2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

[The Monk]

And the racing season is a go...

First weekend of motorcycle racing coming up with the Phillip Island round of WSBK. Friday practice done and dusted, with Chaz Davies on the Ducati. The top 5 positions cornered by Ducati and Kawasaki. 6th is the Yamaha of Alex Lowes, 7th the Aprilia of Savadori and 8th the Honda of Hayden.

Hopefully this season we will see the other manufacturers pull up their socks and start competing for race wins. Only red and green on the top step of the podium has made the last couple of seasons a bit dull!

Cheers to more racing

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

And Race 1 at PI is done and dusted. I just hope that this result isn't going to be reflective of the season!

Rea wins by 0.042 seconds from Davies. Who tried everything he could to win, but didn't manage. Sykes in 3rd just about holding Alex Lowes at bay. Camier had a fantastic race on the MV, but then this is PI. Honda struggling with an 11th and 15th finishes. Aprilia had a strong finish with returning rider Eugene Laverty. Good race.


Race 2 tomorrow morning for those interested in catching it live!

[bharatheshk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

And Race 1 at PI is done and dusted. I just hope that this result isn't going to be reflective of the season! Rea wins by 0.042 seconds from Davies. Who tried everything he could to win, but didn't manage. Sykes in 3rd just about holding Alex Lowes at bay. Camier had a fantastic race on the MV, but then this is PI. Honda struggling with an 11th and 15th finishes. Aprilia had a strong finish with returning rider Eugene Laverty. Good race. Race 2 tomorrow morning for those interested in catching it live!

Saw the results.Double for Jonathan Rea in the first race of the season ,looks ominous .Was it shown live on any of the sports channels on TV ?

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Saw the results.Double for Jonathan Rea in the first race of the season ,looks ominous .Was it shown live on any of the sports channels on TV ?

No. Unfortunately not shown live on TV.

But a good couple of races they were. Even WSS was good, though i only watched highlights of it.

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Thailand Superpole 2 results. Race today!

[SparKot]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Philip Island race on Youtube: (if someone interested in replay)
Race 1

Race 2

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Rea wins the first race at Thailand. Davies second and Sykes third. Two Yamahas in the top 5. A good race to watch, except the winner cleared off at the front, not allowing anyone to show a wheel.

Marco Melandri will be on pole tomorrow with the two Yamahas on the front row. Sykes, Davies and Rea will be starting from the 10th. I hope tomorrow we will see someone challenging Rea. Else it's going to be a real long season!

[bharatheshk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Four out of four for J.Rea looks like a clean sweep but he has managed the races really well without dominating from start to finish .I expected Tom Sykes to win last year since he was with the team longer but Rea clearly out rode his teammate .I was rooting for Sykes in 2015 but he was never consistent and then Rea comes along and dominates him .Motogp seems to be going the same way with Vinales coming into Yamaha and dominating practice ,winning races are a different thing though i hope Rossi has one last title before he retires .

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

Now i am worried that WSBK might get too boring with Rea winning all the races. We really need more manufacturers and riders at the front, not just the green and red bikes!

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

An interesting read about Nicky Hayden and how he started racing - https://jonnummedia.com/blog/2017/2/...ayden-hauler-1

[R-series]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

@monk, looks like we've got loads of silent spectators here as well

Since we don't have live telecasts here in India, my WSBK weekends are usually spent waiting for the video to be available on some torrent site. Sunday's I watch Race 1 and Monday I watch WSS and WSBK Race 2.

Should have seen the WSS race in Melbourne and then this one in Thialand. Kenan, even at home, looks to have things in his favor when he returns at Aragon.

4/4 for Rea is making this boring, but our only hope is Chaz coming to form in the European rounds. Next is Aragon 1st and 2nd April.
Melandri's doing a pretty decent job on the Ducati. Syke's spoiled his(Melandri's) weekend on the last turn at every race.

Yamaha has definitely improved. Both Lowes and Van der Mark have shown strong signs in the race.

The grid shuffling felt exciting initially, but Rea doesn't want to play around. He want's to disappear in the distance.

The Thai crowd was very enthusiastic even in that sweltering heat and humidity.

The Honda's won't be a threat for the podium for a few more races at least. The CBR is still a new machine. They have just got it around Christmas last year. It doesn't even have all performance parts yet, let alone the settings required.

