| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
But remember, it was considerably DOWN on horsepower compared to the other bikes on the grid, It may have been down on outright bhp, but it was obviously a good bike to ride fast. Having won most of the domestic Superbike championships around the world it its first year it showed that the R1's performance wasn't just attributable to Ben Spies alone (good as he is). The specs of the factory R1 were copied by the Airwaves team in the UK and they romped away with the UK BSB championship, yet the other BSB Yamaha team (Motorpoint) struggled with setup all year because they went their own way with suspension etc, even with a vastly experienced rider in the seat. Will Spies beat Pedrosa next year? I doubt it on a regular basis, although I expect him to fighting for 'best of the rest' title and should outperform his team mate. Well done to Yamaha for keeping their top riders, unlike Honda-Suzuki I thought Honda and Suzuki DID keep their top riders at the end of this year? Only Vermuelen was released and he hasn't been anywhere near the front of the pack all year in 2009. Also remember that Simoncelli may be in a 'satellite' team in 2010, but he is riding a full factory Honda the same as Pedrosa and Dovi. I would expect to see some of the other Honda teams running close to factory spec bikes too. | ||
| Jaimec |
I think what Vagelis might've been referring to is Ben's FORMER team... Suzuki had first dibs on him, but decided to pass and stay with Vermeulen/Capirossi. How's that working out for them? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Honda have lost many of their top riders in the past... Rossi Toseland Stoner Yamaha seems to have a strategy of signing or keeping the latest available top riders.. Rossi Lorenzo Toseland Spies Cruthclow Yamaha 100% dominated motorcycle racing in 2009...GP, WSBK, WSS. Their strategy is good. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Also Suzuki lost Spies and Hopkins.... Also H-D lost Buell that I think is even more STUPID. Especialy after all the 1125's issues were solved (as expected) and the bike started to get good reviews and kick a s s, giving moto-world the opportunity to realise Buell's designe capabilities. | ||
| Liquorwhere |
I believe the prowess I accredited to the R1 stems from its cross plane crankshaft, which by all accounts made the Yamaha a doddle to ride. Frankly, Spies mother could have won on it. I know my mother could have! I wonder why Sykes couldn't do better on it? He is a fast rider, but he seemed to struggle all year on that bike, every time you would see him start to catch on he would tuck the front or worse just steadily start to fall back after a good qualifying...it was weird to watch at times......why do you think he had problems on that bike Sean? | ||
| Rocketman |
Let's not forget he has far less experience than Spies, given he's at the dawn of his career. Spies is somewhat a seasoned campaigner. Overall I don't think Sykes did a bad job. Not when you look who finished on what in front of him and behind him in the seasons standings. It's easy to overshadow Sykes efforts in the light of Spies achievements. Maybe Sykes efforts on the R1 showed how good the package was. Had Sykes not suffered injury mid season, not been prevented from the last two races, he might well have finished higher. But for a rookie I think he did bloody brilliant all things taken into account. Rocket | ||
| Liquorwhere |
It is a shame he lost his ride and couldn't campaign it again for a second year to see if there was any growth. He should land on his feet, I am excited to see Rea next year, his riding reminds me of McCoy back in the days of 500cc two stroke widowmakers, slides that bike, fearless in the corners, maybe a bit over zealous at times but man exciting to watch. | ||
| Rocketman |
He's signed to ride a Kawasaki next season Dale. Can't see that being anywhere near as competitive as the R1. Seems like a step backward to me. Rocket | ||
| Liquorwhere |
I haven't seen a Kawasaki competitive in anything except the dirt in a really long time. It is a shame too because the ZX10 is actually a nice machine, but it doesn't seem to translate to the track very well. The massive pull out of world wide racing by Kawasaki, I don't think this will do anything positive except one thing. If he clicks well and puts in some really nice finishes, maybe consistence 4th to 6th place finishes on that bike, he may get another shot on a Honda, Yamaha, Duc or Suzuki..hell maybe even BMW or Aprilia. He needs to be consistent on that bike but at the same time push for good finishes. I know all of them are looking for the same thing, but Sykes has talent, hopefully he goes Casey Stoner and is the only guy on earth that can go fast on that bike. I am pulling for him. | ||
