20th August 2007

MotoGP - There has been some serious rider movement already this year in MotoGP for 2008, much of the rider movement was kicked off by the surprise move of John Hopkins from Suzuki to Kawasaki, I imagine the offer from Kawasaki was extremely large as they look to get a rider on the bikes who can take them to the next level, can John Hopkins take them to the next level, well who knows as Hopkins reputation seems to be better than his actual results. If you think about it Hopkins has only ever has 2 Podiums in MotoGP, one 3rd place and a Second place at Bruno in the last MotoGP race so is he really the rider they were looking for ?? Kawasaki have been claiming for a while that there is nothing wrong with the bikes and its only the riders who haven't been able to get the best out of them, I personally think De Puniet has been good for Kawasaki this year and I hope they keep him to ride alongside Hopkins next year as his results in his first premium class season means he surely deserves his place on the grid in 08, we will see.

Other movement around the paddock has also been very interesting, Marco Melandri has finally decided to jump ship from Honda and move to Ducati forming part of what surely will be a bit of a dream team, it's well known the Team Manager of Ducati has a very high opinion of Melandri.  No doubt Melandri could be world champion but his time is running out and his accidents have cost him dear over recent year, he must be regarded as one of the hardest men in sport today due to the injuries he has rode with over the years and yet he still manages to be competitive, his podium place at Laguna this year with a broken ankle proves the point.  Capirossi has opted for the Suzuki although I am not sure this is the right move for Suzuki, it seems Capirossi will spend another year or two on very competitive machinery and maybe he can help them move forward development wise, the plan could be to give Capirossi a season to help the team move forward and then bring Ben Spies in to hopefully emulate his fellow countryman Nicky Hayden by winning the MotoGP championship in the not to distant future.

The series has another major boost next year with new added British Interest, James Toseland, hopefully WSKB 2008 World Champion will be riding for the Tec 3 Yamaha team, I so hope all the promises of equal machinery to Rossi is the truth and that the Tec 3 Yamaha team will announce a change in Tyre sponsorship for the coming season very soon.  So how will Toseland do, I think he will do well, I think he has a chance of getting at least one Podium next year and hopefully impressing enough to be given even more support in MotoGP for 2009.  Look at Guintoli this year, he is having praise heaped on him this season due to beating his MotoGP wining Team mate Tamada pretty much every week although he is only 18th in the championship, will he have a ride next season, who knows but it doesn't look that good for him unless Edwards moves back to WSBK or he moves teams.  Another who seems to be coming towards the end of his MotoGP Career is Carlos Checa, I don't really remember seeing him much this year expect for the odd crash, he seems to be hanging around in the lower end of the top ten, he is currently in 14th position in the championship, would be great to see Carlos jump to WSBK next season as I think he could be a big asset to the series.

We know that Vermeulen, Rossi and Pedrosa will all be staying where they are, I expect Hayden to stay with Honda and I also expect Edwards to not be Rossi's team mate next year, he could partner Toseland at Tech 3 Yamaha but he could also return to WSBK.  Jorge Lorenzo the 2007 and looking like the  2008 World 250cc Champion has signed for Yamaha in MotoGP and it is expected he will be Rossi's new team mate next year, apparently Rossi vito'd the hiring of Stoner last year and Yamaha will not make the same mistake again with Lorenzo. Rossi mentioned in the press last week that he believes he can ride at the top level for another 2 years and he has a contract with Yamaha until the end of next year and he will then take stock and see how he feels. I am sure Rossi is hungry for another title win but the combination of Ducati and Stoner look to be unbeatable and as Stoner's lead has extended to 60 points after the MotoGP race in Brno with only 6 rounds remaining the chance of a title in 07 looks increasingly slim at best. Hayden shows glimpses of his 06 form but last year the title was not won by Hayden, it was lost by Rossi, Hayden's season long consistency brought him through and Rossi had a season full of bad luck but credit where credit is due, you have to be in it to win it and Hayden consistently racked up the points while Rossi was winning then crashing or breaking down.

Yamaha are also currently rumoured to be talking to Bridgestone about switching tyres from the current Michelins.



BSB - For some reason the British Superbike Series hasn't seemed as exciting as it did last season. I can't quite put my finger on why, but the races just seem to be lacking a bit of something. I have watched them all.  I have been very impressed with all the new British Youngsters we have and its great to see that each of the top teams in BSB almost seem to have an un-written rule that says we will have one experienced older rider and his team mate will be a young up and coming Brit which is great for the series and great for the future of the sport we love.

