2012 MotoGP Round 1 - Qatar

[Nachlauf]

I'm surprised how down on horsepower the CRT's must be when you look at the top speeds!

Came Ioda is down 50 kph

But that has to be a technical, setup or rider issue. Their package shouldn't differ too much from the other Aprilias. On the other hand @Petrux9 seems to do fairly good in sectors that don't include the long start-finish-straight. So it's rather strange to see him crawling up the straight that slow.

[Squidpuppet]

But that has to be a technical, setup or rider issue. Their package shouldn't differ too much from the other Aprilias. On the other hand @Petrux9 seems to do fairly good in sectors that don't include the long start-finish-straight. So it's rather strange to see him crawling up the straight that slow.

Aero?

[eddahenry]

I'm surprised how down on horsepower the CRT's must be when you look at the top speeds!

Came Ioda is down 50 kph

this is really scary
when you pass a car doing 60 on the HW its like there standing still
and its going to be happening at 330 , they have to do something in he best interest of rider safety.
Maybe some lines painted on the straight CRTs one side FP on the other , i know it sounds like a slow lane on the Highway and it is
They need it

[Sloth27]

But that has to be a technical, setup or rider issue. Their package shouldn't differ too much from the other Aprilias. On the other hand @Petrux9 seems to do fairly good in sectors that don't include the long start-finish-straight. So it's rather strange to see him crawling up the straight that slow.

Aero?

They might just be getting poor drive out of the final turn resulting in a lower top speed. If it's due to aero they've made a serious miscalculation.

It is going to be an issue in qualifying with fast riders getting held up. Expect plenty of fists waved (or thrown ).

[Oscar]

when you pass a car doing 60 on the HW its like there standing still
and its going to be happening at 330 , they have to do something in he best interest of rider safety.

Good heavens, surely not? After all, Stoner was fined for bad behaviour for the De Puniet episode and de Puniet was going something like 100 kph slower on the racing line - so a mere 50 kph couldn't possibly be a safety issue - could it? It's up to the overtaking rider to keep clear, and wave in a gentlepersonly fashion his apology if he frightens the slower rider. Anyway, if they DO collide, then it's all part of the rider contact sport that is rollerball motoGp, according to Paul Butler.

Or perhaps sanity WILL prevail and there'll be some serious talking in the rider briefings re observance of blue flags.

[RatsMC]

For the Americans: 50kph=31mph

That's rarely life-threatening.

[eddahenry]

For the Americans: 50kph=31mph

That's rarely life-threatening.

so 2 CRTs drafting down a straight a Prototype is flying past just as he comes up to them a CRT pulls out of the Slip Stream
31MPH will make a hell of a mess

[Oscar]

so 2 CRTs drafting down a straight a Prototype is flying past just as he comes up to them a CRT pulls out of the Slip Stream
31MPH will make a hell of a mess

Cogent point - the second CRT rider could well assume that the blue waved flags are for the rider in front and not realise there's a fast bike about to overtake, while the fast bike rider will assume the second CRT rider has seen the flags. I think there's starting to be an argument for a Superpole division for QP, with that sort of speed differential.

[Gustav O]

Came Ioda must have some other specific problem as they are about 20 km/h slower than the rest of the CRTs and they run the Aprilia engine. Very interesting though, and potentially dangerous as pointed out here.

[RatsMC]

For the Americans: 50kph=31mph

That's rarely life-threatening.

so 2 CRTs drafting down a straight a Prototype is flying past just as he comes up to them a CRT pulls out of the Slip Stream
31MPH will make a hell of a mess

Sorry, but I am just not seeing this as being a reality. What factory rider is going to not notice traffic in front of him? The rider pulling out of the slipstream would have to be doing something really extreme and irresponsible to even startle the faster rider.

[eddahenry]

For the Americans: 50kph=31mph

That's rarely life-threatening.

so 2 CRTs drafting down a straight a Prototype is flying past just as he comes up to them a CRT pulls out of the Slip Stream
31MPH will make a hell of a mess

Sorry, but I am just not seeing this as being a reality. What factory rider is going to not notice traffic in front of him? The rider pulling out of the slipstream would have to be doing something really extreme and irresponsible to even startle the faster rider.

you have seen the CRT riders list havent you Rats

[corinthian]

As usual, everything will be fine until suddenly it's not. Slow rider off your line? No problem, nothing to deal with. Slow rider on your line? no problem, you deal with it. Slow rider randomly drifting onto your line at the wrong time (Yes, RDP, I'm looking at you) - problem. Not worth changing the rules about, but I think it's inevitable that there will be incidents.

If you're volunteering for marshal duties this year, get some upper body exercise in first - there's going to be a fair bit of blue flag waving!

[Rossifumi]

when you pass a car doing 60 on the HW its like there standing still
and its going to be happening at 330 , they have to do something in he best interest of rider safety.

Good heavens, surely not? After all, Stoner was fined for bad behaviour for the De Puniet episode and de Puniet was going something like 100 kph slower on the racing line - so a mere 50 kph couldn't possibly be a safety issue - could it? It's up to the overtaking rider to keep clear, and wave in a gentlepersonly fashion his apology if he frightens the slower rider. Anyway, if they DO collide, then it's all part of the rider contact sport that is rollerball motoGp, according to Paul Butler.

Or perhaps sanity WILL prevail and there'll be some serious talking in the rider briefings re observance of blue flags.

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

[Oscar]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

I'm saying that if Race Direction thought that it was ok for someone to faff around on the racing line at 100 kph less than the racing speed then there is something seriously wrong with their interpretation of acceptable track behaviour.

