Spoilers MGP and WSBK Misano/Nurburgring

[markgoodrich]

Yay, what a great day of racing yesterday was.

 

The 125 race was unusually exciting, right up to the last corner. It was obvious the last three laps or so that it would end in disaster, and it did. Those Espargaro brothers are really something.

 

The 250 was equally fun to watch, although it was too bad Simoncelli went down, effectively ending his charge to the top.

 

But Vale, well, he truly is the greatest rider in the history of the sport...to date.... And there's no question he's the greatest sportsman the sport has ever seen. The best moment of the race was when one of the little robots (Pedrosa, not Lorenzo) actually became playful after running out of gas after finishing third, and hitched a ride with his thumb out. What a shame, that so many great young riders are moving up, and Elias is going to be gone.

 

Over on the WSBK side, in Race 1 Ben Spies showed once again that he may become the greatest rider to ever race. I don't think it would have mattered if Haga had been fully fit.

 

Race 2 was a bitter disappointment, as Haga is gone from the title chase. Rea's pass looked clean to me, even after several rewinds, but I know there's room for argument. Not much different from Vale's incredible pass on Gibernau a couple years ago, and likely just as controversial. I'm with Rea on this one. I'd love to know what Ten Kate did between races to put both their riders so far forward.

 

The crash at Turn 1 was horrific looking. I can't believe Parkes was essentially uninjured. I replayed the crash several times, and I swear it looked like the bike went over his neck, but the reports indicate it hit his chest.

 

Our man Corser acquitted himself well in the early stages of both races; Xaus' replacement, Cooper, crashed out of both events.

 

Watching all that racing back-to-back-to-back (I know, I know, I could'a been out riding; I had a sinus headache so bad I could hardly sit up and watch the teevee), I conclude WSBK and the 250s offer the closest, most exciting racing right now. Course, haven't seen the WSS race yet.

 

NASAMA? I doubt I'll bother.

[bootzilla]

I would not be surprised if that tangle between Rea and Haga ends up totally changing the plan for Ben.

 

I know that Yamaha says that Ben will be in SBK next year and then GP in 2010 - but they were probably hedging because they weren't sure what Ben's chances of winning the championship were.

 

Both Lorenzo and Vale's contracts will be up at the end of next season - if one or the other leaves, Ben is the heir apparent, but he's got to run a season with a non-factory team before taking over the big-dollar ride.

 

If Ben goes on to win SBK, I'd hardly be surprised to see Yammie change the plan and put him on a Tech 3 bike next year to get the rookie prerequisite out of the way - and if that is the case, it will all have been started by a little bump from Johnny Rea.

 

Good show by Corser, too - still a few steps away, but they are moving in the right direction.

[90%angel]

I'm not so sure this is a game changer for Ben. Don't count the championship before he has it! Nori wants this really bad, he's not that far down, he didn't get reinjured, and Ben isn't infallible; he's DNF'd his share. I just think this means we are in for an incredibly entertaining last few races!

 

Wish the MotoGP race was more exciting, and that the turn one incident hadn't happened. I would have like to see how Nicky would have finished. Top 5 maybe? I'm just glad that didn't happen to him at his home race last week!

 

As for AMA Superbike, SPOILIER:

what an entertaining second race we had! However, we missed the last 4 laps due to Nasbike running over, so the Superbike race cut off!! Agh! We had a four rider train lap after lap, and then I read that Tommy Hayden crashes while trying to pass for the lead, and we miss it! Hats off to Josh Hayes though; he got to really battle with Mladin, and he was victorious. Also, hats off to Mladin...what a career! As for Nasbike, haven't watched yet, and who cares. With Cardenas out, that probably means the cheater bike wins the title. Barf.

[bootzilla]

Oh, I agree - Nori isn't done yet. It will be awesome if they can each keep both wheels on the ground for the rest of the season - they literally could go back and forth every race.

 

Also agree that Nicky had a great shot at a top 5 - he had been getting stronger every session over the weekend. Sucked for him, Edwards and DeAngelis - all three of them were carrying momentum from Indy - none of them needed that.

