|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 6:20:15 GMT -8
Built in 1965 around the existing 24-Hour track, the Le Mans Bugatti Grand Prix race circuit lies 5km south of the city of Le Mans and 200km south-west of Paris. The venue has hosted Grand Prix since the late sixties but a serious accident to Spanish rider Alberto Puig in 1995 saw it struck off the calendar until 2000 whilst stringent safety improvements were carried out. Le Mans is a tight track dominated by first gear corners that place the emphasis on late braking and hard acceleration, whilst rear end traction is also a key area. With the capacity to comfortably accommodate up to 100,000 spectators, the Bugatti circuit also plays host to the 24 hour truck race, the FIA GP2 Championship, French Touring Car and GT races.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 6:26:25 GMT -8
"We're facing some issues" - Puig opens up on HRC drama For the first time, the Repsol Honda Team Manager has openly admitted that the Japanese factory are up against it in 2021 Repsol Honda Team's Alberto Puig, usually unyielding in his views, has admitted for the first time that HRC are "facing some issues". His comments come after Pol Espargaro branded the weekend "a mess", believing the three different packages running in Jerez were doing more harm than good, and Marc Marquez likewise admitting they were "struggling a lot". Puig says "new parts" are coming and that was certainly the case at the Official Test with the Japanese factory unveiling five different aerodynamic packages, three different chassis and a whole host of other new items as they look to overcome their current predicament. "The negative point is that we, as Honda HRC, understand that we are facing some issues with the bike" began the Repsol Honda boss. "But we have been able to already recognize them. We are trying our best, we are bringing new parts soon and we are willing, and already working very hard, to give our best to the riders for the next races." Puig, who was absent from Jerez with health issues, did, however, praise Honda's leading light in Jerez: Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu). The Japanese rider matched his career-best MotoGP™ result of fourth, making the absolute most of the 2020 chassis at his disposal. "Certainly, the race from Nakagami was one of the very positive points of Sunday in Jerez," admitted Puig. "He overcame his physical issues that he sustained in his fall in Portimao, and he showed that he is mentally very strong. Taka was not in a perfect condition, but he did a good race and was only 0.7s away from his first podium in the premier class. "Another positive was that Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro were alright after they both had very big crashes. Marc, despite two very fast falls, was able to finish the race ten seconds behind the leader which, importantly, was three seconds closer to the winner than in Portugal."
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 6:30:06 GMT -8
New Honda aero. More like Yam, Suzi, than before. Massive heat ducts in fairing.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 6:33:29 GMT -8
Quartararo undergoes successful arm pump surgery The Frenchman has gone under the knife to rectify the problem that cost him victory in Jerez Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP's Fabio Quartararo has undergone successful arm pump surgery to rectify the problem that cost him victory in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix. With 13 laps completed in Jerez, the Frenchman hit issues with his right arm and he proceeded to fall through the field from first to thirteenth, relinquishing his lead of the MotoGP™ World Championship in the process. Fabio Quartararo Opération ✔️. Tout c'est bien passé, une chose en tête la prochaine course à domicile 💪🏼 🇫🇷 / Surgery ✔️. Everything fine, only one goal is next race at home 💪🏼🇫🇷 Ps : I just wake up.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 6:38:02 GMT -8
Quartararo misses Jerez Test, Marc Marquez completes 7 laps The two-time 2021 winner and eight-time World Champion had fitness issues on Monday after the Spanish Grand Prix After a busy weekend of Red Bull Spanish Grand Prix action at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, the MotoGP™ teams and riders stayed for a day of crucial testing on Monday in Andalucia. It was a test that was topped by Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) as the Spaniard completed a whopping 101 laps, but there were two noticeable absentees for either all, or most, of the day. The doctor says, See you in Lemans stronger than ever . Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) Sunday afternoon didn’t go to plan in Andalucia. Arm pump caused the former World Championship leader to suddenly decline from P1 to P13 in the latter half of the race, and the Frenchman headed off to France on Monday to have further checks on the issue. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was out on track for the Jerez Test, but the eight-time World Champion was only able to accomplish seven laps before taking the decision to stop. After a hard-fought weekend that included two crashes and a second top 10 on the bounce, Marquez woke up with a stiff right arm and shoulder. The Spaniard will now rest up ahead of the French GP. Marc Márquez Due to all the effort I did yesterday in the race, today I woke up very contractured at the shoulder/right arm. We tried to start the Jerez Test but I immediately saw that I was very limited to continue training. Time to recover to arrive at Le Mans as best conditions as possible! Thankfully, we should definitely have both Quartararo and Marc Marquez on track at the famous Le Mans circuit, as the former sets out to make amends for his Jerez misfortunes on his home layout.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 7:01:02 GMT -8
