End Of McW?

[The Basket]

it seems that Jeremy McWilliams fractured his femur and collarbone, and sustained other serious injuries to the fingers on his left hand, testing the Ilmor.

Could be a career ending crash maybe? old fellers don't bounce like young'uns.

The Ilmor is 4 seconds off the pace and 4 seconds is plenty to catch up on.

The Fastest Ducati is Barros! On the Pramac d'Antin! Not by much but still!
The Suzukis are still strong...but Pedrosa seems to be ahead...could be the blueprint fot the season.

[Alpinestarhero]

Yea, i read that. I hope not. That guy is the fastest rider in the world when he wants to be, and when the bike whats him to be.

Im sure he'll come back, hes as hard as nails.

Anyone remember that sachsenring race where he came second on the kitted QUB honda?

Marvellous!

Matt

[Supervox]

According to Eurosport Jezza says that his doctors have told him that the injuries will only take 4 -5 weeks to heal !! :D

Oh, and that he's gonna lose part of a finger - but it was damaged before &not much use anyway apparently !! :shock:

[Peter Henry]

Very early in the development process, but thus far the two factory Ducati's are way off the pace. beginning to think I should not have faxed my Jerez ticket request yesterday! :? (Yeah the tickets came on sale yesterday and demand will be massive once again I am sure!)

[The Basket]

Early days to say who is off the pace.

I would love the suzukis to do well.

I think a few manufacturers may have had a few nasty shocks after the first rounds of testing.

[fizzwheel]

Testings testing, you see this every year, alot of the teams sandbag or don't reveal their true peformane in the winter tests. I wouldnt be worrying just yet Peter :wink:

Whens the official tests next year, the test where everybody turns up, that IMHO is probably going to give a truer idea of how fast everybody is.

[Peter Henry]

McWilliams and Pitt are to get the Ilmor rides next season that is now official. Apparently Ilmor bosses were impressed with Jeremy's positive attitude in doing away with part of a digit in order to be competitive on the smaller and lighter 80cc machine! :D

[Biker Biggles]

Amputation?A rather extreme form of mass centralisation I think.
They want J Mc for his development skills no doubt.

[Jdubya]

...on the smaller and lighter 80cc machine! :D

Peter, that sun is way too harsh on you for the time of year :lol: :lol: Perhaps a week or two back in grey blighty will do wonders for you :wink: :lol: :lol:

[Peter Henry]

:shock: :D

[The Basket]

Andrew Pitt and Jezza?
A good positive line up if you ask me. Jezza certainly rides to the bitter end and the ability to mutilate himself for the team is very positive.

80cc might be a truth there! If the lap times of the Ilmor are any times to go by :lol:
But I will wish them well and give them a thumbs up for effort.

[Peter Henry]

Basket your thinking is possibly much wiser than my own,but I have a sneaky feeling that come mid way in the season the Ilmor will be contending for top 10 finishes. I say that as the guys behind the team are not only very serious and professional, but are proven winners also.

Apparently their set up in Nottingham indicates their intent fully as the facility is apparently as good as you can get. :wink:

[The Basket]

Basket your thinking is possibly much wiser than my own,but I have a sneaky feeling that come mid way in the season the Ilmor will be contending for top 10 finishes. I say that as the guys behind the team are not only very serious and professional, but are proven winners also.

Apparently their set up in Nottingham indicates their intent fully as the facility is apparently as good as you can get. :wink:

Proven but not in bike racing. Many have tried and many have failed. I will eat my lunch if they get in top ten consistantly. Harsh but just saying is all...

[Supervox]

Basket your thinking is possibly much wiser than my own,but I have a sneaky feeling that come mid way in the season the Ilmor will be contending for top 10 finishes. I say that as the guys behind the team are not only very serious and professional, but are proven winners also.

Apparently their set up in Nottingham indicates their intent fully as the facility is apparently as good as you can get. :wink:

Proven but not in bike racing. Many have tried and many have failed. I will eat my lunch if they get in top ten consistantly. Harsh but just saying is all...

However, Ilmor seem to be taking the whole thing very seriously. They've not come into the padock with the "well we've won in F1 so we'll just use that expertise" - a mistake others have made in the past - what works for F1 won't necessarily work for MotoGP.

I'd suggest that anyone who doubts their intentions take a look at their website :-

HERE (http://www.ilmor.co.uk/index.php)

They're certainly not lacking in money or facilities !!

I for one hope they do really well - it would be great to see a non-motorcycling based company at least playing seriously with the big boys !! :D

[The Basket]

Pitt was very positive about his season so lets dream.

He was Kwak first rider in Motogp when they were lapped every race so that experience should be beneficial.

Garry McCoy was dropped which I thought was a bit odd. Would have thought a gentleman of experience like him would be a plus.

[Peter Henry]

Basket...McCoy's sliding antics would not be as easy to perform with the way the 800cc bikes lay down the power. Maybe they noted he was struggling in the saddle time he was given?

Remember Jezza was a 250cc race winner and that can do him no harm at all me thinks.

[Vfr400]

I like to see the Ilmor project suceed, much to the point that the engine would be available to other teams to encourage more bikes on the grid. Whist this year we have been lucky with the Rossi / Hayden clash with only 18 or so bikes on the grid theres little depth to the field. see how the grid now only has 3 bikes per row to make a longer grid for for TV. After Rossi retires i think it will need grids of 30 or so bikes to keep the interest up. The thought of the Talented but charmless Danny winning the championship fills me with dread for the future after Rossi retires.

Just my 2 p's worth

chris