Currently leading the World Superbike championship in his first season, Ben Spies has shown an uncanny ability to be instantly competitive at racetracks he’s never even seen before. I tipped him back before the 2009 season started and he looks like he might go on bring home the silverware. An instant force on the world scene, he’s a dead cert for MotoGP, whether it’s 2010 or 2011, where it’d be awesome to watch him take on the Doctor.
But how does he learn racetracks so damn fast? He’s beating some of the best riders in the world, guys who have raced these tracks often enough to know all their ins and outs. Well, finally we know. He explains all in the video below:
I’ll be taking his advice next time I head to the Island for a trackday. Riding a kitten, eh?
Huge lean angles, powerslides and impressive power wheelies; these radio controlled motorcycle racers are absolutely stunning to watch as they do battle round what I presume is a go-kart track. Get involved at the British Radio Car Association website if you’re interested.
American Ben Spies didn’t get a great start into race 2, edged out by a barnstorming Max Biaggi into turn one. Steaming into the long, looping left hander at Phillip Island’s turn 2, he must have been thinking about the disaster that happened to him here in the first race, getting pushed out wide and off the track. But if we expected Spies to go easy and find a rhythm before attacking, we were looking at the wrong guy. Nobody goes around the outside at turn 2, especially not around a rider like Max Biaggi - nobody but Spies. He went the long way around the Roman Emperor and made it stick.
Biaggi might have been maintaining an impressive pace to hold second through lap 2, but race 1 winner and last year’s runner-up Noriyuki Haga was on a furious charge to the front. Nori had no luck in qualifying, but loves a race day - and by the end of lap 2 he’d dispatched no less than 10 riders to get behind Biaggi. Haga took less than a single lap to barge past Max Biaggi to set up the race we’ve been dying to watch - a high-speed mano a mano with rookie Spies. (more…)
Nitro Nori can always be relied upon to provide an entertaining race - and in the first race of the 2009 World Superbike series, the Japanese superstar pulled out a stunning charge from 13th on the grid to beat Max Neukirchner (who started from 14th) by just 32/1000ths of a second in a last-lap scrap that set the tone for 2009.
American Ben Spies, whose impressive qualifying performance led many (including us) to back him for a race win here today, got a harsh welcome to the international stage. He was muscled off the track in the second turn of the race, ran right out to the fence at Southern Loop, and despite an impressive effort keeping his Yamaha R1 upright in the sand trap, rejoined the race in last place. He put on some speed through the race, but only managed to finish 16th, out of the points and wondering what else he could have done. (more…)
We’d never have picked it, but Texan Ben Spies exploded into a clear pole position with a lap time of 1′31.069 in his first World Superbike race meet - at a track he’s never ridden before. What a debut! Aprilia’s Max Biaggi stunned by whipping his RSV4 straight into second place on the grid, and English Honda rider Jonny Rea was left shaking his head in third after looking all day like the man to beat.
The brutal Superpole format knocked out some big names early, with Nori Haga exiting after a disappointing second session and ending up with a fourth row start in 13th position. Troy Corser was another surprise second-session knockout - it was later revealed that Team BMW had assumed that Corser would make it through into the final eight on race tyres and not qualifiers; big mistake - Corser, the most experienced rider in the SBK paddock and winner of more Superpoles than anyone in the sport, will have to start tomorrow’s races from a disastrous 17th on the grid. (more…)
Phillip Island Superbike qualifying session 2 highlighted how unpredictable and exciting this series is looking in 2009. Jonny Rea, who was nowhere to be seen in yesterday’s session, ended up taking the top spot by two tenths of a second from Max Biaggi. For the brand-new Aprilia RSV4 to be so competitive in its first race meeting is a truly impressive development feat. Troy Corser also put in a flyer on his BMW S1000RR, another brand new bike with a brand new team - he finished with the 5th best time.
To illustrate how competitive this class is, the entire top 20, which will go through to knockout superpole, were covered by just one second.
Jakub Smrz’s best time from yesterday was enough to leave him third in overall standings, but the Czech Ducati rider languished well down the timesheet today in 21st place. Nori Haga managed to knock a couple of tenths off his best effort from yesterday to stay in 4th.
Ben Spies is looming in an ominous 7th place going into the Superpole knockout sessions this afternoon, with Fabrizio, Laconi, Sykes and Neukirchner rounding out the top 10. Shakey Byrne worked his way up to 14th, but is still not looking too dangerous.
