WSB Qatar (Superpole Spoiler)

T3 wrote:
> On 2008-02-22 12:15:19 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond.TakeThisOut@voidstar.com> said:
>
>> Where are the Hondas? Shot in the foot because they got the bikes so
>> late.
>
> Their showing doesn't bode well for Hodgy and Miggy either...
>
possibly true, but how much correlation has the WSB hondas and AMA hondas
had the past few years?

Bruce
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On 2008-02-22 16:31:35 -0500, Bruce Hartweg <doNOTuse RemoveThis @nowhere.com> said:

> T3 wrote:
>> On 2008-02-22 12:15:19 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond RemoveThis @voidstar.com> said:
>>
>>> Where are the Hondas? Shot in the foot because they got the bikes so late.
>>
>> Their showing doesn't bode well for Hodgy and Miggy either...
>>
> possibly true, but how much correlation has the WSB hondas and AMA hondas
> had the past few years?

I thought TK had done pretty well with them and given how much
effort($) Duc makes in that series, that says something to me. So, if
he doesn't stack-up any better than that with riders that are
(arguably;-) not quite the caliber of Ben and Mat, then Hodgy and Miggy
could have a(nother) loooong season..
Remember, this is the new double secret Fireblade and I just was hoping
it would show better out of the box, or, at the very least, HRC
would've supplied something 1/2 way race ready. Guess not..
Beyond that there's not much more to see at this point, but given
they're up against a bigger, meaner and more than likely, sandbaggin'
Duc, not to mention a refined R-1, they and probably Honda US could be
sukin' hind teat this year. I hope not, but we'll see...
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T3 wrote:
> On 2008-02-22 16:31:35 -0500, Bruce Hartweg <doNOTuse.TakeThisOut@nowhere.com> said:
>
>> T3 wrote:
>>> On 2008-02-22 12:15:19 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond.TakeThisOut@voidstar.com>
>>> said:
>>>
>>>> Where are the Hondas? Shot in the foot because they got the bikes so
>>>> late.
>>>
>>> Their showing doesn't bode well for Hodgy and Miggy either...
>>>
>> possibly true, but how much correlation has the WSB hondas and AMA hondas
>> had the past few years?
>
> I thought TK had done pretty well with them and given how much effort($)
> Duc makes in that series, that says something to me. So, if he doesn't
> stack-up any better than that with riders that are (arguably;-) not
> quite the caliber of Ben and Mat, then Hodgy and Miggy could have
> a(nother) loooong season..
> Remember, this is the new double secret Fireblade and I just was hoping
> it would show better out of the box, or, at the very least, HRC would've
> supplied something 1/2 way race ready. Guess not..
> Beyond that there's not much more to see at this point, but given
> they're up against a bigger, meaner and more than likely, sandbaggin'
> Duc, not to mention a refined R-1, they and probably Honda US could be
> sukin' hind teat this year. I hope not, but we'll see...
>
TK does great with the 600s, and did well on the lite bikes with
toseland (and vermulen) - with lesser riders like muggers and rolfo
they were back in the pack - a good package but not dominating on its'
own. so you are comparing the competitors to ben & mat, but there is
also the comparison of checa & sofoglu to miguel & hodgson. Sofoglu
looked good last year on the ssport, (but so did muggeridge back in the
day) but that was on a clearly superior bike for the most part, so
it is yet to be seen if he can run with the big boys - last years TK
wins were in a big part to JT riding like a demon. Then you have the
latest motogp senior - how will he adjust to different team, bikes.

So just because they aren't on top in WSB doesn't mean that HondaUS
and the experience of the riders might not fair better in AMA. Now
until we see something I'm afraid the 2 yosh boys are going to run
away again, but i hope not.

Bruce
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On 2008-02-22 18:31:09 -0500, Bruce Hartweg <doNOTuse DeleteThis @nowhere.com> said:

>> we'll see...
>>
> TK does great with the 600s, and did well on the lite bikes with
> toseland (and vermulen) - with lesser riders like muggers and rolfo
> they were back in the pack - a good package but not dominating on its'
> own. so you are comparing the competitors to ben & mat, but there is
> also the comparison of checa & sofoglu to miguel & hodgson. Sofoglu
> looked good last year on the ssport, (but so did muggeridge back in the
> day) but that was on a clearly superior bike for the most part, so
> it is yet to be seen if he can run with the big boys - last years TK
> wins were in a big part to JT riding like a demon. Then you have the
> latest motogp senior - how will he adjust to different team, bikes.

TBH I really don't have, or get much exposure to WSB, but I thought TK
was doing pretty good compared to Honda US in the last few years..
>
> So just because they aren't on top in WSB doesn't mean that HondaUS
> and the experience of the riders might not fair better in AMA. Now
> until we see something I'm afraid the 2 yosh boys are going to run
> away again, but i hope not.

I hear ya'...
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Bruce Hartweg <doNOTuse RemoveThis @nowhere.com> Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:31:35
>possibly true, but how much correlation has the WSB hondas and AMA
>hondas
>had the past few years?

Well Ten Kate and Honda US got the bikes at about the same time. Because
of the hands off HRC involvement, they're going through exactly parallel
development. Ten Kate have been using Roberts to build swing arms, and
they can move very quickly, so the first stage was race suspension,
wheels and brakes and to start with that's straight forwards. Ten Kate
have huge experience building engines. But then you get to the
electronics and fine tuning and that's where the money goes on testing
and track time.

