| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
I think Jaimec was referring more to Melandri's shoulder injury than to Rossi moving to WSBK (although that is something that I would love to see just once!). Melandri had similar injury problems over the winter, although slightly less severe than Rossi, so for him to ride so well in two long hard WSBK races bodes well for Vale come race time I think  | ||
| Crusty |
Oops! Wrong thread! sorry. (Message edited by Crusty on March 01, 2011) | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt: I was also pointing out how unimportant Marco's testing times were when the flag dropped. Vagelis has been beating the "Rossi is dead" drum all post and pre-season testing season for MotoGP because of his poor times. As Marco just PROVED, testing times mean SQUAT when the racing starts. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I never said that *Rossi is dead*. I really do not believe something like this. I actually think that a healthy and fast Rossi is great for the motoGP races. He is just not as good as his fanboys are claiming he is. I hope his Ducati experience made him a bit more humble. At some point last season , when Stoner had bad results, Rossi said that Stoner did not push to 100% and that is the reason Ducati was not at the top. What will Rossi say now about his and the Ducs' performance ???? There a huge difference in rider quality between motoGP and WSBK. Melandri last year was the the worst out of 5 Honda riders. But of course testing is not racing.......and WSBK is not motoGP..... | ||
| Trojan |
He is just not as good as his fanboys are claiming he is. Of course you are dead right. We must have imagined all those world championships and race wins of his.............Put the rest of the GP and WSBk field togther and they haven't won as much as he has on his own. Vagelis has been beating the "Rossi is dead" drum all post and pre-season testing season for MotoGP because of his poor times. As Marco just PROVED, testing times mean SQUAT when the racing starts. +1. When the season starts proper (i.e when the races reach Europe and not the 'flyaway' rounds) we will see just who is bluffing and who really is in with a chance of the title this year. Until then it is just hot air and conjecture  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Was Rossi bluffing in the 2010 Sepang test on the M1 , when he dominated the test ???? NO. Rossi won most of his titles against riders like Biaggi, Checa, Gibernau, Capirossi who are definately not up to his level. The last 4 years is a different story. First in 2007 he blocked Stoner to join Yamaha, then when Lorenzo joined Yamaha he made sure that Lorenzo got an inferior M1 for 2 years. And we all know what happened in 2010 when Lorenzo and Rossi got an identical bike. Lets wait and see what Rossi will do with the Duc. I just hope he does not stays too long in motoGP and start running midpack. | ||
| Crusty |
And we all know what happened in 2010 when Lorenzo and Rossi got an identical bike. You mean like at Sepang? What a great race that was to watch! | ||
| Trojan |
First in 2007 he blocked Stoner to join Yamaha, then when Lorenzo joined Yamaha he made sure that Lorenzo got an inferior M1 for 2 years. I don't hink there was ever any proper serious discussions between Stoner and Yamaha, let alone being blocked by Rossi. Lorenzo got a factory bike when he joined Yamaha, which was 99.9% the saem as Rossi got. The only diference was that Rossi lead development and got new parts first (as is usual when you are number one rider in a team). Lorenzo got the same parts later. Lorenzo and Rossi have been on pretty much identical bikes for 2 years Rossi never had better bikes than other factory supported Aprilia riders when he won the 125 or 250 world championships. Neither did he have ANY upgrades or favourable treatment to his NSR500 when he finished second in his first full 500 season. if you are a multi world champion you do tend to get treated well by your team and get the best parts available (it goes with the job). If Lorenzo, Stoner etc don't like it all they have to do is win a few more championships and they'll probably get better treatment and number one status Until then they should just get on with racing and stop blaming their equipment. (Message edited by trojan on March 01, 2011) | ||
| Jaimec |
I don't think I've ever read any stories about Lorenzo complaining about having "inferior equipment." He looks like he's as hard a worker out there as anyone else on the grid; but that's a discussion for the MotoGP thread, not here in the WSBK thread. Getting back on topic... Remember Carlos had an "inferior bike" compared to Haga and Fabrizio last year but looked far more impressive than either of them. This year, he is riding what is essentially a "Factory Bike" in all but name, and so far... so good. I believe it has been pointed out that Philip Island STRONGLY favors the Ducati's attributes. Let's see how he does on the other tracks. His top speeds were WAAAY down compared to Biaggi in the long straights, for example. Aprilia is banned from using the gear-driven cams this year. Doesn't seem to be hurting them a BIT, either. | ||
| Trojan |
According to MCN (which could of course be wrong!) the Althea team didn't get the Haga/Fabrizio 2010 factory bikes as originally reported (they went to the Liberty racing teamand to the BSB Riders Ducati team) but have got new 2011 spec bikes built specifically for them and what would have been this years factory machines. They have improved electronics, more power, new forks and various other upgrades over the other Ducatis in the field and also have inherited a fair proportion of the ex factory WSB technical team as well. It will be interesting to see how well the Ducati goes at other circuits that are not so twin friendly though,as I think they will struggle on top speed and acceleration at the more stop/start tracks like Donington (next round!). (Message edited by trojan on March 02, 2011) | ||
| Jaimec |
Toseland out of the next two rounds: http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/racing/toseland-ha nd-injury/ | ||
| Trojan |
