WSBK 2013 - Round 1 - Phillip Island (02.24.13) | Official Tests 02.18 - 19.13

[RaptorFA]

I don't know about you guys, but I am thoroughly enjoying the covereage. Kay Murray is doing a nice job at the front desk there, I like the futbol they are sprinkling in between races, the camera angles are very good and frankly I am quite OK with hearing familiar voices calling the races.

The Aprilias are very strong and are going to play hell with the rest of the field all season. Looks like the Suzuki ate tires early on and couldn't really challenge in the first race; Too bad about Checa. Looks like the Duc didn't have much brake when he needed it and submarined Marco; he hit the back of his head pretty hard. He's not going to be able to take too much more of that abuse. I'm just about to catch the second race here (was out getiing a head start on cellebrating my B-day tonight!) so we'll see how it goes. So far so good!

And I echo others; Speed didn't do the series any justice with their crappy covereage anyway. These guys are doing a much better job.

Well, very nice race 2 - Aprilias showed well again. Great race by Eugene; picked his moment and made a great pass. Marco made a good go of it though, and will be be a strong challenger as the season goes on. He and Sykes both did a fine job considering their respective injuries. The Panigale will also have something to say about things I'm sure, as will the Suzuki. I think the zooks fall just a bit short on these high horsepower tracks, but should challenge at others. Good on Cluzel for edging out Rae at the end for 7th!

The SS race was fun also - Superglue and Lowes are going to be at it all season long! So we are off to a great start. I loved turn 1 at this track - such a hogh speed high risk deal! The bikes handled it really well. :thumbup

 

[Archimedes]

Loved the no commercial format, loved the pre-race commentary by the gal, could seriously do without all the soccer stuff in between but whatever. I still don't like those two commentators at all. Martin is okay as the color guy because he knows his shit, but the 'play by play' guy drives me nuts with his mouse-on-meth voice and his need to constantly overdramatize shit. Reminds me of Mike Emerick, the hockey commentator who drives me nucking futs.

 

[firstbuell]

[edited].....Comprehensive pre-race coverage, with a nice summary of superpole, and no friggin' commercials during the race!

Speed TV good riddance!

'nuff said

 

[sidewazzz]

I really can't get over how great this was!

Race1, 2 and supersport!!!!! 5 Hours of racing!!!!!

For the longest time I thought these guys raced only on two wheel Tuesday. Then in the middle of racing, this show that ran with WSBK called "SUPERBIKES" would come on. It was pretty cool and all but it was the same shit I see on the bay bridge every week. Then these things called commercials would come on in the the middle of a race cutting out about 2-3 laps of action but it sure did make me what to buy that mini van!

 

[poma]

Goooooo Aprilia!

 

[deanzaZZR]

Any word on Loris Baz? Did anyone see the replay? Davies said that he was inside Baz and lost the rear tire. Was it simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

 

[Lucky Jones]

Any word on Loris Baz? Did anyone see the replay? Davies said that he was inside Baz and lost the rear tire. Was it simply a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Loris Baz:

“Race one was a really good result. I was faster in the race than practice but we did not change much on the bike. On a track like this when you are with other people with more experience it helps because they are pulling you along. I was really surprised, because I was not checking my lap times, that on lap 11 I looked and saw a 1’31.8. I was happy with that! I was coming back on Tom and was going to pass Haslam but when I came up on Haslam I had a problem with the tyre so I went really wide. I passed Haslam on the last lap so I am really happy and for a time I was fighting for fourth place. In race two I think Chaz lost the front going into MG, I got hit and my race was over. It was a shame, and I am sure I could have battled with Tom up front again but we have many more races this year to do it.”

courtesy of: http://www.closer2thehedge.com/sykes-baz-talk-two-races-phillip-island/

 

[Climber]

Just shows how badly SpeedTV has been covering racing. Over the years, it was the only game in town and we had to live with it, but somebody else covering it just demonstrates just how bad they had gotten!

 

[deanzaZZR]

That was some great racings on a great track.

So only going by the first weekend, who are the top 3 favorites?

I'd go with the 2 Aprilia factory riders (Guintoli and Laverty) and Melandri. Then there are quite a few wildcards, Checa on the new Duc., Davies on the BMW and Sykes on the Kawi. Fabrizio will run some fast races and then pull some head scratching Fabrizios.

I watched the Aussie broadcast for the 2nd race and the announcers said that they were told by the BMW boss that all the parts are new this year. Amazing if true.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Wow 4 RSV4s in top 6. Are they turbo or something?

The "something" is called the V4 advantage... but you don't want your
wins to look this easy because the rules makers could call for intake
restrictors like they done for the V2s... Ducati's 50mm intake
restrictors are political and it smells...

 

[deanzaZZR]

It's going to be a long season. :laughing

 

[jgard]

So please excuse the huge size, I just got back from Australia and I'm beyond jet-lagged and don't feel like re-sizing.

Anyway, as mentioned, I was on Phillip Island about 5 days before the race and testing was going on at the track. They didn't necessarily let you in to watch, but if you paid to visit their museum, you could go to an overlook to see most of the track from a bit of a distance.

Now, I've only been to a handful of tracks in my life, but this felt nothing like any of them. What a beautiful place. Being right on the water helps, i'm sure.

So yeah, here are some pics from in their museum and of the testing going on...

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Thank you for showing Aaron Slight's RC45... I saved it for my collection... keep them coming...

 

[Spec-ECU]

At the time of this post we've still got over a month until the next round. So to hold you over, here are some choice shots from the Austalian round, in no particular order:

 

[Spec-ECU]

 

[Kurosaki]

I like.

 

[Busy Little Shop]

Excellent shots... Who is the lensman???

 

[Spec-ECU]

Photos are from the teams' media releases.