Submitted by David Emmett on
Phillip Island + rain = clear visors, and a sight of the concentration riding the track requires
Once upon a time, Valentino Rossi reigned supreme at Phillip Island. He needs help from Yamaha for those days to return
Phillip Island did not go to plan for Fabio Quartararo. A big crash on Friday, and another on on race day
Things were even worse for Miguel Oliveira, whose massive smash at Turn 1 caused qualifying to be canceled on Saturday. He might be forced to miss Sepang as well
Downside to Phillip Island: a small mistake can have serious consequences
Upside: we get a peek under the covers. Note the external flywheel, used to modify torque reaction from the engine (including manufacturing date). Vary the weight of the flywheel, and you change how the engine reacts. A V4 means there's room to do this. Also note how long the front frame spar is, all to provide some flex in the frame.
Cal Crutchlow conquered his demons at Phillip Island with a podium
Motion
Whither Lorenzo? The Spaniard had his worst race since returning to action at Phillip Island. It did nothing to quell the speculation of his imminent firing/retirement
Fabio Quartararo qualified on pole with a badly swollen ankle ...
Then made a mistake in Turn 2, and got hit by Danilo Petrucci ...
Ending with him being knocked off his bike and ending in the gravel. A bad weekend all round
When Maverick Viñales got past Cal Crutchlow, Marc Marquez knew he had to make his move
Marquez clamped on to Viñales like a limpet
Viñales attempt to retake the lead ended in disaster at MG
The bike did not fare well
Fortunately for Viñales, the only thing that was wounded was his ambition
The battle for third was intense. Jack Miller came out on top, in one of the strangest liveries of recent years
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Comments
Cutout behind the steering head on Bagnaia's GP18
It looks like Ducati has got a > shaped cutout covered by the wire bundles and a layer of laid up carbon fibre, on Pecco's GP18 immediately behind the steering head, similar to that of Yamaha's.
Frame Cutout
When I zoom in on the large image, it looks to me like the frame spars are formed into a sort of yoke the leaves the space between the steering stem bearings open. The carbon bit looks like it's the ducting from the nose of the bike into the airbox.
And if that round bob with the cutouts on either side is, in fact, the flywheel, they sure pack it in there mighty tight. Of course, *everything* is packed mighty tight on these bikes.
Well done to Cormac for being
Well done to Cormac for being at the perfect places to capture the Quatararo and Vinalez crashes at the decisive moments!
livery
pretty sure Miller was thinking it was strange too!! Not quite sure how the Ned Kelly one was going to work... The pattern on the bike was pretty cool though, it looked like the Queen Alien in "Aliens".........
Viñales was on pole, not Quartararo ;)
Viñales was on pole, not Quartararo ;)