2005 MotoGP tests

**gav** · 25th January 2005, 22:04

Really? Doohan finished 9th first year, one 4th place. He missed 2 or 3 races too, after crashing in Suzuka 8 hour. Fast at 2nd round Philip Island, crashed in practice and ground half his hand away, well maybe a finger. Finished 3rd next year and race winner in his second season. On a bike that was reported as very difficult to ride. Whats Hayden done, in the best team in the paddock and on without a doubt the best bike? You saying you're not suprised he hasn't won a race yet?

**James Deuce** · 25th January 2005, 22:13

Originally Posted by gav

Really? Doohan finished 9th first year, one 3rd place. He missed 2 or 3 races too, after crashing in Suzuka 8 hour. Fast at 1st round Philip Island, crashed in practice and ground half his hand away, well maybe a finger. Finished 3rd next year and race winner in his second season. On a bike that was reported as very difficult to ride. Whats Hayden done, in the best team in the paddock and on without a doubt the best bike? You saying you're not suprised he hasn't won a race yet?

No I'm not. He's been injured badly enough two seasons running to keep most people away from work for months at a time.

It took Doohan 3 years to be consistently competitive on a bike that was the class of the field at the time. Geez buy a Suzuki and someone who was a mate goes all arsey on ya.

**gav** · 25th January 2005, 22:24

That early NSR was farkin lethal mate, even turned the great Eddie Lawson white as sheet first time he rode it, remember Lawson joined HRC team in 1989 as team mate to Wayne Gardner with Doohan as the rookie. The bike was a shocker. Its well documented how Lawson and Kanemoto did some serious bracing to get the bike to handle and was fascinating watch the previous Steady Eddie change his riding style and muscle and manhandle the bike into nearly submission.
It wasnt until 92 they cracked it and really got the NSR as the awesome package that dominated for so long.

You're looking at the power behind ten of Honda's eleven 500cc World Championships won from 1984 to present — six in a row 1994 to 1999. With more than 100 wins to its credit, the NSR500 is the most dominant force in modern Grand Prix motorcycle racing. The 1989 NSR that won Honda's third 500 World Championship with Eddie Lawson exemplifies the overwhelming power, acceleration and raw speed that has always been synonymous with Honda's 500cc two-stroke V-4.

Designed to succeed Honda's first two-stroke Grand Prix racer — the NS500 triple that earned Honda's first 500cc World Championship with Freddie Spencer in 1983 — the NSR500 debuted in 1984. Building on lessons learned from its three-cylinder predecessor, the new V-4 used a single crankshaft, making it lighter and more compact than its dual-crankshaft adversaries. Though tormented by unorthodox chassis technology in its freshman season, the NSR evolved to clinch Honda's second 500cc GP title in 1985. Opening the V-angle to 112 degrees in 1987 made room for a quartet of 36mm Keihin carburetors between the cylinders where they could be fed more cool air. The new arrangement also let the engine exhale more efficiently through its four artfully intertwined expansion chambers. By year's end, Aussie Wayne Gardner won seven of 15 races to earn Honda a third 500cc World Championship.

Entirely redesigned for 1988, the NSR got a stiffer, twin-spar aluminum chassis and various engine changes. More improvements gave Eddie Lawson's 1989 NSR500 upwards of 165 horsepower at 12,000 rpm — essentially doubling the output of Mike Hailwood's 1966 Honda RC181 Grand Prix four-stroke. Capable of well over 190 miles per hour, the 1989 bikes ridden by Lawson and rookie teammate Mick Doohan had more top speed and acceleration than anything else on the track. To contain all that muscle, the stiffer, twin-spar aluminum chassis used a curved, gull-wing-type swingarm to accommodate more-efficient expansion chambers. The result was an unforgiving, but brutally fast, package that earned Honda a fourth 500cc World Championship in 1989 that was Lawson's fourth as well.

Though the 499cc V-4 could produce more than 200 horsepower, chassis development, sophisticated engine management and an Australian named Mick Doohan made the NSR500 a legend in the 1990s. Extensive testing in 1991 led to a new aluminum chassis patterned on the successful RVF750 endurance racer. Honda unveiled a revolutionary idea with a 1992 V-4 that was timed to fire all four cylinders within 65-70 degrees of crankshaft rotation. Along with a balance shaft that neutralized the single crankshaft engine's gyroscopic effects, the 1992 NSR500 was a breakthrough. Emphasizing acceleration over sheer speed, Doohan used the "big-bang" engine to win five of the first seven 500 Grand Prix races of 1992. Although a badly broken leg denied Doohan's bid for the 1992 World Championship, he would not be denied for long. Beginning in 1994, Doohan and the NSR won five consecutive 500cc World Championships. Winning 12 of 15 races in 1997, he broke a single-season win record that was set in 1972. Combining for 54 total 500 Grand Prix wins, no man and machine in modern history had dominated the 500 World Championship so thoroughly.

