Word on the street is that Corti and the Aprilia/HSBK Squad will be running the Laguna Seca WSBK round as a wildcard. If they show up and put the Milwaukee boys to shame, there might be some serious issues...
thats ALOT of power. Like GP bike territory on just NA air & gas. Maybe 210 @ the tire with ~90+ ft lbs... The super bikes arent really that "sooper". Stock motor parts except rods & cams.
Pretty sure they buy everything. Not sure if they get anymore then the typical discount but seems they don't get any special help.
Bobby Fong always seems to be decked out in all Kawasaki gear, so I can't imagine that they aren't getting ANY help from Kawasaki. It doesn't have to be full on factory support, but I assume that there is something in it for his team.
Perhaps he is hoping/trying to get support, and is decked out in that gear as a "look what I am already doing" sorta thing. I don't know. But they specifically said during the broadcast that the team didn't receive any help from Kawi (but were trying to get some).
If I had to guess, I'd say the Superbikes are in the 210-220 range depending on the bike and dyno. Keep in mind they aren't running U4 or MR12. The Sunoco is good fuel, meaning the quality is good...but it doesn't make the HP the rocket fuels from VP make.
That hat he was wearing after race one almost looked like "Kawasaki" was colored in with marker so it wouldn't show up.
The team has Kawasaki across their shirts but Bobby himself has very little if any Kawasaki branding on his leathers. There is a Kawasaki across his outer thigh that when sitting on the bike runs parallel to the bike. Bit other than this it's really hard to see any Kawasaki branding on him or on the bike.
If I'm a title/supporting/personal sponsor that is stroking a fairly large check, and my rider is wearing this in an interview for absolutely nothing in return, I'm going to be pissed. Why would Kawasaki buy the cow if they're getting the milk for free? Who was it a few years ago that wasn't getting any support from Yamaha, so they just ran an all black livery on their R6 with absolutely no branding? P1A?
It really doesn't look like a team that is receiving sponsorship from Kawasaki LTD. Wearing an off the shelf Kawasaki and jacket and hat is one thing and I agree, if they are not getting any support, ditch the jacket and hat. Having minimal Kawasaki branding on the bike and on your leathers is a pretty good indication of the support, or lack of, the team is getting.
I just heard Roger Hayden on 100.5 her in Atlanta and he was funny as hell! Not sure if they have a replay on their site but everyone should check out out. Said he wanted to be a horse jockey when he was a kid but after his sister got thrown he thought they were to dangerous and decided to ride bikes like his brothers, and he couldn't stay under 100lbs lol
Yes. No Yamaha logos at all because Yamaha offered no help. There was some tension there and the obvious lack of logos was an FU.
Why run anyone's logo if they are not helping pay the bills? That is something I never understood about a lot of lower tier racers in cars too. You always see guys in street stock cars with monster logos and other stuff like that. They are not getting a dime for it (actually the decal cost them money) but they proudly run it.
One thing about Fong and the Kawasaki branding, just a bit of advice. Don't wear a black baseball hat with black Kawasaki stitching, it does not show up at all on TV. We were watching the podium for the 600s and Sam said "Hey, there's JU." "How would you know JU?" "The big ass hat, dumbass, I read the BBS."