Anthony Kodack
Filed in: Ducati | International Motorcycle and Scooter Show | Celebrity Cars | auction

The award winning UK charity, Riders for Health is offering people the chance to own a motorcycle owned by the U2 lead singer and activist, Bono, in an auction to support their lifesaving work in Africa. This once in a lifetime opportunity is set to take place at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show at the Birmingham NEC which runs from 23rd November – 2nd December.

The red Ducati 916 has a truly star-studded history having belonged to the late INXS front-man Michael Hutchence, and then Bono. The bike has also been owned by U2 member Adam Clayton. Now this motorcycle will be saving the lives of children in Africa by supporting Riders for Health.

Bono, a leading campaigner for Africa since the 1980s, donated the motorcycle to Riders for Health to raise money to help health workers in Africa reach rural villages with essential healthcare. He signed the tank of the bike with a touching personal message in memory of his late friend, Michael Hutchence, putting ‘For Michael, Bono’.

This is a unique chance to own a motorcycle that has belonged to three of the biggest names in rock music.

For more information on how to bid for this amazing lot people should visit the Riders for Health website at www.riders.org. Those eager fans wishing to attend the auction on 2nd December at the NEC Bike Show can book their tickets for the Show at www.motorcycleshow.co.uk. The auction will take place on the Black Horse Stage in the Arai Entertainment Zone at 12 noon.

Riders’ CEO, Andrea Coleman, said: ‘Bono’s commitment to Africa and his support for those living in poverty and ill-health is well-known. And for us at Riders for Health, reaching those people in rural Africa is our focus and is a major challenge. Riders for Health knows that you can’t save a child unless you can reach her. Bono’s support for our work is valued highly and we thank him.’
All the proceeds from the sale of this amazing lot will go to help support the work of the award winning UK based charity, Riders for Health. Riders trains African health workers in motorcycle riding and maintenance, enabling them to reach remote villages with the kind of regular, reliable healthcare we take for granted.

One public health worker in Africa is often responsible for up to 20,000 people over an area of up to 300km, so mobility is vital.

Three million people die every year in developing countries because of lack of access to treatment.

Four million African children each year die before their fifth birthday.

Riders provides health workers with properly managed vehicles that never break down so they can deliver healthcare day in, day out. The charity has programmes in Zimbabwe, The Gambia, Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania.

Riders for Health currently reaches almost 11 million people in Africa. The money raised in the auction will help to support Riders’ goal of reaching an extra 10 million people by the end of 2008.

Source: Internal

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Source: Bono's bike to be auctioned at the International Motorcycle and Scooter Show

Ralph Kalal
Filed in: Mclaren | F1

McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa was questioned by Italian prosecutors yesterday, in a meeting arranged by them. De la Rosa is at least the second McLaren driver to undergo questioning. The authorities questioned Fernando Alonso earlier this month.
 
Neither driver is considered to be a target of the criminal investigation being conducted by police. However, questioning of de la Rosa focused on his knowledge of e-mails to McLaren containing secret Ferrari information, e-mails which were apparently accessible in some manner to McLaren team drivers, including test driver de la Rosa. Questioning of de la Rosa focused on e-mails between himself and Alsonso and between Alonso and Mike Coughlan, the McLaren engineer implicated with former Ferrari employee Nigel Stepney in passing secret information from Ferrari to McLaren.
 
The prosecutor conducting the questioning is the same prosecutor heading the investigation of Stepney, an investigation which encompasses both industrial espionage and industrial sabotage allegations. The questioning of de la Rosa, however, is thought to be more directly centered on the Italian investigation of several McLaren employees previously warned by the Italians that they were the subject of criminal inquiries. 

Source: Internal

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Source: It's not over - Mclaren test driver questioned

Jonathon Ramsey
Sedans/Saloons, Ford, Mercury, Police/Emergency

click above image to view more pics of the Ford Crown Victoria

According to Ford sources who gossiped to Ward's Auto, the Ford Crown Victoria won't be available on retail lots after 2008. From 2009, the only folks who can buy one are police and taxi drivers. Even that frontier is being threatened, with police departments snapping up Dodge Chargers and Chevy Impalas. New York's taxi fleet has to go hybrid by 2012, and Ford is pushing the Escape Hybrid to replace 2,500 Vics on Big Apple streets.

If you've got to have a full-sized rear-driver from the Blue Oval, the Mercury Grand Marquis will still be available. The Marquis is apparently much more popular with the public than the Vic, with nearly 38,280 Marquis' sold by dealers in the first nine months of this year. Compare that to the Crown Victoria, which moved 3,000 Vics to retail buyers in all of 2006. I guess this means we'll have to start looking out for Charger headlights in our rearview mirrors at night...

[Source: Wards Auto]

Gallery: Ford Crown Victoria

Source: Crown Vic prepares to give up its scepter