oh, to be Australian on a day like today.

today is one of those rare days in the motorsport calendar i like to call ‘the perfect storm.’ in other words, the MotoGP, Moto2 and 125cc races at Motegi, two rounds of World Superbike at Magny-Cours and the stunning conclusion of Rallye de France all fell on the same day today. perfection, indeed.

went to check out the Cars on Route 66 classic car show in Lawndale today where i met some fantastic people and got to see a bunch of crazy gas guzzlers. stay tuned as a few photos will trickle through my photoblog and a few cars will be featured on my ongoing interesting/rare/vintage cars series.

i heard someone refer to the Nissan Skyline R32 as “retro” today and it caught me completely by surprise. as i’ve mentioned before in past posts, my brain occasionally still thinks that it’s the year 1998 so it’s alarming to hear a car that was discontinued in the mid ’90s being lumped into the same category as tri-color tube socks and Betamax.

British magazine Motorcycle Racer just did a feature on my brother‘s book American Superbike X in their most recent issue. check it out!

i spent this past Saturday shooting and volunteering for Riders For Health at the Dainese D-Store Chicago again. current AMA Superbike rider Ben Bostrom (who also wrote the foreword to my brother’s book American Superbike X) showed up to answer questions and sign autographs and Riders was invited to set up a raffle to raise money for their ongoing projects in Africa.

it was fantastic meeting Ben who is refreshingly down to earth, taking the time to chat with his fans like they were old friends and being a generally awesome guy. add the fact that he races for Michael Jordan Motorsports (yes, that Michael Jordan) with the number 23 and, well, let’s just say that the long drive out there was totally worth it.

i was driving through a highway interchange today when i saw a silver Honda CR-V calmly drive off the shoulder, up across the grass banking and onto a different highway.

sadly, i didn’t have the time to take any video or pictures.

i’ve heard of people who ride their bicycles to work and park in the office but today i saw someone who does that with his motorcycle. a Ducati Monster, no less.

today was the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano and tomorrow is the first anniversary of Shoya Tomizawa’s death which resulted from injuries sustained at last year’s Moto2 race. somewhat fittingly, his old bike was ridden today by fellow countryman Tomoyoshi Koyama who took the checkered flag in his memory. rest in peace.

Loris Capirossi announced his retirement at the end of this season during the press conference at Misano today. some out there would say that he should’ve retired years ago while others would suggest that’s he’s still got a lot to offer, especially to all the new teams coming into MotoGP next year but no matter what you might think of him, there’s no arguing that he’s by far the most experienced rider in the history of grand prix motorcycle racing.

he debuted in the 125cc class in 1990 at the age of 17 and won the world championship on his first try–a tremendous feat that i don’t remember because i was still in grade school–and he’s been racing on the elite international stage ever since.

it’s going to be weird not to see him on the grid next season but i’m glad that i got a chance to see him race. may your new life be just as thrilling as the one before!