| Author | Message | ||
     Simond |
I was rather hoping that Eugene Laverty would switch to Moto 2 rather than WSB. It would suit his style better but I guess there will be fewer than 41 rides by the end of the season and a surfeit of riders. I also worry that Crutchlow is not yet ready for MotoGP but who turns down that kind of offer for a full season? | ||
| Trojan |
FP1 looks like being a bit of a Britfest again at Silverstone, with 5 of the top 6 being Brits  Rea, Toseland, Haslam and Crutchlow topped the time sheets on day one. Fastest time by Rea is 2.06.927 compared to the MotoGP FP1 fastest of 2.05.991 (Lorenzo) so not bad for the 'diesels' first time out on what is a new track for everyone this year. Yamaha seem to have solved at least some of their problems, so you have to wonder if the Rossi factor has helped and he did indeed manage to improve the bike at Brno, or if they are just lucky with the track layout at Silverstone. Camier looks to be outpacing Biaggis too so far (8th and 16th) although it is early days of course. Tom Sykes is 9th and definitely outperforming the Kawasaki again. It will be a travesty if he loses his ride next year and Vermeulen stays  Also on a Kawasaki this weekend is veteran Akiri Yanagawa! I thought he had handed in his leathers years ago! he is stone last though so maybe he wishes he had retired after all. Hopefully the weather will stay dry and we'll get a great weekend racing | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Is FP1 even worth talking about? Let's see how the grid fills out. | ||
| Jaimec |
Biaggi is WAY down in the time sheets. This is a new track for everyone so let's see how this plays out. | ||
| Blake |
>>> Tom Sykes is 9th and definitely outperforming the Kawasaki again. It will be a travesty if he loses his ride next year and Vermeulen stays. Based on what? His nationality? | ||
| Jaimec |
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2010/Jul/100730mis. htm Cal Crutchlow is starting to remind me of the Colin Edwards of old. Fast in practice, fast in qualifying, but can't get it done come race day. Corser third fastest? This is going to be interesting. What's up with Max way down in 7th? Did he forget how to ride with the extended interval? I know he's getting up there in years, but... | ||
| Amafan |
Vermeulen signed a 2 year contract ,and Sykes signed a 1 year deal, it is as simple as that . Vermeulen busted up his knee at the first round of the year,and he probably should of had season ending surgery then ,but he tried to ride through the pain ,but he was a shell of himself . | ||
| Blake |
Colin Edwards of old was a two time WSBK champion beating Troy Bayliss in one of the epic head-to-head motorcycle road races in history. Crutchlow ain't in the same league. | ||
| Jaimec |
Blake: Not THAT Colin Edwards of old. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of Edwards UNTIL he was in MotoGP. Over the past few years he was always one of the fastest guys in pre-season practice and one of the fastest guys in practice and qualifying only to fall flat in the race. This year has been abysmal for him as he hasn't even been fast in practice. Anyway, THAT'S what I was referring to. I hope that, if the rumors are true and he does go back to WSBK, that he starts winning again. | ||
| Blake |
I get it, "old" as in "recent". Still not a fair comparison. | ||
| Jaimec |
He FINALLY converted the pole position into a win. A double, at that! Haslam whittled some points back from the Roman Emperor, but Max could still sit out a round and hold his lead. | ||
| Trojan |
Based on what? His nationality? Nothing to do with nationality ( If I wanted to be jingoistic I would be shouting about the 5 Brits who finished top 5 in race 2 or the fact that Brits filled both podiums in WSB at Silverstone  ) The fact is that Sykes has performed better than any other Kawasaki rider for a number of years (regardless of nationality), including his better paid team mate Vermeulen and the other Kawasaki riders in WSB. Last year he had a pretty good rookie season for Yamaha and really deserved to be retained for this year. It was only Spies' outstanding performance that made Sykes look average, but to finish 6th in a rookie year would usually be classed as excellent. Crutchlow ain't in the same league. As Edwards? hmmm, wait till next year and we'll see (IF Edwards manages to keep his MotoGP ride, which I doubt). Watch the video of both races (particularly race two) and tell me that Crutchlow isn't absolutely world class? He was superb round the final flat out turn onto the start finish straight every single lap from FP1 right through to race 2. Crutchlow doesn't have the experience of Edwards (yet) but is already World Supersport champion and has just won his first two WSB races. I'm sure there is a lot more to come, and Yamaha also seem extremely keen to retain his services for the future He is very widely rumoured to be the Yamaha number one choice for replacing Spies at Tech 3 in 2011 so could conceivably be Edwards' team mate next