WSB rd2 Phillip Island

[maxu05]

I thought I would get the ball rolling for the second round of the World Superbikes.
Who will take the round ?
Who will fill out the podium ?

I think the two Troy's will be out to prove a point, (don't piss in my backyard).
Max will be trying to prove it was no fluke.
JT will be trying to prove that he can kick Max's ass.
What are your predictions for the Phillip Island round ?

[tha_jackal]

Allrightythen, bets in..

Race 1:
1. Bayliss
2. Toseland
3. Corser

Race 2:
1. Corser
2. Bayliss
3. Biaggi

WSS:
1. Curtain
2. Sofuoglu
3. Parkes

Goooo you aussies :D Should be an interesting man..

[neninja]

Biaggi loves PI so expect him to be on the podium in both races with one win.

Toseland will get the other win and Bayliss will get at least one podium too.

I think Troy Corser will have the same problems as Qatar. Start well but fade as the race progresses. The electronics on the Ducati, Suzuki and Honda are clearly at a more advanced stage and help with tyre wear.

I'd would bet on Curtain to win in WSS with Parkes getting a podium along with Charpentier.

[NinjaMaster]

I'm off to the Island tomorrow (benefit of family business is I can take these important days off ;) ) for a great ride, some sun and close racing. I'm really looking forward to seeing the national support racing as well as it (and the MotoGP) will be the only time they race there this year. Are any other Aussies making the trek?

Okey dokey, this is my race so I will give something of a preview.

Round 1 in Qatar really threw up some intrigue into this round. The reigning champ, Bayliss, really struggled last weekend and was shown up by teammate Lanzi and will be super keen to set things right at his home round. He loves the track and has produced some incredible results at the Island and will still be the one to beat. Lanzi showed some of what he has to offer last weekend and will be keen to continue that form and show that last year was just an abberation.
The biggest story out of round 1 was the immediate impact of Max Biaggi in SBK. He has taken to the Suzuki straight away and he also loves Phillip Island having won a world title there and scored a number of podiums. He will surely be at the pointy end again this weekend. Yukio Kagayama was solid in the first round, if unspectacular. He struggled here last year and will be keen for a better performance this weekend. Max Neukirchner on the Alstare Engineering Suzuki was a surprise packet at Qatar and will be one to keep and eye out for this weekend.
Honda's James Toseland continued on his stellar late season form from last year to come out of the first round this year as equal leader. He was very strong in Australia last year with a pair of podiums and he will be looking to build on that for this year. His teammate Roby Rolfo had his strongest round here last year (I think) with a 5th and 7th and will be hoping for similar results after a disappointing start to the season aboard the Ten Kate Honda Fireblade.
Yamaha's big signing of Aussie Troy Corser in the off season looks to have paid dividends after a very strong showing at Qatar. With popular teammate Nori Haga only a little further behind, both Yamaha boys are very quick around the seaside circuit and are a big showing for success.
Fonsi Nieto's strong second race showing in Round 1 gives team green fans hope that Kawasaki is on the march forward this year. After being torpedoed by teammate Regis Laconi in the first race, Fonsi will be keen to lead the Big K charge at a place he was very impressive at last year. Laconi will be happy to keep the bike upright for 2 races and give a return on some of the faith PSG-1 have shown in his considerable but erratic ability.
Of the privateers, the Alto Evolution Honda team should be strong with Aussies Karl Muggeridge and Josh Brookes. Muggas should go well if he can shake some of the bad luck that has dogged him at Phillip Island whilst Brookes knows the place like the back of his hand and is confident after a solid opening to the year.
Fellow Honda privateers, the DFX Honda team of Michel Fabrizio and Steve Martin will aim to give the factory boys a shake. Martin has shown to know the fast way around the Island and is better than his first round results show. Fabrizio is a rider on the rise and will be keen to improve on a disappointing start to the year.
Ruben Xaus was very impressive here last year riding with a broken leg and should be able to push for top 5 finishes, now fully fit on his privateer Ducati.

