EBR in World Superbike

[Scott]

I had been hoping for a 15th place finish. That might be tough based on the current numbers (I was a little disappointed that, while they made good progress from Monday to Tuesday, they didn't seem to gain any speed from Tuesday Morning to Tuesday Afternoon (cue Moody Blues).

I expect they'll gain some more ground before race-time, but I still think it will be a struggle for them.

[DrogeN_Omen]

"The EBR bikes of Erik Buell Racing made some progress, Aaron Yates not improving his time by much, but Geoff May taking big strides forward since Monday. May remains over 4.5 seconds behind Sykes, though, signalling that there is still much work to do on the EBR 1190RX."

http://www.motomatters.com/results/2...sland_tes.html

Day 2 times:

Pos	No	Rider	Bike	Time	Diff	Prev
1	1	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:30.239
2	22	Alex Lowes	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:30.528	0.289	0.289
3	33	Marco Melandri	Aprilia RSV4	1:30.579	0.340	0.051
4	34	Davide Giugliano	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:30.644	0.405	0.065
5	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Aprilia RSV4	1:30.766	0.527	0.122
6	58	Eugene Laverty	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:30.767	0.528	0.001
7	91	Leon Haslam	Honda CBR1000RR	1:30.798	0.559	0.031
8	65	Jonathan Rea	Honda CBR1000RR	1:30.813	0.574	0.015
9	76	Loris Baz	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:30.900	0.661	0.087
10	7	Chaz Davies	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:31.087	0.848	0.187
11	59	Niccolò Canepa	Ducati Panigale 1199R EVO	1:31.373	1.134	0.286
12	24	Toni Elias	Aprilia RSV4	1:31.441	1.202	0.068
13	44	David Salom	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.008	1.769	0.567
14	9	Fabien Foret	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.780	2.541	0.772
15	32	Sheridan Morais	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.895	2.656	0.115
16	11	Jeremy Guarnoni	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.897	2.658	0.002
17	21	Alessandro Andreozzi	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:33.205	2.966	0.308
18	71	Claudio Corti	MV Agusta F4 RR	1:33.547	3.308	0.342
19	10	Imre Toth	BMW S1000 RR	1:34.750	4.511	1.203
20	99	Geoff May	EBR 1190 RX	1:34.807	4.568	0.057
21	23	Luca Scassa	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:35.657	5.418	0.850
22	20	Aaron Yates	EBR 1190 RX	1:36.662	6.423	1.005
23	52	Sylvain Barrier	BMW S1000 RR EVO	No time set
24	56	Peter Sebestyen	BMW S1000 RR EVO	No time set
25	84	Michel Fabrizio	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	No time set

[DrogeN_Omen]

Combined times from both days of testing:

Pos	No	Rider	Bike	Combined	Diff	Prev
1	1	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:30.239
2	58	Eugene Laverty	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:30.513	0.274	0.274
3	22	Alex Lowes	Suzuki GSX-R1000	1:30.528	0.289	0.015
4	33	Marco Melandri	Aprilia RSV4	1:30.579	0.340	0.051
5	34	Davide Giugliano	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:30.644	0.405	0.065
6	76	Loris Baz	Kawasaki ZX-10R	1:30.757	0.518	0.113
7	50	Sylvain Guintoli	Aprilia RSV4	1:30.766	0.527	0.009
8	91	Leon Haslam	Honda CBR1000RR	1:30.798	0.559	0.032
9	65	Jonathan Rea	Honda CBR1000RR	1:30.813	0.574	0.015
10	7	Chaz Davies	Ducati Panigale 1199R	1:31.087	0.848	0.274
11	59	Niccolò Canepa	Ducati Panigale 1199R EVO	1:31.373	1.134	0.286
12	24	Toni Elias	Aprilia RSV4	1:31.441	1.202	0.068
13	44	David Salom	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.008	1.769	0.567
14	9	Fabien Foret	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.780	2.541	0.772
15	71	Claudio Corti	MV Agusta F4 RR	1:32.858	2.619	0.078
16	32	Sheridan Morais	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.895	2.656	0.037
17	11	Jeremy Guarnoni	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:32.897	2.658	0.002
18	52	Sylvain Barrier	BMW S1000 RR EVO	1:32.997	2.758	0.100
19	21	Alessandro Andreozzi	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:33.205	2.966	0.208
20	23	Luca Scassa	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:33.960	3.721	0.755
21	84	Michel Fabrizio	Kawasaki ZX-10R EVO	1:34.314	4.075	0.354
22	10	Imre Toth	BMW S1000 RR	1:34.750	4.511	0.436
23	99	Geoff May	EBR 1190 RX	1:34.807	4.568	0.057
24	20	Aaron Yates	EBR 1190 RX	1:36.662	6.423	1.855
25	56	Peter Sebestyen	BMW S1000 RR EVO	1:42.242	12.003	5.580

[Ed / AF1 Racing]

here are some pics I got sent...

[Hughlysses]

Good article on their efforts at Phillip Island:

http://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/20038...ng-debuts.html

[Doosh]

An unflattering reality check: http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2014/Feb/140218pws.htm

[Classax]

I think we/ everyone is making too much of them being off the pace. The riders are new to the track, the bikes are capable of speeds in excess of what they have run as we have seen this in AMA guise. New bikes, new fuel, new tires, up against guys who all with exception of two, have already had 2 or 3 shake down sessions prior to this. Not to mention the fact that they are pushing the lap record pace at the front. I will be disappointed with a dead last by nearly 2 minutes finish but for having only run the bikes in current form for what would be the 4th time, It will be better than a DNF and even more so than a DNS. The problem with the media is they tend to be hard of hearing and yet manage to sensationalize everything. No one in the EBR HERO camp is expecting to run in the front. They have stated that repeatedly. Mid pack puts them in the low 1:32's which I think is doable with more practice time on the track and feeling out the bikes. The one thing we can't have is for them to crash or blow up the bikes and throw oil and smoke all over the track midrace, otherwise collect your data, go home and get better.

I notice no one has mentioned that the EVO 1199 is is mere 3 10ths slower than the Factory Superbike. Where are the prediction of doom for the Bologna specials?

[Hughlysses]

SBP has had an apparent grudge against Buell for years. I don't think I have ever read one positive comment about anything Erik Buell has accomplished on that site. You'll notice that the article at crash.net presented basically the same facts, yet SBP managed to put a negative spin on the whole effort while sounding as snide and condensending as humanly possible.

Eff them and the horse they rode in on.

[Doosh]

The Superbike Planet article shows obvious bias, but the facts are the same... they are way off the pace, and way down on top speed.

I never expected them to do well. And, honestly believe it's a couple of seasons before they are mid-pack. I've said that just making the show -- the first American company to ever do so -- is accomplishment in itself.

Buell/EBR fans tend to see the world with rather rose colored glasses. The reality is, Buells were never competitive until the 1125r, and the EBR needs the kind of natural race program development *any* new bike and new team to WSBK requires for it to be competitive.

[Classax]

http://cyclenews.uberflip.com/i/262687 The article on the woes of the Panigale superbike effort really illustrates what the EBR team is up against campaigning a twin. We know that Erik designed the RS/RX cooling system to support the motor putting out as much as 230bhp. Even if they were to get this out of the RX motors which I doubt, they'd still be down 10hp to the I4 who have auto blip downshifting and engine maps that let them pretend to be twins in the corners. They are also stuck with stock gearing and the point about going into tracks with set up data from the previous years being a huge advanatage, illustrates what the team is trying to overcome. I get the impression that the bikes are more RS than RX with additional RX DNA parts on the way. As for SBP... it won't be long before they are eating their words.