year. Crutchlow's qualifying time at Silverstone would have put him 5th on the MotoGP grid (ahead of Colin Edwards) and his race times would also have beaten Colin this year. Crutchlow and Toseland have suffered from the Yamahas inability to use the Pirelli tyres effectively this season, but now that Pirelli have reverted back to the 'old' spec 625 tyre it seems as though they may have it sorted. Pirelli introduced a new spec tyre a few rounds ago that has been roundly criticised for being inconsistent and not working on some bikes, and then not all of the time. Aprilia benefitted as their bike worked very well with the new tyre. Suzuki, Yamaha and BMW all had bad experiences with the new tyre and it was withdrawn for this weekend. I like Colin Edwards but it really is about time he (and a few others) retired and left it to the younger guys at the top. (Message edited by trojan on August 02, 2010) | ||
| Trojan |
Better late than never....(taken from Motomatters.com) 'As is common at world championship motorcycle racing events, the Superbike commission - the World Superbike series' rule-making body - gathered to discuss rules to be introduced for the 2011 series. After the meeting, a press release was issued detailing the changes to be made for next season, and they make interesting reading. The biggest change was the scrapping of the loophole which has allowed Aprilia to drive the camshafts on their RSV4 World Superbike machines using gears instead of the chains fitted on the production bikes. The rule had originally read "The method of cam drive (chain, belt or gears) must remain as on the homologated motorcycle unless a complete kit is available through normal commercial channels" but the last part of the sentence - "unless a complete kit is available through normal commercial channels" - has been dropped.' How long till we see a 'homologation special' RSV4 road bike with gear driven cams as standard just to get around the rules again? | ||
| Simond |
How many would they have to sell? | ||
| Trojan |
How many would they have to sell? I'm not sure what the homologation amount is now, but I think it is around 2000? Certainly it is considerably more than it used to be in the 'good old' days of factory specials. A factory with the resources of Aprilia could do it no problem though, as Ducati already do with their 1198 models (although for how much longer Ducati will continue to run their factory WSB team is a matter of conjecture right now). | ||
| Blake |
You've made a good case Matt. He still has a ways to go to catch Colin Edwards' achievements, especially against the likes of Bayliss. | ||
| Trojan |
Rumour has it that Max Biaggi has signed for Aprilia for another 2 years at a staggering 1 million Euros per year + bonuses! I sincerely hope that they also sign Leon Camier for another year at least, expecially after he obediently rode to team orders and sat behind Biaggi in race one on Sunday despite being much faster than Max. At least they repaid the favour let him off the leash in race two I think there would have been a riot if they hadn't! (Message edited by trojan on August 03, 2010) | ||
| Jaimec |
Just read that Aprilia is denying that rumor. | ||
| Trojan |
Just read that Aprilia is denying that rumor. I think they are in the same position as Ferrari in denying teh 'team orders' rumour. They can deny it all they like but the evidence is stacked against them Camier was almost a second a lap faster than Biaggi, had overtaken him and was moving away from him. As he passed the pit wall he was shown a board that read 'Switch', at which point he slowed and let Max past. From that point onwards Camier sat on Max's tail looking faster but not passing. Camier even said that he did it to help the team and to give Max more points, but that in race two they 'let him race'. Couldn't be clearer really As for the 'Biaggi has signed' rumour I really don't think there is any other option for either of them, so it is only a matter of time if it isn't signed already. On a similar note, Ducati have just issued a press release denying all the 'Rossi to Ducati' rumours. This follows the interview in Cycle World witht ehDucati CEO where he stated he was looking forward to working with Rossiand Hayden next year. Do they think we are really that dim and misinformed, or is their press dept just a bit slow? It is now getting to the point of being insulting. | ||
| Jaimec |
Matt, the rumor Aprilia denies is the one that they've resigned Max for two more years at megabucks, not that they wanted Leon to "throw the race" in Race 1. Sorry if I wasn't clearer. | ||
| Trojan |
No Problem To be honest both rumours have more than a ring of truth in them and I think it is only a matter of crossing t's and dotting i's that prevent Biaggi from announcing his new contract. So far Aprilia haven't approached anyone else for the ride and I don't think Max is too popular at most other factory teams, so they are both in bed together for the long run I think It would be more shocking to me if Max didn't sign than if Rossi decided that he liked Yamaha after all and has decided to stay for another 3 years with Lorenzo sharing his garage | ||
