| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
I suspect that Badovini's bike is lower spec and makes LESS horsepower and is not as hard on tyres. Or Badovini might be a new rising star. A bit of both. Badovini is a very talented racer adn won the Superstock championship on the BMW with absolute ease (I think he won almost every race?). His BMW is a lot less advanced than the factory bike,l but that is probably a good thing. Rumour has it that Haslam is getting VERY frustrated with the factory BMW teams inability to sort out the problems they are having, and their complete refusal to try any other electronics package other than their own (which plainly isn't working!). Haslam runs the bike with almost everything switched off now, which is why his style was so ragged compared to Badovini in race two when they were both running together. Other rumours suggest that both Haslam and Corser willo be dropped by BMW at the end of this year, although who they could possibly think will replace them and do any better remains to be seen. Riders at the top of their shopping list are apparently Biaggi and Checa (no surprise there then!) but getting either of them to move teams would be almost impossible I would think. | ||
| Gaesati |
I suppose we are moving into July so the feelers for change of team will be out! Troy Corser must be approaching his retirement date by now. I think perhaps BMW should look at the team structure and guidelines as Matt has suggested. Based on Haslam's demonstrated talent and Corsers track record it's not the riders but the team which has the problem. | ||
| Trojan |
I read somewhere this morning that Haslam is already in serious discussions with Aprilia for 2012. I don't know if that is with the factory team (to replace Camier?) or with a privateer team like Hagas. Camier has been disapointing since his arrival at Aprilia, showing only occasional flashes of his undoubted talent. He would go better on the Yamaha if he could get his hands on one that's for sure. BMW have already sacked half of their back room staff and replaced them with in house German techs, and that hasn't worked, so who knows what their next step will be! maybe they think that signing a couple of German riders would solve the issues as well. | ||
| Jaimec |
They HAD what they needed last year with that guy they hired away from Ducati... but I guess he didn't tell them what they wanted to hear so he was let go. The announcers mentioned that Haslam has already complained that he's TELLING them what the bike needs, but they aren't DOING anything about it. Damned hard-headed Germans. Maybe they'll sing a different tune after Badovini has completely cleaned their clocks by the end of the season on a bike managed by people who seem to KNOW how to set up a bike. | ||
| Simond |
"Camier has been disappointing since his arrival at Aprilia, showing only occasional flashes of his undoubted talent. He would go better on the Yamaha if he could get his hands on one that's for sure." I would love to have seen Camier on the Yamaha and Crutchlow as Max's teammate last year  . Hopper has got to be near the top of everyone's shopping list for next year - assuming he doesn't get a call up for a MotoGp ride. | ||
| Trojan |
I would love to have seen Camier on the Yamaha and Crutchlow as Max's teammate last year . Hopper has got to be near the top of everyone's shopping list for next year - assuming he doesn't get a call up for a MotoGp ride. Camier went so well on the Yamaha in BSB that I thought it was a shoe in for a WSB Yamaha ride..but not to be  The Aprilia just doesn't suit a guy of his size so to get the podiums he has has been a good achievement, but he would do better elsewhere I am sure. Rumour has it that Suzuki will continue to run the 800 bike in MotoGP next year with just one rider (if they race at all!), so I don't think Hopper will get a ride with them for 2012 unless Bautista gets fed up and jumps ship to a new team (doubtful). The CRT teams that have been announced sofar for MotoGP 2012 will almost certainly bring their current Moto2 riders with them, so there doesn't seem to be a lot of space for riders like Hopper wanting to return to MotoGP. His best chance will probably be with the LCR team as they have already approached him about replacing Elias this season. being loyal to Suzuki is unlikely to bring a competitive MotoGP ride to Hopper (look how thet treated Spies!) so he should be looking to get the best possible ride he can right now. | ||
| Jaimec |
The Emperor has claimed pole position at his favorite track with Marco Melandri hot on his heels. Filling the first row is Carlos Checa and Eugene Laverty. Should be a good race tomorrow. Here's hoping we see the Max of old, and not the error-prone racer he's been so far this year. | ||
| Jaimec |
"Battle of the Italians" in the Czech Republic. | ||
| Trojan |
