2010 Silly Season

[zooom]

I was using 80% as a general average overall...some fo the Journo's are quite frankly so nervous about binning the damn things that they turn at 60-70% whereas you have Nick Ienatsch(spelling?) and Mamola and others turning in the more 90+ percentile range

[EvilSteve]

I think it's a good idea because the Journalists don't actually provide a comparison that has relevance to the championship. Seeing Rossi on a GP9 & being able to compare his times to Lorenzo's times on the GP9, seeing Stoner on a Yamaha or the 212 would be really interesting because we have a reference point. I don't actually care if Mamola is withing 2% of average on the bikes, the times aren't relative to the riders we're used to seeing on the bikes.

For example, if Pedrosa got on the M1 & did faster times than on the 212, that would be really interesting, no?

[derby]

the closest you'll get to that is the riders that are switching teams doing laps on their new bike and comparing them to their previous times for the weekend.

yes, it's interesting.

it'd probably be even more interesting if they allowed all the racers to "free ride" any bike they wanted. but i suppose that's also like wishing every woman on earth was bi, three inputs, and looked like angelina jolie. it's a nice thought, but definitely not rooted in reality.

[EvilSteve]

Yeah, we're just a bunch of douchebags on some random web forum dedicated to a naked bike, I doubt any of what we have to say makes it to the "right" ear irrespective of how much merit is included. It's a cool idea but not going to happen.

Doesn't mean it's not worth chatting about with other bike riding douchebags though.

[Jester]

Well if we're all naked bike loving douchebags, then I choose to have the spring mist scent.

[bigiain]

Yeah, we're just a bunch of douchebags on some random web forum dedicated to a naked bike, I doubt any of what we have to say makes it to the "right" ear irrespective of how much merit is included. It's a cool idea but not going to happen.

What, you mean Burgess and Puig aren't monitoring this forum for ideas?

*boggle!*

 

big

[bigiain]

i'd have to go back and look at the laptimes, but i'm pretty sure mamola was doing better than 80%.

http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=30718

Mamola did a 1:38.7, compared to a 1:32.0 the day before by Stoner. The _slow_ journo's were over 1:50 (including Alan Cathcart who gets to ride _everything).

Given the chatter problems and the differences between Rossi and Edwards a few years back when their laptimes only differed by a few tenths of a second, I personally doubt even Mamola is "feeling" what it feels like to ride one of these bikes "properly".

I still like reading what those "slow" guys write about the bikes...("slow" guys like Wayne Gardener, he rode like a grandmother at "only" 1:42!)

big

[bigiain]

To put those laptimes into perspective, the 500cc lap record round my local track (admittedly 12 or 15 years old) is 1:29.something - so a similar-ish length lap. There are _lots_ of non-racer trackday guys on street registered 600s lapping within 20 seconds of that. I've got club racer friends who've lapped within 5 seconds of that time on race preped-by-club-racers-paying-their-own-bills 1000s (Crazy Phil was running 1:34s 7 or 8 years ago on an R1 "with a pipe and a jetkit"...)

At 80% you're not even doing the same thing as the racers (hell, my bet laptime on my 250cc 4 stroke v twin Honda streetbike was within 75% - I can do 2:00 - or at least used to be able to...)

I suspect even at 99% you're dealing with a different set of problems than the guy going 100%. Whatever it is that Casey does different on his bike, it's completely different for everybody else running half a second or so per lap slower - Kallio and Hayden aren't bad riders, but their setup is much closer to each other than either of them are to Casey, and it makes them midfield runners on a bike that the other guy looks like winning championships on...

big

[desmoquattro]

What, you mean Burgess and Puig aren't monitoring this forum for ideas?

Well, someone just said this forum is full of douchebags...Puig would be right at home

[Speeddog]

Apparently Lorenzo will have a press announcement at Indy.

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2009/08/20/down_the_rabbit_hole_the_next_installmen.html

[gm2]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77781

now that bautista is actually gonna honor his suzuki promise, hector barbera gets to ride the new aspar ducati

[gm2]

Apparently Lorenzo will have a press announcement at Indy.

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2009/08/20/down_the_rabbit_hole_the_next_installmen.html

or maybe it's already done

http://www.motogpmatters.com/news/2009/08/20/it_s_done_lorenzo_signs_for_ducati_proba.html

[Spidey]

Wow, I'm gonna have to learn to root for Lorenzo?  I guess I can figure out how to do that.

If so, waddya think . . . Hayden to Fiat?  That makes sense to me.  Or Hayden stays and Stoner is out of a job?  I guess we wont' know the outcome of that one until we know how back Stoner's fatigue/wrist/brain really is.  And I don't know that we'll ever really know.

[Speeddog]

I think Hayden would be OK with that.

WTF is Ducati gonna do if Lorenzo can't ride it either, and Stoner retires/leaves/gets shown the door?
Pay $20M a year for Rossi?

[Spidey]

WTF is Ducati gonna do if Lorenzo can't ride it either, and Stoner retires/leaves/gets shown the door?

Build a bike that works?