| Author | Message | ||
     Fresnobuell |
Big showing for Ducati at their home track. This was the round where Bautista faltered a few seasons ago after a hot start to the season. Not a problem this year. He looks like the man to beat. Toprak had a mechanical in Race 1, but won the Superpole race for his first win of the season. Looks like this hole is going to be too deep to dig himself out of...   | ||
| Jaimec |
The last time Bautista was on a Ducati he led the series by 60 points before completely blowing it and losing to Jonathan Rea. Hope history doesn't repeat itself. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Yep, he started crashing. The slide for Bautista actually started at Misano that year. History did not repeat itself this round. That bike is a missile with a small rider like Bautista. He was making passes at will in the Curvone corner, when is usually considered a one line corner since it is flat-out, knee down at 160 for those guys. | ||
| Jaimec |
Toprak seems to have regained his form from last year. Hope it's not too late! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I heard on the telecast that Toprak's three worst tracks were all at the beginning of the season. His favorite is Donington, which showed this weekend. Toprak led every lap of the 3 races. He is clawing back into the Championship hunt. | ||
| Jaimec |
Kawasaki has proven they haven't lost their mind and signed Rea for another two years. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
They would be crazy not to. JR is still the second fastest rider in the paddock, even in his mid-30s. I bet Kawi is kicking themselves for pissing off Toprak at the endurance race a few years back. Toprak has really been a thorn in their side. | ||
| Jaimec |
Toprak is probably thinking "Success is the best revenge." | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Toprak scratching his way closer to the top in the points race...another good weekend at Most. The same can be expected at Mangy-Cours in the next round. It seems like the series is heating up and now "summer break". They would do well to compress the schedule. Too many long breaks hurts the momentum of the riders and series. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Johnny "Squeeky Clean" Rea tarnished his image a bit by punting Bautista in Race 2. Toprak had an up and down weekend with an off track excursion in Race 1, but was able to come back to score a few Championship points. Toprak closed the weekend with wins in the Superpole Race and Race 2. The Championship tightened due to Bautista's DNF. It will take some more bad luck for Bau in order for Toprak to make up the current 30 point deficit, but I think the drama is just starting. Also, it seems that Buatista is hearing from fellow rivals that he is a one trick pony with his Ducati and its speed advantage. It was very evident at Magny Cours that the reason Bau was competing for the win was the Ducati's huge straight line speed advantage. Toprak was better everyhwere else, but the Ducati was able to erase the gap on the straight going into T5. (Message edited by fresnobuell on September 12, 2022) | ||
| Jaimec |
Well realistically, the only other bike Bautista has raced in this series was that dog of a Honda that NO ONE has been able to ride. The last person who was competitive on a Honda superbike was (ironically) Jonathan Rea. Nicky Hayden never had the opportunity to help develop the bike though he did manage one win on it. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Bautista was extremely competitive on the Ducati back in 2019 (I may have the year wrong). He won a whole bunch of races at the beginning of the season, then he started to crash. He was out of the Championship race by the 2/3 mark of the season. He certainly has been more consistent this year, aided by his small stature and Ducati horsepower. He needed two DNFs to allow the JR and Toprak back in the Championship race and Sunday was one. I feel Toprak has had most of his bad luck already (and also circuits where the Yamaha doesn't go well) and now it is Bautista's turn. | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like Garrett Gerloff is switching over to BMW alongside Loris Baz next year. He joins his former MotoAmerica team mate in switching from Yamaha to BMW, but in different series. | ||
| Jaimec |
Gerloff on the box in Race 1! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Bautista had a great weekend and Toprak needed him to have the opposite. It is looking like Bautista will be the eventual Champion, unless something drastic happens... (Message edited by fresnobuell on September 27, 2022) | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm really curious how Jake will do in Portimao! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Whelp. Looks like Bautista will be the champ this year. Toprak DNFed in Race 1 at Argentina. I have mixed feelings about slowing down the Ducati, but it can be looked at as an unfair advantage. Bautista can be sloppy and still run down anyone on the straights, whereas everyone else has to ride the razors edge everywhere and be perfect. On the other hand, I don't like to penalized Ducati for having a fast motorcycle. Bautista is certainly not the best racer, but he is certainly on the fastest motorcycle. I am sure WSBK brass is mulling this over too. | ||
| Jaimec |
