| Author | Message | ||
     Hybridmomentspass |
"He's not a factory rider who's livelihood depends on promoting the bike. He's either a world-class actor and liar, or he's honest. I think it's more likely he's honest." When youre getting factory support I doubt you're going to be brutal about the company/bike Again, just because someone is enthusiastic about something should NOT make their words more believable | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ So, how about you listen to the guy and tell us what you think. http://www.motopodcast.com/ Mark Miller's on episode #410 and begins @ 1:43:00. | ||
| Trojan |
So Matt what ECU's are on the approved list? Or do we even know? I don't think the list is out yet, but you can bet that all of the ECU's/electronics being used now will be on it. The only difference will be that teams will have to share data. How that will benefit EBR is doubtful really as nobody else except Ducati run a twin cylinder bike, and you can bet that they will not want to share anything important so will find a way of avoiding it if they can. If you were running a privateer Kawasaki or Aprilia it would be of far more benfit to acquire the software used by the factory teams of course. | ||
| Classax |
Almost midway through first practice and no sign of Geoff May... | ||
| Trojan |
I was about to say the same thing.... Yates is nearly 11 seconds off the front as well and shown as NQ  Soemthing drastic needs to happen before long surely? There is quite obviously no progress being made and I really do wonder what the team do between races! | ||
| Hughlysses |
FP1 over. Yates knocked off ~3 seconds/lap while I watched but he's still about 3 seconds/lap short of qualifying. It is in-freaking-sane that they've let Geoff miss another practice.  | ||
| Classax |
" I really do wonder what the team do between races!" Read my mind! Something is still clearly wrong. 15 laps isn't enough for anyone to learn a brand new track, Yate will pick up 3 or 4 seconds through out the weekend but, that' still way off what they should be running. I would expect them to be near the front of the EVO's and they are WAY off that pace too. More importantly why isn't one of your riders ready to practice on a track he has never been to before. Were I a team manager or said rider, I'd be livid. | ||
| Trojan |
Were I a team manager or said rider, I'd be livid. I think the team manager would be the ofrst to face the chop in my view. The team obviously need a rocket up them to get some progress made. Why is it that they cannot be ready for FP1 after weeks to get it sorted? I could understand if there was a problem in FP1 that needed to be sorted, but for one bike (always the same bike) to not even reach FP1 is a disaster. If I were Geoff May now I'd be walking up & down pit lane looking for another ride if someone gets injured. | ||
| Gaesati |
No money? | ||
| Classax |
I could understand if there was a problem in FP1 that needed to be sorted, but for one bike (always the same bike) to not even reach FP1 is a disaster. I'm cautious in my use of words. We often devalue them when we use them too loosely. A disaster is a serious sudden disruption of the functioning of a community involving widespread HUMAN, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community to cope using its own resources. A hurricane or a tornado or an earthquake can cause and be a disaster. Hero/EBR's effort in dealing with the number 99 machine in WSBK has been and continues to be a frustrating debacle. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Come on, give them mad props for consistency. What's the big deal? Everybody knows the racing is completely irrelevant and will have absolutely no impact on how the buying public feels about the brand. Obviously, Erik Buell does not care either, or there would be a better result. And we have to understand that things like World Cup could be more important to the team manager and technicians than petty things like prepping race bikes, because everyone knows that parts and supplies can be transported worldwide very quickly, as needed, within a couple of days at most, IF you want it. | ||
| Neutrum |
maybe they (ebr and the team) take the 99-bike out of the competition because of the no-more-engine-situation? doesn't make any sense to let geoff participate in a competition with a 10 sec./pitlane-start. | ||
| Hughlysses |
Aaron's top speed is 33 MPH below the leader. That must be the worst deficit yet. | ||
| M2typhoon |
Anyone think of the fact that maybe they didn't want Geoff on the track for fp1 because of his last motor? | ||
| Jscott |
You could call this amateur hour (or season), but it would be an insult to all those hardworking amateurs who travel the country and actual start/finish races. Hero/EBR needs to stop funding this team ASAP. | ||
| Jscott |
I'm beginning to think that this team (sans Aaron and Geoff) are really a bunch of gypsies that somehow took Erik and Hero for a ride. | ||
| Classax |
maybe they (ebr and the team) take the 99-bike out of the competition because of the no-more-engine-situation? doesn't make any sense to let geoff participate in a competition with a 10 sec./pitlane-start Hero/EBR is not a wild card participant so its a requirement that they participate in all the races unless prevented by a SUDDEN UNFORSEEN medical or mechanical issues. That being said collecting data and learning the track is ALWAYS a priority. If it were me I would be doing everything possible to get things sorted before the home round in the USA. Its got to be killing Geoff, meanwhile ole man Yates(a year my junior) hobbles around the track in typical geriatric style. Older racers may be better, but common sense tends to slow them down. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Ok. so the pit lane start thing pretty much guarantees a poor RACE finish, even if the bike was competitive. To use that as an excuse to NOT use the practice rounds for development is ludicrous. Smoke and mirrors is what it is. DNF, ok something broke again. DNS? what the hell, did it melt down warming up the engine in the pits? Do those pesky electrons still resist running along a conductor? Mistake fuel for coolant? WTF? Somewhere under the steaming pile of bullshit are the facts. There are only three possible reasons why any mechanical/electrical problems do not get sorted. (a) No funds, either literally, or budget restraints, I mean going into a project, it is impossible to foresee how much it will cost, right? Lets just go to it and figure it out as we go. We do have this bean can full of dollars buried under the oak tree just in case. (b) Incompetence, why hire top notch people who actually know what they are doing, when all that is required is a warm body? Seriously, anyone looks cool in a team uniform. (c) No motivation to deal with the situation, why be motivated if it doesn't really matter. Hell, it's only the world freakin' stage here, who will notice if we can't find our ass with either hand? | ||