[rachitkdogra]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

@monk, looks like we've got loads of silent spectators here as well

Since we don't have live telecasts here in India, my WSBK weekends are usually spent waiting for the video to be available on some torrent site. Sunday's I watch Race 1 and Monday I watch WSS and WSBK Race 2.

Should have seen the WSS race in Melbourne and then this one in Thialand. Kenan, even at home, looks to have things in his favor when he returns at Aragon.

4/4 for Rea is making this boring, but our only hope is Chaz coming to form in the European rounds. Next is Aragon 1st and 2nd April.
Melandri's doing a pretty decent job on the Ducati. Syke's spoiled his(Melandri's) weekend on the last turn at every race.

Yamaha has definitely improved. Both Lowes and Van der Mark have shown strong signs in the race.

The grid shuffling felt exciting initially, but Rea doesn't want to play around. He want's to disappear in the distance.

The Thai crowd was very enthusiastic even in that sweltering heat and humidity.

The Honda's won't be a threat for the podium for a few more races at least. The CBR is still a new machine. They have just got it around Christmas last year. It doesn't even have all performance parts yet, let alone the settings required.

Not having a live telecast is big issue for WSBK. Kawasaki has got WSBK pretty nailed.
I was surprised to see Hondas down in the order considering the riders they have. But I think you have a fair point. It is a very new bike.


CHEERS!!

Rachit

[The Monk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

@monk, looks like we've got loads of silent spectators here as well

Hahaha. Here it is more a case of very few people being interested in WSBK. Not being telecast live on TV in India, isn't helping either!! Add to that the last couple of season with J. Rea running away with it, and global audience is down for the series. Thus the Saturday Race 1 last year and the grid shakeup for Race 2 this year. The organisers are trying very hard to pull in the audiences.

Ignore the machines and rider skills for a moment and just compare the personalities and character of the top 5 in MotoGP and WSBK. Marquez, Rossi, Vinales, Lorenzo and Iannone, will have more people chattering about them than Rea, Sykes, Davies, Laverty and Lowes, even without any racing involved. MotoGP has many more 'louder' personalities in comparison to WSBK!

Back to the racing! Kawasaki and Ducati were set to be championship favourites with Rea and Davies from the end of last season. But Davies really needs to start winning some! He is already 30 points down in the championship! Honestly, Honda is currently where one can expect them. Bradl will take some time to find his feet and Hayden really needs the bike to improve considerably, but with Red Bull backing, hopefully that will come sooner rather than later.

Right now, i am waiting for Yamaha to take a win soon. Though Lowes and VDM have never raced at the top of the championship in WSBK, so might find it a bit hard for that elusive first win.

With factory support this year, Aprilia with Laverty should come good. He has already proved in the past that he is a title contender in WSBK with the right machinery. Really hope these three manufacturers up the ante and take the fight to red and green.

Don't expect much from BMW and MV Agusta, the German because they aren't interested and the Italian because they just don't have the resources.

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PS: I watch the races live online!!! Googlebaba to the rescue

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Check this tweet from Paul Denning. Owner of the Pata Yamaha WSBK team -

https://twitter.com/Paul_Denning/status/841169666768793600

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This is the video he tweeted - https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX/stat...77198832467969

[R-series]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

PS: I watch the races live online!!! Googlebaba to the rescue

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Check this tweet from Paul Denning. Owner of the Pata Yamaha WSBK team -

https://twitter.com/Paul_Denning/status/841169666768793600

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This is the video he tweeted - https://twitter.com/NASCARONFOX/stat...77198832467969

Yeh I thought of that option too, but the links I found didn't have high resolution videos. The window size was like 5x4inch

Since it kills the experience for me, I decided to watch it after downloading. That also keeps me away from social media for two days so I don't get to know about the results

And that fight is insane man. can't imagine that on a Motogp or F1 grid. But they're also humans, anything can happen.
The relation between riders in WSBK is pretty warm.

[bharatheshk]

Re: 2017 WorldSBK Updates and Discussion Thread

I used to watch WSBK regularly when there was live broadcast on tv but since last year could only follow the news .The net connection in our area is not so good and watching lengthy videos on net is not really my cup of coffee. Atleast Tata taking broadcasting & distributing the telecast feed gave me hope but seems nobody is interested in sponsoring the telecasts .The least our motorcycle manufacturers competing in the championship can do is sponsor the telecast since getting WSBK & Motogp to India will be mired in bureaucratic hurdles that F1 faced during it's short stint .Let's hope and pray for better days for motorsports enthusiasts.