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fyeahbachisagi · 2 years

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Headcanon/Meta: How Bachira can Defeat Isagi using the "Power of Love"

【this post contains Blue Lock manga spoilers】

PLEASE EXCUSE THE CRINGE AF TITLE, but I cannot stop thinking about this idea, so here we are.

This post started as an extension of my initial headcanon (which has spoilers, btw), but then it evolved into a fanfic idea, and now it's suddenly a meta of sorts. Take of it what you will, I just want to get this out:

I reckon that if Bachira and Isagi face each other in a match where they are both in top form, the fight would be neck and neck. Bachira would opt for the plays he finds the most exciting, and Isagi, knowing Bachira so well, would just have to think of a play that's a level or two higher than what Bachira can visualize in order to get an advantage. (Related: The Bachira-Isagi Partnership post-Second Selection Arc)

However, although Isagi knows Bachira, Bachira knows him just as much. Isagi plays with a lot of thinking and analyzing, and the best way to subvert that as his opponent is to be as unpredictable as possible.

Bachira can just do the complete opposite of what he was planning and go crazy with another play. And this would totally work since he's more of the type to figure things out as he goes instead of spending so much time planning beforehand.

So far, Isagi has won against players stronger than him by "devouring" them, which is essentially him stealing a weapon of theirs and making it his own. Bachira's weapon is dribbling, and I honestly don't see Isagi suddenly magically devouring such a high technique skill in the middle of a game. He may know how it works in his head, but that won't necessarily mean he can immediately replicate it.

And when their skills and predictions are leveled, what then should be the decisive factor in who wins?

This is where the "power of love" comes in.

(Yes, I know, that sounded so cheesy)

In a game where both technique and strategy is not enough, the only way to break through is to just give it all you've got, maybe make something "super special," and hope that luck is on your side.

And it may just be me being biased, but I really think Bachira would win against Isagi. In terms of physical skills, it is a given that Bachira is a notch higher than Isagi. He will also be more "emotionally-charged" in the game, and since his love language is practically soccer (aside from physical intimacy, of course), he'd be feeling on top of the world.

And playing an intense soccer match against the person he loves? What more could he ask for.

Love makes you do crazy and sometimes even reckless things. Bachira will be dancing wildly on the field, just playing to the tune of his heart.

And Isagi won't get it. He can't predict it. After all, how can he win against something so illogical and unrestrained when he doesn't even understand what love is? (Soccer is the only thing that's ever on his mind.)

Isagi is going to be completely thrown off, the same way he was thrown off by Nagi's play in chapter 190. He didn't even understand how Nagi was able to do what he did that he had to ask and be spoonfed the answer.

So just imagine when Bachira starts pulling off the same thing, but with love motivating him instead. Isagi won't fucking get it. He may ask Bachira, but then what? It's not going to change anything. Isagi will just be more confused.

Okay, that's all. Thank you for attending my TED Talk haha (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠)

The likelihood of this actually happening in canon in zero since Blue Lock is a shounen, after all... but hey, a girl can dream.

#miyamiwu.src #blue lock spoilers

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filmfanatic82 · 6 years

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AO3 Link (HERE)

Chapter 3: Six Months, Eight Days, Fifteen Minutes…

“Are you ever planning on getting out of the car?” Gert bluntly asks, finally breaking the silence between her and Nico.

“Yes,” Nico huffs in response unable to pull her eyes off on the rustic wooden cabin through the windshield.

“This century?”

“Funny.”

Gert lets out a weighted sigh and runs her hand through her newly dyed purple hair. “Nico--”

“Don’t.” Nico glances over at Gert and for the briefest of moments, a hint of fear flashes across her face. She doesn’t need to say another word. Gert gets it.

A silence falls back over the two of them once again for another moment or two, then--

“All right. Well, I’m going in cause this is torture,” Gert exclaims with s sudden resolution. She starts to get out of the driver’s seat, but then stops and gives one last look in Nico’s direction. “There’s nothing to be scared of.”

“I know,” Nico quietly replies as she continues to stare through the windshield.

Gert gives a quick nod of her head. “See you inside.”

With that, the car door shuts and Nico finds herself alone for the first time in over two days.

The phone call had come out of the blue. An unknown number from Denver, Colorado. Gert had almost let it go to voicemail given the sheer strangeness of it, but a nagging feeling deep down inside of Nico told her that they needed to pick up.

That finally it was time.

And Nico had been right. The voice on the other end of the call had been Alex. He briefly filled them in that their plan had worked. Their parents had been apprehended by the FBI and the charges against the five of them had been dropped. Pride, at least for the time being, was something they didn’t have to worry about anymore.

But before Nico could ask think of asking any questions, Gert was demanding that Alex put Molly on the line and the call turned into an impromptu reunion of sorts that left everyone involved teary eyed and emotionally drained.

After the initial call, things seemed to move at a breakneck speed.

In a matter of hours, Gert and Nico had wrapped up all loose ends with their temporary lives in Portland, packed their belongings, and managed to find decent enough transportation, thanks to a neighbor who was willing to part with his prehistoric looking car. There had been no time to think, let alone process, what was to come.

But now…

Now it was all consuming.

Nico’s fingers mindlessly wander towards the threadbare bracelet on her wrist, twirling the string around… and around… and around again. She can’t seem for the life of her to will her legs to move.

So Nico simply sits and stares at the cabin, letting her thoughts run rampant.

Minutes pass by with no signs of movement whatsoever and, just when it seems like nothing will change, suddenly--

The cabin door slowly open and there she is.

“40…” Nico whispers under her breath as a faint smile spreads across her lips.

A matching, yet slightly more timid, smile crawls across Karolina’s face as she makes her way down the front steps and over towards the car.

Nico’s limbs spring in to actions even before her brain can fully process what’s transpiring. She scrambles to open the car door, fumbling with the handle as if it’s the most complex task in the world, and manages to just get herself out as Karolina closes in.

“Hi,” Nico exhales with nothing more than a whisper, unable to bring herself to fully meet Karolina’s sky blue eyes. She holds her breath, awaiting a similar response but instead—

Arms.

Warm, lengthy arms. They wrap themselves around Nico’s tiny frame and pull her inwards, into a practically bone-crushing hug.

And that’s all it takes for Nico to break. Tears fall freely from her eyes as she lets herself collapse against Karolina’s body. “I’m so sorry…”

Karolina simply wraps her arms even tighter around Nico, letting her bury her tear soaked face within her chest.

They stand like that for a moment or two, within each other’s arms and then--

“Lets go inside,” Karolina replies. She reaches out and ever so gently wipes the tears away from Nico’s cheeks with the pads of her thumbs and then offers up a timid but reassuring smile. “There’s something I want to show you.”

Nico gives a slight nod as she quickly regains her composure and mirrors Karolina’s smile. “Okay.”

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

“Finally,” Karolina exhales with a sigh of pure relief. She closes the bedroom door and slumps against it, relishing in the silence for a moment. That was--”

“Intense,” Nico offers up as she takes a seat on the queen-sized bed. Her fingers dance along the frayed edges of the comforter, itching for a distaction -- any distraction -- from the given situation.

