Ducati Monster Forum

Bayliss vs. Rossi on WSBK bikes!  :o
All rumor and speculation, but that would be hot!  [clap]

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Dec/081203b46.htm (http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2008/Dec/081203b46.htm)

I read that before I logged onto DMF and I can't help but think it has the makings of every bit of PR that the WSBK guys need and then some, and in certain ways takes a little bit of PR strength and steam from an already weakening GP field....either way...I'd love to see what the odds makers in Vegas would have to say about that match....

I'd pay real money to watch it...

Huh?

look at the dwindling numbers of riders and machines being put on the GP grid....and look at how the WSBK grid is growing...

just like f1, motogp grid has always had a limited number of spots...

'09: a fifth ducati has been added.  a third kawi is/was a real possibility.  all the other bikes are still there.

the grid is dwindling how?

grid last year was 18 riders generally with 21 total in points standing (due to a wildcard ride here or there by various people)

2007 was 20 of the 27 registered points scorers...

2006 was 20 of the 22 registered points scorers...

2005 was 21 of the 27 registered points scorers...

2004 was 20 of the 29 registered points scorers...

2003 was 22 of the 26 registered points scorers...

and there is 1 less Honda team out on the grid for 2009 as JIR are not fielding a bike at all and Dovi took Hayden's ride...and LCR might not run due to Gresini putting some level of pressure on Honda as wanting to be an exclusive satelite team, or at least I read somewhere of his pressure he is pushing for in regards to support and the level they feel they should be recieving...the way I remember reading it...it could be intepreted...and quite frankly, the money ain't exactly flowing freely like it has in the past...

no, it's only that JiR and Scot split.. Scot (Dovi's bike) is back in '09 with Yuki Takahashi.  this is the other gp ride that spies nearly got.

and LCR has already re-signed RDP for '09.

Honda considering 2009 MotoGP cuts
By Matthew Birt
MotoGP
09 December 2008 10:06
Honda has refused to confirm it will maintain its current level of involvement in MotoGP next season after the Japanese factory’s shock move to quit Formula One.
CEO and chairman Takeo Fukui dropped a bombshell last week when he announced Honda would withdraw from F1 because of the impact of the global economic crisis.
And as a result, HRC has confirmed its level of involvement in MotoGP in 2009 is “under consideration.”
HRC currently provides nearly a third of the grid for MotoGP, with the Japanese factory planning to field six of the 19 bikes in 2009.
When asked by MCN if HRC would retain that level of participation, a factory spokesman in Japan said: “We are under consideration, and cannot answer. More than we imagined, the economic crisis has had an influence on what we do.
Therefore, there is an implication for MotoGP as well. The situation is serious.”

Honda F1 quit won't affect MotoGP team (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72343)
...take your pick.  but that doesn't really address the satellite teams.

regardless, what i said in the last post is accurate.  so far.

those are the current key words here....there are a few months where decisions and considerations will be made before the start of the season...

well you were still wrong about the JiR/Scot thing...   [cheeky]

yuki was testing and RDP has a signed contract (after winning the crashiest rider in GP award for the 2nd year in a row... lol).  but if Suzuki can probably pull out of AMA SBK b/c* they need cash to buy back their own stock from GM... anything's possible lately.

* allegedly.  it's a viable reason but we also know that Yosh has never been remotely happy with the DMG format(s).



yeah, so anyway.. rossi vs troy.  yes.   =)

so what do the oddsmakers in Vegas say about that match-up?

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/news/172703-0/schumi__no_to_wsbk,_yes_to_rossi_match.html (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/news/172703-0/schumi__no_to_wsbk,_yes_to_rossi_match.html)

OKAY...DREAM RACE...

Schumi VS. Rossi VS. Bayliss


but lets put em on equal footing...maybe give em spec'd out 250cc shifter carts and let em loose....only don't tell any of em that Wayne Rainey is going to start with em dressed as the Stig....oh hell...put the Stig in there too!

I think Schumi in a kart could whack *anybody*.

that's why i'd love to see rossi/schumi compete for combined laptimes.

closing off the OT'ness, here's the '09 grid.  including 6 hondas.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72493 (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72493)

Pedrosa changes to #3 (his position in the championship), and Lorenz[th]o switches to #99...interesting. I guess 48 was too close to that other Fiat Yamaha. Of course, they could never mistake his riding for Rossi's.

after lorenzo split with his manager, his competition number was evidently put to vote by the spanish people... it was narrowed down to 23 and 99 and the people picked the latter.

Pedrobot/Thumbelina used to be 23...no wonder ;D

no, he was 26.  puig's student before stoner, 27.

Ah, that's right...he keeps changing his number so I forget these things. I just usually look for the midget little person on the RCV.

