World Superbikes 2011

tinyjiney

I'd love to shake Euge's hand......what a rider...deffo not a Moto GP race....:D

elaverty

Yea what a result 2 out of 2,cant ask for any better,even though Biagi made a mess of his race,(which makes it even sweeter).

Todays raceing will do his confidence no end of good and this should be the start of his career into the big time Arena,all we can hope for now is that he dosnt get any bad falls and injurys and keeps this momentom up.
He is still a young man at 24yrs of age,and to see him puting it up to the older experienced riders like Biagi,Checa,Haga bolds well for the future for him...
Felt really sorry for Johnny Rae for geting mixed up in that early crash in race 2,,just goes to show alot of the early corners depend on luck and not being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Great to see Nitro Nori makeing a good comeback in race 2 after Checa neary messing up his race by takeing his raceline and makeing him run off track to save himself from crashing,,which i think shoul have merited a ride through penalty for Checa....
The more of WSB I watch the less of Moto GP i want to watch,there is just no comparision between the 2 anymore,,,,
I had planned to go to Silverstone to Moto GP next month,but im gonna leave it till the end of July now and goto WSB instead,,,,,



Now if we could just stop the Brits trying to claim Laverty as one of there own we would be on the pigs back,,,,

GO ON EUGER YEA BOY YEA...

tinyjiney

Its annoying alright to hear Barnicle and Whitham describe Laverty as "British"...but in fairness we're all British (in their eyes) ..as in, from the "British Isles"...:eek:

I cant remember ever hearing them call him an "English rider" ...i'm prepared to be corrected though..

And they always call Jack Kennedy "the Dublin lad".....or the young Irish lad....Maybe we're all still a wee bit sensitive....:o

elaverty

I think VR has summed it all up in this weeks MCN when he said something to the effect of The current crop of Moto GP riders are all Pussies now and are behaveing more like children,,,,Bang on there me thinks....

I also think that all this bitching about one and other is only to try and get some intertest back in Moto GP and try and make it more exciteing to the viewers,,it will take alot more than tha to get me as interested in it than i was in the past,,,,,WSB and BSB is by far a more exciteing series with regard to the closeness of the raceing.....Maybe going back to 1000cc engines next year may make it more exciteing....

HellsAngel

Excellent stuff from Eugene, had me in good form all week. Here is what he had to say himself - “I can’t believe I got a double victory today. I came here aiming for a podium and now I’m coming away with two incredible race wins. It’s fantastic. I didn’t get off to a good start in the second race. I had to avoid a collision on the first corner, causing me to lose time. I also struggled a little with the tyres in the hot conditions. When it came to the last few laps, I couldn’t believe my luck that it was just me and Marco in the lead. This double victory was particularly special to me, being the team’s home track.”

Grim.

elaverty wrote: »

.Maybe going back to 1000cc engines next year may make it more exciteing....

not unless they up the fuel limit from 21 litres to 24 imo


with 21 litres the engines are already running lean just to get to the flag

elaverty

Yea id say thats a given...

pdbhp

well it's Miller Motorsport park this weekend for the WSB riders, I think it's a boring track and I didn't enjoy last years race one bit.
Hopefully Eugene can continue his rich vein of form over in yank land.

frostie500

pdbhp wrote: »

well it's Miller Motorsport park this weekend for the WSB riders, I think it's a boring track and I didn't enjoy last years race one bit.
Hopefully Eugene can continue his rich vein of form over in yank land.

I'm expecting Jon Rea to have a very strong weekend as well. He was testing at MMP

pdbhp

frostie500 wrote: »

I'm expecting Jon Rea to have a very strong weekend as well. He was testing at MMP

Seems to be the general train of thought, even the official site are touting the man to win, personally I think the track is boring and the crown subdued so maybe some Irish riders near the front will spice things up a bit

Grim.

wet qualifying and rea out in q1

pdbhp

Checa too fast as usual, Laverty err'd on last corner to let Tom Sykes pip him to the post, reasonable race.

