Racing is back!! *spoiler*

[rac3r]

World Superbikes starts this weekend Only downside is it's in Australia so it's really early.

On Eurosport

Saturday:
Superpole @ 4am

Sunday:
Race 1 @ 00:45
Supersport @ 2am
Race 2 @ 4:15am
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Llama-Farmer]

Wish I had Eurosport.

BSB and MotoGP it's gonna be for me.

Start the same weekend in April don't they? with BTCC the w/e before.

Never get much done at the weekends in the motorsport season, too busy watching tv

[AL-]

I wouldn't be able to cope without Eurosport!

Looking forward to it, just hope it isn't as boring as last year. I still expect Checa to dominate the field. Certainly strange seeing no Yamaha's there

Looking at the timing of the official 2 day test that has now concluded, it seems Sykes is doing his usual blistering fast times during testing only to not deliver on race days

Roll on BSB in April when the real racing starts

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

Pft, Dakar was in January.

No Hopkins due to injury, IIRC Brookes is riding instead.
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[AL-]

[AL-]

[robbieguy2003]

Quite a few injuries which is unfortunate, apparantly the nature of PI and a bad track surface have contributed to so many injuries (more than normal for pre-season testing).

Either way, I cant wait for it to kick off, I think there are quite a few teams and riders that are capable of winning it this year, so it should be interesting. Will be easier to see a few races in though.

I'm looking forward to BSB without the TC, they've got Ant West and Haga plus a raft of other decent riders. Got to admit I was looking forward to seeing hutchy on the Yamaha though, I do think he'd have been surprising quickly, he focuses on fitness, is naturally fast and is intelligent so can prob work well with engineers, that combined with the swan yamaha should have made his very quick.

GP also looks damn good, I think it'll be better than last year, last year was full of 'ok ducati have got it sorted now' and then another anti-climax race weekend, and as much as Lorenzo had a go at Stoner, he could only really nibble him, he 'generally' only won when Stoner had problems.

I'm looking forward to the switch to 1000s making things a little more even at the front, I think Rossi, Hayden, Spies and generally taller riders will get on a bit better with the new bikes, they've said they've got more room on them so thats a good thing.

Stoner and Honda are a very fast combo though, if Rossi does manage to top him, it'll be the hardest battle he's faced IMO.

Still, I think the gap between Honda, Yamaha and Ducati is closer now - just look at Dani, the difference they now have is Stoner, but Stoner is always faster at tests/qualy than on raceday, so the question is can the others make it up over a race to beat him?

CRT is looking more interesting, Randy De Puniet lapped Jerez on the tests with a 1.40.9, the fastest race lap around that track is a 1.39.7 by Dani P so they're getting there, at least the Aprilia is anyway, I think the others will be slower to get going.

So BSB looks good, WSBK looks good and GP looks good, and thats before looking at the support classes. Ladies and Gentlemen, it looks like we've actually got the makings of a good season!
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[Llama-Farmer]

[jjdugen]

Checa will clear off in WSBK.
WSS will be far more interesting, as usual.
Stoner will clear off in GP (probably crushing a few CRT bikes underfoot). Rossi will try, be beaten, probably fall off and injure himself / retire. At least the Ducati's wont be dead last this year.
Cant stand the Moto2 class, cant recognise anyone as they all play to many musical chairs.
Moto3, prepare to ne bored, very bored.
BSB is far more interesting, just dont ask me to go to Knockhill, I've still got pnumonia from the last two times.
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The CBR900RR has been sold. Aprilia Falco worms its way into my heart.
Try Soi 23 on Amazon for a good read.... Self promotion? Moi?

[Frost]

[rac3r]

I reckon this season will be good, don't really follow BSB for some reason but love WSBK and hopefully Moto GP will be good.

Also check out who's riding the Ducati in BSB https://britishsuperbike.com/news/moto-rapido-launch-mce-bsb-title-attack-with-former-champion-and-saudi-newcomer.aspx

(Taken from the BSB thread in the racing section!)
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[AL-]

How can you not follow BSB, it's the best racing series out of all of them

[robbieguy2003]

Agreed, Racer, i didnt follow BSB much until the last couple of years, it's a top event, lots of good close racing, and this year with no TC might make it more interesting again.

