WSBK Qatar Race 1&2

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 15 2009, 05:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Doesnt Ryder,Moody and Mamola do GP and not Superbike.The Eurosport announcers i heard were Burnicle and Whitham,I think.All the brits sound alike to me . Did Mamola get back for 2009,i heard he was not picked up.
Randy has other commitments, so he won't be part of the team. Toby and Julian will between them be covering all the races, but some will be either or, due again to other commitments. I think James Haydon is stepping in when one of them can't make it, if he manages to make it there without breaking something. They will only be present at about 5 races, with the commentary fed for the remaining weekends from Eurosport HQ.

The WSB team is the lamentable Jack Burnicle and James Whitham. Burnicle's from Teeside (I think, so he sounds a bit like a Geordie to the layman - sorry Baldy), and Whitham's a Yorkshireman, so they don't sound anything remotely like Toby an Jules. To you that'd be like me saying I can't tell a New York accent from an Alabama one.

I have to say I am not entirely sure of the identity of the race callers on the foxsports wsbk coverage in australia; one is an excitable englishman, the other an australian who sounds like he is dead for a year for tax reasons, but I don't find either very good. Kevin magee in the foxports studio is better; if laconic and sometimes blunt, he is certainly expert. The english guy did say several times during the qatar coverage that ben spies was born in tennessee.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Mar 15 2009, 10:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I have to say I am not entirely sure of the identity of the race callers on the foxsports wsbk coverage in australia; one is an excitable englishman, the other an australian who sounds like he is dead for a year for tax reasons, but I don't find either very good. Kevin magee in the foxports studio is better; if laconic and sometimes blunt, he is certainly expert. The english guy did say several times during the qatar coverage that ben spies was born in tennessee.
Try and find out who this is for me Mike

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Mar 15 2009, 08:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I have to say I am not entirely sure of the identity of the race callers on the foxsports wsbk coverage in australia; one is an excitable englishman, the other an australian who sounds like he is dead for a year for tax reasons, but I don't find either very good. Kevin magee in the foxports studio is better; if laconic and sometimes blunt, he is certainly expert. The english guy did say several times during the qatar coverage that ben spies was born in tennessee.
It's the Steve Martin and Jonathan Green commentary that is run on Foxsports in Australia.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (krusty @ Mar 15 2009, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It's the Steve Martin and Jonathan Green commentary that is run on Foxsports in Australia.
I figured it may be them, but have never taken much notice.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (krusty @ Mar 15 2009, 10:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It's the Steve Martin and Jonathan Green commentary that is run on Foxsports in Australia.
That explains everything.

very impressive stuff from spies... he's puttin on a clinic out there. i thought he was gonna need some time to get up to speed.......

Well..........Another pair of relatively standard superbike races, I didn't think it was too spectacular but it'll do at least until GP racing starts for the year in a few weeks. Again this weekend Spies looked brilliant, he's so damn fast that we still haven't seen how he might cope when faced with difficulty, but the season is young yet so we have plenty of time to see how that goes and if he will impress even further. A few of the brits put in decent performances this weekend, but as with Dovi or Stoner in the recent past its difficult to get too excited about that when they are so overshadowed by a superior rookie. I wonder how Haga feels now about leaving Yamaha, their bike looks so well sorted and is so good everywhere so far that I wonder if he's feeling some regret. On the other hand we haven't been to any full on Ducati tracks yet, and a change of scene often does riders a lot of good in the long run even if the equipment they change too isn't any better. Biaggi seems pretty confident that things are going well for him, so i'm excited to see how he and Aprilia come along in the bulk of the season. As always with superbikes though few of the riders are good enough to string a season together and except the top three from this weekend ALL of them have looked totally unconvincing, with so many of them seeming potential winners its actually pretty frustrating. With two races a weekend though lots of points can be won and lost each weekend so despite the relatively huge gaps in the championship already, i think its still a bit early for any conclusions as to which way it will go.

The supersport race was quite exciting, Sofuoglu looked a little wild this weekend, he's clearly going all out. I'm still not ready to put faith into the title falling outside of the Ten Kate camp, especially when they get onto the 09 bike but the Parkalgar bike looked pretty on it this weekend. It was nice to see Laverty get a win, after all the team has been through and all his struggles in GP racing it's nice for him to have some success, hopefully more will follow.

