F1 News - All you need to know about Baku - including the trick Mercedes played on Ferrari
https://bbc.in/2UJQKAo Could Charles Leclerc have taken pole position had he not crashed in qualifying at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix? Could the Ferrari driver still take an unlikely maiden victory on Sunday? The answer to the first question will never be known. But the second will be answered on Sunday, and, unlikely as the prospect may seem from ninth on the grid, it cannot be ruled out completely. In a normal race, on a normal track, ninth would be too far back for anyone to entertain a victory. But Baku is very far from a normal track, and it tends not to host conventional types of races either. 'I threw all the potential in the bin'Leclerc's despair as he climbed out of his crumpled Ferrari having smacked it into the barriers at Turn Eight midway through second qualifying was plain to see - and completely understandable. The 21-year-old had looked 'the man' all weekend. Quicker than Vettel in first practice, as they were the only two drivers to set times before it was cancelled after George Russell's Williams was destroyed by a loose manhole cover. Quickest in second practice on Friday. And again in final practice on Saturday morning. He started qualifying 0.6secs quicker than Vettel in the first session, albeit pipped to fastest time by Red Bull's Pierre Gasly, who ran later. Then, in the second session, he was again quicker than Vettel as Ferrari made the questionable decision to send their cars out on the slower medium tyres rather than the faster softs, in an attempt to start the race on them. The lack of grip from the tyres in the dropping temperatures may well have contributed to Leclerc's accident - not that that is an excuse. As he put it: "I am very disappointed in myself. I have been very strong all weekend. It is a mistake I shouldn't have done. I believe we had the potential for pole and I threw it all away. "Very sad for what happened, but I deserve it. I've been stupid, as I said on the radio. I've calmed down but I still think I've been stupid - this doesn't change. I will push to learn from this and come back stronger and hopefully have a very good race tomorrow. "I don't want to say anything stupid, but looking at FP1, FP2, FP3 and 'qually' one, pole was possible today and I threw all the potential in the bin." A potential shift in the Ferrari dynamicLeclerc will know that there is more at stake here than a lost pole position. He came into the weekend expressing his determination to prove to Ferrari by his performances that they should end their policy of employing team orders to favour Vettel, which they have done in all three races so far. He was doing exactly that until the moment he hit the wall - which was a demonstration of exactly why Ferrari have gone for this policy in the first place. They know Leclerc is extravagantly talented and may end up quicker than Vettel. But they also know that he is young, inexperienced and likely to make mistakes, so they believe Vettel is the driver more likely to challenge the Mercedes drivers over a season. And now Leclerc, on a weekend when he could have forced a re-think, has gone and given them the perfect excuse to carry it on. Despite declaring himself "stupid" on the radio immediately after the crash, he is anything but, and will be well aware of the wider implications of his misjudgement. Hamlet contemplated "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune", and in Baku on Saturday Leclerc had a glimpse of it. Not long before he had his smash, Vettel had hit the inside wall at the same corner. But while Williams driver Robert Kubica did that and ended up in the same barrier as Leclerc, Vettel got away with it, and could carry on with qualifying. Gamesmanship at MercedesAll may not be lost for Leclerc, however. "For now, for the next three or four hours, I'll just be beating myself up," he said. But he was still talking about potentially winning the race, even if he admitted: "It is not going to be easy." Leclerc will consider that Lance Stroll ended up on the podium in Baku in 2017 in a Williams, when Daniel Ricciardo won for Red Bull - having qualified 10th - having dropped to 17th place at one point. After a soporific debut on the F1 calendar in 2016, this race has tended to be chaotic and incident-strewn. If Leclerc can make quick progress, he could easily end up in the lead battle if there is a safety car, as most would expect there to be. But if he manages it, there is the small matter of two Mercedes to deal with, and their formidable form continues. They had looked on the back foot for much of practice but, as happens so often, come qualifying they were right there and they locked out the front row after Ferrari's less-than-smooth qualifying. After Leclerc's crash, Mercedes even played a little trick on Ferrari, by sending their two cars out for their final run a little early, expecting Vettel to follow them. Ferrari took the bait, only for the Mercedes drivers to stop at the end of the pit lane and pretend to do practice starts, forcing Vettel to past them. Which left him without the benefit of a tow for his lap. This led to an amusing exchange in the news conference, when Vettel said: "Your fake starts in Q3. Did you do a start or did you just stop?" Hamilton replied: "We just dummied you basically!" Which raises the question - was the Mercedes actually the quicker car, or did they get pole as a result of Leclerc's crash and Vettel's compromised session? As Hamilton said, a tow can be worth as much as half a second. On Sunday, Ferrari have a chance to put things right, as they would see it, and take a much-needed first win of 2019. Vettel talked about putting the Mercedes under pressure, although he himself will have Verstappen breathing down his neck. And Bottas said: "Here is a very unpredictable race. Obviously we are pretty happy we are starting with a one-two as a team. We feel we do have a strong car in the race but here, anything can happen. It's a very eventful race. "Who's tyres are going to last the best, who's going to have the best pace. Also, with safety cars, how everything pans out. You can get lucky or unlucky." Starting from ninth, Leclerc will have the silver cars rear wings in his sights. As Bottas said: "Many unpredictable things can happen." #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://bbc.in/OHg7x6 April 27, 2019 at 02:42PM
Motorcycle News - Lean, mean and green: A new Le Mans from Kaffeemaschine
http://bit.ly/2LbhjPw
Axel sticks to what he knows, and doesn’t reinvent the wheel with every build. As his reputation has grown, so has the Kaffeemaschine business: he’s hired two staff to help him, moved to a bigger workshop, and one of his clients is now a business partner.