Upon first entering the cabin, Nico had been all but accosted by Molly, then followed close behind by Alex and lastly Chase. Each one offering up their own unique way expressing the last six months worth of emotions.

There were questions, mainly from Molly, and some swapping of anecdotal stories from their travels. Chase explained why he was now sporting a noticeable scar above his eyebrow and Gert filled everyone in their brief attempt at raising chickens.

But mainly, it was two long hours filled of brief glances and the occasional exchange of smiles as Nico couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away from the one person she wanted to talk to the most.

“Yeah. I didn’t think Molly would ever stop with the questions.” Karolina runs her hands through her short, messy locks as a timid smirk crawls across her lips. “I love her, but sometimes she just doesn’t know how to take a hint.”

“Yeah.” Nico continues to play with the frayed edges, unable to bring herself to fully look Karlonia in the eyes. It’s all just too much.

A moment or two of awkward silence passes and then--

“Is it new?” Karolina asks with a small nod of her head.

“Huh?”

“The jacket. Is it new?”

“Uh… Sorta?” Nico shifts a bit, tugging on the sleeves of her jacket in the process. “I’ve had it for a few months now.”

“I like it. It suits you.”

Nico feels her cheeks start to redden upon these words. “Thanks.”

“I actually like your whole look. Not that I didn’t like the way you looked before… I just mean… It’s just…”

“Your hair’s awesome,” Nico blurts out, interrupting Karolina’s rambles.

“Really?” Karolina reaches up and self consciously tucks a loose strand behind her ear. “You like it?”

Nico matches Karolina’s smile and gives her an ever so slight nod.

The awkward silences settles back in as Nico desperately struggles to find her words. There’s just so much she wants to say and yet, here in the moment, it all feels trivial. There’s simply no amount of apologies or explanations to make up for the split second decision she made all those months ago.

Karolina lets out a nervous breath of air and then makes her way across the room towards a half open suitcase. “Sorry for the mess. We only got here a few hours before you guys and kinda just crashed. Bit of a long drive from the panhandle.”

“You were in Florida?”

“Yeah. We found this small beach town only an hour outside of Tallahassee. At first we weren’t going to stay but then Chase managed to get a job at this local bar and--”

“Of course pretty boy would be a bartender,” Nico says with a shake of her head.

“I know. Kinda predictable, right?” Karolina digs through her suitcase, flinging clothes every which direction. “How about you? I heard Gert say you two were in Portland?”

“Yup. Portland freakin’ Oregon.”

“How was it?”

“Rainy and overcast.”

“So it was perfect for you then,” Karolina quips with the tiniest of smirks.

“I wouldn’t go that far. But, yeah, it wasn’t that bad.”

Karolina surfaces from her suitcase with a worn, leather bound journal in hand. She makes her way back over towards Nico and with the ever so slightest trepidation, offers it up to her.

“Kar, what is--” Nico asks as she carefully flips through the pages of the book.

“It’s for you. I started it the day after we left. There’s at least one entry for every day. Some are super short and stupid, but I--”

“190.”

“What?” A look of bewilderment sweeps across Karolina’s face as she tries to process the words that Nico has just said. “How did you…”

“I’ve been counting. Every moment since… Since the last time we--”

But Nico doesn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. Karolina’s lips descend upon her own, conveying six months worth of mixed emotions in a singular kiss. It’s tender and yet laced with an underlying passion. A promise of what’s to come.

After a moment or two, Nico pulls out of the kiss and rests her forehead against Karolina’s. “I’ve missed you.”

“Not as much as I’ve missed you,” Karolina replies with a heavy exhale of breath.

“Kar, I’m so sorr--”

“Don’t. Okay? We’re together now. That’s all that matters.”

“Please.” Nico moves backwards, creating a bit more distance between the two of them. “I need to explain.”

Karolina simply sits herself down next to Nico and takes hold of her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze as she does. “Okay.”

“Do you remember the night before we split up? When I couldn’t sleep?”

“Yeah.”

“It turned out Chase couldn’t either. We stayed up til 4am that night talking.”

“You and Chase?”

Nico nods with a hint of a smile. “Took about half a bottle of whiskey but we finally discovered that we’ve got one thing in common.”

“What’s that?”

But Nico doesn’t respond right away. Instead, she finds her fingers once again making their way to the frayed bracelet around her wrist as she takes a deep breath or two. Then--

“That we both love someone so much that we’re willing to sacrifice our own happiness in order to keep them safe,” Nico quietly says with an underlying tremble to her voice. She closes her eyes, bracing for the inevitable anger and heartache that sure to come next.

The silence seems to all but engulf Nico, allowing for her anxiety to creep back in, taking over her every last thought and feeling. She skin crawls with anticipation as she fights the urge to say something more.

And just when Nico’s body begins to scream uncle, unable to withstand another second of the suffocating silence--

“I know.”

Nico’s eyes instantly pop open as a wave of shock crashes down upon her. Out of all the scenarios that she has played out time and time again in the depths of her guilt-ridden thoughts, this response has never occurred to her. “How…”

A warm, comforting smile slowly crosses Karolina’s lips as she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ears. “Chase. He got shitfaced one night and it accidentally slipped out.”

“Of course,” Nico exhales with a slightly defeated shake of her head. “Pretty boy could never keep a secret.”

“Nope. But I’m glad he told me.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Karolina reaches out and ever so gently places her fingers under Nico’s chin, lifting it upwards so that their eyes finally meet. “And for the record… I love you too.”

And with the mere utterance of these words, six months worth of underlying fears and anxieties instantly melt away, leaving Nico with a sudden, newfound sense of security.

“Kar, I--”

“We’re done talking,” Karolina replies, cutting Nico off once again. “At least for tonight.”

Karolina scoots herself backwards further onto the bed, tugging Nico with her in the process. Their bodies naturally fall into place, limbs entwining with one another, like two long lost puzzle pieces.

Nico rests her head in the crook of Karolina’s neck and lets out a sigh of pure and utter content. “Okay.”

“Good.” Karolina relaxes herself even deeper into Nico, giving in to her exhaustion.

As Nico feels herself giving in as well to her own pending tiredness, a hint of smile slowly crawls across her lips. After what seems like an eternity, the waiting is over and there’s no more counting needed…

She’s finally home.

#deanoru #the runaways #marvel runaways #karolina dean #nico minoru #karolina x nico #fanfic #ao3

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wesknox · 6 years

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☒ FACTS ABOUT W E S

FULL NAME: Wesley Ronald Knox

NICKNAMES: Wes, Weslington, Weasel, Wessy

BIRTHPLACE: Brighton and Hove, East Sussex

BIRTH DATE: 28th of December 2001

CURRENT AGE: 16

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Homosexual

EYE COLOR: Blue

HAIR COLOR: Blonde

BODY MODIFICATIONS: Piercing on the left bottom lip

HEIGHT: 6 ft 2 (190 cm)

WEIGHT: 179 pounds (81 kg)

RELIGION: Christian-Catholic

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single

✔ L I K E S

Junk food, rock/indie/alternative music, poems, Charles Dickens’ books, Netflix, getting lost on the wrong side of Youtube, Brandon Urie’s voice, karaoke bars, midnight talks with Kyle, Edgar Allen Poe, going for late walks with Hamlet, gay bars/clubs, Maya Angelou, playing the guitar and chewing gum.

