World Superbikes 2023

[GORDON STREETER]

This weekend is the start of the WSB at Philip Island in Australia. Some rider changes from last season but with most of the older protagonist still out to prove that they have still "got it"!

[justracing]

I'm hoping that Scott Redding can stay with the front men this year along with Tom Sykes returning and Brad Ray it should be hard fought championship again. Whether anyone has the speed to take it to Ducati is another matter, Tarran Mckenzie and John McPhee in Supersport will be interesting too, super circuit to kick off 2023.

[justracing]

Strange that Brad Ray is not shown as a rider on the official SBK website?

[S griffin]

Gonna be interesting with Sykes back, can he rediscover the heights that made him champ?

[gomick]

No, simple answer.

Lowes is disappointing as #2 on factory bike compared to Rea.

Sykes will be lucky to finish in the top 10!

[justracing]

Originally Posted by gomick

No, simple answer.

Lowes is disappointing as #2 on factory bike compared to Rea.

Sykes will be lucky to finish in the top 10!

I'm more than a little surprised that Sykes has found a ride back in WSBK, the bikes have moved on in the last few years and he was unable to match JRea on equal machinery. Disappointingly, Alex has never shown the pace and aggression that he had against Shakey Byrne in the BSB. Scott Redding showed he had the pace on occasions last year with the BMW but couldn't make the tyres last.

[E.B]

Interesting to see how Remy Gardner goes in his home race and WSBK debut following his fall from grace in MotoGP.

Bautista quickest in both of todays sessions.

P2 times https://resources.worldsbk.com/files...d5751fd79112ed

Scorching hot in Melbourne this weekend, and it was 30C at PI today.... but PI has its own micro-climate and there is a 70% chance of rain, and possibly an afternoon thunderstorm tomorrow (Saturday) at the island.

Sunday is 30% chance of rain and cloudy.

Full forecast for PI here:http://www.bom.gov.au/vic/forecasts/phillipisland.shtml

[E.B]

The moisture arrived as a slight drizzle just in time to confuse the Supersport runners over tyres, with a mixture of slicks and treads. Took a few goes to get them all round the warm up lap without incident but they all got away eventually.

It was proper wet for the start of the main event, no confusion over tyres.

Il leave it vague so as not to spoil things for those not able to watch it live.

[justracing]

Originally Posted by E.B

Il leave it vague so as not to spoil things for those not able to watch it live.

Very entertaining Supersport race
I hadn't realised that Brad ray was only doing the European races, explains my previous comment.

[justracing]

Unless the rule makers find some way of pegging back the Ducatis I can see interest waning which would be a great shame as the grids in both categories are very strong.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by justracing

Unless the rule makers find some way of pegging back the Ducatis I can see interest waning which would be a great shame as the grids in both categories are very strong.

Yes agreed, winning by that sort of a margin will not help the series, although the Italian and Spanish fans will love it
I did note that BT has put it's prices up since they have included Eurosport 2 with my package, mind you I could never watch WSB live before (legally)

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by justracing

Unless the rule makers find some way of pegging back the Ducatis I can see interest waning which would be a great shame as the grids in both categories are very strong.

I caught up on all the action last night. Supersport race 1 was probably the highlight for me. Regarding the big class, I've learned not to read too much into the results from Philip Island. It's a fabulous place obviously but can produce some unrepresentative results. We'll have to wait and see what unfolds in Indonesia this weekend, but yes, Alvaro and Ducati were very strong indeed last weekend.

Does anyone know if the various 'performance balancing' parameters like revs and so on are made public? Given the trend from last season, I would be interested to see if the non-Ducatis have been given any breaks. I'm not sure it would be a good look if the status quo was simply maintained, there'll be a lot of frustrated souls in the paddock if that's the case. Also, I hear Scott Smart is no longer in his technical role, does anybody know why? Moving on to bigger, better things or forced out?

Anyway, what an aweful weekend for Sykes. He might as well have stayed home. Jeez! I fear Van der Mark might never reach the heights he reached a couple of years ago, too many injuries and he continues to crash. I thought the newcomers acquited themselves well too.

[S griffin]

I saw it the other day. Didn't think much of some of the racing. Gonna be an interesting WSBK series. Too early to make predictions. Look forward to Indonesia. Definitely gonna be tough for the others to beat Bautista, but still a long way to go.

