I agree with Matt on the Haga crash. It wasn't like Ben's team mate punted him, not like what Fabrizio did to Ben. I call it even. Let's hope the rest of the grid will let them race now.
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - 05:10 pm:
Simoncelli is our new hero !
He has been a hero for a few years now, and is definitelygoing to give the MotoGP boys a shake up when hets there (and the WSB boys before that I think!). Marco has only two speeds, fast and crash, and even though this weekend isn't about a championship for him I can't see him settling for a gentle ride around on the Aprilia, especially at Imola
He was only .6 of a second off the times set by Haga/Fabrizio at Mugello so he will be quick that's for sure.
Spies (and the other front runners) might need their elbowz this weekend
Looks like their having problems in Imola with a complete lack of traction. Heard the Supersport and Superstock riders JUST got onto the track, but earlier ALL of the big name Superbike riders were refusing to go out after just a single lap...
Looks like their having problems in Imola with a complete lack of traction.
What a complete balls-up! DMG don't have an Italian wing do they?
Followingt eh Car racing last weekedn somebody washed the track clean of rubber so that there is now less grip in the dry then there would be in the wet normally, and completely different to the track situation when the teams tested there some weeks ago. After just 2 laps of first practice Tom Sykes had crashed adn everyone else went back to the garage refusing to ride.
It wasn't until after 4pm until the Supersport bikes got out on track to put some rubber down (didn't stop Cal Crutchlow lapping 2 seconds faster than everyone else for most of the session though). Superbikes eventually got on track late in the afternoon, using what should have been first qualifying as a free practice session. Qualifying will now take place in just one session tomorrow.
fastest today was fabrizio on the Ducati ahead of Checa, Spies, Rea, Biaggi, and Kagayama on the Suzuki. Haga ended up in 13th place behind new boy Marco Simoncelli who took his Aprilia to an impressive 12th spot
Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 04:24 am:
12th is not impressive. It is disapointing so far. I would expect him to do better. He is 0.5s slower than Biaggi.
There are a couple of reasons why Nori may be taking it slow on the first day.
1. After the shambles of the morning session he may just be taking it very easy in order to get some tracktime without taking any risks on the unknown surface. 2. He was one of the few riders that didn't test at Imola earlier in the year because he was injured, so will have no basic settings to work from (WSB haven't raced here for 3 years remember).
From the man himself:
"I didn't test here in July of course and so I'm a bit behind with respect to the other guys. I think I just a little more time to learn the track, specifically the last chicane, and we need to find a better solution for the suspension settings."
Hopefully he will be back up to speed for qualifying this morning
In a pretty remarkable press release this morning the circuit owners/organisers have basically blamed yesterdays fiasco on the riders! They are syaing that there was nothing wrong with the track and it just needed some rubber put down on it. Somebody is obviously in denial!
Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 12:17 pm:
I caught the last twenty minutes or so of qualifying. Everyone said the Aprilia was small but it wasn't until I saw Simoncelli on it that I realised just how small. I guess seeing Max on it all year gives a rather false impression!
....and what has happened to Tom Sykes? He looked a real mess on the Yamaha. I know he can ride better than that. Is it the Spies effect - it must be demoralising being his teammate this year.
Posted on Saturday, September 26, 2009 - 06:47 pm:
As I recall, Sykes had a NASTY crash on Friday when running on the slippery track. From the initial reports, I'm surprised he even got back on the bike, but it looks like either it wasn't as bad as it looked, or Sykes is one stubborn cuss.
In any event, I'm not surprised he wasn't at his quickest.
The last two races will be interesting. Magni Cours is next week; but Portimao isn't until the 25th of October. I have a feeling that this fight is going to last until the end.
Tom Sykes was very quick in BSB but dosen't seem to have gelled at Yamaha as well as Spies has. I think Sykes has probably suffered a little from his team mates success this season and I think it is a shame that he will probably be out of the team and out of WSB next year because of it.
A good days racing at Imola and a great second race by Simoncelli! He gave Biaggi a wake up call that's for sure! Without giving the full results away I must say I am surprised at the lack of team orders at Ducati, and that may come back to bite them at the end of the season.
Spies looked pretty average today for some reason, and ran off track twice in the second race. Once as a result of the Biaggi/Simoncelli overtake and the other trying to pass Shane Byrne for position.
Happy for Haga and Fabrizio. What happened to Spies ? Any news ? Setup mistakes ? Too much pressure to win the title and move to motoGP ? Or just a bad day ?
...I must say I am surprised at the lack of team orders at Ducati...
As a real race fan I would have been disgusted if there had been. I would hope you feel the same.
I certainly don't think that there should have been team orders and would prefer to see open racing right to the end of the season, but this is a big money business and I thought that Ducati would have told Fabrizio to move over in race two just to ensure Nori got maximum points from Imola. Maybe they did and Fabrizio 'didn't see' his pit board Tardozzi wasn't exactly jumping for joy when the camera showed him just after the finish. Haga seemed his usual calm self in the post race interviews and congratulated Fabrizio on his win, so maybe he wasn't too bothered.
Simoncelli was like a kid at Christmas in his interview Good man!
Congratulations also to Chaz Davies. 4th place on his first ride for Triumph, and beating his experienced team mate as well! I hope this will lead to a full time WSB/WSS ride next year for him.