The World Superbikes (SBK) 2010 season thread

Karoug said:
If they can't compete on equal terms they shouldn't compete at all! Good riddance i say!
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Does seem rather petty to me, and pretty stupid of Ducati- timing just reeks of Rossi-fandom on their part (CEO is in damage control now!)

My dad and I likened it to a playground spat- Ducati's throwing a hissy fit because Aprilia is better than him after years of Ducati being the best (because everybody had to play by Ducati's rules, which are now biting Ducati in the butt)- and anyway, the "cool guy" over on the other side of the road wants to hang out with him now, so why put up with this bunch?
 
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The general consensus has been "meh" to this news.

Ducati have a redundant engine configuration for SBK racing, combined with SBK organisers who aren't willing to give them extra tuning concessions. The decision probably wasn't helped by a factory team that has been awful this season - Haga and Fabrizio have underperformed while privateers like Carlos Checa have been quite brilliant.

For all their talk of near prototype tuning levels and electronics, someone needs to point out what Ducati were doing (tuning wise) to the old 998 & 999 engines to keep them up the front - and the reasons why they successfully argued for a 1200cc twin cylinder engine configuration.

Anyway, the SBK series returns this weekend with the Nurburgring round! Thank God too as the last couple of MotoGP races have been as interesting to watch as paint drying.

Cheers.

 
Leon Camier crashed today, and is out for a while :(


@leoncamier: Problemo, I've busted my scafoid an put a big hole in my knee, looking to have op on monday. Don't know why I crashed but wasn't my fault

@leoncamier: Here's the scafoid xray, hoping to be back racing before the end of the year!! Videos on leon-camier.net soon! http://plixi.com/p/43062319


In other wsbk news, apparently Marco Melandri is coming to wsbk in 2011, but not on a BMW like the was rumored.
 
RdKetchup said:
Leon Camier crashed today, and is out for a while :(


@leoncamier: Problemo, I've busted my scafoid an put a big hole in my knee, looking to have op on monday. Don't know why I crashed but wasn't my fault

@leoncamier: Here's the scafoid xray, hoping to be back racing before the end of the year!! Videos on leon-camier.net soon! http://plixi.com/p/43062319


In other wsbk news, apparently Marco Melandri is coming to wsbk in 2011, but not on a BMW like the was rumored.
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Heard about this (on Twitter too), funny because I was watching the live feed on my phone and it didn't show him as crashed (did show Fabrizio as such though :blink:). Hopefully he can get back soon, and if not is ok for all the prep for next season.

And oooh, that rumour sounds interesting, hopefully he still ends up with a good ride next year!
 
I was really hoping to see Marco on the BMW, I think both have enormous potential.

Except maybe as the second Aprilia rider, I can't picture a better ride for him. No more factory Duc, Ten Kate is probably full for next year, don't know if Suzuki will remain competitive, Kawasaki, even with the new ZX10R would be a gamble, and he has already been burn once by them. Maybe on the Yamaha, but again, not the most competitive bike out there.
 
RdKetchup said:
I was really hoping to see Marco on the BMW, I think both have enormous potential.

Except maybe as the second Aprilia rider, I can't picture a better ride for him. No more factory Duc, Ten Kate is probably full for next year, don't know if Suzuki will remain competitive, Kawasaki, even with the new ZX10R would be a gamble, and he has already been burn once by them. Maybe on the Yamaha, but again, not the most competitive bike out there.
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I keep thinking the Ducati will either keep the Xerox team going in some form (as a factory supported team) or promote Althea to the defacto "factory" team (ala Ten Kate with Honda). So there may be a chance for him there.


