Honda tapped to supply racing bike engines for new Moto2 series

Could things be turning around for Honda’s racing department? The Japanese industrial giant began canceling its motorsport programs one by one when things took a turn for the worse economically, but after withdrawing from the AMA Road Racing motorbike series a few months ago, Honda is getting back in the saddle according to reports by supplying the engines to all the teams competing in the upcoming new Moto2 series.

Like GP2 is to Formula One - or the Nationwide Series is to the Sprint Cup in NASCAR - the new Moto2 championship slots in as a feeder and support series to the top-tier MotoGP. Currently the 250cc class (like the Honda example pictured above) serves that function, but like the organizers did with MotoGP and the pre-extant 500cc class, the new Moto2 bikes will be mixed into the field for next season before the new formula replaces the old one in 2011. The new Honda engines, however, will be 600cc, four-stroke units with over 150 horsepower on tap, potentially prepared by European Honda tuner Ten Kate. Who knows, maybe they can still bolt a couple of these together and get back on board with Brawn GP, too.

[Source: Autosport]

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The White Coats Say 'Trust Hormone' Makes Us Hoard Terrible Old Cars

You know how your friends all laugh at you because you can't bring yourself to get rid of that rattly-ass, decades-old junker you love so deeply? You're just a slave to your hormones, buddy!

That's what Times Of London writer Anjana Ahuja tells us, quoting Professor Paul Zak of Claremont Graduate University; it's all about the oxytocin, also known as the "trust hormone." It turns out that one's attachment to an inanimate object- say, an early-60s Vanden Plas Princess 1300, for example- can trigger a release of oxytocin… and, next thing you know, you can't bring yourself to get rid of a car that breaks down approximately once every two months. Ms. Ahuja, however, triumphed over her body chemistry and ditched her Vanden Plas for… no, we can't say it. It's just too painful. One of these things.
So let's get this straight: you get rid of a seriously cool example of classic British coachbuilding- to which you've given an affectionate name and everything- and you replace it with a Fiat Multipla? The horror! We think Ms. Ahuja needs to start mainlining oxytocin and stockpiling Humber Sceptres!
[Times Of London]

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