[NickdaBrick]

1: Go Colin!



2: In general, are this year's suberbike lap times faster than last year's? I've always wondered why a team that wins one year comes back the next and just stinks (e.g. Kenny Roberts this year). Why don't they just stick with the winning setup from the previous year? In other words, if Colin was riding last year's bike, would he be running up front, or finishing mid-pack?

 

[stevegrab]

That a good question about the lap times. I don't know for sure, would take some research. But I think the reason for what we see with Roberts (and to a lesser extent with Edwards) is not so much that they are getting worse, but that the other teams are developing quicker than they are. All the teams improve during the off-season and as the season goes on. It just happens at different rates for each of them.



It seems like Edwards and the RC51 have been making more progress as of late. Roberts, it seems can run quick for a while, but the tire or machine never lasts the whole race (he's always drifting back after the half way point).



I wish Edwards and Bostrom the best of luck.

 

[marcel_g]

Re: Kenny Roberts



Suzuki did stick with the same package in GPs. Gibernau came in 8th on the Suzuki at Brno, a full 10 seconds ahead of Biaggi's winning time from last year. Rossi won the race this year almost 30 seconds faster than Biaggi did last year. Kenny was ahead of the winning pace from last year, but that only means mid pack this year, and now he's being a suck about the Suzuki by quitting mid race. Not a very good show of sportsmanship there.



I suspect it's much the same in WSB, and Edwards would be running mid-pack with last year's bike, as Ducati and Aprilia keep improving rapidly.

 

[CrustyOldFart]

Pardon me marcel g, you ignorant f*ck. What the hell makes you think Roberts is "quitting mid-race"? It has been well that the Suzuki (especially with Roberts on it) goes plenty quick until the tires go off, then becomes extremely difficult to ride, lacking the ability to get off the corners as well as the Honda and Yamaha. It is also down on power, which exacerbates the tire problem because KR JR has to use them up early to maintain the pace of the more powerful machines.



Kenny Roberts is a commensurate professionsal and I have never seen him engage in poor sportsmanship. It seems you have to be an Italian in 500cc this year to do that. Roberts is aggressive, yes. Probably disappointed too. But a poor sport? You don't know sh*t about racing it seeems to me.

 

[CrustyOldFart]

Pardon me marcel g, you ignorant f*ck. What the hell makes you think Roberts is "quitting mid-race"? It has been well that the Suzuki (especially with Roberts on it) goes plenty quick until the tires go off, then becomes extremely difficult to ride, lacking the ability to get off the corners as well as the Honda and Yamaha. It is also down on power, which exacerbates the tire problem because KR JR has to use them up early to maintain the pace of the more powerful machines.



Kenny Roberts is a commensurate professional and I have never seen him engage in poor sportsmanship. It seems you have to be an Italian in 500cc this year to do that. Roberts is aggressive, yes. Probably disappointed too. But a poor sport? You don't know sh*t about racing it seems to me.

 

[Twitch]

Time for anger managment?

I love it when some one double posts a flame. Would it be too hard to post something that would just correct some erroneous information instead of starting with insults?

 

[vee4pilot]

Hey crusty old fart, as much as I hated seeing Kenny Jr. fight for 7 or 8th position this season, he gave up and quit running in a fight for 7th place and pulled into the pits while running 11 seconds behind the leaders. There was nothing wrong with the bike at all. Although it must be frustrating for him to lose his hard earned championship, he just made a dumb move by turning into a sorry sport and disrespected his team and sponsors.

 

[telliot647]

From Suzuki's GP Press Release:



"Roberts started well, but as the race wore on he lost position, and pulled into the pits to retire after 15 of 22 laps. Although there was no particular machine problem, he was frustrated by the prospect of a further deterioration in his position."



Team Manager Garry Taylor said: "It seems Kenny was unhappy with the engine, and we must investigate the situation carefully. Clearly the machine has potential, which Kenny proved by leading the early laps, and holding a strong position for most of the first half of the race. Then he started to drop back, as we have seen before."



"We can understand Kenny's frustration, but the whole team is disappointed that he gave up today while holding a top-10

position."



Sounds to me like he just gave up. Would I call him a poor sport for it? Probably not, but it's definately not the most professional thing to do. Kenny is a great racer, he's just on an underdeveloped bike this year, plain and simple.

 

[4in6]

Hey fart the last time I checked Roberts was paid to race a motorcycle. I don't care how much faster everyone else is going as long as your bike is safe to ride you owe it to your team and sponsers to keep turning laps that is what a pro is suppose to do wouldn't he have felt like a smuck if all the bikes infront of him had a pile up and he could of one the race. I think he has great skill but that crap he pulled was inmature and unprofessional. And you can't argue with that

 

[jamesohoh7]

Yeah.. Kenny's hard times this year suck. I didn't like to see him give up and pull in, but on the other hand, like you (and others) say... it's got to be rough to know you have lost so much ground to the competition in one season.



The poster who pointed out the lap-times between the two seasons... wow... that astonishes me! I hadn't compared the seasons yet.. but that is simply amazing and really drives the point home about the lack of development on Suzuki (or apparent lack thereof).



I think the guy just flat got frustrated and gave up. Ok, a show of hands... everyone who has NEVER gotten frustrated and to their baser instincts, raise their hands. I don't care if he's a paid pro... he can't be perfect all of the time. He's human... I can certainly forgive the guy one or perhaps two lapses in judgement. At least he hasn't tried to run anyone off the track in a fit of pique (Biaggi... and alarmingly enough, Kurtis Roberts). Retiring from an apparently losing battle might also have been due to his mind wandering ... perhaps he didn't feel safe riding while becoming more and more upset? Hell, who knows.



KRJR is a pro... he'll recover from this season and while I won't predict a championship next year, I'm betting he'll do a lot better... the guy is just too talented to NOT do better. And yes, before anyone says I'm being too easy on him... I admit I am a fan of the guy, and will stay a fan even after this year, and I was a fan before last year.



-James

 

[8489]

And in fact the Suzuki does NOT have the tires to finish a race due to the 16 inch rim size they kept from last year compared to the 16.5 common to the other makes. The 16 incher steers better than the 16.5, but does not put as much tire on the road and thus cannot match the bigger tire's durability. Thus KRjr's consistent decent qualifying times and leader pack starts followed by a steady slide backwards come mid-race as his smaller tires vaporize and the competitions' tires maintain grip.



While there may or may not have been anything "wrong with the bike," the tires make it impossible to maintain the pace (and get downright dangerous) about mid-race and that may well be a factor in his decision to pull in. Of course, the politics of keeping the tire sponser happy play a role in post-race press comments, also. . .

 

[vee4pilot]

Hey gruff ride.......I dont know where you get your information from, but I dont think and factory teams have been using 16 inch tires in the GP's since the late 80's.

 

[Joe_Momma]

17 not a 16 dingbat!!!

Sorry, it was a17 last year, not a 16. Everyone is moving to the 16.5...

 

[8489]

Sorry, slip of the arthritic fingers (or age -induced brain-fade); the change to 16.5 from 17 allows the same overall diameter with a wider, more durable tire. The point is the same -- the rest of the field has gone to the 16.5 and Suzuki stayed with the 17 and the more durable tire has killed the better handling but short-lived setup on the Suzuki.