2009 World Superbike Round 1 - Phillip Island (RACE 1+2 SPOILERS)

[derby]

So derby....

you gonna dig up the bet posts?  

i s'pose....

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=14405.0

okay...$50 ea.....

and yes...1st 12 races...1st 6 rounds...which as of right now looks like...

3/1 Phillip Island, Australia

3/14 Losail International Circuit, Qatar

4/5 Valencia, España

4/26 Assen, Holanda

5/10 Monza, Italia

5/17 Kyalami, Sur Africa

5/31 Miller Motorsports Park, USA

6/21 Misano, San Marino

6/28 Donington Park, Gran Bretaña

7/26 Brno, Republica Checa

9/6 Nurburgring, Alemania

9/27 TBA, Italia

10/4 Magny-Cours, Francia

10/25 Portimao, Portugal

now...because we have like 5 months before the start of the season....I may need a reminder about the bet right before the season starts...

hey...Spidey...I'll let you in on the deal...all yall mofo's better pony up the money to RRW action fund if I am right though...and if I lose...someone's gotta send me some PreperationH because my ass will be hurtin'...LOL

makes me wonder what the Vegas odds would be on this bet at this juncture?

Alright, we got a bet.  Wooohooo!  Who is in?

1) gm2
2) ducpainter
3)  me (that's Spidey, ya ijit)

derby asked if zooom would wager but never committed. 

We'll dig this thread up when it's time to pay up and someone (or group of someones) to eat humble pie.  

Oh, and I'm also in for Ben to podium before Miller.

[gm2]

It is awesome to see Ben prove himself so early in the season to the rest of the field.

superpole is one [bad ass] thing.  but to beat nitro nori, on the factory duc, at phillip island, 2 days after seeing the place for the first time ever.

dayumn.  skillz.

otherwise, i still think you underestimate the difficulty of racing against mladin.  but it's a fun debate.  we'll see...

[ducpainter]

It's not that I underestimate Mladin....

I just don't like him. 

[Spidey]

What's zooom's address?  I'll send him the Preparation H he was asking for.   

BTW, did you see in Race 2 that Haga's fastest lap was .4 faster than anyone else?  And the second fastest was Biaggi?  Spies was just more consistent.   

Also, Max N's gixxer had the fastest time of the weekend at 316 mph (uh . . . I prolly mean kph  ), but after all that talk about how much faster the Gixxer is, one of the privateer Ducs went 315 kph.  I wonder how different the bikes are in getting to that top speed though.  Also interesting is that Haga and Spies had the same fastest speed in Race 2, which was the slowest out of the top 12 bikes. 

Superpole definitely make qualifying much more interesting.   

[vaclav]

Haga has never been one to baby a set of tires. Biaggi is what has me confused. Last year you could see him build up speed over the course of each weekend. More often then not he was right up there come race time. Now this year his test times sucked, his practice times sucked, then all of a sudden (superpole?) he was right up there. You think Aprilia was playing possum up til the first superpole? I did not see that coming at all.

[El Matador]

Amazing race! Great job by Haga and Spies. I was a little sad to see Fabrizio drop the ball there at the end of race 2

[tufty]

Amazing race! Great job by Haga and Spies. I was a little sad to see Fabrizio drop the ball there at the end of race 2

Screw Fabrizio... Hell yeah Leon Haslam, on a privateer Honda no less!!

It's going to be an interesting season.

[swampduc]

Just saw the races, not being a real fan  . Great finishes!

[ducpainter]

Screw Fabrizio... Hell yeah Leon Haslam, on a privateer Honda no less!!

It's going to be an interesting season.

interesting is kinda....

understated.

[derby]

http://www.crash.net/World+Superbikes/News/143508/1/spies_makes_big_bang_with_victory_debut.html

Although Spies enjoyed a quick pace from then on, his fight back was only good enough for 16th, one position out of the points. Still, he was philosophical about his chaotic first WSBK racing lap.

“I just had to put that first race out of my mind,” Spies said. “It was no one's fault, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time in both incidents. It was frustrating because I knew I had the speed to run up front. Fortunately I had another race and it made me that much more determined.”

..

“As the race progressed Nori and I were trying to work together to gap the rest of the field,” Spies explained. “It worked out well in the final part of the race and it was pretty much him and me going for the win. I think in the end I just hung it out a little more [than Haga] when the tyres started going off.

“It's great to get a win under my belt,” Spies concluded. “It takes a little pressure off. I feel pretty fortunate to come out of here in fourth after what happened in the first race. Now we go to Qatar and see if we can start chipping away at Nori's lead.”

[DanTheMan]

Way to comeback, hope that first race mishap doesn't come back to bite him if he's in the running for the title at the end of the season.

[Desmostro]

The US national anthem at WSBK. That's the first time I've heard it there.  Spies rocks!

Looks like Aprilia is going to be a contender! I'm so about that. Max was doing some good riding Race 2.
It would seem BMW, is also in major competition for Kawi's usual position   Why don't we have a 'smiley with middle finger?'

[Big Troubled Bear]

Definitly going to be interesting this year

[RodeoClown]

So can anyone get the WSBK site video to work? BTW I am on a mac. I have Flip4Mac but get and unvalid URL error anytime I try to play any video from the site?

Thanks

[desmoquattro]

Why don't we have a 'smiley with middle finger?'

...because we're not BARF.

It would seem BMW, is also in major competition for Kawi's usual position

Race 1
8 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 11.589
9 96 Smrz J. (CZE) Ducati 1098R 11.721
10 66 Sykes T. (GBR) Yamaha YZF R1 11.761
11 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 12.609
12 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 19.096
13 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 24.149
14 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 27.416
15 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 28.173
16 19 Spies B. (USA) Yamaha YZF R1 28.235
17 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 37.348
18 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 37.401
19 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 42.614
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'03.794
21 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R

Race 2
11 111 Xaus R. (ESP) BMW S1000 RR 24.854
12 56 Nakano S. (JPN) Aprilia RSV4 25.192
13 7 Checa C. (ESP) Honda CBR1000RR 27.162
14 33 Hill T. (GBR) Honda CBR1000RR 29.737
15 3 Biaggi M. (ITA) Aprilia RSV4 30.036
16 44 Rolfo R. (ITA) Honda CBR1000RR 38.458
17 100 Tamada M. (JPN) Kawasaki ZX 10R 44.453
18 23 Parkes B. (AUS) Kawasaki ZX 10R 45.486
19 24 Roberts B. (AUS) Ducati 1098R 46.198
20 99 Scassa L. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 57.921
21 31 Muggeridge K. (AUS) Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 57.989
22 11 Corser T. (AUS) BMW S1000 RR 1'00.093
23 9 Kiyonari R. (JPN) Honda CBR1000RR 1'07.820
24 15 Baiocco M. (ITA) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'21.224
25 25 Salom D. (ESP) Kawasaki ZX 10R 1'21.276

Not quite Kawasaki territory...and I think the trajectory may be different. The Kwaks seem to go backwards