WSBK Portimao

Realize all eyes are on COTA, but I thought the racing was really great. By the end I spared a thought for Mick76 (along the lines of WTF is he smoking?). Pretty clear who the best riders are and what the best machines are... don't think the best riders are on the best machines... but the difference b/w riders appears to be more significant than the diff b/w machines.

Yeah with the Kawi binning it pretty clear the R1 has top pace, with Redding going over to BMW and with Baz staying with Go-11 for next year on a R1 pretty much sums it all up with the V4 not the bike they want to be on.

Hmmm, my thought is that the Ducs are the best bikes, but it's close with the R1 this year... Toprak's just riding out of his mind.

We'll see how Redding does on the BMW... my money's on not so hot. Not sure what to think about Alvaro coming back to Ducati since he seems to have trouble keeping anything upright.

I do believe the Ducati V4 that they are racing does not really share much with the Ducati V4 you buy for the street. That goes for all of the bikes out there on the WSBK grid. Don't think its a fair comparison between the bikes owned by guys on the forum and a WSBK spec bike. Different electronics, swingarms, forks, brakes etc. Maybe the engine cases are the same? To say that one brand is better over another still is not a fair comparison. I believe its the rider, bike, team package that makes the difference between what bike wins, podiums or just finishes.

Johnny Rae and the KRT team have been pretty dominant for the last few years. This year the Yamaha guys with Toprak have taken it too the KRT guys pretty well. Ducati has just been too inconsistent. As much as I want them to win, Redding has either been on fire, mid pack or DNF. However it is cool to see different winners this year. Race 1 was pretty good with some pretty close if not too close racing.

Ducati needs to focus their R&D on creating a drug that will cure Casey Stoner's narcolepsy, then throw him on a V4RS out there.

Mick1976 said:

Yeah with the Kawi binning it pretty clear the R1 has top pace, with Redding going over to BMW and with Baz staying with Go-11 for next year on a R1 pretty much sums it all up with the V4 not the bike they want to be on.

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with these guys, as with F1, I think very little thought is given to ‘what ride you want to be on’, not when 10’s or 100’s of millions of dollars are at play with these contract and sponsorship deals.

If it were just about the ride you want Sebastian Vettal would still be at Redbull or with Mercedes

None of the bikes can keep of with the Ducati’s on launch or on the straights, that’s speaks to drivetrain quality and the electronics package, they don’t keep up around curves though, but how much of that is rider?

what would a Rossi at his peak do with a modern Ducati’s power train and his ability to dance the bike past the limits of physics around the twisties?

Think the Ducs can keep up w anything other than the Yamahas around the curves... guess that x-plane crank really does work.

You're right on the engine cases. I know the suspension, brakes and electronics are completely different ... Pata Yamaha did a thing on what all they changed for their superbike.

I think the only thing that needs to be OEM in SBK is just the bottom end of the motor. The top end and just about everything else can be altered to various extents.

Couldn't care less about what bikes are made of what, how that applies to our lowly street bikes, or who's going where... Portimao race 1 was incredible!!

P-mao R1 was one of the best races I’ve seen in the last few years that I can remember. Bikes seem pretty much evenly matched. Each rider seems to be exploiting their bikes’ strengths to the maximum. And sometimes they’re going over the limit. Looking forward to tomorrow and rest of the season.

Rea’s vlogs are also great to watch

MaverickiB said:

I think the only thing that needs to be OEM in SBK is just the bottom end of the motor. The top end and just about everything else can be altered to various extents.

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I think the chassis and engine config (ie variable inlets, valvetrain, etc) also needs to be stock. This is where Honda is finding problems allegedly in the stiffness at the headstock (per Charlie Hiscott on Eurosport). Here’s the rulebook: https://www.fim-moto.com/fileadmin/...rld_Championships_-_2021__updated_17_May_.pdf
It’s an interesting read. Like, why no titanium on the frame, swingarm, and handlebars? Looks like you also can’t use titanium axles.

edit: stock chassis may be altered by adding gussets and tubing. Material can’t be subtracted. Engine mounting has to be stock.

rac1ngsnak3 said:

I think the chassis and engine config (ie variable inlets, valvetrain, etc) also needs to be stock. This is where Honda is finding problems allegedly in the stiffness at the headstock (per Charlie Hiscott on Eurosport). Here’s the rulebook: https://www.fim-moto.com/fileadmin/...rld_Championships_-_2021__updated_17_May_.pdf
It’s an interesting read. Like, why no titanium on the frame, swingarm, and handlebars? Looks like you also can’t use titanium axles.

edit: stock chassis may be altered by adding gussets and tubing. Material can’t be subtracted. Engine mounting has to be stock.

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about the titanium bits, these race organizations sometimes put rules in for the sole purpose of keeping costs down for the teams,, it also helps even the playing field so that it isn’t just the teams with the most money that are competitive like in F1

I suspect the no titanium rule is to keep costs down.

Ducati need to get Baz back to WSBK

racingpsaki,

Most likely not on a Duc but most likely on Go-11 with a R1.

rac1ngsnak3 said:

Ducati need to get Baz back to WSBK

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