*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Apparently they ran 7 more laps. FINAL finishing order Pegram 14 and May 16!
*** SPOILER ALERT ***
Apparently they ran 7 more laps. FINAL finishing order Pegram 14 and May 16!
Cool and a nice performance by Larry! But I've been trying to focus less on finishing positions (which can be affected by how many riders actually finish - a rider could be 10 seconds per lap behind the leaders and have a decent-looking finish if enough riders drop out). I try to focus more on the percentage lap time compared to top riders and the gap between EBR and the riders ahead of them. EBR (or more specifically Geoff - who I think is currently their best chance at decent finishes in the coming years) made big gains on those two key points.
It's not just that EBR has been running at or near the bottom, but the fact that there has been a big gap between them and the riders ahead of them that they needed to close before they could even start to climb through the ranks. They closed that gap this weekend and were running around 103% of the leaders. If they can build on that, I believe they can really do something.
Now the big question is: "Did they only do as well as they did because it was Laguna Seca, or have they made real improvements that will carry through to future venues?" We'll find out in the coming weeks, but at least we have more hope than we have so far through the dreary series.
Eslick was notorious for this, zinging motors on downshifts as he used the clutch to get the rear to come around.
Outside of that, I would apply a pretty significant discount percentage to what you hear on BadWeb. There's excessive fanboism displayed in surprisingly generous quantities by an audience that, based on the charging system issues, basically just can't/won't ride.
I don't know if it's getting worse or I'm just getting older, but it seems like there used to be some thoughtful, reasonable conversation over there. It may still be there, but if so, it seems to get drowned out by people who feel they have something to 'prove' and/or want to draw attention to themselves.
It's been quite a while since I checked in over there and I don't feel my life's missing anything . . . as long as Hughlysses is willing to sift through all the crap and provide us the tiny nuggets of real information.
Last edited by Scott; 07-14-2014 at 09:32 AM.
I thought I'd repost this link to the interview with Erik from Laguna Seca since it's a couple of pages back now:
http://speedcitypodcast.com/speedcast-84-eirk-buell/
Lots of info on EBR's WSBK efforts.
His comments about the electronics are interesting. I've never been a fan of electronics, but it seems they're necessary these days for anyone who wants to compete at that level.
But it's not like you hook them up and, ta-da, you're 2 seconds faster. They're as likely to increase as decrease your times until you really figure them out.
When I stop and really think about all the variables they need to deal with and analyze and try to improve, it seems completely overwhelming. I'm glad they're the ones worrying about all of that so I can just ride and check in on race weekends and see how they're doing.
The electronics at that level are insane. The fuel maps change depending on what corner you are in!
Video of Erik, Geoff, and Aaron on stage at Laguna Seca. There are some more interesting comments by Erik in this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmjcldcbqAI
Short article on Larry Pegram's accomplishment here: http://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/206798/1/ebr-scores -first-points-but-with-pegram.html
Click on the link below the photo at the top; there are a lot of photos from the race, many showing the EBR's.