It’s based on a 1984 850 Le Mans Mark III, which means the air-cooled V-twin was upgraded with tighter machining tolerances, different cylinder heads, a new intake system, and squared-off cooling fins on the barrels.
“Then he moved to VW, but still wanted to use the red-and-white color scheme of the Porsche 917 that won Le Mans in 1970. That was number 23 too.”
The hard parts and frame would be monochrome: grey, silver and black. “The client was happy with the new proposal and gave me his OK.”
A lightened flywheel and Dell’Orto PHF carburetors complete the performance package, and the elegant exhaust is one of Kaffeemaschine’s own in-house parts.
Rather than mess with the old school look of the Le Mans, Kaffeemaschine have kept the fork outers and replaced the internals with uprated springs and dampers from FAC. The new shock absorbers are custom-made Wilbers units.
Modern reliability comes from a new, custom-made wiring loom, electronic ignition, and a modern alternator and rectifier/regulator.
There are new alloy components everywhere—all made in-house—and all existing parts have been refurbished. “Every screw was reduced on the mill and pearl blasted, and all alloy parts grinded and galvanized.”
“It’s made from Kevlar aramid fiber, to get the ultimate in lightness and strength,” says Axel. “The biggest issue was building the fairing.”
“It almost seems to glow in the dark,” says Axel. “But I was a little disappointed after taking the studio pictures—it’s one of those bikes that looks better ‘live’. Maybe it’s because of the grey frame in front of the grey background.”
“I rode it several times and really fell in love with the look, performance and sound,” says Axel. “It’s hard to let it go. But I know that ‘she’ will lead a happy life; the owner is a true gearhead and bike fanatic.” Kaffeemaschine | Facebook | Instagram Motorcycles via Bike EXIF http://www.bikeexif.com April 27, 2019 at 12:32PM
F1 News - Bottas on Azerbaijan GP pole
https://bbc.in/2ILVWCa Mercedes' Valtteri Bottas on pole position for Azerbaijan Grand Prix after Ferrari's Charles Leclerc crashes #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://bbc.in/OHg7x6 April 27, 2019 at 10:00AM
Motorcycle News - Best Motorcycle Racing Tires
http://bit.ly/2ZC0ro6 In our Best Sportbike Tire series, we compiled a list of sportbike tires primarily suited for spirited street riding. Sure they could handle an occasional trackday or two, but those tires are best to be avoided if hardcore track riding, or even club racing, are in your future. If you fall in that second category, this list is for you. Here we’ve compiled some of the best track rubber you can find while still being approved by the Department of Transportation. In case you didn’t get the subtle hint, you won’t find any slicks on this list, but what we have here are nearly as good. Better still, these tires are widely available, so you don’t need the special bro deal through your local track vendor to obtain anything here. Where possible, we’ve linked to Motorcycle.com staff member reviews of said tire(s), so here they are in alphabetical order. Avon VP2 Xtreme $135 – $182With its minimal tread siping, you can tell the Avon VP2 Xtreme tires were meant for aggressive track or road use. The tread contours are meant to flex in such a way to provide a huge contact patch under braking, and the steel belts are wound in varying densities (tighter in the center, looser towards the edges) to provide either maximum life/stability or flexibility and grip. Looking at the VP2, and its minimal tread, it’s clear that dry weather performance is its primary target, but using what Avon calls it’s Enhanced Aqua Flow tread pattern, Avon claims the VP2 Xtremes can hold their own if a little water comes splashing down. Shop for Avon VP2 Xtreme tires here Bridgestone R11 $147 – $255Bridgestone may no longer be the sole tire supplier for MotoGP, but the lessons learned from its long run producing tires for the fastest motorcycles on the planet have trickled down to the Battlax R11. The successor to the popular R10, the R11 takes advantage of B-Stone’s Ultimate Eye technology, first developed for Formula 1, to fully understand the tire’s abrasion angle and deformation during usage. The shape and design of the grooves are then made to optimize tread rigidity when cornering and also offer more stability leaned over or under power. The Variable Mono Spiral Belt construction gets tweaked from the R10, but still places the belts farther apart on the sides and closer together in the center for optimum grip and stability. While all this tech talk might be boring, the end result is a tire that’s truly impressive when it comes to optimum stick and maximum feedback, with very impressive wear. We know this because Trizzle sampled the tires on all three of Yamaha’s sportbikes – the R3, R6, and R1 – and came back thoroughly satisfied with their performance. Shop for Bridgestone R11 tires here Continental Conti Race Attack $110 – $164Germany’s entry to this list is the Continental Conti Race Attack, available in different compounds to suit varying conditions. Like some of its other performance tires, the Race Attack uses Continental’s Multigrip technology, wherein a single compound is used throughout the tire. But thanks to temperature controlled curing of the tire during the production process, the shoulder area is able to remain flexible for enhanced grip and the center remains stable for better mileage. Through it all, you have a seamless transition from side to side because you’re not moving between different compounds of the tire. Adding in the tire’s stability is the 0°-degree belt construction. Shop for Continental