I bet he was actually very instrumental in that decision. Like him or hate him, he does a damn good job.
I still find it funny that a bunch of spectators feel informed enough to dictate who “deserves” anything in Gran Prix racing. And I still miss JU coming in and offering commentary on this phenomenon.
It's funny how those comments usually ended every time he suggested that the outraged party open their wallet to field a team for the deserving riders. The sad part is that we can already write the 2020 year-end thread. If Alex doesn't do well, they're all going to say that they knew he wasn't good. If he does well, they're all going to say to it was the magic bike and the magic team. He doesn't stand a chance to be evaluated fairly. Site note: does anyone remember the outrage when Luca Marini kept getting good Moto 2 rides long before he won anything? I don't.
Well then, carry on. I love the talk about Dorna moving moto2 champs up because it justifies the series and that what it's there for. Meanwhile in N Ireland there is a guy who just won his 5th world title in a row (against other past world champs) waiting for the phone to ring but it wont because he doesn't have the right passport or last name.
Ya. I’ll always be upset for Rea. I want to see him there so badly. Wish Kawi would come back to Motogp. Even when they left, Melandri did well on their one year old machine with no new parts that Hayate sponsored I believe.
Hopefully Alex gets a few years to figure things out. Didn't Miller have three years on Honda and now two on Ducati? Even Ralph Schumacher won some races when he moved up to F1.
There's never been to my knowledge a claim by Dorna that the WSBK championship is a feeder series to MotoGP. And I believe Rea decided long before he was 5-time world champion that he wasn't going to MotoGP to the detriment of his family life, especially not to be on a satellite team.
In Miller’s defense, he was riding that ‘claiming rules’ POS that other than his wet race win, was lucky to be within 2 seconds a lap of the factory boys.
Looks like Joe Roberts still has a ride with the American Racing Team in Moto2 next year and they are switching to Kalex chassis. https://www.roadracingworld.com/new...with-american-racing-team-on-a-kalex-in-2020/
He said unless he was on a factory team where he thought he could win he wouldn't do it... which is reasonable. I mean, why would a top level factory team just hand him a bike not knowing if he could really hack it at the top level? That's what the satellite teams are for.
Not saying Rea wouldn't have been able to do it, but how many WSBK/WSS riders had moved to MotoGP and found success in the past 20 years? Only Nicky comes to mind having come over from a production championship and then winning a MotoGP championship. I wonder how many people griped over Nicky taking the factory seat over the 2002 250cc champion or from someone in the premier class that was on a non-factory Honda? The factory teams have seen what happened to successful production motorcycle racers when they switched over to MotoGP. They want someone that could become a champion, not someone that may win a few races in their careers.
Iker seemed to be doing OK on the bike towards the end of the season. Good enough to be picked up my the KTM Tech 3 MotoGP team in fact. Hopefully Marcos Ramirez and Joe can find a good direction with Kalex bike together. In case you are not following, KTM pulled out of Moto2 for 2020, so they really had no choice but to switch out the chassis.
I don't think you can measure success in MotoGP solely as winning a championship, seeing as 5 guys have won the last 20 titles. I would say Edwards, Spies, Petrucci and Crutchlow have seen success moving from the SBK paddock into MotoGP in recent years. Eugene Laverty also did pretty damn well considering he was on a third tier Ducati. He was probably held back largely by the equipment he was on. I don't think anyone doubts that superbike riders can succeed in MotoGP, especially Johnny Rea. The problem is that team managers can track other GP/moto2 guys week in and week out and really get a good understanding of them by being in the same paddock. That's not possible to do with Superbike riders, and as as a result the biggest gamble the GP managers are willing to take is with satellite equipment.
Joe better put more effort into riding than perfecting his blue steel. Really surprised he's back even though the owner is his boy.
Is Team America World Police pizza hut Supreme Racing getting new Kalexs or picking up someone's last years chassis?
I'm pretty sure AM is going to have a great, good or average 2020 season based on his on track results. Or not. LOL