycles are powerful, exciting and available now. There is no race that highlights electric motorcycle technology more than the TTXGP and we are excited to support their efforts with our own racing team," said Gene Banman, CEO of Zero Motorcycles. "We have identified a series of strategic partners for this program and will be making announcements shortly about their involvement." Zero Motorcycles is not a stranger to competitive racing. Recently, Zero Motorcycles took first place in the Defi Electrique, a sanctioned motocross race (finishing third overall in points for the series), in France hosted by the French Federation of Motorcycles. The Zero MX beat more than 200 petrol motorcycles in fierce competition, in an open category with mainly 250cc and 450cc motorcycles. Edwin Belonje, Director of European Sales & Marketing, Zero Motorcycles, said. "Following this race we had a lot of enquiries from around Europe regarding road racing, our first talks about a European race team have taken place, and we are looking for companies interested in progressing this further. The TTXGP race will surely be a fantastic showcase of what can be achieved." Zero's Z-Force technology includes its patent pending Z-Force power pack which is capable of delivering a tremendous amount of energy from a highly compact and lightweight system. It also includes a newly announced Z-Force Air Induction system that allows Zero to fully leverage their power pack's capabilities by dispersing excess motor heat. This development also paves the way for Zero to increase performance in future models. "We've spent four years developing the Z-Force electric power train technology for high performance dirt and street riding. We're excited to take it to the track and compete. We expect to gain valuable information through the competition of our motorcycles and plan to apply that knowledge to the development of future products," added Neal Saiki, Zero Motorcycles Founder and CTO. About Zero Motorcycles Zero Motorcycles is the next step in motorcycle evolution and represents the ultimate electric motorcycle technology. Unencumbered by conventional thinking about how they design, manufacture, and sell high performance electric motorcycles, they are on a mission to turn heads and revolutionize their industry by combining the best aspects of a traditional motorcycle with today's most advanced technology. The result is an electric motorcycle line that's insanely fast and environmentally friendly. Zero Motorcycles first entered the motorcycle category with the launch of the 2008 Zero X electric dirt bike. Exceeding all expectations, the Zero X sold out in late 2008 and blazed the path for the long awaited launch of the Zero S Supermoto motorcycle for urban use. This was followed by the launch of the Zero MX in June this year designed specifically for track riding and motocross, quickly followed by the Zero DS a fully electric dual sport motorcycle that can be ridden anywhere from the city street to a dirt track. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||||||||
| Laurette Nicoll to Emcee 2009 AMA Racing Championship Banquet ... - Who Won Posted: 02 Dec 2009 10:05 AM PST Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Laurette Nicoll to Emcee 2009 AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America by James Holter PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is pleased to welcome motocross racer and television broadcaster Laurette Nicoll as the Master of Ceremonies for the AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America, at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Friday night, Dec. 4. As the series announcer for AMA Endurocross, AMA Pro Racing Supermoto and AMA Mini Moto SX, Nicoll is well known to the hundreds of amateur racers, whose fans, families and friends will be on hand as the AMA pays tribute to its champions from 2009 AMA Racing premier events and series. This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||||||||
| Series Championship Banquet news ... - Motorsport.com Posted: 25 Nov 2009 04:25 PM PST Tissot Watches will honor AMA Racing Athletes of the Year at the AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is proud to announce that Tissot, an innovative Swiss-made watch brand, will present the AMA Racing Athlete of the Year and ATV Athlete of the Year with a Tissot Swiss watch at the 2009 AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America, this Dec. 4 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. "Tissot watches are among the premier timepieces you can buy today," said AMA Director of Business Development Jim Moore. "The particular chronograph model that the company is offering our Athletes of the Year is intriguing. With its automatic, self-winding functions, clear caseback and day and date display, this watch is as eye-catching as it is functional." Riders nominated for the AMA Racing Athlete