| Author | Message | ||
     Jaimec |
Not going to spoil who won, but once again Gerloff was the fastest BMW rider although the two factory guys did manage to finish ahead of Loris Baz. We DID have a winner for a change whose name wasn't Bautista, Razgatliogu or Rea though so that's something new... | ||
| Jaimec |
Not really fair to compare Gerloff to the top three, but once again he was the fastest man on a BMW all weekend. Since all four are on •••••••••••••• bikes that does say a lot about his abilities. | ||
| Jaimec |
I'll just leave this here: https://www.crash.net/wsbk/results/1037012/1/2023- portimao-world-superbike-friday-practice-results | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Mini me on the Ducati cannot be beat. Not so much fun to watch when the race winner is already pre-determined--at least in the full length races. | ||
| Jaimec |
He qualified surprisingly low today. Even Toprak was beaten by his team mate. This should be an interesting weekend. And I see the two BMW Factory riders have found their speed again as they both qualified higher than GG (who still beat out his team mate). | ||
| Jaimec |
Despite a mediocre qualifying, when it came to the race, Gerloff was once again fastest BMW finishing just off the podium. The guy's talent is undeniable and he's vastly under-rated. | ||
| Jaimec |
It's gotta be SO frustrating for Toprak to work so hard to get in front only for Bautista to just blast past him in the front straight damn near every time. I really wonder why he seems to think he can do better on the BMW next year... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Toprak was leading into the final corner in both the Superpole and Race 2, only to get out dragged to the line. He rode his ass off to stay in front over a full length distance in Race 2. He pounded his tank in frustration over that one. BAUTISTA is picking up .4 to .5 a lap on the straights. Impossible to compete with that Advantage. The Beemer is faster than the Yamaha, but it probably isn't enough to overcome the Ducati edge. | ||
| Jaimec |
The question is whether or not the BMW can match the Yamaha in handling. If it does then Toprak has a fighting chance next year. There is hope for him; Gerloff is doing far better on the M1000RR than he did on the R1... but then he also has more experience now on those tracks as well. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
It seems like BMW is investing it is racing program. Maybe that was appealing to Toprak. Or maybe they just paid him a boatload of money? | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like next year there WILL be a combined Rider/Bike weight requirement! https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/1037880/1/explaine d-major-worldsbk-technical-changes-2024 | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Yep, I was wondering if they were going to put a weight minimum rule. It is pretty imperative to get the racing closer to what is was a couple years ago. I still wonder if it is enough to slow the Ducati/Bautista combo down. Curious as to how much weight we are talking about here... | ||
| Jaimec |
Nothing on this side of the Atlantic next year. Strange. https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/1039113/1/2024-wor ldsbk-calendar-confirmed-12-rounds-including-two-n ew-circuits | ||
| Jaimec |
Dick move on Yamaha's part to not let Toprak test the BMW until after his contract expires at the end of November. Especially considering Kawasaki is allowing Jonathan Rea to test THEIR bike today, and Honda (in MotoGP) will allow Marquez to test the Ducati after the final race in Valencia (something they denied Rossi when he quit their team)... | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Finally got to the last Superbike races in Jerez. WHAT A RACE 2! Reminded me so much of Stoner/Rossi at Laguna Seca. Bautista being on the faster bike, but Toprak determined to stay in front and win at all costs. Best race I have seen in years. Although the record books show Bautista in P1, everyone knows who won the race on the track. | ||
| Jaimec |
With the new "minimum weight" regulation for 2024 and articles like this, Bautista may not be as dominating next season. https://www.motorcyclenews.com/sport/world-superbi kes/2023/december/toprak-razgatlioglu-bmw-test-deb ut/ | ||
| Jaimec |
Maybe there's room for him in MotoAmerica again? Unlike Petrucci, he wasn't a whiny little cry baby... https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/1042624/1/loris-ba z-still-without-deal-2024-after-losing-bmw-seat | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Bautista was testing with 7kg of additional weight. I assume this is what he must add in 2024. I wonder if it will make any difference.... | ||
| Jaimec |
Looks like I was right about Baz. And Toprak is looking ominous in testing. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Once Bautista loses the edge in the bike department, he won't be able to beat Toprak. Toprak is the best Superbike racer in the world right now. | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Here we go again! Phillip Island is a gem. It is +11 UTC local time. Us here on the West coast are 19 hours behind. Can't wait to see how everything shakes out.  | ||
| Jaimec |
So other than Australia, WORLD Superbike is just "European Superbike" this year.  | ||
| Fresnobuell |
Yeah, I heard that on the telecast this weekend. Surprising to me as well but it appears correct looking at the schedule I posted. They need to come back to Laguna Seca! Good news is the racing appears to be improved this year. Ducatis are still the strongest bike in the paddock, but the gap has closed. Toprak continues the bad luck with a blown engine in Race 2.... | ||
| Jaimec |
None of last year's "Big Three" made much of an impression this weekend... And Jonathan Rea must've been looking at Lowes and thinking: "WTF??" | ||
| Fresnobuell |
I bet Alvaro was also saying WTF with Bulega being the man to beat on the Ducati. And I have no idea where Lowes came from...he was never a serious threat before. JR looks like he would have been better off retiring. And what about the Maniac throwing his hat into the ring??!? Toprak will find his own as he develops the Beemer and they goto tracks more suitable for his hard braking style. Hopefully the Championship won't be out of reach by that point. I believe they said Phillip Island is the track with the least amount of braking on the entire calendar. One nice thing is Toprak wasn’t getting pulled by the Ducatis on the straights like prior years. (Message edited by fresnobuell on February 27, 2024) | ||
| Jaimec |
It would appear as though Dorna's "Anti-Bautista" regulations are working. I wonder how today's race would've ended had they not been in effect? | ||
| Fresnobuell |
It looks like it's Toprak vs. the Ducatis this year. Great weekend for Toprak, even though Catalunya is considering a "Ducati" track. The Superpole race was the weekend's highlight yet again. It was certainly interesting hearing about Ducatis burning up tires, instead of Toprak (Race 1). Another miserable weekend for JR--the Yamaha looks like a slug. Can't wait for the next round..in a month.  | ||
| Jaimec |
GREAT racing, LOUSY TV coverage on MAV-TV. Saturday's race started without any announcers, the only sound was that of the bikes. Plus, they broke for commercials seemingly at random, only to come back and see position changes with no idea of what happened. The announcers were also unaware of any commercial breaks because often the commercials would start right in the middle of them saying something! Since it's the SAME broadcaster used by MotoAmerica, I don't understand it. They do MotoAmerica the RIGHT way, but COMPLETELY screw up World Superbikes! Good racing, though. Looks like Bautista is coming to grips with the additional weight and Toprak has figured out the BMW. | ||
| Jaimec |
As Arte Johnson used to say: "Verrrrry interesting..." https://superbikeplanet.com/story/947/kawasaki-pul ls-factory-wsbk-team-after-24-will-enter-kawasaki- powered-bimota-instead | ||
| Fresnobuell |
You should break down and get the WSBK streaming package. It's about $70ish and on demand everything....and no commercials. Also, great pre-race coverage, although I have to admit that I skip it depending on how much time I have. I can't recommend it highly enough. Considering what $70 buys these days, you should consider it. The only thing that bugs me is the schedule. Seven weeks on "Spring Break" before the next round and that's after a month between each of the first two rounds. At least, the "Summer break" is gone. |