| Hughlysses |
Anyone think of the fact that maybe they didn't want Geoff on the track for fp1 because of his last motor? I suppose that's possible. According to what Trojan posted previously, the penalty for exceeding the maximum 8 engines per season is starting from the pits with a 10 second delay for 2 races after exceeding the engine limit. I guess that would mean Geoff could go back to qualifying and starting like everybody else after this weekend. OTOH- now that's he's been penalized, does that mean he effectively has an unlimited number of engines for the rest of the season, since it sounds like a one-time penalty? Either way, I would think Geoff's effort for the remainder of the season essentially amounts to testing. Losing an entire practice session is a huge handicap for him as far as him learning the track and getting the bike set up. | ||
| Neutrum |
i think erik and hero overestimated this bike and underestimated wsbk. this is the result. | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ Even if true (and I don't believe it is), that doesn't explain the team's consistent inability to have Geoff's motorcycle ready for practice and racing. | ||
| Trojan |
maybe they (ebr and the team) take the 99-bike out of the competition because of the no-more-engine-situation? doesn't make any sense to let geoff participate in a competition with a 10 sec./pitlane-start. Doesn't make any sense running around all year 7 seconds off the pace and being lapped (if they manage to race at all), but they are still doing it. Either EBR take the race team under the control of the factory or withdraw now, or they will start to suffer for this I'm cautious in my use of words. We often devalue them when we use them too loosely. A disaster is a serious sudden disruption of the functioning of a community involving widespread HUMAN, material, economic or environmental losses and impacts, which exceeds the ability of the affected community to cope using its own resources. A hurricane or a tornado or an earthquake can cause and be a disaster. It depends on the context of what you are talking about. In terms of race team management and damage to a company reputation this is a disaster. In fact I'm trying to think of another time when a factory team has suffered so badly in WSB and I really can't. The only one that comes close may be Benelli many years ago, and even then they managed to finish races in the points. I would have said Foggy Petronas, but they at least managed a pole position and a podium before the pulled the plug. There really is NO excuse to turn up at a track and fail to run in FP1. | ||
| Jscott |
^could be, but I think the biggest culprit was likely putting their good faith in Claudio Quintarelli and Giulio Bardi | ||
| Classax |
The inability of the team to consistently put functional motorcycles on the grid means we have no idea if Erik or Hero overestimated the bikes or underestimated WSBK. Unless they don't want to risk blowing another engine and having to start from the pits at Laguna also, there is no reason not to have him out there collecting data and learning the track. God forbid they DNS or DNF at home which is looking like a real possibility. The fact that they are 30+ mph slower than the leaders and still 5+mph slower than the slowest Super1000 machines says to me there is still something wrong with the set up. | ||
| Neutrum |
in the live-timing-table is may now visible with a 1:56 time, 13 sec. behind the leader. both (may/yates) are still not qualified. (Message edited by Neutrum on July 04, 2014) | ||
| Riohondohank |
Maybe Geoff had a hangover. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/world-superbik e-riders-mix-drinks-on-the-beach-in-portugal/ | ||
| Hughlysses |
^ I wouldn't blame him if he did! 2nd FP just completed. Both May and Yates are still 1-2 seconds off being qualified. May pitted with about 2 minutes left; I hope nothing broke. (Message edited by Hughlysses on July 04, 2014) | ||
| Jscott |
FP2 over. Both circulated. Both dead last. Both still designated as NQ. Yates is 7.534 behind the leaders. A few interesting things: EBR is 4.826 seconds from the top 20 1 EVO bike clawing a the top ten - S. BARRIER BMW S1000 RR EVO Fastest EBR is 5.5 sec of pace of the slowest Bimota and the MV (who recently had a huge team shakeup) (Message edited by Jscott on July 04, 2014) | ||
| Classax |
May went back out before the checkered. I have to admit those two are putting out some admirable effort, to learn the track that quickly. I would imagine the pressure to shave big chunks of time is truly palpable. Let's hope they don't over ride and crash. May is a few tenths off what Yates is doing with half the number of laps on track. I think they will continue to improve and qualify, but just barely and top speeds are still inexplicably low. (Message edited by Classax on July 04, 2014) | ||
| Trojan |
I have to admit those two are putting out some admirable effort, to learn the track that quickly. The team had exactly the same opportunity to test at this track earlier this year but chose not to. Instead they went to some backwoods Spanish track the same week, so having to learn the track is the fault of the team. It is sadly just another example of poor team organisation unfortunately. |
