[badri]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Exactly, he isnt just another celebrity.... if you know what I mean. Even ferrari claims for some of their models that even a novice driver would post lap times very close to a test driver. In this case we arent talking about a novice.

Even though he is not a novice to motorsports, he is a novice to competetive motor cycling. And driving a car for a Motogp racer ( like Rossi) would be relatively easier than that of an F1 racer riding a bike. I am a die hard Rossi fan and a long time non supporter of Schumi. But in this case, I feel what Schumi has done is greater than what Rossi has done in a Ferrari. I really dont think any other F1 racer would replicate this.

[badri]

Originally Posted by badri

For getting into that 5 second margin, you still need to put your knee down, brake hard into corners ( remember on carbon brakes), maybe spin the wheel a little bit on the exit of the corners etc. You dont get those times by trundling around as any other celebrity. I would say this is awesome!!

A small correction from my previous post- He was not even using carbon brakes for this test.Maybe he could have gone faster with those. And his time is just about 3 seconds from WSBK lap record!!

[merve_extreme]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Exactly, he isnt just another celebrity.... if you know what I mean. Even ferrari claims for some of their models that even a novice driver would post lap times very close to a test driver. In this case we arent talking about a novice.

In this case we are talking about a racing driver who has not raced for a year and comes to within 5 secs of the lap record just on his first day with a machine which he riding for the first time using brakes inferior to those used to set the lap record (Steel vs Carbon).Long sentence isn't it ?

Riding a bike fast requires more practice than driving a car fast.

[hollywoodhogan]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Exactly, he isnt just another celebrity.... if you know what I mean. Even ferrari claims for some of their models that even a novice driver would post lap times very close to a test driver. In this case we arent talking about a novice.

he is a novice on 2 wheels for sure but 5 seconds off the pace is not a shame but rather a respectable time. no one here is trying to make him a motogp racer but just giving credit to his presentable lap times.

[govigov]

going from 4 wheels to 2 wheels and getting that lap time, i believe is pretty commendable.