SEPANG: 2nd Official MotoGP TEST

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Feb 26 2010, 04:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>L8, I'm with you. I'm now shy about looking at lap times with both eyes. I usually squint and look down the list for Nicky's name. When I don't see it my first thought is, he wasn't on the grid. Then of course I'm skeptically joyous when I see him near the top. Still a test (as any reasonable people mentioning) but I'll take any glimmers of hope to fuel my unfettered hope for a good season (regardless of how illusive it has proven to be since the switch).





V mi amigo, you were wrong then and still haven't learned the lesson...

Ah buddy, That's what I'm trying to tell you and Fishy (which you keep missing), that is you make these ridiculous assessments based on a screen shot then later be shown to be wrong (fact, or was Rossi lying?). So what's the lesson here? Answer: Don't make ridiculous assessments based on your interpretation of what you think you see on TV (as Babel is fond of doing).

Are you also gonna put up the screen shot that shows Stoner having the most TC?



Except you said they are the same. Must be a lost in translation thing again. Had he said they are identical, then you'd have a point. Tell me something Fishy, when one rider says the bike is the "same" then his teammate says they are not, who is having the issue with translation?
Well he didnt switch to stones for a different sticker on his bike did he ?

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Feb 26 2010, 05:08 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>V mi amigo, you were wrong then and still haven't learned the lesson...

Ah buddy, That's what I'm trying to tell you and Fishy (which you keep missing), that is you make these ridiculous assessments based on a screen shot then later be shown to be wrong (fact, or was Rossi lying?). So what's the lesson here? Answer: Don't make ridiculous assessments based on your interpretation of what you think you see on TV (as Babel is fond of doing).
Of course we shouldn't. We should shut up and sit and watch, show the winner respect where respect is due, listen to the press releases 3 days later and wait for the next race. NOT
We are passionate and regardless of your rambeling and regardless of you bring this up every 3. month I will continue to speculate and debate the race while it's run and right after. It doesn't matter one tiny bit if I get some of it wrong, I really couldn't care less. Especially when everyone are making fun of Rossi's results and it turns out the there was something wrong with the tires. To me that made us more right than wrong, but you go on and "enter" the discussion when all the answers are given. Really a risk taker aren't you
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>Except you said they are the same. Must be a lost in translation thing again. Had he said they are identical, then you'd have a point. Tell me something Fishy, when one rider says the bike is the "same" then his teammate says they are not, who is having the issue with translation?
Oh o) VERY sorry about that J. I just asumed that everyone know that if you just go deep enough they are ALL different. Some adjustments here others there. An extra long seat hight adjuster or higher/wider fairing for Ben, one might prefer another swing-arm or a different suspension link... the list goes on. I'm sorry I didn't point that out in the first place but I didn't expect you to enter the discussion with your usual anal attitude.
But they are all basically the same: i.e. factory equipment.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Feb 26 2010, 06:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Babel, you see, that's the problem I have buddy. You keep saying something was "wrong" with the tires, where as your boy said it was a tire choice issue.

Selective memory here?
As on one or two other occasions in '06 Michelin had to go out public and anounce that they ...... it up by supplying all riders except the Honda HRC riders with the harder type rain tire. This was not described as a recommended choice but as something they pushed with all their authority.
As such this was defiantly a performance failure as they performed badly in the conditions at at hand. In fact there is only a minor difference between the failure of these tires and our assumed shredding. I did at no point suggest that the tires had some kind of production failure, rather suggesting that Michelin again had failed to supply their riders with tires working under broad enough conditions. We assumed they were too soft, and thereby shredding, it turned out they were too hard. Big deal!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE <div class='quotemain'>So, what do you think about Nicky being faster on the 'standard' rear as oppose to the 'new' Bstone? Any insight? (seriously)
Nah you are just fishing for more compliments to Nicky
Seriously I have no opinion on the tire thing, I didn't know he were faster on the older one until you mentioned it. Checking Crash.net I don't put too much into it. I am however very impressed by his speed and it seems he has figured out the Ducati or it figured itself out with the new engine. Anyway , this is good news. If this continue it will be very interesting to see how he perform in relation to Stoner. From what I read at crash he is really, really happy to be at the sharp end and wish him good luck up there with the aliens.
So there you got it, more compliments to Nicky

Jumkie, just out of curiosity, why the concern with Nick's best time on the standard tire? Maybe your thinking the new tire will be the only one avaialable for the season?