✘ D I S L I K E S

Bad grammar, homophobes, when his mum doesn’t have time for him, ignorance, pineable on pizza, any kind of sport, Mr. Creevey, shopping with Ronnie, maths, people interrupting him and people talking shit about people he cares about.

▲ T R A I T S

☼ GOOD: Reliable, charismatic, loyal, communicative and generous.

☢ BAD: Lazy, forgetful, dreamy, persistent, chaotic, stubborn, unstable and insecure.

☒ B A C K S T O R Y

- Wes’ mother works as a nurse and works basically ALL the time, that’s why she sent Wes to Clifton, she hated leaving him alone for days in a row. His mother is the most loving, generous and kind-hearted person you’ll ever meet. Wes admires her a lot for the things she does on a daily, working her ass off to help others. Although he doesn’t get to see her often, his mother is his rock. He can’t remember the last time he’s seen her without dark bags under her eyes, messy hair and scrub but she seems to be happy, so he is happy for her. His mum got him at a young age, so she’s a young mum and definitely proud of her “sunshine”. Her choice of men hasn’t been so lucky in the past; men coming and going and Wes always there to pick up the pieces.

- Wes grew up without a father. His dad left him and his mother for another family when Wes was only a two years old. He doesn’t have any memories of him other than the birthday and Christmas cards he’s sending every year. Wes hates his father, every mention of him but easily sees a dad figure in every male adult or person of authority like teachers or doctors. A therapist would call it “daddy issues”.

- Wes also does have three paternal half sisters but he’s never seen or talked to any of them; just knows about the mere existence. He’s never been curious to find out more about them and since ignoring his father’s cards worked so far, he wants to keep it that way.

- Wes found his love for poetry and pretty words at a pretty early age. His kindergartener always read poems before afternoon nap and little Wes was so fascinated by the words being used, he begged his mum to get him all kind of kids editions of famous poem collections. She never understood it, she herself never having anything to do with poetry at all, but she accepted it. Not like she had much of choice when your five year old begs you for books. When Wes got older, he started writing some himself, his English teacher encouraging and challenging him. He liked Wes and Wes liked him. He saw only good in Wes, predicting a great future but unfortunately his mum never got to hear any of the good feedback he had on her son.

- He met his best friend, Kyle, in primary school and have been best friends ever since. Kyle is one of the most important people in Wes’ life, if not the most important. He can always count on him, no matter the time, no matter the circumstance. Kyle is Wes’ personal protector and never let anyone being mean to Wes slide. When the both of them started high school at Clifton, Ronnie came to the mix and the three have been inseperable since. Ronnie was exactly what he wished for Kyle; she was absolutely perfect for him.

- When Wes was thirteen he began struggling with his self-esteem. He thought he was too pale, too scrawny, too tall and his forming acne didn’t help the case either. He started showing symptoms of a mild depression, locking himself in his room unless it was Kyle who wanted to see him. His mum blamed herself and her constant absence and immediately sent him off to multiple therapy sessions, all of which didn’t help a whole lot. He hated it.

- A year later, he realized he was gay. You could say, he always kind of knew that something was different, if his crush on Harry Potter was anything to go by, but at the age fourteen he admitted to himself after pining after Joey Carpenter for the longest time and jerking off to his school picture that he, in fact, liked dick and dick only. Later that summer, him and Joey Carpenter’s best friend started dating. The irony, huh. Although secretly, but Wes did believe he was in love back in the day and he would’ve done anything for Tim, that was his name. It was his first and only boyfriend, his first gay experience so more than handjobs and blowjob was not in it. They dated for three months but sooner or later, Wes found flithy texts to another boy on Tim’s phone. Not long after that, they broke up.

- At 15, Wes had his first time with a guy named Blake. Blake was older, hot and experienced. He met Blake at Why Not?, a gay bar in Bristol. Wes was immediately attracted to him, absolutely drawn to the authority the older radiated. Him and Blake went on a date or two until Wes let Blake fuck him. It hurt, but it was hot and Wes was happy he finally got it over with. How things go, the both of them ended things rather quickly after that and Wes started to get around. Thanks to his fake ID it was possible for him to lie about his age and sleep with guys older than he was at the time.

- Wes wanted a piercing. Not just any piercing but a lip piercing and he wanted it bad. Wes wasn’t old enough to get it done by himself, so when he asked his mother for approval, it was a no brainer. “Are you sure?” is all she asked and when Wes nodded enthusiastically, she signed the papers without second-guessing a thing. The next day, him and Kyle went to get pierced together.

- When it got out at school that Wes Knox was gay, most people took it well and were very accepting of the news while some people gave him disapproving looks. Especially a group of jocks made it their mission to make Wes’ life extraordinarily hard. Steven Dally, the leader of the pack definitely had it out for Wes and always had a stupid, homophobic remark on his tongue when he saw Wes. It was childish, and truly, Wes tried not to take it to heart, not the way Kyle did anyway. It wasn’t until he gave Steven Dally a blowjob in the showers after PE that the bullying got out of hand. Wes figured it was his way of dealing with regret or fear, but he ignored it for as long as he could until one afternoon Steven and his friends beat him up until he was spitting blood and his nose was broken.

- Wes was seeking revenge. Something in his mind wanted to see Steven hurt in a way humanly unimaginable and it went further than seeing Kyle punch Steven in the face and him being expelled the next day. No, it had to go way deeper than that. On a way more emotional basis. So he set up a profile of a girl named Nicole Jennings. Nicole was pretty, young, independent and absolutely irressistable. Every guy’s wet dream. What started out as a plan to get back at Steven Dally, turned into something way more... fun.

- It was a good laugh. Kyle and him laughing at the sexual frustrated guys that were more than willing to share all kind of pictures with Nicole, but soon their nightly rituals of laughing at other people’s expense lost its charm to Kyle and he told Wes to delete Nicole’s profile. But Wes didn’t do as told and started to find a liking in being Nicole, in being someone else -- no, he took things even further. He was insecure and as Nicole, he had all the guys wrapped around his little finger. He sexted, broke hearts without even a blink of his eye or showing any kind of remorse. It didn’t matter to him, because he was being someone else. He didn’t have to face any sort of consequences.

- It wasn’t until he found Jake Seringway on Facebook. Jake being recommended as “people you may also know” and while Wes would’ve definitely remembered a face like Jake’s, he looked at his profile anyway and looked through the things Jake Seringway liked, what kind of photos he posted, what kind of people he hung out with and what schools he went to. Although Jake didn’t seem like the guy to accept a stranger’s friend request, Wes, disguised as beautiful Nicole Jennings, tried his luck anyway - and a few hours later, Jake accepted it.

