| Author | Message | ||
     Trojan |
So Guintoli has managed to land on his feet after dropping out of his signed/sealed suzuki contract and then missing the Ducati ride that he was expecting to replace it with. He has NOT yet signed for Aprilia and I hear that any contract offer will be dependant on his test results. However there are very few people chasing this ride now that are good enough to run at the front of the championship, so Guinters will probably get the gig anyway. I think he will struggle to match Laverty or Fabrizio over the course of aseason but could spring the odd surpise win, especially in the wet. Sykes is on fire again in testing (almost a second faster than everyone else) and he must surely be the odds on favourite to win the championship next year? Both Honda riders seem to be struggling with speed at this point, but are at an early stage of their new HRC supplied electronics package so hopefully both Haslam and Rea will be up to speed before the seaason starts. | ||
| Jaimec |
I think Marco will give him a run for the money (assuming he can keep it on two wheels). | ||
| Trojan |
I think Marco may have his hands full with Cbaz Davies as a team mate once Cghaz gets dialled in to the BMW. I also have doubts that the BMW team will actually be as competitive as it was last year now that the factory are not running the team. Rumours I heard a while ago suggested that teh team will not get as much factory support as they are making out, and it was suggested to me that they will get less support from BMW than Ten Kate got from Honda (which wasn't a lot before this year). I'm sure the first part of the season will continue as it left off this year, but will a 'satellite' BMW team be able to keep developing their bike like they did before when the factory held the purse strings? Guintoli finished day two in second place and half a second ahead of Laverty, so he obviously feels at home on the RSV4. Of course we don't know what was tested by whom, but it shows he wants the ride! | ||
| Jaimec |
Did you see the latest times from Jerez? The Ducati MotoGP bikes are getting whomped by the production-based WSBK bikes!! Dovi was dead last on the time sheet (Nicky did better, but...). | ||
| Jaimec |
http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Nov/121129az.h tm | ||
| Jaimec |
This oughtta be fun... can't wait to see how often poor Leon gets punted off the track by his NEW team mate... http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2013/Jan/130119b.ht m | ||
| Trojan |
I think Leon will be more worried about being punted off (again) by his EX team mate rather than his current one  . Hopefully Melandri will learn to calm down this year or somebody will issue some 'summary justice' to him on track. | ||
| Jaimec |
http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresul ts/World-Superbikes/2013/February/feb0713-alstare- unveil-new-paint-job/ I'm wondering... since this bike was built with the idea that the frameless concept was working well in MotoGP (it wasn't... but you couldn't tell while Stoner was aboard, it didn't become apparent till he left how much the concept SUCKED), and how poorly the bike did in Superstock... what are the expectations for the Panigale in WSBK? | ||
| Xb1125r |
Tom Sikes is going to win it and you all know it. now that the great Biaggi is out. the squirls can fight ofr his nuts | ||
| Gaesati |
About time Kawasaki had a win! Roll on the 2013 season. I'll be hanging on the fence at P.I. cheering on Sykes in less than two weeks. On a speculative note Suzuki is due for a new bike. I hope they can find whatever they had in 1985 for something truly groundbreaking or at least Aprilia like. | ||
| Jaimec |
Sykes is doing well, but from what I read at the recent tests, Marco and BMW threw down the gauntlet with their intentions for 2013... | ||
| Gaesati |
Yes, it has all the hallmarks of a great season even f Ducati and Suzuki are not really competitive. | ||
| Trojan |
On a speculative note Suzuki is due for a new bike. I hope they can find whatever they had in 1985 for something truly groundbreaking or at least Aprilia like. Last rumour I heard (and things change pretty quickly!) was that Suzuki are planning to release their new GSXR1000 and MotoGP bike at around the same time, and that they will be very very similar indeed. How this gets around the prototype rules in MotoGP will be interesting, but MCN have shown drawings showing that they are very much styled and engineered the same. The new Yamaha R1 is also due soon and that is also rumoured to be much more sporty than the current version. The test bike has been seen testing wearing R6 bodywork, so it will be physically smaller than the current bike at least. | ||
| Simond |
There's a worrying number of injuries at Phillip Island already. Cluzel is out of the test next week, Sykes has a fractured wrist and Badovini has now had a big fall. Checa must be relieved that he is sitting out the early days with a stomach bug. | ||
| Gaesati |
oh no! the last thing that Kawasaki or Sykes needs! | ||
| Trojan |
So Carlos Checa ends the test with the quickest time after all Personally I think there was a bit of 'qualifyng tyre' dramatics to it, as it was late in the session and he hadn't been that close before. However it must give Ducati a shot in the arm, and some hope that they will be competitive after all with the 1199 (although performance over a full race distance is questionable). With so many top riders in the walking wounded the times on thelaast day may not be representative of true race pace...yet. Be interesting to see who is quickest when the light go out for real  Sam Lowes has been on fire in Supersport testing and pretty much fastest since they got off the plane, riding what is now a very old Yamaha R6 brought back out of mothballs yet again(it is the same bike that Cal Crutchlow and Chaz Davies won their championships on!). I think he will be the man to watch this year | ||
| Bads1 |
Im hearing on Greg Whites FB page that a announcment will be made for viewing WSB wil be made today . Great news and just in time. | ||
| Riohondohank |
http://superbikeplanet.com/2013/Feb/130219d.htm | ||
| Bads1 |
What the heck channel is it though?? | ||
| Riohondohank |
Since the bought Current TV ( Al Gore's network) I assume it will be on their channels. http://current.com/ | ||
| Bads1 |
Hmmm wonder what cable channel. Haven't heard of it. | ||
| Riohondohank |
I guess if you are not on one of the services listed on the web page you are out of luck. I am on Dish and it says channel 215. | ||
| Bads1 |
Nope don't have it. Time Warner dropped it upon the sale of it. | ||
| Riohondohank |
I'm not real hot on watching a Muslim channel. | ||
| Bads1 |
Either am I..... will see whats going to happen. I'm waiting on the other Two series to see where they will be aired. I want to switch my provider and have wanted to but want to make sure I get all the racing..... or TV is nothing to me. I can throw a DVD in and watch a movie anytime. | ||
| Jaimec |
Unlike FOX, I'm not expecting Al Jazheera to be espousing political views... ESPECIALLY during a motorcycle race.  What I need to do is see if FiOS includes that channel, though. The SBK website is blacked out in the United States (or at least it was the last time I looked) so watching the races online is out of the question. | ||
| Crusty |
It's channel 192 0n FIOS | ||
| Jaimec |
Thanks, Crusty. As a friend of mine pointed out, I wonder what the umbrella girls look like in Burkhas?? Can I assume the HD version is 692? I HOPE there's an HD version... | ||
| Firstbuell |
why bother with an HD channel when the SBK feed is SD? here's the latest fine tuning, per "RoadRacingWorld" site: UPDATE: It’s been confirmed that the World Superbike races at Phillip Island will be televised live Saturday, February 23 on beIN Sport TV [Comcast 429] beginning at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time (not the 5:00 p.m. listed on the programming guide at www.beinsport.tv) . For those who do not have access to beIN Sport TV, the races will also be shown via live streaming video on www.beinsport.tv. And contrary to what is stated in the FAQ (frequent asked questions) section on www.beinsport.com, network spokesmen have twice confirmed that no special login will be required to watch this coming weekend’s races via live streaming video | ||
| Jaimec |
FiOS doesn't carry beIN sports. I found a dozen threads with soccer fans clamoring for FiOS to pick up the channel, but so far, no good.  |