pdbhp

Good racing this morning, seems Checa is no longer invincible with a crash in race 1. Great result for Melandri and Biaggi still with no wins this season.
Another good result for Laverty with a hard fought 4th position ahead of the likes of Sykes and Haga

Magown3

pdbhp wrote: »

Good racing this morning, seems Checa is no longer invincible with a crash in race 1. Great result for Melandri and Biaggi still with no wins this season.
Another good result for Laverty with a hard fought 4th position ahead of the likes of Sykes and Haga

Yea, good race. It's Checa's to lose really, if he can't win he should be settling for whatever points he can gain but he seemed to be really pushing it this morning to be up there with Melandri and Biaggi. Deffo makes for an exciting championship for us though.

I would love to see Laverty get away at the front with the top runners. He was pushed down to 8th or 9th after 2 corners and had no chance after that. Still tho, 4th is a great hard fought result.

Same as above for Camier. I would love to see him get away with the others and beat Biaggi.

It seems to be a big no no to spray the champagne on each other after the first race but Biaggi and Melandri went at it, Biaggi seemed to start it but Melandri finished it when they went back on to the steps for the photo op's and turned the bottle upside down over Biaggi! Loved it. Does anyone know if they get on or not??

pdbhp

Magown3 wrote: »

Does anyone know if they get on or not??

Melandri and Biaggi do not like each other at all. Even after Superpole yesterday Melandri took a dig at Biaggi, it all makes for a good laugh and keeps the races and build up interesting.

pdbhp

Good race 1 today from Brno, Melandri showed Biaggi the way around. Bit of a lonely race for Laverty in 5th. He didn't have the pace to stick with the front runners, it was evident from the start that he couldn't turn the bike into the corner the way Melandri could.

Good race roll on race 2:D

Sids Not

pdbhp wrote: »

Good race roll on race 2:D

Swear to god....i came in on race two and thought they were showing race one again......till the end where Biaggi made the pass stick.....poor Euge, looked like was struggling a bit...:(

pdbhp

Sids Not wrote: »

Swear to god....i came in on race two and thought they were showing race one again......till the end where Biaggi made the pass stick.....poor Euge, looked like was struggling a bit...:(

It was almost a play for play copy of race 1.
Eugene was struggling all day he looked like he couldn't turn the bike in at all.

Melandri and Biaggi really don't like each other at all which makes me happy. It makes for good racing between the two

Sids Not

Yeah..but its gettin a bit samey now...remember when Haslam,Haga etc would all be at the front..I'm gettin a motogp feelin about it....

pdbhp

Sids Not wrote: »

Yeah..but its gettin a bit samey now...remember when Haslam,Haga etc would all be at the front..I'm gettin a motogp feelin about it....

Well the Superbikes have more of a chance because of greater racing numbers which adds to it.
At least we have Laverty so it's all good.

frostie500

Id say the main reason that there is such uniformity in WSBK is that the ex MotoGP riders are just more complete racers. Guys like Haslam are exceptionally fast but have very little racecraft in comparison to someone like Biaggi or Checa.
If you look at how the WSBK riders complete a race it is always at 100% of what is available at any given time which will mean that the tyre is shot after half distance. The ex-MotoGP riders on the other hand race at a pace that will keep the tyre usable for longer and give them better overall performance.
That is the principal reason that the ex GP riders can come in and do such a good job.
The jump from WSBK is massive whereas the majority of GP riders can compete at the sharp end in WSBK quite easily. As far as I am concerned there are riders such as Checa, Biaggi, Melandri and Laverty are at the top tier leaving scraps for the rest of the field to fight over. I would have had Jon Rea up there with these guys but injuries have prevented him from performing at his best this season

pdbhp

frostie500 wrote: »

Id say the main reason that there is such uniformity in WSBK is that the ex MotoGP riders are just more complete racers. Guys like Haslam are exceptionally fast but have very little racecraft in comparison to someone like Biaggi or Checa.
If you look at how the WSBK riders complete a race it is always at 100% of what is available at any given time which will mean that the tyre is shot after half distance. The ex-MotoGP riders on the other hand race at a pace that will keep the tyre usable for longer and give them better overall performance.
That is the principal reason that the ex GP riders can come in and do such a good job.
The jump from WSBK is massive whereas the majority of GP riders can compete at the sharp end in WSBK quite easily. As far as I am concerned there are riders such as Checa, Biaggi, Melandri and Laverty are at the top tier leaving scraps for the rest of the field to fight over. I would have had Jon Rea up there with these guys but injuries have prevented him from performing at his best this season