My only issue with nicky's 3rd fastest is jorge wasnt there so it could have easily been 4th. Also that little midget from fantasy island is well off pace. Probably because honda doesn't want him to take the training wheels off, they just want him to make it through the preseason testing. But still 69 must have found something he likes.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MdubSTYLIE @ Feb 26 2010, 10:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>My only issue with nicky's 3rd fastest is jorge wasnt there so it could have easily been 4th. Also that little midget from fantasy island is well off pace. Probably because honda doesn't want him to take the training wheels off, they just want him to make it through the preseason testing. But still 69 must have found something he likes.

I agree. Pedrosa is sandbagging. Dovi knows it too.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (MdubSTYLIE @ Feb 26 2010, 01:59 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>My only issue with nicky's 3rd fastest is jorge wasnt there so it could have easily been 4th. Also that little midget from fantasy island is well off pace. Probably because honda doesn't want him to take the training wheels off, they just want him to make it through the preseason testing. But still 69 must have found something he likes.
agreed, could have been 4th, but I'm still happy he's closer to the front than back. Pedro and Dovi will be closer in Qatar I have no doubts about that. I still think the 4 aliens will dice it out for the title, with the occasional break thru of Dovi,Spies, Edwards, and I hope Hayden...I also wouldn't put it past Capi to play along that thin line as well depending how many horses the Zook can bring to the party this year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Babelfish @ Feb 27 2010, 12:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I didn't expect you to enter the discussion with your usual anal attitude.
Oh ....... a classic! Even the weird-visioned Norge can see a true occasionally!!

BTW even Mrs. Mick D understood that BF was referring to relative closeness of hardware... Her first question was, "well doesn't every rider have some custom settings for their size and style?"

Don't be an obstinate ....... here is Babel's original quote to refresh your, possibly, tequila-sodden memory:

You can't give him what he already got.

I suspect that he will have a bike closer to factory than we've seen in a long time from a satelite team. Btw, that's probably to some degree for all satellite teams. I doubt they can use yesteryears engines with the new rules and it would be little or nothing to gain by tuning down the satellite bikes, except for the humiliation of being beaten by one

Just 'cause you choose to obsess on the first sentence (which BTW does NOT say "identical") and ignore the qualifying full paragraph following doesn't mean any else is buying into your grudge-.....-fest... .... Jum, like I said, pick battles you can win - live in the moment... past debates/arguments are totally irrelevant and no one but you gives a .... about tyre debate in '06, let it go dude! Bottom line is Babel was totally clear in this particular statement and you lose on the call-out!!

To be under last years pole time is actually quite impressive for Rossi, taking into account the engine rule and more extreme climatic conditions in Feb at Sepang, and it seems that the M1 is looking stronger than ever. I doubt that a lack of Jorge made much difference for VR with many others out there to beat.

Both Ducks look great too.......and I doubt CS and Nicky were sandbagging as I don't think they know how, hard to say with Rossi but its also highly unlikely.

Tardozzi's '....' Status continues to grow, as does the three monkeys.

I'm not sure and would be interested in opinions- could Nicky's form be directly related to the big bang? As all the times are improving it seems the engine rule could be 'Ruled out'.

IMO Bridgestone are still dragging their feet without a competitor, the times have improved but much of this could be attributed to the manufacturers.

I can't really believe that someone would sandbag. How can you develop a bike if a guy isn't pushing the absolute limit of the machine. IMO no one is sandbagging they are either testing or running race simulations or running a hot lap or two to see what the limit of their setup is. Since we don't really know the actual situation we can't judge at this point. Perhaps they are solely testing the off corner response of the chassis so they only concentrate on corner exits to get the right data not worrying about the straight line speed. Ultimately, if everything is clicking and you post the fastest lap things are coming together and you can do it so you are further ahead in your regime. But that doesn't mean that a test is unsuccessful because you show up 8th. Usually a successful test means you posted a good competitive time but you learn a lot from a bad test also it just doesn't have the optics loved by the sponsors.

Over two days the times do sort of tell what stage everyone is at right now and I'm not really surprised by the results. I'm not even surprised by Hayden because in reality it is probably his input that caused the big bang engine to come about. Stoner was happy with the screamer. He has worked hard and elevated himself and Stoner is getting benefit also.