Bautista is NOT the only Ducati on the grid. It's not the bike... it's the rider. You might have a point if Ducati was dominating the standings as in MotoGP but that simply isn't the case in WSBK. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I have watched every race this year. Bautista is a good enough racer, but he is undoubtedly aided by his small size and fast motorcycle. There is is undoubtedly a massive top speed and tire wear advantage. He also doesn't have to take as much risk at the other racers because he isn't riding the ragged edge. There haven't been many instances of Bautista dicing it up like Toprak and JR tend to do with each other. Bautista nearly always relies on the power advantage to breeze by everyone on the straights. Bau is usually the slowest in every part of the track except the high HP areas (ie straights and sweepers). Like I said, Toprak would have to work his ass off and take huge risks to try to get enough separation before the straight, otherwise Bautista would breeze on by like everyone else is standing still. Bautista deserves the title because he has been the most consistent, just like Toprak was last year. However, I do not think he would have won the title on any other manufacturer's bike on the grid. There have been RPM limitations in the past in WSBK to level the playing field so to speak, but don't think this happened this year. Maybe a minimum weight limit of bike+rider would be a compromise. I am sure they don't want to piss off Ducati, but on the other hand they don't want the Championship nearly clinched with two race weekends to go either. (Message edited by fresnobuell on October 25, 2022) | ||
| Jaimec |
Those were the same arguments made in MotoGP when Dani Pedrosa entered the series... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
The difference being Pedrosa never won anything, let alone running away with a title like Bautista is doing. | ||
| Jaimec |
I wouldn't say he "never won anything." IIRC, he was the most successful rider in MotoGP to NEVER win a title. He had the misfortune of competing at the same time as Valentino Rossi in his prime, then Casey Stoner in his prime, Jorge Lorenzo and finally Marc Marquez... He was successful enough that the other manufacturers even considered the weight limits in the first place. His small stature may've given him an acceleration advantage but he also had less muscle mass so had to work harder. Since WSBK bikes are heavier than MotoGP bikes, I suspect Bautista has the same challenges. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Obviously I meant he never won a MotoGP title. Also, it should be mentioned a small stature will give better aerodynamics as well. More weight may have some advantages in certain areas of the track (corner turn in?), but it is a net advantage overall for the lighter rider. The top speed and tire wear advantages (both undoubtedly helped by a smaller rider) won the Championship for Bautista. Bottom line, he is an adequate racer with favorable stature on the fastest bike in the paddock. There is no way he wins the title on any other bike than the Ducati. | ||
| Jaimec |
I would point out that before he joined the MotoGP paddock, he was a champion in the 125GP World Championship (pre-Moto3) and the runner-up in the 250GP (pre-Moto2). He spent MOST of his MotoGP career on the deck, though... something he FINALLY seems to have gotten out of his system this year. This would indicate to me that he's had a problem with the big, powerful bikes but he's finally put that behind him. | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like his team mate agrees: https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/1015668/1/rinaldi- bautista-makes-difference-compared-rest-ducatis | ||
| Fresnobuell |
What exactly do you think Rinaldi is going to say? It is the bike and I suck? Also, I am going to add the Ducati has the best electronics in the paddock, which as we all know is more and more a factor these days (unfortunately). I watched every WSBk race thusfar this season and it is like the same script over and over. Toprak burns up his tires trying to get a big enough gap to fend off the Ducati on the straight. It can work in the Superpole race since it is 10 laps, but it is a huge task in the feature races distances. Toprak's very few wins this year in the long races can be attributed to him being the best racer in WSBK...hands down. JR is second and Bautista is third as far as capability. The reason Bautista is not a crasher anymore is he doesn't have to ride the razors edge on the Ducati (everyone does of course.) This is because he knows he can pull a few tenths on every straight and pass at will. There is no reason to take any risk in this scenario. | ||
| Jaimec |
Another article on "It's not the bike, it's the rider." He also touches on the same subjects I brought up above (yesterday): https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/1015740/1/ducati-p eople-forget-bautista-won-world-title-was-top-five -motogp | ||
| Fresnobuell |
His GP history is exactly that ancient history and I see no bearing from something 15 years ago on small bikes to a production based Superbike in 2022. In between the GP titles and this year he has been always been best known as a crasher--perhaps the best crasher in all of roadracing. There is no way in the world Bautista at age 37 is going to miraculously come out of nowhere and be "82 points with 6 races to go in the season" better than Toprak or JR. So I think people need to wake up and smell the coffee. Bautista would never have won anything (let alone be up by over three feature length race wins with 6 races to go) if he wasn't on the fastest bike with the best electronics in the paddock. The guy is 37 years old for crying out loud--well past the prime of motorcycle racers. I am sure I can find plenty of articles from non-Ducati fans that would state that the Ducati has made the difference. | ||
| Jaimec |
Did Bautista kick your puppy or something? I don't see Ducatis swarming the WSBK podium as they are in MotoGP. Alvaro is the ONLY one consistently in the top 5. IT IS NOT THE BIKE. | ||
| Jaimec |
This article at Roadracing World, NOT written by a Ducati employee, sums up the situation perfectly: https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/worldsbk-weig ht-a-minute-not-this-again/ |