Qonder who would fill the second BMW seat though if that was the case (I can keep wishing, but doubt it will be Neukirchner! :()
 
@motomatters: GPOne reporting that Marco Melandri has signed with Sterilgarda Yamaha to race in WSBK next year. Announcement soon: http://bit.ly/bSisQP
 
So-
- Yamaha next year- Melandri and ??? (presumably Crutchlow will get his wish and move to Tech 3)
- Fabrizio and Haga are both on the market (unless Ducati runs a factory supported team, but even then neither of them will be likely to get rides in that)
- Toseland to Ten Kate (presumably teaming iwth Rea), taking Neukirchner's spot (who may move to Ten Kate WSS/some other team- I still dream of a BMW ride, even as a privateer)
- Xaus out of BMW, so Corser and ???
- Aprilia stay the same
- Factory Kawasaki stay the same (given Sykes has gone pretty well and got to test the 2011 bike recently)
- Suzuki presumably the same??? Unless they can't raise the money for next year and lose Haslam or something
- Potentially Laverty moving up with his team to SBK from WSS
- Althea- Checa presumably stay (unless he moves to a Duc factory supported team), Byrne???- has done ok, but not spectacular.
- Pedercini- can't see Baiocco keeping his ride, and dunno about RL Hayden. Maybe a spot there?
- Echo CRS Honda- may only want Lai as an interim replacement, maybe one of the current riders on the market there next year?
- PATA- Smrz will stay there no doubt.
-Others- Lanzi and Scassa dunno, haven't had great seasons but they haven't had shockers either. Probably depends on whether their teams can afford to run next season.

And no other news of new teams or anything yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of privateer Aprilia/BMW teams pop up like they did at Phillip Island this year. Whether they have the funds to run a whole season is yet to be seen I guess. Wow. Screw MotoGP, the real craziness is all here!!!!
 
I think Haga will retire.

edit, Haslam is rumored to ride for the Sook motogp team. But he probably will stay in WSB.
 
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brydie76 said:
So-
- Yamaha next year- Melandri and ??? (presumably Crutchlow will get his wish and move to Tech 3) - Crutchlow is now heading to MotoGP in 2011 and said to be team mate to Colin Edwards at Tech 3. Toseland likely gone, Haga rumoured to retrun to Yamaha.
- Fabrizio and Haga are both on the market (unless Ducati runs a factory supported team, but even then neither of them will be likely to get rides in that) - Foxsports reported Kawasaki interested in Haga, alongside CV for 2011.
- Toseland to Ten Kate (presumably teaming iwth Rea), taking Neukirchner's spot (who may move to Ten Kate WSS/some other team- I still dream of a BMW ride, even as a privateer) - Toseland spotted around pits at Indy MotoGP round, when asked about 2011 stated he was unsure where he'll be in 2011, not likely on a factory Yamaha. Ten Kate would be a good move back, although JT will have a super fast team mate! As for Neukirchner, he'll be lucky to remain in the SBK paddock.
- Xaus out of BMW, so Corser and ??? - Corser for sure in 2011, Xaus will need some stellar finishes to stay, even with Corser backing him (refer to Foxsports interview last night). Interesting rumour about team manager moving to the factory Yamaha team
- Aprilia stay the same - Absolutely.
- Factory Kawasaki stay the same (given Sykes has gone pretty well and got to test the 2011 bike recently) - See Haga rumour above.
- Suzuki presumably the same??? Unless they can't raise the money for next year and lose Haslam or something - Will be interesting to see if rumour of Francis Batta team leaving and replaced by a semi factory Japanese based team. Riders should stay the same.
- Potentially Laverty moving up with his team to SBK from WSS - to where though? Lots of good riders without the SBK machines to go around (unless Ducati make lots of factory supported customer bikes on the grid in 2011)
- Althea- Checa presumably stay (unless he moves to a Duc factory supported team), Byrne???- has done ok, but not spectacular. - Checa for sure will remain, Shakey hasn't done much this year, despite being a good rider.
- Pedercini- can't see Baiocco keeping his ride, and dunno about RL Hayden. Maybe a spot there?
- Echo CRS Honda- may only want Lai as an interim replacement, maybe one of the current riders on the market there next year?
- PATA- Smrz will stay there no doubt. - He's got to stop falling off and get some results.
-Others- Lanzi and Scassa dunno, haven't had great seasons but they haven't had shockers either. Probably depends on whether their teams can afford to run next season.
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Will be interesting to see how things shake out in the coming months. SBK is a little on the backfoot right now, MotoGP rules are biting them hard despite SBK being the far better series (in terms of cost, entertainment and manufacturer participation).

