WSBK Imola

WSB returns to Imola this weekend and a new track layout. 250 world champion Marco Simoncelli will ride the Aprilia in place of Shinya Nakano who is still recovering from injuries. I'm going record the races, check out the results and then watch (or not). A bit weird I know, but I just so want Nori to do well and it's all getting a bit much for my nerves to watch the races live.
Nori :s mokin:

[Wim_Impreza]

I hope Nori can do well too. Hopefully Rea is not close behind him in the races...

[The Phantom]

Come on Chac, I know how gutted you can feel when your favoured rider goes down or just can't make it happen on the day, but it's all a part of the rollercoaster ride... take the good with the bad and all that ;) Watch 'em live, live the race with Nori, he'd like that :cool:

I'm on the edge of my seat for Nori too, and the race is still two days away :D

OK I'll be brave and watch the races live. He's been my favourite rider for around 9 years and being a fan does mean "taking the good with the bad" and staying on the rollercoaster.

[Roby44]

OK I'll be brave and watch the races live. He's been my favourite rider for around 9 years and being a fan does mean "taking the good with the bad" and staying on the rollercoaster.

Yes but does it have to be so nerve wracking!! :D

I hope that Haga goes well too.. although I also want for Max Biaggi to do well!!

Since Roby stopped racing I have lost some interest in the Supers but when I do watch the races are edge of the seat stuff!! :eek:

[Roby44]

Bayliss Wants To Come Back To World Superbikes?



The hardest thing in the world for a professional sports star is to retire. When the thrill and drive of competing falls away, sportsmen and women in every discipline tend to fall into a black hole, and spend a long time thrashing around trying to find new meaning in their lives.
Former World Superbike star Troy Bayliss seemed to have his retirement already planned out. His future, he had decided, would lie in Australia's extremely popular V8 Supercars series, and he would channel all of his considerable talent and drive into that sport, and forget all about motorcycle racing.
But according to leading Italian magazine MotoSprint (http://www.motosprint.it/sbk/superbike/2009/09/25-1074/Bayliss+vuole+tornare+a+correre), Bayliss just can't forget about two wheels. MotoSprint is reporting that Bayliss told them at Imola that he wanted to come back to World Superbikes. His outings in V8 Supercars had been a disappointment to him, he told MotoSprint: "The car and the team are good for twentieth place, no more."
And so he had set his mind to World Superbikes again. "I want to race in Superbikes again," he told MotoSprint. "I'll be looking around here at Imola. It's a shame that Ducati have already signed two riders for 2010, I feel that I could have done well next season."
Ducati team boss Davide Tardozzi confirmed that Bayliss had approached him about racing. "Troy asked me if he could race when he landed, last Tuesday. But how could we satisfy his request? We don't have the resources for three riders," Motosprint quotes Tardozzi as saying.
With both Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio back at Ducati for next year, Bayliss is reportedly looking around for other options. According to MotoSprint, Aprilia boss Giampiero Sacchi was the first to prick up his ears upon hearing the news that Bayliss might be available, and the Australian could potentially find a seat alongside that other veteran, Max Biaggi next year. There is even speculation that Bayliss could fill in for the injured Shinya Nakano for the rest of the season, but his contract as a representative of Ducati would get in the way of this. Just how great an obstacle this would pose remains to be seen.

[CaptainRaiden]

What a win by Haga!!! :bounce: :D

It seems he brings his best game when under pressure or behind in the championship. This one was a masterclass. And what a stupid, stupid crash by Dia-Rea, and he again almost collected Haga while going off. :mad:

And who is the second commentator with Jonathan Green? Is it Steve Martin? He always seems to have a problem with Haga, saying negative things here and there in many races this year. I mean I know you've jumped on the Spies bandwagon, like almost everyone else, but the least a good commentator can do is be unbiased. And then we have Green screaming like a little girl after Rea and Haslam.

I'd rather turn off the volume than listen to biased bullsh!t commentary, something which I do many times. I wish there was an option to just turn off the commentary, so that I can only listen to the beautiful roar of those big four strokes.

[The Phantom]

I'm sure you're glad to have watched it live, Chac :)

Yep, Steve Martin (newly crowned WEC champ). I can't say I've noticed bias against Haga, Martin generally seems pretty balanced to me (unlike Greene, as you say). My only criticism of him in recent rounds is his tendency to talk up the guys ahead of Spies for the win when Spies is running a bit behind them - surely by now he knows that it really doesn't matter what position Spies is in when it comes time to get serious? Well, apart from Imola; apparently the electrickery in the R1 had taken the weekend off and the bike 'felt like a 600'.

