[Old Baldy]

It's difficult to really know the relative performance of two bikes following each other around a track, because it the relative performance is deceiving when they are accelerating out of corners, due to the timephase between the 2 riders - eg. when one has already started full acceleration and the other is still applying throttle control because he is not yet fully upright, etc. (Or when one had already applied full braking and is slowing down, while the trailing bike has not yet fully applied the brakes, and thus appears to be catching the leading bike or out-braking him, when he really is not. The time gap may well be identical.

THis is a perception issue whenever two bikes are riding one behind the other, and they are accelerating and braking - the bike in front will appear to leap away from the 2nd bike out of each corner or during hard acceleration, but under braking the 2nd bike will appear to outbrake the bike in front and close up the gap.

The difference is due to the difference in speeds at various parts of the track. In reality, the bikes may be CONSTANTLY 1 second apart (or 0.5 second or whatever) but the gap will expand and contract as the speed changes coming out of corners, on the straight, and entering corners under brakes.

I know you guys are fully aware of this, but it's an interesting aspect that some folks may not realize...