Terrible crash in the super sport 300 race, hope the young kid is ok, head injury makes me dread the worst. What’s going on atm? Hour or so delay for race 1 but a decent race and result, if you’re a Bautista/ducati fan Toprak doing all he can but it’s not going to be enough is it. 16 races with no JR win has to be a good thing though.
No one likes a smart arse ;p Another 2 decent races today such a well designed track with no silly gimmicks. JR mentioned that he thought Topraks bike was on a par with the Kawasaki which I thought was a bit cheeky/hopeful. Had an air of sadness about the whole weekend though (understandably).
I was thinking earlier and this is no disrespect to alvaro could he do it on the Yamaha like toprak did last year? No chance imo. Could he win six on the bounce on that green bike like Rea did? I don’t think he could. If he wins the championship he will undoubtedly deserve to do so but you can’t help think he wasn’t the most talented rider on the grid over the course of the season. Or even the second best. But then you start thinking why did t Scott do it? Or Chaz etc? Maybe the way he’s fitted that bike like a glove (and team) and the way he’s ridden this year has made it look like they need to wind the power or or give extra revs to other teams and we’re under estimating what a job he’s done. I hope whatever they do doesn’t change anything especially with the likes of remy arriving next year.
Talent alone doesn’t win races. There is much more to it than that and that’s what keeps it interesting.
Really enjoy the racing but can’t stand the presenters, I now have to watch with the sound off, Greg shouts at a hundred miles an hour, his voice grates on me, he never shuts up and they both constantly repeat, the presenters for MotoGP and BSB are so much better.
Blimey. They are all moaning about that bike. Toseland was less than a lap in and started the ‘Ducati is so fast’ lines and repeated at least once a lap. RIBA and Toprak both having a moan too hahahahaha They seem to forget, bikes have balance. The other two are easier to ride in the turns, the Ducati faster in a straight line. Make the Kawasaki as fast and it won’t be as good in the turns….
I can't listen to the commentary, I just can't anymore. and I HATE Charlie hiscott as well, so I pretty much have it on in the background with no sound. Shame because the racing was pretty good. I was 'was' because it's just boring watching it when the speed difference is so huge. Note that it's not ALL the Ducati's, ruben renaldi isn't a big lad, still smaller than rea and toprak and yet he can't pass them on the straights. I think they will need to consider min bike and rider weight combination to even the field up, or they are going to have to give Kawasaki and Yamaha more revs.
I was thinking exact same about Rinaldi - if it's just down to the bike how come he isn't fighting for a win in every race?
Technical regs are reviewed on a regular basis. An example of that is the reduction in revs for the Kawasaki because of JR’s dominance (a dominance people seem to forget all too quickly) Unusually, the Ducati was neutered before day 1 of testing and had there rev limit cut by 1500rpm (17500 to 16000). I don’t understand the constant carping about how fast the V4RS in a straight line and (the supposed) higher hp. Is it anti Ducati, anti Alvaro or just people don’t like their favourites being beaten at their own game ? Toprak has won 10 races, Alvaro 12; Alvaro has had only 1 pole, Toprak and Rae have all but shared the rest. Toprak had a poor (by any standards) start to the season, JR has made far too many dubious tyre choices, Toprak and JR have beaten each other up a lot more than they have Alvaro, Alvaro has been consistent. It’s possibly been the most competitive season with 3 riders dominating the others but not each other. The Kawasaki/JR package hasn’t been as sharp, the Yamaha/TR package is now coming good and the Ducati /AB package has been the most consistent. No other rider can make their manufacturer/rider package as competitive, so, IMO, it isn’t the bike. Andy
People are suspicious Andy because Ducati have form in the advantageous rules thingy. I personally dont like Bautista. Did fuck all on other manuf bikes tbf. Like Honda, he was nowhere. That speed advantage down the straight was way too much for people not to mention it. Come on.