of the Year include: Russell Bobbitt from Fayetteville, Ga., the 2009 champion of the AMA/Rekluse National Enduro Championship Series, presented by Moose Racing; Greg Hancock from Costa Mesa, Calif., the 2009 champion of the AMA/USA Speedway National Championship; and Russ Pearson from Henderson Nev., the 2009 champion of the AMA Racing Hare & Hound National Championship. Riders nominated for the AMA Racing ATV Athlete of the Year include: Chris Borich from Sunbury, Pa., the 2009 champion of the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series; Paula Shank from Petersburg, Pa., the 2009 Women's class and Production B class champion in the AMA Racing ATV Extreme Dirt Track National Championship; and Brandon Sommers from Millersburg, Ohio, the 2009 champion in the AMA Racing National ATV Hare Scrambles Championship. "The AMA Racing Athlete of the Year and ATV Athlete of the Year are two riders who have risen to the top of their respective disciplines as two of the fastest, most-talented motorsports stars on the track today," said Brand President, Tissot U.S., Sharon Buntain. "We're excited for the opportunity to be associated with these top talents, and proud to offer a Tissot Swiss watch that exemplifies the precision shown by these competitors: the Tissot PRS516 Automatic Chronograph, personalized for each racer." In addition to the AMA Athletes of the Year, hundreds of champions and other special honorees will be recognized at the AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America. The celebratory weekend will also include the 2009 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held the following evening on Dec. 5, also at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Led by Master of Ceremonies Perry King, legendary actor of stage, screen and TV, the event will officially welcome the 2009 class to the Hall of Fame. This year's inductees are industry innovator Robert Bates, off-road racer Randy Hawkins, motorsports giants Bob and Geoff Fox, suspension pioneer Gilles Vaillancourt, off-highway rights activist Mona Ehnes, longtime motorcycle safety proponent David Hough, noted race team manager Gary Mathers and successful dirt-track racer and tuner Chuck Palmgren. The weekend program will feature the 2009 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Concours d'Elegance, presented by FOX Racing Shox, on Saturday morning, and include some of the most beautiful motorcycles in existence. In addition, attendees will be able to meet the 2009 Hall of Fame inductees and other Hall of Famers at an autograph session held earlier in the day. Advance ticket purchase is required for both the AMA Racing Championship Banquet, presented by KTM North America, and the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Tickets, which include dinner, cost $49 per person per single event, or $89 per person for both events. To purchase tickets, visit AmericanMotorcyclist.com/LetsRock. Tickets will remain on sale through Nov. 29. Admission to the Hall of Fame autograph session and the Concours d'Elegance, presented by FOX Racing Shox, bike show is free. -credit: ama This content has passed through fivefilters.org. | ||||||||
| Austin photographer chronicles Lance Armstrong's return to racing in ... - Austin 360 Posted: 02 Dec 2009 09:03 PM PST RECREATION
A new book — and a new baby — just days apart. And you thought you were busy. It's been a big week for Elizabeth Kreutz, whose "Comeback 2.0: Up Close and Personal," a coffee table book of her photographs chronicling seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong's return to bike racing, hit stores Tuesday, less than a week after she welcomed her first child, Charles, into the world. "I'm birthing two babies — two babies I worked so hard on all year," she said while sipping orange juice and munching a black bean taco a few days before delivery. Her long blond hair pulled back, and a black T-shirt (pictures of a cigarette, martini and sushi with don't-do-this slashes across them) over her very pregnant belly, she showed off her swollen feet. "Can I please have this baby? I can't even reach down to shave my legs," she moaned. Kreutz, 36, grew up in Austin and attended Austin High School and the University of Texas, where she studied photojournalism. She and husband James Bonney, a professional triathlete and computer programmer, run Kreutz Photography, which provides action photographs of athletic events around Central Texas. "I can't believe it's in my hands," she said, cradling a copy of the new book, co-authored by Armstrong. She met the cyclist 15 years ago, before he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. She'd photographed him through the years, including five of his Tour de France victories, and continued to shoot him after he retired from professional racing. Two days after she returned from covering the Beijing Olympics, Armstrong called and