Martin is typical of Aussies, with a tendency to focus on what might stop a rider from taking the win rather than what strengths he is displaying. He's a damn sight better than Jonathan 'Twit' Green, that's for sure.

Haga rode brilliantly and only finished second in race 2 because he was forced to take to his spare bike (I have not heard what the problem was).

Rea rode foolishly, perhaps his bike was just not quite right and he was over-riding it to compensate. After his third or fourth trip to the outfield I was just hoping he'd just park it before he hurt anyone.

Congrats to Haga for regaining the title lead, Fabrizio for his race 2 victory, and Aprilia for building such an incredible bike - I think Simoncelli's pace is testament to the quality and experience that Aprilia have engineered into the RSV4. It is by far the premier Superbike on the planet (Spies makes the crossplane R1 look better than it is) and I reckon Biaggi will win a couple of races before the year is out.

Simoncelli was a hoot to watch, he really took that bike by the scruff of the neck. A pity he debases his talent with questionable passes, but I'm looking forward to his arrival in MotoGP.

WSS was quite fascinating... Crutchlow's premature exit from the restarted 9-lapper was something I didn't see coming, it really brings the title chase down to the wire!!! :eek: Come on Laverty!!!

[leopard]

Imola looks suit more for Italian bikes and riders.

Marco Simoncelli may score points for your team...

[Allyc85]

Random bit of info, last sunday I was on the same ferry as the kawasaki WSB team trucks on their way to Imola, was just a shame I couldnt blag a look around inside lol.

Will watch the races later this week when they are repeated on eurosport :)

[quote="The Phantom"]I'm sure you're glad to have watched it live, Chac :)

After my getting all psyched up Sky Sports bumped the races until Mon morning and started from the warm up lap for both races so I missed a lot of the info and updates the commentators give us prior to the races. We didn't get Supersport either.

I was really happy with Nori's results and that Rea didn't take him out again - Rea is definitely "over-riding" as you say. I have to say congrats to Fabrizio, good support in race 1 and the win in race 2 would have meant everything to him. He'll be on a high so the last four races are going to be interesting, unofficial team orders ??? Well done Max, and did he catch Fabrizio being a bit inattentive at the end of race 1, very fast anyway.

Simoncelli was a good distraction, his WSBK outing seem to be all fun for him but Biaggi will probably be pleased it was a one-off.

J Green's voice is very hard on my ears. We were getting really good audio of the bikes from Imola but couldn't enjoy it for the incessant chatter from both commentators.

[The Phantom]

Simoncelli was a good distraction, his WSBK outing seem to be all fun for him but Biaggi will probably be pleased it was a one-off.

Oh I'm sure he is pleased! LOL. But he did compliment Simoncelli on his performance afterwards so I don't think he was too upset about the race 2 move, in fact I think that it was precipitated by Spies setting up a move of his own and really ended up being a 'racing incident'.

I agree that Fabrizio did a sterling effort in supporting Haga, he's been a bloody good wingman for Haga this year. A pity Spies does not have the same support but Rea and Max have helped him out a bit in taking points off Haga a few times.

[patnicholls]

Makoto Tamada will be out of action again this weekend after a horror crash at Imola which the cameras didn't pick up for TV:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdd1oaxZBZY

Looks like Conforti's brakes must've failed - both riders are basically alright although Tamada doesn't remember the accident.

[The Phantom]

It's always a shock when you see just how violent a motorcycle racing crash can really be - the television views rarely capture it, but that grandstand view sure did. Glad both riders are relatively ok.

[NinjaMaster]

That accident is horrendous! :eek: No wonder Tamada doesn't remember it, he didn't see it happen at all. I reckon Conforti has run off at the previous corner and crashed leaving the bike to torpedo the luckless Tamada.

Well, true to form, Haga finds form at the end of the year when he's behind in the championship. Hopefully he remains in the groove and can take his first world title. Sensational race win by Fabrizio, unfortunately for him he seemed overshadowed in Parc Ferme by super sub, SuperSic. Simoncelli did a fantastic job and hopefully we can see some of that in MotoGP from him next year. Spies had a 'bad' day and lost his championship lead. At less than a race win off the lead, he'll hardly be quaking in his boots. Jonathon Rea had the most immature day I've seen from him. Looked ragged from the outset and proved to be an accident waiting-to-happen. Hopefully he's calmed down a bit by Magny Cours.