Constant development and ever-increasing sophistication sharpened the NSR's edge, earning Honda two more 500 World Championships, with Alex Criville in 1999 and again with Valentino Rossi in 2001. Still, for anyone who ever heard it, the shriek of that 1989 NSR500 at 12,000 rpm still recalls the spectacle of 500 Grand Prix racing at the end of the 1980s, when too much power was just enough.

**gav** · 25th January 2005, 22:37

Which New Zealander raced in a round of the 1989 World 500 Grand Prix?

**inlinefour** · 26th January 2005, 04:01

At the end of the day I care not for the colour of the bikes and gear. Just as long as there is some good racing going on...

**gav** · 26th January 2005, 06:05

http://motogp.tiscali.com/ppv_multim...7961_78558.wmv
Video day 1 testing
http://motogp.tiscali.com/ppv_multim...8091_63690.wmv
video footage of day 2 testing!
http://motogp.tiscali.com/ppv_multim...8353_13771.wmv
Day 3 footage!

**James Deuce** · 26th January 2005, 06:14

Eddie Lawson is on record in December 2004 Motorcyclist that most of the stories about those late '80s/early '90s 500s are more about psyching the opposition than reality, and also admits that making the bike stiffer contributed to handling issues rather than solved problems.

**merv** · 26th January 2005, 07:05

Originally Posted by gav

Which New Zealander raced in a round of the 1989 World 500 Grand Prix?

Without searching probably Andrew Stroud, because Crosby, Ireland, Scott and others had retired by then and Crafar was coming up.

**White trash** · 26th January 2005, 07:16

-- Sepang Tests Day 3 --

Capirossi 2m00.52s

Gibernau 2m01.29s

Rossi 2m01.35s

Hayden 2m01.74s

Biaggi 2m01.88s

Edwards 2m01.93s

Barros 2m01.98s

Melandri 2m02.20s

Bayliss 2m02.69s

Nakano 2m02.74s

Tamada 2m02.96s

Elias 2m02.98s

Hofmann 2m03.70s

Xaus 2m04.04s

That's apparently 1.3 seconds under the pole record for Capirossi. Fark me!

**denill** · 26th January 2005, 07:19

Originally Posted by gav

Which New Zealander raced in a round of the 1989 World 500 Grand Prix?

And without searching - I reckon Robert Scott, from Wanganui (Now Taupo I think) got a shot on a Yamaha (I think). He ended up totalling it and his phone didn't ring after that.

Cheers
BillW

**merv** · 26th January 2005, 11:31

Bill you mean Richard Scott I guess, but I was thinking he'd retired by then except he is now back on post classics and did quite well at Wanganui. Comes from Tauranga these days I think too, not Taupo.

**denill** · 26th January 2005, 11:43

Originally Posted by merv

Bill you mean Richard Scott I guess, but I was thinking he'd retired by then except he is now back on post classics and did quite well at Wanganui. Comes from Tauranga these days I think too, not Taupo.

Yeah, you're right Merv, I should have said Richard. He had a lot of potential to go to the top but it came down to the same old story - politics (country of origin) and money (that can be brought to the team) with out those criteria being met it is VERY uphill for even the MOST talented Kiwi.............
He opened a m/c shop in Taupo didn't he??

OK, we give in Gav - Which New Zealander raced in a round of the 1989 World 500 Grand Prix??

Cheers
BillW

**merv** · 26th January 2005, 11:51

This is Richard's car business as far as I know:

Richard Scott Motors Ltd LMVD cnr Cameron Rd & Ninth Ave Tauranga

MNZ here http://www.motorcyclingnz.co.nz/roll...1980-1989.aspx doesn't mention any Kiwi in GPs in 1989 and Richard gets a mention in 1986 and 1987, but not for GPs.

What stands out in that list of course is how good Croz was back then.

**k14** · 26th January 2005, 12:05

I know stroud got a go on the 500's sometime, but i think it was later than 89 (maybe 93). He had only just started racing for britten then (or started around that year).

Although what do I know, I have only watched motorbike racing for less than a year.