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World Superbikes Round One - Qatar

i had high hopes for the Yams of Haga and Corser but it looks like they're going to be destroying the rear tyre at an alarming rate.

gotta hand it to Max - he looks cool and calm and he's riding very well - as I think we've touched on above and another thread - it must piss the other WSB boys when he wins on his debut.

Well done JT tho - he rode out of his skin.
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Yeah i was a tad disapointed by the Yamaha guys, but i doubt it'll be like that all year. At the end of the season i expect Corser to get the better of Haga.

The Biaggi situation is yet another kick in the face for world superbikes, it shows the point i have been making in other threads quite nicely. With such a little man riding a big superbike so fast it all looks a bit like kocinski 1997 style.
 
Come on guys, is anyone really surprised that a guy who took it to Doohan is goin well on a diesel?

Theres no way that Biaggi was gonna be draggin his arse on a diesel, and where the hell was Bayliss? Dont worry though, I'm sure he'll be back at the front when Ducati get to use a 2 litre engine or whatever they have asked for to make sure they win, sorry, i meant to say to make sure the championship is even.

Pete
 
I fully expected Biaggi to be as good as any of these guys. But to be so good sp quick was a nice surprise. Bayliss won't be that far back for the entire season, but i don't think he will be champion this year. Maybe when Ducati get themselfes and advantage or some sort their riders will win again??

Quick mention for the supersport race, not especially exciting but i was highly amused by Charpentier stacking under the pressure from his less experienced team mate. Sofuoglu for the championship!!
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tom @ Feb 24 2007, 04:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I fully expected Biaggi to be as good as any of these guys. But to be so good sp quick was a nice surprise. Bayliss won't be that far back for the entire season, but i don't think he will be champion this year. Maybe when Ducati get themselfes and advantage or some sort their riders will win again??

I must agree with you there on Ducati's idea of competition. They left AMA because they could not have everything their own way. I think they should learn to make bikes that are less expensive to own/race and build motors that last long.
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Quick mention for the supersport race, not especially exciting but i was highly amused by Charpentier stacking under the pressure from his less experienced team mate. Sofuoglu for the championship!!

^^Kenan Sofuoglu doesnt surprise me one bit, you could see that he was getting better with every race last year. It looks like he may upset the Frenchmans applecart this year.
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Well done JT, fascinating racing by him and of course Max Biaggi. When I told others that Max Biaggi would piss over WSK they didn't believe me...long season ahead still yet but is this an indicator of the force he's going to be? I don't really like the guy because of his actions in the past & his personality but boy can he race and put others under pressure still.
 
As much as I'd like to see Charpentier get knocked of his (very) little throne, I'm not really a fan of Sofuoglu. Dunno why, I just got a distaste for the guy
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (richo @ Feb 25 2007, 01:12 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>As much as I'd like to see Charpentier get knocked of his (very) little throne, I'm not really a fan of Sofuoglu. Dunno why, I just got a distaste for the guy
You're regarding to the Supersport right? To me it's the start of the season, everything's new and fresh and everyone is on 0 points so why Sofuoglu was pushing his team-mate for P1 with just a couple of laps left boggles my mind. Ok so it would be nice to have a win at the start of the season and you have the right to go for it but he could see that he was putting his team-mate under heaps of pressure which eventually led up to the mistake and retirement but if he had just settled for the P2 podium space behind his team-mate they could of had a perfect 1-2 finish on the grid and made their team owners and mechanics twice as happy.
Owell a race win is a race win at the end of the day and motorsport is motorsport!
 
No racer is gonna fancy sitting behind his team mate when he feels he can go faster. And he was obviously right because Charpentier went and crashed trying to run Sofuoglu's pace. If he can establish himslef now as an equal championship chance then maybe they wont have him moving over for frenchie later in the season. Team orders are filth.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Tom @ Feb 25 2007, 04:03 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>No racer is gonna fancy sitting behind his team mate when he feels he can go faster. And he was obviously right because Charpentier went and crashed trying to run Sofuoglu's pace. If he can establish himslef now as an equal championship chance then maybe they wont have him moving over for frenchie later in the season. Team orders are filth.

Errr Tom, why is it ok for Hayboy to finish below his team mate though.......

Pete
 
I'd be more impressed with Charpentier if he'd lost 5 points to Sofuoglu than getting ahead and falling off. So it may not be impressive or promising for riders to finish behind their teammates, but its better to do so than to fall off isn't it.

This is similar to the Repsol HOnda situation isn't it. The experienced man does not want to be beaten by the young talented threat to his position, and i feel it is important for the less experienced riders hopes that he establishes himself asap (no problems there for Pedrosa). As far as the champ goes (Charpentier or Hayden if you like), he very much should be finishing ahead, but if he is beaten then he needs to keep his head together and not fall off. He can hope that over a season lenght his experience will come good and he can come out on top.

In this case of course i am heavily in favour of the Sofuoglu winning, but i am yet to decide if i actually beleive he will do it.
 
Great weekend for JT hopefully this is a sign of a great season for him, his Honda looked to have some speed. I was surprised with the Ducati and Yamaha, i expected more from them.

Biaggi couldn't of asked for a better start to the season, looks like it will be entertaining championship.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Dave T @ Feb 26 2007, 12:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Great weekend for JT hopefully this is a sign of a great season for him, his Honda looked to have some speed. I was surprised with the Ducati and Yamaha, i expected more from them.

Biaggi couldn't of asked for a better start to the season, looks like it will be entertaining championship.

I agree, yamaha were disapointing, but i knew Ducati weren't quite up to it in the desert. The shock however was just how bad Bayliss did, that was not an impressive effort and it may come back to haunt him later this year when he finds he actually needs all the points he can get.
 
Just watched the repeats on eurosport this morning. Biaggi, class act. JT came out fighting, I can't get over how much more mature he was in the post race interview compared with last year, it's like he's aged 5 years. He seemes to be very focused, he wants that title. Obviously so does Biaggi. Haga and Corsers' Yamahas went backwards with tyre problems. PI will be completely different conditions so who knows...enter Mr. Bayliss. Most interesting WSB season for a while I reckon.
 
I know I'm late, but I just got to watch the majority of race 1 before I had to go to class (which caused me to miss race 2 entirely).

Biaggi and Toseland were great in race 1; they were in a class of their own. Max was crazy on the brakes into turn 1. Do you all think he was trying to intimidate Toseland by getting so close to him in that braking zone? Or did he just have a big run on JT through the slipstream and could barely swerve around JT in time for the braking area? I'm not an experienced rider, but I imagine you don't want to make any extreme movements while braking hard at the end of the strait from, what, 180 mph (290 kph)?

Toseland fought very hard. It took Biaggi 3 or 4 passes until he finally was able to stay in front of JT. I loved how Toseland would get a huge run through turn 3, the fast right-hand kink, and pass Max with the bike shaking. He was really taking it to the edge. Great job JT!

Haga raced Corser really hard. Trying to assert his place at Yamaha Italy, perhaps?

What little I saw was really good stuff. I'm debating whether or not I should subscribe to WSBK TV.
 

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