2017 World Superbike Championship.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by chunder

Rumour is he might be on his way to Yamaha.

he did ride there with Spies moons ago and was soundly thrashed!!

True, but it was arguably still early days in Tom's world superbike career.

[cg7aa]

Misano and Laguna Seca have come and gone with no discussion at all. I was over a month behind the action and only caught up with Misano and Laguna Seca in the last couple of days.

Nasty accident for Chaz in Misano, it could have been very bad indeed (reminded me of the terrible accidents of Craig Jones and Andrea Antonelli), it was great to see Chaz's comeback at Laguna. Going back to Misano, Tores was very unlucky but fair play to Melandri, about time really!

Overall, I feel the Misano races were much better than Laguna. In other news, there's talk of standard ECUs and such-like being forced on manufacturers; haven't we been here before?

[Dani Filth]

even without the accident ..it was still no chance for Davies..

[gomick]

And they reckon Davide Giugliano is going to ride the 2nd Honda for possibly the rest of the season - how many crashes will he have on that slow bike...

[chunder]

Waste of time putting that idiot on any works bike

[merak1974]

Three cheers for Chaz. Great performances at the Lausitzring this weekend.

But, given Rea's consistency (and fantastic performances, I must add) there is hardly any chance someone else could win the championship this year....

[Stahler]

Originally Posted by merak1974

Three cheers for Chaz. Great performances at the Lausitzring this weekend.

But, given Rea's consistency (and fantastic performances, I must add) there is hardly any chance someone else could win the championship this year....

Rea's lead is incredible. He's just too good. We're witnessing perhaps the best WSBK rider of all time. Anyway, this year's championship has been kinda a letdown so far. Other teams (other than Kawa and Duc) really need to step up their game. On the other hand I thoroughly enjoy WSS this year. Will Kenan make it to his sixth title? I'd bet on him.

[chunder]

The best SBK rider of all time lol!

You are counting out Fogarty, Bayliss, Polen who had a similar bike advantage. And dominated for longer and with even more wins.

Rea is on the best bike with little opposition.

Give over

[S griffin]

I just want to say that the people who are in the World Championship are the best of SBK racing drivers and the sport of WSBK has been a great more predictable than the last season

[Graz]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I just want to say that the people who are in the World Championship are the best of SBK racing drivers and the sport of WSBK has been a great more predictable than the last season

I wouldn't really agree with that. There are guys in other countries who could do the same job in WSBK given the opportunity. Also the only additional piece of predictability over last year is Melandri is more consistent than Giuliano. So there are 3 bikes at the front instead of 4. Otherwise it's the Rea and Chaz show (if Chaz doesn't crash), with Sykes kind of there until he thrashes his tyres and anyway just isn't as good as Chaz or Rea. Like last year.

One problem with WSBK is that the spec is now far different to most other national championships so the wildcard element is gone which always threw up some excitement -and makes it impossible to measure national riders vs WSBK guys.

Another issue in WSBK, Kawasaki and Ducati are throwing far more budget at it than anyone else so it's a 4 bike championship with a second tier for everyone else. They need to level it out somewhat and attract the other manufacturers in without having to spend the earth.

It's a potentially good championship but mind numbingly predictable just now because of the haves vs the have nots.

[S griffin]

Another thing is the reverse grid seems to have done diddly squat to Rea, if anything it affects his rivals more than him, so there goes another chance to have close racing. It needs to get better next season

[cg7aa]

I've been out of the loop for a little while missing several rounds, I've just learned Kenan did himself some damage at Magny Cours leaving the Supersport championship in an interesting state, Bradl is sitting out the rest of the season, Marinelli is leaving Ducati at the end of the season and, Rea won the championship. 2019 needs to be markedly different if anybody is to retain a tiny bit of interest.

Also some sad news, RIP Maxime Berger.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

I've been out of the loop for a little while missing several rounds, I've just learned Kenan did himself some damage at Magny Cours leaving the Supersport championship in an interesting state, Bradl is sitting out the rest of the season, Marinelli is leaving Ducati at the end of the season and, Rea won the championship. 2019 needs to be markedly different if anybody is to retain a tiny bit of interest.

Also some sad news, RIP Maxime Berger.

I meant 2018 of course! Anyway, on the subject of 2018, Camier is heading to Honda. I hope it works out well.

[gomick]

That was a very boring year of WSBK - Kawasaki dominant and Honda just plain poo...

[S griffin]

TBH, Rea looks too good for the series. I'm surprised he has never had a full time ride in MotoGP

[Graz]

The bikes should be full stock which would help a lot. The standard bikes are now 210 bhp which is plenty. Back in the 750 days, stock bikes were only 140 so there was a need for upping the spec. Now, no need and the racing would be great, bikes still plenty quick and a much more level playing field attracting more manufacturers. Cheaper and better racing. Stockers don't lap much slower than full blown superbikes.

Have a Superbike A and B championship, all stockers, with teams promoted and relegated.