- What Wes knows now, Jake was different from the start. He wasn’t needy or frustrated, he was full of life and honest interest. While Wes texted with other guys beside Jake, Jake was his favourite person to talk to, the person he would always drop everything for in order to answer his texts. He stayed up long nights in order to talk to Jake, to hear how his day was and what his dreams and aspirations are. Wes himself revealed so much of himself, something he didn’t do before, but it was so easy with Jake and he wanted him to know. Sooner or later, Jake was all Wes thought about. During class, they would text each other and Wes got in so much trouble for texting (damn Mr. Creevey), but he didn’t care and before he knew it, he was falling. Hard and undeniably. All the other boys were irrelevant and all that mattered was JakeJakeJake. After months of texting they agreed to be a couple, Wes always finding an excuse as to why they can’t meet up. Although there was this big, massive lie in between them, Wes was happy and for the first time in his life, truly in love.

- Jake transfered to Clifton when Wes was in year 9 and to say it was a shock, would be the understatement of the year. Jake was even more beautiful in real life; muscular with long legs, a nice butt and that smile had Wes weak in the knees. Wes would’ve loved to snog him right then and there and just blurt out the whole truth, that hey, it’s me, I’m Nicole. I’m your girlfriend. Wes wanted to end it as soon as he saw Jake for the first time. Suddenly everything got so real, too real and it dawned on Wes what the hell he was actually doing, playing someone so dirty. One time he ran into Jake and talked to him for the first time as Wes and Wes was a stuttering mess but Jake was so kind and so nice and so straight and Wes wanked that night until he started to cry.

- The day he told Jake, was the worst of his life so far. He hated himself -- he was downright disgusted with himself. How could he ever look into Jake’s eyes again or anyone’s for that matter after what he did? He deserved the black eye he was sporting for two weeks and even more than that. He faked being sick for a week until Grimmy found out and forced him back to classes. Wes underwent heartbreak for the first time in his life.

- When Jake and him started to be something like friends, he couldn’t believe his luck. Couldn’t believe this was happening after all he’s done, but he figured it was typical and so Jake because Jake was kind, nice and all the things Wes wasn’t - not after what he did.

- Wes hasn’t slept with anyone since going out with Jake as Nicole. Even now, while the both of them are still friends, Wes can’t bring himself to go see someone else, even if it’s just sex. Not when everything seems like Jake might give him a chance. Not when Jake kisses him and acts like it didn’t happen the next two weeks. Not when Jake is still the main inspiration in his poetry.

- Wes usually chills in his room, listening You Me At Six or pines over Brendon Urie’s jawline. The latter he would easily deny. He works on his poems and tries not to make any enemies or stand out, which to be fair is going along quite smoothly since him, Kyle and Ronnie do not quite fit the popular type. People would probably refer to the trio as misfits and none of them seem to mind. Kyle with his colourful hair that change every month, Ronnie with her idiotic yet adorable bowties and Wes.. being, well, Wes.

- After Clifton, Wes wants to study Creative Writing at NYU. He’s always had this straight fascination with New York and it’s always been his dream to someday move and live there. While he’s going to miss his mum, he believes she won’t be sad for too long, her first love always being her job. He wants to be a writer and inspire people with his words, just like Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens or Maya Angelou did.

#about #wow #i'm sorry

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auburnfamilynews · 4 years

Link

https://twitter.com/burks_mb/status/1212194652255924224

It will probably be a quiet day for the Tigers.

Somehow we have come to the end of the 2020 recruiting cycle. In yonder times, there was no Early Signing Period meaning National Signing Day was THE day and it was often a circus. However, with the majority of the 2020 class having already signed, there will likely be very little drama tomorrow, especially for the Auburn Tigers.

Tigers Pickup Preferred Walk On

Before we talk about what to expect tomorrow, I think it’s important to highlight an interesting pickup the Tigers got yesterday. 3* QB Sawyer Pate lead Thompson to a state championship which included thrashing Central, a program with some familiar names on it for Auburn recruiting fans in 4* WR EJ Williams and 4* OT Javion Cohen. Pate threw for over 3,000 yards, 41 touchdowns and 3 interceptions in 2019 yet did not receive a single offer. However, Auburn might prove the beneficiary as they offered the Thompson standout a preferred walk on opportunity this past weekend and yesterday he accepted.

Committed!! #WarEagle @CoachGusMalzahn @coachchadmorris @Keith247Sports @Rivals @247Sports @YellowhammerFB @coachmarkf @WARRIORNATION20 pic.twitter.com/0N60wF03iN

— Sawyer Pate (@PateSawyer) February 4, 2020

Pate is listed as a pro style quarterback but has some elusiveness to his game. He might not break off many 20+ yard scampers but he’s quick enough to escape pressure in the backfield and pickup positive yardage if it’s there. At 6’1” 210 lbs, he’s a well built kid with the size to play at the next level. His delivery is a bit funky but he’s insanely accurate completing almost 75% of his passes this past season. Don’t be surprised if this kid ends up on scholarship in the not too distant future. He’s got a chance to at least battle for that backup spot this fall.

National Signing Day Preview

Considering Auburn signed 23 players back in December and already has pledges from two other blue chip prospects, tomorrow shouldn’t be a too dramatic day for the Tigers. Here’s a quick breakdown on who has already signed and who to watch out for tomorrow.

Auburn Early Enrollees

5* RB Tank Bigsby

4* DL Zykeivous Walker

4* WR Kobe Hudson

4* DB Ladarius Tennison

4* S Chris Thompson Jr

3* Buck Romello Height

3* OT Kilian Zierer

3* C Avery Johnson

3* OG Tate Johnson

3* QB Chayil Garnett

Auburn Signees

4* LB Wesley Steiner

4* DL Jay Hardy

4* WR Ze’Vian Capers

4* WR J.J. Evans

4* DB Eric Reed Jr

4* TE J.J. Pegues

4* LB Desmond Tisdol

4* LB Cam Riley

4* CB Marco Domio

3* OT Brenden Coffey

3* DL Daniel Foster-Allen

3* WR Elijah Canion

3* OL Jeremiah Wright

Auburn Commits

4* DL Deandre Butler

4* TE Brandon Frazier

Auburn Targets

With only 1-2 spots left, Auburn doesn’t have much room for new additions. The Tigers took some big swings in the late period but it looks like they will come up empty for the most part. There’s always a chance of a late surprise or a name that hasn’t been reported popping up (ala JaTarvious Whitlow not too long ago). For now though these are the names to follow. I am using the same confidence prediction I did back in December:

As for my predictions, I am gonna add a confidence level of Lock (VERY confident in pick), 50/50 (leaning that direction but far from certain) and No Idea (literally just me guessing).

Here we go...

5* OT Broderick Jones | 6’5” | 298 lbs | Lithonia, GA | Georgia Commit

Contenders: Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, Illinois

What was supposed to be the biggest storyline for Auburn heading into National Signing Day turned into a bit of a dud. After electing not to sign early and telling reporters at the Under Armour All-America Game that things were “50/50” between Auburn and Georgia, there was some understandable excitement about what might happen in this race come February 5th. The Tigers had the last visit and it was thought that might be enough to push them over in this race.

Except he never took that visit...

UGA’s coaching staff visited Jones on Friday evening to watch him play basketball and then stayed all the way to midnight preventing him from making the trip to the Plains. However, he still could have shown up on Saturday or Sunday but instead elected to cancel the trip all together. I know there have been some internet rumors that maybe he made to campus for a secret unofficial but I doubt those to be true. Once again, Auburn will sign another recruiting class without a single blue chip (meaning 4* or 5*) offensive tackle.