In the World Supersport Championship, the field is on the improve but is still fairly thin up top. It should still be a battle between Ten Kate Honda riders Seb Charpentier Kenan Sofuoglu and Yamaha Deutschland boys Kev Curtain and Broc Parkes. Reigning champ Charpentier uncharacteristically dropped it in the lead last round from being pressured by his teammate and want to right that wrong but won't get it all his own way. Sofuoglu has matured a lot and now has speed close to matching Seb. Kev Curtain will want to build on his solid second in round 1 and head towards that title that escaped him last year. Broc Parkes will be busy forgetting Qatar after another mechanical failure will have him thinking he has a Qatar curse. He is quick at the Island and likes to lead from the front.
Of the rest, Kawasaki riders Fabien Foret and Pere Riba were most impressive in the factory teams return to the series with the new ZX6R. Expect them to be fast again and being challenged by fast privateers like Kats Fujiwara, Robbin Harms and Massimo Roccoli.

My close-the-eyes-and-pick-randomly predictions are as follows:

WSB
Superpole
Troy Corser (gone out on a limb there!)

Race 1
1. Bayliss
2. Biaggi
3. Corser

Race 2
1. Bayliss
2. Corser
3. Toseland

WSS
1. Curtain
2. Charpentier
3. Parkes

[maxu05]

My tips

Superpole - Max Biaggi

Race 1
1. Bayliss
2. Biaggi
3. Corser

Race 2
1.Biaggi
2.Haga
3.Bayliss

WSS
1. Parkes
2. Sofuoglu
3.Curtain

[Lanky_Wes]

Are any other Aussies making the trek?

Bro, you know i wish i was going. sucks being poor :(

my tips for this week:

SBK
race 1
1. bayliss
2. haga
3. toseland

race 2
1. toseland
2. biaggi
3. bayliss

WSS
1. parkes
2. curtain
3. charpentier

[Lanky_Wes]

results from first qualifying for both classes

World Supersport
1 F.Foret Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'35.166
2 K.Curtain Yamaha YZF-R6 1'35.425
3 G.Nannelli Ducati 749R 1'35.814
4 B.Parkes Yamaha YZF-R6 1'35.837
5 K.Sofuoglu Honda CBR600RR 1'35.868
6 S.Charpentier Honda CBR600RR 1'35.902
7 K.Fujiwara Honda CBR600RR 1'36.230
8 Y.Tiberio Honda CBR600RR 1'36.248
9 P.Riba Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'36.398
10 S.Gimbert Yamaha YZF-R6 1'36.627
11 V.Ivanov Yamaha YZF-R6 1'36.656
12 R.Harms Honda CBR600RR 1'36.734
13 M.Roccoli Yamaha YZF-R6 1'36.922
14 V.Kallio Suzuki GSX-R600 1'36.967
15 B.Veneman Suzuki GSX-R600 1'37.050
16 D.Checa Yamaha YZF-R6 1'37.114
17 C.Jones Honda CBR600RR 1'37.152
18 L.Alfonsi Honda CBR600RR 1'37.314
19 G.Leblanc Honda CBR600RR 1'37.436
20 D.Giugliano Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'37.571
21 C.Peris Yamaha YZF-R6 1'37.624
22 M.Lagrive Honda CBR600RR 1'37.773
23 J.Fores Honda CBR600RR 1'37.837
24 D.Salom Yamaha YZF-R6 1'38.077
25 S.Sanna Honda CBR600RR 1'38.113
26 C.Seaton Yamaha YZF-R6 1'38.141
27 J.Greedy Honda CBR600RR 1'38.307
28 G.Vizziello Yamaha YZF-R6 1'38.392
29 G.Talmacsi Yamaha YZF-R6 1'38.398
30 G.Boccolini Kawasaki ZX-6R 1'38.484
31 T.Lauslehto Honda CBR600RR 1'38.485
32 M.Praia Honda CBR600RR 1'38.937
33 J.Enjolras Yamaha YZF-R6 1'38.994
34 J.Lascorz Honda CBR600RR 1'39.185
35 D.Forner Yamaha YZF-R6 1'40.405
36 N.Milovanovic Honda CBR600RR 1'40.837
37 J.Günther Honda CBR600RR 1'40.914
38 Y.Polzer Ducati 749R 1'41.500 1'41.069



World Superbike

Toseland 1m32.040[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Bayliss 32.641[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Nieto 32.769[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Lanzi 32.774[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Corser 32.900[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Biaggi 32.998[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Kagayama 33.154[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Haga 33.244[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Xaus 33.315[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Neukirchner 33.523[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Fabrizio 33.690[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Martin 33.748[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Muggeridge 33.783[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Rolfo 33.865[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Smrz 34.092[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Brookes 34.521[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Laconi 34.571[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Nakatomi 35.572[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Zaiser 35.745[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Polita 35.847[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Ellison 37.249[/*:m:d9thxjno]
Drazdak 38.367[/*:m:d9thxjno]

[NinjaMaster]

It was a terrific day today, lovely and sunny. Gonna be fairly warm tomorrow at around 33 degree c and look out for possible rain on race day.

