TopRaz is staying put, according to Eurosport France. Kawasaki engineer Fabien Roleau (sp?) is a guest during the broadcast for a session or two every WSBK weekend and gives those guys a lot of information. During the Laguna Seca weekend, they were saying that he turned down of the seat on the factory team and said he would rather stay with his current team as long as they give him the same equipment as the factory team.
Ahh, the beauty of silly season! Kenan Sofuoglu's statements directly contradict what was said on Eurosport. "Toprak will race in the factory team of Kawasaki or Yamaha in 2020," assures his manager Kenan Sofuoglu.
And now for the English translation of the article. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=https://www.speedweek.com/sbk/news/146233/Yamaha-Muss-Lowes-fuer-Razgatlioglu-Platz-machen.html&sandbox=1 Another interesting quote in the article "Double US champion Cameron Beaubier is also aiming for the Superbike World Championship as Yamaha expects the factory team in MotoAmerica to lock up after this season."
Unfortunately Leon Haslam is just like his dad. A good fast rider but not quite good enough to win a championship on the world stage.
I didn’t want to get flamed for saying that but yes, 100% agree. He seems to not be able to deal with the world stuff. No idea if it’s the travel, not be surrounded by more of his people, competition and he loses confidence or what. When his heads right he’s fast, very fast but then crumbles. I honestly think his dad should’ve stepped back 6-7 years ago. One part of me admires him as a father but he may need a different coach and Ron needs to have DAD on his shirts and not Ron- if you know what I mean.
I'm still betting on bikes. I just can't see Abraham sticking around another year. My other bet in this post on who gets a bike: Marquez 2.
Marquez is staying in Moto2. No reason for him to go go GP on uncompetitive machinery. I think Abraham will stay put. He's one of the few that will actually take/pay the seat and not mind fighting with KTM in the back.
Do not see any particular why Abraham would move out now (as opposed to anytime before).... Unless dad's finances have changed. (Not a particular dig at him, just the blunt reality)
I'm thinking Abraham is staying put. Avintia needs the cash and I don't think there are many with deep enough pockets to force themselves into MotoGP to replace him. Also, Dorna has the luxury of not needing teams that are on financial life support, so they probably shouldn't draw that extra attention by replacing one pay-rider with another. Come 2021 contracts, all bets are off.
Rumors of Gollum Rabat going to wsbk. I'm ok with that. Dude can ride, just not so well in MotoGP. And since Bautista hasn't signed anything...
AB waiting on Honda to prove that they are coming out with a new bike that will be competitive. Not sure why he would bother switching this year instead of next year.
Bautista is in the driver's seat. If Honda proves a new bike is coming then he'll take the money and run. Ducati should promote Redding who's been kicking a$$ instead of Rabat. Rabat is one more big crash from retirement after his last big off.