Speed fails to be an advantage when you can’t stop and the bike doesn’t turn as was obvious when Toprak out braked Alvaro down the start/finish straight time and time again. I think the most consistent problem is the Pirelli, JR has struggled, Toprak has cooked them far too often and Alvaro seems to be able to keep the tyre to get the advantage as the fuel load lightens. Put them all on the new BMW 900cc that’s replacing the TriOptions cup Ducati and see how they do Andy
As much as i’m a fan of Toprak and would like to see a closer battle - all of the sour grapes over the ‘Ducati advantage’ does seem a little much considering they haven’t won the championship since 2011 and Kawasaki were dominant to the point of making it boring for years! Ducati had their wings clipped back in 2019 and they have overcome that obstacle. We still have exciting racing - the overall advantage isn’t that enormous. Jonathan Rea has a more balanced take on the situation in this article: https://www.visordown.com/news/raci...sh-ducati-kawasaki-just-wants-its-500rpm-back When is comes down to it Ducati saw they had reached point where the V twin’s inherent limitations could no longer be ignored and developed an absolutely stonking engine. They struggled with getting the bike to turn initially - in part due to the design characteristics of said stonking engine! Now - in the hands of Bautista things have finally come together in a combination that means the overall package has given him an edge. That’s racing! The other manufacturers have to catch up and then it will all change again. And it’s still 100 times more exciting than F1!
I think a few factors are going on here. First the Ab/Duc package is awesome, he’s riding brilliantly and really showing what the machine is capable of with the right rider. Second, I don’t think it’s just a fast bike, he’s the only one making it work. Chas and even feather weight folks like Rabat and Rinaldi haven’t managed to achieve what AB has done with it. Like Whit said, it’s one thing having a fast bike but you’ve got to be able to ride it. Lastly, I think Kawasaki have been caught napping here. Watching the delayed coverage on Sunday with old race footage reminded me of what Honda did to win the championship, and that was to develop a 1000cc v twin. It occurred to me that the bike Crafar rode at Hockenheim and the one JR is riding actually aren’t that different in terms of design. Sure JRs bike is more powerful and modern etc but it’s still a conventional across the frame 4 cyl with twin spar ally frame 20 odd years later. Think of the changes Ducati have gone thru to attempt to remain competitive from the days of the 916, through 999, 1098, 1199 to V4 with aero packages etc. Think of not only chassis but engine config. I think it’s time the other manufacturers came up with something more imaginative than just an extra 500 revs to remain competitive. I get why James Haydon is saying that as he wants closer racing, and he’s right. But that would just be a short term sticking plaster. The V4 is already running LESS revs than the road bike, the Duc design is that good. All the other manufacturers have the opportunity and money to design something different/better if they want it enough. But that’s the crux of the matter isn’t it? Is it commercially viable versus desire to win.
I think there is a view other than 'booo Ducati' which is what I was trying to get across with my earlier post. As I pointed out, it's not all Ducatis.. It's AB. I personally hate Jonny Rea, so my issue isn't with him not winning, as I'd be happy if he didn't win again, but anyway.... I think the Ducati is great, but even with capped revs, it's still has around 1k rpm advantage over the IL4's, and the reason for it, is because the Ducati as a road bike revs to 16500RPM, and the ZX10 revs to 14,000RPM... It's therefore easy to say "Well Kawasaki need to release a bike that revs harder" which is true, and they could probably do that, and tried, but they got told they weren't allowed too homologate the RR for race use as it wasn't different enough to the standard model. Also.... Kawasaki, and Honda, and Yamaha have to make MASSIVE qty's of homologation specials to be able to race them, where as Ducati only have to make a few hundred, somewhere between 250-400. I believe the Japs have to make more like 1500. That's because of the size of the manufacturer, but it doesn't quite allow for the fact that while Ducati is small, relative to Honda, it's financed from VAG group, so IMO should take into account the overall volume of a manufacturer and all entities. I'm not saying Ducati should be slowed down, I'm saying that now, I think they should have to produce the same about of homologation bikes as Kawasaki etc, and that Kawasaki should make a proper special, and R1M be released as a proper special to allow the rules to work as they are.
