| Author | Message | ||
     Crusty |
Would there be increased attendance over the 200? The 200 has achieved "iconic" status, and attendance is still pretty weak. Would a WSB Endurance event bring in as many people as the 200? I suspect that it would be a major loss, financially. | ||
| Jaimec |
The 200 USED to be a premiere event, with the fastest bikes (some were created for that event ONLY) and the best racers on the planet competing. Then, the AMA decided it would be for Superbikes (this decision was the first obstacle Erik had to overcome, as his first bike was designed for this class originally). Even so, Superbikes were a prestigious class, with the fastest production-based bikes competing so it still held some interest. Unfortunately, once DMG took over, they created this oddball "class" called "Daytona Sportbike" (remember, Edmundson ORIGINALLY wanted to say these WERE Superbikes until he got hit with a WAVE of protests and complaints). Not Superbike, not Supersport, but some hodge-podge amalgamation of bikes that ranged from 600s all the way up to 1200s. Everyone on Badweb was all for this new class as it allowed Buell to compete in the 200 as a "Daytona Sportbike." Unfortunately, outside of the United States, this classification is meaningless. I know I'm going to get flamed AGAIN for this, but there you have it. Make the 200 SUPERBIKES again, and you might attract some of the World's Best to compete. As long as it is this oddball "Sportbike" class, it is only going to hold interest in the States. CORRECTION: Before DMG took over, AMA had changed the races from Superbikes to "Formula Extreme." Highly modified 600s that fell outside of the Supersport class, and almost turning it into a "Honda Cup" since they were really the only factory support for Formula Extreme at the time. (Message edited by jaimec on March 27, 2012) | ||
| Fuzzz |
No flame here...I would love to see Superbikes back in the 200, though it seems that will never happen.... | ||
| Davegess |
No flame, but the 200 was fading long before Edmundson got involved. Part of it was poor management but world racing went away from it also. The distance was too long and the track was regarded as dangerous. Back in the day a big purse could keep an event like this going but these days all the top riders make millions and you could hardly get a purse big enough to make a difference to them. It is a lot like the TT without the attraction for riders of running flat out on public roads. When top level championships stopped racing there the event began to fade. They are in the process of trying to build it back up but it is a long haul. | ||
| Kenm123t |
Daytona eats tires engines and Riders Are there any other tracks that you have to run wide open for 35secs or more in the smaller classes? If WSBK ran it it could end up a restricter plate race May and Eslick were running 205 trap speeds What would a WSBK rider be running ? | ||
| Svh |
The walls have something to do with it also. Doesn't FIM require way more room between track and wall then most US tracks have? GP at Indy was surprising to me when they decided to run there for that reason. | ||
| Trojan |
Make the 200 SUPERBIKES again, and you might attract some of the World's Best to compete. Unfortunately I don't think even that would work now. The disparity between AMA and WSb rules would mean that if the major manufacturers wanted Biaggi, Checa etc to race at Daytona they would have to build new bikes for just that race. With the WSb calendar now getting so crowded there is little liklihood of getting the factory supported teams to enter a non championship event such as the 200. Add to that the pressures put on teams/riders by sponsors, and you have a difficult situation. SOme teams/sponsors may not want their riders to take part in a non championship race in case of injury, which would put them out of WSB competition. Others have clauses specifically banning theri riders from racing outside their chosen championship. I remember the days before corporate sponsorship when the likes of Hailwood, Sheene, Read and Agostini would regularly ride in non championship races in the UK just to boost their income. Sometimes in a variety of classes riding different makes of bikes on the same day  However, all is not yet lost. Both the TT and Macau GP manage to attract top riders every year (although a lot are 'pure roads' specialists) despite not being a world championship event and not having FIM class safety standards regarding walls etc. If the organisers at Daytona wanted to attract top level foreign riders then they could do worse than study the way these events are promoted and organised. Make it into an event that the riders want to race in and the may find a way to come... | ||
| Trojan |
OK, What is the story with JD Beach is WSS? There was an announcement last year that he would racing with the PTR Honda team in WSS this year and I was looking forward to seeing how he got on racing in a world championship. Then he missed Philip Island because of financial issues (I think), but said he was looking forward to the European season starting. Lo and behold, Imola FP1 times seem to suggest he didn't make it there either? Have I missed an announcement somewhere? Myabe he couldn't raise enough money to pay Simon Buckmaster at PTR to race for him (You need to pay around GBP250,000 to get a ride with his team). I noticed that Beach raced at Daytona so maybe he has decided to take a paying AMA ride rather than fork out for a WSS berth? Anyone know what the situation is? | ||
| Amafan |
That was PJ Jacobsen, not JD Beach, but it looks like PJ could not come up with the money to pay for the ride . (Message edited by amafan on March 30, 2012) | ||
| Jaimec |
Kawasaki might actually have a contender this year. Took 'em long enough... | ||
| Jaimec |
