Gingerman Dreaming...

[r1owner]

Yup, according to the schedule, every single race will be combined... This is going to be soooooo much fun!

DOH! :)

[DanO966]

Nothin' nice...traffic by the second lap...lol
I'm from chicago area that's all I deal with is traffic... ;)

[Super Dave]

It's the great equalizer so to speak   ;)

LOL, right...

"If rain were the great equalizer, I'd stil win, it just wouldn't be by as much..."  a wise racer once told me.

But it sometimes allows for a poor set up to work and risks to be re-evaluated.

Good luck, guys...
 ;D

[H-man]

Weather projection is now sunny skies and high temp in the low 80s.

See y'all there.

Wave as you zip by me ;D

[Super Dave]

Nothin' nice...traffic by the second lap...lol
I'm from chicago area that's all I deal with is traffic... ;)

LOL! ;D

[Dawn]

LOL, right...

"If rain were the great equalizer, I'd stil win, it just wouldn't be by as much..."  a wise racer once told me.

But it sometimes allows for a poor set up to work and risks to be re-evaluated.

I'm confused....

Why then when it rains does it allow Paul to run (and beat) guys like Lacey and Key?  Hell, he even gave Jessie Janish a run for his money at Gingerman.

Why, when it rains, does the Suzuki's in MotoGP run near the front?

A very, very, wise racer once told me (yellow bike, used to have the #5 on it) that Paul's size and weight was an advantage in the rain.  

If it was because Paul was running a poor set up.....  Just remember who it was that suggested the settings.   ;)

[TZDeSioux]

The way I see it.. atleast for me is that rain riding don't prove a damn thing. My very first race ever was in the rain. I bogged the start as usual, went into turn 1 dead last by a mile. Ended up finishing second by half a bike length. I wasn't even close to getting a second the rest of the season in the dry. What does that tell me? Nothing except that I'm a crap ass rider and I was willing to risk falling down a bit more than the rest of the guys in my race.

[Dawn]

Nothing except that I'm a crap ass rider and I was willing to risk falling down a bit more than the rest of the guys in my race.

Well, you may see it that way....

Personally, I believe that Paul, Don Cook, and others are good riders in the rain and the dry.  Although, when dealing with weight and horsepower differences, the rain equals these things out.  Since you have to be really smoooth in the rain with your braking, turning, and throttle control....   I believe the rain will showcase a rider more than the machine he's riding.

My $0.02

Dawn   :)

[Scott]

I doubt there is a direct correlation between rain results and rider ability in dry conditions.  

If a rider who is crazy fast in dry conditions because he can late brake, slide the front, and spin the rear crashes in T1 in the wet doing the same thing, does that mean he really sucks as a rider?

Conversely, if a rider is incredibly smooth and flowing in the dry and finishes 10th, but in the rain finishes 2nd, does that mean he's really awesome but the dry track is hiding his real talent?

My point is I think riding in the wet may not be the "great equalizer" but the great "it's now a different race".

[Super Dave]

I believe the rain will showcase a rider more than the machine he's riding.

Interesting.

However, rain changes the traction that is available.  Those issues can of benefit to certain set ups that are not as good as they could be in the dry.   We could go through long lists of variables that we could take into account.

Chassis geometry can change because of the different heights and contours of rain tires.  Dampening qualities can be different because of different carcass designs.  Spring rates?

I hate the rain, but one of my best AMA results was at Laguna on a 600 in the 750 race in the rain.  Wasn't because my bike was better, but because certain things in the chassis allowed me to have better traction (well, not good...we weren't allowed rain tires years ago in Supersport) than others.  I was hooking up and doing ok where others struggled.  There were certain things in my chassis that I recognized later that did not make it optimum for high traction situations necessarily.

Set ups change.  Unless you're chasing it a bit, it can be stagnate.  Based on rider feedback, poor or good, you get what you have.  The trick is to recognize what feel is all about and to make decisions based on that.

[Jeff]

My point is I think riding in the wet may not be the "great equalizer" but the great "it's now a different race".

I would agree with that comment (despite calling rain an equalizer in the past).  

I would also agree that setups do change in the rain from the dry.  Some people understand this and can take advantage of it better than others.  This often is coupled with added confidence and the 'feeling' that a person can win.  Likewise, there are FAST dry people who simply hate the rain, and their riding shows it...

[Dawn]

Thanks for the replies everyone....

Dawn  ;)