Honda opens its mouth to fire: in Jerez a new fairing on the Rc213V: PHOTO - Pol Espargarò tried a brand new fairing in today's tests with an air intake that develops vertically
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 7:20:46 GMT -8
Dirty money in MotoGP? It’s nothing new MAY 4TH 2021 For many decades the wheels of motorcycle racing have been oiled by money emanating from unsavoury sources. Aramco will sponsor the VR46 MotoGP team next season, but it's far from the only time controversial funding has helped racing Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images AUTHOR Mat Oxley Now that the initial hoo-ha over VR46’s alleged multi-million pound sponsorship deal with Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Aramco oil company has calmed down, perhaps this is a good time to take a long look at motorcycle racing’s historic relationship with dirty money. The fact is that most motorcycle racers will do just about anything to go motorcycle racing. It’s a tired analogy but it bears repeating – bike racers are junkies and like any junkie they’ll do anything to get their next fix. For example, during Britain’s 1980s proddie racing boom the paddocks at Brands Hatch, Snetterton, Cadwell and elsewhere were full of stolen motorcycles, with racing numbers in place and engine and chassis numbers mysteriously missing. So this was motorcycle racers robbing their brother and sister motorcyclists to score their weekend fix, just like a heroin addict stealing his mum’s purse. When the media asked Valentino Rossi about the Aramco deal during last weekend’s Spanish GP the nine-times world champion artfully dodged every question, then offered these words, perhaps by way of explanation. “We are motor sport addicted.” Like the addict apologising to his mum for nicking her purse. So what kind of dirty money has helped turn the wheels of racing motorcycles over the decades? Perhaps we should start at the top, or rather at the bottom, in the absolute pits. During the 1930s Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party were enthusiastic supports of all kinds of motor sport – especially record-breaking – from Mercedes and Auto Union in cars to BMW and DKW in bikes. This was pure propaganda – the political arm of advertising and marketing – to show the world that Aryan engineers were the cleverest and Aryan racers the bravest. BMW rider Georg Meier and Korpsführer Adolf Hühnlein, leader of the Nazi motor corps, celebrate another race win in the 1930s “Absolute records on land and water, that fits our propaganda,” Hitler told the German manufacturers. “You will have every support.” Hitler knew the coming war would be a mechanised war, so he established the NSKK (the National Socialist Motor Corps) which trained young men to ride and fix motorcycles and other vehicles. You weren’t even allowed to race unless you were in the NSKK. The Nazis were so keen on motorcycle racing they had Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels attend the 1935 FIM annual convention in Berlin, accompanied by Korpsführer Adolf Hühnlein, leader of the Nazi motor corps. Nowadays Hühnlein would be called a sponsorship liaison officer. BMW and DKW both won Isle of Man TT races and European championships (the forerunner of today’s world championships) with Hitler’s support. In June 1939 Georg Meier stunned Norton by winning the Senior TT aboard a supercharged BMW twin, but he lost that year’s 1939 500cc European championship to Italian Doriano Serafini riding Gilera’s supercharged four, blessed by Italy’s fascist leader Benito Mussolini. The Gilera four was christened the Rondine – Italian for swallow – after the CNA plane that had escorted Mussolini’s Brownshirts when they marched on Rome to take power in 1922. (Incidentally the plane was powered by a British ABC 350cc flat-twin, not dissimilar to the Douglas flat-twin that inspired BMW’s flat-twin.) “We christened the bike Rondine for good luck,” said the bike’s creator Count Giovani Bonmartini, a friend and keen supporter of Mussolini. “CNA was the only aeronautical company that dared fly its airplanes with the fascists on the march on Rome. This airplane took off in the presence of Il Duce and was named Rondine; a fast and strong bird that’s capable of escaping birds of prey because of its flying ability. Don’t you think that this is quite a suitable name for a motorbike?” Meier (note sponsor’s logo on his leathers) prepares for his winning 1939 Senior TT ride aboard his supercharged BMW On a much lesser and occasionally more amusing scale are the nefarious dealings of some grand prix racers during the decades following the establishment of the world championship in 1949. Most racers never have enough cash and some are prepared to go great lengths to raise finance. “We had no money, so you had to be a bit of a rat, otherwise you wouldn’t survive,” said Aussie Jack Ahearn, winner of the 1965 Finnish 500 GP. “We had to get a pound or starve.” Most famously colourful Italian Walter Migliorati financed his 1980s GP campaign through his, erm, import/export business, because Suzuki’s finicky RG500s didn’t look after themselves. In 1984 Migliorati was on the road between GPs when he was stopped at a European border crossing. Customs officials found half a kilo of cocaine and two kilos of hashish in his camper. He did a long stretch for that crime and never raced again. That kind of import/export business was nothing new. In the 1960s most GP privateers