pitched the book idea. He wanted her to document his return to racing — his second comeback. (The first was after cancer.) "I got excited. This is the project of a lifetime — to follow one of the greatest athletes of all time, and he's such a good friend," she said. They dove into the project on Sept. 6, 2008, with a training ride through the Hill Country. That first ride spawned the book's cover — a close-up of Armstrong's face, intense and determined. She spent the next year following the cyclist through daily life, from meeting with world leaders and hobnobbing with celebrities like Willie Nelson to visiting cancer patients and snow-skiing with his kids. "He gave me complete, total access," she said. In all, she shot some 100,000 digital images. About 200 are included in the book. She stood in a shower to get perhaps the most incredible photo in the book — one that shows Armstrong, from the back, urinating into a cup for a drug test. "I'm almost like a doctor when I'm working. I'm thinking of lighting, where should I be to get the best shots — but I'm also interested in what's going down," Kreutz said. She caught him cutting his hair with clippers, writing postcards to his children, stretching his muscles on the Astana team bus, dipping a knife into a jumbo container of Nutella, cracking up on his private jet with buddy Bart Knaggs, with girlfriend Anna Hansen and holding his minutes-old son, Max, born in June. "Lance is so comfortable with the camera — he'd totally forget I was there," Kreutz said. Although he didn't prohibit her from shooting anything, she says she could sense when he needed space. The hardest part was managing the sheer logistics of following such a high-profile subject. She awakened early and stayed up late to keep up with the editing. She rode on the back of a motorcycle when she was three months pregnant to photograph him racing. She traveled to eight countries. The shots are a mixture of color and black and white, taken with a Canon digital camera. The last was taken in late August of this year. Armstrong wrote all the captions. Among her favorites? A portrait of Armstrong, grim and uncertain, after surgery to repair a broken collarbone. Simon and Schuster printed 100,000 copies of the book, which is available at major booksellers for $27.99. A special Radio Shack collectors' edition sells for $32.99 and includes 16 extra pages and a special poster dust jacket. The retailer will make a $10 donation to the Lance Armstrong Foundation with each purchase. Through her photographs, Kreutz wanted to show that despite his celebrity, Armstrong is just like you or me, and he works incredibly hard. "He puts in countless hours, not just in the wind tunnel or training, but with the cancer thing, too," she said. "Now that I'm looking back, I'm just so happy with what I got." pleblanc@statesman.com; 445-3994 This content has passed through fivefilters.org.  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now | ||||||||
| Franchises That Need To Be Revived - 411mania.com Posted: 02 Dec 2009 07:37 PM PST Leveled Up 12.02.09: Franchises That Need To Be Revived Posted by Joshua Richey on 12.02.2009 From Earthworm Jim and Mutant League Football to Road Rash and even Fear Effect, these are four game franchises that 411's Joshua Richey wants to revive! Check out the full column for all the details and share what franchises you want to see comeback to life!
There are a lot of games that we play today that we also played when we were kids. There's Zelda, Metal Gear, Mario, Madden, Final Fantasy, you know, games like that. But there are also franchises that just went away for whatever reason. We've all got those franchises that we miss; I'm no different. In this edition of Leveled Up, I'm going to share with you four franchises that I'd love to see make a comeback.
 Fear Effect It's been nearly 10 years since its original release, but I can't help but to think that Fear Effect is one of the most under appreciated games that I've ever played. I was originally drawn to Fear Effect because of its unique style. It had this Ghost in a Shell-like presentation that I'd hadn't seen before in a game. It took these beautiful cel-shaded characters and placed them into FMV environments, which really gave the game this distinct appearance. As for the game itself, it was fantastic. I think my only beef with it was the fixed camera angles that would sometimes make it difficult during gameplay. But I was kind of used to that by that point thanks to the Resident Evil series. Fear Effect had everything you need to make a successful franchise. It had an exceptional look, it had fluid gameplay, it had likable characters, and the story was actually pretty astounding. The game would constantly have you choose between two actions that completely altered the rest of the game. It also made for some real "WTF?!?!"-worthy plot twists that would make your head explode.
