Le Mans MotoGP

 I've never known this place so quiet the day after a GP.

Anyway, Le Mans was the crap shoot we've come to expect from a 'flag
to flag' race where they changed bikes.  I'll point up the following
things:

- Rossi is human (contrast Burgess's comments about some of the other
riders being 'little robots') - human enough to throw it away, and
despite not giving up, didn't get a point.
- Lorenzo really is pretty good.  Didn't put a foot wrong
- Pedrosa appears to be a racer!  The way he hunted down Dovi and
overtook him on the last lap was one of the few highpoints of an
otherwise fairly dull race
- Melandri is also a racer.  A great result for him and his team.  And
even tho they know they wouldn't have got on the podium in the dry,
underneath it they appear to be faster than everyone who isn't on a
works Yamaha, Honda or Ducati.
--
Champ

ZX10R (road), ZX10R (race; breaking), GPz750 turbo (classic) Hayabusa (touring)
To email me, neal at my domain should work.

 Champ wrote:

Big mistake pulling in so early, and he was running 2nd and not losing
much ground to Lorenzo at the time. He went in after 5 laps, and
Lorenzo didn't go in until after 12 and was getting faster until then,
although Melandri bested his time on slicks the last couple laps - the
Bridgestone rains proved to be great in damp conditions.

And the cheats sent him out again on a rain front and slick rear, and
then slicks at both ends. But no penalty, apparently, and again
because the rules aren't entirely clear - nice to have your own
rulebook...


Outstanding really, although it's hard to say if he just guessed right
on setup, on both bikes. But he was easily the fastest on rain tires
on a drying track, and again on slicks on a damp track.


That was the only segment of the race when Lorenzo wasn't quickest,
but he didn't have to be, the race already won. And Dani faded in the
wet on rains, changed too early, and faded more on slicks - compare
Melandri's laps after the switch to Pedrosa's. I know the guy's
hurting, but his wet performance still seems to be an issue.


Where Melandri really stood out was on slicks in wet conditions. Once
again he's confirmed that he's one of the very best on a wet track.
Too bad he changed so early, might have had a shot if he'd waited
another 4-5 laps, but I guess he had to try something, wasn't going to
beat Lorenzo on the same strategy that day.

Otherwise, Edwards was very fast on slicks from the middle of the race
on, but screwed the pooch on rains. Hayden had his best stretch after
breaking through the second pack and just before switching to slicks,
running at the same pace as Vermeulen and just off of Stoner, but then
slicks on a drier track did it to him again. But it's one of Ducati's
worst tracks and definitely his worst, and he was only about a second
off Stoner's times. Stoner kinda mailed this one in, for him slow on
rains, slow on slicks in the wet, slow on slicks in the dry, 30
seconds back in the end. Also kind of middling results for Vermeulen,
Capirossi, Toseland.

 On Tue, 19 May 2009 15:18:56 -0700 (PDT), Mark N


Well, as you say, it seems the rules *aren't* clear - they don't say
whether both tyres have to be different.  And if they don't say, then
it's not against the rules.  That would be my interpretation, anyway,
and in Burgess shoes, with little to lose, I'd have done the same.
--
Champ

ZX10R (road), ZX10R (race; breaking), GPz750 turbo (classic) Hayabusa (touring)
To email me, neal at my domain should work.

 wrote:


   From RRW [1]: "He returned to the pits next time around to swap back onto his
other bike, with the rules stipulating that he had to keep one wet tyre with the
second bike change[...]" So it sounds like if you make a second change, you have
to
go with at least one wet tire. It doesn't seem to say anything there about what
tires
should be used in a third bike swap, though. And with that lack of clarity, I'd
say
that Burgess made the correct call.

   It was good to see Rossi admit that he screwed up after the first change and
knew
the crash was his own fault. He is usually good for that.

[1] http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article6586

--
                              tanx,
                               Howard

                         Caught playing safe
                          It's a bored game

                     remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

 
"Howard Kveck" wrote


Here is the rule, as best I can determine:



Unless the race is interrupted, after the leading rider has passed the

finish line at the end of his first lap, no further changes of machines

are permitted. After this time, in the MotoGP class only, the 2 following

procedures will apply:

- If the race has been declared wet (Art. 1.20), changing from a

machine equipped with rain tyre to a machine equipped with

intermediate or slick tyre, changing from a machine equipped

with intermediate tyre to a machine equipped with rain or slick

tyre, and changing from a machine equipped with slick tyre to a

machine equipped with intermediate or rain tyre is permitted at

any time during the race.

- If the race has not been declared wet (Art. 1.20), the same

machine changes as mentioned above are permitted only after

the white flags have been displayed around the track.

In both cases, tyre warmers, changing tyres and adjustments are

permitted on the machine in the pits and in the pit-lane.

The spare machine may remain inside the pit box until such time as it

is used in the race, but any exchange of machine must be made in the

pit lane.



Now that's pretty unclear if you take it literally, it definitely sounds
like something transalted from another language by someone native in that
language and lacking understanding in the subject matter (it sounds like the
guy thought these were regs for unicycle racing). If I were to interpret
that, it would be that you cannot retain the basic type of tire you came in
on, at either end of the machine.



What Ryder reported at Soup today was this:



"The English version uses the phrases 'wet tyre' and 'dry tyre'. It also
uses the phrase 'intermediate tyre' but Bridgestone don't supply any. The
French version uses the word 'pneus', that's the plural, as in 'tyres.'. As
in all motorsport, the regs were written in French and that's the version
that takes precedence. The court may wish to consult records in the case of
Read versus Ivy. Yamaha's post-race releases stick by their claim that the
rules require only one tyre to be changed, Rossi said the same in his press
de-brief; Burgess and Brivio said they don't speak French."



So if in French it's plural and that's what rules the day, then Team Rossi
broke the rules. And I think it's stupid to read this in English and believe
it really means you have to change the type of only one tire. At minimum you
ask for clarification. Given that, one has to believe that if they did this
knowingly that they knew the outcome wouldn't be entirely clear, and in the
end they'd probably get away with it - because Rossi is Rossi, and he gets
away with anything, just as he did at Philip Island in '06 and at Jerez in
'05, and...



So why the fuck are the rules all written in French? Aren't the two centers
of racing in Europe historically the UK and Italy? Did the French get the
job because they sit right between the warring tribes, and aren't liked by
either?