knew there was a dodgy garage in London where they could take their race vans to get ‘fixed’ to raise some extra cash. “I was told that if I went to this garage before I went to Europe they’d change the driveshaft on my Ford Thames van,” recalls New Zealander Ginger Molloy who finished second to Giacomo Agostini in the 1970 500cc world championship. “Obviously they were welding drugs in there, but I hadn’t travelled halfway around the world to do that.” However, Molloy and many others did keep themselves going with much less naughty import/export work, just a little low-key smuggling, like buying 50 bottles of Bacardi and a few thousand cigarettes in Spain and selling them for a handsome profit in the UK, so long as the customs didn’t find the contraband buried under the bikes in the back of the van. Molloy remembers one Channel crossing returning from racing on the Continent during which one of his helpers was very sick, so they laid him atop the contraband, which discouraged the customs officers from taking a closer look. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Hühnlein attend the 1935 FIM annual convention in Berlin And then of course there’s the tobacco money that fuelled the GP racing boom from the 1970s until the industry was banned from advertising through sport at the end of 2006. During the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s much of the MotoGP grid was financed by the profits of the tobacco industry: Marlboro, Rothmans, Lucky Strike, Camel, Fortuna, Cabin, Parisienne and the rest. Riders, team bosses and many others grew fat on this money, which was far from clean. During the 20th century tobacco killed around one hundred million people, more than the total casualties of the First and Second World Wars. Rossi’s alleged Aramco deal has raised a stink because of Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record and its currently involvement in the Yemeni Civil War, which has so far claimed the lives of 230,000 people, many of them women and children. It should be noted that the Saudi military has bought weaponry from many countries, including the UK and USA and Canada. Aramco had many other sports sponsorship projects underway, from Formula 1 to Saudi’s first-ever women’s golf tournament. The company has a market capitalisation of around $1.88 trillion, slightly more than the GDP of Russia.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 4, 2021 8:48:00 GMT -8
Agostini on Rossi: "It is said that while there is life there is hope, but reality is what it is".
Agostini: "I'm sorry to see Rossi like this but I can't tell him to stop": "I'm not his father and I have respect for him. Valentino has given joy for so many years, it's hard for everyone to say enough: I cried for three days".
Aprilia confirms Aleix Espargaro is set to undergo arm pump surgery after next weekend's French MotoGP at Le Mans.
No worries for Rins: only a slight inflammation in the shoulder: The Suzuki rider has undergone a medical check-up in Barcelona and will be back in full shape in a few days’ time.
Morbidelli says you have to be careful not to go the wrong way during testing the day after a GP pq,> With so much rubber on the track, the feel of the asphalt can deceive you.<
Scribano: “Compartment syndrome? No surgery as prevention.”: Jorge Lorenzo’s physiotherapist: “We need to change the system. There are techniques to prevent surgery. The MotoGP must be modernized.”
Honda hard at work for 2022: the new RC213V at the Jerez tests: HRC technicians not only tested a new fairing, but also a brand-new chassis that envisages a different engine position inside
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 7, 2021 7:58:37 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 7, 2021 8:33:13 GMT -8
Moto3 Team Tech 3
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 8, 2021 7:16:00 GMT -8
Pol is clear: “We don't have traction, we can't maintain a trajectory and our speed is not good. I can't ride smoothly, I'm tight. I'm trying to gain more and more time braking, until the brakes give up. Because in these areas we are a disaster.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 9, 2021 6:15:54 GMT -8
Sunday May 9 2021
Márquez on Acosta: "He can win the World Cup this year, but you have to leave him alone to enjoy it".
Valentino Rossi, the Long Goodbye: when racing is more important than winning: Lauda, Schumacher, Hailwood all stopped racing and then started again. Quitting is a trauma, Agostini and Cadalora confessed, so why do it?
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 10, 2021 5:48:17 GMT -8
Le Mans weather Rain and cold: Michelin preparing for the Le Mans challenge: Weather conditions will be unpredictable for the French GP
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 10, 2021 5:54:52 GMT -8
Lorenzo: "Alex Márquez has not been able to go fast on any circuit".
Dovizioso: "It is useless to think about a Grand Prix, we will see if there is a possibility of doing another test"
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 12, 2021 7:41:30 GMT -8
Mat Oxley Bridgestone intro'd asymmetric fronts at PI in 2014. They were bad & Crutchlow crashed out of 2nd on the penultimate lap. Bridgestone improved them for 2015 but Crutchlow wasn't interested. "No way am I using the asymmetric. I lost a £280,000 bonus on that tyre at Phillip Island". Just in case you want to get a rough idea of bonus payments for a second place in a MotoGP race.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 13, 2021 6:58:13 GMT -8
13/05/21
Mir: "I'm in the position I wanted: fighting for the title": The world champion: "I made a smart start, now I want to increase the intensity".
