The opening round of the 2012 WSB series was held at Phillip Island in Australia yesterday, and all signs point to a more competitive championship this year, with a Kawasaki starting from pole position (Tom Sykes), and a BMW finding the second step on the podium. In Race 1, defending champ Carlos Checa (Ducati) crashed while in the lead, allowing 2010 champion Max Biaggi (Aprilia) to cruise to an easy win over second place Marco Melandri (BMW) and third place Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati).
Race 2 saw Checa bounce back and take the win, while Biaggi stormed to second place following an off-track excursion on lap 1. Tom Sykes finished third.
Biaggi has the points lead after Round 1. For additional details, results and points, visit the official WSB site.
How can you be a “big MotoGP fan” and not watch WSBK? World Superbike is a great series to watch, and the riders are far from second rate. Watch a race in person sometime, those guys are amazing, each and every one of them. I like motorcycle racing, especially road racing…I watch everything I can get. I only wish more people would post up the full races on the net (youtube?). I am too cheap to pay for satellite anymore.
re: “I only wish more people would post up the full races on the net (youtube?). I am too cheap to pay for satellite anymore.”
and here it is again in black and white… the devaluing nature of the modern day motorcyclist. ie. the root of all evil plaguing everything in the industry from the lowest to the highest levels. when the time comes, don’t say nobody ever told ya.
what do you mean “Daytona was scrubbed”?
Postponed due to rain so it shouldn’t eclipse the ratings for the weekend.
Big MotoGP fan, but decided to watch WSB for the first time. I didn’t find it any more exciting, in fact less so, than MotoGP. First race, guy opens up lead and rides by himself eventually wins by 10 second gap over next little group which had a gap over the next group. Ditto for second race only guy wins by 7 second gap over next little group which has a gap on the next little group. Second rate racers and equipment as compared to MotoGP. Was good to see racing again though. Can’t wait for MotoGP to start.
As a long time WSB and MotoGP fan I’d suggest a better sampling of WSB. Bayliss/Edwards jumps out but there are So many moments, Races and Seasons that were outstanding they’re a happy rich blur at this point.
I can think of no series that consistently provides such great racing, even MotoGP. It’s a good series to watch many of your favorite MotoGP Riders on their way up to MotoGP and on their way… to WSK.
Those “Second rate racers” are racing for World Championships, the two winners at Phillip Island have 6 World titles between them… Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha have powered the World Superbike Champions in the last 8 years…
Dale I still intened to catch it when I catch it, because I love to watch motorcycles racing, but I don’t see it taking over for Moto GP in my mind even if it does have 8 more riders and several more factories participating. It’s the top riders who really make it exciting and MotoGP has better riders than WSB. If they did away with MotoGP I could certainly see becoming a fan of WSB, but the truth is the top 2 in WSB (as I saw it) are providing the exciting racing and they are ex MotoGP riders who couldn’t make it in MotoGP. Spies dominated WSB but has hardly made a dent in MotoGP. I believe he said a top ten finish in MotoGP is the equivalent of winning a WSB race.
World Championships don’t mean anything if you are not racing the best in the World. They are just titled “World Championships” just to give some validity to the class. Of the two winners at Phillip Island, Biaggi has 4 250cc Championships and one WSB Championship. He raced in 127 MotoGp’s with 13 wins and no championship and Checa has one WSB championship but raced in 194 MotoGp races with 2 wins and no championship.Between them they have raced in 321 MotoGP races have 15 wins and zero championships. Very talented riders no doubt, and the very best right now in WSB, but hardly the creme of motorcycle road racings crop. That’s why I called them second rate racers.
I mean no disrespect to fans of WSB, but just as in boxing the World Feather Weight Champion may in title be a “World Champion” but unless he can step into the ring and beat the current Heavyweight World Champion, few will know his name or respect his game.
All good. I look at MotoGP V. WSB as F1 to Austrialian Supercars. Yes F1 has the “Real” Championship for cages and $100,000,000 cars but most days I’d rather watch the Aussies dice it up. It’s just “better” racing on average like WSB, IMHO.
BTW I love MotoGP too!
re: “Big MotoGP fan, but decided to watch WSB for the first time.”
whoa, for a split second i was tempted to ban you for all time. but on second thought, i extend you a pass for honesty with a directive going forward that you watch (consume) more WSBK. besides, you’ll be watching it sooner or later once they are forced to merge for the common good. 🙂
So, is the Aprillia legal this season, or are we gonna hear more complaints about fuel pumps and nitroglycerine driven cams?
Still, at least I’ve got something to snooze to till the Northwest 200 and Isle of Man TT
We can’t expect anything like that in MotoGP. WSB is where the racing, racers and bikes are interesting. MotoGP is good on paper but dull to watch.
It’s good to see WSB going, Moto GP is about gone. Six brands, very good riders vs 3 (2 really)brands and 3 great riders. Kinda like NBA vs NCAA it’s good to see what some say is second rate but having some real competition. Honda was threatening to pull out if CRT bikes were allowed. They know they could kill the whole series and so does Dorna. They’re scrambling to keep it alive. Good on paper, dull to watch is about right.
re: “MotoGP is good on paper but dull to watch.”
with that in mind, i encourage you to attend a live grandprix while prototypes still exist. i gaurantee you’ll never speak those words again. well… except for when we go all CRT.
I am lucky enough that I was at the Catalunya MotoGP last year and the WSB in Aragon, as well as the Aragon MotoGP the season previous. The prototypes certainly are exciting bikes, but not from a racing point of view. There’s not enough of them, as we all know, and it’s all about the haves and have-nots. After the excitement of the warm up and the start, the Catalunya race was dull, as was apparent from the circuit atmosphere. TV reruns supported my take on that, and it was the same as all but about 2 races last season. A demonstration of those bikes at Goodwood or similar would be as much of a spectacle, and I’d encourage anyone to hear a MotoGP bike at full throttle at least once in their lives.
I know I’m spoilt, living in Northern Ireland where we have road racing at the Ulster Grand Prix, and other circuits, where we have 3 or 4 lead changes per lap and any one of 6/7 riders with a real chance of winning every race. MotoGP should be able to provide that, as the two support classes can do it, and the depbate amongst all of us is ‘how can that be achieved?’. More regulations/restrictions? Less? None of us knows that yet.
The Checa highside in race one was epic. I’m still amazed that not only was able to come back for the second race but he won it by over 7 seconds. Biaggi was so fast it was ridiculous. If he can stay healthy for the whole season he and the Aprilia will be hard to beat.
The two most likely to earn the championship split Wins. Plenty of interesting things deeper in the field… I love it when the Road Racing season starts! Bring on MotoGP.
Those were some pretty good races, maybe the ratings will register since Daytona was scrubbed? For some reason I was happy for Biaggi, he was kind of funny in the post race interviews, seems to have grown into his eccentricities.