The WSB battle looks to be between Bayliss and Toseland at the moment, consistently at the top of the charts. The rest are a little up and down in comparison. Nieto, for example, jumped from 9th to 3rd in the last few minutes so his actual pace is a little unclear.

WSS is looking surprisingly open with Foret consistently quick on his Kwak. Curtain will certainly be a factor as will Parkes and to see the Ten Kate boys not on the front row, even if it is only provisional, is a beautiful thing.

I'd go into the local series as well but have to go out. Will give ya a run down and photos when I get back on Sunday (or may not post til later if am too tired...which is likely!).

[maxu05]

Wow, sounds as though the Kwaks are back (fingers crossed). Is this a Kawasaki revival ?

[stockcar]

not if Laconi has anything to do with their WSBK times...............and they dropped Walker in favour of him why exactly??

1 Troy Bayliss AUS Ducati Xerox 999F07 1min 32.145 secs
2 James Toseland GBR Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 32.198 secs
3 Troy Corser AUS Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 1min 32.605 secs
4 Noriyuki Haga JPN Yamaha Motor Italia YZF R1 1min 32.879 secs
5 Max Biaggi ITA Alstare Suzuki Corona Extra GSXR1000 K7 1min 32.928 secs
6 Fonsi Nieto SPA Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse ZX10R 1min 33.132 secs
7 Max Neukirchner GER Suzuki Germany GSXR1000 K6 1min 33.188 secs
8 Ruben Xaus SPA Sterilgarda Ducati 999F06 1min 33.367 secs
9 Regis Laconi ITA Kawasaki PSG-1 Corse ZX10R 1min 33.368 secs
10 Lorenzo Lanzi ITA Ducati Xerox 999F07 1min 33.966 secs
11 Steve Martin AUS D.F.X. Corse Honda CBR1000RR 1min 33.994 secs
12 Josh Brookes AUS Alto Evolution Honda CBR1000RR 1min 34.731 secs
13 Shinichi Nakatomi JPN Team Yamaha YZF R1 1min 35.088 secs
14 Michel Fabrizio ITA D.F.X. Corse Honda CBR1000RR 1min 35.215 secs
15 Jakub Smrz CZE Caracchi Ducati SC 999F05 1min 35.327 secs
16 Alessandro Polita ITA Celani Team Suzuki Italia GSXR1000 K6 1min 35.734 secs
17 Christain Zaiser AUT LBR Racing MV Agusta 1min 35.745 secs
18 Roberto Rolfo ITA Hannspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 36.295 secs
19 Jiri Drazdak CZE Yamaha Jr Pro SBK Racing YZF R1 1min 37.197 secs
20 Dean Ellison GBR Pedercini Ducati 999RS 1min 37.249 secs

[maxu05]

Great, Go Bayliss :up:

[harsha]

what's happened to Muggeridge......

[ChrisS]

Eurosport reports that Muggeridge crashed after hitting oil put down by Brookes engine going boom

He was taken to hospital with a suspected broken ankle.

[Lanky_Wes]

a close first race between bayliss and toseland with bayliss coming out on top. corser was also up front for a while but stuggled with tyre problems and faded badly. biaggi took the final podium position, thats now three podiums from three races for max.

race one results:


Bayliss[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Toseland 2.09secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Biaggi 10.14secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Haga 18.92secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Corser 19.74secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Lanzi 24.76secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Xaus 27.40secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Neukirchner 34.61secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Nieto 35.33secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Martin 36.23secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Rolfo 38.06secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Brookes 47.07secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Nakatomi 58.57secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Smrz 68.00secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Polita 82.56secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Zaiser 88.37secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Ellison 90.18secs[/*:m:3n92c0ww]
Drazdak 1 lap[/*:m:3n92c0ww]

[Lanky_Wes]

a great race to watch in the supersport. was a fight between four for the first part of the race: parkes, sofuoglu, charpentier and curtain fighting it out, until foret joined them. parkes pulled a gap and was leading by as many as 2 seconds. curtains tyres went off with a few laps to go and fell back through the field and parkes tyres went off with about two or three to go.