| Jaimec |
Kawasaki has decided to concentrate their racing efforts on World Superbikes next year, so who knows? | ||
| Trojan |
As Jaimec has said, Kawasaki are putting massive effort into their WSB campaign over the next two years. Signing Vermuelen and Sykes gives them two very talented riders, and I don't think that Sykes has shown what he is fully capable of yet. Back in BSB he was easily able to run with Haslam, Byrne and Camier and I think he will do better on a different bike than he did on the R1. It may also help him to be in what is really a new team, as the Yamaha team effort was very much focussed on Spies rather than both riders. Sykes has worked with Paul Bird in the past so knows the new team setup already. I would love to see Kawasaki get up to speed and battle with the other major manufacturers next year, and with BMW and Aprilia getting more competitive it should make for the closest championship for years  | ||
| Liquorwhere |
Well Kawasaki needs to get with it. I don't believe they are slow machines and I don't believe they cannot be competitive, hopefully the focus of funds and equipment will pan out and create a bit more competition at the front for yamaha and ducati. I am really excited about the Ten Kate team, Honda may have found the right mix of talent and speed, they might be a force in WSBK next season. BMW will undoubtable be better. Troy Corser is excellent at developing a bike, but they need a star rider, young fast and can benefit from all the development Corser has put in it. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Who is the rider for the 2nd factory Aprilia ? | ||
| 46champ |
Unconfirmed reports says Leon Camier. | ||
| Trojan |
Camier is testing the Aprilia alongside Biaggi this week (at Misano I think) and the hot rumour was that Aprilia would announce his signing at the end of the test last night. However there doesn't appear to be any news yet................ | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Was Camier testing for Aprilia, or Aprilia testing how fast Camier is ? | ||
| Trojan |
The Misano test was a washout with poor weather conditions hampering decent lap times by any of the riders present (although Camier lapped 5 seconds faster than Hoffman, the 'official' test rider). Camier is reported to be 'confident' of a deal with Aprilia but states that 'they have a few things to sort out at their end first', so no announcements are being made yet  Hopefully we will get some positive news this week from Aprilia. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Yoshimura Suzuki will race WSBK next year. Will they bring Mladin from the US ? Would Mladin want some WSBK glory ? | ||
| Jaimec |
I doubt it, but stranger things've happened. Depends if Mat can get fired up again, but I think he's had it and really just wants to spend time with his family. Other than the money involved in AMA Superbike, the other big draw for him was the relative lack of travel involved. His family would move to the States during the season, he would race all over the country and be back with his family during the week. The hectic travel schedule of WSBK wouldn't allow him to do that. But as I said at the beginning: Stranger things've happened. | ||
| Liquorwhere |
I have seen in years past when WSBK would race at Laguna with AMA and Mladin rode as a wild card he did not do as well as expected against the WSBK folks. Mind you I am not saying he wouldn't do well now, but in years past on his home circuit he didn't wow anyone with his performances. He is a talented racer, but I think he was a big fish in a little pond and preferred it that way. | ||
| Jaimec |
Just remember that in the three years that Ben Spies was the AMA Superbike Champion, Mat actually won MORE races... it's just that when he didn't win, he most likely binned it. Mat didn't care about points, he just wanted wins. That changed this last year when he just lost "the fire." He raced just hard enough to win the championship; otherwise he just coasted. Without someone like Ben pushing him, he just lost interest. | ||
| Trojan |
The way I read it was that the Yoshimura team that will contect the WSBK championship is the one from the All Japan Superbike Series and NOT the AMA Yoshimura squad that Mladin was part of. It could conceivably be that they will approach him to ride for them, but it is not the same team by any stretch of the imagination and the Japanese Yoshimura team have had a lot less success than the AMA team has enjoyed in recent years. I would think that they will be looking for a young (japanese) rider rather than trying to drag Mladin out of retirement. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Mladin would not join WSBK to get the title, but make a lot of money and get some more glory. I can think of many WSBK riders that have lost "the fire", but they are still there. Biaggi, Checa, Lanzi, Tamada, Laconi .... Europe is about the same size as the USA, and the rounds outside Europe are 4. So travelling is not that much more. Mladin will find a of lot motivation in Europe. WSBK needs a big name like Mladin, and since Spies left, Mladin will guarantee US interest in the series. I think that there are many phonecalls made at the moment. After the motoGP "fiasco", Suzuki should push in that direction. | ||
