So what is the collective opinions about Michael changing rides today ? Smack in the gob for Yamaha and I wonder if they will get a credible rider at such short notice. Andy
would make you question signing md in future maybe ? mind you if your after a win then hes possibly your best chance.he will be hard to touch on the bmw.
From what little conversation I've heard, it looks like the age old question. Do you change the bike to suit your style or change your style to suit the bike. With the R1 very new, I don't have an answer although the bike seems to suit the track okay. It was doing 1:35s at Cartagena in March with little more than an ECU change, a prototype exhaust and some decent tyres. Andy
If Michael Dunlop had a contract with Milwaukee Yamaha, it would be interesting to read the small print in that contract. Is MD allowed to simply dump Yamaha and walk away at a moment's notice? Or will litigation follow?
Cartagena, or any track, isnt the TT. They rescued him when he had no ride. Nice way to pay them back. Good luck with a ride next year.
The only way he will make a TT in future is by running his own team. Maybe that's what he wants but you cant piss off most of the paddock every single year and expect to get the best bikes to ride.
If hutchy is 'back' I'd have a tenner on him taking the surperbike as Ansty just seems to lack consistency over the course and others of equal quality will have as good a bike as Dunlop
:Wtf: :Banghead: Bruce has been on the podium every year since year 2000 in at least one of the classes :Finger: :Angelic:.
From reports the bike is putting oil in the airbox at constant high revs. Happened at the nw200 and continued through practice for the TT. Possibly a design flaw. Check any photo from practice and nw and it looks similar to this It also appears that there was a bike performance clause in the contract with Yamaha and the bmw option was sorted after nw200. The BSB team where running standard tanks,linkages and airboxes until a few rounds ago. I think it's a wise decision as the bike clearly isn't ready for the TT course. Short circuits maybe where it isn't sat against the limiter for prolonged periods of time but they clearly need some special parts for the. Roads. Also a wise decision when the stakes are so much higher than a trip to the gravel.
a mate put a pic up of his bike after 3 practice laps, one tyre, not at the front guys pace, and his well prepped ZX10R looked 15 years old! Most certainly not short circuit racing...
I think its pretty piss poor from Michael to be honest. 3 laps is all it took for him to make the decision to jump ship. Fair enough there is an oil issue and the bike is not yet 100% but he could have given the bike and the team a bit more of a chance to try and improve. If the bike was such a safety issue then Dean Harrison wouldn't be racing his R1. Also in last nights qualifying Dean has improved on his lap time and moved up the order a little so it shows progress has and can be made.
I wouldn't say it was just 3 laps. How many laps of the NW200 did he do on the superbike? I think he made the decision at the NW200 to be honest. The practice sessions at the TT was him giving them a chance to turn things around.
Fair enough you're right there but still a bit late in the day to be leaving his team without a rider. Good luck to him and the rest of them though, brave lads hammering around the TT course.
As far as I understand, they were told at the NW200 to get it sorted. MD is not there to attend, he wants to win and has the ability to win. The bike arrived at the TT and wasn't ready. To hell with the legal crap, let the lawyers go hungry for a couple of weeks. Pissing around the IOM on something that's not running right, better off sitting at home.
Found this amusing whilst strolling around the Grandstand paddock area - Apparently these were £16 until Thursday, now you can have 3 for a tenner -
