Late to the party, long week. Thanks for being patient (although it seems that the round 12 thread is going nice and strong. Love it!)
The Quiet and the Storm
Every season is marked by some type drama - a randomly repeating event that seems to have a drastic effect on the overall championship. Some years it's the weather, as it was in 2012 when a series of wet races continually threw the championship contenders for loops that culminated in a half point separating the top two at the end. For 2013 the major talking point will simply have to be red flags, the number of times that they have waved (and when the haven't) and the winners and losers when they do.
Tom Sykes - Winner! It's hard to argue that anybody benefited more from the turn of events during Laguna Seca's race 1 than Tom Sykes because... well, he won! While Sykes got off to a excellent start, the real hare being chased down was championship rival Sylvain Guintoli aboard the formidable RSV4. Sykes may have been fast, but Guintoli was lightning. Forging his way to the front it wasn't long until Sykes lost touch with the leader. That was when the first red flag happened. The team won't say quite what they did to Tom's bike, the solution lying somewhere between science and black magic (is that a voodoo doll in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?), but when the race resumed minutes later Sykes was much closer to Guintoli after the start. Close, but so far away. Once again the French rider took control of the race and began gapping the field. Enter flag number two and some more witchery (aboriginee high priestess says "what"?). A third start to the race, and wouldn't you know it the third time was the charm. Sykes didn't rocket to the lead, but he got ahead of Guintoli and not only kept him there but pushed forward to claim the checkered flag. By the end of the weekend, despite a much less exciting (for him) second race he had extended his lead on 2nd place to 23 crucial points with only 2 weekends left. He enters the Magny-Cours weekend without a stellar record at the track, but what he lacks in history he makes up in trend. As the ZX10R has
Magny-Cours 2012 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
Magny-Cours 2011 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
Magny-Cours 2010 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
Sylvain Guintoli - To paraphrase and famous and quite annoying baby dinosaur, "Not the winner!" If Sykes gained the most then there is no denying that Guintoli lost the most. He entered the weekend barely 8 points down and a man with a plan. The French rider had struggled in the previous round to reel in a struggling Sykes. While the effort was fruitless, it still served to overtax his already damaged shoulder and leave him in a fair amount of discomfort. So the Aprilia ace came up with a strategy that was simple and Stoner-esque - he would do a minimum of laps, blitz the field and conserve the strength in his shoulder. The strategy worked, and Guintoli took his first pole position in... oh a long time. It worked so well, in fact, that Guintoli appeared a new rider from the get go on race day. He not only led the field, he pounded out a solid 2 second lead by the time the first red flag flew. Then he got to do it all again, and he did! And then he got to do it again! And it fell apart. Maybe it was the injury, overtaxed in short a small span of time, maybe it was equipment, or maybe Sykes really does have a voodoo doll. Whatever the case the final start of race 1 saw Guintoli swallowed by the pack and relegated off the podium. Race two was no better. Now the former championship leader sits not just 24 points behind Sykes but 3rd place in the standings. However he has an excellent record at his home track despite the disparate and mostly customer machinery of the past few years. Even with no downtime between Magny-Cours and Laguna, Guintoli should have a good showing for his home race.
Magny-Cours 2012 - PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R
Magny-Cours 2011 - Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R
Magny-Cours 2010 - Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000
Eugene Laverty - Everyone loves a rags to riches story, and Aprilia's Irish star is giving the fans just that. We know his story for 2013 - a win and a podium at Phillip Island was promptly followed by a string of icy-hot performances. Between the crashes and machine failures Laverty has left a lot of points on the table this season. However when it worked, when the man and machine meld held firm, they made magic. Laverty is the only other consistent winner in 2013 and now, nearly the full season later he takes his place as Sykes' legitimate challenge for the top honors. The task before him is formidable - win everything, lose nothing, pray that Sykes falters. It is not helped by his mixed results on the larger bikes.
Magny-Cours 2012 - Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory
Magny-Cours 2011 - Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha YZF R1
Magny-Cours 2010 - Parkalgar Honda Honda CBR600RR
The Quiet and the Storm
Every season is marked by some type drama - a randomly repeating event that seems to have a drastic effect on the overall championship. Some years it's the weather, as it was in 2012 when a series of wet races continually threw the championship contenders for loops that culminated in a half point separating the top two at the end. For 2013 the major talking point will simply have to be red flags, the number of times that they have waved (and when the haven't) and the winners and losers when they do.
