Charlie Kilmer

Wednesday, February 2, 2022

RT @statmuse: Nikola Jokic is leading the Nuggets in PTS, REB, AST, STL, BLK, FG%, TS% this season. He is playing without his 2...

[NDN/ccn/comedia Links]

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Misano MotoGP: Vinales to try brakes in 2020, ‘the only problem is the lever’ | MotoGP

Misano is only rated 3 out of 5 for braking performance by Brembo, but following his spectacular crash in Austria, Maverick Vinales has confirmed that he will heed Brembo’s advice and try the 2020 front brake calipers again during this weekend’s MotoGP.

The Monster Yamaha rider chose the 2019 spec in Austria as he didn’t have any overheating issues and didn’t like the feel of the 2020 parts.

Vinales explained that the inconsistent feel with the new calipers may be due to them being paired with a used brake disc, so he’ll be trying a full set of brand new 2020 parts in Italy.

“In the last race Brembo recommended us to use the new calipers. But I had a very strange feeling with those calipers,” said Vinales. “I just tried them in FP4 and the feeling was bad.

“So I went back to the standard races where my feeling was good. I did many laps in a row and never had a problem until the race. That was the main mistake… It’s true, Brembo always recommends the new ones.

“Anyway, I think it’s resolved. We have spoken to Brembo and we will try new discs, parts and calipers here to see if it works well. At Spielberg it was just new calipers and parts. The discs were old. Maybe that.” made the difference with consistency.

“But that’s it. It’s in the past. We don’t want to make the same mistake, but for us it was very strange because we never had that problem.

“Now we have to give [the 2020 brakes] a chance, do more laps and see if we can gain a lot of consistency.”

The consistency issue was how much lever action was required before the calipers started to “bite”.

“My only problem is with the lever,” confirmed Vinales. “For example, in turns 1 and 3, the bike started to brake when I touched the lever. Then at Turn 4 I started to brake when (the lever) was halfway. Not just when I touched him. Somewhat later.

“Some corners were ok, but in others it (the lever) was in a different place when I started to brake. That’s why I used the old ones because the brake lever is always in the same place.

“Anyway, maybe it’s a consequence of the used brake discs. Tomorrow we’ll try it. Finally, I think it’s mandatory for all drivers. We will work closely with Brembo to solve this problem.”

While the other Yamaha riders have all switched to 2020 brakes for the second Austrian weekend, Brembo – like Vinales – said KTM, Avintia and Aprilia stayed on the 2019 spec for both Red Bull Ring events.

After being forced to jump off his bike due to brake failure, Vinales is now fifth in the World Championship and 22 points clear of Petronas Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo before heading into the two races at Misano.

“I think the bike will work really well here,” said Vinales of the newly resurfaced Italian track. “The bike also worked fantastically in Austria on the second weekend.

“My mindset is good. I know we have a lot of potential. Now we have to put it out there and do our best.”

Having already withdrawn one engine, Vinales confirmed that despite the extensive damage to his M1 in Austria, the engine was still salvageable.

Quartararo breaks lap record in FP3

The cooler track conditions relative to FP2 meant several riders improved on combined times almost immediately, with Suzuki’s Alex Rins taking over top spot in FP3 with a 1m38.309s putting him fifth overall.

Around 10 minutes after Rins set his lap, Pramac Ducati’s Jack Miller took over top spot on the individual FP3 timesheet with a 1m37.375s, which moved him into third on the combined times.

The first major improvement came from Joan Mir on the sister Suzuki, who fired in a 1m37.333s to better Marc Marquez’s best time from Friday’s running.

Mir’s run at the top of the standings was short-lived, however, as Quartararo took over with a 1m37.182s with just over 20 minutes to go.

The Petronas Yamaha rider – who said on Friday that the 2020 Yamaha is not as easy to ride as its predecessor – proceeded to dip underneath his outright lap record set last year in qualifying with a 1m36.806s.

Quartararo’s laptime came under threat in the closing stages, with Mir getting to within 0.102s on his final effort.

Miller posed the biggest threat to Quartararo’s time, but would miss out by just 0.052s with his 1m36.858s in second spot.

Reigning world champion Marquez was fourth on the Honda, though may find himself under investigation by race direction after appearing to impede Rins late in the session.

Maverick Vinales rounded out the top five on his works team Yamaha, with Crutchlow heading Franco Morbidelli on the second Petronas M1 and a late-improving Valentino Rossi, who said after Friday he was “never fast” in practice.

