“I’ve had to pinch myself leaving Imola in the past.” That’s how Chaz Davies sums up his relationship with the Italian circuit and the Ducatisti in a few short words.
Winning four races in a row at an Italian circuit on an Italian bike will make for some great memories. Unfortunately for the Welshman, he hasn’t looked like adding to those memories this season.
Episode 100 (woohoo! one hundred shows!) of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is a WorldSBK show. As such, this means that we see Steve English joined by Gordon Ritchie on the mics, as they are now our WorldSBK reporting duo for the 2019 season.
Recording straight from The Netherlands, the guys talk about the on-track action at Assen, where once again (how many times have we said that now?) it was a sweep by Alvaro Bautista and the factory-spec Ducati Panigale V4 R race bike.
This race weekend came with a twist though, as it snowed during Saturday’s events, which caused a cancellation of the day’s World Superbike races.
As such there is a limited amount to discuss, so we recruited Ducati rider Chaz Davies to the microphones for an interesting interview that you won’t want to miss.
Team Green could bring a new superbike for the 2020 model year, or at least that is what the scuttlebutt from Europe is saying.
The news of a new Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR comes from comments made by KRT Senior Engineer Ichiro Yoda while talking to Germany’s Speedweek website.
In responding to the dominant force laid bare by the Ducati Panigale V4 R and Alvaro Bautista, Yoda-san signals Kawasaki’s response to the Italian manufacturer – namely that a new bike could debut for next year.
While the MotoGP paddock was busy in Austin, Texas dealing with the rain, the WorldSBK riders were contending with their own weather, as the snow halted racing activities on Saturday.
Thankfully, the Sunday brought better weather, and WorldSBK racing fans were treated to the show that the richly deserved.
Assen is perhaps one of the most revered tracks on the World Superbike Championship schedule, even after changes to the circuit removed some of its best turns.
The Cathedral always provides good racing, and this outing was no different, including a photo-finish with local hero Michael van der Mark.
Helping us relive the magic is photographer Stephen McClements, with this ample gallery of WorldSBK photos from The Netherlands. We hope you enjoy them!
A day full of racing, that is what the fans at Assen got this Sunday – thanks in no part to the snow that fell on the Saturday before. Back on the track and ready to ride, WorldSBK fans were treated to some good racing at The Cathedral, despite the names in the Top 3 not changing.
If there is on thing that we have learned from the 2019 season so far, it is that the assumptions from 2018 and before are completely up for grabs. The other lesson is that the Ducati Panigale V4 R is the real deal.
The Netherlands is known best for its rain, tulips, and windmills, but on Saturday at Assen it was the snow that had everyone talking.
Leading ultimately to the cancelation of the day’s races, the snow was certainly a setback for the paddock, though also quite the spectacle.
While the MotoGP action is in the United States this weekend, the World Superbike paddock is over in Assen, putting on their on display of two-wheeled excellence.
The Cathedral is one of the most popular stops on the WorldSBK calendar, and as such we are lucky to have Tony Goldsmith swinging a lens for us in The Netherlands.
So far, Assen has failed to disappoint. At the end of Friday’s FP2 session, only 0.031 seconds separated the top five riders, with Tom Sykes leading the charge, followed by Rea and Haslam.
After Alvaro Bautista’s runaway success since joining the WorldSBK series, winning all six main races and all three Superpole races, mostly by a significant margin, the FIM has made the first move toward balancing out performance.
Starting from the next round at Assen, the Ducati Panigale V4R is to lose 250 revs, while the Honda CBR1000RR, which has struggled badly since the start of the year, is to given an extra 500 revs on the maximum rev limit.
Episode 97 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this one is another WorldSBK show. As such, this means that we see Steve English joined by Gordon Ritchie on the mics, as they are now our WorldSBK reporting duo for the 2019 season.
Recording straight from Motorland Aragon, the guys talk about the on-track action in Spain, where once again (have we said that before?) it was a sweep by Alvaro Bautista and the factory-spec Ducati Panigale V4 R race bike.
The Ducati Panigale V4 R is the newest bike on the Superbike block, and as you’d expect it is the most advanced bike on the WorldSBK grid.
The Italian manufacturer has developed a tremendous package over the winter, to immediately vault to the top of the pile in the production based series, and with Alvaro Bautista having been undefeated in the opening two rounds of the championship, he has laid the foundations of a very strong title challenge.
This is a production based series, and Ducati has developed a so-called ‘homologation special.’ While the rest of the grid comprises of heavily developed machinery, the Ducati was developed as a no holds barred, pure bred racing machine.
This is a throwback to a bygone era when the likes of Honda would develop their Superbike machinery with the sole goal of winning the title.
No compromises are made with a homologation special. Other than costing a maximum of €40,000, there is very little that isn’t maximised on the machinery.
Ten Kate Racing will be making a return to the WorldSBK paddock. At either Imola or Jerez, the Dutch squad will be racing a Yamaha YZF-R1 with Loris Baz.
With still some testing and development left to do, racing at Imola in early May is a tough challenge, but Ten Kate will definitely be racing at the Jerez round of WorldSBK to be held from June 7th – 9th.