Tom Sykes - Winner! It's hard to argue that anybody benefited more from the turn of events during Laguna Seca's race 1 than Tom Sykes because... well, he won! While Sykes got off to a excellent start, the real hare being chased down was championship rival Sylvain Guintoli aboard the formidable RSV4. Sykes may have been fast, but Guintoli was lightning. Forging his way to the front it wasn't long until Sykes lost touch with the leader. That was when the first red flag happened. The team won't say quite what they did to Tom's bike, the solution lying somewhere between science and black magic (is that a voodoo doll in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?), but when the race resumed minutes later Sykes was much closer to Guintoli after the start. Close, but so far away. Once again the French rider took control of the race and began gapping the field. Enter flag number two and some more witchery (aboriginee high priestess says "what"?). A third start to the race, and wouldn't you know it the third time was the charm. Sykes didn't rocket to the lead, but he got ahead of Guintoli and not only kept him there but pushed forward to claim the checkered flag. By the end of the weekend, despite a much less exciting (for him) second race he had extended his lead on 2nd place to 23 crucial points with only 2 weekends left. He enters the Magny-Cours weekend without a stellar record at the track, but what he lacks in history he makes up in trend. As the ZX10R has
Magny-Cours 2012 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
[] Race 1 - 3rd
[] Race 2 - 1st
Magny-Cours 2011 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
[] Race 1 - 10th
[] Race 2 - DNF
Magny-Cours 2010 - Kawasaki Racing Team ZX10R
[] Race 1 - 8th
[] Race 2 - 11th
Sylvain Guintoli - To paraphrase and famous and quite annoying baby dinosaur, "Not the winner!" If Sykes gained the most then there is no denying that Guintoli lost the most. He entered the weekend barely 8 points down and a man with a plan. The French rider had struggled in the previous round to reel in a struggling Sykes. While the effort was fruitless, it still served to overtax his already damaged shoulder and leave him in a fair amount of discomfort. So the Aprilia ace came up with a strategy that was simple and Stoner-esque - he would do a minimum of laps, blitz the field and conserve the strength in his shoulder. The strategy worked, and Guintoli took his first pole position in... oh a long time. It worked so well, in fact, that Guintoli appeared a new rider from the get go on race day. He not only led the field, he pounded out a solid 2 second lead by the time the first red flag flew. Then he got to do it all again, and he did! And then he got to do it again! And it fell apart. Maybe it was the injury, overtaxed in short a small span of time, maybe it was equipment, or maybe Sykes really does have a voodoo doll. Whatever the case the final start of race 1 saw Guintoli swallowed by the pack and relegated off the podium. Race two was no better. Now the former championship leader sits not just 24 points behind Sykes but 3rd place in the standings. However he has an excellent record at his home track despite the disparate and mostly customer machinery of the past few years. Even with no downtime between Magny-Cours and Laguna, Guintoli should have a good showing for his home race.
Magny-Cours 2012 - PATA Racing Team Ducati 1098R
[] Race 1 - 1st
[] Race 2 - 3rd
Magny-Cours 2011 - Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing Ducati 1098R
[] Race 1 - 6th
[] Race 2 - 5th
Magny-Cours 2010 - Team Suzuki Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000
[] Race 1 - N/A
[] Race 2 - 4th
Eugene Laverty - Everyone loves a rags to riches story, and Aprilia's Irish star is giving the fans just that. We know his story for 2013 - a win and a podium at Phillip Island was promptly followed by a string of icy-hot performances. Between the crashes and machine failures Laverty has left a lot of points on the table this season. However when it worked, when the man and machine meld held firm, they made magic. Laverty is the only other consistent winner in 2013 and now, nearly the full season later he takes his place as Sykes' legitimate challenge for the top honors. The task before him is formidable - win everything, lose nothing, pray that Sykes falters. It is not helped by his mixed results on the larger bikes.
Magny-Cours 2012 - Aprilia Racing Team Aprilia RSV4 Factory
[] Race 1 - 7th
[] Race 2 - 4th
Magny-Cours 2011 - Yamaha World Superbike Team Yamaha YZF R1
[] Race 1 - 5th
[] Race 2 - 3rd
Magny-Cours 2010 - Parkalgar Honda Honda CBR600RR
[] Race 1 - 1st