Cheers.
 
Ok, so we definitely have Melandri at Yamaha SBK and Crutchlow at Tech3 nect year- those will both be interesting!!!!

Other news, sounds like in the rumour mill that BMW (after Tardozzi leaves) want to purge most of his accquisitions and go towards a truly "German" team, with mechanics, engineers, etc sourced from Germany- and yes, racers too (excluding their brilliant flagship Aussie of course!). That could turn out well!!!!

And a couple of replies to your stuff- Laverty's team (forget their name, I don't really follow WSS) want to move their whole operations up to SBK, so that's where Laverty's ride would come from. Whether they do is another story.

JT- I doubt he will go well on the Honda unless they change it drastically from this year to next (and I doubt they will, given that Rea is going so well on it). The Honda seems to be a very "one-rider style" bike- you need to be able to ride past the edge/limit to do well on it, and not many riders can do that (and I honestly don't know whether Toseland could, given the struggles he's had with the Yamaha- which is somewhat similar- this year)

Haga- now that Tardozzi will probably move to Yamaha, I can definitely see him back there. And like I said, given Sykes got to test the 2011 Ninja (which has to be the most hyped up racing bike release this year), I think he'll be there next year along with Vermeulen.
 
Don't forget that JT won a world title with Ten Kate, so if he snagged a ride with them it will be a return to a known team and manufacturer. I'd love to see Toseland back on form, he's a great rider and a nice guy (I'll gloss over his shafting of Edwards in MotoGP).

Remeber Jakub Smrz highly publicised & very costly change from Ducati to Aprilia? Guess what, he's signed to ride another Ducati with the newly formed Liberty Racing team.

Cheers.
 
TJP said:
Don't forget that JT won a world title with Ten Kate, so if he snagged a ride with them it will be a return to a known team and manufacturer. I'd love to see Toseland back on form, he's a great rider and a nice guy (I'll gloss over his shafting of Edwards in MotoGP).

Remeber Jakub Smrz highly publicised & very costly change from Ducati to Aprilia? Guess what, he's signed to ride another Ducati with the newly formed Liberty Racing team.

Cheers.
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It would definitely be back to a known team, but not necessarily a known bike- those bikes vary hugely from year to year, so a win on the 2007 version of this bike does not even guarantee good results on the 2011 bike. I do hope he can go better though, even if he is potentially taking my favourite rider's spot.

And I laughed hugely at the Smrz switch! Guess the fact that it is a Czech-based team would have been the main factor. But another thing out of this- if PATA stay in the championship, there's potentially a very good privateer Aprilia spot up for grabs now....
I daresay that going on a Ducati next year will be ok- all of their focus may be going to MotoGP, but they should be better at catering to the privateers now that they don't have Xerox Duc to worry about.
 
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brydie76 said:
It would definitely be back to a known team, but not necessarily a known bike- those bikes vary hugely from year to year, so a win on the 2007 version of this bike does not even guarantee good results on the 2011 bike. I do hope he can go better though, even if he is potentially taking my favourite rider's spot.
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That's why I posted manufacturer and not bike :D Of course the '07 machine will be a different beast to the '11, the key is that James knows the level of support Honda and by extension, HRC, give to Ten Kate. A move back to TK would be great for James as he knows the team and the manufacturer - I think he's lost his "mojo" riding Yamahas. In fact, it went south for JT with the terrible second season with Tech 3.

Winning a world title for Honda will only help JT move back to a competitive Honda team if he so chooses.

Cheers.
 
TJP said:
That's why I posted manufacturer and not bike :D Of course the '07 machine will be a different beast to the '11, the key is that James knows the level of support Honda and by extension, HRC, give to Ten Kate. A move back to TK would be great for James as he knows the team and the manufacturer - I think he's lost his "mojo" riding Yamahas. In fact, it went south for JT with the terrible second season with Tech 3.

Winning a world title for Honda will only help JT move back to a competitive Honda team if he so chooses.