I wonder how Yamaha feels about Rossi not running the #1 plate? Secretly you know they have to be a little cheesed.

But remember...that number one plate...is very heavy!

you would think they would have been miffed back in '04  when Val won it on the Yammy to be in your face to HRC after such a long dry spell and they weren't...so why not now...Val has never put the #1 plate on even though he could...he probably tells em it is superstition for him and they aquiesce.

considering he's won 8 times and never done it, they can't be too surprised.  and they know why he does it, etc.  i'm sure it's a conversation over long ago.

http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsbk-bayliss-accepts-rossi-challenge-for-the-duel-in-the-desert//P1/ (http://moto-racing.speedtv.com/article/wsbk-bayliss-accepts-rossi-challenge-for-the-duel-in-the-desert//P1/)

I just got a stiffy.   [thumbsup]

+1

I'd almost want to go to Qatar to see this....almost.

I learned two things...

Troy Corser was WSBK champion last year...

and Bayliss is a 40 yr old Italian.   ;D

time to watch some tivo racing

F'n awesome!  [beer]

agreed.  but i refuse to get excited... yet.

At the very least, it's good fun just thinkin' about it.  :)

Hmm... visa rules for Qatar?

All womens must be accompanied by a man....oh wait, that's Kazakhstan:
(http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c336/arash816/borat.jpg)

odds on Bayliss?...odds on Rossi?...

but he does have a good quote from that article that I liked...

....This sounds like an Ali-Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle” of 1974 in Zaire, and I am giving notice that the patent for “Duel in the Desert” is mine....

maybe this article will hurt your brain less though...

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18122008/58/rossi-set-bayliss-superbike-duel.html (http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/18122008/58/rossi-set-bayliss-superbike-duel.html)

That was a good line...

You'd think he'd spend just a minute proofreading his work though....

no?

oh I totally agree....and the whole bit about fighting for televising rights for February 14th when in the next line he says the 1st round is in the beginning of March at Philip Island...


I think maybe the guy was rushed to put something out so as to be on the scoop bandwagon as apposed to being behind the ball like they usually are when it comes to things 2 wheeled.

my christmas prayer

dear god, please please please please please make this happen.  amen.

p.s.  god, please let it be carried in HD by Fox using the normal/official wsbk announcers, cheers.

the FG cameras aren't HD

tell ya right now...those cracking chaps won't be carried by the Fox sports machine....

anyone besides speed or Dorna works for me.  ;D

Speed is incompetent and Dorna is greedy...YMMV

i know that but since we're all dreaming anyway I might as well make it a good one.   [cheeky]

and yes I chose Fox due to their worldwide presence.

One could hope they'd make the investment by now. I can watch frogs mating in HD on Animal Planet, you'd think there'd be plenty of impetus to finally get some decent cameras at a MotoGP race.

that's Dorna, but yeah, same problem.  i've never heard a peep on where this is on their to-do list.

it only takes one camera to film frogs humping.

(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/48/134373616_aef63cc1be.jpg?v=0)

That gave me a stiffy too.   [evil]

 [laugh]

TMI [puke]

Am I the only person who secretly hopes Bayliss won't do this?

I think it's a losing proposition for him. Bayliss is already holding all the cards and Rossi just wants to affirm his G.O.A.T. status. Bayliss already whooped the hell out of Rossi at MotoGP in his wild card ride, proving that he could be competitive in that series with a decent ride. Not only that, but he's won 3 different world titles on 3 different bikes in WSBK.

IMO it's all for Rossi to prove, if I were Bayliss I'd tell Rossi to enter 5 WSBK races this season and podium in at least 3 of them.... only THEN should an IROC be considered.

Flame away gents.... ;D

decent ride? what exactly did bayliss do on the rc211v again?

his ride at valencia was impressive, but it's what it was: a one off.

Thanks Derby, I knew you'd be the first to smack my bottom ;).

So you don't think it's all for Rossi to prove, and think that Bayliss should go for it?

(In all fairness, the Honda didn't suit his riding style at all and the company isn't known for being genial with its riders)

I agree it's a losing proposition for Bayliss, and I'd hate to see him do anything to affect his legacy.  That said, I still *really* wanna see it.  

^^^^^^^What he said^^^^^^

I am for them hashing it out with a full length race but each of them has to switch between the Superbike and Moto GP bike of their respective manufactures. That is, half the race on each bike. I think that is as even as it can get. 

i maybe agree.  however bayliss said he was on the 'perfect bike' after portimao race 2.  and while all (limited) indications so far say that the '09 R1 is a killer, most of the time the R1 sbk has been a tire eater.

but we know how good rossi is at figuring out set-up.

and wtf-ever... get either guy on a decent ride, with bragging rights on the table, they're both going to ride around any mechanical limitations.  qatar would favor the R1 tho.

