| Author | Message | ||
     Blake |
My Speed channel isn't HDTV, but CBS broadcast it in HDTV here and it rocked! Way better than on Speed in standard low res format. | ||
| 12r |
The BBC ! Suzi looks good in any res !  | ||
| Trojan |
Blake, to your point about Pedrosa's weight, why doesn't motoGP and other racing classes regulate rider weight? 125GP regulations include rider weight, just to stop the situation of the featherweight jockey walking away with the title. F1 also includes driver weight so it could easily be included in MotoGP rules if they wanted to. | ||
| Heads |
I think rider weight isnt that much a factor in motogp or former 500cc,facts are most of the former and current champions are not garden gnomes like lil dani boy.. | ||
| Jimidan |
My satellite listing is showing that SPEED will NOT cover the USGP, except for a one hour show on the qualifying. Instead it is being shown for 1 hour only on one of the alphabet channels (not CBS). SPEED usually had a multi-hour broadcast of this event...whut happened? Booo. Is this what other listing are showing too? | ||
| Jimidan |
I think rider weight isnt that much a factor in motogp or former 500cc,facts are most of the former and current champions are not garden gnomes like lil dani boy.. But a 30 - 40 lb. weight advantage on a 350 lb. bike is a heck of an advantage in total weight, regardless if it is on the bike or the rider. jimidan (Message edited by jimidan on July 18, 2007) | ||
| Jimidan |
My Speed channel isn't HDTV, but CBS broadcast it in HDTV here and it rocked! Way better than on Speed in standard low res format. I don't have a HDTV, but SDTV, and it was like it was being broadcast in pastels, and it sounded like they were in the bottom of a barrel. Go figure... | ||
| Cyclonemick |
I personally found the picture on the CBS program much better than the one on SPEED. "I just have an old fashiond TV" But the commentary was a bit dry. Hopefully the more they air the races the better it will get. | ||
| Macbuell |
But a 30 - 40 lb. weight advantage on a 350 lb. bike is a heck of an advantage in total weight, regardless if it is on the bike or the rider. jimidan To put that into numbers, lets compare two riders on the same bike where one weighs 35lbs less than the other riding the same bike weighing 350lbs with 200HP: Rider 1: 165 lbs, 350lb bike = total weight of 515 with 200HP = 0.3883HP per lb. Rider 2: 130 lbs, 350lb bike = total weight of 480 with 200HP = 0.4167HP per lb. So, you have a 0.0284HP per lb. power advantage which is equal to about 7.3%. In the world of racing, that's a big advantage. Obviously this is only applicable in extreme cases but with riders like Pedrosa it certainly applies. | ||
| Heads |
Fact is he hasnt been using that advantage. you missed the point it may be a advantage to weigh 30-40 pounds lighter,but they sacrafice been able to physicaly handle the bike.he just too lil | ||
| Blake |
What Heads said.  Being small and lightweight must be a significant advantage on the tracks that don't require a lot of man-handling of the machine to get it to quickly change direction, but on tracks that have a number of hard high-speed left/right or right/left transitions, small stature may be a liability. | ||
| 12r |
I think Pedrosa can flick it side-to-side with the best, the on-board camera shows he is very fast & aggressive. On Sunday he was going from +55 degrees left to +55 degrees right in the blink of an eye. Great riding. His light weight is a disadvantage in terms of traction on the exit of corners and it makes his brakes, suspension and tyre set-up more critical because he simply doesn't have the weight to transfer. | ||
| Jaimec |
It's not strength so much as it is technique and endurance... | ||
| Blake |
"His light weight is a disadvantage in terms of traction on the exit of corners and it makes his brakes, suspension and tyre set-up more critical because he simply doesn't have the weight to transfer." I don't see it. Less rider weight would translate to a lower overall center of mass, which would tend to aid in better ability to accelerate or brake, and thus his tire choice and suspension setup should be no more critical than anyone else's, in fact it may be less critical. Isn't tire choice vitally critical to each rider? Less mass to accelerate and brake means less traction is required. When they are pulling up to three g's leaned over and braking, that 30 to 40 pound advantage in reduced mass turns into a 90 to 120 pounds advantage. Suspension is loaded less, tires are loaded less, that has to be an advantage. To posit that more mass is an advantage in any kind of roadracing flies opposite of not only physics but experience and history. It just doesn't make any sense at all to me. What Jaime said. Even some professional racers of more typical stature suffer from arm pump when racing on the more rigorous and physically challenging venues. Come on out to little ol' Oak Hill Raceway and try to do 30 minutes straight at full speed race pace on a bike with aggressive racing ergonomics. Most folks will be crying "Mummy" about half-way into that exercise. No pain, no gain. | ||