Toseland is probably secretly quite happy to be missing a couple of rounds and hoping that they can sort his bike out in his absence! The BMW Italia bikes were woefully short of the factory BMW squad in Philip Island and from what I head it was all down to electronics.......Maybe James can sneak into Leon Haslams garage and download some settings while he is off sick | ||
| Jaimec |
Marco's looking mighty impressive! http://www.worldsbk.com/en/news/5-news/6884-biaggi -and-melandri-wrap-up-q1-at-the-front.html | ||
| Vagelis46 |
BMW is getting close to their 1st win, Haslam can do it. | ||
| Jaimec |
"El Toro" snatched the pole. What happened to Max and Marco?? They were both so strong in the practice sessions. | ||
| Blake |
World Superbike Qualifying Results, courtesy Road Racing World and Motorcycle Technology, one of the best sporting road moto magazines on the planet. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=43824 Being gridded 2nd is still a long way from achieving a race victory. Didn't already Corser achieve similar qualifying success? | ||
| Blake |
Not a fount of confidence. | ||
| Jaimec |
Well, I found out what happened to Max and Marco. I see Max really hasn't mellowed much with age and got slapped with a fine for "Unsportsmanlike Behavior." Marco, however, got the BEST revenge today, though. | ||
| Blake |
Nice. Race #1 Results, courtesy Road Racing World Magazine. Race #2 Results, courtesy Road Racing World Magazine. Shaping up to be an interesting series this year. | ||
| Trojan |
Donington Park in March...cold, windy and boring  Who organises this schedule anyway? Too many riders tipping off on cold tyres both in practice, qualifying and race. Hardly any spectators (By British WSB standards anyway). Pretty dull racing apart from Melandri in race one and Leon Camier having a go in race 2. Even the WSS race wasn't really scintillating More excitement in the pits on Saturday with Biaggi having a hissy fit and slapping Melandri! Biaggi had his head up his arse all weekend and rode like a beginner, getting in everyones way in superpole and then making amateur mistakes in both races before getting black flagged for not taking his ride through penalty. You wouldn't believe he was reigning champion on this performance! Maybe I'm just getting old and jaded, but bike racing isn't as exciting as it used to be (Message edited by trojan on March 28, 2011) | ||
| Jaimec |
You are, Matt. Race one was very exciting with the decision occurring on the last lap. Race two, not so much with Checa checking out, but Marco gave him some concern on the last few laps I'm sure. And did you see Maxime Berger ride the wheel off his Ducati?? You've DEFINITELY gotten jaded lately. I don't know WHAT qualifies as "exciting" for you anymore. (Message edited by jaimec on March 28, 2011) | ||
| Blake |
I like the championship leader. It is odd they race so early at Donington. Why not Portimao or Misano? A Brit complaining about the weather? I think that maybe you could benefit from a nice warm beach vacation. | ||
| Trojan |
You've DEFINITELY gotten jaded lately. I don't know WHAT qualifies as "exciting" for you anymore. It was certainly more exciting than recent GP races, and 100% more exciting than the F1 race on the other channel at the same time (yawn...), but it just didn't have me on the edge of my seat like I was hoping for The WSS race (the one I was most interested in!) kind of fizzled out when Sam Lowes and Kames Ellison both retired with clutch problems, and you kind of knew that Chaz Davies wasn't going to risk punting his team mate off to get the win.......... I didn't watch all of race two WSB but the bits I saw weren't that dramatic and a bit staid unfortunately (race one was better), very little swapping of positions and close racing other than Camier stalking Melandri for a few laps before settling for a safe third. Haslam rode fast but made too any mistakes to give himself a real chance, and wasn't very complimentary about the BMW electronics (again) after race one, so I think they will be hard at work before Assen (which IS an exciting track!). | ||
| Trojan |
A Brit complaining about the weather? I think that maybe you could benefit from a nice warm beach vacation. Complaining about the weather is a national obsession here in Britain Your right...I really need a holiday We are off to Russia in September for a cruise from St Petersburg to Moscow. Hardly a beach but a rare vacation nonetheless. Just got to hope we don't get blown up at the airport or mugged by the mafia | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Race 1 was fantastic. Good to see Melandri on such a good form. Didn't he have the same shoulder operation as Rossi ???? It seems that "yellow army" fans are deeply depressed from what is happening to Rossi, and they find everything boring.  | ||
| Jaimec |
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| Trojan |
It seems that "yellow army" fans are deeply depressed from what is happening to Rossi, and they find everything boring Since when did Rossi have anything to do with WSB? Although if he did it would probably be even more boring by the time he had lapped everyone else Biaggi, Checa and Melandri are the top of the pile in WSB yet none of them got close to beating Rossi in GP racing, so I would expect him to give them all a good thrashing if he ever decided to move across to the 'diesel' class. | ||
| Jaimec |
I wonder which would be worse... a wheel snapping off at the spokes on a single sided swingarm (as what happened to Berger), or a wheel snapping off at the spokes on a regular dual-sided swing arm? On the single-sided swingarm, the wheel is free to fly off away from the bike. In a dual swingarm design, the wheel would be trapped and could jam up under the bike. Either way, the rider is going flying... Better go check the torque on the wheel bolts of my K1200LT... | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Trojan, You used to praise the WSBK for its close racing , and now suddenly you call it "diesel" and boring??? Stay cool , Rossi will get faster soon and you will start to enjoy life and racing again. Do not give up !!!  | ||
| Jaimec |
Well, according to an article I recently read, Crutchlow's fortunes in the latter part of WSBK last year are a DIRECT result of the changes Rossi suggested for the R1 when he was using it for testing purposes... |
