So.. When do you think the PBM mystery will be cleared up then? Fred Clarke announced that both riders were staying, and so did the riders, then it all went quiet, Iddon then went on Chasing the Racing and was clearly not in any branded team gear and said the situation had changed but he 'wasn't sure what was going on'.... What's peoples best guess? I think Leon Haslam will be on one of them, he's been absolutely silent since the WSBK season finished, absolutely nothing as far as I can see. I'd like to see him back in BSB as he's a hard charger and I think he's been there recently enough to re-acclimatise. Sykes was in the frame I know, but now looks like he's off to WSBK with Pedercini, so basically they are the two names that I guess could deny Brookes and Iddon the ride.
All sounds like reasonable speculation. I'd expect Leon to command a fairly high-level ride and both Brookes and Iddon failed to bring home the title for PBM in '21. Brookes can do it, but didn't... Iddon has never done it, even though he's looked promising at times. On that CtR episode with Iddon I must admit his Irwin-brothers anecdote left me thinking less still of Glenn and Andrew...
Found this, https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/news-and-views/racing/british-superbikes/calendar, but still none the wiser (no pun intended). Andy
Leon Haslam is a spent force, is now just mid pack cannon fodder, the games moved on, how Sykes is in contention for another WSB ride is beyond be, odious individual that he is, BSB needs to start letting go of the legacy riders ....
Depends if Leon will pull the fans in I guess... it's an entertainment sport and if he sells tickets and brings in sponsors then I can't see Higgs turning his nose up. I'm astonished to see that you can still buy a Haslam Arai, he's obviously a big enough draw that Arai keep his helmet in the line up... must have some pull still?
Unceremoniously dumped by major sponsor Honda (as was RH’s race school) and the Arai is currently 40% off at Helmet City Seriously though, what the 2021 BSB showed is that as a series, the riding standards have moved on and there are some hard charging youngsters. Not sure Leon has the attraction any more. Andy
When I was at brands for the final BSB round I'm sure Birdy said over the mic that they would be running 3 bikes? I assumed Brooks and Iddonn and a mystery third.. Perhaps I was hearing things?
Leon is a class rider who’s been on a bike that hasn’t worked very well. i think he’d be right up there again if he came back
Iddon said in that interview bird said they were staying but he now doesn’t know, not heard anything since
Stats don’t suggest it has. Checking out lap records most are over 2 years old, many much older https://www.devittinsurance.com/gui...erbike-championships/records-and-stats/?amp=1
Lots of strong opinions ref Haslam! Either way doesn’t sound like things are decided there. yes agreed that the Irwin brothers went way down in my estimation after the fist pump thing. and if birdie eluded to running three bikes I think it was before visiontrack decided to split its effort between him and laverty’s moto 3 team. It might have also been referenced to him running 2x super bikes and a Supersport bike with the V2 as there is supposed to be a big factory team running one p
I was reading Iddon's column in Fast bikes at the weekend, basically he doesn't seem to be able to agree a contract with Birdie, and I think he's pretty hacked off with him, so honestly I'd expect him to have announced he won't be riding there very soon. He mentions he has a couple of offers (at a guess I'd say Buildbase Suzuki is one) but one that 'might' come off, and that he's trying to decide whether to take the offer or hold out for something better. I think a rider announcement for FHO BMW due this week, I think they are the only other team that can afford to salary a rider, so if Haslam is going to BSB it will be either FHO/Ducati.
Just found this, https://www.visordown.com/news/raci...-visiontrack-ducati-agreement-2022-bsb-season Andy
So birdy said ‘yeah sure’ exactly like Iddon and not confirmed, exactly like iddon. So no ride then. Exactly like iddon! Lol
This smacks of Brookes signaling his view that there is a 'Verbal Contract' in place, to either force birdies hand or to have the media onside for when it turns nasty.... I think of the two, Brookes will stay, because Birdy seems to just love the fact he's brutal about turning up, doing the job and just being interested in the win. it's sort of Birdy's mentality I guess. I think Haslam or Sykes on the other bike.
Former WorldSBK champion Tom Sykes will test with the PBM Ducati team at Misano in two weeks time, which ignites the strong rumours that he will be riding for Paul Bird's team in this year’s Bennetts British Superbike Championship, although PBM have not yet made an official announcement. Snippet from today….
Oo er missus, https://www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesoci...2022/christian-iddon-interview-suzuki-bsb2022 Andy