| Jaimec |
Once I learned the proper technique for cornering from Keith Code, my legs were so sore I could barely walk the next day. I told him in the preparatory materials he sends to his students he should include some leg-training exercises to prepare themselves! | ||
| Jimidan |
Racing motorcycles is a sport, and not an activity (like shooting pool, golf, or bowling), so one must properly prepare for it like a sport. That is why nearly all racers are on a strict training regimen. There is an added incentive for a motorcycle racer to train hard and get in excellent physical condition...crashing. As you can imagine (or know), the G-forces exerted upon the body in a crash are tremendous, far exceeding any other sporting activity I can think of (and I have the healed broken bones in my body and C-scans thereof, to prove it). If you have done the proper conditioning prior to getting on the track, you will not be sore at all the next day...er ah, that is unless you crash, then all bets are off. In my last crash where I high-sided and landed on my head/shoulder at only about 60 mph, the doctor told me that if I had not been in good shape, that it probably would have killed me. As it was, I only broke 8 bones in my shoulder and suffered a concussion. I was out for about 30 minutes, which concerned the emergency room personnel much more than my shoulder. However, I was in the gym again in 6 weeks after, and rowing a fully loaded 15' raft down the rapids of the Green River in Utah's Desolation Canyon (not without some, ah, considerable discomfort) in 8 weeks after the accident, giving further testimony to proper conditioning. | ||
| Heads |
MotoGP Free Practice 2 Stoner 1m22.99 Melandri 1m23.17 Hopkins 1m23.45 Edwards 1m23.53 Pedrosa 1m23.54 Rossi 1m23.55 Vermeulen 1m23.57 Hayden 1m23.76 Capirossi 1m23.91 Tamada 1m23.96 Checa 1m23.99 De Puniet 1m24.04 West 1m24.07 Guintoli 1m24.17 R Hayden 1m24.32 Barros 1m24.45 Roberts 1m24.66 Nakano 1m24.85 Duhamel 1m25.72 Davies 1m26.45 | ||
| Trojan |
Chaz Davies got the amazing opportunity to stand in for Alex Hoffman on the D'Antin Ducati after Hoffman was injured in FP1. Chaz was approached by the D'Antin team in pit lane at Laguna and will ride in both the Supersport and MotoGP races over the weekend. Chaz borrowed a set of Hoffman's spare leathers and had never ridden the Ducati (or any other 800cc MotoGP bike) before FP2, so his time is very impressive for a first ride. He will surely get faster as the weekend progresses and has a great opportunity to get back into MotoGP if he does well. I know who I'll be cheering for come race day....Go Chaz !  | ||
| Jscott |
Chaz said in a quick interview, that up to this point the most powerful bike he has been on has been his 600's of this year. That's quite a jump from a SuperSport machine to a GP bike. Too cool for him. Kudos to Celtic Racing for not standing in the way of this opporttunity. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Stoner's Ducati GP7 is once again looking very strong. The fact that Stoner's GP7 is at the top, even at the tightest tracks, like Sanchesring and Laguna, is amazing. Noone thought that this was possible, when the series moved to Europe, and many people said that the Ducati will struggle and not win a single race at the tight tracks. But Stoner is once again proving everybody wrong! I think not even Livio Suppo could dream of a performance like this. I hope that this time Bridgestones and Michelin are OK with their race endurance, and we watch a close race. | ||
| Jaimec |
Unless Yamaha makes a MASSIVE improvement to the bike during the summer break, Rossi's season is over. Stoner is unstoppable. Oh yeah, another all-Bridgestone podium. At least Rossi was the highest finisher on Michelin. Highest finishing American was Hayden. NOT Nicky, but his younger brother Roger Lee on the Kawasaki. (Message edited by Jaimec on July 22, 2007) | ||
| 46champ |
At the start of the season I thought that Ducati had a small horsepower advantage and a big aerodynamic advantage. I think I was wrong aerodynamics probably don't mean squat at Laguna, after Stoner went around Pedrosa he just walked away for him and I don't think Pedrosa's tires had gone away yet. I think Ducati will sell lots of 1098's in the next year. Stoner will not be doing R&D during races like Nicky was last year. | ||
| Bads1 |
Trojan, Heres a interesting Tid Bit. I was speaking to a Yamaha Rep. in pit area. The D'Antin Team first approached The factory Yamaha Team and wanted Ben Bostrom..... I didn't ask why but they said NO that they couldn't have him because of contracts. Thats when they asked Chaz. Weird Hey ??? Now I'm in my Hotel room with my wife not looking forward to going home.....Its fantastic here in California.  | ||
| Trojan |