Cheers.
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Are you implying Reposl Honda there? (which would be pretty cool, but they are already over-staffed as it is! :lol:)

Also, sounds like Liberty Racing (Smrz's new team) want to field 2 riders, so there's another spot on the grid for somebody. Along with the intentions of Yoshimura Suzuki and PATA (now being rider-less), there's a few spots up for grabs on the grid at the moment!

Had a thought on Haga at Kawasaki too- if they do that, wonder if what they can do with Sykes is put him in Pedercini with RL Hayden, but make it a "pseudo-factory" team (ala what Honda may be doing with Dovi and whats-tehri-name Honda?)??? Would probably help Kawa get some decent grid spots next year too, if they've got 4 riders on their best-spec mahcines.

EDIT: also, rumour about the most likely sub for Camier for the next round (at least)- Fedrico Biaggi- Max Biaggis nephew. Now this is obviously e being me (i.e. very over-the-top and still somewhat girly :lol:), but I just have to say that would be so CUTE!!!!!!!!! :3
 
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Nah, I very much doubt we'll see a Repsol Honda in WSBK, unless there is a Spanish version Ben Spies undescovered somewhere in Spain. I just believe it would be a wise move for Toseland and Ten Kate to be reunited (for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the 2007 WSBK title) and with Rea as a teammate, TK would be a very stong team.

Haga to Kawasaki would be a very bold move. Nori has looked like a man riding his last season. There is no doubt with more consistent riders on the Ducati, they would be challenging for the world title. Add back the 50 points Checa lost in the USA and he'd be 4th, just 14 points behind Rea. I'd rather Tom Sykes be rewarded for solid results rather than Nori go to Kawasaki as the offers elsewhere aren't happening. A 4 bike effort, however, would be most welcomed by the WSBK organisers.

Rumours out of the UK suggest that Biaggi was getting the best bike and parts under agreement of his contract with Aprilia. I don't know how true these claims are and even if it's true what MB and Aprilia have acheieved this season has been brilliant. I'd like to see Leon Camier leave Aprilia and join the BMW factory team alongside Troy Corser. Will be interesting to watch an all Italian team at Imola if your rumour is true :cool:

Cheers.
 
TJP said:
Nah, I very much doubt we'll see a Repsol Honda in WSBK, unless there is a Spanish version Ben Spies undescovered somewhere in Spain. I just believe it would be a wise move for Toseland and Ten Kate to be reunited (for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the 2007 WSBK title) and with Rea as a teammate, TK would be a very stong team.

Haga to Kawasaki would be a very bold move. Nori has looked like a man riding his last season. There is no doubt with more consistent riders on the Ducati, they would be challenging for the world title. Add back the 50 points Checa lost in the USA and he'd be 4th, just 14 points behind Rea. I'd rather Tom Sykes be rewarded for solid results rather than Nori go to Kawasaki as the offers elsewhere aren't happening. A 4 bike effort, however, would be most welcomed by the WSBK organisers.

Rumours out of the UK suggest that Biaggi was getting the best bike and parts under agreement of his contract with Aprilia. I don't know how true these claims are and even if it's true what MB and Aprilia have acheieved this season has been brilliant. I'd like to see Leon Camier leave Aprilia and join the BMW factory team alongside Troy Corser. Will be interesting to watch an all Italian team at Imola if your rumour is true :cool:

Cheers.
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Sorry, thought you were referring to "better teams" as in jumping back up to MotoGp there! :lol:

And Camier himself has confirmed that Biaggi got first priority with parts, repairs etc, but he said that he didn't mind too much (forget where I read/heard this though). And I wouldn't be surprised if this sort of arrangement went on a lot of teams TBH....

Finally, couple more SBK/MotoGP rumours- from the source that initially broke Stoner to Honda and Rossi to Ducati, so they are actally almost likely...

Linky

I really hope it is true though!!!!! :D
 
TJP said:
Strange days indeed if true Brydie!
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Stranger things have happened!!!

(I'm not getting my hopes up though)
 
Toseland now officially out of Yamaha SBK effort for 2011, Eugene Laverty has signed up for the second seat.
 
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