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Yeehaaa! What a great 1st race. It's going to be a kick ass season in
WSB.

Checa brings it home 7th, 9 seconds back. Not too shabby, but not race
winning either.

Oh Haga. What are you doing?

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On 2008-02-23 05:20:22 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond RemoveThis @voidstar.com> said:

> Yeehaaa! What a great 1st race. It's going to be a kick ass season in WSB.
>

Especially if you're a Ducatista! Anyway you look at it that was one
hell of a debut for a new bike...
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T3 <notme.TakeThisOut@nowhere.net> Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:46:17
>On 2008-02-23 05:20:22 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond.TakeThisOut@voidstar.com> said:
>
>> Yeehaaa! What a great 1st race. It's going to be a kick ass season in WSB.
>
>Especially if you're a Ducatista! Anyway you look at it that was one
>hell of a debut for a new bike...

Looks like lots of people made bad tyre choices in the second race. Or
was that Pirelli inconsistency?

Any bets on Ducati getting the extra weight penalty for the fourth race
weekend?

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On 2008-02-24 00:16:30 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond.DeleteThis@voidstar.com> said:

> T3 <notme.DeleteThis@nowhere.net> Sat, 23 Feb 2008 10:46:17
>> On 2008-02-23 05:20:22 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond.DeleteThis@voidstar.com> said:
>>
>>> Yeehaaa! What a great 1st race. It's going to be a kick ass season in WSB.
>>
>> Especially if you're a Ducatista! Anyway you look at it that was one
>> hell of a debut for a new bike...
>
> Looks like lots of people made bad tyre choices in the second race. Or
> was that Pirelli inconsistency?
>
> Any bets on Ducati getting the extra weight penalty for the fourth race
> weekend?

I haven't seen the races yet, but from the looks of how they mobbed the
box maybe they'll make them run a biposto and haul a passenger...
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T3 <notme RemoveThis @nowhere.net> Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:35:00
>I haven't seen the races yet, but from the looks of how they mobbed the
>box maybe they'll make them run a biposto and haul a passenger...

Despite that, check out the Suzuki just motoring past them on the
straight. And Corser and Haga easily able to hold them at bay until the
tyres went off. And then there's the riders. Bayliss, Biaggi and Xaus
are the equal of anyone else out there.

I think right now it's all good. 4 Ducatis, 2 Suzukis, 2 Yamahas and the
Hondas will be up with them soon. And the racing's close. What more can
you want? A Kawasaki?

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On 2008-02-24 12:08:17 -0500, Julian Bond <julian_bond DeleteThis @voidstar.com> said:

> T3 <notme DeleteThis @nowhere.net> Sun, 24 Feb 2008 10:35:00
>> I haven't seen the races yet, but from the looks of how they mobbed the
>> box maybe they'll make them run a biposto and haul a passenger...
>
> Despite that, check out the Suzuki just motoring past them on the
> straight. And Corser and Haga easily able to hold them at bay until the
> tyres went off.

And the tires went off because they had to run softer one's to keep up
with the Duc's?

> And then there's the riders. Bayliss, Biaggi and Xaus are the equal of
> anyone else out there.

Bayliss maybe, the rest, I dunno'..

>
> I think right now it's all good. 4 Ducatis, 2 Suzukis, 2 Yamahas and
> the Hondas will be up with them soon. And the racing's close. What more
> can you want? A Kawasaki?

Uhh, a series without a spec tire that doesn't kow down to Ducati? Heh,
what's gonna happen when Aprilia starts with their new v-4? Will it be
a conflict of Dago's?
All that BS said and obnoxious Limey commentators aside, not bad races,
I'm just sooo glad Speedweek starts Friday..
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On Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:57:34 -0500, T3 <notme DeleteThis @nowhere.net> wrote:

>All that BS said and obnoxious Limey commentators aside, not bad races,

Those guys drive me nuts. I'm sure the fans on the other side of the
pond and down under love them but to my Ugly American ears they are
fingernails on a chalkboard, and so Anglo/Aussie-centric in their
sympathies as to be almost embarrassing. Compared to the almost
boringly analytical way the US guys call the AMA races their
screeching and caterwauling comes off as very unprofessional to my
taste, but I guess it pays to remember that in AMA it's almost all
Americans, though 2 of the main stars are an Aussie and Canuck and you
never get the sense that they are being rooted against, per se. Last
couple of years they've been hot for Spies but I think that's more
because he's a child and a relative newbie who's beating up on the old
guys than because he's a Texan and Mladin's an Aussie. Get rid of Greg
White and his stupid questions and it's a pretty professional
organization.

>I'm just sooo glad Speedweek starts Friday..

I wish I was going this year but can't make it. Hoping for Barber or
Road Atlanta but only time will tell. I'm suppsoed to get a bonus
check near the end of April and my wife has already said she thinks I
deserve a trip this year, so I got the honey-do green light, anyway.
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On 2008-02-25 01:09:28 -0500, Russell Watson <russell-watson.RemoveThis@comcast.net> said:

>> I'm just sooo glad Speedweek starts Friday..
>
> I wish I was going this year but can't make it. Hoping for Barber or
> Road Atlanta but only time will tell. I'm suppsoed to get a bonus
> check near the end of April and my wife has already said she thinks I
> deserve a trip this year, so I got the honey-do green light, anyway.

Between the HotShoes, Daytona and the Gatornationals I'll need a month
of "fiscal replenishment" before Barber, beyond those, I gotta figure
out how find the buck$ for Indy...
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