Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO!

Congratulations.
This is your "Dream Shot!"
The R1 you'll be piloting is a Stock '99 R1 on Race Tires.
We don't want you to get hurt, so we've brought you to Germany.
No. Not the Autobahn.
Better.
You're on "The Ring"
The world famous ... Nurburgring Road Course.
To make it interesting, you will duel with a Race Car powered by a Twin Turbo.
The Course is 17 and a half miles long. So, let's say we give you about 8 and a half minutes to take the lap.
Oh, I know. That's CRAZY!
You are going to have to AVERAGE >> OVER << 180 Feet per Second.
So, tighten-up that helmet strap, Mister ... and hang freekin' ON!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... ring&hl=en

Don't say I never did nuthin' nice for you!

 

Re: Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO

Thanks Rick! I'm still shakin!

 

Re: Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO

Ok, who else was leaning in there chairs around the corners watching that? :lol:

 

Was totally leaning wihtout meaning to...
Lol, only realized when I read that Alk lol.
As fun as that would be, I think I'd pee myself around those 145 kmh turns! WHEW!

 

That was fun, The R1 had the opportunity to pass him several times. Saw some wheelies off some of the turns also.

 

Pretty cool - I think the R1 must have been filming that car as you could tell he never fully opened the throttle and had a couple of places where he could have passed. Also - you could tell he knew the track very well in the way he setup for some of the more blind corners, allowing room for the car to swing wide.

I wish I had an onboard video (from my bike) to share of my local track... the best I can do is:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid= ... park&hl=en

It doesn't give a feel for the elevation changes, or just how blind a lot of the corners are - but that is where I play.

Here is an onboard view... but this is much slower pace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dIuog9N5Ho

 

Wow! - brings back a few memories. My father was in the army and we lived in Germany from 65-75. At the time my brother was an amateur racer and he took me along with him to Nurburgring to see him race. I was about 9 - pretty cool. If I remember correctly he raced a short course.

Another neat track was the Hochenheim track in Heidelberg Germany. This was my brother's home course - I'll have to see if I can find some videos.

Woot - Like the track. Looks like it would be a great track to take my old XJ out on. Racing in the rain - completely nuts! I've seen my brother do it and have always known that he was a little off

 

Racing in the rain takes practise. You have more traction than you think, but often it seems that still isn't enough

What surprises people is how different the thinking on a race track is from on the street. On the street riding is purely reactive. At high speeds you simply don't have time to react (100s of feet a second) - meaning a 1/10th of a second reaction time still covers quite a few feet. What happen instead is it turns into Music in a way... when you play music you don't wait to hear the bass drum, you anticipate it and play when you think it will play. That is how you use the markers on the track, and how you can run laps within 10ths of a second apart.

When your mind flips into track mode - the street suddenly seems crazy. I no longer know what is going to happen and I'm forced to react. It may be why people stop riding on the street after they start racing.

 

and yes you have to be a little off. Not a millesecond do I think of the bike, my day, or fears of wrecking.

The only thing I'm doing is looking for the next corner. Braking and throttle become instinctive... I don't think of down shifts or blips - that all happens. At the moment I am focused on body position and track position. Soon I'll stop thinking of body position. As more and more becomes automatic, it suddenly becomes very quiet and rational... like you are in perfect control of what is going on. This complex is what allows people to absolutely fly around corners - you have to commit and you can't think about what happens when you mess up.

Take for instance the back straight - entering turn 7 at probably the highest speed on the track - leaned over experiencing incredible g forces. WOW

OR another example - wide open crouching on the pegs and the bike is skipping, wobbling, and wheeling under wide open throttle. Grinning ear to ear and not for a second thinking this is ludicrous.

 

Re: Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO

Just recently, an Aussie named Michael Verguers, posted the Lap Record for "The Ring" in a >> get this << "Street Legal Car"

When you look at his car ... sure enough ... there's a License Plate affixed to the Body down by the ground on the left front end.
http://www.ausringers.com/2009/08/21/ra ... rrier.html

I think the whole thing was a publicity stunt.
But, he did drive the car to the track ... put-on a helmet and GO.
Driving in a T-Shirt, the Aussie owns the Track Record.

6 Min. 48 Sec.
(You have to know the Track like the back of your hand to run like that.)
He did it to beat the lowering of the Record to 6 Min. 50'ish by a guy in a Dodge Viper.

The Vipers Run is on YouTube along with the Corvette.
The guy running the Vette around the Track gets visibly upset with himself twice.
Once for missing a gear shift and another for losing a few hundredths of a second getting a wheel off the pavement.

 

Did anybody catch the Top Speed the Bike made?

That readout must be in KMH.

 

yes almost certainly km/h.

 

The present track is about 2km shorter than what it used to be when Nicky Lauda set the track record in 1975 at 6.58 in a F1 car

I don't think that is the outright record though

 

Anybody see the fatality at about 30 seconds? lol, poor bug.

 

I told my bike about the 'ring... and she seemed pretty excited to try it. I'm still not sure I'd dare... even when I know the track generally.

Now I'm feeling bad that I'm not riding on the street... when I could.

So I took her wheels off... he is her sad state now:

 

Re: Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO

My wife laughs at me when I lean watching motogp or wsbk. I can't help it, I use to drag my knee weekly in Socal mountains.

 

Re: Let's Go 17.5 Miles On A Yamaha R1 As Fast As It Will GO

pretty sure that rider was holding reserve too, did you see how fast he caught the car in certain sections?

I remember seeing Nicky Hayden on his motogp bike, not sure if it was the 990 firebreathing dragon or the 800 cc machine he's on now (I know it was on the Repsol machine), but he was timed against an F1 machine at I believe it was Phillip Island. He beat the car around the track by a half second or so, but the R1 and that Repsol bike are like night and day with performance and hp.

 

I agree he was holding back... looks as if he was filming the car.

 

I ride a 2000R1. Love the bike. I will love my xj650 as soon as it becomes reliable. Tunning issues.