Now we head off to a supposed Ducati track,where Haga had a retirement and a win last year on the Yamaha. Spies has some time on the Valencia track and with his uncanny ability to adjust to new venues,i look for him to be right up front again. The Yamaha is a better bike this year even if its not as fast .From all reports,it is easy on tires and that is one of Ben's specialties [saving tires] to begin with,so if you add that up,Haga won on last years bike,this year the rider and the bike are better,im looking for some more dominance.

I thought the race one performance from Spies was more impressive than race two. Watching the two and listening to what he was saying all week, you could tell he had the pace and in race two he just checked out, showed his hand and no one could touch him. I was very impressed with the way he kept his composure despite being relegated to fifth at one point, he studied the guys in front of him and waited for opportunities rather than worrying too much about Haga and Biaggi getting away. When they were getting away, Spies kept it cool and didn't force anything but got through as soon as he could. That's not the kind of riding you see from class rookies, that's the sort of riding I would expect from Troy Bayliss. Top shelf stuff.

What can you say about Aprilia and BMW? Two podiums for Biaggi and a 4th for Nakano, really great stuff so early on in the season. And in a straight line the RSV4 seemed to have both Spies' R1 and Haga's 1098R well covered. And Corser had quite a good run in race two, maybe he and Xaus are not in for quite the nightmare I thought they'd be.

Really disappointing results from Rea. Everything I had read this weekend suggested he had the race pace to at least hang with Haga and Biaggi if not get close to Spies. The Superpole debacle was very unfortunate but he could not recover. It sounded as if he cooked his tires in race one trying to make up positions and in race two he got a good start all things considered but never moved forward and I believe he may have even fallen back a position or two. Unfortunate for Johnny, hopefully he can recover at Valencia.

Haven't gotten around to watching Supersport yet but plan to tonight. Really glad to hear that Laverty got a win. What an immensely talented rider who was never given a proper go in Grand Prix. I think he could be a real threat to the Ten Kate guys and should be at least a candidate for a Ten Kate Supersport ride in 2010 if he isn't offered a decent Superbike ride from someone. Really hoping for the best for him in 2009.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Austin @ Mar 15 2009, 08:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It sounded as if he cooked his tires in race one trying to make up positions and in race two he got a good start all things considered but never moved forward and I believe he may have even fallen back a position or two. Unfortunate for Johnny, hopefully he can recover at Valencia.

It seems so far at least that the "normal" inline 4's are struggling with tyre life and are generally being out performed by other configurations, i wonder if that will show itself as an actual trend or things will balance out. I also wonder if Yamaha are planning a cross plane r6, because that'd be sweet!

I reckon Laverty will be in moto2.
On one of the best bikes, best teams.

Hey Arabbaita thanks for the spoiler on the WSS race. Last I checked this thread was titled WSBK.
I would think you would know better than that.
Does anyone know where Spies calls home because they didn't mention it on the broadcast?
For years we've been saying that the Yosh Suzuki was far better than all the other AMA bikes.
There is no way you are going to convince me of that anymore. Tommy Hayden and Aaron Yates raced the same bike as Mladin and Spies and could never ride it like those two. The answer was right in front of us but we never considered that it was the riders and not the bike.
It's clear to me now that all the guys in WSBK and AMA who consistently finish out of the top 2 are nowhere near as good as Bayliss, Mladin and Spies. In fact it's pretty funny to me to hear for years how the racing in AMA sucks and now see Spies turn WSBK into AMA. It wasn't the racing that sucked
it was that everyone else is simply not good enough to compete with these guys. The racing in both series has always been good from P4 and back. So you want good racing then the solution is too take guys like Rossi, Stoner, Spies, Bayliss and Mladin out of the game.
For those of you who spent the winter threads talking about how WSBK was better than Moto Gp you failed to realize why MotoGP is and always be the best series in the world. It' not just the bike but more importantly the talent. When you see a guy like Spies decimate the field you realize how mediocre most of the riders in WSBK, AMA and BSB are. It's early but how many of us are starting to wonder how good Spies will be when he goes to MotoGP next year. We want to see the best agains't the best.
In the meantime I'd like to welcome the rest of the world to the AMA.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Mar 15 2009, 08:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Hey Arabbaita thanks for the spoiler on the WSS race. Last I checked this thread was titled WSBK.
I would think you would know better than that.
Does anyone know where Spies calls home because they didn't mention it on the broadcast?
For years we've been saying that the Yosh Suzuki was far better than all the other AMA bikes.
There is no way you are going to convince me of that anymore. Tommy Hayden and Aaron Yates raced the same bike as Mladin and Spies and could never ride it like those two. The answer was right in front of us but we never considered that it was the riders and not the bike.
It's clear to me now that all the guys in WSBK and AMA who consistently finish out of the top 2 are nowhere near as good as Bayliss, Mladin and Spies. In fact it's pretty funny to me to hear for years how the racing in AMA sucks and now see Spies turn WSBK into AMA. It wasn't the racing that sucked
it was that everyone else is simply not good enough to compete with these guys. The racing in both series has always been good from P4 and back. So you want good racing then the solution is too take guys like Rossi, Stoner, Spies, Bayliss and Mladin out of the game.
For those of you who spent the winter threads talking about how WSBK was better than Moto Gp you failed to realize why MotoGP is and always be the best series in the world. It' not just the bike but more importantly the talent. When you see a guy like Spies decimate the field you realize how mediocre most of the riders in WSBK, AMA and BSB are. It's early but how many of us are starting to wonder how good Spies will be when he goes to MotoGP next year. We want to see the best agains't the best.
In the meantime I'd like to welcome the rest of the world to the AMA.
And the truth shall set you free.I have been having that argument with many on this board for the last 2 years.They somehow had it figured that the rules package and unobtanium pieces were the cause of Yoshimura's domination.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (JohnnyKnockdown @ Mar 15 2009, 05:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>So you want good racing then the solution is too take guys like Rossi, Stoner, Spies, Bayliss and Mladin out of the game.
For those of you who spent the winter threads talking about how WSBK was better than Moto Gp you failed to realize why MotoGP is and always be the best series in the world. It' not just the bike but more importantly the talent. When you see a guy like Spies decimate the field you realize how mediocre most of the riders in WSBK, AMA and BSB are. It's early but how many of us are starting to wonder how good Spies will be when he goes to MotoGP next year. We want to see the best agains't the best.
In the meantime I'd like to welcome the rest of the world to the AMA.

