Did anyone see the first round in Australia? Seems Biaggi had a good weekend, especially on the second day when he went from last on the first lap to second on the podium. A good day for older men with both Scholes and Giggs scoring for United. Melandri also scored a second on the BMW. Tom Sykes also seems to be going well. Haslam and Laverty also scored points when they should probably have been sitting it out. I think Johnny Rea will also shine. Should be a great season and yes it would be good to see Rossi in the mix as well.
WSBKS 2012
- Thread starter jon
- Start date
barrygrussell
Senior Member
Yes, saw the action from Phillip Island.
Checa is carrying his championship winning form into the new season and fellow MotoGP refugee Biaggi looks full of intent too. We missed a head-to-head between them this time because Checa had a big highside in race one and Biaggi ran off at the first corner in race two, but these were the men of the meeting. British lads - particularly Rea and Sykes - looked good and hopefully Melandri and Haslam can get the BMW sorted properly so that they can rack up a few wins on the fast tracks where the Ducatis will be off the pace.
One thing that was really refreshing for MotoGP fans was to see so many different manufacturers running competitively. In race two there were five different manufacturers in the top five places!
The Supersport race was also a cracker, with Kenan Sofuoglu back in his living room after his sorry Moto2 excursion taking the win for Kawasaki. He was a fag paper's width ahead of the Kwaka of French veteran Fabian Foret and Aussie Broc Parkes. Predicting a championship winner in this class is too difficult, so for entertainment and value bets watch out for young Brit Sam Lowes and Frenchman Jules Cluzel, now 23, who seems to be showing a cooler head than in his 'win it or bin it' early Moto2 performances. Both ran at the front in this race before tyre problems got the better of them.
A few pics from the media section of the WSBK website:
Checa is carrying his championship winning form into the new season and fellow MotoGP refugee Biaggi looks full of intent too. We missed a head-to-head between them this time because Checa had a big highside in race one and Biaggi ran off at the first corner in race two, but these were the men of the meeting. British lads - particularly Rea and Sykes - looked good and hopefully Melandri and Haslam can get the BMW sorted properly so that they can rack up a few wins on the fast tracks where the Ducatis will be off the pace.
One thing that was really refreshing for MotoGP fans was to see so many different manufacturers running competitively. In race two there were five different manufacturers in the top five places!
The Supersport race was also a cracker, with Kenan Sofuoglu back in his living room after his sorry Moto2 excursion taking the win for Kawasaki. He was a fag paper's width ahead of the Kwaka of French veteran Fabian Foret and Aussie Broc Parkes. Predicting a championship winner in this class is too difficult, so for entertainment and value bets watch out for young Brit Sam Lowes and Frenchman Jules Cluzel, now 23, who seems to be showing a cooler head than in his 'win it or bin it' early Moto2 performances. Both ran at the front in this race before tyre problems got the better of them.
A few pics from the media section of the WSBK website:
Loop
Senior Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 2011
- Bikes
- VFR 800 PCX 150
Just can`t understand why there is no new young talent coming out in the Superbikes.
Spies was the last promising rider but he hasn`t exactly set the MotoGP world on fire as yet,very disappointing IMO.
Biaggi,Checa,Melandri all MotoGP has beens.The class is nothing like it`s golden days...Foggy,Corser,Chilli,Slight,Edwards etc
Still Phillip Island is a great event and probably much better to be at the track.
Spies was the last promising rider but he hasn`t exactly set the MotoGP world on fire as yet,very disappointing IMO.
Biaggi,Checa,Melandri all MotoGP has beens.The class is nothing like it`s golden days...Foggy,Corser,Chilli,Slight,Edwards etc
Still Phillip Island is a great event and probably much better to be at the track.
KTMphil
Senior member
Great report Barry, you're picking out some amazing photo's!
barrygrussell
Senior Member
Loop is right if you look at the stats, but I think WSBK can be looked at independently from MotoGP, where the intensity of the competition is white hot and where all the very best riders end up, Biaggi and Melandri included. The two Italians got their one-way tickets to WSBK due to personality clashes on the one hand and woefully bad rider management on the other.
It is hard for the mortals amongst us to understand the differences when riding these machines at the top level, but riding a prototype MotoGP bike is definitely a black art that is best developed in the junior 'pure' racing classes, which is why superbike racers struggle. Cal Crutchlow is worth listening to on the subject, because he will tell you that he is still struggling to adapt from superbikes after his rookie season, even though he is going faster in testing than his traditionally-schooled teammate, Andrea Dovisioso. The business and politics of MotoGP are particularly brutal too, which makes it difficult for outsiders to come in on a truly competitive bike. And let's face it: there are only two competitive bikes in MotoGP and one of them, Yamaha, is stuck playing catch-up with the Big H. Remember Foggy's sorry experience in 500s?
WSBK is a more varied class today than it was in Foggy's day, with more nationalities challenging the traditional Brit-Aussie/NZ dominance which held back its international appeal. Adding circuits in more countries will help too. With a bit of encouragement, my Twitter followers tuned in and loved the racing spectacle from Phillip Island and are now asking lots of questions about the regs and riders.
MotoGP will remain unchallenged at the pinnacle of the support, but is in a difficult transitional period now, as Dorna tries to bring costs down and level the playing field. WSBK is grabbing the opportunity to take its show to a wider audience while the premier class figures out how to bring back exciting racing and who can blame them?
It is hard for the mortals amongst us to understand the differences when riding these machines at the top level, but riding a prototype MotoGP bike is definitely a black art that is best developed in the junior 'pure' racing classes, which is why superbike racers struggle. Cal Crutchlow is worth listening to on the subject, because he will tell you that he is still struggling to adapt from superbikes after his rookie season, even though he is going faster in testing than his traditionally-schooled teammate, Andrea Dovisioso. The business and politics of MotoGP are particularly brutal too, which makes it difficult for outsiders to come in on a truly competitive bike. And let's face it: there are only two competitive bikes in MotoGP and one of them, Yamaha, is stuck playing catch-up with the Big H. Remember Foggy's sorry experience in 500s?
WSBK is a more varied class today than it was in Foggy's day, with more nationalities challenging the traditional Brit-Aussie/NZ dominance which held back its international appeal. Adding circuits in more countries will help too. With a bit of encouragement, my Twitter followers tuned in and loved the racing spectacle from Phillip Island and are now asking lots of questions about the regs and riders.
MotoGP will remain unchallenged at the pinnacle of the support, but is in a difficult transitional period now, as Dorna tries to bring costs down and level the playing field. WSBK is grabbing the opportunity to take its show to a wider audience while the premier class figures out how to bring back exciting racing and who can blame them?
