| Author | Message | ||
     Diablobrian |
I hope Foggy has better luck getting the bikes to finish a race than Ferraci. Granted, this is a "development year". It'll be interesting to see what Foggy does with the MVs. The man is DRIVEN. | ||
| Vagelis46 |
Can Nitro Nori do it? Can he get the first WSBK championship of his great career? I hope he does. He definately deserves it after all these years in top level racing. I think it is either Haga or Toseland. It would be good to see any of them get the title, for different reasons. It would be funny (& also sad), if Toseland loses the title and he does not get a Honda MotoGP ride for next year. Since the Ducatis are flying right now in motoGP, maybe the Parmac Ducati offer was not that bad after all, for Toseland to get started and prove himself in motoGP. | ||
| Trojan |
I thought that MV AGUSTA was about to shut down, because of financial trouble. Today I read that that they will run a factory supported WSBK bike in 2008, with Carl Fogarty as the team manager. What is going on??? Nobody knows, least of all Foggy I think. Apparently the factory have told him that they will supply bikes, although he will have to pay for them and still needs outside sponsorship to finance the project. MV's finances are in dire straits at the moment, so it is even doubtful that they will be in a position to supply bikes to him next year anyway. It would be funny (& also sad), if Toseland loses the title and he does not get a Honda MotoGP ride for next year. Since the Ducatis are flying right now in motoGP, maybe the Parmac Ducati offer was not that bad after all, for Toseland to get started and prove himself in motoGP. According to last week's MCN Toseland has again been offered the D'Antin ride for 2008 already, but has turned it down because he wants a 'factory' ride in MotogP and not a satelite squad. Personally I think he will replace Toni Elias at Gresini Honda next year, hopefully with equal machinery to Marco Melandri. Mind you, the way Honda are peforming in MotoGP right now he may be better on the D'Antin bike after all  | ||
| Vagelis46 |
I read an interview of a top MV Agusta engineer, introducing the new 312. Among the things he said the most interesting were : 1. The bike they run at AMA, and the one they plan to run at WSBK, will have very few diferences with the production 312. 2. He said that the future WSBK 1200cc of the Ducati might give them problems next year, because of the increased torque. | ||
| Rocketman |
Toseland won't have a chance in winning a race, let alone a championship, unless he gets a works Ducati in Moto GP. Best staying where he is unless those works Hondas start performing at the sharp end and he gets one. Rocket | ||
| Trojan |
I read an interview of a top MV Agusta engineer, introducing the new 312. Among the things he said the most interesting were : 1. The bike they run at AMA, and the one they plan to run at WSBK, will have very few diferences with the production 312. 2. He said that the future WSBK 1200cc of the Ducati might give them problems next year, because of the increased torque. An interview I read with His Mouthiness Carl Fogarty said exactly the opposite, and that the WSB bikes will be VERY different to the AMA bikes. At the moment the WSB bikes don't even exist so it is all hot air and PR speak in order to attract a potential sponsor and Fogarty can bankroll his team. Call me an old cynic, but I will believe the team actually exists when it rolls up on the grid in 2008, and not before. If Ducati get their own way and the floodgates open to 1200 twins then it won't just be Ducati with new bikes for MV to worry about. Expect KTM and BMW to follow very quickly, and I would expect the KTM to be competitive straight from the box (It should be after 5 years development!). | ||
| Jaimec |
Wonder how a shaft-driven boxer would work in WSBK? | ||
| Trojan |
Wonder how a shaft-driven boxer would work in WSBK? They may not go with shaft drive, but I suspect that they would stick with it just for brand image if nothing else. A few years ago BMW had a prototype Desmo valved racer with a Nicco Bakker frame that was developed to the point of being race ready then the project abandoned. Then they had the so called 'MotoGP' prototype tested by Jeremy McWilliams, which also seems to have been hung out to dry almost at the point of race readiness. Now they have developed the Sportboxer for endurance racing, and although it wouldn't have the power for WSB as it stands it could form the basis for a Superbike racer in future using a more powerful motor. Then we have Aprilia rejoining the fray with their new WSB machine next year, so it looks like interesting times ahead  | ||
| Jaimec |
I'm guessing they'd use the boxer because it'd be "Brand Image" but the engine is oriented all wrong for a chain drive conversion. I'd also think turning the power delivery around 90 degrees so a chain could be fitted would rob almost as much power as the shaft itself. It's be smarter to de-stroke the "K" engine and convert that to chain drive. The head and valve train was already designed to support stratospheric redlines. But the inline-4 doesn't match the "brand image" most people have for BMW. Probably the same reason Ducati insists on running the L-Twin in WSBK rather than the Desmosedici. If I recall correctly, though, Aprilia doesn't have that problem as they are developing a V-4 for WSBK, right? | ||
| José_quiñones |
Great interview with the head of World Superbike. http://www.speedtv.com/articles/worldsuperbike/mot o/37459/ | ||
| José_quiñones |
More Interviews Interview with Ducati's Claudio Domenicali: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/worldsuperbik e/37616/} Interview with Ducati's Davide Tardozzi: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/worldsuperbik e/37632/ | ||
| José_quiñones |
IT'S A DONE DEAL!! http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/worldsuperbik e/37646/ | ||
| José_quiñones |
Interview: Ducati's Julian Thomas http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2007/May/jthomasint erview.htm | ||
