NEWS / EVENTS / SPECIALS / TOM'S TIDBITS

I worked at American Honda in the Product Research department in the 80s. Our department was full of expert riders both on and off road. We had to be as we were press relations specialists and had to deal with all of the editors on an equal basis.

One time Tom Buyan, who worked at Honda with me, and I decided to ride to the yearly Honda Dealer meeting and that year it was in Las Vegas. We didn’t want to drone on the 15 freeway, so we decided to take Route 66 which in large part is now Highway 40. I was riding a Honda Interceptor and Tom, the mountain man, chose the Honda XLV750R which was the predecessor to the African Twin.

We were riding along on the 40 with little traffic in the middle of nowhere when Tom decided to do some off-roading. We were riding next to a huge dry lake, and it was just beautiful. He was leading us when I saw him veer off the freeway and cross a grass median towards the dry lake. I did not follow!

The next thing I see is big Tom Buyan doing a flying “W” over his handlebars as his bike came to an immediate stop when he entered the dry lake. Dry lakes aren’t always dry. They sure look dry, and it seems like you could just ride out there and have a blast. And sometimes they are dry, and you can do just that.

This was not one of those times! As Tom got onto the dry lake surface, he discovered the crust was dry but underneath was just mud. He was ok because where he landed was soft, but the bike was completely stuck in the mud! We struggled for a long time trying to drag it out when a good samaritan stopped and helped us. The three of us got it to the road and were exhausted and absolutely covered in mud! 

We got back on the road and made it to Vegas with no other issues, other than my sides hurting from laughing as hard as I did. The sight of Tom going over the bars was simply hilarious. Of course this story could have had bad consequences, but he was lucky this time. No matter how good a rider you think you are DO NOT attempt to ride on surfaces you are not sure of!

AI OGURA IS THE 2024 TRIUMPH TRIPLE TROPHY WINNER

The 2024 Triumph Triple Trophy has been awarded to Ai Ogura, for delivering the most stand-out performances of the Moto2TM season. Chosen by fans for displaying strength, skill and resilience, as well as sporting success, the Moto2™ World Champion wins a custom-liveried Triumph Street Triple 765 RS.

Ogura becomes the fifth winner of the competition that runs alongside the Moto2™ World Championship, which for the first time this year saw fans choose from a three-strong shortlist chosen by a Triumph Triple Trophy judging panel. 

The top three riders were posted on MotoGP™ Instagram stories after each race and fans voted for their favourite, with points awarded in order of popularity. 

The points awarded are in reference to Triumph’s 765cc engine:

• 7 points for the rider with most fan votes
• 6 points for the rider with second most fan votes
• 5 points for the rider with third most fan votes

Over 630,000 votes were cast as fans voted for their favourite rider each weekend. Ogura made the shortlist nine times over the season and won the top points in the fan vote five times, which was enough to crown him 2024’s Triumph Triple Trophy winner. 



In an incredible season, Ogura has become the first Japanese Moto2™ World Champion in the Triumph era and the fourth winner of the Triumph-backed TTT competition who moves into the premier class, MotoGP™.

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Pecco Bagnaia Concludes the First 2025 Pre-Season Test in Third Place. Marc Márquez Fourth on his Debut with the Desmosedici GP of the official team

Two days after the 2024 MotoGP World Championship ended, the Ducati Lenovo Team was back on track at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Spain) for the first official test in preparation for the 2025 season.



2024 runner-up Francesco Bagnaia, riding a Desmosedici GP in a special white livery, hit the track shortly after 11:00 AM, and completed a total of 58 laps during the remaining six hours of the test. With a fastest lap time of 1:38.398, Bagnaia ended the day in third place.

The test also marked Marc Márquez’s first appearance as an official Ducati rider. After finishing the 2024 season in third place with three wins and ten podiums with the Desmosedici GP of the Gresini Racing MotoGP team, the eight-time World Champion officially began his new adventure with the Ducati factory squad today. Márquez, who will join Bagnaia next season, started the day after an initial “shakedown” by test rider Michele Pirro. The Spaniard then focused on testing new components and different setup configurations on his “Todo al Rojo” (all red) Desmosedici GP. With 49 laps and a best time of 1:39.454, Márquez wrapped up the day in fourth place.

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