Predicatble first three at Brno really, so it was only the finishing order that was in any doubt. Two good races though and a great result in WSS too Lots of poilitics and intrigue going on behind the scenes though, as usual at the half way point of the season. Francis Batta is looking to take the factory Kawasaki team away from Paul Bird Motorsport and run the green machine himslef next year instead of the ageing Suzuki GSXR1000. he is also keen to wrest Leon Haslam back from BMW as his lead rider, so expect some serious arguments in the paddock at the next few rounds WSB organisers are already getting ready to change the rules in order to restrict the new Ducati 1199 before it even arrives next year, and are quoted as saying 'If Ducati don't like the rules they can leave the series!'. Fighting talk indeed, and it shows that they are feeling a lot more secure about the Japanese factory involvement than they were a few years ago | ||
| Jaimec |
Well, with Aprilia and BMW onboard (and possibly KTM next year?) they're not hurting for European competition either. I guess they don't like being known as "The Ducati Cup" anymore. Suzuki is such an odd conundrum. They SUCK in MotoGP, and really, the only series in which they're competitive appears to be AMA Superbike (although Hopkins has been doing well in BSB with one). That bike is really in need of some kind of update, though. And what's up with Honda? Other than MotoGP, they aren't making ANY impression in any road racing series of which I'm aware? (Message edited by jaimec on July 13, 2011) | ||
| Trojan |
And what's up with Honda? Other than MotoGP, they aren't making ANY impression in any road racing series of which I'm aware? The Fireblade is an old bike in racing standards now and hasn't had a big upgrade for 3-4 years. Ten kate also lost their HRC data/electronics technicians at the end of last year so have struggled to sort out the minefield that is modern race electronics (that old chestnut again!). With Johnny Rea injured and Ruben Xaus useless they seem to be in a big hole right now Honda did well at the TT, which doesn't need the outright power of circuit based Superbikes, although that could also be put down to John McGuinness rather than at Hondas door. Suzuki have a 2012 GSXR1000 coming, but early reports are not encouraging for the race version, and with Francis Batta looking to jump ship it isn't clear if anyone will want to run a Suzuki at WSB level either (unless Yoshi step up to do a full season). | ||
| Gaesati |
I wonder how cash strapped Suzuki is? | ||
| Trojan |
I wonder how cash strapped Suzuki is? By all accounts that I have read (and of course they play it very close to their chests!) they are in dire straits. Suzuki UK have just got rid of their long serving and very well respected head of sales and (Dave Taylor) and replaced him with an unknown guy direct from Japan, which is usually a sign of desperation from Japanese companies. They have also just re-released some 'new' or rehashed models at a strange time in the season (new 650 VStrom and re-released SV650) which seems to be a way of getting cheap sales with no development costs. Time will tell of course, but they seem to be the worst of the Japanese big 4 in terms of ability to withstand the current economic downturn | ||
| Jaimec |
What happened to their cross-development deal with Kawasaki? You don't hear anything more about that? | ||
| 46champ |
Suzuki must still be suffering from the poison pill they had to eat when they bought the stock shares back from General Motors. That was about 20% of the company. The deal with Kawasaki fell apart after a year or so and a couple of bikes, don't know which ones. | ||
| Trojan |
John Hopkins has surprised a few people this morning by going fastest in FP1 at the British WSB round at Silverstone. He does have teh advantage of recent testing at the track, but was in the top five pretty much all session and looks very strong. Pity that there are not the usual amount of wild card riders from BSB this year (only Crescent Suzuki with Hopkins and John Kirkham) but they seem pretty competitive. Camier looks good again in 2nd and was also up there throughout the session. Biaggi (14th) & Melandri (16th) seem to be struggling but it is early days yet Good to see James Toseland return from career threatening injury in 4th place too. He could do with some good luck for change. 1. J. Hopkins2'06.667 2. L. Camier2'06.888 3. J. Smrz2'06.968 4. J. Toseland2'06.986 5. C. Checa2'07.013 6. T. Corser2'07.064 7. L. Haslam2'07.100 8. M. Fabrizio2'07.126 9. T. Sykes2'07.188 10. S. Guintoli | ||
| Davegess |
Kinda weird, some of the usual fast guys are back pretty far, Biaggi, Laverty | ||
| Jaimec |
Just heard King James will be back at Indianapolis with Crash this year. For someone who only rode in MotoGP for two years, he's made more appearances at Indy than some of the regulars! I'm guessing at some point he'll share the stage with Colin Edwards and Cal Crutchlow, too. Looking forward to seeing him perform again. They are very good! | ||
| Blake |
I've always liked King James. Hopkins is surprising. Let's hope can stay sober and get back to racing as he is capable. | ||
| Smoke4ndmears |
