#99.... I have the strong feeling that Geoff May will be back riding for EBR very soon.....maybe this season as soon as Pegram realises that it is too much for him being a team manager and a rider at WSBK level at the same ....... Mr #99 will be an excellent development rider alongside Canepa........... At least that is what I am wishing for .... because it is not fair for Geoff to leave EBR at this moment ... now it seems that it is the time that things will get better ..... it is not fair for Geoff May to loose his job at this moment , after the patience and dedication that he showed for EBR..... hey Mr Buell , are U listening ? ? ?
Anybody think maybe Geoff wanted to leave voluntarily thinking he has a few more good years left to be on a hopefully more competitive bike and team hoping that someone would see just what he has done at Buell & EBR and before on a Suzuki? It seems it usually IS all about money. Absolutely no disrespect intended. He IS a fine person and great rider. What has he said if anything about his leaving EBR?
Geoff is a top notch guy, always willing to help another rider, always takes time to talk with the fans. He gave all he had last year no one could ask any more of him. He will be back on a ride soon.
Pegram's effect is starting to show in the WSBK project.....
He decided take advantage of the limited time available before the test ban to arrange 2 tests for Canepa to get familiar with the EBR ...... compare that with last year......
I have the strong feeling that Geoff May will be back riding for EBR very soon.
Maybe in the AMA or something here in the US, but not in WSBK. I don't see it. Slow/steady is fine for most development work, but EBR _needs_ some huge leaps and bounds right now.
That is true.... but is Pegram considered a faster rider than May ? Just asking , because I have never watched Pegram race .......
Canepa is definately a super fast rider , I have watched him ride in Almeria in Spain.... I was there for a track day.... He was flying aboard a 749R..... I was very impressed .....
I cannot still believe that Canepa is riding for EBR...... Great !
I'd say May is a better rider than Pegram, but by a small margin. But, frankly, I don't think either of them are WSBK caliber.
But Pegram as a rider is probably a lot more attractive to the producers of the Superbike Family TV show, and the Superbike Family TV show is probably part of the reason they have the money to do this, so Pegram's riding may not be the best route to a podium, but it may be what's keeping EBR in WSBK.
And Pegram out on the track actually experiencing the things that need to be improved while he also has the responsibility and authority to improve those things could have a unique value to the team and development of the bike.
If Canepa can show the bike is good enough, we could see a new Canepa-like rider (who won't have to take as big a leap of faith as Canepa did) in 2016 and then Pegram can take a sideline role.
But I do hope they can find a way to keep May involved. With some sponsorship money, he could be a major player in Moto America.
Posted on Wednesday, December 24, 2014 - 10:19 am:
Considering the spec between WSBk and MotoAmerica are going to be so similar and the liter bike class will be made up mostly of Superstock 1000s I tend to agree EBR is primed for success domestically with perhaps a May/West team, if they can find the sponsors.
Not to rehash an old argument but the ZTL is just as strong as a dual disk setup but you have squeeze the lever accordingly. That may not match a lot of guys riding styles who prefer a lot more initial bite. You'll note he said he'd like it "to be more aggressive".
Also, I agree with D_Adams. Sorry, but the "May is a great bike developer" stuff is old, played out. Thats fine, have him running around East Troy/Road America developing a bike. In WSBK its shown that he can't hang, its time to try someone else out. Slow and steady is still just slow.
One last post (in this string): Im not ANTI-May. He IS a really nice guy and performed really well for EBR in AMA. That said, he can be the second nicest dude to roam the earth (first being Jesus), but that doesnt make him any more competitive. EBR needs to perform, they didnt do squat last year. There was always an excuse, "well they dont know the track..." "well they needed to save their motor..." etc. They came to Leguna Seca, a track they were both familiar with, and still didnt score a dang point.
May has done good things for EBR, thank you, but he's not cut out for WSBK on an EBR
"but is Pegram considered a faster rider than May"
Who scored the first point for EBR in WSBK, May or Pegram? Just saying.
According to the time sheets May was a few tenths quicker than Pegram all weekend at Laguna, and was racing him for that point, on a set up that everyone acknowledged was not as good as Pegram's. Hence the sweeping changes. You May yet see May on the bike in WSBk if God forbid anyone gets hurt or Pegram realizes why no other team principles are also riders at this level.
Great! Put May back in so they can continue to run at the back!
Uhmm May was "quicker"(.2 of second a lap on average) than Pegram on a track they both knew on a set up the Factory and Team all agreed was sub optimal based on a strategy that lead to a complete revamp of the team. They certainly made progress the last three rounds. Pegram knows about half the tracks and now May is familiar with them all. They had ZERO setup data for anything last year, and now they're going into this year with a plan to test when ever they can and reams of data on what DOESn't work. Not to mention the spec has tamed the superbike class a bit more towards the RX's abilites in its current guise.
Based on that, I expect Pegram to be near where May would be in terms of improvement over last year finally scoring A point or two per race consistently, and Canepa is the type of rider who will get them into the points with relative ease, and top tens on most occasions.
