What was not clear from the Press release of the Hero EBR team was the tires used by Canepa to set a time 1.42.7 .... was it a race or a qualifying tire ?
If it was a race tire , the gap to the top 6 would be less than 1 sec , for race tires....
Alex Lowes did a 1.41.0 on race tires , and that was the 2nd fastest time on race tires
^ I'm beginning to wonder if the fact that EBR now offers the accessory exhaust tips to replace the secondary resonator on the RX will allow them to run the exhaust setup shown above within the WSBK rules for a "stock appearing" exhaust.
If EBR is forced to use the conventional Arrow side exhaust because the race bike should LOOK like the stock bike , is plain stupid ! ! I cannot believe it ..... Is this 100% positive ?
The company that "invented" the under the engine exhaust, that is now used by almost everyone in sportbikes, is forced to use a conventional muffler..... EBR must do something about it.....
What "IF" , the conventional Arrow exhaust offers more power than the "under-the-engine" exhaust, for the maximun dB allowed ??
In motoGP where there is certainly NO RULE that the exhaust must be similar to the stock bike , Aprilia CRTs and Yamaha M1s use a conventional side muffler.... SO maybe it is a matter of power or power delivery for the required dB ...
If the Arrow side exhaust gives more power , Which exhaust should EBR go for ? More power OR better looks ??
a) Exhaust pipes, catalytic converters and silencers may be altered or replaced from those fitted to the homologated motorcycle. Catalytic converters may be removed.
b) The number of the final exhaust silencer(s) must remain as homologated. The silencer(s) must be on the same side(s) as on the homologated model.
c) For safety reasons, the exposed edge(s) of the exhaust pipe(s) outlet(s) must be rounded to avoid any sharp edges.
d) Wrapping of exhaust systems is not allowed except in the area of the rider’s foot or an area in contact with the fairing for protection from heat.
e) The noise limit for Superbikes will be 107 dB/A (with a 3 dB/A tolerance after the race only).
I believe sub-paragraph b above was interpreted to require them to hang a muffler off the right side of the bike since the stock bike has a secondary resonator there. Now that EBR offers an accessory kit that deletes the secondary resonator and replaces it with short exhaust tips, perhaps that configuration can be (or has been) homologated and the under-engine exhaust will be acceptable for this season.
(Message edited by Hughlysses on January 29, 2015)
There is no real question as to which exhaust solution we like more..... Better late than never .....
This season looks better and better every day....
Let's get ready for major pleasant surprises in Philip Island... I am sure Philip Island will be a track that EBR will do very well ! ! ! Corner Speed ! ! !
Pegram confirmed in an interview with Sport Rider that neither EBR rider dawned qualifying tires during the Jerez test this week. All times were recorded with race compounds. The gap to the middle of the field may actually be smaller than we think come race day.
1. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 39.332s 2. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 39.694s 3. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 39.745s 4. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing Ducati 1199R 1m 40.062s 5. Leon Haslam GBR Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 40.069s 6. Alex Lowes GBR Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 40.159s 7. Michael van der Mark NED PATA Honda CBR1000RR 1m 40.590s 8. Nico Terol ESP Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 40.765s 9. Randy de Puniet FRA Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 1m 40.977s 10. Matteo Baiocco ITA Althea Ducati 1199R 1m 41.412s 11. Jordi Torres ESP Red Devils Roma Aprilia RSV4 1m 41.983s 12. Sylvain Barrier FRA BMW Italia S1000RR 1m 42.004s 13. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1m 42.184s 14. Tati Mercado ARG Barni Ducati 1199R 1m 42.577s 15. Niccolo Canepa ITA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 42.743s 16. Larry Pegram USA Team Hero EBR 1190RX 1m 46.996s 17. Sylvain Guintoli FRA PATA Honda CBR1000RR No Time
The EBR's and the 600 did NOT use QT's which are good for a second to a second and a half. All the other teams did. Why EBR did not is a mystery to me, but the times on race rubber look promising.
What I really find interesting is that Canepa says he doing the same times on both ZTL and conventional brakes. Could be that the ZTL still has some of that the ZTLs still have some latent HD DNA in terms of feel?
Classax, if I understand you correctly, that all the other teams used QT's and EBR did not, this is amazing. It would put EBR close to the front of the pack. Niccolo's time was less than half of a second to last years winner at Jerez. The winner was not running EVO. The EBR has not changed that much since last year. Could it be the EBR needed an aggressive rider who could push the bike to the engineering limits set up by a genius (Erik)? Wishful thinking?
If I were them, and I was still fine tuning the race rubber setup, I would NOT put on qualifying tires either.
It would mess up my data trending and analysis, it would be a distraction from what is necessary to actually win races, and it would give my competitors an unnecessarily premature look at my capabilities.
Trophies (and points) acre through winning races not qualifying.
I suspect there are a LOT of changes that have occurred . . huge ones and . . . echoing what I said most of last season. . . there are going to be some big surprises this year.