Another faultless ride by Stoner. It was obvious by Rossi's body language after the race that he did everything he could to try and stay with the leaders. He got off the bike, shrugged his shoulders and congratulated his team. Michelin still look to be really struggling even at tracks which should suit them well. Melandri rode a storming race, especially considering he could't walk before the race! It looks like he will partner Stoner at Ducati next year too, which will keep him honest Roger Hayden rode brilliantly on his debut for Kawasaki, and I'm sure he will be in the hunt for the remaining ride there next year along with West & De Puniet. DuHamel looked like a fish out of water on the GP bike, and never looked comfortable from what I saw of him (which wasn't much to be honest). Well done Chaz Davies! He may have finished 16th and 3 laps down but that doesn't tell the whole story. He spent a long time in the pits during the race, but still ended up lapping at the same pace as the riders in the top 10, which is a great achievement considering he had never ridden a GP bike or at Laguna before this weekend. Apparently he has impressed a lot of the team owners including the boss of Ducati, so hopefully we'll see more of him in GP next year. It must have been a bit of a slap in the face for the other Brit AMA runners at Laguna when Davies got the ride though, as both Neil Hodgson and James Ellison have more experience of GP bikes than Chaz, and Hodgson has actually tested the Ducati on Bridgestone tyres recently too. Hodgson had already turned down the Gresini Honda ride though, and had not exactly parted from D'Antin on good terms when he left the team last time. At least Hodgson got a top 5 finish in the AA Superbike race | ||
| Macbuell |
Did anyone else finds DuHamel's comments after he pulled out of the race odd. He basically said that his heart wasn't in so he decided to pull out. Or did I hear him wrong? Anyway, I thought it was odd. I agree Trojan ... It sure looks like Rossi is going to be runner up again this season. The Ducati and Stoner just look too strong and Yamaha hasn't had many answers. | ||
| Davegess |
It was interesting. He had a crash in the morning and had to run Superbike after this race and it seems he didn't want to be just circulating around at the back. He didn't feel sharp and there was nothing on the line so he didn't want to wreck the machinery or himself by not being 100%. | ||
| Trojan |
What a wasted opportunity for somebody who could have made very good use of it. Josh Hayes, Herrin etc. Duhamel should be ashamed of himself and should not have accepted the ride oif that was his attitude. | ||
| Davegess |
I really think his morning crash put him off. Not much you can do at that point. In some ways it was an honor thing, Honda said this guy deserves to run here out of respect for all he has done for Honda over the years. I think after his morning crash he was concerned that if he ran hard he might ball the thing up and cost Gesini(sp?) a ton of money. Ir would have been very helpful for him if they had actually gotten him some time on the bike before this weekend. I don't think he accepted the ride with the thought that he would be just cruising around, Miquel does not do that, but no practice and then his morning crash he was over his head. For many years he has been a critic of guys running around in the back way off the pace and getting in the way. No way is he gonna do that himself. He has nothing to be ashamed of. | ||
| Trojan |
My point was this Dave. There were plenty of very talented young riders in the AMA paddock last weekend who would have grabbed that opportunity with both hands and ridden their butts off to impress in their one chance at a MotoGP ride. Any of the top 10 Superbike or Superstock guys would have been delighted for the chance (except Neil Hodgson of course) and would have given their absolute best even after a crash in the morning. Take a look at DuHamel's team mate for the weekend to show the huge contrast in comittment. Melandri had to be carried to his bike before the race but battled through pain to a superb third place. Roger Lee Hayden showed what is possible for wild card riders on decent machinery to achieve, and it is a shame that Honda wasted a similar opportunity. If Duhamel was going to accept the offer to race then that is exactly what he should have at least tried to do. If he didn't fancy it after his warm up crash then he should have stayed in the garage. I wonder who paid the Gresini team for Duhamel's 'opportunity'? I'm hoping that HRC or Honda US foot the complete bill for air freighting the bike, spares and crew all the way to Laguna just so Yvonne could play around for a few laps. The team don't seem to have got much out of it for their money do they? | ||
| Ceejay |
Yvonne?  I have to agree, if he knew he wasn't going for broke, which from the way he said the things he did and judging from the look in his eyes, he knew he wasn't going to do, he should have stepped aside and let another saddle up. I was pretty disappointed when I saw the interview. While I don't follow racing as much as many on here, I was really hoping to see how well the AMA riders could fare against the tops in the world. Hayden showed up, why not Duhamel? |