Lovely...

Prediction: Georgia (Lock)

4* DT McKinnley Jackson | 6’2’ | 327 lbs | Lucedale, MS

Contenders: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M

This one has felt unlikely for some time and barring a true shocker I don’t see Jackson putting on an Auburn cap tomorrow morning. The Mississippi standout took an official visit to the Plains last fall but it appears the Tigers are sitting #4 in this race. There was a lot of Alabama buzz up until this weekend and now it appears the Aggies might have snuck ahead. I really don’t know where he goes other than it won’t be Auburn so I’ll take the safe pick and go Bama. They annoyingly tend to win these types of battles more often than they lose.

Prediction: Alabama (No Idea)

4* DL Princely Umanmielen | 6’4” | 249 lbs | Manor, TX

Contenders: Auburn, Baylor, Florida, Texas

When Umanmielen decommited from the Longhorns back in October, it was thought Auburn would be a major factor in this race. However, he never made it to campus that fall. It was reported he might take an official visit to the Plains this past weekend but Auburn apparently decided to part ways. With so little spots left, it appears they won’t use that last one on a defensive lineman. I think the Gators are the darkhorse in this race but I am gonna pick he ends up signing with the program he had been committed to last fall.

Prediction: Texas (No Idea)

3* DT Marquis Burks | 6’3” | 285 lbs | Chicago, IL

Contenders: Auburn

I do expect at least one Boom tomorrow in the form of the nation’s #4 ranked JUCO defensive tackle. The Tigers are looking for depth in the interior of its defensive line next season and see Burks as someone that can provide it. Rodney Garner scouted quite a few top JUCO defensive tackles and settled on Burks last fall. That says a lot about this kid’s potential. He never took any other official visits after his Auburn one in December.

Prediction: Auburn (Lock)

3* CB Alfahiym Walcott | 6’1” | 190 lbs | Wilmington, NC

Contenders: Auburn, Baylor

Walcott showed up suddenly on Auburn’s radar last week. The Tigers offered the JUCO standout and then hosted him on an official visit last Thursday and Friday. If Auburn decides to push I think they would have a great chance at landing him. However, it does not appear that is happening at this time. Dave Aranda hosted Walcott right after his Auburn OV and it appears the Bears are the team to beat right now. Anything can change over the next 24 hours but as of this morning, I don’t see Walcott landing in this class.

Prediction: Baylor (50/50)

3* OT Brady Ward | 6’7” | 310 lbs | Mobile, AL

Contenders: Arkansas, Auburn, Ole Miss

There was another interesting visitor this past weekend. Brady Ward is a massive human being at 6’7” 310 lbs with an impressive reported offer list. However, I am not sure how many of those offers are actually committable. Ole Miss is reportedly considering giving him a grayshirt opportunity. The Tigers appear to be offering either a preferred walk on spot or a blueshirt. My guess is unless an SEC program comes in late with a full ride, Ward takes the Auburn offer. This could end up being a sneaky pickup down the road for the Tigers.

Prediction: Auburn (50/50)

Final Thoughts

It was going to be hard to top Auburn’s excellent Early Signing Day given how few spots remained in this class and the fact the Tigers picked up commitments already from two top targets. The Jones news hurts, especially since all the buzz heading into his Georgia OV was that Auburn had the momentum. But overall, this a solid class for the Tigers and one that has a chance to fill some immediate needs for next season. We will see if this staff has anymore surprises hidden up their sleeves and given their history of hitting on late additions (Daniel Thomas, Tyrone Truesdell, Boobee Whitlow), I wouldn’t put it past the Tigers to sign another under the radar stud tomorrow. Otherwise, they will likely use that last spot in the graduate transfer market.

War Eagle!

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clusterassets · 6 years

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New world news from Time: The Trouble with Sharing: China’s Bike Fever Has Reached Saturation Point

Back in 1987, when I was still a boy, my father, a doctor, attended a medical conference in Communist China. He returned from Beijing with tales of a sea of bicycles upon which millions of workers in identical inky blue tunics peddled to farms and factories. By the time I’d moved to Beijing almost three decades later, China’s process of reform and opening had hauled 600 million people out of poverty, and turned the world’s most populous nation into its No. 2 economy. Pedal power had been supplanted by chuntering motorbikes and, ever more, the polished chrome of Audis and SUVs. According to Beijing’s transportation commission, bicycles accounted for 63% of all journeys in the 1980s but only 17.8% by 2014.

Over the last year or so, however, something remarkable has happened: the self-styled “Bicycle Kingdom” has risen from the scrapheap. China has been infected by a bike-sharing fever where brightly colored common-usage bikes are located and rented via smartphone apps. Around 60 firms have put 16-18 million bicycles onto Chinese streets. They are ridden for a time and then parked at the roadside for the next customer. No bike stands. No set docking station. In China’s central city of Chengdu, more people ride shareable bikes than use the subway. “For me, shareable bikes are not only a way of commuting, but also a form of entertainment,” says student Cao Yueqi, 22. “I like to ride them to get close to nature, or tour the different architecture styles of Beijing.”

It’s a simple idea that is spreading across hundreds of cities around the world, including the U.S., where those same Chinese companies are helping to solve the “last mile” problem: getting people between public transport hubs and home.

But just as the old Bicycle Kingdom spoke to impoverished collectivization, today’s sharing phenomenon betrays larger societal shifts. Particularly how a highly-educated young entrepreneurial class is unleashing technology to shape society — an aspiration largely off-limits through politics in an increasingly authoritarian one-party state. And, perversely, how the state is coopting the very tools of that benevolent movement to tighten control on its citizens.

Kevin Frayer—Getty ImagesChinese commuters ride bike shares and other modes of transport in the bicycle lane during rush hour in Beijing on March 29, 2017.

A simple vision

Like most technological leaps, bike sharing in China was spawned as the solution to a common problem. For former student Dai Wei, losing a fifth bicycle was the final straw. It was not just the expense that had Dai fuming. More annoying was that before long he would no doubt spy another student at Peking University riding his pilfered steed around the campus, having unwittingly purchased it at northwestern Beijing’s no-questions-asked second-hand market. It was a bitter merry-go-round that irked all his peers. “I thought that maybe I could solve all these problems for every student in China,” Dai tells TIME. “Maybe you don’t need to own a bike, you just need to use it.”

Tens of millions agreed. Within just three years, Dai’s simple vision had mushroomed into a $2 billion business that operates across 21 countries and over 250 cities. Users of Ofo, the company of which Dai, 26, is co-founder and CEO, make 32 million trips every day on 10 million trademark yellow bikes. In Beijing, they are found stacked by the dozen at every subway and bus station, saddled by selfie-snapping tourists as wobbly as newly born foals, and dust-clad construction workers puffing on cigarettes as they weave their way home. “We want our yellow bikes in every city and every street,” says Dai, adding that he still rides Ofo bikes to commute to the office. “Just like when you come to a new city you will find Starbucks or McDonald’s.”

