MotoGP | 2019 | Round 3 | USA | April 12 -14

hey, don't spill the beans

 

Vinales didn't do terrible, he was fast in all practice/warmup sessions (I believe he was 1st in one of the FP's) and 6th in qualifying.....he jumped the start and had to do a ride through (same thing happened to your boy Mir) and that ultimately ended him up finishing in 11th.

 

So who was the jerky guy in the bein studio, they could not find someone else who lives or loves the sport?

 

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/...americas-part-2?amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

Rins is a beast and is going to win a lot of races if Suzuki can keep giving him a good bike and team. The guy is incredibly mature and has giant cojones. Suzuki needs to secure a satellite team and some real money for the factory squad NOW. Yamaha is on the ropes, if Suzuki can capitalize on their current success they can probably steal Yamaha’s place in the ecosystem for many years. Suzuki made a great machine and Rins is amazing, but to keep it going race after race and year after year you need $$$ and more bikes on grid.

 

"Yamaha is on the ropes..."

 

Suzuki had a great weekend for sure. Long over due! From my seat on the couch Rins is super smooth. His bike rarely jumping around if any, he brakes late but yet the bike is straight in. Ever so often his foot will leave a peg on corner entry but not as noticeable as other riders. I think his size and the way he rides with his body upright a lot helps that plus he’s obviously setting his bike up well to suit him. The Suzuki’s top speed there was pretty good while not Ducati good they’ve come along way. It’s pretty obvious on corner entry the bike is extremely agile and can be put anywhere leading up to the apex. They still seem to struggle a bit off the turns with acceleration which in this day and age is management systems more so than the engines out right ability.

Overall I take back my rant a few weeks ago when I blamed the entire team. I truly saw the team as a whole with this win and their exuberant celebration afterwards as a job well done! Winning at this level of two wheel racing is not a walk in the park. One of if not the best in the business was not lights out all the way to the end in this one.

Anyone notice the points are pretty close at this stage in the year. Easy to fall behind though as Marquez so rightfully proved on Sunday.

 

That is the first interview that I actually understood every word he said. The one posted first, no F'n way did I catch 10% of what was said.

 

That must have been a Guy Martin look alike. The real one isn't nearly that easy to understand.

 

How many wins has Yamaha had in the last 2 years?

Hint, it's one more than Suzuki.

 

Bumps are not from use they are from foundation issues. The track was built after a long drought period. Rains over the past years have altered the foundation causing the ground heave, it is not as simple as grinding it to fix it. I hope they fix it because it is an awesome venue.

I was Lead Marshall for sector 8 which covered the inside of the track from turn 7 through an inside flag position at turn 10. I rode multiple laps throughout the 3 days on every section of the track going to and from the Marshalls area. The bumps on the exit from 9 going down the hill to 10 were scary. One of the Moto America riders went down hard there but I think it was from some water seepage after the rain Saturday AM. Riding in and out you could feel the bumps and they would not have been fun at speed.

Damn it was great to be standing at the ARMCO as they went by, about 80% of the MotoGp bikes were grabbing 2 quick upshifts as they crested 9 because the hill is so steep the bike would pull it.

This year they retired Nicky Haden’s number 69, we were all in the photo with all of the MOTOGP riders and team personnel. WE are supposed to get a link so we can download a digital version of the picture.

 

How can you not love that dude!? He's awesome.. I love his show. One episode they built wooden wheels the old fashioned way, it was insane how much work it took. And then he's got an episode where he starts up the fighter jet engine on a rig he built, OMG lol...

 

You can disagree with the assessment, but their performance is probably the worst it’s been in the MotoGP era. I feel Rossi is making the difference on his native talent and ridiculous level of experience and doing well in spite of the bike. Maverick has the talent but not the experience nor the emotional maturity of Rossi, I think that explains his performance on a less than ideal bike.

Suzuki has an opportunity to take the spot Yamaha once occupied as a regular contender for wins and championships. Suzuki made a great bike, but consistent performance year after year takes investment in infrastructure that I haven’t seen them make yet. Ducati made the commitment from the beginning and it finally paid off for them. There won’t ever be a better opportunity for Suzuki to solidify their place in MotoGP.

 

Elroy road worked great for those staying at Lot N or even if you did private parking... which seemed to be a cottage industry there. Added bonus because the road allowed both my scooters to get air ~75mph...lol.
Also it was very casual at the Lot check point as I had a bunch of bike riding friends that wanted a secure spot to leave their gear/bikes. Also there was an track entry gate not 50 yds from our coach. Best part was folks that came Saturday could ride the perimeter road to the ticket booth with no hassle or going back out onto 812. The track offered "clean & secure" showers & restrooms for ~$25 for the weekend if you didnt want to pay $50 to dump your tanks...hehe.
And for adventures downtown... it was maybe 20 mins. Mostly because the idiot we put in charge of "navigating" couldnt do the job...lol.
There were a couple of pretty good little taco stands/restaurants within a 1/2 mile of the track too.

So for next year... backpackers or minimalists can do the GP pretty inexpensive. 3 day GA was $90 in advance. Then places off Elroy were charging like $10/day for tent campers. $40 with hookups for RVs. Car parking was $15 from what I could see.

 

Nothing is written in stone and things do change. The reality is that in post WWII Grand Prix racing, Yamaha is only second to Honda. They have been a constant over the long run. I don't see Suzuki changing this pecking order anytime soon. Yamaha isn't going anywhere soon.

 

RE: earlier post about nearby population numbers … note that actual motorcyclists within the Laguna figures is probably 35-50% higher than the other two locales on a per capita basis.

Within a 100 mile radius:
Austin: 3,974,063
SLC: 1,984,760
Laguna Seca: 7,386,195

Within a 250 mile radius:​

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Austin: 3,974,063​

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SLC: 2,966,751​

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Laguna Seca: 16,189,017​

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Within a 400 mile radius:​

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Austin: 24,507,559​

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SLC: 7,840,313​

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Laguna Seca: 35,787,832​

 

Toe is slippin. I threw up a beachball.

 

Nice job. You should do a population research on Indy also. I've always felt the crowds were low there with the amount of people within driving distance.

Did you use metropolitan or city population numbers in your findings?

 

Used a website that can give figures based upon location by zip and radius of circle around that point in miles.