11-16-2016, 01:45 AM
Vinales well into the hunt now. I think I first noticed this guy could ride at COTA.
The Suzuki is a much better-handling bike than the Yamaha for his aggessive style; the Honda and Suzuki have similar, loose chassis and can be muscled around.
If Suzuki picks up a little more power for 2017 I believe their chassis is better than Honda's (Marquez was running a 2014 chassis in 2016) and they've got a serious chance, with the bike, at a championship. But without Maverick, probably not.
Then again, Maverick may not be able to get the Yamaha to work for him the way Marquez has adapted to the Honda.
Fast and loose is what's needed to win the championships; I know Lorenzo put on a good show last weekend, at a home track that's smooth as glass, but even so, Marquez would have caught and passed him in one more lap, and and would've done had he not been held up by a lousy start and a pack of great riders battling for second.
Going to be watching with interest! Day two live now...
Rossi rolling out of the pits now, in beautiful new livery and the new engine...I like the stealth livery and leathers many of the other teams are sporting. Lorenzo's black/orange are aggressive.
I just have to comment on the matter of style; the Ducat pits are full of guys who clearly spend plenty of time in front of a mirror and with a hair stylist. It could be taken as intimidating, this gaggle of well set-up chaps sipping espresso, quite confident, with their perfectly-trimmed Van Dyke beards and teased flat-tops, well-coiffed to say the least.
Then we have Rossi, the fastest Italian in history, looking like a California boy fresh from the surf, with his earrings and mussy hair. Image isn't everything!
Vinales' riding reminds me more of Schwantz than of anyone else. He's got that Yamaha set up very loose, quite different than Rossi or Lorenzo. He hangs off more with the butt cheek and does more counterweighting to keep the bike under control at the limit. And he likes to really "snap" the bike into turns.
What is funny is that any Ducati or Aprilia supersport bike you might want to buy comes with suspension that is unbelievably stiff, far too stiff to even work on a racetrack. Loose is better as we are once again seeing.
But "stiff" sells bikes, riders think it's "race ready" or something. I tried once again to set my CB1100's suspension to position #2 for damping and it was just too darn stiff. The bike likes it softer. Getting rid of those winglets, and simplifying the electronics package, are good things, they give the rider more control and weed out the guys without that very rare talent.
Frankly, I stopped watching racing for over ten years because it just looked like a parade after they went to the four-strokes. Now we are getting back to some real racing. Not as exciting as the heyday of the Americans and Aussies, snapping and wheelying those 500s, but pretty good.
The Suzuki is a much better-handling bike than the Yamaha for his aggessive style; the Honda and Suzuki have similar, loose chassis and can be muscled around.
If Suzuki picks up a little more power for 2017 I believe their chassis is better than Honda's (Marquez was running a 2014 chassis in 2016) and they've got a serious chance, with the bike, at a championship. But without Maverick, probably not.
Then again, Maverick may not be able to get the Yamaha to work for him the way Marquez has adapted to the Honda.
Fast and loose is what's needed to win the championships; I know Lorenzo put on a good show last weekend, at a home track that's smooth as glass, but even so, Marquez would have caught and passed him in one more lap, and and would've done had he not been held up by a lousy start and a pack of great riders battling for second.
Going to be watching with interest! Day two live now...
Rossi rolling out of the pits now, in beautiful new livery and the new engine...I like the stealth livery and leathers many of the other teams are sporting. Lorenzo's black/orange are aggressive.
I just have to comment on the matter of style; the Ducat pits are full of guys who clearly spend plenty of time in front of a mirror and with a hair stylist. It could be taken as intimidating, this gaggle of well set-up chaps sipping espresso, quite confident, with their perfectly-trimmed Van Dyke beards and teased flat-tops, well-coiffed to say the least.
Then we have Rossi, the fastest Italian in history, looking like a California boy fresh from the surf, with his earrings and mussy hair. Image isn't everything!
Vinales' riding reminds me more of Schwantz than of anyone else. He's got that Yamaha set up very loose, quite different than Rossi or Lorenzo. He hangs off more with the butt cheek and does more counterweighting to keep the bike under control at the limit. And he likes to really "snap" the bike into turns.
What is funny is that any Ducati or Aprilia supersport bike you might want to buy comes with suspension that is unbelievably stiff, far too stiff to even work on a racetrack. Loose is better as we are once again seeing.
But "stiff" sells bikes, riders think it's "race ready" or something. I tried once again to set my CB1100's suspension to position #2 for damping and it was just too darn stiff. The bike likes it softer. Getting rid of those winglets, and simplifying the electronics package, are good things, they give the rider more control and weed out the guys without that very rare talent.
Frankly, I stopped watching racing for over ten years because it just looked like a parade after they went to the four-strokes. Now we are getting back to some real racing. Not as exciting as the heyday of the Americans and Aussies, snapping and wheelying those 500s, but pretty good.