Tag Archives: sucks

News

Gearbox Failure Crushed Viñales’ MotoGP Portugal Podium Dreams

When you are actually sick, doing nearly something sucks. Yet that is precisely what Maverick Viñales did for the weekend of the 2024 MotoGP spherical at Portimão in Portugal, when he was apparently affected by a foul bout of gastroenteritis in line with the MotoGP broadcast commentary group. 

If you had been a viewer, you critically could not get by both of the Free Practice classes, Qualifying, the Saturday Sprint race, or the MotoGP predominant occasion race with out repeatedly listening to concerning the poor man’s tummy hassle. No sarcasm supposed in that assertion, both; getting a nasty abdomen bug sucks, and having the sort of stress that MotoGP racers should really feel most likely does not make it any higher. For Mav’s half, he actually wasn’t the one complaining; not less than, not in public.

Instead, the man was simply doing what wanted to be achieved. He saved his eyes on the prize, and even slapped a masks on his face to guard these round him from his virus when he talked to the press for interviews.

Then, when it got here time to channel his namesake and push by the Saturday Sprint race, it was then that Maverick Viñales managed to carry out a small miracle. Not solely did he do properly; he gained the Sprint Race outright. Fever dream or no, it marked the person’s first-ever race win since transferring to Aprilia. Even if he wasn’t feeling one hundred pc himself, it was nonetheless loads of trigger to have fun.

Was this the massive turnaround in fortunes that he wanted? Only time (and the Sunday race) would inform. Sure sufficient, as quickly because the race began and Jorge Martín was off to a completely excellent efficiency on his Ducati, Viñales had what was inarguably among the finest begins he is had in a very long time. 

Immediately, he was operating in second, persistently only a hair off of Martín’s tempo from then on. Anyone watching would have been utterly inside motive to anticipate that we might see Viñales on the rostrum, nearly actually on the second step. Maybe, simply perhaps, even on step one if issues went exceptionally in his favor. He was operating so properly, in reality, that the commentary group (Suzi Perry, Sylvain Guintoli, and Michael Laverty) joked that perhaps he ought to contemplate all the time racing whereas sick. 

Maverick doing Maverick things at the 2024 MotoGP Portugal round.

Maverick doing Maverick issues on the 2024 MotoGP Portugal spherical.

And Then It All Fell Apart On The Last Lap

In an ending you really could not script except you needed to get thrown out of any self-respecting author’s room, one thing clearly locked up on Viñales’ bike in the course of the final lap of the race. He rolled straight off the monitor, and the bike appeared to very merely fall over onto its facet, only some corners away from delivering the beleaguered Aprilia racer a seemingly well-deserved podium.

In the top, it wasn’t Viñales who lined up on the rostrum; it was as an alternative Enea Bastianini, adopted by the blindingly quick rookie Pedro Acosta, who additionally put in a position-climbing efficiency for the ages. As viewers, it wasn’t instantly clear why Viñales’ bike had damaged; we solely knew that it had occurred.

Once the mud had settled, Aprilia issued a press launch explaining that the difficulty was the gearbox. 

Viñales started, “From the sixth lap I could tell that something wasn’t working right with the gearbox. I was losing a lot of time on the straight. I still felt like I could have won, though. It’s a shame about the technical problem.”

“In any case, I’m happy because I know that I gave one hundred percent. This weekend we took a huge step forward. We got our speed back and we demonstrated that the RS-GP24 can win. Now we’ll head to Austin, a track that I like and where I’ll arrive more motivated than ever,” he concluded. 

Let’s hope that he is proper, as a result of MotoGP (and certainly, all racing) is all the time higher when it is a full-on race with thrilling passes and technique, and never a parade. 


Maverick Vinales - MotoGP Portugal 2024

6 Photos

News

Get Unstuck From Sticky Situations With AGM’s Trick Rapid Rope

Off-roading is tons of enjoyable. But what sucks? Getting caught out within the path. Sticky conditions are all a part of the off-roading way of life, no matter whether or not you are piloting a rugged overlander, athletic UTV, or go-anywhere ATV. That being mentioned, for those who’re gonna get caught, would possibly as nicely get unstuck within the best, most hassle-free method, proper?

