Well, if he does go, I can say that WSB will be all but dead. The premier rider in the series will be who? Xaus? He rarely even finishes a race... http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/motorbikes/3083721.stm
it also says Ducati is waving a big contract in front of Rossi's face.... If this happens I doubt Ducati will have enough money left for two teams... WSBK will be ok....all the riders from supersport will move up...
I believe Honda has already renewed Rossi - the threat of going to Malboro Ducati was real, and Rossi said it would be a dream to ride for Italian mfg., but in the end Honda has won for now.... Wayne Beaver Nesba #737
with hodgson gone toseland will take over his ride hopfully, they will all just move up a spot, the tire rules wont change anything, it didnt in F1 even though everyone said thats the end of it! rossi signed a life long honda contract from wot i heard, and your right he wont be linked with tabacco teams!
I hope nothing changes as I like WSB. What rule are you refering to in F1. Any tire manufacturer may participate in F1 provided the meet the requirements. Here are the F1 tyre rules. I - Any tyre company wishing to supply tyres to Formula 1 Teams must notify the FIA of its intention to do so no later than 1 January preceding the year during which such tyres will be supplied. Any tyre company wishing to cease the supply of tyres to Formula 1 Teams must notify the FIA of its intention to do so no later than 1 January of the year preceding that in which such tyres were to be supplied. II - No tyre may be used in the Championship unless the company supplying such tyre accepts and adheres to the following conditions : * one tyre supplier present in the Championship: this company must equip 100% of the entered teams on ordinary commercial terms ; * two tyre suppliers present: each of them must, if called upon to do so, be prepared to equip up to 60% of the entered teams on ordinary commercial terms; * three or more tyre suppliers present each of them must, if called upon to do so, be prepared to equip up to 40% of the entered teams on ordinary commercial terms ; * each tyre supplier must undertake to provide only two specifications of dry-weather tyre and three specifications of wet-weather tyre at each Event, each of which must be of one homogenous compound only ; * if, in the interests of maintaining current levels of circuit safety, the FIA deems it necessary to reduce tyre grip, it shall introduce such rules as the tyre suppliers may advise or, in the absence of advice which achieves the FIA's objectives, specify the maximum permissible contact areas for front and rear tyres. Quantity and type of tyres : I - During the Event no driver may use more than forty dry-weather tyres and twenty eight wet weather tyres. From the forty dry-weather tyres each driver will be allocated twelve (six front and six rear) for use on the first day of practice, these tyres may not be used at any other time during the Event. No more than eight (four front and four rear) of the twelve tyres allocated for the first day of practice may be of one specification. Before qualifying practice begins each driver must nominate which specification of tyre he will use for the remainder of the Event. II - All dry-weather tyres must incorporate circumferential grooves square to the wheel axis and around the entire circumference of the contact surface of each tyre. III - Each front dry-weather tyre, when new, must incorporate 4 grooves which are: * arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tyre tread; * at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface; * at least 2.5mm deep across the whole lower surface; * 50mm (+/- 1.0mm) between centres. Furthermore, the tread width of the front tyres must not exceed 270mm. IV - Each rear dry-weather tyre, when new, must incorporate 4 grooves which are: * arranged symmetrically about the centre of the tyre tread; * at least 14mm wide at the contact surface and which taper uniformly to a minimum of 10mm at the lower surface; * at least 2.5mm deep across the whole lower surface; * 50mm (+/- 1.0mm) between centres. The measurements referred to in c) and d) above will be taken when the tyre is fitted to a wheel and inflated to 1.4 bar. V - A wet-weather tyre is one which has been designed for use on a wet or damp track. All wet-weather tyres must, when new, have a contact area whichdoes not exceed 280cm2 when fitted to the front of the car and 440cm2 when fitted to the rear. Contact areas will be measured over any square section of the tyre which is normal to and symmetrical about the tyre centre line and which measures 200mm x 200mm when fitted to the front of the car and 250mm x 250mm when fitted to the rear. For the purposes of establishing conformity, only void areas which are greater than 2.5mm in depth will be considered. Prior to use at an Event, each tyre manufacturer must provide the technical delegate with a full scale drawing of each type of wet-weather tyre intended for use. With the exception of race day, wet-weather tyres may only be used after the track has been declared wet by the race director and, during the remainder of the relevant session, the choice of tyres is free. VI - Tyre specifications will be determined by the FIA no later than 1 September of the previous season. Once determined in this way, the specification of the tyres will not be changed during the Championship season without the agreement of the Formula One Commission. Control of tyres : I - All tyres which are to be used at an Event will be marked with a unique identification. II - At any time during an Event, and at his absolute discretion, the FIA technical delegate may select the dry-weather tyres to be used by any Team from among the total stock of tyres which such Team's designated supplier has present at the Event. III - From among the twenty-eight dry-weather tyres available to each driver following the first day of practice, the FIA technical delegate will choose at random sixteen tyres (eight front and eight rear) which are the only dry-weather tyres which such car may use in qualifying practice. IV - A competitor wishing to replace one unused tyre by another unused one must present both tyres to the FIA technical delegate. V - The use of tyres without appropriate identification is strictly forbidden. Wear of tyres : The Championship will be contested on grooved tyres. The FIA reserve the right to introduce at any time a method of measuring remaining groove depth if performance appears to be enhanced by high wear or by the use of tyres which are worn so that the grooves are no longer visible.
and the requirements are..... same compounds, same tread patterns, same sizes, same constructions, hmm theres a right old choice over there! the only diference is the name on the side....... we,ll just have pirelli on all the bikes, i think it,ll be good for the competition, i just had a mate race the WSB round at brands, he couldnt get the "right tire" they save those for the top guys apparently, he then went out and won both races! so maybe the good stuff aint really that good, its all in the mind,
i couldnt care if they had to use ching seng swallows or maxxis, as long as all the teams stay out there the lower guys get a better deal and toseland is world champion as many times as foggarty woz if not more.......