Hopper wins superpole! Exciting! And Biaggi not even in the top 10! | ||
| Trojan |
Great day racing from Silverstone and Hopper did well to hang onto the front group through both races, especially considering that the Cresecnt Suzuki he races has NO official manufacturer support at all (The Official Suzuki BSB bike is the Relentless/TAS team) so is effectively a privateer bike. Crescent were of course the official bike until this year, so still have a lot of trick kit, but still they did well with it this weekend. Felt sorry for Leon Camier in race one. Having been bumped off track at the start he fought back to a pretty sure 3rd spot with 3 laps to go before his Aprilia broks down (again!) with a faulty ride by wire connection. If I was more cynical I would start thinking that the Biaggi side of the garage had a remote control kill switch for Camiers bike! Every time he races ahead of Biaggi the bike breaks down! Great Supersport race and win by Chaz Davies, who had sensibly spent the entire practice and qualifying time working on a race setup that he knew would work rather than going for a top grid spot. Gino Rea gets the unlucky award in that class for a brave fight back only to lose the front on the last lap battling for 3rd place Altogether a good weekend racing and far more exciting than MotoGP has been recently | ||
| Smoke4ndmears |
Altogether a good weekend racing and far more exciting than MotoGP has been recently thats not saying much lol! | ||
| Jaimec |
"Careless Chucker" no more!! | ||
| Trojan |
"Careless Chucker" no more!! Definitely not. He looked like he was out for a pleasant Sunday afternoon ride in both races, and his tyres after the races looked like they could have done another 20 laps! The Yamaha tyres looked like someone had attacked them with a power file in comparison and I'm really surprised that Laverty in particular got his bike home in race two. I think it will take either a freak accident or some equally freak results to rob Checa of the WSB title this year now. Made me laugh how the Aprilia team manager in particular was accusing Ducati of cheating all weekend (The Althea bikes was taken to tech inspection twice and gone over with a fine tooth comb!). Silverstone may be a very fast circuit and not ideally suited to the Ducati, but it also has a lot of slow speed corners now and the surface is VERY bumpy, which is perfect Ducati territory. They obviously got their bike set up to suit the surface rather than for outright speed (he was 12kph slower than Biaggi on the straight) and that is what won it for them, just like Davies did in the 600 race. Congratulations also to Josh Day for his win in the Superstock 600 race. Maybe we'll see this talented young US rider in WSS/WSB before long | ||
| Davegess |
Gene Laverty continues to impress. The best result he could get was second so he takes it; doesn't toss it away trying to stay with Checa. Show a good head and he is very fast on that bike. And Checa is looking great! Looks like Haga is done, too bad he was fun to watch, something always seems to go wrong with him lately. | ||
| Gaesati |
Carlos! Carlos! Carlos! | ||
| Svh |
WOW!!! Never thought this would happen. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=45524 What a shame. | ||
| Imonabuss |
In racing, factories come and factories go, usually depending on who is in management power. Maybe Yamaha will have Ducati's luck and do better with privateers! They'll be back in a little while. | ||
| Trojan |
Surprising thing to me is that Melandri only signed a new contract with Yamaha for 2012 last week! Shows a distinct lack of joined up thinking to me. However, the Yamaha 'factory' WSBK team are not actually a factory team at all, but are run completely by Yamaha Europe with little or no input by Yamaha Motor Corp Japan. There are really only two 'proper' factory teams left in WSB now and that is Aprilia & BMW. Honda pulled their input from Ten kate a while ago and Kawasaki have PBM running their team as a 'franchise' operation. Althea is supposedly privateer but has a huge proportion of the old Xerox Ducati team in their garage, and rumour has it that Ducati will be back in 2012 with a full factory effort. Suzuki may yet pull their one bike Alstare franchise team completely in 2012. I'm sure we will see a 'semi-privateer' Yamaha team next year in a similar setup to the WSS Parkingo Yamaha team that Chaz Davies is riding for now, but whether they can afford Melandri will be open to question. Laverty has already expressed a desire to move onwards and upwards to MotoGP/Moto2 so maybe it won't really affect him, although decent rides in those series are going to be hard to find I think. (Message edited by trojan on August 02, 2011) | ||
| Jaimec |
I just saw that in MCN too: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresul ts/World-Superbikes/2011/July/aug0111-yamaha-pulls -out-of-wsb/ Dang, I was shocked by that news! Just when Marco was obviously getting his confidence back after those disastrous years with Ducati and Kawasaki... |
