225MPH run at MotoGP

acadian

acadian

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"Records are falling at the Losail Circuit ahead of the MotoGP Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar. Johann Zarco of Premac set a new top speed record in MotoGP after topping out at 225.18 mph (362.4 km/h) during the series’ fourth practice session."

jalopnik.com

Johann Zarco Sets Top Speed Record In MotoGP After Hitting 225 MPH - Jalopnik

Records are falling at the Losail Circuit ahead of the MotoGP Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar. Johann Zarco of Premac set a new top speed record in MotoGP after topping out at 225.18 mph (362.4 km/h) during the series’ fourth practice session.
jalopnik.com jalopnik.com
 
It’d be scary enough on the salt or airfield etc. But on a racetrack, with other riders, and bends...

Race tracks must seem very small and bends very sharp !
 
Fast Eddie said:
Race tracks must seem very small and bends very sharp !
Click to expand...
Reminds me of when I was in a passenger seat of an Audi on the Autobahn, when we can to the unlimited bit the foot went to the floor and what you would normally call a wide and sweeping bend became like a bend on a B road. The Audi was limited to 260KPH and the needle was pegged at 260kph while there was no one in front. Passed 2 other cars beached on bend verges with muddy tracks running straight up the verges, must have forgot to turn the wheel :eek: .
 
That’s an impressive speed for sub 1000cc and no forced induction. It helps having a whippet as a pilot as well to keep out of the airflow. I wonder what one would do at the standing start mile we raced at?
 
I have a theory that as fast as you go, that is the speed at which you should be prepared to fall off your motorcycle. For me, race speeds above 100 MPH are a bit too too fast. I have stepped off a few times at those speeds and I do not like it. The reality is, it is always going to happen. When you race you don't need extreme speeds to have a good time. A 250 cc four stroke is enough for a beginner and a 500cc Manx is beyond the capability of many.
When I was young, the TZ750 was THE bike. You would have to be an idiot to race one. What does that say about our modern bikes ?
 
I crashed at RAF Woodbridge when I hit the timing lights battery, I was clocked at 192mph at the time. I surprised everyone, me included, when I picked myself up off the tarmac and walked to the ambulance sent to pick me up. I was practically unscathed, broken nose, cracked a rib, and a broken toe.
it took me 6 weeks to rebuild the bike, then I got back on the horse as they say, and got back on track again. I ran an unofficial 235mph, my satnav showed it, the timing failed. A couple of runs later a good friend had a rear tyre delaminate as he crossed the line at over 200. He slid as far as me, but wasn’t able to get up. For a long time. He spent several months in hospital - and I retired from racing the same day. My Busa turbo road bike was 330bhp on super-unleaded and 525 on race fuel.
 
acotrel said:
I have a theory that as fast as you go, that is the speed at which you should be prepared to fall off your motorcycle. For me, race speeds above 100 MPH are a bit too too fast. I have stepped off a few times at those speeds and I do not like it. The reality is, it is always going to happen. When you race you don't need extreme speeds to have a good time. A 250 cc four stroke is enough for a beginner and a 500cc Manx is beyond the capability of many.
When I was young, the TZ750 was THE bike. You would have to be an idiot to race one. What does that say about our modern bikes ?
Click to expand...
Yamaha first made the TZ700 which in the hands of even someone who did have vast experience could be just about deadly, the later slightly more detuned TZ750 was regarded as easier to ride. But still the wrong bike to start on. The big capacity moto gp bikes today will give either a run for their money - which comes to my point, no amount of money can buy you experience.
 
I sometimes wonder where all of this is going. The more electronics there are on the bike, the safer the rider will be until they pull a real boomer.

 
Landspeedracer said:
I crashed at RAF Woodbridge when I hit the timing lights battery, I was clocked at 192mph at the time. I surprised everyone, me included, when I picked myself up off the tarmac and walked to the ambulance sent to pick me up. I was practically unscathed, broken nose, cracked a rib, and a broken toe.
it took me 6 weeks to rebuild the bike, then I got back on the horse as they say, and got back on track again. I ran an unofficial 235mph, my satnav showed it, the timing failed. A couple of runs later a good friend had a rear tyre delaminate as he crossed the line at over 200. He slid as far as me, but wasn’t able to get up. For a long time. He spent several months in hospital - and I retired from racing the same day. My Busa turbo road bike was 330bhp on super-unleaded and 525 on race fuel.
Click to expand...
A 50 BHP Manx Norton is probably too much motorcycle for any beginner. I am a fairly experienced rider, but I would hesitate to take even a modern 600cc sports bike around Winton Raceway, even though I know what the corners should look like as you approach them.
I had a friend who had an Egli TZ750. Another friend who was quite experienced ride it, he said he did not like the way the ends of the straights got narrower.
 
I think a lot of guys who ride modern bikes, regard old guys who ride classics as being slow. A good bike makes a good rider, but reality bites. The top bike currently seems to be the BMW. The bike itself is designed to cope with rider errors. That might be a good thing, unless it deceives.
 
acotrel said:
A 50 BHP Manx Norton is probably too much motorcycle for any beginner. I am a fairly experienced rider, but I would hesitate to take even a modern 600cc sports bike around Winton Raceway, even though I know what the corners should look like as you approach them.
I had a friend who had an Egli TZ750. Another friend who was quite experienced ride it, he said he did not like the way the ends of the straights got narrower.
Click to expand...
Ha, ha! - he should try riding that around one of th narrow bumpy street circuits like Scarborough, were some bumkin on a 500 Manx overtakes him. . . ..
 
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The speeds down the straights on any race circuit can be irrelevant if there are enough tight corners. And the faster you go, the tighter the corners become.
 

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