Welcome to Road Track Dirt (RTD). RTD was created by a group of guys from Melbourne and Sydney who all love bikes, but different parts of motocycle culture. Contributors: Steve W, Joe Z, Shavarsh B, Matt P. Twitter: @roadtrackdirt Email: roadtrackdirt@gmail.com
It's always a trap to read too much into test times. Set up changes, race simulations, tyre testing and weather conditions play a huge part in determining the final order. The second MotoGP Sepang test was subject to all of these, but we can see a few trends emerging:
-The fight at the front will be once again Repsol Honda vs. Factory Yamaha
-Marquez is a freak and has gotten to grips with the machine very quickly, his comments that the other big three are in a different race are just for expectation management
-Pedrosa is not going to have it all his way, he could be easily upstaged as Marquez rapidly goes up the learning curve
-Rossi will fight for podiums and occasionally wins, but Lorenzo clearly has his measure at this stage as shown by his race simulation
-Cal Crutchlow is a podium contender, however the amount of support he gets from the factory could impede his raw speed
-Ducati are still in the doldrums
-The gaps between prototypes and CRTs remain staggering if you remove the Ducati's who are battling with the fastest of the CRTs
Pedrosa looks to be very comfortable without Stoner to chase
Marquez is up to speed with the machine already, imagine what it'll look like after another 2 tests!
Lorenzo's race pace puts him squarely in the mix
Crutchlow will be glad he missed out on the Ducati ride
Rossi shows decent pace, but not enough to reel in Lorenzo
Overall Results from all Three Days of MotoGP’s Second Test at Sepang, Malaysia:
Casey Stoner has taken the first step in his new career by unveiling his Red Bull Racing Australia Commodore V8 Supercar in Adelaide before the Clipsal 500. He will compete in the second tier Dunlop Development series.
This weekend will mark a number of firsts for Stoner. First race on a street circuit, first race in a V8 supercar, first time under scrutiny since he left the MotoGP paddock.
We at RTD see no reason why Stoner can't apply his sublime bike skills to hauling 1.3t of Holden around a track. Early practice had him consistently running in the top ten so things look good.
The start of any new motorsport season is exciting, but we at RTD are lucky to be based in Australia where we have the first round of the WSBK each year at Phillip Island. Now an annual pilgramage for the three of us, we had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere, amazing weather, the Pirelli sponsored wildlife and of course the close racing.
Bikes on the grid for Race 1
Ready to go
Pirelli's R&D department
Race 1
Sylvain Guintoli leads the field through turn 1
Sylvain Guintoli made the perfect start to his Aprilia
career by edging out his team mate Eugene Laverty to win Race 1.Starting from sixth on the grid, he carved up
the field and moved into the lead on lap 15 to take his fourth victory.
The early running had Sykes, Checa, Laverty and Melandri
vying for the lead, but each had their specific issues that gave Guinters the
opportunity to pick his way through.Sykes, in typical Kawasaki fashion, was fast straight away, leading the
field into turn 1 but faded as the race went on.Laverty seemed to be the man to beat,
building up a sizable gap to Checa/Melandri behind by a third race
distance.Soon Guintoli passed the
Ducati/BMW battle and set off after his team mate.
Melandri, looking strong, was ploughed into by Checa in turn
4, with both riders out of the race.Checa’s landing looked particularly nasty, and he was concussed for the
second time this weekend.Special
mention to Melandri, who win’s the RTD ‘good guy of the weekend award’ for
running straight to Checa’s aid when he realised his rival was hurt.
On lap 15, Guintoli made the definitive pass on his team
mate, and never looked back.It’s been
an amazing turnaround for the will liked Frenchman, who has gone from not
having a ride after splitting with Effenbert Ducati mid last season, to being a
race winner on a world champion bike.
Also worth mentioning the performance of Michel Fabrizio, who was the fastest man on Friday and much of Saturday. The satellite Aprilia rider was right there at the end, taking the final podium position just .07s behind Laverty in a tight drag to the line.
