Joined Oct 2006
3K Posts | 34+
Tar Heel State
Joined Apr 2008
7K Posts | 3K+
Out of Nowhere
There must be a god after all.............this would be fantastic! So Bayliss and who? I don't think Fabi or Haga will keep their seats so who's going to get the second seat?
Ducati has got to do something b/c Haga is not giving it his all anymore, and Fabrizio is not someone you can build a team around, imo.
Bayliss may be a bit over the hill, but who else are they going to get to spearhead their program?
Bayliss may be a bit over the hill, but who else are they going to get to spearhead their program?
I was kind of wondering if Bayliss and Edwards could end up on the same team.
I doubt Ducati would go after both. If Bayliss came back, I think they would keep Fabrizio or someone similar on the 2nd bike, just be the support rider, get the odd win.
someone like melandri, de puniet or maybe kallio? i think they could be up front in wsbk and they are all young, for sbk at least. it's been a long time since they won a race and i dont see this happening in gp as it is now.
of course if colin edwards returned to wsbk with yamaha probably, and bayliss back with ducati, then 2011 will be a season like 2002! the truth is that sbk this year lacks the big name riders, it's only haga but he's not at his best. sbk needs someone of these..
It may not have hoards of big names, but you cant deny theres big talent on the grid this year.
I know im going to be biased, but just the brits alone are kicking .... Haslam is riding better than ever, rea is getting faster and faster & crutchlow will be fighting for podiums every round. Great to see toseland getting back on form to.
Getting bayliss back though would be fantastic.
yes i agree.. i believe rea is the best of all hope he can come back and win like spies did last year! he could do the double at monza i think and beat biaggi, too bad he crashed but these things happen in racing. of course all the brits are doing very well usually i support mostly italian riders but i just never liked biaggi or fabrizio. rea,haslam,camier and crutchlow are all nice guys with a lot to give to the sport.
I never used to like Biaggi in GP but that was proberbly just down to the who Rossi / Biaggi thing.
He's grown on me though since he's been in SBK. Especially on that Aprillia, he's showing real determination to win. I'm getting to really like him.
Seeing him cry when he won the first race at Qatar on the Suzuki too. That win must have meant so much.
I disagree. I think the talent looks pretty scrappy at the moment, and nothing like the level of bayliss even when he retired or even more so spies last year. This is probably what has prompted troy to muse; with spies there he probably thought he had been superseded.
Crutchlow or even camier and some others may get to a high level eventually, but are not there yet imo.
You must be watching the wrong series mate.
I am the first to admit that your guy or guys winning is perspective changing but to me whilst many of the races have been close and great to watch I do not yet feel I am watching incipient greatness as I did with spies last year. As I said crutchlow is young and could be great, and camier is starting to look good. I don't yet believe haslam has suddenly become great, but as a stoner fan I will not discount the possibility that he has always been good and has finally got on a decent bike. I suspect troy shares my opinion that max biaggi is unlikely to have suddenly improved, although I am not unhappy to see max winning races.
"The two-day run at Mugello, the first time Bayliss had ridden a superbike in 18 months, saw him lap in a time of 1 minute 51.9 seconds on race tyres, after the first day had been conditioned by heavy rain."
Dude...for comparison Fabrizio's Mugello Test 2010 April:
"Having regained feeling with the front brake, Michel and his technicians made other refinements to the set-up of the 1198, to build the rider's confidence still further. Lap times were good and consistently fast, with a best time of 1'52.6, on a race tyre."
Well, it seems the old dog still has some spirit left inside...
I am wondering if he gets at least a wild card ride this year from Xerox.
Dude...for comparison Fabrizio's Mugello Test 2010 April:
"Having regained feeling with the front brake, Michel and his technicians made other refinements to the set-up of the 1198, to build the rider's confidence still further. Lap times were good and consistently fast, with a best time of 1'52.6, on a race tyre."
Well, it seems the old dog still has some spirit left inside...
I am wondering if he gets at least a wild card ride this year from Xerox.
We will just have to agree to disagree mate. I totally disagree with your comments. How you can call the talent scrappy I dont know. Imo the races have been closely fought with any number of the front runners able to win it. You cant compare it to spies last seaon. That guy is just one of those special talents that only come along once in a while and he ran away with it. I hope Bayliss does come back, but I dont think he'll have it easy.
The hype says the talent level is high, but if you examine the results, it doesn't jive with the hype.
With the exception of Haslam and Biaggi, no one has demonstrated any world class talent---only world class potential. Most of the riders have displayed a lack of consistency and a tendency to DNF more often than they should. Biaggi and Haslam are 70 points clear while the rest are trying to find a way to stay with them without throwing it down the road. Potential is very high, but so far, most of the would-be champions have not shown much of anything.