I'm inclined to agree with that Frostie the ex GP riders have performed to a higher standard for longer and with more ferocious power thus forcing them to conserve the tyres better.
The set up of a superbike has a lot to do with it aswell as they are much more forgiving than a GP bike especially for those who have ridden the dangerous 500cc GP machine.
As for Haslam he has ridden in GP's before as a youngster on the Castrol Honda bike

frostie500

pdbhp wrote: »

As for Haslam he has ridden in GP's before as a youngster on the Castrol Honda bike

Thats actually the thing that annoys me personally about Haslam. He was a factory Italjet 125 rider and rode a 500cc twin for a year yet he doesnt seem to have the level of racecraft expected of a GP rider. Saying that there are a lkot of ex-GP riders in WSBK who are pretty similar-guys like Fabrizio, Lai, Smrz etc

pdbhp

frostie500 wrote: »

Thats actually the thing that annoys me personally about Haslam. He was a factory Italjet 125 rider and rode a 500cc twin for a year yet he doesnt seem to have the level of racecraft expected of a GP rider. Saying that there are a lkot of ex-GP riders in WSBK who are pretty similar-guys like Fabrizio, Lai, Smrz etc

I think the main reason is that all the riders just weren't good enough to bridge the gap between superbikes and GP.
Haslam is a prime example he has been given every oppurtunity to perform at a high level and has failed, he had plenty of chances in BSB to win a title but never made the step up which is a shame because I really like Haslam.

The results speak for themselves really, if you take Melandri for example, the last few years he's been doing poorly and had to leave the GP paddock even though he showed on many occasions that he was not only as viable race winner but could run with the front runners regularly and compete at a very high level, his misfortune with Kawasaki and woeful run with Ducati didn't do him any favours and resulted in him going to WSB which has turned out pretty good for him now with 3 race wins under his belt it just shows that someone running at the back of the pack in GP's can easily take on the riders in WSB.

Maybe Toni Elias should look at Melandri and try get himself set up with a good team in superbikes, a championship that he probably could win.

Grim.

delighted to see Hopkins getting pole today

Laverty looks very strong for tomorrow aswell

pdbhp

Hopkins has still got it, just shows the level of rider he is. Great quali for Laverty, he's in with a real shout today and he seemed really confident in the press conference.
Rubbish day for Biaggi he was suffering some bad chatter, not just in quali but for his whole career:pac:

CJhaughey

Hopkins is off the booze, he is showing what he could have done before now.
Good rider and I hope he can continue to show this form.
Eugene looking very fast, posted the fastest speed in qualifying.

I was glad to hear James Witham call Burnicle out yesterday, during superpole
Burnicle: E Laverty the Irishman stroke Englishman stroke Brit.
Witham: What do you mean? he's Irish isn't he?
Burnicle- ah yes.

pdbhp

CJhaughey wrote: »

Hopkins is off the booze, he is showing what he could have done before now.
Good rider and I hope he can continue to show this form.
Eugene looking very fast, posted the fastest speed in qualifying.

I was glad to hear James Witham call Burnicle out yesterday, during superpole
Burnicle: E Laverty the Irishman stroke Englishman stroke Brit.
Witham: What do you mean? he's Irish isn't he?
Burnicle- ah yes.

LOL at Burnacle, did you happen to notice a couple of races ago when Laverty was hovering around 4th or 5th and depending on his position he was either British or Irish when he was in the lower positions:pac: they do it in all sports, wish they'd make up thier minds

Grim.

great showing by laverty with two 2nd places but checa was was unstoppable today great performances

pdbhp

Good God Checa is such a supremly smooth rider I'd say his tyre was barely used after the races, good results for Laverty but that Yamaha just destroys tyres.