Last place can become first place with out hitting any gates or being better than the others. Skill helps but the races are totally just rng. Highly doubt hidden stats, I believe it's 50/50 skill and luck.

Never thought about it but it does kinda seem like the lysanders cry seems to move a bit smoother than my other sparrow. I've also seen some sparrows stay in the air longer even if they are going the same speed and off the same ramp.

The bikes may have hidden stats, but if they do they're not showing up on the DestinyTracker database entries, even though they Do show hidden stats on guns. One of the primary handling differences I've noticed is between the perks Quick Brake (QB) and Destabilizers (DS). Old bikes with QB (basically all of them) handle poorly for me (whether I use the brake or not), while old ones with DS, like Lysander's Cry, handle better. All the new-style race bikes have DS and handle best for me. So, I'm not saying that use of the perk makes them handle differently, though it certainly does that, I'm just saying it feels like the perks have some kind of unseen, passive effect on handling. I spent a good few races last night swapping between Lysander's Cry and SnowScream. Lysander handles better than SnowScream (for me) so the difference between DS and QB does seem to affect handling. I ran a few others too, just for comparison, like the Vector Infinite and even the basic S10. All the old-style sparrows, in both QB and DS variants, seemed to either take corners very tight or get thrown way, way wide. Vector Infinite does drag-race a little better due to it's slightly higher boost stat, and I assume the SR-1 Swiftriver would as well, but I don't have it to test. I then switched to a race-type, Aeon Glow, and noticed a marked improvement in handling. The newer-style also seems to be more forgiving in the turns, if somewhat slower on the straights. The newer ones also seem to respond better to throttle-feathering. Most times I tried to feather on an old-type my boost would die completely, forcing me to let off the trigger momentarily before hitting it again to re-engage. Never has happened on a race-type. So, with a sample-set of one, it seems to me that the old style sparrows, with QB, handle the worst, the few old style with DS (Swiftriver, Tumbler, Lysander) handle better, and then all the new-style sparrows with DS handle the best. But that's just my experience.

I use XVO Timebreaker [spoiler]at times I feel sorry for other players[/spoiler]

Time breaker Just be careful

I have been using gjallawing and it flies past people on straights. Excellent handling if you can steer correctly and not just bounce off walls lol. I was tempted to change sparrows but this is working best for me

Unfortunately there are NO hidden stats.. Just your gameplay. Saying there are hidden stats on a sparrow is like saying there is still a secret chest in Vog. 😂 I have noticed boosting left or right depending on area of the map through a CP does seem to give you an extra mini kick. Especially during tight corners

Is it just me or is the ravensteel sparrow the best

Raid sparrows best sparrows

Ghost thrusters

I honestly think the dawning sparrow is "better" than the rest.. I have no equipment equipped for racing and I have no problem catching and passing people on that sparrow

Destiny was not designed as a racer. Sparrows were only give "race stats" retroactively so don't overthink the complexity of the system. All Legendary Sparrows basically break down into three different groups with very few exceptions. The rest is just cosmetics.

It feels like they're are some hidden stats