I was watching the AMA race from Barber this past weekend (hope you feel better soon Elena!) and as near as I can figure, Jason Disalvo is probably the king of Barber as far as skill goes on virtue of time spent there alone. And watching him race on Saturday and Sunday, he's got great lines, obviously great bike control, but the R6s just walk off and leave him (Beaubier and Gagne specifically). He's making up time in the turns but as soon as the bike gets somewhat upright they're gone. I know they are still building the bikes and the team, but as a factory bike that has a slight weight penalty because of the additional displacement, I just don't see how they hope to finish on top. 2nd question: Josh Hayes is arguably the best rider in Superbike right now and Hayden was nipping at his heels for most of that race - Hayden ran a 1:25:4 as the fastest lap of the weekend. How has Mat Mladin's 1:23:6 stood since 2008 when the bikes should be getting faster with advances in technology?
1st question: its all about time spent with the machine i assume .. i bet if the riders spent that much time with the 675 and disalvo just hopped on an r6 itd be the same as it is now .. same as yamaha and honda rule motogp and ducati falls behind .. cause ducati keeps changin riders who have diff preferences so they keep changin and tweaking altho its a great bike .. i bet if lorenzo or pedrosa spent 3 or 4 years on a duc as they have on their bikes then duc would be up top .. same as u or i would be slower if we kept switchin bikes .. and as far as the weight i 100% agree .. i hope they figure it out cause i hear jason and elena are good people and have the skill id just hate to see them fall behind cause of the bike as rossi did on the duc since he deemed them "unridable" in an interview 2nd question: hayes is a beast no question and idk how the lap record has stood but from what ive seen from hayes, he gets ahead(not hard for him) and rides hard but safe for the win .. im sure if he fell behind a few places and needed the win that he would push harder and take more of a risk each lap therefor he might get close to or beat the record .. he is a hell of a rider also as far as lap records go .. i think the most advances made in motorcycle racing and the most technology allowed on a bike are in motogp .. we can all agree on that as they bikes have more tech in them that a 17 yr old asian kids room ... yet some of the lap records on the circuits they race are from 2007 2008 2009 etc. and speed records as well dating back many years for certain tracks ... advances in technology sometimes take trial and error .. not every advance is a benefit .. maybe some advances dont mesh well with other tech on the bike so slow the times a bit .. idk but there are 1million factors that go into these bikes as we know .. tire compounds, presssures, traction control, suspension, brakes, size balls on the rider, rider weight, track temps, air temps, wind outside .. basically EVERYTHING matters and maybe mladin just had ALL those in his favors .. 1 factor not on point could mean the difference .. although almost a 2 second gap from track record and the laps the riders put in the other day is impressive ^^^ all my opinion .. may be wrong or irrelevant but thats what i think
Yamaha rules. But in all seriousness, Jason just switched to the 2013 model, so it is still going through some changes. The R6's have stayed pretty much the same since 2008. They have those very dialed in.
Didn't Trevor tell us that they ground the track last winter, so it is smoother and grippier this year? I think it is a bit less bumpy, but T4 from the middle of the track to the right side of the track is still pretty bumpy.
I hear a rumor about being on a BMW - let's hope he has better luck on it than Pegram did for the last few years or Rossi on the Ducati. I wonder how Hayes feels about him coming back? (like legit feeling, not magazine 'oh, it will be nice to have his expertise back on the track' blah blah)
I don't disagree at all - but watching the race, he looked completely solid on it but when you'd get into a drag race coming out of a turn they would just pull 3 or 4 bikes on him in a hurry.
I would say the spec of the bikes makes a bit a difference. And when did Mladdin set the record? Maybe Spies was breathing down his neck.
i didnt watch the race and i know disalvo can ride but as another user said being a new bike for 13' and the r6 having stayed virtually the same since 2008 theres that much more productivity and tweaking having gone into the r6 where they are still, im sure, figuring things out as they go with the 675 ... trial and error and i guess that day was error .. coulda been gearing or fueling or total weight of bike/rider or anything that meant the diff .. idk but im sure he and the bike will progress as the season does .. i feel more comfy every time i ride my bike and faster too as do most people .. and little tweaks in suspension and gearing etc. have helped
DiSalvo said before the race that he knew he could keep up in the beginning, but would be problematic as the race went on. I'd say he did exactly what he went out there to do.
it could simply be the tech just ISNT there ... yamaha has alot of bikes in ama .. thats alot of work going into them, alot of tweaking, alot of diff advances to achieve the desired effect .. ive done 3 td's and have seen maybe 4-5 triumphs total and 60-70 yamaha r6's 06-13 models ... they obviously know what they are doin .. triumph is a great bike but it just may not have been a good decision for those 2 to choose to ride them .. granted idk how the sponsoring and rides and all that go but realisticly i dont think taking a new bike to the track and expecting it to beat a proven machine like the r6 would happen but im hopin they figure it out so they get a few wins theres a reason the r6 has stayed the same and the triumph and kawasakis and hondas keep changin .. dont fix what aint broken, fix what is
When Mladin set the record it was on a TRUE Superbike back then, with the rules change in 2010 (or 09 maybe... I forget) the bikes now are more closely SuperStock than Superbike (i.e. engine, chassis, electronics packages etc.). So those records should stand for quite some time. I am not sure that MM would be able to beat Hayes on equal equipment though (at least right away), he has been out of the game for some time but like a true champ he is; he will catch on quick.
agreed !! but the r6 is superior .. thats proven its not comparing apples and oranges .. theyre both apples just diff flavors .. and the r6 just tastes a little better i guess
**Spoiler alert for anybody who didn't watch the races this weekend** Looking at the numbers for best lap, I'd say that the 1.28.4 was the best that the Triumph had in it. Race 1: 1 Cameron Beaubier Yamaha YZF-R6 01:27.7 2 Jake Gagne Yamaha YZF-R6 01:28.0 3 Jason DiSalvo Triumph Daytona 675 01:28.4 4 Dane Westby Honda CBR600RR 01:28.4 5 JD Beach Yamaha YZF-R6 01:28.5 6 Garrett Gerloff Yamaha YZF-R6 01:28.5 7 James Rispoli Suzuki GSX-R600 01:28.7 8 Bobby Fong Triumph Daytona 675 01:28.8 9 Joey Pascarella Triumph Daytona 675 01:28.9 10 Benny Solis Honda CBR600RR 01:29.5 Race 2 1 Cameron Beaubier Yamaha YZF-R6 21 Laps 01:27.4 2 Jake Gagne Yamaha YZF-R6 6.326 01:27.8 3 JD Beach Yamaha YZF-R6 12.674 01:28.4 4 Garrett Gerloff Yamaha YZF-R6 12.904 01:28.5 5 Dane Westby Honda CBR600RR 14.479 01:28.5 6 James Rispoli Suzuki GSX-R600 18.902 01:28.5 7 Jake Lewis Yamaha YZF-R6 24.719 01:28.8 8 Jason DiSalvo Triumph Daytona 675 34.326 01:28.4 9 Benny Solis Honda CBR600RR 42.306 01:29.5 10 Joey Pascarella Triumph Daytona 675 42.97 01:29.2 Looking deeper into the numbers a bit (I enjoy it, sue me), on day 1 Beaubier's average lap was a 1.28.2 and fell to a 1.28.5 average on the second race. Jason's average was a 1.29.6 on the first day (where he was only 4.4 seconds behind the leader at the end) and a 1.28.9 on the second, so they found some speed in the bike for the second day but were 9.6 seconds behind the leader at the finish. (and for entertainment value, Hayes averaged 1.25.9 in race 2)