Tomorrow's line-up (Sykes (Kawasaki) on the pole): http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresul ts/World-Superbikes/2012/March/mar3113-imola-sykes -takes-pole/ | ||
| Blake |
Nice! | ||
| Smoke4ndmears |
Those were great races! | ||
| Jaimec |
BMW has a contender this year! | ||
| Simond |
They certainly seem to have taken a step forward. I was shocked at Aoyama's performance and a little disappointed with Laverty's pace so far. I know that he is new to the team and being No2 to Max can't be easy but I expected him to fly on the Aprillia. Great to see the Kawasaki doing well but did you see the state of Sykes' rear tyre at the end of race one? | ||
| Trojan |
That was PJ Jacobsen, not JD Beach, but it looks like PJ could not come up with the money to pay for the ride . Your right, I knew it was one of the up and coming US riders..just too many initials for me to remember  Shame about the money though, either one of these lads could learn a lot in WSS. Waht is Jacobsen doing now? Managed to miss both Superbike races this weekend due to family commitments I saw that both podiums were identical though, so I hoep the racing was better than the resluts suggested. I watched the WSS race and couldn't beleive the amount of pit lane penalties were handed out to riders missing the final chicane. There must have been 10 ride through penalties given out during the race! Maybe they should do something about the chicane rather than penalise riders every time they run on. (Message edited by trojan on April 02, 2012) | ||
| Xb1125r |
where the heck are the yamahas, aren't there any in WSBK or did I just not notice them! | ||
| Jaimec |
Yamaha pulled out of WSBK at the end of last season and is focusing on MotoGP and regional series (like AMA SBK). Lack of sponsorship is hurting how far they can stretch themselves. | ||
| Xb1125r |
so did ducati, but checa is kicking butt,lol | ||
| Jaimec |
Ducati has never had a problem finding sponsors. Yamaha isn't as lucky. | ||
| Xb1125r |
i guess HONDA is even less lucky then | ||
| Bob_thompson |
Only caught the last race on TV and it was surely some great racing with four brands in the first four places. Now thats racing! I really enjoyed that almost as much as AMA. I think maybe EBR bikes could be competitive in WSB..........maybe, but I imagine it would cost big money. HERO? | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I liked Haslam's performance. He is a true fighter...... | ||
| Jaimec |
Honda has entries on the grid. Johnny Rea is one of their riders. And yes, Bob... it would take big money to make the 1190RS competitive in WSBK, though it would probably fare rather well in WSS (which is a lot closer to AMA SBK in modifications allowed). Holdin' Out For a HERO! | ||
| Trojan |
so did ducati, but checa is kicking butt,lol The team that Checa rides for is effectively a factory Ducati team in all but name. Take a look at the people in the garage and you realise that there are an awful lot of high level factory Ducati people hanging around trying to look inconspicuous When Yamaha pulled out there were a few teams that offered to run the bikes that Melandri and Laverty rode last year, including Chaz Davies's ParkinGO team. Unfortunately it was the Yamaha factory that stopped it happening. You'll notice thatthere are very very few Yamahas in WSS as well (the few that are around are privateer bikes), despite winning the title last year. And yes, Bob... it would take big money to make the 1190RS competitive in WSBK, though it would probably fare rather well in WSS (which is a lot closer to AMA SBK in modifications allowed). I think the FIM may notice that the 1190 has a 600cc advantage in WSS, even if the AMA didn't  Or did you mean FIM Superstock 1000? | ||
| Trojan |
Joan Lascorz has apparently been seriously injured testing his Kawasaki at Imola yesterday (Monday). The team are supposed to be issuing a press release today | ||
| Jaimec |
Sorry, I thought "WSS" WAS "World Super Stock." My bad... | ||
| Trojan |
For some strange reason, the FIM Superstock 1000 and 600 series are not classed as a world championship but as European championships (maybe because nobody bothers with this class except mainland Europeans), even though they run at the same WSB meetings. Hence the lack of a W in front of SuperStock, which makes it even more confusing! British, Australian and American riders ignore Superstock almost entirely and tend to go straight to supersport or superbike, so the class doesn't get much coverage here or in the US. Italian and French riders on the other hand seem to see superstock almost as an essential rung in the ladder to WSB and some of the big teams such as Althea run superstock teams as well as superbike. | ||
| Jaimec |
Ducati is running the Panagale in Superstock, no? | ||
| Gaesati |
I think Ducati is running the Panigale in the lesser known superstock class in case it fails like the similarly framed motogp bike. Australian superbike is now essentially a superstock class as there is not enough money in the sport in Oz to support a quality field of true superbikes. This means there is no direct path for Australians into WSBK unless they serve an apprenticeship in WSS, or British or German superbike or they are supremely talented. Many europeans and some Australians are beginning to use Euro Superstock as a means of getting noticed but the highest quality training ground because of the quality of machinery is British Superbike. Interestingly, the fastest growing racing in Oz are the historics. The top dog at the moment is an air cooled suzuki katana(remember them) producing 180RWHP. I was appalled to hear of Joan Lascorz" fall. He has had an operation to move a badly displaced vertebra which damaged his spinal column. The extent of the damage remains to be seen. Pray that he makes a full recovery. Another bad day for the sport after the death of the support race competitor at Phillip Island this year. |