I think that a couple of race engines are already in pieces on the shadow graph and CMM to see how they lasted. Over two days they probably logged 3 race lengths and I didn't hear of anyone popping an engine.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gsfan @ Feb 26 2010, 04:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Over two days the times do sort of tell what stage everyone is at right now and I'm not really surprised by the results. I'm not even surprised by Hayden because in reality it is probably his input that caused the big bang engine to come about. Stoner was happy with the screamer. He has worked hard and elevated himself and Stoner is getting benefit also.

Everyone had to chop revs off of the top in order to make engine life requirements. Without the top end, the screamer had no purpose. I doubt Hayden had anything to do with the new engine, particularly b/c Ducati have run big bang firing orders in the past.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (gsfan @ Feb 27 2010, 12:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I can't really believe that someone would sandbag. How can you develop a bike if a guy isn't pushing the absolute limit of the machine. IMO no one is sandbagging they are either testing or running race simulations or running a hot lap or two to see what the limit of their setup is. Since we don't really know the actual situation we can't judge at this point. Perhaps they are solely testing the off corner response of the chassis so they only concentrate on corner exits to get the right data not worrying about the straight line speed. Ultimately, if everything is clicking and you post the fastest lap things are coming together and you can do it so you are further ahead in your regime. But that doesn't mean that a test is unsuccessful because you show up 8th. Usually a successful test means you posted a good competitive time but you learn a lot from a bad test also it just doesn't have the optics loved by the sponsors.

Over two days the times do sort of tell what stage everyone is at right now and I'm not really surprised by the results. I'm not even surprised by Hayden because in reality it is probably his input that caused the big bang engine to come about. Stoner was happy with the screamer. He has worked hard and elevated himself and Stoner is getting benefit also.

I think that a couple of race engines are already in pieces on the shadow graph and CMM to see how they lasted. Over two days they probably logged 3 race lengths and I didn't hear of anyone popping an engine.
Stoner is quoted in the australian press this morning as saying he had something in reserve which probably means he didn't .

I am delighted to see nicky so close both as a ducati fan and for his sake . There is no way even if stoner was the best of all time/as good as rossi that he should be more than half a second faster than the likes of nicky and loris capirossi, so him often being more than a second faster suggests as many have speculated there was something odd about the screamer ducati. As mylexicon says I doubt either stoner or nicky had anything to do with the design of the new engine but if the bike has improved otherwise I think it is more likely down to nicky's bike development input than casey's. As a stoner fan I was concerned about ducati going away from the screamer which seemed to suit him so well, but I also take lex's other point that it probably offers nothing extra now given the need to limit rpm for engine longevity, and ducati have always built powerful engines whatever their variety. However which tracks are ducati tracks may not be the same now, so perhaps I should not be so encouraged by ducati being closer to rossi at the previously non-ducati sepang circuit.

I believe the relativity of ducati and yamaha will not be revealed by testing, particularly in jorge's absence, as we don't know what state of engine tune they are running in testing or will need to run in races under the new engine rule. As you say engines don't seem to have exploded in this testing session, although suzuki are rumoured to have lost one (? the old one rather than the new one) at the previous test. When the similar rule was introduced in F1 the manufacturers seemed to adapt quickly.

Has anyone seen any video footage of how hard rossi was pushing it at this test?. He certainly seemed to be pushing it harder than is his usual wont during testing at the previous test, which I put down to him wishing to make a point to jorge. Whilst you are probably correct that he wouldn't actually sandbag, it has not been his habit to push things right to the limit and attempt to dominate his rivals in every testing or practice session as stoner has previously mostly tried to do.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Feb 27 2010, 02:04 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Has anyone seen any video footage of how hard rossi was pushing it at this test?. He certainly seemed to be pushing it harder than is his usual wont during testing at the previous test, which I put down to him wishing to make a point to jorge. Whilst you are probably correct that he wouldn't actually sandbag, it has not been his habit to push things right to the limit and attempt to dominate his rivals in every testing or practice session as stoner has previously mostly done.
I have seen the video footage of the tests both this one and last one and it does look that Rossi is pushing hard with his leg hanging out on under heavy braking points.To me it looks like Rossi wants to prove a point to his team mate and yamaha and at the same time to his other rivals as well and its contract time this year isn't it!!!!!