Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Round 2 MOTOGP May 2 , 2004 ~ BIG BANG ALL OVER AGAIN I Motorcycles and science don 't mix . They are too human. This contention has been born out many times in the past. Now a new (actually a revived ) conundrum reinforces it further. It is that engines with uneven firing intervals somehow work better on motorcycles than the same engine would with even firing intervals. It's the old Big Bang concept. introd uced by Honda in 1992 in the two-stroke years. though later rejected by its star ride r Mick Doohan. Now Yamaha is thought to have int roduced a version of its own . Though it will reveal no details, it is commonly supposed to have retimed the crankshaft of its in-line four-cylin- der MI. A conventional four has the outer cylinders moving together, and the inner pair likewise - two up. and two down. This spaces the firing strokes evenly, one bang for every IBO degrees of crankshaft revolution . The likeliest configuration for the new deep-throated version is that the inner cylinders have been delayed by 90 degrees. This would emulate the firing intervals of a 90-degree V4 like the Ducati.. . unless it has gone even bigger-bang by firing cylinders one and four simultaneously, and likewise two and three. In theory, this changes nothing about the power curve or the torque curve. In practice, it gives the rider the illusion of greater bottom-end torque. More than just an illusion , because historically the lap times also improve as well as the feeling. The odd thing is that nobody can explain why. "It's a theory that close firing order is easier on the tire... but we have noticed no difference in the way the bikes use the tires; not with the two-strokes nor now," said Nicolas Goubert, Michelin boss . Technical guru Erv Kanemoto. with Honda during the Big Bang revolution , is none the wiser. "Engine people will argue with you all day that jt makes no difference - but we know from experience that it makes a lot of difference," Kanemoto said. " But I can't explain why, technically." leapt into the lead off the line, but he didn't seem to care , and by the end of the first lap he was mo re than three seconds ahead of the rest. He kept on pulling away, totally assured. With three laps left he had a lead of almost nine seconds when he was put off line passing backmarkers, hit a puddle , and slipped off. He scrambled back on board, re-joined in seventh and was up to fifth at the end; but the race itself had gone to the survivors of an up-and-down pursuit pack, engaged in serial dramas of their own . Roberto Locatelli had started fast but faded, and after eight laps Barbera was heading jenkner and Andrea Dovizioso, a little way ahead of Simoncelli. jenkner was flying after com ing through from a slow start in ninth. Then he hit a slick patch, was thrown out of the seat , lucky to land back on his bike. But it was heading off the track and straight for the airfence. A wild ride across the grass and the save of the weekend meant he missed it by inches and got back onto the hard stuff in sixth to start all over again. Simoncelli inherited Stoner's lead, comfortably clear of a brawl involving Barbera, jenkner, Dovizioso and roo kie Mattia Pasini, until he too slid off. Simoncelli almost lost it again. Three seconds ahead at the start of the last lap, he started celebrating with wheelies and waving well before the line. jenkner had his head down behind him, and came within almost half a second of getting ahead. Barbera was narrowly ahead of Dovizioso at the finish ; Stoner got ahead of Andrea Ballerini and Youichi Ui to save fifth place. Locatelli was eighth, another three seconds down , with Pablo Nieto and Mirko Giansant i filling the top ten, some way behind. Dovizioso heads the championship, 38 points to 28 apiece to jenkner and Locatelli. eN Stoner has 27; Simoncelli 2S. So, for the moment, it remains strange. but true. It is possibly something to do with har monics, and certainly not to do with metaphysics. It just seems that way. Let Carlos Checa explain: "The new engine feels as though you are in one gear higher ... but it is going faster." Which is just about exactly what the BigBang Honda riders said, back in 1992. JEREZ DE lA FRONTERA JEREZ, SPAIN RESULTS: MAy 2, 2004 (ROUND Rossi almost chucked it down the road early in the race but recovered without crashing to finish fourth. 32 MAY 12, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS 2) MOTOGP QUALIFYING: I. Valen t ino Rossi ( 1;-«l.8 18); 2. Sete Gibemau ( 1 ;~ 1. 1 98) ; 3. Carlos Cbeca ( 1 ; ~ 1.~ 2 7) ; 4. Max Bi&&, ( 1 ; 4 1. 5~6 ) ; 5. M.koto TOUNda , ( H I.63 1); 6. Shin)" N. """" ( 1 ;~ 1. 645) ; 7. Nicky Hayden ( 1:4 1.9 11); 8. Col in Edwards ( 1:42.000); 9. Alex Barros (I ;42 . 1 ~ 1 ) ; 10. Kenny Robem J<. ( 1;42.32 1); II. M" co Melmd rl ( 1 ;~ 2.4 79) ; 12. Ruben Xeus ( 1 ; ~ 2.94 5); 13. John Hopki ns ( I :42.95" ); I" . Alex Hofman n ( I:43.()()4); IS. l oris Capiross; ( 1;43.008); 16. Shane Byrne (1 ;~ 3 .0H) ; 17. Troy BayliSS ( I;43.349); 18. Neil Hodgson ( I ; ~ 3 . 627) ; 19. je,em y McWiIl""" ( 1 ;~ 3 . 710) ; 20. Norick Abe (1:+1.058); 2 1. Nobeatsu Aoki ( 1 ;~H 3 6 ); 22. Kurns Roberts (1 ; ~ 5 .899) ; 23. Michel Fabrizio (I ;~8. 48 5). MOTOGP: I. Sete Gibemau (Hon); 2. Max Biaggi (Hon); 3. Alex Bartos (Hon) : 4. Valentino Rossi (Yam); 5. Nicky Hayden (Hon); 6. Carlos Checa (Hon); 7. Colin Edwards (Hen ); 8. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Sua): 9. 5hi"Y' Nakano (!

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