| Gater |
AMA Super bikes next weekend at VIR. Anyone going? http://www.virnow.com/2010-event-details/suzu ... | ||
| Jaimec |
Wrong thread, Gater. | ||
| Svh |
Ducati announced today that it is not participating in WSB next year. I wonder if it is just a break as they get the new for 2012 bike ready or if they will truly be gone for awhile. The presser even mentions how the current rules are/can be interpreted as a move to more prototype based and not production raising costs. So maybe Fabrizio to GP on a satelite team like Pramac? | ||
| Trojan |
The presser even mentions how the current rules are/can be interpreted as a move to more prototype based and not production raising costs. A strange statement from Ducati, consider ingt hat they were quite happy when the homologation rules basically allowed them to run what amounted to a 'prototype' for years, then managed to manipulate the rules to suit their bikes for many years after that! Now when the Ducati is suddenly no longer competitive they throw their toys out of the pram and complain that Aprilia are doing exactly what Ducati did! Why don't they just state the real reasons: 1. They don't have a competitve superbike at the moment. 2. They can't afford to race in WSB since thay have employed Valentino rossi. Honesty would be appreciated by fans far more than corporate BS I'm sure. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Ducati is talking 100% BS. If Ducati has to blame someone for their bad results in WSBK the last 2 years ......they have to blame themselves. Poor riders is their big problem , including Haga who got broken last year , he was always fast bad not strong enough mentaly to be a champion. They also chose to keep both Haga and Fabrizio. Troy Bayliss would have gotten 2 titles , in 2009 and 2010. There is nothing wrong with the rules in WSBK at the moment. The organisers showed the are flexible enought to review the minimum weight for the Dukes. The restrictors could have been reviewed as well next year. Ducati's superbike is very competitive , and Checa has proven that. Is it the best package at the moment ?? Propably not, but neither is Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Honda , who are still there for 2011. | ||
| Trojan |
Ducati can obviously see that although their 1198 is sometimes competitive this year, the writing is on the wall that it won't be anywhere close next year. The 4 cylinder bikes still have lots of development potential but the 1198 is at the end of the road in terms of power. If they continued their WSB team next year they would face the prospect of being losers for 2 consecutive years, and that wouldn't look very good from a marketing standpoint. With Rossi on the GP bike next year Ducati don't need the publicity of WSB in order to sell more bikes, so they can blame Aprilia for their 'cheating prototype' and bow out with a semi plausible excuse to save face. The problem is that Aprilia are just taking a leaf out of Ducatis book as far as running 'prototypes' in WSB is concerned, so it looks more than a little peavish for Ducati to claim what they have. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I want to think that with no air restrictors , a V-2 1200cc will be competitive in WSBK. If it is proven it is not , it will be a shame for such a great motor. I think that 2cylinders are by far the best engine configuration for a motorcycle. Just thinking that all available supersport bikes are 4cyls in the future, makes me sad . I am sure FIM will reconsider the restrictors , as Ducati is needed in WSBK. Also KTM is needed , but they might know with the restrictors they have no chance to be competitive. So far the last 2 years 4cyls bikes got the title , Yamaha and either Aprilia or Suzuki this year . So if the rules are slightly changed to make 2cyls competitive , what is the real problem ???? So far , WSBK is all about the rider , not about the bike as much......Think about it ... Toseland&Honda , Spies&Yamaha , Bayliss&Ducati. I do not see any Ducati domination the last 4 years , if you take Bayliss out of the equation. This year it seems it is going to be Biaggi&Aprilia , but in any case Biaggi is a great rider on a great bike. | ||
| Anonymous |
Restrictors are a huge issue, and one that it would be really nice if WSBK would remove. It is not so much a matter of running short on peak power, but it is extremely difficult to make an engine run well everywhere with a restrictor. A restrictor in the inlet tract makes a hard wave tuning point frequency. Bad news in an engine that must have a wide range of power to be ridden. So extreme levels of electronics (traction control +, etc.) along with full time engineers to make them work are then necessary to try to band-aid the messy powerband. So what looks like a simple solution is actually a very expensive project. | ||
| Gaesati |
Desmosedici in mass production? Development in 2011, racing in 2012? |
