| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Here's hoping Alvaro Bautista can put an end to "The Jonny Rea Show" this weekend. Maybe this series will be interesting again?? | ||
| Bertman |
My cable provider dropped Bein Sports last year so all I can do is see race results. All I can say is WOW! | ||
| Steeleagle |
So far, so good re; Bautista, but the race commentators kind of implied that was one of "his" courses, so maybe it will be a one-off. I also thought it was interesting that the Honda team is now considered the factory backed team. We shall see how well that backing goes, given that the sole US rider (Gagne) last year didn't have that "luxury". | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Crazy. Bautista can't be touched and Davies is nowhere on the same bike. I just wonder if the new Ducati had the characteristics of the 4 cylinder bikes that Bautista just came off of in GP? Let's just hope PI was an anomaly because that was no better than the Johnny Rea show. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm thinking the Panigale V4 was built on the experience they learned from the Desmosedici so Alvaro felt right at home on it. All he really had to do was get used to the steel brakes and Pirelli tires. Did you notice his bike even had wings similar to the Desmosedici? | ||
| Jaimec |
Yeah, Bautista was doing a pretty good impression of Jorge Lorenzo on the Yamaha in Australia... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Yeah, I noticed it. I still am not a fan of the look of wings on bikes. I wonder if they will bring down the RPM limit on the new Duc if they run away with more races? It seemed like they were getting to run the new bike with no restrictions. With the old Duc they had a handling advantage over the IL4s, I am curious to see if this has changed with the new configuration. PI isn't a great track to test anything but high speed stability. It's game over if that new Duc turns like the old Duc and is that fast. Got to hand it to the small Italian manufacturer. I don't care if you like Ducati or not. | ||
| Jaimec |
Saw an interview with Dall'Igna that basically confirms my suspicions: https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/913860/1/dall-igna -motogp-connection-more-important-past | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Makes sense to me. Next round in Thailand won't tell us much. I would expect Bautista to win there based on the track layout. Round 3 at Aragon or for sure at Assen might be where things might even out a little bit. Assen seems to produce epic racing as much as any track in the world. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Bautista is 6 for 6.  Chang did make the differences between the Ducati and Kawi pretty apparent. The Kawi brakes and handles change of direction/tighter turns better. The Ducati is rocketship that likes the straight and high speed corners. I expect Aragon and Assen to be closer racing than the first two rounds. | ||
| Jaimec |
I've seen quite a few posts from people saying that the Ducati's rpm advantage is unfair, but I would point out that other than Bautista, NO ONE else on a Ducati has made any kind of an impression. In fact, Kawasaki leads the TEAM points as Haslam has been more successful than Davies. People tend to forget (since it happened so long ago) that Alvaro Bautista is a former 250GP World Champion. He just never really had competitive equipment in MotoGP. The one time he had an opportunity to ride Lorenzo's Ducati last season gave everyone an idea of what he MIGHT'VE been able to accomplish on a competitive factory machine. WSBK is finally giving him a chance to shine. Good for him. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Baustista has meshed with the new Ducati well with experience of riding V4 Ducati last year being an apparent advantage. If they get the handling/braking issues worked out, it's game over. They won't do anything about lowering the RPMs until the series visits a non-HP track and for sure the rest of the Ducatis being mid-pack is certainly helping Bautista's cause. Also, a rider jumping on a good bike and having instant success is not unheard of. Just look at Johnny Rea. He was nowhere before getting the Kawi ride and then we know the rest. | ||
| Jaimec |
Alvaro has one other advantage. Did you see the podium photos from last weekend? Alvaro is downright TINY compared to Lowes and Rea! With Alvaro on the top step, and Sam and Jonathon on the lower steps, all three of their heads were at the same height! | ||
| Fresnobuell |
And since the series IS a production based series, the RPM advantage is perfectly fair as it's all based on the stock RPM of the homologated model. Of course the series can lower it for the sake of keeping things closer on track. If the other manufacturers don't like then built a motor that revs higher. Again, like Ducati or not you have to appreciate their dedication to pushing the envelope when it comes to performance and racing. | ||
| Jaimec |
Bautista is doing the business again. Davies is fourth fastest so maybe he's starting to figure the bike out? Rea is in third... not sure how long that is going to last. Can Alvaro pull off ANOTHER hat trick this weekend? | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Jeez. I expected this track to be more challenging for the Ducati, but Bautista is a.5 second up on the next best. Chaz down to 10th. | ||
| Jaimec |
The Yamaha is looking better than before, but what's up with van der Mark? He's usually the faster of the two but he's considerably further back in the timings... Ten Kate must be looking at Honda's factory effort and chuckling to himself. Can't wait to see what he and Baz can do with a Yamaha when they rejoin the series later this season... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Aside from Bautista being unbeatable, this was an outstanding race for 2nd place. Wow. Rea and Chaz displaying some great racecraft. Love Aragon. | ||
| Jaimec |
After years of "God Save the Queen" during the podium ceremonies, it looks like the WSBK crowd is going to get as familiar with the Spanish National anthem as MotoGP fans. | ||
| Bertman |
Cheese and Rice, I still have not seen a race on TV because of my POS provider. I guess I'm gonna have to wait for Laguna Seca to watch WSB in person. | ||
| 1313 |
I guess I'm gonna have to wait for Laguna Seca to watch WSB in person. What a novel idea! Show all the sponsors and promoters that there are fans still interested in seeing a race live and in person... | ||
| Jaimec |
I did that for YEARS in Indianapolis for all the good it did... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Same thing for me with GP at Laguna Seca. That wasn't really a fan thing, Dorna raised the fees. | ||
| Jaimec |
What kills me is that Indianapolis outdrew COTA every year the two were on the schedule. It also outdrew several of the European rounds, yet that was the one they canceled. Meanwhile, Qatar routinely attracts LESS than 10,000 per weekend and THAT'S the one they keep??? Back to WSBK: One person on another forum commented that Bautista's utter domination of WSBK has pretty much quieted the comments about Rea deserving a MotoGP ride... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I don't know. Rea rode two superb races to take those second places. I always give more "cred" to motorcyclists/racers that make up time with the bike leaned over...the Ducati has an obvious power advantage. Rea had to work his ass off to get in front of Chaz because the Ducati was a rocketship down that back straight (and really you could see it pull harder off each corner exit as well.) Rea had to do it with racecraft, agility and corner speed. As far as the MotoGP and Qatar round, those Qatarians pay whatever astronomical fee Dorna wants to charge them. That's why Qatar will always have a round there. Depending on what report you want to believe, Dorna wanted to raise the fees to Laguna Seca somewhere between $600K-$800K. Hence, no Moto GP at Laguna Seca. I read everything at COTA is ridiculously priced, so my guess is all came down to COTA being worth more money to Dorna than Indy. COTA sucks big time as a track. What moron decided each long ass straight should end in less than 90 degree corner? Are we going to see cement dust all over the place again this year because someone didn't have the foresight to grind the track a month earlier? Not impressed. | ||
| Jaimec |
So they've slapped a rev limit on the Panigale V4. Seriously, I don't think that is going to make any difference. The issue isn't the Panigale, it's Bautista. Take him out of the picture and all of the other Ducati riders are pretty much exactly where they were last year. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Will be interesting to see if a lower RPM limit makes a difference. Assen will make a difference. | ||
| Jaimec |
I think the track will make a bigger difference in the results than the RPM drop. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I agree. Assen will equalize the field. I think it might be epic for some reason. Too much good stuff to watch this weekend. World Superbike, MotoGp, The Masters... | ||
| Jaimec |
So... how many times has a race been called on account of SNOW before today?? |