Conti Race Attack front tires here Shop for Continental Conti Race Attack rear tires here Dunlop GP-A Pro $155 – $235Developed through the lens of MotoAmerica racing, the Dunlop GP-A Pro is the best track/race tire you can get from Dunlop before stepping into the world of slicks. New developments in compound technology over the old D211 GP-A tire (the predecessor) mean the GP-A Pro has more edge grip, better stability, and ultimately, quicker lap times. Those aren’t our words – that’s the feedback from riders like Cameron Beaubier and Garrett Gerloff, team Yamaha Superbike riders. N-TEC construction allows the carcass to be stiffer, specifically for racing purposes, while the Intuitive Response Profile gives the rear tire a steep profile for confidence at steep lean angles. A feature club racers and trackday riders alike will appreciate is the bi-directional nature of the GP-A Pros. Since many tracks place a lot more stress on one side of the tire over the other, the bi-directional ability allows you to flip the tire around to extend the life of the tire. The Jointless Tread application is key to the GP-A Pro bi-directional construction, which uses sophisticated production machinery in Dunlop’s Buffalo, New York plant to wind the tire tread onto the carcass in a continuous strip allowing the tire to be run in both directions. Shop for Dunlop GP-A Pro tires here Dunlop Q4 $154 – $273Borrowing from the lessons learned creating the GP-A Pro, Dunlop created the Sportmax Q4 for the track rider who maybe isn’t so committed about ultimate lap times, but just wants to enjoy their time on the track with as minimal upkeep as possible. The major difference between the Q4 and almost all of the other tires here is the Q4’s ability to get up to temperature extremely quickly – eliminating the need for tire warmers. Typically, a high silica content is the recipe for fast warm-up times, but the Q4 uses a 100% carbon-black recipe with proprietary polymers and resins to achieve proper warm-up without warmers. Dunlop’s Jointless Tread technology is the same method used to create the race tires and allows for the tread to be extruded directly onto the tire’s carcass in one continuous strip. CFT, or Carbon Fiber Technology is used in the sidewalls to increase stiffness, and you can see the aggressive tread pattern meant to provide as big a contact patch to the ground as possible. While Trizzle was slightly let down by the ultimate grip and excessive tire wear in his review of the Q4, he did praise the tire for its fast warm-up and ability to achieve impressive lean angles. Depending on your skill, budget, and track intent, the Q4 could be the pick for you. Metzeler Racetec RR K2 $223 – $320Metzeler’s approach to creating a worthy track tire is to develop on the street. But not just any street – we’re talking the Isle of Man TT, among others. The TT’s unique environment and length allow Metzeler to develop a very unique tire, and the Racetec RR is proof. The single-compound front tire blends a selection of polymers and resins with different grades of carbon black to maximize hysteresis. The front also conforms to the micro-granularity of tarmac to deliver more grip and wear resistance and to last longer on severe asphalt. This blend of polymers also allows high flexibility at lower temperatures. The dual-compound rears feature a highly conductive center strip, which supports the shoulder compound from underneath and warms it up during long straights by redistributing the heat generated to the shoulders, maintaining them in the operative temperature and ensuring grip when going into lean. The crown and sidewalls are designed as a flexible system to dampen shocks from the road, yet the stiff ply material and 0º steel belts provide lateral stiffness once you lean the bike over or accelerate hard. Shop for Metzeler Racetec RR K2 tires here Michelin Power RS $118 – $202With the Power RS, Michelin is taking its racetrack knowledge from the highest levels of the sport and applying it to a tire available to the masses. It uses compounds developed at the track to provide quick warm-up times and predictive handling. Michelin’s Adaptive Casing Technology uses a single ply carcass to increase rigidity in the center, then folds that ply over on itself at the edges to stiffen the sidewall and provide more stability while cornering or under hard acceleration. The 2CT+ technology is the same dual-compound tech many fans are familiar with, but this latest iteration places a harder layer under the softer layers at the edges to help promote stability. In the front, standard 2CT compounds (no plus) provide optimum grip at the edges and durability in the center. Shop for Michelin Power RS tires here Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa $189 – $309Trusted by professional and club racers all over the world, the Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa is one of the most popular track/racing tires around – and for good reason, they stick. Visually, the Supercorsa’s tread pattern will look like the image above, but there are actually three iterations of the Supercorsa – SP, SC, and TD. All three offer trickle-down technology from World Superbike, where Pirelli is the spec tire for the series. For instance, the profile for each tire is directly derived from WSBK for excellent tip-in, and the compound used in the shoulders is also directly from WSBK. However, the main characteristic with a Supercorsa is the slick shoulder design for optimum contact patch leaned over. The main difference between the three versions is the compounds used within them. The SP is the most street-focused of the trio. While still plenty capable as a track tire, it’s also the most durable, to withstand the punishments that come from street riding. The TD is a new variant, meant to rival the Dunlop Q4 above. Its internal makeup is slightly different, with a greater emphasis on track performance without the need for tire warmers. The SC is Pirelli’s racing variant of the Supercorsa. Available in different compounds, the SC (in any of its varying compounds) works best when placed on warmers and can get to temperature. Then you can experience sensational edge grip and remarkable stability. Shop for Pirelli Diablo Supercorsa tires here We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews. Learn more about how this works. The post Best Motorcycle Racing Tires appeared first on Motorcycle.com. Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com http://bit.ly/2ComzZy April 26, 2019 at 06:51PM
Motorcycle News - 2020 Kawasaki KLX230 Certified by CARB
http://bit.ly/2L6zQwu Kawasaki will be introducing a new 233cc trail bike for 2020, offering a step up for riders outgrowing the smaller, entry-level KLX140 (pictured above) or KLX110 models. The news comes to us courtesy of the California Air Resources Board which has issued an executive order for the 2020 Kawasaki KLX230 with a green sticker, making it legal for use in off-highway vehicle parks year-round. Until now, Kawasaki lacked a dirt bike in between the KLX140 and the more motocross-focused KX250. Kawasaki does have the KLX250, but that’s a street-legal dual sport and not a dedicated off-road vehicle. The KLX230 gives Kawasaki a model to compete against competitors like the Honda CRF230F and Yamaha TT-R230. The KLX will have a couple of advantages over the CRF and TT-R. At 233cc, the KLX230 holds a 10cc advantage over the offerings from Honda and Yamaha. According to the CARB executive order, the KLX230 will also be fuel injected, whereas the CRF and TTR use carburetors. The CARB documentation also rates the KLX230 as putting out 15 kW, or 20.1 hp, which should give it an edge over the CRF230F and TT-R230. The KLX230 also complies with California’s emissions standards, getting a green sticker that allows them to be used on HOV parks all year. The TTR-230 and CRF230F, however, do not meet those standards, receiving red stickers which restricts them to seasonal use only. Unfortunately, the CARB document doesn’t tell us much beyond the engine and emission testing results. If the KLX230 follows after the KLX140 with rear disc brakes, that would give it another advantage over the drum-braked CRF and TT-R. We’ll have to wait for official information from Kawasaki to know more about the 2020 KLX230. The post 2020 Kawasaki KLX230 Certified by CARB appeared first on Motorcycle.com. Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com http://bit.ly/2ComzZy April 26, 2019 at 05:46PM
F1 News - Azerbaijan GP: Charles Leclerc fastest in practice
https://bbc.in/2UH8mgn Charles Leclerc led a Ferrari one-two with an impressive performance in an incident-packed second practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The 21-year-old led the way for much of the session and ended it 0.324 seconds ahead of nominal team leader Sebastian Vettel with Lewis Hamilton third. But Hamilton was 0.669secs off Leclerc's pace as Ferrari made a flying start to the weekend with a heavily upgraded car. There were two red-flag periods after crashes for Lance Stroll and Daniil Kvyat. Stroll lost control of his Racing Point at Turn Two early in the session, taking off his front-left corner after losing the rear on the way into the corner. And Kvyat had a big impact at Turn Seven with about 25 minutes to go, again because of a rear-end snap, heavily damaging the left-hand side of his Toro Rosso. Kvyat's crash brought to an end what had been until then a promising session for the Russian. He had a late start to the session as the team fixed a problem on his car, but he had just pipped team-mate Alexander Albon by 0.039secs to go sixth quickest when he braked too late trying to go for a faster time and smashed the car into the wall. The two incidents cost the teams more time, after the first session was cancelled because George Russell's Williams hit a manhole cover, destroying his Williams. Only the two Ferraris had set lap times when Russell's incident happened, and the session was ended so officials could repair the cover and check the more than 300 around the rest of the track. Leclerc's pace threw down the gauntlet to his rivals on a weekend that has started with him making it clear that he intends to force a re-think from Ferrari on their policy of favouring Vettel with team orders this season. Leclerc was immediately quick at the start of the session, his time on the middle-compound 'medium' tyres 0.7 seconds quicker than Hamilton despite brushing the wall out of Turn Seven, and more than a second up on Vettel. On the fastest 'soft' tyres, Leclerc went fastest on his first run, nearly 0.7secs quicker than Vettel, before the German responded to sneak ahead, and then Leclerc reclaimed top spot with his third lap. The Ferraris, fitted with a major aerodynamic upgrade, appeared to have an edge over Mercedes, with Hamilton ending up 0.669secs behind Leclerc. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was fourth fastest, 0.921secs behind Leclerc, ahead of Hamilton's team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Kvyat. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://bbc.in/OHg7x6 April 26, 2019 at 09:42AM
Motorcycle News - DUCATI DREAMING – 1965 Ducati Sebring 350