What the .... are you talking about . The 2008 WSBK season showcased about 20-25 good races from P1 all the way back. You need to go and revisit those races once again, then if you can stand it, re-watch motogp 08 again. Pretty much no racing whatsoever. Remember that the podium spots were usually decided by lap 5 Umm podium spots have all benn decided on the last lap for every race so far in WSBK. Quite the contrast if you ask me.

I do agree that Spies domination at Qatar is something to look at. It may be a boring race for P1 but the battle from there on back will always be cracking.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 15 2009, 11:53 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Now we head off to a supposed Ducati track,where Haga had a retirement and a win last year on the Yamaha. Spies has some time on the Valencia track and with his uncanny ability to adjust to new venues,i look for him to be right up front again. The Yamaha is a better bike this year even if its not as fast .From all reports,it is easy on tires and that is one of Ben's specialties [saving tires] to begin with,so if you add that up,Haga won on last years bike,this year the rider and the bike are better,im looking for some more dominance.

Besides having a good bike that's easy on the tires, Ben (or the bike ) is better on the brakes and he can maintain his corner speed. You saw a little of that in PI but even more so in Qatar. Ben would loose a lot of time on acceleration. This was easily seen on the front straight. Haga and Biaggi would gap Ben and he would make it up on the brakes and get on the gas earlier. It also looked like his bike was on rails in the corners. All of these things will help Ben perform even better in Valencia so expect another good showing if not another domination.

Haga said he will win in Valencia so we will see.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Mar 15 2009, 06:37 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Congrats to Spies!

He's living up to the hype.

I have to agree...and I admit I was very wrong about the Texan....

It still says nothing about AMA or Mladin since Spies pretty much dominated there too.

I am very very disappointed with J.Rea

Lastly, if the WSBK season progresses then it will be even more boring than Moto GPs last year.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (povol @ Mar 15 2009, 07:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>And the truth shall set you free.I have been having that argument with many on this board for the last 2 years.They somehow had it figured that the rules package and unobtanium pieces were the cause of Yoshimura's domination.

The American Superbike race at Daytona was decided by 1 second. Honda was only 1 second behind Rockstar Yosh Suzuki.

The only person who said he couldn't compete due to restricted parts catalogs was Jordan. Obviously, Mladin and Hayden showed that the Jordan team needs more than parts in order to catch the Rockstar squad.

However, Hodgson proved there are plenty of decent Superbikes built and sold in the U.S. Suzuki was buying championships and it was leading to the decay of the sport, why would DMG allow it to continue?

Wonder if Haga is starting to rethink whether or not the move to the Ducati was the best move.