[nokneedragin]

I hope GP does not turn into a honda fest this year , it allready looks like WSB is going to be a bit of a snooze, and if daytona is any indication we might be seeing a honda fest in the AMA. I know they buy the best riders they can get, but I preffer seeing close racing with different manufacturers. I hope Yates, or Eboz, or even Mladin (A$$hole that he seems to be) can give the Big red some good competition in AMA.

 

[13630]

Why does Barros always get hosed in these press releases? You would think that they would devote the most ink to their fastest guy, but the only thing they ever print about him is his time. What gives?

 

[jmeyn]

Looks like he spent all his time on the bike rather than interviews: 87 laps! Barros is vv serious this year.

 

[rsheidler]

The factory Yamahas run in 2 seperate teams (actually 2-1/2, including the leased D'Antin slot). Fortuna and Gauloises are sister companies (subsidiaries of the same parent company), but have seperate budgets etc. All the Yamaha press releases (or at least the English language ones) are being issued by Fortuna -- early on, their releases often wouldn't even mention the other Yamahas. I am speculating that the Gauloises PR department does not have someone sufficiently proficient in English to do this, so they leave it to Fortuna.



I suppose it is natural for Fortuna to more prominantly feature their own team, plus Fortuna is a Spanish tobacco brand and Checa is a Spanish rider, which enters into it as well.



I am guessing that if you looked on a French language site, you might find Gauloises press releases with comments from Barros and Jacque (especially since Jacque is the only French rider in the MotoGP class).



As a somewhat related aside, you will note that all reports on Aprilia times come from sources other than Aprilia press releases. That is because Aprilia Racing does not currently have a PR agent. Colin's dad, or sometimes his wife, will sometimes post times on various sites, and often other teams with whom they share the track post the Aprilia times along with their own.

 

[jmeyn]

I can't find it scheduled on TV anywhere. Help me!

 

[rsheidler]

There is still time to book a flight to Europe, where you can see it on EuroSport. Unfortunately, it apparently will not be shown here ;-( -- I had intended to make that point in my post.



Regards

Bob

 

[rsheidler]

I just discovered on the Yamaha Racing web site that they do have a PR rep responsible for MotoGP. I just sent him an e-mail expressing the concerns you raised. I suggested that Yamaha Racing, rather than Fortuna, should be responsible for releasing this information. Hopefully, I will get a response.



Bob

 

[13630]

Thanks for that info, I hadn't noticed that. I guess that would explain it.

 

[rsheidler]

Rossi Tribute to Barry Sheene

Valentino Rossi appeared at the Barcelona IRTA tests this weekend (15-16 March) with a new helmet design paying tribute to 2-time former 500GP World Champion Barry Sheene, who died last week of throat and stomach cancer. CLICK HERE to see it.

It is generally believed that Sheene's death was largely a result of his famous cigarette addiction -- he once had a hole drilled in the front of his helmet so he could get a quick smoke without having to remove the helmet.

A number of fans are commenting on the irony of all the touching tributes to Barry, from racers who are sponsored largely by tobacco companies. Rossi is not one of those, as he nearly broke with Honda over his refusal to accept any tobacco company money. Reports suggest that he may have taken as much as a $1 million per year pay cut for standing by his principles

 

[rsheidler]

Yamaha, Ducati, Honda in First Practice Session

For the first time with all the bikes on the track on the same day, Alex Barros showed that his pattern of dominating the off-season test sessions is not a fluke. In spite of cool conditions (air temp 12C, track temp 19C, humidity 56%) and a session cut short by afternoon rain showers, he put his Yamaha M1 at the top of the charts one again, with a time well under Max Biaggi's qualifying record, and almost 1-1/2 seconds under Rossi's fastest race lap from last year.

Perhaps even more surprising is that Loris Capirossi put his Ducati in a close second, ahead of the fastest Hondas of Sete Gibernau and Valentino Rossi. Sete's 3rd place itself is a bit of a surprise, but less so once you realize that this is his home track.

A few riders were obviously not riding at their expected levels -- in some cases because they were not familiar with the track, but this does not explain all the slow times. Max Biaggi, who has raced there frequently, was way down in 14th spot, behind both Suzukis and Tamada's Bridgestone-shod RCV, and barely ahead of Hoffman's and Pitt's Kawasakis.

Colin Edwards, who had never seen the track until today, was 13th quickest. Troy Bayliss, who first saw the track on Thursday, was 22nd and Nicky Hayden was 24th, 2.8 seconds off Barros pace. In typical fashion, Nicky put in the most laps (62)

In addition, Capirossi obliterated the old top speed mark of 317 km/h set by Ukawa on his RCV last year, with a radar clocked speed of 325.9 km/h (202 mph). Troy Bayliss set the second highest top speed of 322.4 km/h (200mph). Clearly, the Ducatis are not lacking in power!

As an indication of how far the bar has been raised, the fastest 16 bikes (in top speed)today were faster than the old record. Interestingly, aside from Capi, the riders with the quickest lap times were generally well down in top speeds -- Barros was 14th and Sete was 16th. Also interesting is that the Suzukis and Kawasakis were among the fastest in top speed, suggesting that their problem is not a shortage of horsepower.

The tests continue tomorrow (Sunday) with another free session in the morning, then the special 1 hour qualifying session in the afternood (1400-1500 CET -- 8:00-9:00 EST), followed by a final free session.

To see more on the tests, CLICK HERE and HERE

 

[jmeyn]

This year could make a good movie

See, this crude, backwoodsy but true-blue American kid (TAK) is hired to ride on the worlds best motorcycle on the worlds best team against the worlds best riders. None of the riders can speak to him easily. His teammate, the World Champion (WC), ignores him. The rider he displaced (DR) hates him. The villain (TV), the chief rival of the WC, considers him an inconvenient upstart. Possible scenarios:

1) WC observes TAK struggling gamely to master his machine in practise. Flashback to early days in racing when older rider helped him. WC passes TAK just fast enough to pick him up in his draft and leads him through just 1 lap of Mugello. WC peels off into pit lane as TAK whips by. Closeup of ear to ear SEG on face of TAK.

2) TAK is passed by TV, slips into his draft. TV brakes deeper into each succeeding corner, but TAK hangs on. Finally, TV purposely brakes far too deep trying to lure TAK into disaster. TAK ignores him and passes him as he struggles to recover. Closeup of evil scowl on face of TV.

More scenarios?