Ofo — a name chosen because it resembles a bicycle — was China’s first dockless bike-sharing firm and remains one of two major players. Dai, an economics graduate, wants to rekindle China’s lost love of cycling. All his fellow Ofo founders were cycling enthusiasts, bound by their passion for two wheels. He enlisted China’s storied manufacturers to produce Ofo’s traditional-looking bikes, which are almost identical to the early models that plied Beijing’s streets decades ago. But Ofo’s chief competitor, Mobike, took a different tact: redesign the bicycle from scratch.

Mobike’s latest space-age bikes have a driveshaft rather than chain-propulsion, reducing scope for breakage, with GPS and smartlocks powered by a solar panel that lines the front basket. Airless rubber tires can’t be punctured, and a single-side wheel release allows for easy maintenance. The firm has just opened in Australia, where some models even boast surfboard racks. “Technology cannot guarantee success, or winning the market, but it’s very important to have a belief in technology,” says Mobike cofounder Hu Wei Wei, a former technology reporter.

Read More: 9 Bicycle Gadgets That Will Keep You Safe in Style

Despite their divergent strategies, it’s hard to call a leader between Ofo and Mobike, with the latter operating more than 9 million smart bikes in over 190 cities across China, Singapore, Italy, Japan, the U.K and U.S. The firm is already in over a dozen American cities and aims to be in 100 by the end of the year. Whereas Mobike is backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, Ofo has partnered with the nation’s ride-sharing app DiDi Chuxing. Both have similar 10-figure market valuations and are locked in a cash-burning race to dominate market share by pumping out bikes. Both have upended the traditional bike industry. One in three of China’s 1.3 billion people once owned a bicycle, meaning production, repair and maintenance were mammoth industries. The sharing phenomenon undercuts that demand. “It’s changed the whole industry, it’s subversive, catastrophic, we’ve lost almost all clients,” says Yan Yiming, chairman of China’s storied Forever Bikes manufacturers. “Nobody needs their own bike now.”

Arriving for our interview in Armani specs, a white Calvin Klein polo shirt, white skinny jeans and white Prada sneakers, Yan looks pretty fly for a 57-year-old Shanghainese guy. In China’s contemporary cycling industry, if Dai is the student enthusiast, and Hu is the geek, Yan approaches cycling from an aesthetic vantage point of design purity. The firm he heads, which he joined straight out of high school, has the requisite pedigree: it is the oldest bicycle manufacturer in the Bicycle Kingdom. In China, there’s a time-honored saying, “to get married you need four things: a radio, a wristwatch, a sewing machine and a Forever bike.” When former President George H.W. Bush lived in Beijing as U.S. Envoy to China in 1974-5, he and former First Lady Barbara peddled around the city on a pair of Forevers. “In the old times,” says Yan, “a Chinese person owning a Forever bike was equivalent to a BMW or a plush villa today.”

That the sharing economy is disruptive to traditional industry isn’t, of course, surprising. At a sports complex in Beijing, a smart-locker spits out basketballs for 30 cents an hour at the flash of a smartphone QR code. Similar devices offer umbrellas, portable chargers and books. There are street gym pods where passers-by can pop in for a workout, and a service where designer handbags can be rented by the hour for a posh night out. There was even a sex doll sharing station — $45 a night, in case you were wondering — until the police shut it down for “vulgarity.”

But what’s catalyzed the disruption is broad backing from the Beijing government. China’s sharing economy clocked up $500 billion in transactions by 600 million people last year, according to official figures, around nine times U.S. user levels. Beijing has 2.4 million shareable bikes and 11 million registered users — verging on half the city’s population. By comparison, America’s largest bike-sharing firm is New York City’s Citi Bike, which has 10,000 bikes and 236,000 subscribers. Paris has 21,000 shareable bikes; London just 16,500. While American and European ventures must battle stringent municipal regulations, China is generally more permissive of innovation — especially when championed from the top.

China’s President Xi Jinping has repeatedly hailed the sharing revolution as China’s gift to the world. The government has backed the industry with perks like tax breaks and free office space. And with officials predicting a 40% growth rate, the sharing economy should comprise 10% of China’s GDP by 2020, rising to 20% by 2025. But the hurry to embrace industry means little heed was paid to the economics and now firms fall by the wayside. “I think it’s overheated,” says Jeffrey Towson, a private-equity investor and business professor at Peking University. “They threw a lot of money into it, there were too many competitors, most aren’t going to make it.”

Ri Xi—Imaginechina/APA graveyard of Bluegogo shared bikes at a parking lot in Shenzhen, a city in southern China’s Guangdong Province, on March 21.

Saturation point

In November, Bluegogo, once China’s third-largest bike-sharing startup with 20 million users and 700,000 bikes, went bust, reportedly owing millions of dollars to customers and suppliers. Several other companies have ceased operations over the last six months. On March 13, Ofo, announced a new $866 million round of funding amid rumors it was running out of cash. (Dai denies this.) It’s uncertain whether bike-sharing will consolidate behind one or two leading firms or the bubble will simply pop. Mobike cofounder Hu has no doubt that the model is sustainable. “We’ve had a lot of suggestions, handwritten letters, and social media posts from users giving us ideas about how to monetize,” she says, adding that one piece of fan mail was even titled “60 ways to make profit.”

China’s sharing economy hides a utopian vision borne of young people wanting to use technology to reshape their society into a more caring, cooperative alternative. Asked whether she is pleased with her success, Hu is blunt: “What success?” Hu says, in order to bring happiness to the people, her objective is to foster a city ruled by bicycles. A city on bikes need trees for shade, good air quality, and small independent high streets instead of gargantuan shopping malls. “When this dream is realized, I will define it as a success.”

Ofo’s Dai confesses to similar motivations, highlighting the $15 million he’s pledged to the United Nations Development Program, and the hundreds of bikes donated to schoolchildren in Malawi via popstar Rihanna’s foundation. “It’s the reason why we started our business,” he says. “Ofo is not only a company; it’s a company and a NGO.” Dai has even partnered with Chinese design firm Tezign and Dutch artist Daan Roosegaarde to create a prototype shared bike that cleans polluted air as you pedal.

These lofty ideals have inspired a cultish following. Around China, scores of “bike hunter” vigilantes are taking it upon themselves to locate broken or discarded shared bikes. They are not paid a wage but do it, they say, simply for love of the cause. “On an average day, I can fix seven or eight bikes; 20 at the most,” says Huo Ran, a 22-year-old realtor by trade. “Bike hunters are people filled with a sense of justice. We get together and just want to contribute to society.”

But like all utopian enterprises, the sharing economy has significant flaws. In attempts to gain market share, rides are given out for free or mere pennies. Meanwhile, ever more bikes are strewn onto the streets, and many end up flung into trash heaps. Major cities like Beijing and Shanghai have reached saturation point, say officials, and no new bikes can be added to the millions already in circulation. Across China, provinces have nominated refuse dumps for shareable bikes, where thousands are discarded in jagged aluminum mountains. Because bikes do break frequently. The chains come off, the brakes fail, the seat adjustment clasps are wrenched off. There are so many bikes that the companies’ own employees cannot fix them. “I get frustrated that so many bikes are broken,” says Yang Xu, 26, an e-commerce worker in Beijing. “I just want a bike that works, but I have to try ten broken ones first.”

