| Author | Message | ||
     Vagelis46 |
It seems that Spies is human after all. Great performance in race 2, but Haga was unstoppable. Ducati managed to make Haga consistent. After watching the 2 races,I think the best performer must be Leon Haslam. Great to see a young rider so agressive and giving a great spectacle. If he was on better machinery he would be fighting for a podium. HRC should support the Stiggy team, because the CBRs look very bad this year. Haslam and Hopkins have the ability to get results for Honda. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Not a good day for MV http://www.motogpmatters.com/results/2009/04/05/20 09_valencia_fim_superstock_1000_cup_re.html | ||
| Jaimec |
Well, everyone SAID it was a "Ducati Track..." Sorry to see him crash out of race one but at least he held on for second in race two. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
WSBK went to another level with Spies. | ||
| Jaimec |
Yesterday was apparently the first time he EVER crashed in his racing career. Guess he's getting old...  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
He was really pushing to pass Neukirhner and catch Haga, and he crashed. He shows respect to everyone and his feet are on the ground. When asked if he settled for 2nd in race 2 he said "No, I tried as hard as I could ". | ||
| Smoke |
give em hell Ben!!! tim | ||
| Vagelis46 |
That is exactly what he is doing ! | ||
| Jaimec |
Speaking of "getting old:" Six races in and Haga hasn't crashed out yet? He's mellowing out in his old age too... | ||
| Dentguy |
Nothing mellow about Haga's riding. I think he and the Ducati are just a good fit. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
It is time for Haga to get his well deserved WSBK title! I think he has more wins than Bayliss is WSBK !! Spies has a great future in front of him, and many titles to win, but hopefully not this year. This year is Haga's year. A great class to follow is Superstock 1000 that is a race before WSBK race 1, but only in the European tracks. MV Agusta 312R should do well this year. | ||
| Jaimec |
Just got back from Hooters where I saw the broadcast of Race 2. Once Haga put his head down, there was NO catching him. Spies has some catching up to do. Both have three wins apiece, but the races where Noriyuki DIDN'T win, he came in second and only lost five points each. Two of the three races where Ben didn't win, he got no points whatsoever! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Spies will be just fine !! | ||
| Simond |
Spies has looked amazing so far and Haga looks as smooth and comfortable as we've ever seen him. I just hope that we have some good head to head action rather than one or the other winning comfortably every time. I feel for Tom Sykes - it must be soul destroying after running near the top in BSB to be outpaced so comprehensively by another rookie rider on the same bike. Haslam/Hopper will be an interesting combination to watch out for as the year goes on. I've been disappointed so far, however, that such a strong field seems to have produced just two riders challenging for wins. | ||
| Jaimec |
What about Shane (Shakey) Byrne? Wasn't he the BSB Champ last year? He hasn't been all that impressive in WSBK yet either. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Byrne is having a disappointing season so far. He was really fast in the preseason tests. | ||
| Jaimec |
Guess dating Jodie Marsh took more out of him than he thought... | ||
| Jaimec |
Only took a day, but Ben was faster than either of the Xerox Ducati guys in today's test in Monza. Guess he didn't lose his Mojo after all. We'll see in two weeks. But for now, it's MotoGP time! | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Spies is motoGP class. | ||
| Jaimec |
Ben Spies is back on form, setting the fastest times again on a course he's never seen before. The gauntlet has been thrown! Not such a good outing for Hopper though... he crashed and dislocated his hip, and is out of the action for the weekend. | ||
| Rex |
Wow, Spies may be the new Kenny Roberts! REX | ||
| Jaimec |
Ben Spies excites, then disappoints. He and Noriyuki both have four wins apiece... the difference is that Ben also has THREE races where he scored NO points, and Nitro Nori has not yet done worse than second. Ben had better get his act together! | ||
| Davegess |
I hve to dispute the disapoint thing. After all he is a rookie and many did not expect him to win a race. Nitro is showing that experience thing and Ben is showing that rookie thing. The crash in the first race was a pure rookie mistake, all the vets know what goes on back in the pack on the opening laps and if they can't get to the front they wait a lap or two before mixing it up with the crazy guys. Ben will get there. He actaully still has a pretty good shot at the title but will need for Nori to have some bad luck. | ||
