2010 Silly Season

[DanTheMan]

he's nowhere near the racer Rossi is....yet.

I think he's as good against the rest of the current field or good enough to beat them, just not rossi.....yet

[gm2]

These renewed rumors re Spies in 2010 make me happy again.   

http://www.crash.net/motogp/interview/152107/1/exclusive_herve_poncharal_tech_3_motogp_-_qa.html

Crash.net:
Is there any chance of Ben Spies being on the bike next year?

Herve Poncharal:
That is a question I absolutely cannot answer! I would like to, but I have got no relationship with Ben. Ben has signed a contract with Yamaha Japan for the next two seasons. This we know for sure and on the release we saw 2010 Superbike and 2011 MotoGP. I guess there is a small theoretical possibility he could be here if the second seat is still open, but that would be a decision for Yamaha and Ben together. Not me.

[Spidey]

Herve is starting to sound like Yamaha's butt-boy -- "whatever Yamaha tells me is going to happen with my team, that's what I do."   It's looking more and more like Ben's deal is not simply WSBK 2010 and MotoGP 2011.  I'd given up on the earlier speculation of a 2010 jump to MotoGP if he wins the WSBK title, but that's starting to sound feasible again.

If he goes to GP, who gets the Yammie WSBK rides of Spies and Sykes?  Rea and Camier?  Rea either needs a factory WSBK ride or a Moto2 ride. 

P.S.  I still like Haslam's fiance's boobies and want him to get back to his beginning-of-the-season form so that I can see her on TV more. 

[DanTheMan]

  Rea either needs a factory WSBK ride or a Moto2 ride. 

Arent the hanspree hondas factory?

[Spidey]

Arent the hanspree hondas factory?

Kinda.  I don't think they're factory-factory, whatever that means.  Derbipedia will know the specifics. 

[EvilSteve]

AFAIK, other than Ducati, there are no Factory teams in WSBK. Factory teams are owned, and operated by the factory. In the case of some of the teams, they have substantial factory support in terms of cash & development but aren't run by the factory. Ten Kate is a good example, they're heavily factory supported but the owners of the team, the people who run it every day aren't employees of Honda.

[gm2]

actually the ten kate bikes are basically bikes off the showroom floor, built up by ten kate.  they of course have a relationship with honda but much less so than, say, yamaha.

they've been saying/marveling for years with all the ten kate winning going on how, theoretically, anyone could go out and build their bike.


the yamaha team is a factory team, run out of milan.  but the bike itself is basically all milan, minus the engine.  so i don't know what to call that one.  i guess that means yamaha pays the bills and lets them mostly do what they want.

[zooom]

AFAIK, other than Ducati, there are no Factory teams in WSBK. Factory teams are owned, and operated by the factory. In the case of some of the teams, they have substantial factory support in terms of cash & development but aren't run by the factory. Ten Kate is a good example, they're heavily factory supported but the owners of the team, the people who run it every day aren't employees of Honda.

other examples...

The Alstare Suzuki's of Francis Batta..
the HM Plant Honda's...
Airwaves Yamaha...
Corona Honda...
and the list goes on....

[Spidey]

Hopper's out for the rest of '09 with head trauma (which we all knew he had after listening to him butcher his native tongue for the last twenty sumptin' years).  If he's lucky, he'll be on a Buell in 2010.  

http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/news/152197/1/hopkins_suffers_head_trauma_out_for_season.html

[EvilSteve]

On a Buell? Haven't heard that one. Is the AMA/DMG going to a single make series or something?

[gm2]

first of no doubt dozens of articles about Silly Season 2011, aka What Will Rossi Do?

http://superbikeplanet.com/2009/Sep/090914rossi.htm

[GregP]

Hopper's out for the rest of '09 with head trauma (which we all knew he had after listening to him butcher his native tongue for the last twenty sumptin' years).  If he's lucky, he'll be on a Buell in 2010.  

http://www.crash.net/world+superbikes/news/152197/1/hopkins_suffers_head_trauma_out_for_season.html

Dang, that kid has had a serious run of bad luck.  I'm not a Hopper fan but he seems to be in a serious downward career spiral. I feel bad for the guy. 

He might be working as an instructor at a local track day pretty soon if this keeps up!!

[tufty]

Is the AMA/DMG going to a single make series or something?

No but Buell 1125's will be eligible for the new AMA Pro 450 class.

[mitt]

No but Buell 1125's will be eligible for the new AMA Pro 450 class.

    

[EvilSteve]

No but Buell 1125's will be eligible for the new AMA Pro 450 class.

It'll be amusing watching the Ford Taurus "pace car" take those jumps though.