Read More: Exclusive: See How Big the Gig Economy Really Is

If there are question marks over the economics of the sharing economy, the sharing aspect is no less fraught. China’s cutthroat development has fostered income inequality to rival the U.S. in an ostensibly communist-run nation, as individuals race hand-over-fist to provide for themselves and their kin. It’s tempting to ascribe this unshackling from socialist values as a natural reaction after decades of enforced privation. But the truth may be simpler. Throughout history, the Chinese have been a mercantile people, whose ceaseless industry meant they thrived wherever they settled (and this success has often sparked resentment.)

When the first Chinese students came to the U.S. in the early 1900s, they wrote stirringly that America’s culture of participation and extracurricular activities was a critical glue that taught university students how to become citizens: a glue that China lacked. Sun Yat Sen, who founded the Republic of China in 1912, bemoaned Chinese society as “a pan of loose sand” that lacked common values. This lack of social cohesion “is something that has troubled China’s society for centuries, but that’s probably been made worse by the Communist Party’s failure to allow for the creation of civil society and freedom of association,” says veteran China journalist John Pomfret, author of The Beautiful Country and The Middle Kingdom, a history of U.S-China relations.

Because ultimately, competition and sharing are not easy bedfellows. Many customers vandalize bikes QR codes so others cannot decipher the unlocking combination, thus annexing a particular one for their own private use. It’s common to see shareable bikes padlocked outside homes.

Antipathy is common even within the sharing industry. At a panel at December’s Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, representatives from different shared economies sniped over how each was impinging on the other. Pan Shiyi, cofounder of office-sharing service SOHO, complained of all the sharable bikes blocking the entrance to his buildings. Mobike cofounder Davis Wang, in turn, grumbled about overzealous security guards tossing away his bikes. Pan then took aim at Zhang Xuhao, founder of online food delivery service Ele.me, about the swarms of drivers undermining the harmony of his offices. Zhang replied that nobody would rent SOHO cubicles if food deliveries were banned, and suggested Pan should install more lifts to reduce congestion. Like a boisterous kindergarten with a favorite toy, sharing is a wonderful principle, but the reality, without strict regulations, is a whole lot of screaming and biting. “I hate shared bikes!” says Beijing taxi driver Wang Qi. “They block the street and people stop taking taxis. I understand why people dump them into the gutter.”

A means of control

So how to encourage people to share responsibly? Ofo’s Dai points to how positive use of China’s sharing economy accumulates social capital though a system of social credit called Zhima, or Sesame Credit, run by Jack Ma’s online shopping goliath Alibaba. Higher ratings mean preferential access to products and services; lower ratings block access or entail higher costs. Beijing Airport briefly had a priority security check line for passengers with high Zhima scores. In China, these informal credit ratings have become peacock feathers, flaunted on dating apps as a mark of eligibility.

Of course, those regulations can, perversely, become just another means of control. The Chinese government is already wielding Zhima as a means to encourage “good” behavior from its citizens. Because despite becoming the world’s second largest economy, China’s rapid rise meant it never developed a Western-style credit system.

In its place, the autocratic Chinese Communist Party has eyes on harnessing Zhima credit and systems like it. From last August, virtual payment firms must connect to a central government clearinghouse, giving regulators access to transaction data. Even in the U.S., the controversial harvesting of Facebook user data by Cambridge Analytica spotlighted how easily American consumers’ privacy can be compromised. But China’s inchoate privacy laws means its government can subpoena any consumer data on a whim. Concerns over data security prompted Washington to block Alibaba subsidiary Ant Financial’s proposed $1.2 billion takeover of U.S. cash transfer firm Moneygram in January.

Today, Chinese train passengers are routinely warned that breaking carriage rules will harm their personal credit scores. It’s only a matter of time, it seems, until that seeps into all avenues of life. “It’s completely predictable that the Communist Party would use big data to monitor, limit and subscribe the behavior of the people,” says Pomfret. “That’s just how they roll — they are interested in control.” Because to thrive under Beijing’s gaze, the sharing economy must play by its rules, ironically turning China’s sharing Shangri-La into another prop for its Orwellian state.

— With reporting and video by Zhang Chi / Beijing

April 02, 2018 at 12:59PM ClusterAssets Inc., https://ClusterAssets.wordpress.com

#Time #world #news #ClusterAssets #ClusterAsset #Cluster Asset Inc.#ClusterAssets Inc.

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robertkstone · 6 years

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2018 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO Review: The Future of the Supercar

The brake lights just ahead flash bright red through the steeply raked windshield. I count an extra beat then mash the brake pedal as hard as I can, the bellowing 620-hp V-10 behind me erupting into a quick fire, shock-and-awe sonic barrage—boom! boom! boom!—as I fan the left hand paddle, working the transmission back through the gears. The all-wheel-drive Lamborghini Huracán Performante in front of me is squirming all over the road as Squadra Corse test driver Christian Engelhart dances it to the absolute limit of adhesion on corner entry.

My rear-drive 2018 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO stops hard enough to punch the air from my lungs, dives for the apex the instant I turn the wheel, and then carves through the corner, slick tires gripping like limpets, as the big V-10 at my shoulder blades bellows once more. In that moment I feel like a racing god—like I’ve swapped jobs with Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen, and no one’s laughing. And that’s exactly how Lamborghini’s newest factory race car has been designed to make me feel.

Welcome to the future of the supercar.

With its trick aerodynamics, racing transmission, slick tires, carbon brakes, and FIA-approved roll cage nestling in a stripped-down interior, the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO is a proper race car. It’s also proper production Lamborghini, created by Lamborghini engineers and designers and built alongside the Huracán and Aventador road cars. Write a $295,000 check, and the friendly folks at Lamborghini will send you one, pretty much ready to race. What’s more, they’ll give you somewhere to race it.

Super Trofeo is a Pro-Am race series devised and promoted by Lamborghini specifically for these Huracán race cars and aimed at customers the company politely calls ‘gentleman drivers’—those with the money to consider racing Lamborghinis on some of the world’s most iconic tracks a hobby. Super Trofeo championships are held in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, culminating in a world final at the legendary Imola circuit in Italy, just down the road from Lamborghini HQ in Sant’Agata Bolognese.

Despite its race-face swagger, the Super Trofeo EVO is heavily based on the Huracán road car, sharing about 70 percent of its parts, including engine and suspension. It’s not as fast, nor as tricky to drive on the limit, as the Pro-spec Huracán GT3 race car. Although it has more power, the Super Trofeo EVO generates less downforce, and it is electronically limited to 174 mph. “We allow drivers to enjoy the power and torque, but the Super Trofeo is meant to be a scholarship car, to prepare them to move up to a GT3,” says Lamborghini Motorsport boss Giorgio Sanna.

The EVO’s engine, transmission, brakes, wheels, and tires are carried over from the 2015 Huracán Super Trofeo, along with sundry other pieces of hardware, including the giant rear wing. Power remains the same—around 620 hp—but a new air intake layout delivers a 3 percent increase in torque at maximum speed. Also new for 2018 are the exhaust system, revised hydraulic power steering pump, and updated software for the traction control and antilock braking systems.

