| Author |
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Blublak
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 23, 2006 - 09:49 pm: | 
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LOL...I was just thinking.. 04Buell mentioned earlier that I should be 'In the business'
Uh, I was thinking about this and here's an idea (since I'd love to do this full time!)...
First off, Court, Dave, Blake, Anony.. with your kind indulgence.. please contact the 'right people' and give them this little gem..
HIRE ME!!
I'll travel around and photograph the Buell racers all over North America and England.. giving the team a 'proper' bit of promotional kit.. and of course, giving lots of other images to use.. and have.. .. Uh.. something like that?
I've always said, for a good deal, I'm there, shooting pics full time. Really.. I'll travel around in a 'Buell Bus' or some such.. you can call me a 'promotional cost' and write me off the corporate taxes or something.. hehehehehe.. Ok, enough dreaming.. I'm trying to update tonight.. so please bear with me.. (oh and Buell folks.. I'll even photograph H-D stuff.. HIRE ME!    ) |
Jimidan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 12:38 am: |
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Mutant Man sez:
"Jimi, nate told me that he rode hal's bike once before , i can't remember what track it was but he said he was 8second faster then on his owen bike not to bad"
He told me the same thing...so it must be true . Just think he is riding a bike that has an 1 1/2" longer wheelbase than a Hayabusa. Imagine how fast he would be on an RR.
I know that there are many racers out there who would love to take the RR for a spin if they could. I know I would love to take yours for a spin too. I promise that I would not wreck it .
jd |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 01:35 am: |
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"with the best times usually 3-4 seconds slower than the top 7"
I think that it might be wild exaggerations/mis-statements like that one that put some folks off.
| Venue | 7th place best lap | Best Buell lap | difference | | Daytona 200 | 1:43.025 | 1:43.765 | 0.740 | | Infineon | 1:40.643 | 1:40.790 | 0.147 | | Road America | 2:20.876 | 2:21.617 | 0.741 | | Laguna Seca | 1:29.610 | 1:30.591 | 0.981 | | Mid-Ohio | 1:28.855 | 1:30.669 | 1.814 | | VIR | 1:28.909 | 1:30.008 | 1.099 |
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Jimidan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 08:52 am: |
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Blake sez:
""with the best times usually 3-4 seconds slower than the top 7"
I think that it might be wild exaggerations/mis-statements like that one that put some folks off."
Nice chart Blake, you are correct when you consider the fastest lap times. "I stand ingested" too. I love that graphic!
Also, I was REALLY talking about the best qualifying times, not the fastest lap in the race. I am sorry I wasn't specific here, but I am on anti-histamines which really zonk me .
I know the AMA gives the fastest lap in the race, but I am not sure that that data means much, as it could be just an aberration. For instance, the fastest lap time is moot if the bike DNF'd. It is also irrelevant if the bike turned it during the first few laps in the race (before the tires went off?) and it slowed considerably in the last few laps, like Nicky did in the latest MotoGP race. It would seem to me that the average (or arithmetic mean) lap times for the whole race would have more statistical significance, or how far they were behind the leader.
What I should have said was, "Those were truly lofty goals that have not come close to fruition with the best QUALIFYING times usually 3-4 seconds slower than the top 7,..."
According to the AMA records, here is what I found (I don't know how to make the fancy chart):
Daytona:
140.928 - Fastest
142.283 - 7th place
142.536 - Buell
Infinion:
138.054 - Fastest
140.543 - 7th place
141.473 - Buell
Road Am:
217.954 - Fastest
220.859 - 7th
223.209 - Buell
Laguna:
128.048 - Fastest
129.916 - 7th
132.199 - Buell
Mid OH:
127.675 - Fastest
128.905 - 7th
131.803 - Buell
VIR:
126.264 - Fastest
127.748 - 7th
130.634 - Buell
As you can see when we are talking about qualifying times (as I was), which dictate where you start in the race, and not the fastest lap in the race (which could be just an aberration), my statement is not quite so wild/exaggerated as you infer. It was not nearly as wild/exaggerated as those made by Buell that I quoted above, prior to Daytona. Correct?
Again I am sorry that I was not more specific about what my statement was relating to. Were there any other wild exaggerations/mis-statements that you think put some folks off? I am not trying to put people off, but rather just to have a fun discussion.
jimidan
(Message edited by jimidan on August 24, 2006)
(Message edited by jimidan on August 24, 2006) |
Blublak
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 09:53 am: |
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OK.. Site's updated with Saturday pics and some commentary from yours truly.. Check it out..
http://web.mac.com/p_migala/iWeb/Badweb-VIR/Start%20Your%20Engines.html |
Jscott
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 10:20 am: |
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Blublak, I want to thank you personally for the time and effort you have put into that site. You have truly brought the race experience to those of us who could'nt get to the track.
As for your desire to get hired by HD/Buell. I say that they would be foolish not to take you up on it. It is like pulling teeth to get any updates, detailed reports, and pictures from these Buell efforts. Talk about a way to get your fan base fired up!!! The only other Buell racing website that has consistent updates is Ruthless Racing's (Darren James' Canadian outfit). Your the man for the job. |
Trojan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 10:29 am: |
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The only other Buell racing website that has consistent updates is Ruthless Racing's (Darren James' Canadian outfit). Your the man for the job.
Not forgetting ours of course at www.trojan-horse.co.uk  |
Jscott
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 10:38 am: |
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Sorry Trojan, I should have specified North America. I do enjoy reading your updates as well, hopefully Buell UK will get off their duffs and start supporting your effort and the UK series that you participate in. Also my comments concerning a dedicated Buell race site were in no way directed towards "privateers", God knows you have enough uphill battles to contend with.