| Benm2 |
Its interesting to have a series where Haga is considered the "conservative, experienced" rider... | ||
| Jaimec |
He crashed in the SECOND race, and he was up front at the time. He WON the first race... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Spies is 60 points down. COnsidering that Haga has not even had a "moment" in any races thusfar, I would say that it is unlikely that Spies will catch Nori. It will take a couple DNFs on Nori's part and no more DNFs on Spies part, possible but not likely. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Anything is possible. Spies was really riding like "crazy" in race 1. His celebrations when crossing the line were showing that he is pretty "crazy". Great rider. Great for WSBK. Great for race fans. Also Leon Haslam shows signs of big talent. | ||
| Firstbuell |
yeah, baby, Haslam's making everyone forget about Hopper, that's for sure Leon looked fast & comfortable - the way he handled himself after rubbing elbows with L-Bowz was great poor Hopper, he's been hurting for years now.... | ||
| Jaimec |
Unfortunately, HOPPER is doing a good job of helping people forget him. SECOND time he's suffered major injuries in a crash at Assen; first on a MotoGP bike, and now on a Superbike! | ||
| Jaimec |
Love this story from the World Superbike page: "Spies Finds a Friend in World Superbike" Rookie sensation Ben Spies has been pleasantly surprised by the warm reception he's received in the World Superbike paddock so far in 2009. He's met many new people in the series, some have which have become fast friends. Surprisingly it was new rival Nori Haga and his family who were some of the first to make Spies feel welcome. One little guy who warmed up to Ben immediately is Haga's five-year-old son Ryota. Ben and Ryota's friendship was put to the test however in the most recent World Superbike event at Assen in the Netherlands. In the first race at Assen's legendary TT circuit Spies and Ryota's dad had one of the best last-lap battles in recent World Superbike memory and it was Spies coming out on top with a daring high-speed pass with three turns to go. Now Ryota likes Ben and thinks he's cool and all, but he loves his father and is his dad's number one fan. He wasn't at all happy that "The Ben", as Ryota calls Spies, took what seemed like certain victory away from his dad in that first race. As the Hagas walked down pit lane past the Yamaha garage on the way to the podium after race one, Ben's mother Mary noticed little Ryota crying his eyes out. Mary asked him what was wrong. He looked up at Mary, obviously frustrated, and said "My daddy is a loser and I don't like the Ben!" With that little Ryota, still crying, quickly turned away from Mary and went to see dad. Things went much better for Haga in Assen's second race, but much worse for "The Ben". Spies crashed hard while leading at the start of the second lap. Haga went on to victory, extending his championship points lead. Late that afternoon Spies was sitting alone in his motor coach, a little beat up physically from the crash, but mainly upset with himself for letting his team down. Mary stood outside the coach letting Ben have some quiet time. She was answering text messages on her cell phone when she saw little Ryota knocking on the coach door. He had some of his friends with him. Mary walked over and asked Ryota if she could help him. He said "I want to see the Ben." Mary said, "But I thought you didn't like Ben?" "I do like the Ben and he is hurt. I want to talk to him," Ryota demanded. So Mary cracked the door to ask Ben if he would see the kids. Ben, still smarting from his race crash, was trying to beg off the visitors when suddenly little Ryota, perhaps taking after his dad, saw his opportunity and before you knew it edged his way past Mary through the slightly opened door and ran up to Ben. "The Ben is hurt. Show me where you are hurt!" Ryota said with concern to Spies. Soon the other children that were with Ryota flooded in and gathered around Ben. Spies sat up and started talking with them. One of the little girls in the group had a cast on her arm. Ben asked her what happened. She'd fallen off a horse. When Ben told her she was brave for riding a horse and that he was scared of horses the little gang burst into laughter. So a friendship that was put to the test at Assen was restored by the end of the day. Even though Ryota likes it when his dad wins, little Haga still thinks "The Ben" is at least the second coolest rider in the paddock. (Courtesy of Ben Spies' publicist) |