It's also pretty cheap to go to and it's all over the country. I went to Donny and Brands last year and both were great days out.

It's well worth giving it a watch for a race and seeing if you like it
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[AL-]

I can't wait for the new rules BSB, it is going to be so much more about the rider rather than the bikes and I reckon there will be a few surprises

[robbieguy2003]

Yep agreed Al. I've heard a lot of places saying certain bikes - Honda being the main - that will be better, because on the road bike, rather than adding electronics, they've went and built a very good chassis with really good grip, other's apparantly havent and are relying more on the electronics, so once they come off they'll struggle more. Whether or not thats a load of bollocks or not I dont know, but I've seen a couple of sites mention it.

As you say though, without the TC the rider is going to make a very big difference. I cant wait for it to get going, very tempted to get to the season opener at brands.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[AL-]

Yeah I have heard that too. One of the reasons Rutter switched from Ducati was because of there reliance heavily on electronics and he thinks it will struggle without them

You should try and do the opener. Last years opening round was nearly 30 degress. As I live not far from Brands (20 min ride) I am doing all 4 days

[robbieguy2003]

Ah that makes more sense. Yeah I want to, all four days would be good. I'm about an hour away so still possible, but I might end up just doing Saturday/Sunday.
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[AL-]

[robbieguy2003]

Note to self, should REALLY look at the racedays before posting, forgot about that! More than likely the Sunday/Monday then
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Current Bikes: Honda CBR 600RR - '07, Suzuki GSX1250 FA ST '11
Old Bikes: Suzuki Intruder 125 LC - '2001, Honda CBR 600F - '92, Honda CBR 600RR - '03

[Deano_44]

Got the TiVo set already, can't wait!

[rac3r]

Superpole was cancelled
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[AL-]

RIP Oscar McIntyre. 17 years old and tragically killed in the Superport race on lap two in an incident involving two other riders

[rac3r]

Massive high side for Checa in the first race but the second race was awesome. Biaggi was flying and the battle for 3rd was good too

Biaggi vs Checa for the title I think
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Bikes : 2006 CBR125R - 2004 Monster 620ie - 2004 ZX-6R B1H - 2005 Monster S2R 800 - 2011 Street Triple - 2009 Streetfighter 1098 - 2014 ZX-6R 636

[Shaun]

If you don't want to know the full race results... don't read covdudes PM's...

Some good racing and a real shame that Biaggi ran off in race 2 but he put on a good display.

[WannaBeDude]

Title has spoiler does it not ? caus OPS not a fucking faggot ...

Race 1

1. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 22 laps
2. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +7.104s
3. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +7.378s
4. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +12.189s
5. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +16.424s
6. Michel Fabrizio ITA BMW Italia Goldbet S1000RR +20.200s
7. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +20.223s
8. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +24.108s
9. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +28.072s
10. Bryan Staring AUS Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +34.232s
11. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +34.450s
12. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +35.648s
13. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +36.392s
14. David Salom ESP Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +41.500s
15. Joan Lascorz ESP Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +42.086s

Race 2

1. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R +22 laps
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +5.707s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +12.521s
4. Jonathan Rea GBR Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +12.655s
5. Leon Haslam GBR BMW Motorrad S1000RR +18.179s
6. Marco Melandri ITA BMW Motorrad S1000RR +18.831s
7. Maxime Berger FRA Effenbert Liberty Ducati 1098R +18.939s
8. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV-4 +19.478s
9. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN Honda WSBK CBR1000RR +19.554s
10. Niccolo Canepa ITA Red Devils Ducati 1098R +26.289s
11. Jakub Smrz CZE Liberty Effenbert Ducati 1098R +26.479s
12. Leon Camier GBR Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +29.145s
13. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Ducati 1098R +36.482s
14. Lorenzo Zanetti ITA PATA Ducati 1098R +38.113s
15. Josh Brookes AUS Crescent Fixi Suzuki GSX-R1000 +43.234s
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Jogging on, destination living.