World SBK-MotoAmerica | Laguna Seca | July 12-14 2019

MA running alongside World Superbike.

JD Beach doing double duty.

Big grids in all of the MA support classes. Who y'all got?

My picks for the win:

World SBK: Rea, Sykes
MA SBK: Scholtz, Cam
Supersport: Gillim
STK1000: Geoff May
Twins: Parrish
Jr Cup: Jackson Blackmon

 

WSBK: Rea/Bautista

MA SBK: Beaubier/Elias
SS: PJ
STK1000: Lee
Twins: Dumas
Jr Cup: Landers

 

From a July 9th Pirelli press release

Pirelli has brought two new solutions to this important event. The first of these is represented by a new qualifier tire which riders will be able to use exclusively during the Superpole® on Saturday and which should offer even higher lap performance than the tires used in the past on this circuit.
The second is the SCX pre-qualifier tire, the solution introduced by Pirelli this year to allow riders to have an extra-soft tire that can be used during the Superpole® in preparation for the use of the qualifier tire for the fast lap. This tire is also favored for the 10-lap Tissot Superpole® Race which takes place on Sunday mornings or, in exceptional cases, even for standard duration races. The new SCX solution in the specification Y0448 should guarantee even more performance on this circuit than the SCX solutions brought so far by Pirelli.

For the US event, Pirelli brings 1180 tires to Laguna Seca, a smaller quantity than in the European rounds because in this case only the riders of the World SBK class will be present. As always, this quantity includes both slick, intermediate and wet tires. The new last year larger 125/70 front and 200/65 rear tires are also confirmed for this round and in total the slick solutions available to World SBK riders will be six, two front and four rear.
For the front, Pirelli allows riders to choose between the standard SC1 in 125/70 size and soft compound and the development SC2 X1071 in medium compound. As far as the rear is concerned, at Laguna Seca riders will find the standard SC0 in 200/65 size and the development Y0446, which uses the same structure as the standard SC0 but a compound more oriented to performance in the event of particularly high asphalt temperatures.

And the new rears, one the Y0448 Pre Q spec and the new Superpole® tire in the Y0449 specification, will be used for the first time at Laguna.

 

Alvaro better clinch the title of this round. He's starting to embarrass the guys who were pushing the bandwagon until they vanished last month. The midseason (well, 2/3, really) review on Sunday night could be awkward.

 

i really want to see JD Beach do well in the wildcard race.

 

I got Rossi

 

Hope the second bike and the testing they did on the Pirelli’s pays off some! They can actually have a Pirelli set up unlike what Richard had to do last year.

World SBK: Rea, Bautista
MA SBK: Scholtz, Gerloff
Supersport: Gillim / Fong
STK1000: Is Debise entered? I see he’s still hanging out in the States...
Twins: Dumas
Jr Cup: Daniels

 

Alva-who?






I got him podium R1, win in R2

 

Oh and it should be said now. STK1000 field has more riders than WSBK and MA SBK combined. Therefore, both WSBK and MA SBK is doomed with their pathetic grid sizes and will fold in a month. They should just combine all 3 race classes and make everyone race STK1000 bikes! SBK is dead and the racing sucks!

 

Ugh. First time missing this event in 4 years; kid's 1st birthday is on Saturday (would have been interesting if he was born at the Corkscrew last year).

Elias on the brakes into turn 2 is one of the most amazing things ever. If he keeps it on 2 wheels this year, I don't think he's going to lose. Herrin also goes fast at Laguna, and we'll see if that remains the case riding the Zook. He also threw it down the road last year. The Yamahas have performed well here in the past, so I'm optimistic about a close race.

STK1000 will be exciting. Looking to see some good results from some fast club racing buddies!

600s I'm going with SDK as my dark horse.

Twins is really tough to call; Laguna will probably be a new track for a big part of that grid.

I spoke with Rocco a couple of months ago at a club race. He likes Laguna, and it's one of the few tracks on the circuit that he's been to before. He's my lock for Junior Cup.

 

WSBK- Yamaha/Kawasaki

MA SBK- Beach/Elias

600 SS- PJ or Hayden

Twins- Barnes

Junior- Daniels

 

Wow, MA has a full schedule huh? Usually they cut a few classes out don't they? Or is that just at COTA during MotoGP?

 

WSBK doesn't bring their support classes to Laguna like COTA does with MotoGP. More time to have the MotoAmerica classes. Should be a packed weekend with action all the time.

 

Where did you find the rider list for WSBK? I cannot find it on the site.

 

https://www.weathertechraceway.com/...ionship-geico-motorcycle-us-round-motoamerica

Under the Race Entries tab

 

I know we are only "talkin' bout practise" and all but damn, after FP1 Dumas has 5 sec/lap over Parrish and his lap time would put him 12th in Stock 1000 out of around 25 riders. Top few riders are all close to that as well and Barney is only a fraction behind Dumas. Man that's seriously impressive pace.

 

Jr. Cup Champions are probably pretty fast...

 

If you remove the "probably" part I'll agree 100%.

I'm sure the times will tighten up over the course of the weekend but my point was just how fast these racers are making an 85hp (or whatever) SV/797/FZ/EX go is seriously impressive when stacked against liter bikes lap times - granted Laguna isn't exactly the Bonneville salt flats so it favors lower HP bikes.

 

Rocco Landers on his Ninja 400 would have been 13th in Twins Cup.