The new aero package that comprises most of the EVO upgrades has been specifically designed to improve chassis balance and stability, especially through the fast fourth, fifth, and sixth gear corners that would give gentlemen drivers wide eyes and sweaty palms in the edgier GT3 Huracán. Key elements are new rear fenders, a vertical fin on the engine cover, bigger cooling vents for the front brakes, and larger louver openings on the front fenders.

Overall downforce is unchanged from the 2015 cars, but the aerodynamic balance has been shifted 3 percent toward the front axle, and the dorsal fin improves stability at the rear. Meanwhile, an 8 percent reduction in drag means better acceleration on the straights. Working together, these tweaks trimmed 1.5 seconds off the 2015 car’s lap times in testing at the storied Monza grand prix circuit outside Milan.

Many racetracks are built on godforsaken pieces of real estate; barren and windswept, stinking hot in the summer, freezing cold in the winter, miles from anywhere. Not the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. This 3.1-mile track nestles comfortably among rolling hills on the tree-lined south bank of the Santerno river, barely a mile from the cafés and restaurants of Imola’s old town, the streets of which were mapped by Leonardo da Vinci in 1502. Lamborghini boss Stefano Domenicali was born here.

Home to the San Marino Grand Prix between 1981 and 2006, the Imola circuit gained worldwide notoriety after the sublimely gifted Ayrton Senna was killed in the opening laps of the 1994 race. Tragically, Senna’s death had come barely 24 hours after Austrian Formula 1 rookie Roland Ratzenberger lost his life in a crash during qualifying. The first fatalities at a Grand Prix in 12 years, they prompted a redesign of the track layout. With chicanes replacing the fearsome 190-mph sweeper called Tamburello, where Senna crashed, and the flat-out right-hand Villeneuve kink that claimed Ratzenberger, Imola today is a less intimidating place. But it’s still fast and flowing in places, with dramatic changes in elevation that test driver commitment as much as chassis composure.

Perfect for a first drive of a 620-hp mid-engine race car, then.

‘My’ Super Trofeo EVO is one of two cars Lamborghini Squadra Corse has on hand for a small group of journalists to sample in between qualifying sessions and races over the Super Trofeo finale weekend. Painted menacing matte gray, it’s the older of the two, with some parts clearly straight out of the prototyping shop. The other EVO, painted bright lime green, is better finished but has been set up to suit the shorter drivers of the group. Only the pedals adjust—the seats are fixed—and the Lamborghini mechanics have had to guesstimate two broad compromise settings to enable journalists to switch in and out of cars with minimal time loss.

At 6’2”, I’m the tallest driver here, and the pedals in the tall guys’ car are still slightly too close for my liking. But I fit, and at least the steering wheel is reach and rake adjustable. ‘Wheel’ isn’t an entirely accurate description: It’s a vaguely butterfly shaped affair with an Alcantara covered rim that’s flat across the base and loops up and around to join the top side of a carbon-fiber-covered boss that has eight buttons and two knobs. To the lower right of the wheel is a box covered with pads. You press one to awaken the Lambo’s electrics and another to crank the big V-10 into life. It settles down to a fast, bawling idle.

As in most modern supercars, paddles lurk with easy finger reach behind the steering wheel rim, upshifts on the right, and downshifts on the left. But there’s also a clutch pedal, small and tucked down near the floor. The rear-drive Super Trofeo EVO has a full-race, six-speed sequential shift transmission that’s designed to bang home gears without the niceties of worrying about a clutch to smooth things out, but you still need that third pedal to get the EVO underway and to bring it smoothly to a halt.

Lemme see … Clutch in, left thumb on the neutral button on the steering wheel boss, click back the right paddle. Thunk! We’re in first gear. Build revs, ease out the clutch, and the low-slung Lambo stutters down pit lane, bah-bah-bah-bah-bah-bahing against the 30-mph pit lane rev limiter. Past pit exit, right thumb on the pit button to cancel the pit limiter, and the Super Trofeo leaps forward. Bang! Second gear slams home like an anvil dropped in a dumpster. Bang! There’s third. Bang! Fourth.

I’ve only driven a car with a sequential shift transmission once before—the brain-melting Caterham R500, a pint-size 500-hp featherweight that, if you can stop the rear tires from going up in smoke, will dust a Viper ACR over the quarter mile. But that was only in a straight line. Over successive laps around Imola in the Lamborghini I learn there’s subtle art to getting the best out of a sequential-shift transmission; that on downshifts especially you have to pay close attention to engine revs and vehicle speed to prevent momentarily locking the rear wheels on corner entry and unsettling the car.

The grip, the stability, the noise, the braking—especially the braking—it’s all a vivid rush for the first few laps. Every young racer I’ve spoken with after they’ve driven a Formula 1 car for the first time has raved about the braking, not the power, and in the Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO I get a sense of why. This is my first experience of modern slicks, downforce, and carbon brakes all working together, and I cannot believe how deep I can go into corners before hitting the middle pedal. The Lambo slows crisply and concisely, corner after corner.

What’s most impressive about the Super Trofeo EVO, however, is that even after a few laps you can start to push it, to explore its limits rather than worry about your own. Default handling mode is mild understeer, which requires a little patience with the throttle exiting tight second and third gear corners but is a safer, more predictable option through the fast curves, where that new fin helps keep the rear end tracking faithfully on line. The engine loves to rev, the LEDs on the simple digital instrument readout rapidly flickering through green, blue, and orange en route to red, but the fat torque curve cuts you a little slack if you aren’t quite on top of your shift points.

This is a race car that rewards neatness and precision with a fast lap time but won’t bite your head off when you get it wrong, as mere mortals like us inevitably will … You can dial up or down appropriate levels of traction control and antilock braking via the two knobs on the steering wheel boss, depending on track conditions and your confidence level. And before you sneer, even the pros play around with these settings as they work toward the optimum setup. This is, as Lamborghini claims, a car in which you can learn how to drive like a pro racer.

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bestautochicago · 6 years

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2018 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO Review: The Future of the Supercar

Welcome to the future of the supercar.

Perfect for a first drive of a 620-hp mid-engine race car, then.

Super Trofeo racing is close and spectacular (check it out on Motor Trend OnDemand) and for Lamborghini, it’s good business—the company has built 150 Huracán Super Trofeos since 2015 and already sold nearly 50 of the new EVO models. But it’s also a long-term survival strategy: As mass automobility heads inexorably toward autonomous vehicles, automakers that are defined by high performance and driving passion can no longer rely on simply selling fast and sexy road cars.

“Racing … it’s life,” said Steve McQueen in the 1971 film, Le Mans. “Anything that happens before or after … it’s just waiting.” The Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO, one of a growing group of factory-built race cars for gentleman drivers that includes the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the Ferrari 488 Challenge, and the Mercedes-AMG GT4, gives supercar owners the opportunity to not only drive the dream, but live it, too.

Source: http://chicagoautohaus.com/2018-lamborghini-huracan-super-trofeo-evo-review-the-future-of-the-supercar/

from Chicago Today https://chicagocarspot.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/2018-lamborghini-huracan-super-trofeo-evo-review-the-future-of-the-supercar/

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