Clad in a skintight pink, white and blue bodysuit with ample cleavage exposed, Paris Hilton proved last weekend why she is not your average motorcycle race team owner.
But in a blaze of publicity in Madrid on Saturday, the socialite, model and actress unveiled her shock new 125GP adventure.
Unveiling a striking pink, blue and white paintscheme, Hilton jetted in from America to launch the new SuperMartxe VIP by Paris Hilton team.
Hilton tweeted about her new venture saying: ‘I'm so proud of my new motorcycle team. So exciting!’
She later tweeted to her three million plus followers: ‘I can't believe I have my own racing team! So cool!’
Hilton’s team will run Sergio Gadea and Maverick Vinales in the 2011 125GP world championship.
It has been rumoured that Hilton will attend at least five races next season.
Designer Marc Senger has recently presented his latest concept, the Audi LSR land speed record motorbike. A superbike of the future, the Audi rocket is scheduled for the 2031 Bonneville Speed Week trials and, judging by the way it looks, this streamliner is a winner already.
THREE motorbike ambulances are helping to save lives in the Mbale region of Uganda, thanks to the PONT (Partnerships Overseas Networking Trust) link.
The vehicles were handed over by three members of the Welsh Ambulance Service at a ceremony in Uganda last week.
This is the first time the poverty-stricken region has had an ambulance service.
Within two days of the launch, which was also attended by Wales’ chief medical officer Dr Tony Jewell, one of the bikes had already transferred 17 people to hospital or health clinics, potentially saving their lives. Julian Newton, a paramedic supervisor from Hawthorn ambulance station in Pontypridd, who has just returned from Mbale, said: “It’s absolutely certain these motorbike ambulances will save many lives and probably have already, in the first few days.
“Unlike in this country, where the lives we save are due to the use of medicines or a paramedic’s interventions, over there it’s often a simple case of getting people to a hospital or a health facility that saves lives. I feel very humble to be involved in something that will make such a big difference to people.”
The ambulances, which are suitable for use on Ugandan terrain, are the result of two years of work between Mbale and PONT. They have been funded by donations to PONT, including more than £4,000 from the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Rotary Club, in Leicestershire.
The three areas that make up the wider Mbale region – Mbale, Manafwe and Bududa – are each now covered by a motorbike ambulance. Mr Newton, who was accompanied by colleagues Mandy George and Giovanni Riva on last week’s Uganda trip, added: “The vision for the future is that the bikes will prove successful and, as the economic situation improves, the Ugandan government will recognise their value and roll them out to other parts of the country.”
Members of the Welsh Ambulance Service and PONT last year trained 60 people in Mbale as first responders as a forerunner to motorbike ambulances.
The popular sports 125, which already costs £3999, gets a £478 full Akropovic exhaust system, Galfer Wave brake discs, a bubble screen, pillion seat cover, frame protectors and a £1200 paint job.
Because it’s a one-off, unveiled to showcase accessories at Carole Nash Motorcycle Live, the only way to get one is to pay for everything separately, bringing the cost to £6072.
That mixture of thrill-seeking and abandonment is not unique to bikers, but it certainly seems to be popular
'Looking for adventure' ... riding a Harley Davidson in the Californian desert. Photograph: Alamy When you hear the word motorbike, what do you think of? Marlon Brando in an unfortunate cap astride his Triumph? The ultrafast races in Akira? Or, and apologies if you had managed to shut this out of your memory banks, John Travolta and his baby-soft cheeks pootling around in Wild Hogs?
As some of the Readers Recommend community observed, the meaning of the motorbike, all that symbolism stuff, is a lot less broad than its four-wheeled pal, the car. Different cars say different things about their drivers, but in music, it seems, bikes are about rough-edged individuals feeling freedom in their hair.
Steppenwolf, obviously, are largely to blame. Or Dennis Hopper. Or both. Born to Be Wild is inextricably linked to Easy Rider, but it summarises that film's attitude with its motto: "Looking for adventure/ Or whatever comes my way." That mixture of thrill-seeking and abandonment is not unique to bikers, but it certainly seems to be popular.
The Allman Brothers conceive of the Midnight Rider, who heads out with just the clothes on his back and a silver dollar in his pocket. The Jesus and Mary Chain take the same idea and turn it into narcissistic fetish: "I cut the road like a sharpened knife/ And I'm in love with myself/ There's nothing else but me."
The Living End, taken from the Mary Chain's Psychocandy, is a ball of buzzing noise and is complemented by both Suicide's droning epic Ghost Rider and the frenzied breakbeat of μ-Ziq's The Motorbike Track. Quite what it was about the motorbike that encouraged such sounds is not apparent; maybe somebody had experienced one too many rattling carburettors. Other songs engage with the iconography but explore it from different angles. Neil Young's Unknown Legend is a waitress and mother of two. But in Young's mind's eye she's a Harley-riding rebel "colliding with the very air she breathes". Richard Thompson sings a ballad of a love brought short; James, the owner of the titular Vincent, is felled by the law – his lover Red Molly survives him. The tragedy is circumscribed by the fact that Red Molly's feelings for James were, in the first instance, caused partly by the bike. Without the means of his own destruction the couple would never have come together in the first place.
In Daniel Johnston's Speeding Motorcycle, the dreams of speed remain, but the bike is the man: "Pretty girls have taken you for a ride/ Hurt you deep inside but you never slowed down." Johnston aspires towards the robustness of the machine itself, not the Dennis Hopper archetype that owns it.
The Manic Street Preachers composed a great hook upon which to hang their wailing against the functions of capitalism. Here it's possible to see the bike as a fake rebellion: "Under neon loneliness/ Motorcycle emptiness." At least, that's one reading. I'm much clearer as to why the refreshingly unpredictable Dr Alimantado has made this week's list. The Barber Feel It is not in any way a contemplation of bikes, but it does feature a 50cc machine growling away in the background.
This week's playlist:
1. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
2. Midnight Rider – The Allman Brothers
3. The Living End- The Jesus and Mary Chain
4. Ghost Rider - Suicide
5. The Motorbike Track - µ-Ziq
6. Unknown Legend - Neil Young
7. 1952 Vincent Black Lightning - Richard Thompson
8. Speeding Motorcycle - Daniel Johnston
9. Motorcycle Emptiness - Manic Street Preachers
10. The Barber Feel it - Dr Alimantado & Jah Stitch