I feel the rules are working so far, but they need to be careful with balance performing. Some teams though need to get their act together

Sykes really must have been wondering why he came back on that performance. Expect Rea, Rinaldi and Toprak to be up there. I agree on VDM, what has happened to him? Too many incidents seems to have derailed him

[justracing]

Ducati are running away and it's only been 2 rounds, what on earth was going on with Rea and Lowes in the first race? I'm guessing that Kawasaki gambled on a fairly dramatic set up change which clearly didn't work.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by justracing

Ducati are running away and it's only been 2 rounds, what on earth was going on with Rea and Lowes in the first race? I'm guessing that Kawasaki gambled on a fairly dramatic set up change which clearly didn't work.

Yep, quite a difficult weekend for them but arguably not as disastrous as Sykes and his Pucetti Kawasaki. Heavens!

I do worry about the crashes Mark vdM continues to have. How much more can his body take? Reminds me of Max Neukirchner all those years ago.

Supersport race 2 was excellent as was Superbike race 2.

[merak1974]

Has there ever been a better fit between a rider and a bike than the current Bautista-Ducati combo? There have been many very successful rider-bike combos in the past, including the fairly recent Rea-Kawasaki period of dominance. But, Rea had to fend off various Kawasaki riders, especially Sykes. Has a Ducati rider ever been so dominant, and successful?

[E.B]

Originally Posted by merak1974

Has there ever been a better fit between a rider and a bike than the current Bautista-Ducati combo? There have been many very successful rider-bike combos in the past, including the fairly recent Rea-Kawasaki period of dominance. But, Rea had to fend off various Kawasaki riders, especially Sykes. Has a Ducati rider ever been so dominant, and successful?

Fogarty and Bayliss might like a word.... some 200 WSBK podiums between them, plus over 100 wins.
The only two riders with over 50 wins (each) for Ducati.

Whether they fit the criteria of dominance is arguable but in success terms.....

[S griffin]

To be fair, we had a very different set of rules when they were riding. It was a nice alternative to the top GP class, although those two really set the standard in those times. Maybe they didn't dominate as much as others, but if you beat them on equal terms you were doing well.

[GORDON STREETER]

I notice that Tom Sykes has left the Kawasaki ride that he had (surprise surprise) and is to join BMW as replacement for injured Van Der Mark. Obviously this is only temporary and where he goes afterwards is anyone's guess ?

[S griffin]

Watched the highlights the other night. Can anything stop Bautista? He really is on a roll. He's really come a long way since 2019 when he threw the title away. What was going between Bassani and Rinaldi? Really trying risky moves on each other, which culminated in Rinaldi going off. No surprise Bassani got a penalty for that

Sykes return really hasn't worked out, he really needs this BMW opportunity go well if he's not to find himself off the grid again

[justracing]

Originally Posted by merak1974

Has there ever been a better fit between a rider and a bike than the current Bautista-Ducati combo? There have been many very successful rider-bike combos in the past, including the fairly recent Rea-Kawasaki period of dominance. But, Rea had to fend off various Kawasaki riders, especially Sykes. Has a Ducati rider ever been so dominant, and successful?

Troy Bayliss immediately springs to mind although his riding style was totally different - more hanging off the bike than on it!
Taking Bautista out of the equation the racing at Catalunya was pretty good with lots of scraps going on I thought.
Tom Sykes just hasn't had any luck since getting his nose out of joint at Kawasaki with JR 's arrival on the scene.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

...

I do worry about the crashes Mark vdM continues to have. How much more can his body take? Reminds me of Max Neukirchner all those years ago.
....

Apologies for quoting myself but that Assen crash was once again, another horrible crash for Mark. Sickening stuff to see. Probably shouldn't have been shown in the replays the way it was.

[merak1974]

Well, seems the championship is still alive after this weekend's Imola round

[justracing]

Originally Posted by merak1974

Well, seems the championship is still alive after this weekend's Imola round

Superb racing in those heat conditions and a great result for Toprak.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by justracing

Superb racing in those heat conditions and a great result for Toprak.

Yes it was, however it was unusual to see the main Ducati man fall on the first lap ! perhaps the others are actually catching up at long last and he is now riding on his limit?. Lets face it he has been making a mockery of the rest of the field for over a year just like Marquez "used" to do !