The tires built by one manufacturer have nothing to do with the tires built by another manufacturer. The constructions are not the same nor are the compounds. On the dry weather tires the sipes are there to slow the cars as the forces generated by the chassis and tires were becoming too great. They are simple circumferential grooves. The tires are not the same sizes or dimensions between manufacturers. The only real difference is that there are two dry front tires, two dry rear tires, 3 front wet tires and 3 rear wet tires to chose from at each event, these tires vary from event to event. If Ching-Shin wants to get into F1 all they have to do is follow the rules, but I think the tires will be different in other things than the name on the side.
Rossi isn't going anyplace. Honda has a lock on him just like they do Duhamel........franchise player. Honda will over top any ones bids to keep him on the Honda (as long as he produces). Besides don't most agree that the Honda GP machine is the baddest mamma jamma out there over all the others? Be like taking Mladin off his new GSXR1000 and placing him on a few old VR1000 Harley superbikes.
There is much more to Flamini's decision that we can even imagine. Many top teams get paid by their respective tire companies which now is a non-existant sponsor source (in fact they have to pay around 45K E/year). It will make it difficult for Wildcard riders that are not on Pirellis (and most of them are associated with a manufacturer) to enter SBK. Many big names will move out and many new names will move it which will be good for racing in general. I wouldn't mind seeing new talent on spec tires race against the Belgarda or TenKate guys. Most fans appreciate good racing (close outcomes) vs. the participation of monster budget manufacturers. Which most of them wanted certain restricter rules without committing to the series. Reason for that is to sell extremely expensive 'Kit's' that are developed in the factory to satelite teams (and we are talking in the millions, believe it or not). I strongly think SBK will survive in Europe - not sure what the American fan base will do if the big names are gone and on top of that if there is no US racer in the series. So - what are you waiting guys, send your racer resume to Belgarda (they haven't signed Sanna yet) and the SBK series will benefit from it just my 0.02cents worth (oh damn, now I went over budget) Jurgen www.teaminfotech.com
they'll just create a new list of "big names". so long as the racing is good, who cares if the lap times are 1.5 seconds slower. you won't even notice. it's gonna be good people.
I agree - for some reason I can see the World Superbike being turned into a World Superstock with the general acceptance of 1000cc motorcycles. FG sports and Flamini own the production based series and what would attract more teams and new riders if they run both classes in "Supersport spec". They already have the "European Superstock" as "support" races in the European rounds - perhaps we see an extension of that program as an alternative. As long as they don't loose TV time, series sponsors (arrow etc.) - I can see the SBK being stronger than before after a couple of transition years.
My fave is still Van der Goorberg ( Netherlands) the year he was sponsored by Rizla rolling papers. Now that was appropriate.
Jurgen is one of the hardest working racers in the SBK paddock - it's just hard for a family man like him to go against numb-nuts like Chris V. and Karl M. (I am a huge Chris V. fan). I would love to see a Hacking, Roger Lee, hey why not Robert Jensen in WSS. I keep trying to compare the WSS level with AMA and can't really come to a conclusion who is faster/better (beside the fact that the WSS bikes are faster). What do you think?
I think WSB will be better. If Hodgson goes to MotoGP, then the racing will be between multiple riders, I think. Plus, the spec tire can even things out. And, hopefully the new Kawi will kick ass. (Keeping my fingers crossed!)
great post Jurgen ....its kind of like a double edged sword, we all liked the parity of WSS but we loved the technology of WSBK. I some how feel the loss of the manufactures (i.e money), bike & tire will limit the number of truely competitive bikes out there. I liked the original idea of standardizing the series worldwide. It gives the wildcard riders the ability to compete on the world level and showcase there talent.
yep - this subject is full of pro's and cons. Without the factory involvement of Honda, Yam, Aprilia, Kawi and Suzuki - it will be hard to attract world-level riders due to lack of salary constraints. Without those (riders and teams), the general interest will decrease and less air-time is a consequent result. Less airtime means less sponsorship money from outside industry sponsors .... a catch 22 situation, however it might take a while before we see the riples of it. WSS and WSB is a great alternative to MotoGP and i just don't understand why the factories won't spend money in showcasing their "showroom floor" models. Flamini must have them really pissed off. Or they spend all their money on MotoGP where you can have only a handful of heros and it actually backfires if you don't do well (a la Suzuki and Kawi). I am pretty sure that we will see some interesing entries in next years AMA circuit .... We should probably open a new thread for this - I find it interesting to talk about backdoor politics of racing .... especially since it's sooooo different from what we are used to in the AMA. thanks Jurgen (not the "van der Goorberg" dude)