http://bit.ly/2ZD5rJi Written by Martin Hodgson Over recent decades Ducati has sat near the top of the Superbike pack, with the new Panigale V4R now the absolute benchmark and undefeated in WSBK competition. But when the company introduced the Sebring 350 in 1965 it was the biggest bike in their line up and often raced against multi cylinder machines with twice the capacity. So to pay tribute to the little bike that could, Stephen Brisken has taken a beat up ’65 and beautifully transformed it into a machine that is a perfect mix of cafe and racer. “I purchased the bike from a professional mechanic friend in Eureka, CA. He collected some unusual machines. At this point I knew nothing about Ducati’s and had never seen such a cool looking bike. Of course it was not running and was incomplete. I thought about the purchase for quite a while having never jumped into such a project.” Stephen tells us. But the Sebring kept calling his name and eventually he snapped it up. Back home he’d assembled himself quite the workshop. This was his second home garage and he was determined to make it a very usable building fit for purpose. “I have enough space to have a bead blast cabinet, welding, drilling, polishing machines and a small wood working area. There is also a separate smaller space for wrenching on bikes. I have great light, heat and good air flow. I have been in this shop for about three years and it continues to evolve.” To commence the build process Stephen decided that with the number of parts missing the customising route seemed to make more sense than to go back to original. And he’d always had a faired model, with the ’50s rocket bike look in mind. But halfway through the build, having come so far he had a change of heart. “And then in the middle of it all I decided I was getting out of motorcycles. I sold the little Duc and all the boxes of parts back to the mechanic I bought it from.” Thankfully he came to his sense and now committed to the bike once again, he contacted amazing metalworker Evan Wilcox to get on his waiting list for the alloy bodywork. After a year it was Stephen’s turn, but boy was the wait worth it. In a matter of weeks Evan had crafted and formed the incredible alloy pieces before you and had them sitting on the frame. From the gorgeous race inspired tank with generous knee dents for tucking in. To the front fairing that flows like liquid, with a tight opening for a headlight it is a sight to behold! The humped tail piece is flawlessly executed with a great tip of the cap to the Isle of Man racing machines of the time. Again with the lighting seamlessly integrated and the hand rolled guards alone of such quality you’d expect any normal builder to have needed the weeks just for them. With the bike back home and the metal work sitting on top, Stephen now had the inspiration to make every last inch of the machine equally as good. It was no easy task and he’s the first to admit. It was demanding and often daunting trying to meet that level of quality, but the results speak for themselves. The entire bike was disassembled and a fresh coat of paint laid down on the frame and swingarm. The seat has been covered in black to ensure that the visual tones match throughout. While new rear shocks and hydraulic front forks with polished lower legs and black painted uppers keep the theme flowing throughout. Like any good Ducati the engine itself is an automotive piece of art and Stephen has brought it back to life in every possible way. From the polished side covers to the glorious cases and barrel, the short block looks as good as it runs. A rebuilt carb with foam filter draws in the air, while a stunning stainless pipe and reverse cone muffler expel the gases rearward. To make the whole thing more user friendly, a total re-wire and 12v conversion ensure its a dream to ride. Wanting to keep the add-ons to a bare minimum, the race theme continues with a set of polished clip-ons and only the most essential controls. While a custom pair of rearsets make knocking through the 5 speed box a dream. To finish it off the elbow grease in the hubs and rims is obvious and the Avon rubber is the perfect match. From time of purchase to completion the journey took nearly six years. But the combination of a determined and creative owner builder, paired with a metalworker at the top of the game, means ‘The 350’ is simply a Ducati to die for! Motorcycles via Pipeburn.com http://bit.ly/2LvgxJz April 26, 2019 at 07:49AM
F1 News - The secret aerodynamicist on the man at the top of the design pantheon
https://bbc.in/2GA8XeT From the outside, a Formula 1 team's design department would appear to be a very rational environment, where logic rules, and careful decisions are made based on science and research. You might believe there is no place in this world for dogma or blind faith. But you would be wrong. I am a senior aerodynamicist at a current F1 team. I cannot reveal my identity, for reasons previously explained, but I want to help you understand some of the key issues around the biggest performance differentiators in F1 design. In reality, some decisions we face as F1 car designers are just too complex to be taken back to first principles and investigated. Teams simply don't have the time or resources to assess them fully. As a result, some aspects of car design are taken as articles of faith, and the rest built upon them. In these situations, we look to the demigods of aerodynamics for guidance, and uppermost in the current design pantheon is Adrian Newey. Newey is the chief technical officer of Red Bull, and his multitude of world championship trophies won with Williams, McLaren and his current team have rightly given him the status of one of the greatest designers in F1 history. Newey's area of expertise is aerodynamics and his standing has meant features