I don't think anyone could've seen Crutchlow's demise coming. The restart appeared to go to plan for the Brit, he detroyed the field with his superior pace and then inexplicably threw it all away. I certainly makes the title chase all the more exciting! Big ups to Sofuoglu returning to the winners circle, giving Ten Kate some joy after a forgettable season. Really hoping that Lascorz can sneak a much deserved win in the last two rounds. I couldn't believe it when I realised that they haven't quite cracked it for a win, they've been soo close. Also, it was a great debut for Chaz Davies who can hopefully get a permanent ride in the series to add even more depth to a very solid field.

[NinjaMaster]

Oh yeah, on the commentary. It's pretty well documented on here most people's negative opinions of Jonathon Green (including mine) but I don't reckon Steve Martin is much better. I haven't noticed any bias to his commentary except against Fabrizio ("I've got a bit of respect for him now, Jonathon" :mad: ). My main annoyance with him is that he is a yes man and a flip-flopper. He too often agrees with ridiculous statements by Green when as the expert commentator, he should set him straight. And worst of all, Steve will matter-of-factly tell us "I'll tell you what's happening", only to do a complete reverse within 2 laps. Boo. :down:

[CaptainRaiden]

Oh yeah, on the commentary. It's pretty well documented on here most people's negative opinions of Jonathon Green (including mine) but I don't reckon Steve Martin is much better. I haven't noticed any bias to his commentary except against Fabrizio ("I've got a bit of respect for him now, Jonathon" :mad: ). My main annoyance with him is that he is a yes man and a flip-flopper. He too often agrees with ridiculous statements by Green when as the expert commentator, he should set him straight. And worst of all, Steve will matter-of-factly tell us "I'll tell you what's happening", only to do a complete reverse within 2 laps. Boo. :down:

The thing is that I've heard Steve Martin imply at least on three occassions, whenever Haga won, that he didn't deserve it. It was either because of Fabrizio's help or somebody else's misfortune. Well, in some races, yeah, Haga capitalized a bit, but at Imola, he said that Fabrizio helped Haga to win by holding back Biaggi. Now, that's a bit too much. If that was the case, Haga would have had race two win as well.

And when Spies even manages to spit 2 feet further, both of them scream like little girls in a playground. Well, agreed that Spies is a phenomenal talent, but he isn't God, or else he would have won every race this season.

[NinjaMaster]

The thing is that I've heard Steve Martin imply at least on three occassions, whenever Haga won, that he didn't deserve it. It was either because of Fabrizio's help or somebody else's misfortune. Well, in some races, yeah, Haga capitalized a bit, but at Imola, he said that Fabrizio helped Haga to win by holding back Biaggi. Now, that's a bit too much. If that was the case, Haga would have had race two win as well.

And when Spies even manages to spit 2 feet further, both of them scream like little girls in a playground. Well, agreed that Spies is a phenomenal talent, but he isn't God, or else he would have won every race this season.
Fair enough, I guess last weekend I just read his comments as being more matter-of-fact that Fabrizio and Biaggi fighting helped Haga to escape, though, as it were, he probably had the speed to get away anyhow. Perhaps any bias from him towards Spies is because Ben is on a Yamaha, the same as Steve rides? Or he just doesn't like Ducati (despite winning an Aus superbike title and world superbike race riding for them)? I think he started to intimate the old 'unfair advantage' that Ducati supposedly have at one stage.

[CaptainRaiden]

Fair enough, I guess last weekend I just read his comments as being more matter-of-fact that Fabrizio and Biaggi fighting helped Haga to escape, though, as it were, he probably had the speed to get away anyhow. Perhaps any bias from him towards Spies is because Ben is on a Yamaha, the same as Steve rides? Or he just doesn't like Ducati (despite winning an Aus superbike title and world superbike race riding for them)? I think he started to intimate the old 'unfair advantage' that Ducati supposedly have at one stage.

I agree, and it's a shame really that we can't have really unbiased commentators. If I ever watch a British telecast of 125 CC or MotoGP, almost 90% of the time they're busy giving updates on where Bradley Smith, Scott Redding and James Toseland are, instead of talking about what's really happening on the track. It's actually better to watch the telecast in a country where I don't understand the language. :D