| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
So Kevin Schwantz is to manage the Moriwaki/Erion/Honda USA wild card team in Moto2, Everyone agrees that this is a good idea, but what about the choice of rider? Roger Lee Hayden has hardly set the world on fire this year on the Kawasaki in WSB, even when judged against the other Kawasakis in the race let alone the leading WSB runners, so why was he given the Moto2 ride ahead of Josh Herrin, PJ Jacobsen, Danny Eslick and a pretty long list of current AMA 600cc class runners who would surely be a better bet for jumping straight onto a Moto2 bike? Anyone care to shed any light on this strange decision? | ||
| Jaimec |
I thought Roger Lee was under contract to Kawasaki... so how did he get a Honda/Moriwaki ride?? | ||
| Aeholton |
Maybe he was available cheap?  | ||
| Trojan |
Same here. I would have thought that one of the current US Honda/Erion riders would have been the logical first choice, but if contracts with other teams are not an issue then there are a few riders that I would have called ahead of Roger for the ride. Hayden will have to re-adapt his riding style to suit a 600 bike in addition to learning the track etc, so other than having the right surname I can't see any advantage hiring him over a young up and coming AMA Supersport or Sportbike competitor. | ||
| Amafan |
First of all ,Trojan ,you do not know nothing!! Secondly Roger Hayden is on by far the worst bike in WSBK ,so his results make him look bad ,but he is by far a better 600 rider then most of the riders you listed . Herrin and Eslick are Yamaha and Suzuki factory suported riders ,and are title contenders in the AMA ,and can not race a Honda ,but because Roger Hayden's team is a small private team with little Kawasaki support,he was able to get this ride . Anotherthing most riders that go from a 1000 cc bike to a 600cc bike do verry well . Andrew Pitt did this in 2008 and was WSS champion ,Ben Bostrom did this in the AMA in 2008 and was AMA SuperSport champion ,and Cal Crutchlow went from a BSB Superbike ,to a WSS Champion on a 600 . Kenny Noyes went from a 1000 FX rider in Spain to a Moto 2 frontrunner on a 600 Honda . | ||
| 99buellx1 |
Hey! I'm young(ish), up-and-coming, and unable to keep up with the leaders in WSB.....guess I'm just as qualified as Hayden. Give ME the ride! | ||
| Trojan |
First of all ,Trojan ,you do not know nothing!! I just love double negatives so thank you for your compliments  RL Hayden's performances on his Kawasaki have to be judged against the other Kawasaki riders on the same machine in the same race, of which he has been by far the slowest this year unfortunately. This may be due to several factors but the point is that he is currently not showing the form that would usually lead to being gifted a Moto2 ride in a world championship event. At least if you give a current competitive 600 rider the opportunity they will have some experience of the engine at least and would probably be looking to Moto2 as a step up in future. Riding a Moto2 bike is very similar to 600 supesport in terms of riding style required but nothing like a 1000cc superbike. Crutchlow is unusual in that he is equally competitive on both 600 adn 1000 bikes and can seemingly jump from one to the other with no problems. Most riders tend to take a while to get back up to speed when they change. However, the biggest factor ingiving wild card rides is that they are supposed to be given to riders from the host country (if possible) that are up and coming in domestic competiton and to give them a 'leg up' onto the world stage. Roger Hayden doesn't fit any of these criteria and is only one year under the maximum age limit for wild card GP riders (28). There are plenty of talented riders in the AMA series right now who are younger than him and contract permitting should have been given the ride first. | ||
| Amafan |
Another dumb person ,you people do not get it ,he is on a bike that was 10 to 25 KMPH down on the other bikes at Miller ,and is a Kawasaki ,so it handles badly as well as being very slow . | ||
| 46champ |
It probably has to do with Honda pulling out of AMA racing and they are punishing the riders along with the series. You know guilt by association. | ||
| Davegess |
Amafan, lets be nice and keep the insults down. No need for them, you can disagree politely. | ||
| Trojan |