| Jaimec |
Watching Max this past season, how can you say he's lost the fire? I wasn't talking about the fire being the ABILITY to win, rather the WILL to win. Max is fighting as hard as he's ever done. The others you've mentioned were never in Max's class to begin with, but I don't think their "will to win" is over yet either. I may be wrong, but I don't think anyone in WSBK is doing it "just for the paycheck." | ||
| Liquorwhere |
The others you've mentioned were never in Max's class to begin with, but I don't think their "will to win" is over yet either. I may be wrong, but I don't think anyone in WSBK is doing it "just for the paycheck." That may be but I always find it interesting that toward the end of a contract and a rider is looking for a new ride...read new paycheck....they always seem to find this "burst" of new speed that just wasn't there before. It has got to be frustrating to teams to see the bike that couldn't finish above 11th consistently all of the sudden topping qualifying and finishing in the top 6 when the rider is looking for a new place to ride. DeAngelis in MotoGP, Elias in GP, Byrne in WSBK all seemed to get fast when they didn't have a contract in place.....just an observation.... | ||
| Trojan |
Mladin won't ride in WSBK because he knows he would get beat...simple. he has had plenty of chances over the years to race in both WSBK and MotoGP/500 and has refused both (except for a brief period in 500GP where he was less than scintillating), preferring to stay in the much better paid (until now) AMA paddock. I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for an announcement of a comeback from him  Full details of the Yoshimura story can be found here http://www.motomatters.com/news/2009/11/22/yoshimu ra_to_enter_world_superbikes_seri.html | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt: No one thought Ben was anything special either till this past year. In AMA Superbike, it was Mat Mladin, Ben Spies, and everyone else. I'm sure if Mat did decide to come out of retirement to join the WSBK grid, he'd be nearly as dominant as Ben (assuming he kept it on two wheels). Why didn't Mat impress during his wild card rides? Why should he when they don't count for anything AND if he got stupid it would've affected him in the series that DID count. It's not like he was looking for a WSBK ride. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
If Mladin is 70% as fast-good as Spies, he will be a top 6 in WSBK, and this is not bad. Watching the Aprilia in WSBK, it looked as the best package, especialy in the last rounds. Definately the most powerfull and one of the best handling bikes. So Biaggi's performanse was not so impressive. Spies would got the title if he was on the Aprilia. Look what Spies did in his rookie year, and compare that to Biaggi's rookie WSBK year with Suzuki. Also Sterilgada's Ducati 1098 was almost identical to Bayliss 1098 in 2008, so what happened to Biaggi's performance ?? Biaggi is overated, period. He is Italian and he enjoys this "Biaggi is great" myth, because he is Italian. I find difficult to explain why he is still around in a top WSBK team. The only explanation might be development skills, but I doubt it since the Aprilia team has a vast experience from 250cc, GP-RS3, so the bike would be great anyway. I have great expectation from Cal Crutchlow.....next WSBK champion. | ||
| Liquorwhere |
Wayne Gardner would agree with you.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIaeco-9twg | ||
| Jaimec |
Before going any further, let me point out that I am NOT a Max Biaggi fan. Although he's "matured" in SBK I still think he's a bit of a pompous ass... but he does have talent. Comparing Rookie years between Max and Ben is hard. Max came to WSBK after a year off (because no team would touch him with a ten foot pole), but having NEVER ridden a superbike before. Ben came to WSBK fresh off of winning three consecutive AMA Superbike titles, and even though he'd never seen most of the tracks he was well versed in how to ride a superbike. Also, don't forget: Max won his first ever World Superbike race. He didn't capitalize on that the remainder of the season, but he's no slouch. He'll be right at the front next season, I've no doubt. |