WSBK Qualifying Practice times (combined QP1 and QP2)
1. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.161s
2. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 32.306s
3. Jakub Smrz CZE Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 32.312s
4. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 32.377s
5. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 32.397s
6. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1098R 1min 32.491s
7. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Italia YZF R1 1min 32.500s
8. Regis Laconi FRA DFX Corse Ducati 1098R 1min 32.508s
9. Tom Sykes GBR Yamaha Italia YZF R1 1min 32.509s
10. Max Neukirchner GER Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 32.525s
11. Ryuichi Kiyonari JPN Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.602s
12. Leon Haslam GBR Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.623s
13. Yukio Kagayama JPN Alstare Suzuki GSX-R 1000K9 1min 32.704s
14. Shane Byrne GBR Sterilgarda Ducati 1098R 1min 32.708s
15. Tommy Hill GBR HANNspree Althea Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.884s
16. Shinya Nakano JPN Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 32.947s
17. Carlos Checa ESP HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.992s
18. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 33.055s
19. Roberto Rolfo ITA Stiggy Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 1min 33.055s
20. Broc Parkes AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-0R 1min 33.104s
21. Brendan Roberts AUS Guandalini Racing Ducati 1098R 1min 33.588s
22. Makoto Tamada JPN Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 33.709s
23. Ayrton Badovini ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 34.174s
24. David Salom ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 34.194s
25. Karl Muggeridge AUS Celani Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 34.341s
26. Luca Scassa ITA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 34.390s
27. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1mins 35.767s
28. Matteo Baiocco ITA PSG-1 Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 36.363s
If the qualifying sessions have been any indication, the race is just about anyone’s at this point - don’t miss the race tomorrow, it’ll be a beauty!
In the meanwhile, enjoy these big-res photos from pit lane. Click through any of theSuperbike is a much nicer event to cover than MotoGP.
In the first qualifying session of the 2009 WSBK season at Phillip Island, Australia, it was Czech rider Jkub Smrz from team Guandalini Ducati, that took the top spot with a dashing last-minute flyer. Nitro Nori Haga had put himself on top of the table seconds earlier, but was relegated to second by Smrz’s surprise lap.
A good spread of bikes filled out the top 10, wth Ducatis 1st, 2nd and 7th, Leon Haslam’s Honda in 3rd, Suzukis in 4th and 5th, Team Yamaha coming in 8th and 9th, and a surprise Aprilia in 6th spot, piloted by Shinya Nakano - showing that the Aprilia team might be getting their bike together quicker than expected.
So Valentino Rossi turned 30 yesterday. He’s arguably the greatest racer of all time - and I’m not sure who’s arguing any more. Rossi’s 8 World Championships and 71 race wins (and counting, on both) put him in a class of his own, towering above other greats of the modern era and even eclipsing the great Giacomo Agostini’s huge achievements of the 1960s and 70s.
At 30, Rossi is the fourth oldest rider in the MotoGP paddock for 2009 - behind Capirossi and Gibernau at 37, and Colin Edwards at 35. But at what point do great champions go past their use-by date?
The oldest rider ever to take a 500cc world championship was Leslie Graham, who took the inaugural 1949 GP crown at the age of 38 - clearly an anomaly. Phil Read managed a title in 1974 at the age of 35. Giacomo Agostini and Mick Doohan, both untouchable legends of their day, won their last championships at the age of 33 - and Wayne Rainey was 32 when he took his last title in 1992.
Rossi has proven himself the equal of all these men, but faces incredibly tough competition in 2009 that will only strengthen into the next decade. Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo are lightning-fast race winners and have shown little respect for Rossi’s seniority in their short time in the top tier of motorcycle racing. They will continue to make every step a struggle as Rossi strives to write more records into the history books. Rossi has spent his life at the outer reaches of the bell curve - how long can he keep the fire in his belly to stay at the top of motorcycle racing?
There’s no doubt those of us who have watched GP over the last decade have been witness to something truly amazing - a champion of warmth and humour, of dazzling skill, showmanship, determination and a true love for motorcycling and the heat of battle. He’s the Michael Jordan of motorcycle racing - his sheer force of personality transcending the sport itself - and although his career must one day come to a close, we can be certain that #46 still has plenty of surprises left in store for us. Happy birthday, Vale!
Here’s a selection of touching birthday wishes from Valentino’s colleagues, friends and family: (more…)
Regular readers will know I’ve been going on a bit about the 2009 WSBK season - I think it’s with good reason! Entirely new teams from BMW and Aprilia, a new Yamaha R1 with a wacky crossplane crankshaft, a power vacuum since Bayliss departed, and a bunch of new superstars like Shakey Byrne, Ben Spies, Tom Sykes, Leon Haslam and Jonny Rea to do battle with SBK veterans like Haga, Biaggi, Corser and Kagayama, most of whom have changed rides for 2009.
SBK’s mix of technology, personalities, skills, egos, close racing and hard fighting is set to explode in a big way. Our full 2009 World Superbike preview, including teams, early test results, bike reviews, new rules and season predictions is hosted over at Gizmag. One thing seems certain: the racing’s gonna be better than it is in MotoGP.
There’s a bunch of photos after the jump, showing early test results and a peek under the tank of Troy Corser’s brand-spankers BMW S1000RR, with mysterious new valve technology we’re all wondering about. (more…)
After another shocker of a season in 2008, and under financial pressure after the global economic crisis, it seems Kawasaki have decided it’s not worth $30 million to prove that the green bike is the slowest on the grid. An announcement is expected within a week that the Kawasaki MotoGP team will not show up on the grid for 2009.
Two big rule changes in the last decade (the move to the 990cc and then 800cc four-strokes) have made the prototype class incredibly expensive for factories to participate in, as well as completely decimating non-factory participation. Worse still, the difference between fielding a bike and getting something competitive on the grid is enormous - Randy Mamola mused to us in September of how Kawasaki and Fiat Yamaha both had their crankcases manufactured at the same plant - but Rossi’s unit cost ten times as much as the Kwaka solution. (more…)
