2009 World Superbike Round 8 - Misano (Race 2 Spoilers)

[gm2]

ok, so i saw top 20 and didn't read enough of the question.. =)

[gm2]

http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/196/1/

OTT skype convo with greene & martin.  lots of good info about the series, various bikes (incl. the "factory" R1), injuries, replacement riders esp hacking, etc..

thanks derb/wera.

[gm2]

btw, 60% chance of rain..

[Spidey]

http://www.onthethrottle.com/content/view/196/1/

Total worth watching.     Thanks, gm2.

[Speeddog]

Even if SuperPole times are slower (due to rain), they still determine the grid, right?

[derby]

Even if SuperPole times are slower (due to rain), they still determine the grid, right?

yup...

well, the top 20 positions, anyway. 

[Speeddog]

How well does Ben do in the rain?

[gm2]

how well does ben do everywhere?

...but yeah, he hasn't had much time in the rain on that bike yet.

[derby]

how well does ben do everywhere?

...but yeah, he hasn't had much time in the rain on that bike yet.

about as much time as haga has had in the rain on the duc. 

that said, does anybody remember how well ben goes in a hurricane?

[derby]

http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/news/148601/1/q1_times_stand_as_rain_arrives_at_misano.html

Superpole up next...

[derby]

Superpole Results

1 96 Smrz J CZE Ducati 1098R
2 65 Rea J GBR Honda CBR1000RR
3 19 Spies B USA Yamaha YZF R1
4 84 Fabrizio M ITA Ducati 1098R
5 67 Byrne S GBR Ducati 1098R 
6 41 Haga N JPN Ducati 1098R
7 7 Checa C ESP Honda CBR1000RR
8 9 Kiyonari R JPN Honda CBR1000RR
9 3 Biaggi M ITA Aprilia RSV4 Factory 
10 91 Haslam L GBR Honda CBR1000RR 
11 10 Nieto F ESP Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 
12 56 Nakano S JPN Aprilia RSV4 Factory 
13 71 Kagayama Y JPN Suzuki GSX-R 1000 K9 
14 66 Sykes T GBR Yamaha YZF R1 
15 11 Corser T AUS BMW S1000 RR 
16 57 Lanzi L ITA Ducati 1098R
17 36 Lavilla G ESP Ducati 1098R     
18 111 Xaus R ESP BMW S1000 RR     
19 23 Parkes B AUS Kawasaki ZX 10R     
20 2 Hacking J USA Kawasaki ZX 10R

[gm2]

no one told me colin was back in wsbk!

[Spidey]

Smrz seems to have yet again proven he is fast for one lap.

Shakey seems to have forgotten that he sucks donkey balls. 

Rea seems found out what Haslam and Stiggy have known all season:  the Ohlins is the better.

Ducati seems to have killed the competition.  Four ducs in the top 6?  Yowza. 

Kawi seems intent on continuing its WSBK streak of sucking.

BTW, there is a *really* interesting discussion in that OTT video gm2 posted about Yami v. Duc reliability.  Basically, they say that the factory and privateer ducs are so close to the production 1098R, that they're more reliable.  In contrast, the Yamis are--other than the engine--one-off, hand-built bikes (not *really* factory bikes per se), which in turn leads to more reliability problems. 

no one told me colin was back in wsbk!

 

Do I get any points for calling that Ben wasn't gonna get on pole, even if I was wrong about the usurper?  Anything?  A cookie, mebbe?   

[derby]

Do I get any points for calling that Ben wasn't gonna get on pole, even if I was wrong about the usurper?  Anything?  A cookie, mebbe?   

you have a PM...

[gm2]

BTW, there is a *really* interesting discussion in that OTT video gm2 posted about Yami v. Duc reliability.  Basically, they say that the factory and privateer ducs are so close to the production 1098R, that they're more reliable.  In contrast, the Yamis are--other than the engine--one-off, hand-built bikes (not *really* factory bikes per se), which in turn leads to more reliability problems. 

on the other hand, while they are starting to figure them out in the AMA, look at the performance of the WSBK R1 compared to the AMA R1.

actually, never mind.  that's a valid point but it's not.  the modification rules in the Edmondson Cup are so totally different now that you can't draw a comparison to a WSBK machine without 100 caveats.

interesting thing also is that the 2008 AMA R1s were actually from the Milan WSBK team/factory.  and while they didn't exactly set the world on fire in the states, Ben did get on Nori's '08 machine the day after Portimao and with almost no changes he went podium-fast.  he got off that bike and said something to the effect of, 'those bikes should have been winning [in the AMA] all year.'

so basically, the '08 AMA R1 could have theoretically kept up with ben and mat... if they hadn't been ridden by eboz and disalvo.  that, and the '09 AMA R1 needs to have it's gas tank relocated.  ..which was the same situation the '08 ZX-10R was in; as soon as they moved the fuel load, jamie starting doing impressive things.

therefore, all race bikes need to have frame-spar or centered fuel storage.

/stream of consciousness. 


edit: besides, how many actual reliability problems has ben's bike had?  if you don't count running out of fuel, i can only think of one: a broken shifter.  am i forgetting something?