World SBK ROUND 04 | Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round | 10 - 12 JUN

Just because he's Japanese?

 

Yes.

It's been discussed that they want a Japanese rider on a japanese bike, and they want them riding at the front. And that Nozane's nationality and sponsorship dollars may be why his ride may be more secure than Gerloff's.

But if Nakagami is available, his nationality removes the advantage from Nozane and then the rider with the best results/projected performance gets the nod.

Just the rambling thoughts of some guy on the internet.

Does him being Japanese not have any bearing on the decision making?

 

There are millions of Japanese males between the ages of 20 and 40. I was wondering why him in particular. Has Yamaha expressed interest? Has he expressed interest in superbikes? Do you know that he would prefer to go back and race in Japan? Have you thought of any factors at all beyond his nationality? That last question was rhetorical.

 

Just caught up on Sundays races. Felt good for GG31 after the superpole race. Bummed for him after race 2. We're still pulling for you, let's get 'em at the next round.

 

Only reason I'm musing about him in particular is that he is a high profile, very fast, Japanese rider and there has been some discussions about the security of his LCR seat. There has been plenty of transition from MotoGP to WSBK lately and if he became available, I was curious if that was a move that could reasonably happen. That's all.

So I guess it's me thinking about his availability, speed, nationality...

Edit: same as playing the guessing game for GP seats knowing that being a fast Italian may help with getting an Aprilia or Ducati seat. Same reason the potential replacements for him at LCR have been Asian riders. I didnt mean to make it sound dirty, or...

 

Well, I've seen more Japanese racers go from the GPs back to Japan than to WSBK. If I was making wild-ass guesses, my first thought would be a cushy factory ride with Honda in the domestic championship with yearly Suzuka 8 Hours appearances and MotoGP testing duties. Being that far away from home is not easy and it seems that to a lot of Japanese racers, it's only worth doing for GPs.

 

A history or Japanese riders going back to domestic series instead of another international one is one that I didnt know of to take into consideration. But it does make sense. In my experiences with Asian cultures they are much more grounded in family ties than western culture, so that makes sense. He's fast enough for a development and testing role too so that seems like it could be a possibility too.

Im pretty excited to see how all of the seats and signings work out, especially with the absence of Suzuki creating a more riders than seats scenario.

Or maybe it'll be like the last signing season where we get excited about the potential musical chairs and how that can affect the racing...only for everyone to pretty much stay put with very little change.

 

The announcers sure like to shit on Gerloff. It’s not like Nozane has done shit on that bike either.

 

Well, it’s reportedly the same bike as Toprak and Locatelli. I don’t think its the bike. GG needs to reset the piece between the ears. I’ll defer to an expert on how to best do that. He doesn't make normal passes and doesn’t seem to have the same speed when it counts. That leads this internet fan to believe he’s still focusing on what not to do as opposed to focusing on what to do. No way to live as a racer. I’d like to see him go out with others in earlier practices to get comfortable being near others and making passes. And yes, he still deserves a ride based on performance far more than Nozane.

 

Woke post.

 

I don’t think GG will ever get back to his old form while he’s with Yamaha. Whatever the hell they said to him after he took out Toprak did a real number on him.

 

Do you think he needs out of yamaha and go to a team that will let him race? I think he has a lot more to do in WSBK and he can do it. How many years are on his current contract?

 

This is his last year I think. If Yamaha don’t retain him, someone in that paddock will. Maybe that’s a good thing for him.

 

im thinking the same thing if he leaves yamaha. i wasnt sure when his contract was up

 

I absolutely think GG needs to go to another team. Part of an entire mental reset. The problem is, which team that has a good bike?

 

Supersport had the best racing this weekend.

 

Stanboli gets bored with the Yurupeans trying to invade the US, so he decides to invade Yurup by fielding a team in WSBK with Gagne and Gerloff.

One can dream…

 

Gagne had his chance lest we forget.

 

I feel for Garrett.

Commentators/Journo's/pundits are on him more than Nozane because they know he has more speed and has shown way more potential. He's just not right in the head for some reason that nobody including GG himself can understand I'm sure.

He's out next year for sure as Aegerter will take his seat and if Kota gets the boot as well then I agree that Taka or Remy Gardner would be a great score for GRT over retaining Garrett at this point.

 

He needs to recognize that the only way out is to not care and ride hard. He’s out either way.