I lately went on an off-road journey with some actually skilled adventurers, and although I used to be extra of a spectator, I actually realized rather a lot about what it takes to be ready for an off-the-grid journey. Lots of us acquired caught, together with the Suzuki Jimny I used to be using shotgun in. But my buddies’ rigs had been all decked out within the newest and best restoration gear, and only one have a look at their setups made it clear that they spent tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to make their rigs essentially the most succesful on the market.

While that is cool and all, it is actually past the attain of most adventurers’ budgets. But what is not, although? The new Rapid Rope kinetic vitality restoration rope from AGM. 

Some of my friends' rigs during our recent off-road adventure.

Some of my buddies’ rigs throughout our current off-road journey.

The agency focuses on all types of off-road goodies, however this takes the cake because it’s a fast and straightforward restoration resolution that may rapidly get you unstuck from a really sticky state of affairs. For the uninitiated, consider it as a huge, badass rubber band.

You strap one finish onto the tow bar of the caught automobile, and the opposite finish on the restoration automobile. Once it is in place, the restoration automobile drives off because the elastic properties of the rope, in addition to the grunt of the restoration automobile, work collectively to get the caught automobile unstuck.

Best of all, it’s light-weight, compact, and doesn’t have any metallic components, so it’s straightforward to stuff into your utility field or within the glove compartment of your rig. It’s a kind of “keep it and forget about it” kind offers, and provides you further peace of thoughts for adventures large and small. Talk about an irresistible insurance coverage coverage for simply $89.99 USD. 

 
Get Unstuck From Sticky Situations With The AGM Rapid Rope

No one likes getting caught, so for those who’re gonna get unstuck, would possibly as nicely make it as straightforward as attainable, proper?

So what’s the key sauce of the Rapid Rope? Well, it options AGM’s built-in delicate shackles which eradicate the necessity for further metallic {hardware} that are heavy and tends to scratch issues up. Instead, the Rapid Rope makes use of a 10-inch eyelet that secures itself firmly onto the rope making it straightforward to connect in only a matter of seconds.

From there, it’s only a matter of attaching the opposite finish to your towing automobile, and going in your merry method. The Rapid Rope’s delicate shackles additionally eradicate the potential hazard of metallic shackles smacking you within the face within the occasion of a rope snap.

In the thick of journey, the best instruments are often the very best, and AGM’s Rapid Rope appears to be the right instance of this. Who is aware of, this blue rope would possibly simply be what will get you house after a protracted day of adventuring?

Cars

The History Of The Rover Jet1: The First Ever Car With A Turbine Engine

The prototype did not use a standard clutch or gearbox as a result of a turbine engine sucks air into the entrance by way of a fan, the place it is compressed, blended with gasoline, and ignited. That ensuing gasoline/air combination shoots out the again of the automobile as a thrust. With the JET 1, the thrust was “taken directly from the power turbine shaft to the differential rear axle.”

It was first revealed in 1950. A number of years later, Rover dropped in an even bigger engine and broke the world pace report (for fuel turbine vehicles) at 152 mph. JET 1 may run on fuel, paraffin, or diesel oil. Still, after conducting intensive check driving, it was quickly found it used totally an excessive amount of gasoline (some accounts declare it solely averaged 5 to seven miles per gallon) and responded too slowly throughout acceleration, thus proving wholly impractical as a passenger automobile.

Rover continued working with fuel turbine vehicles till 1965 and even created the Rover-BRM Le Mans, which participated within the well-known race in 1963. Even Ford experimented with a turbine-powered Thunderbird. The lone JET 1 presently sits within the London Science Museum, the place it can reportedly by no means be operated once more (to maintain it preserved).

However, at the least three working replicas exist, just one utilizing an precise turbine engine. Austrian Georg Meyr-Harting spent 1,000 hours planning and researching and one other 2,000 hours making his Rover Jet 1 R (the “R” is for “re-creation”). You can see (and listen to) what the JET 1 might have seemed like when in precise operation and may add noise issue to the listing of impractical options related to this turbine-powered automobile.