Another dumb person ,you people do not get it ,he is on a bike that was 10 to 25 KMPH down on the other bikes at Miller ,and is a Kawasaki ,so it handles badly as well as being very slow Tom Sykes and Chris Vermuelen are on pretty much the same bike but had better results at every round so far than Hayden(and Hayden should have had some advantage at Miller). His team mate Baiocco also beat him in race two on exactly the same bike. However my point isn't that Hayden is on a slow bike, but that he simply hasn't shown the form to be considered as a natural selection for a wild card ride at a GP. This would normally be given to a rider who was performing very well in a domestic championship and in my view could have gone to some more deserving riders this year. Maybe he will prove me wrong but I doubt it. All the other riders that you mention above that jumped from 1000 to 600 bikes had a winter of testing in between classes to get used to the new bikes and adapt their riding style to suit. Hayden will have to jump off the uncompetitive Kawasaki straight onto a Moto2 bike (that he has never ridden!) and be expected to do well? I just think it was a surprising decision and maybe only made because the best AMA 600cc racing talent was tied up in contracts to other factories and couldn't be released. | ||
| Amafan |
He is not on the same bike as Sykes,and Vermuelen ,he is on a privateer Kawasaki that is over 10 kmph slower the the factory Kawaski's. At Miller he was on the back wheel of the factory Kawasaki's ,and crashed out of the 2nd race trying to keep in there draft on the last corner leading onto the front straight . His split times on the sections without long straights were better then the factory Kawasaki riders . His teammate raced at all the WSBK tracks last year,but Hayden who only raced at Miller ,before this year,and has beaten his teammate more often then he has lost to him . Roger Hayden finished in the top 10 in 2007 on a Kawasaki 800 MotoGP bike at Laguna Seca . | ||
| Trojan |
He is not on the same bike as Sykes,and Vermuelen ,he is on a privateer Kawasaki that is over 10 kmph slower the the factory Kawaski's. At Miller he was on the back wheel of the factory Kawasaki's ,and crashed out of the 2nd race trying to keep in there draft on the last corner leading onto the front straight . His split times on the sections without long straights were better then the factory Kawasaki riders . His teammate raced at all the WSBK tracks last year,but Hayden who only raced at Miller ,before this year,and has beaten his teammate more often then he has lost to him . Roger Hayden finished in the top 10 in 2007 on a Kawasaki 800 MotoGP bike at Laguna Seca . The 'privateer' Pedercini kawasaki team were the 'official' WSB kawasaki team until recently, and have access to pretty much everything that Paul Bird has access to with the current ZX10-R except maybe money. This is now an old model and there is very little new technology for the ZX10 not shared between the two teams or available to buy off the shelf. Being faster in certain sections of a race but finishing behind someone isn't really an excuse. Nor is falling off trying to stay with someone unfortunately. We know that he is not riding the best bike in WSB but that isn't the point at all. Ignoring his pretty poor WSB season so far (regardless of choice of bike), what has he done to deserve a Moto2 gifted ride ahead of the younger Supersport 600/Sportbike riders that would ordinarily be the choice for a GP wild card ride and fro whom the wild card rule was originally intended? In my view (and that of a lot of other people who are far more educated in this area than me) he hasn't done much to deserve the moto2 ride this year other than being in the right family and be lucky enough not to have a cast iron contract with another manufacturer. | ||
| Jaimec |
46champ: Moto2 has NOTHING to do with AMA racing or DMG. This is FIM/Dorna, a COMPLETELY different outfit. Honda still competes in the series hosted by FIM Dorna; in fact they host more bikes than any other manufacturer as well as produce the engines for every single bike on the Moto2 grid. Your argument doesn't make any sense. | ||
| Jaimec |
Only other thing I can think of is: Maybe Mr. Schwantz is friendly with the Hayden clan? | ||
| Amafan |
I think it has more to do with his 14 carrer AMA 600SS wins ,and him being 2007 AMA 600SS champion. http://www.cyclenews.com/articles/road-racing/2010 /06/15/hayden-schwantz-erion-moto2-at-indy | ||
| Firstbuell |
plus the fact that RLH has a current Int'l license Go Roger Lee !! | ||
| 46champ |
Jaimec: I said what I said partly in jest, but I feel that Honda would go anywhere else to get a rider provided the riders were of equal talent. They ran a year long campaign against the AMA now they hire a rider from a team that rides a competitors bike that just happens to have let his feelings show about his happiness about not riding in that series. Kind of sounds like payback on a good level for Roger. | ||
| Jaimec |
Ah, now I understand! |