Alex Rins: "crashes are difficult to prevent, I should qualify better and stay calmer".
Dovizioso and the future: "Wild-cards are not in my plans for the moment": "We were unlucky, but we used the time available to sort out the position on the seat. Another test would be needed, but for the moment it makes no sense to talk about races."
A.Espargarò: "If Aprilia is at this level, a lot depends on my commitment": "I don't want to sound arrogant, but I've had many teammates and I'm the only one who has always grown, who believed in the project.
Pol Espargaró: "The turning point on the Honda? It's not a result that changes things": "In MotoGP everything has to be structured. I wouldn't want it to rain, I could go fast but then I would suffer again in Barcelona. Maybe Puig will be back in the garage this weekend".
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 13, 2021 7:15:36 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 13, 2021 7:21:39 GMT -8
Mat Oxley Le Mans MotoGP this weekend, so here's Les 24 Heures du Mans 1989, Harris FZR. Le Mans was a great 24 hour track until they replaced the (nearly) flat-out Turn 1 & (nearly) flat-out back-straight kink with chicanes, following deaths of Iwao Ishikawa & Michel Frutschi in 1983.
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 13, 2021 7:47:33 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by truenorth on May 14, 2021 3:00:19 GMT -8
SHARK GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE Moto3 Free Practice Nr. 1 Classification 2021
1 17 John MCPHEE GBR Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda 218.6 1'53.294 2 37 Pedro ACOSTA SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 215.8 1'53.857 0.563 / 0.563 3 11 Sergio GARCIA SPA Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team GASGAS 218.6 1'53.890 0.596 / 0.033 4 2 Gabriel RODRIGO ARG Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3 Honda 216.3 1'53.933 0.639 / 0.043 5 24 Tatsuki SUZUKI JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda 216.7 1'54.119 0.825 / 0.186 6 19 Andi Farid IZDIHAR INA Honda Team Asia Honda 214.4 1'54.219 0.925 / 0.100 7 31 Adrian FERNANDEZ SPA Sterilgarda Max Racing Team Husqvarna 217.7 1'54.250 0.956 / 0.031 8 12 Filip SALAC CZE Rivacold Snipers Team Honda 216.7 1'54.252 0.958 / 0.002 9 16 Andrea MIGNO ITA Rivacold Snipers Team Honda 216.7 1'54.332 1.038 / 0.080 10 5 Jaume MASIA SPA Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 219.1 1'54.474 1.180 / 0.142 11 43 Xavier ARTIGAS SPA Leopard Racing Honda 217.2 1'54.530 1.236 / 0.056 12 23 Niccolò ANTONELLI ITA Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 KTM 217.2 1'54.621 1.327 / 0.0 13 54 Riccardo ROSSI ITA BOE Owlride KTM 199.4 1'54.737 1.443 / 0.116 14 92 Yuki KUNII JPN Honda Team Asia Honda 217.7 1'54.761 1.467 / 0.024 15 40 Darryn BINDER RSA Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda 214.4 1'54.831 1.537 / 0.070 16 55 Romano FENATI ITA Sterilgarda Max Racing Team Husqvarna 215.8 1'55.288 1.994 / 0.457 17 50 Jason DUPASQUIER SWI CarXpert PruestelGP KTM 218.2 1'55.810 2.516 / 0.522 18 28 Izan GUEVARA SPA Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team GASGAS 219.6 1'55.946 2.652 / 0.136 19 82 Stefano NEPA ITA BOE Owlride KTM 218.6 1'56.017 2.723 / 0.071 20 7 Dennis FOGGIA ITA Leopard Racing Honda 218.2 1'56.040 2.746 / 0.023 21 71 Ayumu SASAKI JPN Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM 217.2 1'56.054 2.760 / 0.014 22 73 Maximilian KOFLER AUT CIP Green Power KTM 216.3 1'56.138 2.844 / 0.084 23 99 Carlos TATAY SPA Avintia Esponsorama Moto3 KTM 213.9 1'56.256 2.962 / 0.118 24 27 Kaito TOBA JPN CIP Green Power KTM 216.3 1'56.263 2.969 / 0.007 25 20 Lorenzo FELLON FRA SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda 216.7 1'56.334 3.040 / 0.071 26 6 Ryusei YAMANAKA JPN CarXpert PruestelGP KTM 217.2 1'56.342 3.048 / 0.008 27 53 Deniz ÖNCÜ TUR Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM 220.1 1'57.086 3.792 / 0.744 28 32 Takuma MATSUYAMA JPN Honda Team Asia Honda 211.7 1'58.547 5.253 / 1.461
52 Jeremy ALCOBA SPA Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3 Honda 212.1 2'01.427 8.133 / 2.880
|
|