| Jaimec |
Bayliss fastest in qualifying round 1: http://tinyurl.com/333rfv Toseland 7th. This is the "new" Misano course; repaved and run in reverse. Level playing field for this weekend! | ||
| Jaimec |
BAYLISS!! Second now to Toseland and gaining ground after a double win at Misano. Not bad for an obsolete V-Twin that Ducati says is no longer competitive... | ||
| Snowscum |
That crash in the first race looked bad! | ||
| Jaimec |
Typical Biaggi: Haga wasn't so upset at the crash as he was that Max didn't apologize afterwards. Toseland should send Biaggi flowers; that action in Race 1 means he didn't lose quite so many points to Bayliss yesterday. | ||
| Blublak |
Those were two great races! I almost dropped my soda when I saw that race 1 crash.. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.. You'd think Max would have known he didn't have to speed to pull that one off .. at least not there. Damn, Haga was pissed! (I would be too).. Race 2 proved that everyone out there is world class. Even with his bike down on .. well everything Toseland was very impressive. But Bayliss, Haga and especially Biaggi (after a horrendous start 2nd to what 9th in less then a lap?) proved why they are world lass riders! The next round should be a barn burner as the four top riders go to war for the points. What is is, less then 50 points between 1st and 4th place.. It's gonna rock for the second half of the season.. | ||
| Blake |
Baylis rocks! "Not bad for an obsolete V-Twin that Ducati says is no longer competitive..." It isn't obsolete, and as far as I know Ducati's reasoning for the 1,200cc limit for twins was not because their 999RF07 was "no longer competitive"; rather it was that making/keeping it competitive required excessive investment of funding and labor compared to its IL4 competition. Toseland's Honda was reportedly suffering from chatter all around the track. Pretty sure it has plenty of power. | ||
| Simond |
It also has to be said that Bayliss flatters the bike. | ||
| Jbar |
What I like about WSB is there seems to be more competitiveness unlike AMA SB with really only two competitors right now... Bayliss did indeed rock at San Marino... | ||
| Blake |
Simon, How does Baylis flatter his 999RF07 into leading the literbike IL4 machines down the long straights? | ||
| Simond |
I only caught a few glimpses of the race this weekend but over the season so far I'm pretty sure there is no speed advantage over the fours. If anything the Honda seems to be strongest in this respect. I meant more that Bayliss is at the top of his game and the other Ducatis are not really in the same race - apart from Xaus in Spain. I have, of course, not mentioned BSB which kinda blows my point! | ||
| Jaimec |
I haven't heard any updates on the possibility of Barber Motorsports Park getting a World Superbike round in 2008, but how sweet would it be to have an American leg of World Superbike with an American Superbike on the grid? In order to compete, wouldn't Erik have to produce 1,000 homologation units of 1,200 ccs? Where do I sign up for one of THOSE?? | ||
| Blake |
I've not heard if AMA Pro Racing is going to allow 1200cc twins in Superbike or not. If they do, and if Buell wants to go racing in AMA Superbike, they'd need to have a homologated Superbike, but it wouldn't necessarily need to be the full 1200cc displacement, just not over that limit. It would seem silly to not take advantage of the full displacement limit though. Ducati has yet to release their 1200cc racing homologation special for WSBK. I don't see why they want two different displacements, 1098cc for street and 1200cc for racing. The poseur squid crowd want to pretend that they are riding around on the same bikes that are winning races, which is ridiculous as they are nothing of the sort, but that is neither here nor there in the mind of a squid poseur. The different displacement may thus throw a damper on that squidly perception and on the sales on Monday after seeing a different machine racing on Sunday. Maybe not. Maybe the folks at Buell will give us some more hints as to their road racing plans. A factory supported team would be great, anyone wanting to go big time first needs to start smaller, like full time in AMA Formula Xtreme with a full budget and plenty of lead time for preseason testing and tuning with a couple top riders. | ||
| Court |
>>>The poseur squid crowd want to pretend that they are riding around on the same bikes that are winning races, which is ridiculous as they are nothing of the sort, but that is neither here nor there in the mind of a squid poseur. I think in order to pull that off they have to fog their visors, eh? | ||
| Jscott |
"Ducati has yet to release their 1200cc racing homologation special for WSBK." http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?artic le=29485 Unsure as to whether they have increased displacement though.} | ||
| Norcal_blast |
I don't think Ducati has had time yet since the rule changes to formalize the design of a model 1098R homologation special. These specials are something Ducati has always done and they tend to sell out right way & become collectors items. On the other hand I wonder of Ducati might risk going to the well too many times? They're just starting to deliver the 1,500 Desmosediccis they've pre-sold at $72K each, can their market absorb 1,000 1098R specials at probably $30K each? Anyhow I'd expect one next year, probably displacing 1200 cc and using exotic materials for con rods & crank | ||
| Glitch |
Maybe the folks at Buell will give us some more hints as to their road racing plans. Buell keeps saying they don't race bikes, they build bikes. They leave the racing to the privateers and their sponsors. I'd love for them to change their minds, the way they did with air-cooling. To go from A Buell Racing to Buell Racing would be a wonderful way to sell more bikes, and get some (squid speak here) street cred. | ||
| Jaimec |
Max is back: http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/Article_Page.aspx?Ar ticleID=5038&Page=1 |