I personally though that Carl Crutchlow the current British Supersport champion would be the star of the show this year but his bike doesn't seem to be anything like the package we all thought it would be, this has been proven by Chris Walkers poor results. Jonathan Rea, Leon Camier have been revelations and so has Tom Sykes. With the expected departure of current BSB Champion Kiyonari and maybe even Jonathan Rea to World Level a ride could be available to one of these riders in the official BSB factory Honda team. There are rumours that Paul Bird may not run a team in BSB next year which would be a great shame, there are also rumours that Airwave Ducati could be off to WSBK, however these are the kind of rumours that emerge every season and nothing normally comes of them so we will see.  Jonathan Rea has apparently been offered a ride by the Official Xerox Ducati Team to partner Troy Bayliss next year, this must surely be a huge chance for the young Brit and given a choice between that and remaining in BSB with Honda is abit of a no brainer !!  Honda over the years have been very bad at keeping the top riders, its always oh just stay one more year in this class for us and we will give you a MotoGP ride, then come the next season, oh just stay one more season for us and we will give you a MotoGP ride next season and on and on until the rider finds he has missed his oppertunity to move and its now to late, thankfully Edwards, Vermeulan and Toseland didn't fall for this trick.

Road Racing - This week see's the start of the 2007 Manx GP on the Isle of Man, this is always a fantastic event without the feeling of the place being too busy
like at TT week. I am off to the Manx to hopefully have a bit of a chillout and watch some exciting racing. I wish all Marshalls and Competitors a safe 2 weeks of competition on the most difficult MotorCycle circuit in the World.  The Manx was indoubt for a few weeks when Foot and Mouth re-surfaced but thankfully extra precautions are being taken to enable the races to go ahead while limiting any risk to the IOM's livestock.

Hopefully a few kind souls will update the Forum while I am away with news and results from the Manx.

9th August 2007

Brands 07 – WSBK

James Toseland took another step towards realising his dream of wining his second World Superbike title by claiming his first ever Double in front of a spectacular 126,000 people at a sweltering Brand Hatch.  The weekend was almost perfect for all Brits in attendance, at one of the best Motorcycle racing venues in the world.  Toseland looked comfortable and proved the time to make the move to MotoGP is now with two dominant wins to thrill the UK crowd.  I say almost perfect as the Brits didn’t manage to make a clean sweep of victories in the 3 big races as the talented Craig Jones lost control of his Honda at Clearways while leading the Supersport, although it was not all doom and gloom as Tommy Hill managed to finish a fine 5^th in his first ever World Supersport outing.

A mention must go out to Max Biaggi who rode fantastic all weekend on a Track he had never even see before he arrive earlier in the week, to get a rostrum in the first race and controversially loose out on the possibility of a second rostrum in Race 2 due to what seemed like a very harsh decision to award him a ride through penalty showed the Italians class.  I didn’t understand why Bayliss was not given a ride through in race 1, as he appeared to move twice the distance that Biaggi did for the infringement that was punished!  However Bayliss did crash, my mate Gray Silva who was with us at Brands actually believes that all the Ducati riders are currently being paid big bonuses to hold back and not do anything this year to help get he new 1098cc Ducati in Superbike next year, ha !!

The title is possibly completely now in the hands of Toseland as his rivals have fallen by the wayside over the last 2 Rounds over which Toseland has racked up 3 wins, a second to extend his lead to 66 points.

Congratulations from Bike-Racing.net to Kenan Sofuoglu who secured the Supersport World Championship by finishing second in the World Supersport race, he really has dominated this year although it may be argued that he hasn’t really had any consistent challengers but still respect is due and many rumours are around suggesting he could make the jump to WSBK for 08 although I am not convinced, I think it depends on if the team are planning on keeping Rolfo as they need someone on the HANNspree Honda who is capable of winning the WSBK crown next year and I don’t believe Rolfo or Kenan Sofuoglu at his first attempt will be able to achieve this.  Maybe this will open up an opportunity for Hodgson who would fit the bill at HANNspree Honda although he is also rumoured to be linking up with Foggy on the MV's.

Also this weekend it was announced that Corona would be withdrawing all support from Motorsport at the end of this season, next year the WSBK rounds in the UK will be sponsored by Bennett’s. Corona have been in the series in some form for 10 years.  The best reason I can come up with for them withdrawing came from Carol, who writes Caz’s corner and she reckons it because everyone’s tried it now and Corona’s work at WSBK is done !!