he has pioneered on his cars have been adopted by other teams. Often - because of the limited time created by the high-pressure demands of the job - without full scrutiny and investigation. The thinking is simple - Newey's car features a specific design characteristic; Newey's car is fast; therefore that design feature must be the right one for another team to adopt. One example of this, and of Newey's continued influence in F1, is the high rake angle employed by most teams up and down the grid. What is rake?When we talk about rake angle, we mean the difference between the ride height at the front of the car and the back. A low rake angle means the floor of the car is sitting very flat, a high one and the back of the floor is raised a long way off the ground. What's particularly interesting is that, in current F1, Mercedes employ one approach - low rake - while Red Bull, Ferrari, and to a large extent the rest of the grid, go for high. In some ways, then, this year's title fight is a face-off between Newey's high-rake design theory and Mercedes' low-rake one. The Newey influenceAs you can see, some decisions can have so many knock-on effects that to truly assess which is the direction to go in you would need to design two whole cars. Most F1 teams don't have anywhere near the resources to indulge themselves in that. And even those that do, such as Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, have their hands tied by rules which restrict the amount of aerodynamic testing they are allowed to do. All of which means judgement calls have to be made. On an aspect of design as fundamental as this, a team has to commit to an approach and design the rest of the car around it. This is where the great technical directors and designers really come into their own. They are the ones who have consistently made the right calls on the big decisions and few, if any, can match Newey's record. For many years, he has been the hot property in F1 and, as a result, has boosted the market value of those alongside him. Teams, enthralled by Newey, have eagerly snapped up anyone who has worked closely with the great man. So his acolytes have found themselves in nearly every team on the grid. In this way, the Newey philosophy has spread through F1, one aspect of which is using a high rake angle as a starting point for your design. Newey has been pursuing high rake for 20 years or more. But it became a major trend from the early part of this decade, when his high-rake Red Bulls took four straight world title doubles with Sebastian Vettel. Since then, more and more of the grid have been going high rake. This is now almost universal - with Mercedes the notable exception. And that's what makes this so interesting, because Mercedes have won the last five constructors' and drivers' world championships. Despite some preconceptions, their success has not been based solely on an excellent engine - generally the best from 2014 until this year - and a brilliant driver in Lewis Hamilton. It is obvious from the GPS speed traces to which all teams have access that the Mercedes chassis is also of the highest quality. Yet even with their extraordinary level of success, they continue to be the only team really trying a low-rake approach. It is almost impossible to say for certain whether Mercedes' low-rake design leads to more or less ultimate performance. However, the fact no-one else is trying it, that the benefits of high rake are simply taken as gospel, shows the hold the cult of Newey has over F1. What are teams trying to do with airflow?The direction a team chooses can have a significant effect on the airflow around the car and an almost endless list of knock-on consequences. Going back to aerodynamic first principles for a moment, the faster you can make the air go, the lower the pressure, and low pressure under the floor is downforce, sucking the car onto the road. The more downforce a car has, the faster it can go around a corner. Now, at the speed F1 cars go, we aerodynamicists make the assumption that the air cannot be squashed or stretched. (In reality it can, but for our purposes we don't need to worry about this). This means that if you want to increase the air speed you can do one of two things: increase the "mass flow" (the amount of air flowing past); or reduce the area you are forcing that air through. Think of it like a hose pipe. If you want to make the water squirt out of the end faster, you can either open the tap - increasing the mass flow - or put your thumb over the end - forcing the water to rush faster through a reduced area. Why is rake important?Coming back to rake angle, the two approaches - high and low rake - are each favouring one of these things over the other to make the air flow as fast as possible under the floor as a whole. High rake is a bit like turning up the tap. Because of the increased height at the back of the car, you effectively have a bigger diffuser - the upswept part of the floor at the back of the car between the rear wheels - which will be pulling lots of air through the underside of the car. However, most of the floor is a bit further away from the ground than it would be with low rake, as if you have taken your thumb off the end of the hose a little. A low-rake approach is the opposite. The low height of the back of the car results in a smaller diffuser area and so less air is pulled under the floor. But what air there is, is squeezed through a smaller gap with the whole floor sitting very close to the ground. This may sound relatively straightforward at this stage but there are so many side-effects of this decision that it could change the way you design the whole of the rest of the car.
