Yes, I have made a comparison between some Bray Hill shots from the past and those I took from myself this year. In the past (certainly until the 70s-80s) the bikes aviated on the bumpings through the descent of Bray Hill: this year I have seen Archibald going through the same point without any aviating of the wheels and with the head under the screen. The shot I took from the right side shows his right hand well rotated on the throttle!!

But what does it really happen at the bottom? As Don Simons says the shots from the past show the suspension of the bikes really bottomed and the tyres flattened by the inerzial force due to the compression. The shots I took from the Junior race show that these physical phenomena are actually reduced but...the sounds of the scraping are really terryfing. Also the racing line followen by the bikes seems to be different: in the past the bikes seemed to go early from the left to the right. Another thing that impressed me has been the inclination of the bikes at the right kink on the bottom: in our days it's a real cornering and this is obviously due to the greater speed.

My final opinion is that it's highly unprobable that a F1 1000cc. machine may go absolutely flat out through the bottom of Bray Hill. If we recognize that the speed on the finish line is about 170 mph and that the maximum speed of this machines is more than 190 mph and that there are many descent hundred of yards past the finish line for accelerating the bike, which should the speed at the bottom of Bray Hil be??? But the best riders say they are able to do so....The mystere goes on...

Instead I think that the thing is really possible for the 600cc and most at all for the 250cc. machines. Having seen and heard him at the bottom, I'm sure that Chris Palmer on his 250cc. in the Junior race was absolutely flat out!!!

Sincerely,

Marco