supersport results:

Foret[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Sofuoglu 0.70secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Parkes 2.24secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Charpentier 6.41secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Fujiwara 15.0secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Riba 15.19secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Harms 22.8secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Veneman 24.50secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Alfonsi 26.14secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Tiberio 29.41secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Curtain 29.70secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Leblanc 29.75secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Gimbert 35.3secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Jones 43.1secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Salom 43.4secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Ivanov 49.5secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Lauslehto 55.7secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Checa 56.2secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Seaton 56.4secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Boccolini 63.4secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Sanna 63.4secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Greedy 69.2secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Polzer 74.5secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Praia 75.2secs[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Gunther[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Roccoli[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Forner[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Talmacsi[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]
Milovanovic[/*:m:2xfwkmxa]

[Lanky_Wes]

by far the best race of the day was the second race of the superbikes. 5 riders were fighting it out for most of the race: toseland, bayliss, corser, haga and biaggi. wasnt many laps went by without at least one pass occuring in the lead group, although toseland and bayliss were first and second for most of it. in the last few laps toseland and bayliss made a break and the other three couldnt quite go with them, but they had a fantastic battle between them anyway. toseland ended up holding out for the win just in front of bayliss, haga picked up third and biaggi beat corser to the line, but only just!

race two results:

Toseland[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Bayliss 0.274[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Haga 6.91[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Biaggi 7.01[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Corser 7.05[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Xaus 23.17[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Lanzi 26.47[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Fabrizio 26.486[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Neukirchner 26.486[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Rolfo 37.93[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Smrz 41.30[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Brookes 48.67[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Nakatomi 48.71[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Nieto 73.09[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Polita 73.88[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]
Zaiser 77.92[/*:m:1f8hoj3t]

[NinjaMaster]

Was a grouse weekend. Will give ya a rundown when I can be bothered.

[stockcar]

brilliant run for JT, can't particuarly see Kawasaki made the right choice dumping Walker for Laconi - has he even finished a race??

[Corny]

I think tyres decided the results in Philip Island

[ChrisS]

Good superbike races, Toseland fought both races hard, a bit disappointing behavior by Bayliss on race 2, not wanting to lead the race. Biaggi had the pace but as the eurosport commentators said several times he needs to be able to get in the pace from the start.

A positive surprise for the season so far is Xaus. he did not crash, and he is mixing it with and beating factory Ducatis.

Foret winning Supersport was a surprise. he started from pole but he just went backwards. The results created an interesting leader table, Sofuoglu leads from Foret with Fujiwara 3rd. Curtain just disappeared half way through the race and could only finish 11 only scorring 5 points while Charpentier's 4th place gave him his first 13 points of the season.

This is not how I expected the WSS championship to develop, I hope Foret keeps it up while Curtain and Charpentier fight back

[leopard]

Having said before that Biaggi will have to struggle for the most races he doesn't know well, He might love PI but Bayliss is riding the backyard and Toseland is doing more familiar with superbike, would have benefit of it over him.

Overall I'am not disappointed with him, at least he isn't showing his teammate better than him :)

[The Phantom]

Well, NinjaMaster certainly got it right with his suggestion that Muggas had to shake his PI curse before he could even think about a top result... poor bugger.

And Lankey Wes came soooo close to a double trifecta with his picks! Check 'em out:

SBK
race 1
1. bayliss
2. haga
3. toseland

race 2
1. toseland
2. biaggi
3. bayliss

[seppefan]

Would JT beat Bayliss on the same machinery ?

[The Phantom]

Well, he did take a world title on a Duc, so - yeah, I reckon he could.

Could Bayliss beat JT if Bayliss was on an I4? Nope.

[NinjaMaster]

Well, he did take a world title on a Duc, so - yeah, I reckon he could.

Could Bayliss beat JT if Bayliss was on an I4? Nope.
Toseland also had the worst title defence on a Ducati once competition arrived. On like machinery (Ducati or Honda), Bayliss and Toseland would be mighty close. It would be a bit like the last round, one would win then the other.