The list is endless, and this is before we even consider the mechanical design of suspension and steering systems. A few technical extrasFor those of you keen for more, read on as we discuss a few of the complexities of airflow with high and low rake. In practice, one of the most critical things to consider is what is referred to as floor sealing. In my experience this is a bit of a catch-all term for talking about managing the airflow that comes off the sides of the floor, which we might be using to try to do a few different things. One of these is trying to minimise the amount of air that is drawn under the floor from the sides. Remember, we would like to accelerate the air under the floor as fast as we can, for as long as possible. To use another analogy, if you think of the airflow as a queue, and the diffuser as a gate through which people can pass at a set rate, you can see that the queue at the front of the floor will travel much faster if people don't keep pushing in from the sides. Low rake can make this particular problem a little easier, as the smaller gap between the sides of the floor and the ground tends to impede air from going under the car. On the other hand, high rake can be advantageous in another aspect of floor sealing - managing the rear-tyre wake. Tyre wake, as we discussed in the last article, is the churning, turbulent air found behind the tyre, which we likened to the water behind a boat. Much like water, tyre wake will spread out behind the body that creates it. This is a problem because it has the effect of blocking the air exiting the diffuser, which we would like to be as large as possible to pull a lot of air under the floor. In order to control the tyre wake, we try to direct vortices, which are spinning streams of air a bit like a mini tornado, towards the parts of the tyre where the wake is separating. This encourages the air to stay attached to the tyre longer and results in a smaller wake, which can have a completely transformative effect on the performance of the diffuser. Components in this area of the car are so sensitive because the small changes to the air around the tyre which they produce can have such big knock-on effects on the tyre wake, and, as a result, on the performance of the diffuser. We saw this in Australia when what looked like relatively minor damage to the corner of Hamilton's floor had a devastating effect on his race. At high rake, because the floor is raised up nearer to where the circular tyre face is vertical, a given movement of the wheel up or down won't make the gap between the tyre and floor open up very much. However, on a low-rake car, the floor sits lower against the tyre face. As the car goes around the track and sees the same movement up or down, the gap between tyre and floor will change much more. This can make the job of tuning the aerodynamic devices harder. Those are just two examples of a multitude of issues that arise from a team's choice of design concept. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://bbc.in/OHg7x6 April 26, 2019 at 07:24AM
F1 News - Azerbaijan GP practice cancelled after bridge incident
https://bbc.in/2GAHmtV First practice at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was cancelled after George Russell's Williams was damaged on a loose manhole cover. The Briton's car caught the edge of the cover between Turns Two and Three and it smashed the floor of his car, which then shut down. The cover appeared to have been loosened by Charles Leclerc's Ferrari. In farcical scenes, the truck bringing Russell's car back to the pits crashed into a bridge over the track. That leaked hydraulic fluid on to Russell's car beneath. Race director Michael Masi soon cancelled the rest of the session, in which only the Ferraris had set lap times, to try to resolve the multiple problems. Masi will have to not only make sure the damaged cover is repaired but also check the remaining covers around the track - and ensure that the bridge that was damaged is structurally sound. There are thought to be 300 manhole covers around the circuit. Russell said: "There was a manhole cover and I got the biggest smack on my body. The engine turned off, it's ruined the floor and the chassis could be ruined." Williams will try to repair Russell's car in time for second practice at 14:00 BST but deputy team principal said there were concerns that the survival cell in which the driver sits could be damaged. "The car has got a lot of damage," Williams said. "We have to wait to see, it's taken the whole underside out and the circuit needs to make sure the covers are down properly and that means we could be out this afternoon because of that. I will be picking it up with race control." Ferrari had gone out early with both cars to try out a major aerodynamic upgrade they have introduced for this weekend. But Leclerc and Vettel were limited to just five and four laps which will give the team some data on the airflow around the car but only very limited information for the drivers in terms of how the new aerodynamics affect the balance of the car. Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, first and second in the championship after three consecutive one-twos at the start of the season, did not even go out for an installation lap. #F1 via BBC Sport - Formula 1 https://bbc.in/OHg7x6 April 26, 2019 at 05:24AM
Motorcycle News - 2019 Kawasaki W800 Cafe Review
http://bit.ly/2IKcoDk 2019 Kawasaki W800 CafeEditor Score: 74.5%
Oh dear, it’s kind of like one of those deals where you nag a person to do a thing for years, then they do the thing, and you sort of wished you hadn’t encouraged them. Suggesting someone take accordion lessons. Encouraging your wife to take up the krav maga. We always asked Kawasaki why they weren’t cashing in on the “classic bike” market along with the other OEMs, given that they’ve been selling the W800 in other markets since its 2011 upgrade from W650. But now that the W800 is here I kind of agree with their decision not to import it. The W800 is a perfectly nice retro motorcycle, but it’s retro in a way things like Triumph’s “Classics” and some others aren’t: The Kawasaki feels kind of old instead of just looking that way. Exhibit A would be the Dunlop 300K tires it rides upon. They look like real old-fashioned tires from the ’60s. And they ride just like them on rain-grooved freeways, too. I haven’t been so sketched out since riding that giant BMW Adventure a few weeks ago in deep sand. Squeeze the bike with your knees, hold on lightly and don’t panic even though it feels like you’re riding with a flat tire; you’re probably not on the verge of wiping out (on the BMW, I wiped out a few times just as I’d convinced myself I wasn’t going to; that’ll mess with your psyche). The only reason I didn’t pull over to check tire pressures was because Ryan Adams told me he’d already pulled over to see if something was loose