Race 1 Results
1. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 47.109s 2. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 +1.352s 3. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +1.359s 4. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +5.702s 5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +5.753s 6. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +6.769s 7. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +6.830s 8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.944s 9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.152s 10. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +26.557s 11. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +30.305s 12. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR +30.411s 13. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +45.185s 14. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +48.632s 15. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +53.453s 16. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 22.730s 17. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +4 laps
Not Classified 18. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R 12 laps completed 19. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 12 laps completed 20. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 2 laps completed
Did Not Start Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R
Race 2
Laverty denies his team mate the double
In Race 2, Aprilia again too maximum points with a 1-2
finish, but this time Eugene Laverty got the best of his team mate in a
reversal of Race 1 fortunes.
With pole sitter Carlos Checa air lifted to hospital after
his race 1 crash, the entire grid was elevated a spot, giving Laverty pole in
race 2.Again, Tom Sykes lead the field
into turn 1 but this time faded even faster, with both Laverty and Guintoli
past by lap 2.
As a classic block passing spot, MG corner usually sees some
hairy moments in the opening laps and Race 2 was no exception.Chaz Davies, having a miserable weekend with
his new BMW, punted Loris Baz off which earned him a punctured rear tyre and a
penalty from the stewards.
With Guintoli leading the way from Laverty, the
two enjoyed a decent margin over Melandri, Fabrizio, Giugliano and Cluzel.Melandri managed to chip away at the Aprilias
but could not manage to overcome the hp deficit on the long Gardner straight to
pass either of them.
This status quo was broken on lap 16 when Melandri pulled off a spectacular
pass on Laverty at MG, which gave Guintoli some breathing space over them.A patient Laverty stalked Melandri up to lap
20 and then pulled off a classic overtake at Honda Corner.He then set the new lap record to claw the
gap back to his team mate and passed him into turn one on the penultimate
lap.
Laverty maintained the rage, and completed the perfect weekend for Aprilia by
taking his fourth victory.Melandri was
third. Race 2 Results 1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 33m 45.938s 2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.418s 3. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +1.382s 4. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +2.282s 5. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +11.545s 6. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +12.508s 7. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +17.330s 8. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +17.339s 9. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +19.886s 10. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +19.996s 11. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +27.629s 12. Glenn Allerton AUS Next Gen BMW S1000RR +42.809s 13. Jamie Stauffer AUS Honda Racing CBR1000RR +42.893s 14. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +44.899s 15. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +57.824
16. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 22.574s 17. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +2 laps
Not Classified 18. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM Racing BMW S1000RR 11 laps completed 19. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 0 laps completed
Did Not Start Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R
For as long as I can remember, every time I would pass a motorbike that
had obviously been modified, I would find the time to steal a moment to check
it out. Even if I was in a rush to get
somewhere. I wouldn't always love what I
saw, but I loved to see what form someone else's brainchild took, appreciating
the fact that someone managed to translate a bunch of crazy ideas from their
head into a living, breathing machine.
Just like the next guy, I have crazy ideas too, but not having the
skills or experience to bring them out on a bike always held me back. As background, I’ve spend my life working a
desk job, so I have soft hands and pale skin…ha ha
Old Bike
It didn't help that the bike I owned was a Ducati
848 evo in white with red rims. Maybe
not everyone's taste, but it was too new and too pretty to start the sort of
project I had in mind. I'm not entirely sure
what the exact trigger was, but I reached the point where I wanted to give my
project bike a crack. Going into this I
figured that I would start with modest plans and build up from there. At this point in time, I don’t know exactly
what the project bike will end up looking like, but I know I want to start
it. Time will tell how much I end up
doing. The point of this blog on this
project bike is to demonstrate what someone with very limited skill can achieve
(or how quickly he can completely ruin a perfectly good motorbike).
Step one was to sell the Ducati. There definitely wasn't room in
the garage to keep it, the new bike and my trusty ktm dirt bike. So with the Ducati gone, I needed my project bike. I wanted my first project bike to
be newish because I'm not mechanically minded enough to deal with an aging bike. I wanted a good bike as a base with which to start and eventually settled on a 2009
triumph street triple r (yes, the last of the round headlights). After much searching, I eventually found the
right bike for the job. So after flying
down to Melbourne and riding it back to Sydney, I was good to go. Here she is…
Project Bike
Over the coming weeks and months (possibly years if things go really badly), I'll update the blog with what's new on the bike. Stay tuned....
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