That set-up would really favor Rossi.  MotoGP bikes are much more tailored than the WSBK bikes.  Rossi already has an MotoGP bike set up for him and his riding style, including all the electronics.   True, there is a massive amount of set-up and tailoring of WSBK bikes, but it's just not the same.

Besides, if Rossi wants to show he is the GOAT (which he pretty much is), what better way to do so than to beat Bayliss on his home turf?  He shoulda done it when Bayliss was in peak form, not at a point when Bayliss has been off the bike and hasn't been training. 

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/news/172800-0/ducati__rossi,_bayliss_duel_unlikely.html (http://www.crash.net/motorsport/wsbk/news/172800-0/ducati__rossi,_bayliss_duel_unlikely.html)

Ducati says probably not

and Davide Tardozzi is a pretty reliable source!

Bayliss just won the championship and has been of the bike same time as the rest. He is in better shape than half the grid, don't let the age fool you.

http://www.roadracerx.com/article.php?article_id=1141 (http://www.roadracerx.com/article.php?article_id=1141)

"Troy Bayliss wants 1.5 million to face off against Rossi in Qatar."

I know it'd never happen, but wouldn't it be fun if Bayliss were to do it on a D16 set up to WSBK specs?

he's better off on the 1198R.

Yeah, I was just thinking about the symmetry.

MotoGP Champ comes to WSBK to race a WSBK champ on a MotoGP derived bike.

Either way, I'd love to see it happen.

yeah, but you and I know that is easily seemingly taken out of context...it seemed very tongue in cheek to me how I read it...

I personally have no problem with that number in any context.

The man, IMO, has nothing to prove.

There are people living in Qatar to whom 1.5 milliom is pocket money, they would do it just for the prestige it would bring to their country.

yep... i wasn't making any judgement statement by posting that quote.  i also didn't read it as though it was so seriously said (although that article is so poorly written, who knows what it really meant) and i also recognize that $1.5M for either one of them is both worth it and not that much moolah.

i still kinda doubt it'll happen.  i also think that if it did, in only the format discussed (qatar race 2), it wouldn't really say much regardless of who won.  ...but then again, so what.  as fans we just want to see them on track together on superbikes.  we're all going to keyboard jockey the result to death no matter what it is..  ;)

 ;D

I've often thought that would be the race of races !   Dolph       :)

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72600 (http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72600)

Maybe if we all chip in $10 each.  ;D

http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/142549/1/rossi_appearance_prevented_by_parts_shortage.html (http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/142549/1/rossi_appearance_prevented_by_parts_shortage.html)

From an interview (http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2009/Fiat+Yamaha+2009+Presentation+Valentino+Rossi+Interview+YZR+M1) with Rossi on MotoGP.com

Everyone knows that you made a request to Yamaha to take part in a superbike race, specifically against Bayliss. Are you upset that this is not happening? Would you still like the chance to compete in a superbike race?


It was a fun idea, and I would have been very happy. I would still like to do a race in superbike and I would like to battle with Bayliss, because he is the world champion! Unfortunately it is a bit of a difficult period and I didn´t have the chance, but I hope that in the future, maybe next year, we can do it.

Don't have the parts???  That sounds like a load of shit to me!  It would be "impossible" to set up the WSBK spec yamaha to Rossi's specifications?!?!  Sorry, for the attention Rossi vs. Bayliss would draw, I would sit Sykes and set those two bikes to Rossi's parameters for the week.  That cannot be hard to do considering the amount of data collected on these riders every lap.....give Rossi a couple of test sessions, record the settings to get a base and let him fine tune it the week of the race.  I don't buy that a professional race team like Yamaha's WSBK would find it "impossible" to switch the setups between Rossi and Sykes given ample time and data.

Again, I think somebody is trying to hush this challenge! [coffee]

or, that would be breaking their contract with Sykes.

Or sit out Spies for that matter...  [drink]

Screw his contract.....that can be payed off for this event...his sponsors as well!

Sit Spies???  he is a national series champ too!.....Ahem, lets try this again, current MotoGP champ vs. WSBK champ vs. AMA champ vs. BSB champ(Byrne)  8)


Umm....I will pay to see the Super Bowl of road racing(to any sponsors out there)!!!

WSBK is gonna be the f'in  [bacon] this year, and you can count on that Jack!

troy on 4 wheels instead

http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/143154/1/bayliss_yes_to_v8s_no_to_rossi.html (http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/143154/1/bayliss_yes_to_v8s_no_to_rossi.html)

..

To see ALL of them on the grid and then duke it out when the lights trip would be the SHEEZY [thumbsup]