AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisS
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :laugh:Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisS
God help us if he gets the ride! Give it to a young brit with promise like Rea or Camier for heavens sake, anyone but Neil! Sheesh.. :D He'll probably turn it down, like he did the Gresini ride, he's way to good for the best bike in WSBK :lol:
Yeah, inconsistency was Toselands' problem when he won the championship in 2005 for Ducati.... :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally Posted by NinjaMaster
Parkes is _still_ inconsistent as is Karl Muggeridge - so I agree on those two (and this is why both have been dropped by Ten Kate). Vermeulen was quite consistent the year before he joined Ten Kate (on the Dark dog bike I believe). The year before Charpentier joined Ten Kate he finished 3rd in the supersport championship behind Chris and Karl (on the megabike Honda I believe)
Almost right there champ. Inconsistency was JT's problem when he lost the title for Ducati in 05 hence being dumped at seasons end and getting picked up by Ten Kate for 06. He was consistent in 2004 when he won his title when Laconi consistenly crashed out of race winning leads.Quote:
Originally Posted by burger
Vermeulens performances were all over the place before he joined Ten Kate (he was 7th in 02 with the Van Zon team I think). Seb's 04 was better than I remebered but 03 was fairly wacky and Parkes was actually very good on a Ten Kate with no finishes below 4th but unfortunately no wins and 2 crashes.Quote:
Parkes is _still_ inconsistent as is Karl Muggeridge - so I agree on those two (and this is why both have been dropped by Ten Kate). Vermeulen was quite consistent the year before he joined Ten Kate (on the Dark dog bike I believe). The year before Charpentier joined Ten Kate he finished 3rd in the supersport championship behind Chris and Karl (on the megabike Honda I believe)
So basically Ten Kate pick on who they see having potential speed rather than who is already consistent.
I'll be spewin if Neil Hodgson gets a Ten Kate Seat over Pitt, Kiyo, Rea, Fabrizio, etc. I think he has less to offer than any of them. Good luck to him if he can get it but I think he would waste it.
Finally, Alex Hoffman has been sniffing around the WSB pits for possibilities next year which sounds as though he perhaps isn't too confident of getting a MotoGP ride next year. I think he could do really well in WSB on a good bike.
sorry to interject some sanity into the neil lovefest, but at this stage in his career, i give him the ten kate seat over rea or camier. and i love rea and camier, but their championship time is on the horizon, for neil the moment is now.
hehe so I got the year wrong. 2005 was the year that Troy Corser blitzed everyone early on and had a 65+ point lead at one point, before Vermeulen started pegging him back.
I still think that Fabrizio isn't the man for Ten Kate. Hodgeson (as much as I think he's a whiny prat) is a bloody quick rider (his race at Laguna Seca a couple of weeks ago is proof of that) and looks like he can make a 4 go as quick as he can make a v-twin. Plus he's hungry and has good development skills.
Either way, it will be interesting to see who Ten Kate pick and how many bikes they run :)
I wouldn't pick Fabrizio alongside Rolfo in the full Ten Kate team but I would be happy to see him alongside Sofuoglu in the junior/satellite team. I think he's shown real improvement this year, in a team that hasn't been the ideal platform to work from with it's internal problems.
I don't rate Hodgson as a WSB title contender. He will be 34 next year, past his best in my opinion and I don't reckon he can compete with the likes of Bayliss, Biaggi, Haga and Corser and I don't think he will be any better than Rolfo (who I think will be a much improved rider next year). His time was 2003, not now. I would much rather see them take on the likes of Kiyonari who could be the next Haga and give him a leg up for 09 when the likes of Bayliss, Corser, Biaggi will (most likely) all retire. Let Neil finish his career in BSB in front of his home fans.
Again, some pondering.
Gerrit/Ronald ten Kate have said they want someone who can develop the bike as opposed to merely the fastest young charger. So that throws a few things up to think about.
Roby Rolfo is getting quicker as he gets used to the bike, but he's generally not running in the front pack yet, even as teammate to JT. Last year with Caracchi on the Ducati he started well and faded badly, suggesting that rider or team possibly didn't push on throughout the season in terms of developing. I like Roby (remember his great performances in 250s against the Aprilias) but at present he's not one to lead a team on his own in WSB, particularly when its the top team in the series.
I'm all for young hopes moving up, but Sykes and Camier aren't ready yet(Tom got his first two podiums in BSB this weekend - he has been super-consistent all season though in 5th/6th etc; Camier had a metioric start but has slipped back although is regarded highly by HRC after his two Suzuka showings). Jonny Rea...maybe. He still has only won a couple of BSB races, let's be honest. Another year's BSB then we'll see for each of them.
Kiyo is ready - he's won 20+ BSB races and the title, it's time to move back up. Fabrizio could also potentially move across, although he's Honda Europe-backed anyway so could just as easily keep his DFX seat.
Sofuoglu should be a shoe-in for promotion, no debate on that one.
Pitt...I like. But he has a knack for making wrong moves in the rider market or just being unlucky (like being ditched by Yamaha for this year).
Hodgson - is the rider everyone loves to hate on this forum, yes. And as for saying his time was 2003 and not now - I bet a lot of people said TC's time was 1996 and not now at the end of 2004 :p Neil was JT's senior team-mate in 2002 of course, and his recent ride in AMA at Laguna on a not-very-factory Honda proved he's still quick. And I'm a Walker fan!
If I was picking the Ten Kate lineup, I'd go with
with Pitt in the WSS team alongside Charpentier or AN Other. Keep Fabrizio at DFX, Italian in Italian team works well, language barriers & team chemistry being important.
- Hodgson (experience)[/*:m:30hi5nbf]
- Rolfo (money/developing)[/*:m:30hi5nbf]
- Sofuoglu (future superstar)[/*:m:30hi5nbf]
- Kiyo (future/present star)[/*:m:30hi5nbf]
A move to SBK for Kiyo isnt a simple matter of moving from one series to the other.
Kiyo is an HRC rider, HM Plant is an HRC team, Ten Kate has support for Honda Europe but nothing to do with HRC (perhaps they do use an HRC kit but its greatly modified in-house)
I dont think Kiyo would jump from an HRC Team to a 2nd Ten Kate team unless HRC is backing the team in some way
Anyone herd any more on the rumours that airwaves ducati or hm plant honda will be heading from bsb to wsbk?
Think hodgson would be a good choice for ten kate, although i would like to see kiyo in wsbk next year. If they have a b-team next year that is where the new superbike guys like sofuoglu are likely to be.