There is a serious potential issue here, in that the inexperienced (in terms of absolute performance of a full-fat motoGp bike) riders will, for a little while at least, not have their radar tuned to the possible incoming speed differential and may not be prepared for that differential. I've been on track in a mixed field with some really fast drivers in F2 cars mixing it with our club-level sports machines and even with the benefit of mirrors and an extremely conscientious attention to what was coming up behind me, I was startled to be overtaken with millimetres to spare in a fast sweeper by two of these guys trying for a fast lap. The first guy would have blocked the vision of me from the second guy and he missed my front tyre with his back tyre by literally about 20mm, if I'd flinched we would both have ended up in a concrete wall in bits.

In the race, the CRT bikes will be spread out by the time they are lapped and I think there is a reasonable expectation that blue flags and common sense will make things ok - but in QP in particular, I think there could be some serious issues.

[DJH]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

It speaks volumes that RdP didn't make a big deal out of it at all because he knew he was in the wrong.

If he took it on the chin and apologied, perhaps the anti-Stoner brigade can build their bridge as well.

[Tourn46]

I'm saying that if Race Direction thought that it was ok for someone to faff around on the racing line at 100 kph less than the racing speed then there is something seriously wrong with their interpretation of acceptable track behaviour.

I agree, it's silly to sit on the racing line when not on a fast lap. IIRC De Puniet did get a slap on the wrists for doing it, but likewise nobody should "take the law into their own hands" as it were. I think that just about sums up the general concensus from the previous discussions.

In the race, the CRT bikes will be spread out by the time they are lapped and I think there is a reasonable expectation that blue flags and common sense will make things ok - but in QP in particular, I think there could be some serious issues.

I saw the other day on Twitter, the Qualifying times for Laguna Seca in 1993 - some of the bikes on the grid were further from the pole sitter than any of the CRT bikes (judging by the FP1 pace yesterday). I will look to see if I can find the Tweet again... can't remember who posted it though.
Now, I was 8 years old then and I think it's fair to say I don't really remember what it was like, but were there any severe issues or accidents caused by the slower riders back then?

Would the problems really be caused on the straights? I would imagine it would be more of a problem in the corners.

I just think that looking for that gap in the traffic, etc, is simply something the riders will need to look for and factor in when going out to post that flying lap.
Would it not be fair to say that even if there were more Prototypes on the grid, it would make QP that bit more difficult anyway because looking at the top Prototype compared to the bottom Prototype, there's a fair margin in regards to lap times.

I'm not really defending or arguing against, but I would like to know if rider si nthe past had to deal with it... if so, I see no reason why the riders today wouldn't be able to just as efficiently.

I just hope this doesn't result in some crappy SuperPole format being introduced because of a few whiny riders... they all need to man up and get on with it

[eddahenry]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

No i think he got that one wrong
he message would have been better sent if he walked into his garage and layed one on De Puniets chin , Thats how its done isnt it

[Tourn46]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

No i think he got that one wrong
he message would have been better sent if he walked into his garage and layed one on De Puniets chin , Thats how its done isnt it

I'm not really sure that would be wise... De Puniet is built like a tank... the drive by was probably the safer option

[Rossifumi]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

It speaks volumes that RdP didn't make a big deal out of it at all because he knew he was in the wrong.

If he took it on the chin and apologied, perhaps the anti-Stoner brigade can build their bridge as well.

I"m not part of an 'anti-Stoner brigade' but I am anti-punching. Maybe the pro-Stoner brigade could accept that Stoner was wrong to throw a punch?

[Rossifumi]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

No i think he got that one wrong
he message would have been better sent if he walked into his garage and layed one on De Puniets chin , Thats how its done isnt it

no, that would also be wrong.....as it was wrong when Rossi threw a punch at Biaggi

[eddahenry]

are you saying Stoner was right to punch De Puniet?

It speaks volumes that RdP didn't make a big deal out of it at all because he knew he was in the wrong.

If he took it on the chin and apologied, perhaps the anti-Stoner brigade can build their bridge as well.

I"m not part of an 'anti-Stoner brigade' but I am anti-punching. Maybe the pro-Stoner brigade could accept that Stoner was wrong to throw a punch?

Dont fall off that High Horse mate
To me its a no issue it was as much of a punch that you see a 4 year old throw at his dads hand when playing

[Rossifumi]

Dont fall off that High Horse mate
To me its a no issue it was as much of a punch that you see a 4 year old throw at his dads hand when playing

I'm not your 'mate', nor on a high horse - just curious as to whether the pro-Stoner brigade will ever be able to accept that Stoner is not right/best/most hard done by in any situation.

[lebowski]

This shit has been done before (and to death). Can we move on?

Bring on FP2!!

[eddahenry]

well Hector (Can I Get a Tow) Barbera done alright when behind lorenzo
spies binned it but seemed alright
Hayden and rossi both put on softs at the end but still 1.2 behind
Crutchlow and lorenzo put on a soft rear and done some nice times
Pedrosa ????
But Casey stayed on the hard all session and we saw him get cut off by a Bautista But Rossifumi will be proud of Stoner as no punches where thrown
Has Stoner even put on a soft tyre yet

[Nachlauf]

“@BenSpies11: Well that didn't work out well. Didn't let the front heat up then the bike tried to rip my helmet off! 2nd bike didn't run so that sucked!”

Must have been a weird crash. Crossing my fingers for good QP tomorrow.

Stoner actually looked like he was going to equal Lorenzo's time on hards. I suppose he'd be quite a bit faster on softs.