Well, it was a fantastic weekend to be at. I probably enjoy World Superbike more than MotoGP, particularly the atmosphere surrounding it. It just feels more relaxed and we are allowed to ride our bikes into the circuit rather than have to park in the surrounding paddocks and walk in. I went down on the Friday and had a most enjoyable ride. Friday can be a bit slow because there is no racing but it was still just great to see the boys going 'round because they are amazing riders. I couldn't stay on the Island Friday night because I had an engagement party to attend so I returned home and came back on the Saturday with a mate of mine. The national races on the Saturday were really terrific and there is some real quality in the field, my highlight being watching my all time favourite rider, Anthony Gobert, riding a privateer Kwak. They also had some classic bike racing as a support event where the most recent bike was from 1980 and they were really fun to watch.
Superpole has really grown on me as an event after I didn't like it as it's inception. To see Corser go quickest, then JT only for Bayliss to beat them all was really quite exciting. It was funny too, because Toseland came by us looking at the superscreen and saw Bayliss was slower in the first sector and he punched the air in jubilation only for Troy to go faster around the rest of the lap.
The main races were really good. Not the best I've seen but of a really high quality. And lots of interesting little battles through the field. I have to give kudos to Jakub Smrz who rode really well. He started dead last from pitlane in the first race and got in the points and ran with some pretty good riders in the second race to finish 11th. Bayliss race win was obviously the absolute highlight of the weekend for me but his battle with Toseland was really engrossing as to who really had the upper hand. I felt sorry for Corser, especially in the second race when he hung on to the group, made a lunge for 3rd but got baulked by Haga and run down by Biaggi to the line.

The World Supersports was intersting to watch. The battle for second after Parkes checked out was very close and then Foret came through on a massive charge. I was happy to see my beloved Kawasaki win, though it was unfortunately at the expence to my favourite supersport rider in Broc Parkes.

Overall, it was just a very successul weekend. We had record crowds (over 65,000 for the weekend) despite very little promotion and the start of the V8 supercar season on the same weekend. The weather was generally fine though a little warm on Friday and Saturday but Sunday was perfect. And the main thing was the racing which was excellent and sets up the championship perfectly as we move further forward.

The photos I took of the weekend can be viewed here: http://www.putfile.com/klyntonius/images/88670
I generally happy with them though there are some that aren't focused very well of centred correctly.

[ChrisS]

Well, he did take a world title on a Duc, so - yeah, I reckon he could.

Could Bayliss beat JT if Bayliss was on an I4? Nope.

I agree. JT knows the Duc and has a better knowledge of I4 bikes. But we must never underestimate Bayliss abilities. It would be very close.

One thing is for sure, JT would win if the 2 had a piano playing competition :P

[The Phantom]

But we must never underestimate Bayliss abilities.

This is very true.


One thing is for sure, JT would win if the 2 had a piano playing competition :P

Lol, but if they had a cycling competition? Hehehe.

Nice write-up and pics, NinjaMaster. I was impressed by Smrz too - was surprised to see him in Superpole actually.

[T-D]

what a great couple of races. jt is the man, you talk about taking it to another level? the guy just keeps improving. race 2 was a clinic. he took his lessons from race 1 and it was a thing of beauty. in race one, outside pass on mzx and troy. wow!

supersport, what can you say? just fun to be a kwak fan and finally see some results.

i think the privateers--fabrizio and martin are asking what the heck did rolfo do to get a factory ride? well, he brought a sponsor. that's what.


yammy: can we please save our tires? that thing's been hard on tires or a couple seasons now.

gimme more. i want more. drats. gotta wait three weeks. :(

[NinjaMaster]

I laughed out loud when I saw this on the super-screen at the track.

http://www.superbikeplanet.com/image/2007/wsbk/phillip-island/1/12.jpg

[fatman]

Both races were finally on TV here last night. Totally sucks waiting for speeds "Two Wheel Tuesday" to see some good racing.

Anyway. JT and Biaggi probably impressed me most in these races.

[The Phantom]

Speaking of PI Superscreens, thought I'd throw this pic in - a mate captured it at the 2002 SBK event.

Pretty cool!

http://www.ozvfr.net/albums/Cams-snaps/aal.jpg

[fatman]

that screen looks fake sort of. Why is there a Fox Live logo in the corner? Is there a Fox Sports channel in AU ?

[racer69]

yes, on Foxtel (our Pay-TV service) there is Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2 & Fox Sports 3.

They hold the rights to the live coverage of World Superbikes on Australian TV, have done so since 1995.