Francesco Bagnaia clung onto a direct spot in Q2 in ninth on his Pramac Ducati, with Andrea Dovizioso sneaking into 10th at the death by 0.038s to push KTM’s Pol Espargaro into Q1.

The surprise scalp in FP3 was Rins, who was shuffled out of the Q2 places into 12th in the end, with the Suzuki rider edging ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Ducati), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR) and Johann Zarco (Avintia).

Aleix Espargaro was top Aprilia runner in 17th, he woes in the slightly cooler conditions seemingly continuing.

Tech3 rookie Iker Lecuona was the only crasher, the Spaniard suffering a low-speed off at Turn 2 in the closing stages.

Penultimate push as Repsol Honda Team chase Team Championship

The flyaways draw to a close and the end of the season is fast approaching, but the Triple Crown is still wide open.

First hosting a Grand Prix in 1999, the Sepang International Circuit has been a constant fixture on the MotoGP World Championship calendar for both racing and testing. The 5.5km long Malaysian circuit is a physically demanding challenge no matter the conditions, air temperature rarely dropping below 30ºC even when the tropical storms hit.

Hunting a sixth straight Grand Prix victory in 2019 and his third at Sepang, Marc Marquez arrives in Malaysia in perfect form as he continues to dominate the premier class. Currently on 375 World Championship points, the Malaysian GP present the reigning MotoGP World Champion with his first opportunity to pass Jorge Lorenzo’s record of 383 points scored in a single season. As in Australia, Marquez is aware he’ll face a strong challenge from Yamaha and Ducati.

Lorenzo arrives in Malaysia hoping for better fortunes after a trying weekend in Phillip Island. Struggling in the cooler conditions, Sepang’s heat should offer Lorenzo a chance to continue improving his feeling on the Honda RC213V. The five-time World Champion has finished on the premier class podium seven times in Malaysia.

Just a single point separates the Ducati Team (409) from the Repsol Honda Team (408) in the Team Championship as Honda look to complete the prestigious Triple Crown. With both the Riders and a record 25th Constructors Championships achieved, the Team Championship is final objective to achieve in 2019.

Practice for the premier class begins at 10:50 local time on Friday, November 01 with the 20-lap Malaysian Grand Prix scheduled for 15:00 local time on Sunday, November 03.

Vinales on top in third practice

Heavy overnight rain left the Red Bull Ring damp for the start of FP3, though a drying line was appearing as bikes took to the track for the 45-minute session.

Top spot changed hands several times on the damp track, with Danilo Petrucci on the Ducati, Suzuki’s Alex Rins, Vinales on the Yamaha and Tech 3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira taking turns heading the standings.

Oliveira’s lap of 1m31.460s set 15 minutes in stood as the benchmark for around 10 minutes, before Johann Zarco guided his Avintia Ducati to top sport with a 1m31.029s.

As Zarco set that lap, several riders had fitted slicks to their machines and were beginning to light up the timing screens.

Honda’s Alex Marquez set the first representative dry tire lap with 16 minutes to go, deposing Zarco with a 1m30.038s.

The reigning Moto2 world champion improved to a 1m28.576s, before Dovizioso assumed control of the timesheets with a 1m27.380s.

The Ducati rider carved into that lap on his following two tours, improving to a 1m26.198s, a 1m25.747s, and then a 1m25.479s.

KTM’s Pol Espargaro took over the top spot briefly, but Dovizioso usurped this with a 1m24.832s – a laptime just a tenth outside of the pace needed to make an improvement on the combined times.

Vinales proved there was potential to improve on the combined times in the closing stages, jumping up to seventh overall with a 1m25.715s to move into the Q2 places.

A 1m24.317s would put Vinales top of the FP3 timesheet and third overall to cement his place in Q2, although KTM’s Espargaro remained fastest on the combined times by virtue of his FP1 lap.

Dovizioso was third in the session and second overall, with Jack Miller fourth on combined times on his Pramac Ducati after ending FP3 second.

Oliveira was fifth in FP3 with a 1m24.508s which bagged him a Q2 place along with Joan Mir (Suzuki), seventh-placed Espargaro and Fabio Quartararo – who fired in a 1m24.611s at the death to edge Zarco by 0.044s in on the combined times in 10th to grab the last Q2 place.

The top 10 in FP3 was completed by Danilo Petrucci (Ducati) and LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, but both will join Rossi and Brno race winner Brad Binder (KTM) in the first part of qualifying.