[Linz]

I think that you could all be getting carried away with how good Spies is.

 

Yep, he's a fabulous rider and obviously the heir apparent in World Super Bike Championship *but*, he came from AMA and battled with Mladin who couldn't win a race when he went to the premier class. Ben is only just beating Biaggi (who is another casualty to the Rossi mind game). Both Colin Edwards and James Toseland were the Spies of their day and they both circulate at the front and back end of the mid field in Moto GP.

 

Only one rider (to my memory) from WSBK has ever won a Moto GP race (and that was on the 990) was Troy Corser in the last race of the season in 2006 (I think).

 

To be competitive, Ben has to be able to run with Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi and Stoner etc on a bike which bears little to no resemblance to a road bike. This is not going to be a cake walk. And, he's a big boy and Moto GP bikes are small. Given that task, I think that he should ease into the class without the expectation that he's going to show anyone in the top 5 how to ride a a bike.

 

I hope that I'm wrong as some spice would be nice.

 

Linz

[markgoodrich]

Linz, you make some good points, but I'll suggest there are two "classes" in the Motogp; the factory bikes, and the satellite bikes. Certainly, it remains to be seen whether Spies can ride at the front...IF he gets a factory bike...but to suggest that because Toseland and Edwards aren't at the front may miss the mark, since neither is on a factory bike (yes, of course, Edwards was (relatively) ineffective when he did have the prime ride). Yamaha certainly has a wonderful "problem" on their hands with Rossi, Lorenzo, and Spies.

 

I expect Toseland's days in MGP are over, which I truly regret.

[EffBee]

I think that you could all be getting carried away with how good Spies is.

 

Yep, he's a fabulous rider and obviously the heir apparent in World Super Bike Championship *but*, he came from AMA and battled with Mladin who couldn't win a race when he went to the premier class. Ben is only just beating Biaggi (who is another casualty to the Rossi mind game). Both Colin Edwards and James Toseland were the Spies of their day and they both circulate at the front and back end of the mid field in Moto GP.

 

Only one rider (to my memory) from WSBK has ever won a Moto GP race (and that was on the 990) was Troy Corser in the last race of the season in 2006 (I think).

 

To be competitive, Ben has to be able to run with Dovizioso, Pedrosa, Lorenzo, Rossi and Stoner etc on a bike which bears little to no resemblance to a road bike. This is not going to be a cake walk. And, he's a big boy and Moto GP bikes are small. Given that task, I think that he should ease into the class without the expectation that he's going to show anyone in the top 5 how to ride a a bike.

 

I hope that I'm wrong as some spice would be nice.

 

Linz

 

Mladin couldn't win in the premier class nearly a full decade ago. Riders develop and mature at different ages.

 

Spies is the same height and only 10 lbs. heavier than Valentino, so Yamaha already has a bike that fits that frame.

 

As for having to do battle with Dovi, El Niño, et al, I recall being warned that O'Mara, Johnson, Bailey and others would have to do battle with Everts, Bierer, Pichon, etc. And we now have more MX des Nations wins than countries who've been doing it twice as long.

 

We have some GREAT talent in the U.S. What we don't have is a clear pathway from here to "over there." Nor do we have youngsters who have the stomach for international travel, foods, customs, exchange hassles, etc. THAT is probably our biggest hurdle, and it's of our own doing. But it does not minimize what our potential is, only its realization.

 

Spies will not have a cakewalk. Anyone in WSB who's good enough to be in MotoGP, is in MotoGP. That means he's the best rider in a second-tier racing show. But that's not the automatic limit of his potential. He's smart. He's disciplined. And he turned a corner 4 years ago and really started to learn. That hasn't ended. We'll just have to see how far it takes him.

[Boffin]

Spies has an obvious talent and I am sure he will win the superbike championship - either this year or next. When (if) he moves to MotoGP though he will have a hard time for the first year at least, if for no other reason than the rules require rookies to ride for a satellite team, not a full works bike, unless the factory does not have a satellite team.

 

Andy