WSB spoiler alert (1 Viewer)

[TheTwoOfUs]

Round 1 from Philip Island and it looks like Rea's dominance is over.
Alviro Bautista absolutely blitzed the field winning all three races. He won the first 22 lapper by 15 sec, Rea saying that he was riding at half throttle to conserve the tyre. However in the 10 lap sprint race Bautista kept Rea at bay then left him to win by about 7 secs and in the third race (22 laps) he won by just under 20 secs. Haslam crashed while pushing Rea in the first and finished 2nd in race two and three and in doing so put Rea under real pressure. Certainly the new V4 Ducati is very fast but also stable. Looks like being a good season.

 

[Falcon 269]

First, thanks for the spoiler alert in the thread title.

I always rated Bautista right back from his 250 days. For whatever reason, he didn't get a good enough ride in MotoGP until the very end when a got a few rides on the GP18. His results confirmed he still had the talent and I was confident he would be a good fit with the new Panigale V4. Rea claims that he will do better when he gets back to 'normal' tracks, not Philip Island. I'm not convinced ... he's not going to run away with it this season.

Chaz Davies must still be less than 100% race fit and hasn't clicked with the new Ducati yet. Nice to see the satellite Ducati teams in the hunt already, too.

Good to see Leon taking it to his team mate so soon. Watch out for Tom Sykes, too ... if he gets a chance to stuff it under Rea this year, you can bet he will take it!

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

Apparently the BeeEms are way down on power but handle well. When they get the engine sorted, which being BMW they will, then I reckon he could be in the mix. Davies is still suffering from back problems and lack of practice. The Yams did well but are also rans at the moment.
One disappointment was in the support race where there are no British riders this year.

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[Falcon 269]

I think the Supersport class is suffering from lack of interest in 600cc road machines these days. I wonder how long teams will continue to think it worthwhile competing in this category.

I feel for Chaz Davies. Rode so hard for the last couple of seasons on an outclassed machine and now isn't fit enough to make the best of what Ducati have brought this year. I hope it gets up to speed before too long.

 

[hilldweller]

What a day's racing. It does not get better, does it. I had more or less given up on WSB but the new format and new riders have turned it round big time.

Pity the Germans did not give Sykes a better bike, a really poor show after what Ducati have done.

I'd love to know the feeling in the Kawasaki camp after what Leon did.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

I've just got this feeling that Rea has come up against some top class riders for the first time in ages. I think he made the right decision in sticking to WSB because he would have been out of his depth in MotoGP.

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[hilldweller]

Rea claims that he will do better when he gets back to 'normal' tracks, not Philip Island. I'm not convinced

He whined as usual when all did not go his way, always has an excuse lines up.

 

[hilldweller]

OK, on the basis of this first race we've booked Donnington. the £40 camping, we don't need a hooker.

PS It's not £40 camping, it's 40+25+25, but never mind eh !

 

[hilldweller]

I feel for Chaz Davies. Rode so hard for the last couple of seasons on an outclassed machine.

Great guy but don't feel too sorry, he did have a very good 1200 machine whilst the others had to make do with 1000. He would have been a well deserved champ had he not got off too many times.

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[Falcon 269]

I know I don't need to explain that the capacity difference wasn't a big factor and that the Kawasaki has consistently been the better package for the last 3 or 4 years. I reckon Chaz crashed out from over-riding what he had to try to stay with the inline fours.

 

[hilldweller]

I reckon Chaz crashed out from over-riding what he had to try to stay with the inline fours.

He crashed too many times in good scoring positions, otherwise he would have been champ. It's his job not to crash.

 

[Falcon 269]

He crashed too many times in good scoring positions, otherwise he would have been champ. It's his job not to crash.

Considering that Rea equalled the record number of WSB wins in a season last year, I doubt that bringing it home in good scoring positions alone would have been enough to make Chaz champ. No, he had to push for maximum points to stand any chance of taking the title. When you ride that close to the limit in the process, crashing becomes a higher probability, of course.

No risk, no reward.

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[hilldweller]

No risk, no reward.

No finish, no points.

I remember Rossi losing to Hayden, just because Rossi had less finishes even though the better racer.

 

[Falcon 269]

I was in the crowd on the second corner at Valencia in 2006 and remember the season well. Hayden had two wins to Rossi's five. Had Rossi stayed onboard in Valencia, he would have been champion, agreed.

However, last year in WSB, Rea had 17 wins to Davies' two wins. No matter how many times Chaz would have finished in second or lower, he would not have won the title against Rea last year. It had to be win or bust for the title, which is the point I was making from the outset.

 

[hilldweller]

However, last year in WSB, Rea had 17 wins to Davies' two wins.

Spot on without doubt but in the back of my mind I can remember a load of DNFs for Chas when he could have been on for good points. It may even have been before Rea got a decent bike.

I also seem to remember Rea in the same position on the manky old Honda, riding the wheels off it or get nowhere, it was good training for his next move.

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[Falcon 269]

Good points isn't the same as maximum points, and when Rea was taking maximums in 17 out of 25 races ... well, I'll not labour the point any further.

Rea got a decent bike the day he joined Kawasaki in 2015. Fourteen race wins in his first season with them, only off the podium in 3 of 26 races. Frankly, he's made the whole WSB scene rather boring and predictable since then and it would be great if Bautista et al can give him some serious competition this year.

 

[TheTwoOfUs]

Oh, I think they will

 

[Ivory55]

Is WSB on the poor people channels ? Haha

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[TheTwoOfUs]

I watch on BT Sport but last year it was also on CH4 in the following week I believe.

 

[bigtwin]

Rea got a decent bike the day he joined Kawasaki in 2015. Fourteen race wins in his first season with them, only off the podium in 3 of 26 races. Frankly, he's made the whole WSB scene rather boring and predictable since then and it would be great if Bautista et al can give him some serious competition this year.

I concur!

Ian