Street Treat

Some Motorcycles Are Best Suited for Everyday Use, While Some Rightly Belong on the Racetrack. But the All-new Triumph Street Triple RS Is a Sportsbike That’s Born to Take on Both.

- Devesh Shobha

Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain – a legendary race track that’s home to some of the biggest blockbuster encounters in MotoGP. And for a Valentino Rossi fanatic, the Catalan circuit is special. It is home to some of Rossi’s greatest performances on a racetrack, with the most memorable of them being the final lap showdown in 2009 with then teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

Fighting for victory, the Yamaha boys turned up the heat in the final few laps. They trade positions several times before Lorenzo managed to pass and slam the door hard on Rossi. Only a few corners separated Jorge from a famous home win, but The Doctor had different plans. He made one last unbelievable move going into the final corner and as they say, the rest is history.

That race in 2009 was one of the ‘I was there’ moments that don’t come often. Back then, I wasn’t lucky enough to witness that historic Rossi victory from trackside. But today, I’m standing in the paddock that looks over the final corner of the legendary Circuit de Catalunya. Wondering what I’m up to at the racetrack in the off-season? Well, I’m here to be a part of what is going to be one of the finest motorcycling experiences of my life, and I’m not alone – giving me company is Triumph’s nextgeneration Street Triple RS.

Before we move on, here’s a confession – I’d never ridden on a racetrack before and to be in the pits waiting for the tyre warmers to come off my RS, I surely had more than just sweaty palms on a chilly Catalan afternoon. To make it even more nerve wracking, I was to be led by Gary Johnson, the two-time Isle of Man TT winner – I was sure to lose track of him after a couple of corners.