after he’d picked the bike up from Kawasaki, when I picked the bike up at his house. On non-grooved pavement, the tires are fine, and so is the W. Thanks to the period-correct spoked wheels, the tires also have tubes inside them. Super handy for when you run over the next roofing nail. Be sure your AA policy includes motorcycle assistance. That parallel Twin engine is actually pretty okay. With its 77 x 83mm undersquare bore and stroke, you’d expect it to be torquey down low – but its torque peak is in fact up at 4700 rpm, so it kind of likes to be revved up more; it really doesn’t wake up till around 4000 rpm. You get your 45.5 hp peak at 6100 rpm – and just when you’re thinking yeah baby, you run into the limiter at 7k. All of that would be alright, too, but the quarter-turn throttle makes you have to grab two handfulls to get to WOT. There’s also quite a bit of your classic parallel-Twin vibration coming through the grips, peaking at around 3500 rpm and 60-or so miles per hour. It’s never the old-fashioned kind that makes you think you’re holding onto a live 220v cable, but it’s there, and it might be enough to put off sensitive types. It’s all just like the ’60s! After a while, like always, you adjust to the W’s peccadilloes and enjoy it as much as any new motorcycle somebody’s kind enough to loan you. There’s a back way through the hills to the MotoGP Werks’ dyno, and you wind up glad the Kawasaki’s tires strongly suggested you take it instead of the freeway: There are quite a few swoopy curves through hills with fresh wildflowers springing up all along them, and the classic old beast loves burbling through them at 70-ish mph and 4000 rpm singing that classic baritone tune. What’s new pussycat, whoaaa whoaaaa whooooOOOOAA… Kawasaki says the thing is “sound tuned,” and the dual chrome peashooters really do sound period-correct great from idle on up. With its 360-degree long-stroke crankshaft, lowish compression and real old-fashioned air-cooledness, the W is a more period-correct English Twin than the other English Twins on the market. Its “clubman” handlebar pulls you down into the cockpit a bit more than a Triumph Street Twin, and sighting along the top of its silver half-fairing really does put you in more of a Rod Stewart frame of mind, before Rod got so old. The riding position feels a little too aggressive when you first climb on, but the foot pegs are far enough forward that your legs take some of the weight off your wrists, and it’s overall really quite comfy even in town. The seat’s thickly padded and no complaints; it’s also narrow up toward the gas tank, and no problem flat-footing the pavement at stops. Speaking of stops, the W draws a crowd of boomers wherever it’s parked. Be prepared to listen to all their stories from the swingin’ ’60s. For a while. We’re back to that “ride a slow bike fast” thing again: Once you learn to slip the clutch a bit to keep the old analog tach needle up between the big 4 and 7, she scoots right along. The slip/assist clutch works great: At higher rpm you don’t need it for shifts; at lower rpm it’s a pleasure to use as you blip for downshifts in the time-honored way. At lower rpm your shifts are more lugubrious than on a modern classic Triumph, for instance, and it’s not unusual to have to toe the shifter twice to get the gear pairing you want. The tires’ centers may be sketchy, but their shoulders work much better as you arc the old girl through the curves. The suspenders, a 41mm fork up front and twin bumpsticks out back, are softish in compression, which is nice since the lean forward to the grips has you riding directly through perineum country. Luckily the seat’s nicely padded in that area and the footpegs are just in the right place to carry some of the scrotal freight. Grabbing the brakes halfway round a corner though, has the fork bobbing right back up from compression – another thing that suggests you ride the way they did in the ’60s: smoothly, and also using the nice rear disc to calm the proceedings. If you do have to stop suddenly, though, it shouldn’t be a big deal. Combining use of the front and rear ABS-equipped discs will howl the W right down to a quick halt. What’s the word the kids use now? Mindfully. It’s not a point and shoot motorcycle, it’s one for motoring, just like my old XJ6 Jaguar. It’s a saloon, and not the kind you drink beer in. Taken all together – the softness and slight lack of rebound damping, deliberate steering, the old-timey tires, lack of low-rpm power, the not-svelte 501-pound weight of the thing – the W sort of reminds you why doing the Ton (100 mph) was such a big deal once upon a time. The W will get you there eventually, but then you kind of wonder why you wanted it to? Especially if you then hit a stretch of rain-grooved pavement. The coolest part of the bike for me, the thing that could redeem it, is its bevel-gear cam drive, that cool chrome column on the right side of the engine just like on an old Ducati! Shirley somebody makes one of those glass covers you can put on there to watch those cool gears mesh and fling oil? When you take that round cover off the Kawasaki engine to behold that mechanical magic, though, all you see is another cam cover. If you want to watch those gears, well, you can’t. Cruel hoax. What’s the point? The point is the W650 appeared before any of the current Triumph classics, and while it’s cool Kawasaki bumped it up to an 800 in 2011, they haven’t really done much else to bring it into the 21st century. Some buyers might like that? As for us, Triumph Speed Twins and Street Twins and things look old but ride completely modern in terms of their drivetrains, suspensions, everything. And that’s what we MOrons have come to expect now when we see a motorcycle that looks as cool as the W. Lastly, we hate to bring up the $9,799-ness of the thing, but that’s a bit more than Triumph wants for its original Street Twin ($9,100) and New Street Twin ($9,300), both of which are more powerful, lighter and better- suspended than the W. And go ahead and try to pay no attention to the also superior Royal Enfield Continental GT we’ve been riding around on: $6,249. Granted, the Triumph Speed Twin is more expensive, but that bike is so far removed from antiquity it’s almost in a different class than the W800. If what you crave is a bike that really does feel, sound and ride like the old BSA that Kawasaki copied with the original W1 in 1966, the W800 is the only game in town, and as close as you’re going to get in a brand-new motorcycle that’ll do everything those bikes did, almost literally, except leak oil and leave you stranded. Don’t take all the critical things we just said to mean we don’t love the W; it’s still one of God’s children. Just probably not His favorite one.
Motorcycles via Motorcycle.com http://bit.ly/2ComzZy April 25, 2019 at 07:43PM |
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