Trojan, I also found some more pics of the "RaceRod"...
http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/4062/220370.html?1156427111
(Message edited by JScott on August 24, 2006) |
Rubberdown
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 10:46 am: |
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Thanks Blublak! |
Jackbequick
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 12:41 pm: |
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I like to average out the results and get an impression of the bike's ability to maintain a pace by looking at how many seconds behind the leader it finished.
If you look at the results here:
http://tinyurl.com/rboyc
Steve Crevier was a little more than 44 seconds behind the leader at the finish (the AMA results don't list the times for all finishers but Crevier was not far behind the 10th place bike).
In a 17 lap race, that breaks down to Crevier losing more than two seconds a lap and less than three. So I would put jimidan's guesstimate of "3-4 seconds" as a little on the high side but in the ballpark.
Jack
P.S. For the anal retentive machinists out there the Buells just need to knock about
2.5882352941176470588235294117647 seconds off of their lap times and we got some serious racing going here. |
Blake
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 05:43 pm: |
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Jimi,
Race lap best times are an abberation?  How can that be when the Buells most often finish ahead of their qualifying position?
For example let's look at Laguna Seca.
Jeremy qualified 2.3 seconds behind the 7th place qualifier and 4.2 seconds behind pole position. However, his fastest lap was 1.0 seconds behind 7th place. Jeremy finished the race 10.9 seconds behind 7th place which for the 15 laps translates to just 0.7 seconds per lap. One mark of a great racer, Jeremy had consistent lap times.
If you look at the qualifying lap times, the diffrential between the fastest Buell and 7th place runs between 0.253 seconds and 2.898 seconds. Still nowhere near your claim of 3-4 seconds.
I think that as Jack offers, the total finishing deficite divided by laps is the best indicator of per lap performance.
I'm not sure that the Buell racers always utilize qualifying tires like the other teams do. That would have a significant impact on qualifying performance.
Go Buell Racing! Go Jezza!
I'm on some medication right now myself, but it seems to have the opposite effect as yours. |
Jimidan
| | Posted on Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 09:47 pm: |
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Blake sez:
"For example let's look at Laguna Seca.
Jeremy qualified 2.3 seconds behind the 7th place qualifier and 4.2 seconds behind pole position. However, his fastest lap was 1.0 seconds behind 7th place. Jeremy finished the race 10.9 seconds behind 7th place which for the 15 laps translates to just 0.7 seconds per lap. One mark of a great racer, Jeremy had consistent lap times.
If you look at the qualifying lap times, the diffrential between the fastest Buell and 7th place runs between 0.253 seconds and 2.898 seconds. Still nowhere near your claim of 3-4 seconds.
I think that as Jack offers, the total finishing deficite divided by laps is the best indicator of per lap performance."
Remember, my 3-4 seconds "claim" was for qualifying times, not averages or best lap time. The data generally supports my initial guesstimate (I mean I didn't even look it up) as most of the times are near 3 seconds (still an eternity in FX racing. What is so wild or exaggerated about that? could it be the medication talking?
We know that Jeremy is faster than any other riders out there (thank the Lord), and I will bet that his lap times are exceedingly consistent (unless he was riding around a problem), but we are talking about the fastest Buell XBRR in each of the races where it participated.
We have a report that at VIR both riders were riding around problems that may have prevented them from running consistent lap times. I don't know for sure, but it was obvious that Hale dropped off considerably from his fastest lap time early on.
I agree totally with you that Jack's method is really the best way to determine race performance, besides what place they came in. It is much better than the fastest lap time, which "could be an aberration".
Anyway, I don't think Buell's initial press releases set the bar at being competitive with the 7th place bikes...they were talking about winning.
I would love to see Jeremy podium at Road Atlanta, and I am spending good money and time (and leaving my sick Dad) to go there personally with my Warr's T-shirt on to cheer him on. Is not that a sign of Buell fanaticism?
Jimidan |
Blake
| | Posted on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 04:34 am: |
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You be a true fan for sure amigo. Keep that purple custom S2 in good shape and with the rubber side down. |
Jimidan
| | Posted on Friday, August 25, 2006 - 11:04 am: |
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Blake sez:
"You be a true fan for sure amigo. Keep that purple custom S2 in good shape and with the rubber side down."
I am riding it down there via Deals Gap and North GA backroads, tent camping off of the bike over two days travel time. We will camp the first night at Deals Gap. On the way home we will camp at Two Wheels Only in N.GA. We did this trip last year and it was magnificent. The only problem is camping inside the RA facility. The portable generators have made tent camping tough...they are just so LOUD. The bathhouses are a bit to be desired, but I used to backpack where there were no bathhouses, so that is no big deal to me.
See ya' at the races!
And GO BUELL!
jimidan |
Blublak
| | Posted on Saturday, August 26, 2006 - 09:47 pm: |
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Ok.. for those of you that were wondering.. I've finally finished the site..
The Sunday stuff is up and I'm done with it for now..
Not sure how long I'll leave it up, but I'm sure it'll be at least a month... ENJOY!
http://web.mac.com/p_migala/iWeb/Badweb-VIR/Start%20Your%20Engines.html |
José_quiñones
| | Posted on Sunday, August 27, 2006 - 08:11 pm: |
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Jim,
We might do your trip backwards, as in, got to RA, then take two days back to VA through the same area you mentioned, should be fun! |
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