Fear Effect was praised by both critics and gamers. Gamespot said of the original, "the overall experience that Fear Effect provides is hugely entertaining. It's one of the few games that creates a story compelling enough to make you want to play through it in a single long sitting." In 2001, Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix was released. That game did nothing but build off of what made the original so great. It was everything that was awesome about the first Fear Effect, but with the volume turned all the way up. Retro Helix garnered the same acclaim as its predecessor. Work began on a third game called Fear Effect: Inferno, however, Eidos, the games publisher, began to have some financial woes and needed to terminate some of their projects. For some stupid reason, the Fear Effect franchise was one of them. Eidos, who has since merged with Square Enix, had a big 2009 with one of the year's best games in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Perhaps now is the time that they should consider re-launching the Fear Effect franchise.
 Mutant League Football Mutant League Football was released for the Genesis in 1993 by Electronic Arts. What made MLF great was its simplicity: It was Madden, but with aliens, robots, monsters, zombies, and ghouls. While it ran off the Madden engine, it had new elements added in that made it different in more ways than just appearance. There were football fields with ledges, rock formations, lava pits, landmines, you name it. I don't even know where to begin in telling you how frustrating it is to be returning a punt, to have a jump on all the defenders, to think that you're about to take it all the way, and then to suddenly be blown to smithereens. Re-releasing Mutant League Football would be a win-win for EA. As you all know, Electronic Arts has a stranglehold on the competition when it comes to making football games. With their exclusive deal with the NFL, EA has made it virtually impossible for anyone else to make a successful game. In a time where many people are looking for an alternative to Madden, a game like Mutant Football League could be just that. EA, this game would sell. Think about it, the popularity of aliens and zombies have never been as high as it is now. So a game that ran off the Madden engine that allows you to take to the gridiron as either a decaying zombie or a malicious alien is a game that's going to get my $60.
 Road Rash My love for Road Rash is a bit ironic when I stop and think about it. In all my years as a gamer, there's been one big constant: I hate racing games. I've got one of the smallest attention spans in the world, so when a game wants me to do 5 laps around the same track, I do about 2 and then turn around and start trying to ruin the experience for the other people. Road Rash was different. In Road Rash, you'd get on a motorcycle and ride through a countryside at blazing speeds all in the name of being the first to cross the finish line. That's pretty standard, right? Well, Road Rash did offer something that you don't see in Need for Speed games: the ability to beat the shit out of the other riders. That's right. If you're riding through Vermont and Public Enemy No. 1 comes riding up on your ass, you simply pull out a billy club and go all Chris Brown on her. There were also the joys of crashing into cars and having your rider thrown off his bike and up to 50-feet in the air. The game looks very simple by today's standards, but, trust me, it had a lot of appeal. A modern day Road Rash game with online multiplayer and today's graphics? Yes, please!
 Earthworm Jim The Earthworm Jim license has been like a hot potato in the gaming industry the last few years. I'm not sure who owns the rights anymore, but whoever it is, I hope they realize that they're costing themselves potentially billions of dollars by doing a whole bunch of nothing with it. As far as I see it, an Earthworm Jim game (done right!) could be just as successful as the Ratchet and Clank series is currently. Both games, Earthworm Jim and Ratchet, are slapstick titles with characters we love using bizarre weapons to fight even more bizarre enemies. It wasn't that long ago that there were Earthworm Jim video games, there was a cartoon series, there was a line of action figures, and Hollywood was even trying to get in on the action by wanting to make a movie. So we know that the character is marketable as hell. Someone is just missing the boat by not putting the game in development. Now there is a iPhone game on the way, as well as the original coming to the XBLA; but we need more. We can continue to pretend that Earthworm Jim 64 never happened. Just give us a new, original Earthworm Jim game. Heck, it could even be in 2D. The thought of that makes boy parts tingle.
So those are a few of the franchises that I'd like to see brought back to life. I could keep going, but unfortunately I've gotta get back to playing Fairytale Fights. I'm reviewing it for the site, and Ramon's this close to placing a bull head in my bed if I don't hurry up and finish it. (BTW: It's bad) But enough about me, what are some franchises you would like to see return from the dead?
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