Ducati Sporting Club UK > General > Idle Chat > SBK, DID THEY GET IT RIGHT?

[Paul James]

Had to laugh at the TV coverage of the WSB last weekend, at one point they had Vermuelen on a Ten-Kate Ducati, after the second race they had JT down as 13 points ahead in the championship then when the final results were shown it was down to 3 points.

The WSB racing was awesome, you could see fro JT's body language that he wasn't up for taking any prisoners, last couple of rounds should be really close, anybody tempted to take a ride down to watch the final round ???

[JPM]

I was there also, and the first thing that hit me was how quiet it was, I don't know if you have been before Dave, but this is my 3rd time in 4 years, and the crowds were down from my memory, the other big thing was it was sunny, every time I have been previously it's rained at some point, so that threw me a bit.

As for the racing, yes it was awesome, the top 5 fighting it out all of the race, in both races!

The single tyre rule isn't all it's cracked up to be though, apparently Haga/Renegade were denied the tyres he wanted by Ducati Corse, as the championship is too close to call, so first choice on tyres goes to Laconi/Toseland, and after that the remaining Ducati riders get what is left, ultimately a factory team is not going to be beaten by a satellite private team!

[Ian]

I think the main reason for the big difference in the quality of the racing (or its closeness) is due to the tracks themselves. Put a slow corner (or 2 as they did with Donington) in ( 1 in Estorill) and you will ruin the quality of racing. Pity Dorna and riders reps don't do something about that as well as the safety issues.

However tyre issues have for many years made racing have different levels, - for years in the WSBK series Michelin would only give their good tyres to Ducati Corse or HRC, - so they got there just reward.

For me, - tyre brand makes no difference to the tyre I choose to buy for my road bikes and I really don't care who wins on what tyres although i wish Dunlop would invest in some proper baseball caps!

The one tyre rule in WSBK was good, despite the bull coming out of Laguna about lap times it really does not matter. - It was also ok when WSBK caved to the Jap factory pressure by allowing in 1000 fours ( although only an idiot would say a twin and four of the same capacity are equal), just a big shame that the Jap factories caved in themselves under pressure from Michelin and pulled out of the series.

Next year potentially looks good with GSE back in WSBK (as their MotoGP request for D'Antins slots got turned down), although on Hondas, - and that as this year will be an undercover HRC team.