Superbike and Supersport Imola Results

Just superb racing.

Marred by the red flag in race one, but that's racing.

Most exciting event for ages - especially Xaus coming at them in the closing laps.

When was the last time a MOTOGP (or 500cc) race was anywhere near this good.



Long live superbike racing!



How about the sportsmanship b/w BOTH Bayliss and Edwards at the end? Marvellous!



Is there a more exciting rider to watch than Bayliss when he's up against it and 'on it'?

Agreed!... very good racing that I would have to say I've not seen much of in MotoGP. Man, that last lap in race 2... wow!.. definitely one for the ages.



The best in MotoGP this year was the race at Assen up until the crash w/Jacques and A.B.... but that was very close racing.



Damn, what a shame that Honda is screwing up w/Edwards. The guy has given them two WSB titles in 3 years, won the 8-hours multiple times, and they blow him off.



How awesome would a MotoGP team of Rossi, Edwards and Hayden have been?... wow!... "what might have been..." It's not like Honda doesn't have the $$$ to afford such a team... we already know they have the bikes/parts.. they'll have several satellite teams next year.



-James

>>pass a guy at 170mph with a few centimeters between the two bikes<<



From where I sat, it appears that on numerous occassions, there was exactly 0 centimeters between the bikes!



Whichever rider had won this round, it would have been hard to imagine a more deserving champion -- these have to be two of the best riders of recent history, not to mention, seemingly both are real class acts.



About the only way the season could have been improved upon would have been for the respective wins to have been a bit more randomly dispersed, rather than having Troy totally dominate the first part of the season, with Colin dominating the last!

After seeing Colin's performances this season, I realize that I have really undersetimated him in the past. Being a Ducati rider and fan, I had not followed his performance that closely, and for most of the season, I was cheering for Troy -- when I did start cheering for Colin, it was mostly because Troy's apparent runaway with the championship was getting boring -- how things change!



My understaning it that the goal is for Colin to wear the #1 plate on the 999 Ducati next season, then join the MotoGP team. I hope this works for him. That actually might be the best option -- maybe even a better deal than Troy got -- I doubt (although I hope I am wrong) that the Ducati GP bike will be all that competetive with the Honda (and now Yamaha) 4-stroke GP bikes at the beginning of the season. I expect 2003 to be largely a development season for Ducati in GP. This way, Troy gets to deal with the frustration of fighting for, say, 10th place with riders of much less talent. Given Yamaha's and Suzuki's learning curve, I would hope that by the end of 2003, the Ducati would be getting sorted out and 2004 could be the ideal time for Colin to move over there.

Re: Hondas loss is Ducatis gain.

Honda's approach to this situation it totally inexplicable!

From what I read, Honda's WSB efforts are directed (and financed) by Honda Europe -- apparently they had a bad year financially and wanted to cut expenses (of course, this was all being discussed at a time when the Ducati was still dominating the series -- mighta gone different if the factory had been a bit quicker in getting Colin the good bits). They reportedly told Colin that he did not have a ride with them next year because they would either bail out of the series entirely, or at least cut way back to a smaller team.

My suspicion is that Honda Europe might have been bluffing with Honda Corporate -- trying to get them to kick in the funding -- since presumably Honda worldwide would be the beneficiaries of the racing effort.

Anyway, what Honda does get from all the effort and $$ they have expended to help Colin win the championship is to see that #1 plate attached to a Ducati 999 all next season. I hope they are happy!

This all brings up the question of who will race for Honda in WSC next year? If rumors are true that Honda is reconsidering, who will ride?



Xaus - unsigned, fast, crash happy, Spanish. Highly likely.



Haga - I don't know about signing status, but he has the speed.



Ben - he sometimes has the speed, if WSC is more imporant than AMA, he might get the nod.



I can't think of anybody else worht the money.



Either way, next year's championship is between Colin and Hodgson.

Xaus: Rumored to be going to Aprilia



Haga: Rumored to be going to Aprilia GP team



B-Boz: Coming to the US to race



Who? I haven't a clue and I don't think Honda does either. I have a lot of respect from Honda and HRC but they screwed the pooch this time.



And yes, that was some great racing. The three people at my house were yelling so loud my dog got scared and ran to my wife for comfort.



Two great riders and genuine gentlemen riding the crap out of the best street based bike on the planet, how could it get any better? MotoGP is looking pretty dull next to superbike; US, world or (from what I've read) British.



BTW, for the guy who is hung up on the 2000 Suzuka race, try to get a tape to the '89 French GP.