WSBK 2016: Round 2, Thailand (SPOILERS)

Arrabbiata1 said:

Agree. In fact I was just saying to you how planted the Blade looks in particular while Rea, like VDM as JPS says, is crying out for a satellite ride in GP at the very least.

In my opinion for the best riding style in the series watch Jules Cluzel in WSS. Yet to see whether it wins him any races - both the F4 and the F3 look a tad flakey.

In addition to round II of Sykes and Rea, expecting a great duel between the Kawasaki's of Krummenacher and Sofuoğlu tomorrow.

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Re: Satellite or Wildcard; Does VDM's contract have any connection to HRC, or is it all with the team?

Pit lane open. Audio on. Tracking and live timing activated. Lets go racing.

Go Cluzel. He won me as a fan last year with his on grid animal cruelty protest.

Barbedwirebikerr said:

Go Cluzel. He won me as a fan last year with his on grid animal cruelty protest.

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Torel in garage. Cluzel gets .... start. PJ leads.

....... Firewall .....
Lost feed.

4 way battle for lead, 12/17 PJ, Cluz, Krumm, SoFag.

Wilairot out.

Bonkers last laps!

Well done Jules, I hope that mv will be a reliable steed and he gets a run at the title this year.

Brilliant race. Congrats Sykes.

Jumkie said:

Brilliant race. Congrats Sykes.

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Great race. Not sure why Rea was so sour afterwards. Said that all Sykes wanted to do was block him. Seemed to me Rea kept making mistakes after taking the lead. That's what cost him the race. He has 95 points from a possible 100. No need to be sour buddy.
Nicky not happy in his garage after the race. Commentators saying that he was telling his team that they had way too much engine braking in the settings.

Exciting racing I thought.

Another ace sbk weekend.
Loved how aggressive sykes blocked. Was a thing of beauty how he messed up reas lines to stand it up and fire it out. Grade a ....

frizzle said:

Great race. Not sure why Rea was so sour afterwards. Said that all Sykes wanted to do was block him. Seemed to me Rea kept making mistakes after taking the lead. That's what cost him the race. He has 95 points from a possible 100. No need to be sour buddy.
Nicky not happy in his garage after the race. Commentators saying that he was telling his team that they had way too much engine braking in the settings.

Exciting racing I thought.

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Agreed but i would understand reas position. The weaving in the last rounds was a bit much to do on a bike. Had rea tried to stick it up the inside before the fast right hander his front would've been chopped off by sykes erratic buttocks.

They won't be sauna club buddies after this

propagandhi said:

Another ace sbk weekend.
Loved how aggressive sykes blocked. Was a thing of beauty how he messed up reas lines to stand it up and fire it out. Grade a ....

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Absolutely agree - superb defensive riding from Sykes - clearly frustrated Rea. That last block on the penultimate corner won him the race. What a contrast in riding style...the demon braking of Sykes v the outrageous mid corner speed of Rea. Imagine Chaz on the same machinery - couldn't have asked any more of him, great ride - ride of the day in fact.

The other advantage that the ZX10rs have this year is the addition of the eccentric adjustment on the swing arm pivot and headstock - Kawasaki's response to rider feedback from last year. It would be nice if Honda and Ducati made similar concessions to their riders outside of GP albeit given the prehistoric equipment that they run in WSBk.

Unfortunate comment from Burnicle..'Nice to see Tom Sykes with his chin up again'.

Bizarre how there's so much money behind Chang, but they drive the winners in a golf cart over to a Gazebo next to a makeshift tin pot podium positioned outfield.

Brilliant WSS race too. PJ acknowledged that his mistake cost him the victory but impeccably tidy riding from Cluzel.

Sykes rode a hell of a 2nd race, was very nice to see him not give up at all especially after Rea's first overtake which looked like it was going to turn into him walking away with the race. That block before turn 12 was incredible. If he doesn't make that, Rea was going to have turn 12 to himself. Well deserved victory.

Chaz Davies rode a great race as well on the Ducati. He was going to need a stroke of good fortune to split the two Kawasaki's. But hats off to him for keeping up as best as he could.

van der Mark made the same mistake he made in race 1, ran into turn 3 far too hot. Still a good finish. Alex Lowes looked to be going well early before he ran wide.

Great race, hopefully we see more of this.

It was great to see Jacobsen fight so hard, even if he choked away the win. That re-pass on Cluzel into turn 4, hanging around on Superglue's outside, after getting slammed by said Superglue, the tenacity he showed today makes me excited to watch him the rest of the year!

Just finished watching Race 2. Dammmmmmnnnn!!!
I might like WSBK better than MotoGP if the races are going to be like this all the time.

Motokitty said:

Just finished watching Race 2. Dammmmmmnnnn!!!
I might like WSBK better than MotoGP if the races are going to be like this all the time.

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If we had races in GP like Wsbk/WSS we'd all die. .... last year's Philip Island race was so unbelievable we were told not to believe it!

frizzle said:

Great race. Not sure why Rea was so sour afterwards. Said that all Sykes wanted to do was block him. Seemed to me Rea kept making mistakes after taking the lead. That's what cost him the race. He has 95 points from a possible 100. No need to be sour buddy.
Nicky not happy in his garage after the race. Commentators saying that he was telling his team that they had way too much engine braking in the settings.

Exciting racing I thought.

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Great take. Spot on.

Overall the racing was thrilling. Rea was sour because Sykes employed a high level of tenacity to counter Rea's desperate tactics he is known for and this time finished ahead. Rea diving in then running wide is dirty desperate Rea not to be mistaken for determination. Rea said Sykes strategy was just to block him which was "scary"? Thats a bit of overreaction imo, Rea is disconnected of his own tactics. "Scary" is a guy diving into a corner in front of you knowing he's never going to hold the position. He must think this is a legitimate attempt at overtaking. In the past some riders have capitulated to the tactic, but this time Sykes saw him off. 3 times Rea lunged in and ran wide, and insisted to put his bike where he wasn't going to be able to hold. Physics is a MF. Twice Rea ran wide on his own. Today we saw the old JRea, I suspect if there are more scraps his tactics will become increasingly desperate. Either way it was good to see both Kawasaki boys challenge eachother. Sykes looked caught with his pants down last year. If Tom can match in tenacity JRea's tactics we are all in for a fantastic duel.

Edit: exciting racing, above take a reaction to JRea's comments about Sykes' strategy.

I only lament the Kawasaki package is so far superior of the rest that only a duel will emerge. Davies struggled to stay with them and rode to the limit to be there. Jrea said he estimates the ZX10 is running at 85% of its potential, ominous.

Davies was nails. Honda still experiencing problems. Save that mistake, VDM had a excellent race. Nicky to 5, decent. Yamaha also experiencing gremlins. Wsbk is looking up.

I thought it was great hard racing to be fair.

AntG said:

I thought it was great hard racing to be fair.

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For the most part agree, i really did enjoy it, my comment was more a reaction to JRea's whining about Sykes strategy. To be fair, they congratulated eachother in parc ferme, and Jrea did go on to say Sykes ran a strong race. So kudos to both. More duels please.